Memories Don't Burn

Books I'm reading for 2008

2008-01-09T23:47:32Z

I'd like to aim for 50 books this year. With grad school being as time consuming as it is, I don't think I'll be able to reach 70 this year.

1. Pride & Prejudice-Jane Austen
2. The Sweet Far Thing- Libba Bray
3. Promises to Keep- Charles de Lint
4. Look me in the Eye: My Life with Aspergers- John Elder Robison
5. Paint it Black-Janet Fitch
6. Ruby-Francesa Lia Block & Carmen Staton
7. Skin Tight- Carl Hiaasen
8. Body Surfing- Anita Shreve
9. Posh-Lucy Jackson
10. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose- Lauren Willig
11. Rise and Shine- Anna Quindlen
12. The Eye-Vladimir Nabokov
13. What the Dead Know- Laura Lippman
14. An Invitation to a Beheading- Vladimir Nabokov
15. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict-Laurie Viera Rigler
16. Change of Heart- Jodi Picoult
17. Just Listen- Sarah Dessen
18. Such a Pretty Girl- Laura Wiess
19. The Year of Fog- Michelle Richmond
20. The Ladies From St. Petersburg- Nina Berberova
21. A Certain Slant of Light- Laura Whitcomb
22. Belong to Me- Marisa De Los Santos
23. Nature Girl- Carl Hiassen
24. Certain Girls- Jennifer Wiener
25. Last Chance Saloon- Marian Keyes
26. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You- Ally Carter
27. The Gingerbread Girl- Stephen King
28. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox-Maggie O'Farrell
29. Kitchen Confidential- Anthony Bourdain
30. Lucky You- Carl Hiassen
31. The Last Lecture- Randy Pausch
32. Native Tongue- Carl Hiassen
33. Brides & Sinners of El Chuco-Christine Granados
34. A Cook's Tour- Anthony Bourdain
35. The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera
36. Twilight- Stephanie Meyers
37. Pale Fire-Vladimir Nabokov
38. Eclipse-Stephanie Meyers
39. New Dawn-Stephanie Meyers
40. The Road-Cormac McCarthy
41. How We Survived Communism and Laughed-Slavenka Drakulic
42. Tender is the Night- F. Scott Fitzgerald
43. Christine- Stephen King
44. Where Rainbows End- Cecelia Ahern
45. Holy Fools- Joanne Harris
46. The Master of Petersburg- J.M. Coetzee
47. Chasing Harry Winston- Lauren Weisberger
48. Lean Mean Thirteen- Janet Evanovich
49. Plum Lovin'- Janet Evanovich
50. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress-Dai Sijie
51. Barefoot-Elin Hilderbrand
52. One for the Money- Janet Evanovich
53. Breaking Dawn-Stephanie Meyers
54. Two for the Dough- Janet Evanovich
55. Three to Get Ready- Janet Evanovich
56. Four to Score- Janet Evanovich
57. A Dirty Job- Christopher Moore
58. Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid- J. Maarten Troost
59. The Night Villa- Carol Goodman
60. High Five- Janet Evanovich
61. Hot Six- Janet Evanovich
62. Seven Up- Janet Evanovich
63. Hard Eight-Janet Evanovich
64. To the Nines- Janet Evanovich
65. Ten Big Ones-Janet Evanovich
66. Eleven on Top-Janet Evanovich
67. Twelve Sharp-Janet Evanovich
68. Lean Mean Thirteen-Janet Evanovich
69. Broken-Daniel Clay
69. Fearless Fourteen-Janet Evanovich
70. Visions of Sugar Plums-Janet Evanovich
71. Persepolis- Marjane Satrapi
72. Venus Envy- Rita Mae Brown
73. I am the Messenger- Markus Zusak
74. Psyche in a Dress- Francesca Lia Block

Dear Whoever Has Been Reading My LJ & Telling Craig's Parents I Still Have the Wii

2007-11-15T16:57:24Z

I don't know who the hell has been contacting Craig's parents, but I just got a call from them saying I still have the Wii. I do not have the Wii. I sold the Wii to a tPFer to pay for the sunglasses that Craig jumped on and destroyed.

