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shadowkatYes, I took a picture of my stuffed frog at work and turned it into an icon. Let's move on. Oh, wait, I call him Kermit. Not because he necessarily looks like Kermit - okay maybe his much prettier cousin, but because I suck at naming things. My idea of a pet's name was Spooky. Then my brother took over. Although he named his kid Cedar. So this may be a genetic thing.
Prior to going online again tonight - ran into issues with Youtube volumn control. This happened to me earlier in the year. Spent two hours trying to fix the stupid thing, did everything I could think of - rebooted computer, cleared recent history, and went online - every site stated the same thing - did you check the volume on Youtube. Yes. I couldn't change it - highly frustrating. But here's the thing - the volume control is not the little arrow box above the speaker icon, hitting that, it turns red - and all that pops up is a little thing with a gauge next to it (which is a horizontal as opposed to veritical volume control like everywhere else on the net -no, it is next to it. ) And it automatically mutes and this control disappears, unless you hit little arrow button next to red cross sign on speaker icon - if you use competing sound items such as itunes. So when you go back to it - you have to remember to hit arrow icon and look for the little volume control "next to it". I hit arrow icon, but kept hunting for vertical volume control not horizontal one. Confused? Don't blame you. In short? I did the same stupid thing twice - just six months apart. Good news? I'm not alone. Apparently there's a lot of other people online who are doing the same thing. Although not entirely sure that is good news, except that we can be dumb together. Remind me to throttle whomever designed this nifty little feature on Youtube and is most likely laughing his or her head off at us.
Neil Gaiman found a website that had me laughing very loudly. Go here: http://jen-campbell.blogspot.com/search/label/weird%20things%20customers%20say
It's crazy things that customers say at bookstores. My favorite?
Customer: Do you have this book *holds up a biography* but without the photographs?
Me: I think the photographs are published alongside the text in every edition.
Customer: Why?
Me: I suppose so you can see what everyone looked like.
Customer: I don't like photographs.
Me: Ok.
Customer: Could you cut them out for me?
Me: .......
Although it really is hard to choose. Seriously? Neil Gaiman's blog is fun. Even if I envy his life, okay not the traveling about bit - I rather hate traveling. Seeing new places - I enjoy, getting to them and staying in hotels - not so much. I sleep poorly away from my own bed. My parents were/are travel bugs - ie. they love to travel. Okay, should amend that - they hated the actual travel, but loved going to new places. As a result - did a lot of traveling between the ages of 10-35.
Gaiman also provided a link to a rather interesting list of genre books.
http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2011/05/for-win-guide-to-2011s-best-of-best.html
Five books I want to try because they look cool:
Feed by Mira Grant (not really a zombie book or rather a new take on a zombie book. Years after a horrible zombie virus breakout - a male and female journalist team discovers a conspiracy behind the breakout, that someone caused it, and hunts down the source at risk to their own lives.)
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal- basically Pride and PRejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Or Jane Austen as a fantasy writer. It's about two women who are great at glamours - one is prettier than the other, but one has better skills at glamours and events conspire to make her use her skills to the max to stay alive, and in the process she wanders into a romance of her own.
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Prachett (I really should try Prachett again at some point - not sure if this is a stand a lone or not. It is part of the Discworld. It's about a witch named Tiffany with healing powers, who has to save the world with the Wee Blue Men. Had an intriguing review - stated it was humorous and chilling. A high-stakes story about a young witch caught in the struggle between good and evil. Basically Buffy for the Witches by way of Prachett.)
The Behemouth by Scott Westerfield (Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.)
Lightborn by Tricia Sullivan - (Lightborn, better known as 'shine', is a mind-altering technology that has revolutionised the modern world. It is the ultimate in education, self-improvement and entertainment - beamed directly into the brain of anyone who can meet the asking price. But in the city of Los Sombres, renegade shine has attacked the adult population, resulting in social chaos and widespread insanity in everyone past the age of puberty. The only solution has been to turn off the Field and isolate the city. Trapped within the quarantine perimeter, fourteen-year-old Xavier just wants to find the drug that can keep his own physical maturity at bay until the army shuts down the shine. That's how he meets Roksana, mysteriously impervious to shine and devoted to helping the stricken. As the military invades street by street, Xavier and Roksana discover that there could be hope for Los Sombres - but only if Xavier will allow a lightborn cure to enter his mind. What he doesn't know is that the shine in question has a mind of its own ... ) - it's nominated for the Arthur C. Clark award apparently.
