Vibrant.(Still) Unrepentant. Badass. Old. Queer

Hi, Kittens! It's the New Year!  2014!  How the fuck did that happen?  And where did all these eye wrinklez and gray hairz come from? ANYWAYz, it is the time when one makes resolutions for the New Year (2014!*).  And, here are my New Year's (2014!) Resolutions (in no particular order): 1.  Last year, I read 10 new books (I re-read a lot of other books, but only 10 new ones).  In this New Year (2014!), I resolve to read *at least* TWELVE NEW BOOKS!  I have already started with "Ender's Game," which a couple of my co-workers will not. shut. up. about.  So far, it is not too bad.  Yay!  2.  Last year, I ran 97 times for a total of 431 miles.  This year (2014!), I will run 500 miles and I will run 500 more.  Just to be the man to run 1000 miles to your door.  A-hahahaha.  I kid.  I resolve to run 100 TIMES!  And, if those 100 times total to 500 miles?  BONUS!!! 3.  Last year, I blogged 3...

For my kittens who aren't my friends on the Facebooks ... Rainy Sunday = Great day to blob on the sofa and read. These are the books I read this year: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What you Can Do About it by Anna Lappe Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith The Trajectory of Dreams by Nicole McAfee Wolverton Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks This doesn't include books that I re-read, such as the Hunger Games Trilogy, the Thursday Next series (books 1-6), among others. I have been compiling a list of books to read in 2014.  This is what I have so far: Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards The Ma...

Good Morning, Kittens! As 2011 draws to a close (hurrah!), I thought it would be fun to take a quick minute to list the books that I've read this year. Most of them were very good. A couple were truly awful (I'm looking at you, "The Lost Symbol" and "The Land of Painted Caves."). Without further ado, in (close approximation of) the order in which I read them, here are the Books of 2011: 1. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin 2. I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell 3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas 4. The Surrendered by Chang Rae-Lee 5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown 6. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #1) by Rick Riordan 7. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #2) by Rick Riordan 8. The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #3) by Rick Riordan 9. The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children #6) by Jean M. Auel 10. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and...

Good Morning, Kittens. As the 2010 comes crashing to a dramatic and fanciful close, everyone makes the lists. You may remember I bought a Nook around the beginning of this year. Francis the Nook has made reading much more convenient and the 45 min (on a good day) commute to work much more enjoyable. So, here's a list of the books I've read (in no particular order ... although I used the covers of my favorite fiction and non-fiction books of the year as illustrations): Michael Tolliver Lives -- Armistead Maupin Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen Cleopatra: A Life --Stacy Schiff Never Let Me Go -- Kazuo Ishiguro You Are Not a Stranger Here -- Adam Haslett The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson The Girl who Played with Fire -- Stieg Larsson The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest -- Stieg Larsson The Hunger Games -- Suzanne Colllins Catching Fire -- Suzanne Collins Mockingjay -- Suzanne Collins Sons an d Lovers -- D.H. Lawrence The Scarlet Letter -- Natha...

Good Afternoon, Kittens. As I mentioned earlier, I finished the book, Julie & Julia , the other day. And, here's my mini-review ... I'm sure everyone knows the story by now: Bored NYC Office Temp hits upon the idea to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 in one year ... and to blog about it. And, the blog takes off. She's popular. She's on the news. She's in the NYTimes. She lands a book deal. And a movie, which stars Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. [Do I look jealous? Because I AMz!] J&J chronicles that fascinating journey with poorly put together prose and lots and lots of whining. Lots. Of. Whining. Not to mention a sometimes sporadic timeline which I found confusing. Although I'm sure a lot of the whining was written for comedic effect, except for a few bright spots, I didn't find myself laughing (or silently chuckling, for that matter). Plus, without giving anything away, the book had not on...

Good Morning, Kittens! I think Wednesdays are the day for me to go to the pottery studio. For the second week in a row, I was the only person there. It was *much* easier to concentrate than when the studio is filled with annoyingly chatty College chicks. I may go this Sunday to see how the weekend studio is. Anyway, I threw the bowl and two vases pictured. I rarely throw bowls, so that was a fun challenge. And, I may turn the vases into mugs. The squaretop vase lacked "height" (meaning, even though it is tall enough, it has a squat feel to it), so I pinched in the sides. I don't know if it helped, but it looks a bit more interesting now. Recently, I finished reading Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin. It was all right. I felt a lot of the biological information was common knowledge (or, at least, common knowledge for someone who majored in biology); however, every now and then I would read a sentence or a paragraph th...

Good Morning, Kittens! I'm afraid there's not much to report. Last night was the first meeting with the new Board. For those of you who don't know, I live in a housing co-op. I was nominated to act as President. Woo hoo. Teh Power. I haz it. I will also serve as the liaison between the Board and the management company. Oh, what fun. I also finished reading Second Nature by Michael Pollan. Good book. I liked his idea that a lot of what we consider to be "wilderness" are not truly wild places and need to be "gardened" (meaning "carefully managed"). For example, the huge wildfires that happened in Yellowstone years ago were a result of letting the park alone. However, had the park been treated like a garden, perhaps the wildfires would not have been so destructive. The last few chapters felt a little weak. Overall, it was an entertaining and informative read. Next up: The Children of Men by PD James. Today, I will be doing a bit of grocery shopp...