What I have is an iHome

Yes, it is white like the Wii. Yes, it was standing next to my cable box on its side. Why? Because I had just got that piece of furniture & I was taking pictures to quickly show my mom how everything looked together.

Again. You need to be smart enough to realize that ihome is not a Wii.

Whoever has been trying to "rat me out" to Craig's parents? I hope you die in a fire.

The miserable fuck was cheating on me

2007-10-11T13:01:28Z

too exhausted to write all the details here, but it's all on my myspace in my blogs so all of our mutual friends can see it: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=49335889

I'm not stupid. I was able to put the signs together, and that miserable fuck couldn't be honest with me after 7 years.

I'm done with him. I deserve a billion times better.

Gun rants

2007-04-18T02:46:02Z

Two totally different rants as I'm watching (technically listening, as my Mom is watching Dateline downstairs, and I can't see the television) another news show about the massacre.

The host of the show is going on and on about how easy it is to get a gun in Virginia, and that's the reason this massacre happened. Okay, look. I'm in favor of strict gun control. You'll never be able to convince me that it's your God given right to own 100 guns and an arsenal of semi automatic weapons. One gun, sure. Two guns cause you love hunting, all right, but no one needs an Uzi, especially if the closest you've ever been to hunting is a pair of camo pants.

*However* the argument that if there was stricter gun control this horrible thing never would have happened is bullshit. If it was illegal to own guns, there would never be any gun violence? Just like drugs are illegal now, and the U.S. has no drug problem, you mean? Riiiight. People who want to do something like this, will do it. Whether they can walk into a gun shop and buy one or whether they're buying one out of someone's trunk. I understand the need to hold someone or something accountable for this, but blaming something large like the gun industry or all immigrants accountable for the actions of one very disturbed and twisted individual just isn't right.

My other rant was the statement made by members of the VTech NRA Group about how if they were allowed to have guns on campus, this massacre never would have happened, because they would have tried to shoot the killer. The level of stupid in that statement amazes me. I can't imagine what the body count would have been had a bunch of twenty somethings had a shoot out in a heavily populated building.

So sick over this

2007-01-26T14:21:01Z

I got this email from Emory a few days ago, but I ignored it as junk mail asking me for money. Man, I wish I never opened it. I'm sick over. It's good for people that are going there now, but what about people like me? People whose parents "made too much money" for qualifying for financial aid. My mother made $50,000 when I went to Emory and had $100,000+ in medical bills because of Tara, and yet that was too much money. I have $50,000 in Emory student loans.

This is such a slap in the face to all of us that have ridiculous loans, I want to cry. Why not offer us some relief too?

Emory University announced today the establishment of Emory Advantage, a program of financial aid initiatives that will help lower- and middle-income students and families reduce debt incurred during the undergraduate years. The changes will begin in the 2007-08 academic year, marking one of the most aggressive programs devised by any national research university to enhance accessibility and affordability.

"These new programs will make it possible for any qualified student to obtain the advantages of an Emory education regardless of family background or circumstance," says Emory President James W. Wagner. "We are especially concerned to address the particular needs of many middle-income families, who ironically make too much money to qualify for many types of financial aid, but who find themselves unable to afford four years of college education without incurring substantial levels of debt."

Under Emory's new Loan Replacement Grant, students whose families' assessed income is $50,000 or less will graduate with no need-based loans from their four undergraduate years. Emory's new Loan Cap Program will assist students from families with assessed income between $50,001- $100,000 by capping their total need-based loan amount over four years at $15,000.

"We believe that extending loan caps to families making up to $100,000 is rare, if not unique, among our peers," says Provost Earl Lewis. "Most other loan replacement or loan cap programs are aimed primarily at low-income students."

"We are committed to providing access to an Emory education for all students," says Wagner. "An important goal is to foster further excellence of our academic community with the inclusion of highly talented students who would not have felt able to seriously consider applying to Emory in the past."

The new Loan Replacement Grant will be available to students in all four of Emory's undergraduate divisions – the two-year Oxford College, the four-year Emory College, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Goizueta Business School. The Loan Cap Program will be available to students beginning enrollment in 2007.

In another initiative announced today, Emory is rolling out new Liberal Arts Scholarships for semi-finalists applying for Emory's long-time Emory Scholars Program, recognizing outstanding academic achievement, talent, leadership and community service among high school students. The Emory Scholars program began in 1979 as a result of the $103 million gift from the Woodruff Foundation; each year the university awards some 70 scholarships to outstanding entering freshmen, including Woodruff Scholarships.

Emory also will enhance its Dean's Achievement Scholarships, rewarding academic achievement, leadership and community service among rising Emory sophomores, juniors and seniors who did not receive a merit scholarship coming from high school. "The opportunity to receive merit-based awards as a function of college performance is rare," says Robert Paul, dean of Emory College.

"We greatly value rewarding students for their ongoing excellent work in Emory College," says Thomas D. Lancaster, senior associate dean for undergraduate education and administrator of the program. The Dean's Achievement Scholars will be selected after the spring semester by a comprehensive selection committee comprised of faculty from across the university and alumni, says Lancaster. Those selected will become part of the Emory Scholars Program.

Once fully implemented, the University’s investment in these initiatives will be about $7 million per year (in today's dollars). The university's Strategic Plan funds will support the new programs for the first five years. They will be sustained by reallocating existing endowment streams of approximately $150 million and by raising at least an additional $75 million in endowment by the end of those five years, says President Wagner.

Fun With Real Estate

2007-01-16T18:45:50Z

Since Craig's in North Carolina, I've been really looking at real estate down there. These are some of my favorite. I'm in awe of how many new developments are being built. I'm torn on new homes. I really like the idea that you can move right in & not have to spend years fixing things or dealing with the damage that other people have done to the house. Some people are stuck with home repairs that end up running them the cost of a new house (like my Aunt). On the other hand, I like a house with personality. Give me a old creaky farmhouse with a wrap around porch, and that's my idea of heaven.

These homes are mostly in the Chapel Hill/Cary, NC area. Cary was voted one of the top ten places to live in the U.S. by CNN/Money Magazine last year, so it's not like I've picked BumFuck, NC just to get cheaper house prices in order to show a staggering difference between the Northeast and the South.

We'll start with my favorite because it's one of the more expensive. It's in a new development called Lakestone Village. The website for that is: http://www.lakestonevillage.com/avhomes.html

This is my favorite home.

I'm in love with the shape and the porch. It's very "beachy" looking. It's expensive at $299K when you compare it to the rest of the houses below, and much smaller than the rest, but I just love it. It kills me with cuteness. I can see myself sitting on the porch with a book reading for hours. It's just a friendly looking house, don't you think?

On to the rest:

We'll start from lowest and work our way up.

For $175K, we have this little beauty with four bedrooms:

I liked this one because it's older & it says I'm a Southern home! Look at me and my southerness. I'm not entirely sure what Craig and I would do with 4 bedrooms (the flying squirrel is not getting her own room, no matter what he says), but for $175K, it's fabulous.

Next we have this little stunner for $182K and three bedrooms (I believe):

Again, there's the newness factor. It's not even complete yet. You don't have to worry about replace anything. Everything is new and shiny. There's that huge garage and I'm a sucker for bay windows, I admit it. This style and size seemed to be the standard at this price range as you can see from this other example pricing in at $189K. For me that's the one downfall, I'm not a fan of living in a community where every house looks the exact same. It's a little too Stepford for me.

and this for $204K

If you want to move on up a little more. If you need a little more square footage, we have this house for $219K

Again, basically the same as the others 4 bedrooms (apparently you Southerners like to have a lot of babies). It's pretty difficult to find houses that were not town houses that were under 3 bedrooms and not 40+ year old ranchers. Love the second floor balcony, and I believe this one had more actual property. That's another thing I get hung up on. I don't want to open my blinds and see into my neighbors living room. I don't need 30 acres, but one or two would be nice. I like personal space. With the newer homes personal space seems to not exist (see my favorite house above).

Upwards and onwards to $284K. This is if you really want to pop out the babies like there's no tomorrow.

I liked this one because it reminded me of my grandparents' old house in Roseland. It has that family-charm thing going on. I could see this house in a movie. Doesn't it have that "Father of the Bride" feel to it? Way too big for my purposes, but this house is roughly going for the same price as my mother's three bedroom townhouse in New Jersey. I think she's at $280K right now, just to give you some idea of how NJ home buyers are being hosed.

Now this is where I saw my cute little dream house above so I kind of meandered off my track of finding more homes and set about emailing Craig to see if we could actually look at that house in February when I come visit. To make up for it, I decided to post a house that was on the more expensive side.

For $519,000 this could be yours:

It's big and new and lovely, I'm guessing it's in a super exclusive community for that price. Again, I'm a sucker for porches, but as you can see from the houses above, you can easily find something in the under $250K price range of the same size and around the same age.

And just because who doesn't love looking at million dollar homes, some of the monsters that I found:

For a spare $1.5 Million this little shack could be yours (that's just over $7K a month for mortage, if you're so inclined):

The features are awesome. The kitchens in the million dollar houses always kill me. One of these had an all cherrywood walk-in closet the size of our apartment. I'd have no problem filling that bad boy up (although with that mortage payment, I just might actually have a problem filling it up-I'd be broke!)

Falling in next at a mere $2.2 Million is this wonder. I actually thought it was condos when I looked at the thumbnail. Nope, that's all one house. Insane.

And finally coming in at $2.5 Million (that's $16,000 a month) is this whooper with a pond and Japanese footbridge in the back. It's 4 bedrooms, which surprised me. I thought it would be like 6:

Anyway, that's my little tour of real estate in North Carolina. From the very affordable to the "are you out of your freakin' mind?!" price range.

As you can see there's a ton of new construction going on. I believe I had over 1,000 listings in the town I chose with a price range of $150K-$400K with the vast majority of the houses being built between 2005-2007. This leads to a lot of cookie-cutter style houses as you can see.

Interestingly enough, I was listen to the radio on the way to work last week, and according to Van Lines (the moving company) 66% of all moves that happened in 2006 were moves out of New Jersey with North Carolina being the #1 place the people leaving the state moved to. I'm not sure what this will do to real estate prices or the road rage!

2007 Book List

2007-01-04T18:10:52Z

I think I'm going to try and hold steady at 70 books for 2007.

1. The Bachelorette Party- Karen McCullah Lutz
2. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes-Maureen Johnson
3. Incantation-Alice Hoffman
4. Queen of Babble- Meg Cabot
5. The Wonder Spot- Melissa Bank
6. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood- Ann Brashares
7. Skylight Confessions- Alice Hoffman
8. Faith & Hope: The Kyivan Church in Communion with Rome 1596-1996- Andrzej Polec
9. Rasputin's Daughter- Robert Alexander
10. Harvesting the Heart- Jodi Picoult
11. Queen of the Turtle Derby & Other Southern Phenomena- Julia Reed
12. Weekend in Paris; A Novel- Robyn Sisman
13. Angels all Over Town- Luanne Rice
14. Everyone Worth Knowing-Lauren Weisberger
15. The Collection- Bentley Little
16. Shopaholic & Baby- Sophie Kinsella
17. Nineteen Minutes- Jodi Picoult
18. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier- Ishmael Beah
19. The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
20. Two Little Girls in Blue- Mary Higgins Clark
21. The Other Boleyn Girl-Philipa Gregory
22. Love Walked In- Marisa de Los Santos
23. A Girl Like Moi-Lisa Barham
24. A Dangerous Dress- Julia Holden
25. When in Rome- Gemma Townley
26. The Family Fortune- Laurie Horowitz
27. The Man of my Dreams- Curtis Sittenfeld
28. A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity- Kathleen Gilles Seidel
29. The Girls- Lori Lansens
30. Ring of Endless Light- Madeleine L'Engle
31. Model Student-Robin Hazelwood
32. Moloka'i- Alan Brennert
33. Cellophane-Marie Arana
34. Lost It- Kristen Tracy
35. Candy Darlings-Christine Walde
36. Stop Dressing Your Six Year Old Like a Skank- Celia Rivenbank
37. Elsewhere-Gabrielle Zevin
38. Anybody Out There- Marian Keyes
39. Swapping Lives- Jane Green
40. How to be Lost- Amanda Eyre Ward
41. Once Upon a Day- Lisa Tucker
42. Cocktails for Three-Madeleine Wickham
43. Pigtopia-Kitty Fitzgerald
44. Saving Fish from Drowing- Amy Tan
45. Candles Burning- Tabitha King & Michael McDowell
46. Frenemies- Megan Crane
47. Lost and Found- Carolyn Pakhurst
48. Project Paris-Lisa Barham and Sujean Rim
49. Peaches- Jodi Lynn Anderson
50. Goodbye, Jimmy Choo- Annie Sanders
51. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows- J.K. Rowling
52. Under the Rose- Diana Peterfreund
53. Little Chapel on the River- Gwendolyn Bounds
54. The Last Summer (Of You & Me)- Ann Brashares
55. Austenland- Shannon Hale
56. Keeping the Moon-Sarah Dessen
57. Bergdorf Blondes- Plum Sykes
58. Me & Mr. Darcy- Alexandra Potter
59. Someone like You- Sarah Dressen
60. Around the Bloc; My Life in Moscow, Beijing and Havana-Stephanie Elizondo Griest
61. Eugene Onegin-Aleksandr Pushkin
62. The Givenchy Code- Julie Kenner
63. Chaika- Boris Akunin
64. Casual- Oksana Robski
65. The Truth About Forever- Sarah Dressen
66. Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegone-Garrison Keillor
67. Angels- Marian Keyes
68. First Love- Ivan Turgenev
69. The Boarding School Girl- Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaia
70. The Faraday Girls- Monica McInerney
71. Basket Case- Carl Hiaasen
72. Skinny Dip-Carl Hiaasen
73. Rachel's Holiday-Marian Keyes
74. Strip Tease- Carl Hiassen
75. P.S. I Love You- Cecelia Ahern
76. Sick Puppy-Carl Hiassen
77. Dedication-Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
78. Cracks in my Foundation- Marian Keyes
79. Eat, Pray, Love-Elizabeth Gilbert

The Reading List of 2006- A Review

2007-01-02T16:11:42Z

I read 70 books in 2006. I'm pretty sure that means I have absolutely no life. It also means that I spend way too much money on books. Here's a break down of what I read & which ones I liked.

Bold- Books I loved
Italics- Books I enjoyed, but probably wouldn't read again
Plain Text- Ones that I read, but left no long term lasting impression on me.
Underline- Books I'm sending angry hate mail to the author, demanding money & the hours of my life it took me to read the crap they wrote.

1. A Wind in the Door- Madeleine L'Engle
2. Marley & Me- John Grogan
3. Florida- Christine Schutt
4. Prep- Curtis Sittenfeld
5. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life- Amy Krouse Rosenthal
6. The Nibelungenlieb- Anon. (Translation by A.T. Hatto)
7. Faust: Part One- J. Goethe
8. The Perfect Summer- Luanne Rice
9. Goodnight Nobody: A Novel- Jennifer Weiner
10. The Prince- Niccolo Machiavelli
11. Illumination Night- Alice Hoffman
12. The Last Days of Dogtown- Anita Diamant
13. Firefly Beach- Luanne Rice
14. Sorcery & Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country- Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
15. Sleep, Pale Sister- Joanne Harris
16. The Tenth Circle- Jodi Picoult
17. Ghost White Girls- Alice Greenway
18. Violet & Claire- Francesca Lia Block
19. Moonlight & Vines- Charles de Lint
20. The Mermaid Chair- Susan Monk Kidd
21. Same Sweet Girls- Cassandra King
22. The Grand Tour- Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
23. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian-Marina Lewycka
24. Kiss of Shadows- Laurell K. Hamilton
25. No Touch Monkey- Ayun Halliday
26. Becoming Myself, Reflections on Growing Up Female- Willa Shalit
27. Irish Girls About Town- Maeve Binchy et. al
28. The Highest Tide- Jim Lynch
29. The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
30. Three Incestuous Sisters- Audrey Niffenegger
31. Widdershins- Charles de Lint
32. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation- Lauren Willig
33. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius- David Eggers
34. Child of a Rainless Year- Jane Lindskold
35. Madeleine is Sleeping- Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
36. Inkheart- Cornelia Funke
37. Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen
38. The Devil Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger
39. Natives and Exotics- Jane Alison
40. Island of the Sequined Love Nun- Christopher Moore
41. Girls Night Out- Meg Cabot et. al
42. The Stolen Child- Keith Donohue
43. A Wedding in December- Anita Shreve
44. The River King- Alice Hoffman
45. Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman
46. Secret Society Girl- Diana Peterfreund
47. Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu- J. Maarten Troost
48. The Book of Bright Ideas- Sandra Kring
49. The Blue Girl - Charles de Lint
50. The Masque of the Black Tulip - Lauren Willig
51. Possible Side Effects- Augusten Burroughs
52. Necklace of Kisses- Francesca Lia Block
53. Lost in the Forest-Sue Miller
54. The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield
55. The Guy Not Taken- Jennifer Weiner
56. The History of Love- Nicole Krauss
57. The Confessions of Felix Krull- Thomas Mann
58. Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn- Donald Spoto
59. Haunted- Chuck Palahniuk
60. The Right Fit- Sinead Moriarty
61. Riding Lessons- Sarah Gruen
62. The Buried Pyramid- Jane Linskold
63. The Deception of the Emerald Ring- Lauren Willig
64. Every Secret Thing: A Novel- Laura Lippman
65. The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After: Being the Private Correspondence Between Two Prominent Families Regarding a Scandal Touching the Highest Levels of Government and the Security of the Realm-Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
66. Always the Bridesmaid- Sarah Webb
67. Heiress of Water- Sandra Rodriguez Barron
68. Finding Alice- Melody Carlson
69. Not So Snow White- Donna Kauffman
70. Dog Handling- Clare Naylor

My top 3 favorites were:

1. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life- Amy Krouse Rosenthal
2. The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
3. Marley & Me- John Grogan

Oh dear

2006-09-08T01:28:23Z

I just saw the new Gap commercial starring my darling Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face.

Oh Dear.

Just no.

Jo would not be promoting the Gap.

-one unhappy funnyface

Promo

2006-07-10T20:51:03Z

I've started a community for people writing their Statements of Purpose for grad schools. It's called review_my_sop.
If anyone on here has the editting bug, and would love to edit the hopes and dreams of eager academics, feel free to join.

Lutz, flip, axel, what?

2006-02-22T18:16:16Z

If you're not familiar with all the different kinds of jumps in figure skating NBC's website has a great section showing all the different kinds of jumps, complete with little videos of each jump. Also there's a guide to the new scoring system and a glossary of terms you may not know (as Craig said during ice dancing, "Twizzle? Isn't that a type of candy?")

http://www.nbcolympics.com/figureskating/inside.html?ch=3

It's a good site.

Books Read in 2006

2006-01-03T18:25:34Z

A new list for a new year!

1. A Wind in the Door- Madeleine L'Engle
2. Marley & Me- John Grogan
3. Florida- Christine Schutt
4. Prep- Curtis Sittenfeld
5. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life- Amy Krouse Rosenthal
6. The Nibelungenlieb- Anon. (Translation by A.T. Hatto)
7. Faust: Part One- J. Goethe
8. The Perfect Summer- Luanne Rice
9. Goodnight Nobody: A Novel- Jennifer Weiner
10. The Prince- Niccolo Machiavelli
11. Illumination Night- Alice Hoffman
12. The Last Days of Dogtown- Anita Diamant
13. Firefly Beach- Luanne Rice
14. Sorcery & Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country- Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
15. Sleep, Pale Sister- Joanne Harris
16. The Tenth Circle- Jodi Picoult
17. Ghost White Girls- Alice Greenway
18. Violet & Claire- Francesca Lia Block
19. Moonlight & Vines- Charles de Lint
20. The Mermaid Chair- Susan Monk Kidd
21. Same Sweet Girls- Cassandra King
22. The Grand Tour- Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
23. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian-Marina Lewycka
24. Kiss of Shadows- Laurell K. Hamilton
25. No Touch Monkey- Ayun Halliday
26. Becoming Myself, Reflections on Growing Up Female- Willa Shalit
27. Irish Girls About Town- Maeve Binchy et. al
28. The Highest Tide- Jim Lynch
29. The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
30. Three Incestuous Sisters- Audrey Niffenegger
31. Widdershins- Charles de Lint
32. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation- Lauren Willig
33. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius- David Eggers
34. Child of a Rainless Year- Jane Lindskold
35. Madeleine is Sleeping- Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
36. Inkheart- Cornelia Funke
37. Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen
38. The Devil Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger
39. Natives and Exotics- Jane Alison
40. Island of the Sequined Love Nun- Christopher Moore
41. Girls Night Out- Meg Cabot et. al
42. The Stolen Child- Keith Donohue
43. A Wedding in December- Anita Shreve
44. The River King- Alice Hoffman
45. Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman
46. Secret Society Girl- Diana Peterfreund
47. Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu- J. Maarten Troost
48. The Book of Bright Ideas- Sandra Kring
49. The Blue Girl - Charles de Lint
50. The Masque of the Black Tulip - Lauren Willig
51. Possible Side Effects- Augusten Burroughs
52. Necklace of Kisses- Francesca Lia Block
53. Lost in the Forest-Sue Miller
54. The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield
55. The Guy Not Taken- Jennifer Weiner
56. The History of Love- Nicole Krauss
57. The Confessions of Felix Krull- Thomas Mann
58. Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn- Donald Spoto
59. Haunted- Chuck Palahniuk
60. The Right Fit- Sinead Moriarty
61. Riding Lessons- Sarah Gruen
62. The Buried Pyramid- Jane Linskold
63. The Deception of the Emerald Ring- Lauren Willig
64. Every Secret Thing: A Novel- Laura Lippman
65. The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After: Being the Private Correspondence Between Two Prominent Families Regarding a Scandal Touching the Highest Levels of Government and the Security of the Realm-Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
66. Always the Bridesmaid- Sarah Webb
67. Heiress of Water- Sandra Rodriguez Barron
68. Finding Alice- Melody Carlson
69. Not So Snow White- Donna Kauffman
70. Dog Handling- Clare Naylor

Books Read in 2005

2005-01-14T16:00:38Z

I'm going to make an effort to keep track of books I've read in 2005:

1. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
2. Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella
3. Coastliners by Joanne Harris
4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
5. A Series of Unfortunate Events- Very Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
6. The Reptile Room-Lemony Snicket
7. Watermelon- Marian Keyes
8. Sea Glass-Anita Shreve
9. The Sex Lives of Cannibals- J. Maarten Troost
10. Plain Truth- Jodi Picoult
11. The Last Unicorn- Peter S. Beagle
12. Songs of the Humpback Whale; A Novel in Five Voices- Jodi Picoult
13. My Sister's Keeper- Jodi Picoult
14. Angels and Demons- Dan Brown
15. Me Talk Pretty One Day- David Sedaris
16. The Namesake- Jhumpa Lahiri
17. Vanishing Acts- Jodi Picoult
18. Rape: A Love Story- Joyce Carol Oates
19. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
20. Spirit in the Wires- Charles de Lint
21. Ya-Ya's in Bloom- Rebecca Wells
22. The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters- Elisabeth Robinson
23. A Great and Terrible Beauty- Libba Bray
24. The Full Cupboard of Life- Alexander McCall
25. The Probable Future- Alice Hoffman
26. Chalktown- Melinda Hayes
27. The Shop on Blossom Street-Debbie Macomber
28. Three Weeks with my Brother- Nicholas and Micah Sparks
29. The Lady and the Unicorn- Tracey Chevalier
30. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- Ann Brashares
31. Second Summer of the Sisterhood- Ann Brashares
32. Lost in a Good Book- Jasper Fforde
33. Jemima J; a Novel about Ugly Ducklings and Swans- Jane Green
34. The Tea Shop on Mulberry Street- Sharon Owens
35. Everything is Illuminated- Jonathan Safran Foer
36. Blackbird House- Alice Hoffman
37. Moonheart- Charles de Lint
38. Running With Scissors- Augusten Burroughs
39. Girls in Pants- Ann Brashares
40. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel- Louise Murphy
41. The Pact- Jodi Picoult
42. Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling
43. Ukrainian Literature of the 20th Century: A Reader's Guide - George Luckyj
44. The Seduction of Water- Carol Goodman
45. A Wrinkle in Time- Madeleine L'Engle
46. An Embarrassment of Mangoes; A Caribbean Interlude- Ann Vanderhoof
47. A Very Long Engagement-Sebastien Japrisot
48. The Undomestic Goddess- Sophie Kinsella
49. Aquamarine & Indigo- Alice Hoffman
50. I am Madame X- Giola Diliberto
51. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Jonathan Safran Foer
52. The Historian- Elizabeth Kostova
53. Dry-Augusten Burroughs
54. Light on Snow- Anita Shreve
55. The Tale of Ihor's Campaign-Author Unknown
56. The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia- Lutz Kleveman
57. Rebel Angels- Libba Bray
58. Little Earthquakes- Jennifer Weiner
59. Speak- Laurie Halse Anderson
60. The Resort- Bentley Little
61. Diary- Chuck Palahniuk
62. The Magician's Nephew- C.S. Lewis
63. Picture Perfect- Jodi Picoult
64. The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe- C.S. Lewis
65. Dangerous Angels- Francesca Lia Block
66. Resurrection- Leo Tolstoy
67. Son of a Witch- Gregory Maguire
68. Magical Thinking- Augusten Burroughs
69. The Stupidest Angel-Christopher Moore
70. The Horse and His Boy- C.S. Lewis
71. Jigs and Reels; Stories- Joanne Harris
72. Where is the Mango Princess- Cathy Crimmins
73. The Well of Lost Plots- Jasper Fforde
74. Memories of my Melancholy Whores- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
75. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green- Joshua Braff

Why Georgia Why?

2004-01-30T17:18:53Z

Ahh, Carter, Evolution and Emory University all in one scary article.

Ga. Official Wants to Replace 'Evolution'
By DOUG GROSS
Associated Press Writer

The state's school superintendent has proposed striking the word evolution from Georgia's science curriculum and replacing it with the phrase "biological changes over time."

The change, which drew criticism from both liberals and conservatives, is included in more than 800 pages of draft revisions to Georgia's curriculum that have been posted by the Department of Education on its Web site. The middle and high school standards are expected to be voted on by the state Board of Education in May, after public comments.

Superintendent Kathy Cox said the concept of evolution would still be taught under the proposal, but the word would not be used in the curriculum. The proposal would not require schools to buy new textbooks omitting the word evolution and would not prevent teachers from using it.

Cox, a Republican elected to the post in 2002, repeatedly referred to evolution as a "buzzword" Thursday and said the ban was proposed, in part, to alleviate pressure on teachers in socially conservative areas where parents object to its teaching.

"If teachers across this state, parents across this state say, 'This is not what we want,' then we'll change it," Cox said.

Educators and legislators criticized the proposal, saying science teachers understand the theories behind evolution and how to teach them.

"Here we are, saying we have to improve standards and improve education, and we're just throwing a bone to the conservatives with total disregard to what scientists say," said state Rep. Bob Holmes, a Democrat.

Former President Jimmy Carter had harsh words for the change on Friday, calling it an embarrassment and saying it exposes the state to nationwide ridicule.

"As a Christian, a trained engineer and scientist, and a professor at Emory University, I am embarrassed by Superintendent Kathy Cox's attempt to censor and distort the education of Georgia's students," Carter said in a statement.

Social conservatives who prefer religious creation to be taught instead of evolution criticized the proposal as well.

"If you're teaching the concept without the word, what's the point?" said Rep. Bobby Franklin, a Republican. "It's stupid. It's like teaching gravity without using the word gravity."

Carter, a Baptist, said that existing references to evolution in Georgia's curriculum have done nothing to damage religious faith in the state.

Cox spokesman Kirk Englehardt said the superintendent was reviewing Carter's statement Friday morning and did not have an immediate response.

HAHAHAHA

2003-12-21T06:01:43Z

http://www.playingsafely.co.uk/12stisofchristmas/12-STIs.html