Prior to going online again tonight - ran into issues with Youtube volumn control. This happened to me earlier in the year. Spent two hours trying to fix the stupid thing, did everything I could think of - rebooted computer, cleared recent history, and went online - every site stated the same thing - did you check the volume on Youtube. Yes. I couldn't change it - highly frustrating. But here's the thing - the volume control is not the little arrow box above the speaker icon, hitting that, it turns red - and all that pops up is a little thing with a gauge next to it (which is a horizontal as opposed to veritical volume control like everywhere else on the net -no, it is next to it. ) And it automatically mutes and this control disappears, unless you hit little arrow button next to red cross sign on speaker icon - if you use competing sound items such as itunes. So when you go back to it - you have to remember to hit arrow icon and look for the little volume control "next to it". I hit arrow icon, but kept hunting for vertical volume control not horizontal one. Confused? Don't blame you. In short? I did the same stupid thing twice - just six months apart. Good news? I'm not alone. Apparently there's a lot of other people online who are doing the same thing. Although not entirely sure that is good news, except that we can be dumb together. Remind me to throttle whomever designed this nifty little feature on Youtube and is most likely laughing his or her head off at us.
Neil Gaiman found a website that had me laughing very loudly. Go here: http://jen-campbell.blogspot.com/search/label/weird%20things%20customers%20say
It's crazy things that customers say at bookstores. My favorite?
Customer: Do you have this book *holds up a biography* but without the photographs?
Me: I think the photographs are published alongside the text in every edition.
Customer: Why?
Me: I suppose so you can see what everyone looked like.
Customer: I don't like photographs.
Me: Ok.
Customer: Could you cut them out for me?
Me: .......
Although it really is hard to choose. Seriously? Neil Gaiman's blog is fun. Even if I envy his life, okay not the traveling about bit - I rather hate traveling. Seeing new places - I enjoy, getting to them and staying in hotels - not so much. I sleep poorly away from my own bed. My parents were/are travel bugs - ie. they love to travel. Okay, should amend that - they hated the actual travel, but loved going to new places. As a result - did a lot of traveling between the ages of 10-35.
Gaiman also provided a link to a rather interesting list of genre books.
http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2011/05/for-win-guide-to-2011s-best-of-best.html
Five books I want to try because they look cool:
Feed by Mira Grant (not really a zombie book or rather a new take on a zombie book. Years after a horrible zombie virus breakout - a male and female journalist team discovers a conspiracy behind the breakout, that someone caused it, and hunts down the source at risk to their own lives.)
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal- basically Pride and PRejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Or Jane Austen as a fantasy writer. It's about two women who are great at glamours - one is prettier than the other, but one has better skills at glamours and events conspire to make her use her skills to the max to stay alive, and in the process she wanders into a romance of her own.
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Prachett (I really should try Prachett again at some point - not sure if this is a stand a lone or not. It is part of the Discworld. It's about a witch named Tiffany with healing powers, who has to save the world with the Wee Blue Men. Had an intriguing review - stated it was humorous and chilling. A high-stakes story about a young witch caught in the struggle between good and evil. Basically Buffy for the Witches by way of Prachett.)
The Behemouth by Scott Westerfield (Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.)
Lightborn by Tricia Sullivan - (Lightborn, better known as 'shine', is a mind-altering technology that has revolutionised the modern world. It is the ultimate in education, self-improvement and entertainment - beamed directly into the brain of anyone who can meet the asking price. But in the city of Los Sombres, renegade shine has attacked the adult population, resulting in social chaos and widespread insanity in everyone past the age of puberty. The only solution has been to turn off the Field and isolate the city. Trapped within the quarantine perimeter, fourteen-year-old Xavier just wants to find the drug that can keep his own physical maturity at bay until the army shuts down the shine. That's how he meets Roksana, mysteriously impervious to shine and devoted to helping the stricken. As the military invades street by street, Xavier and Roksana discover that there could be hope for Los Sombres - but only if Xavier will allow a lightborn cure to enter his mind. What he doesn't know is that the shine in question has a mind of its own ... ) - it's nominated for the Arthur C. Clark award apparently.
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-03 09:06 pm (UTC)Here's the first one: Madness of Angels (http://www.amazon.com/Madness-Angels-Resurrection-Matthew-Swift/dp/B0046LUHT8/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c). Great story and fantastic writing -- almost lyrical at times.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-03 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-04 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-05 03:02 am (UTC)I love the Kindle - it's like having an instant bookstore whether you go. You would not believe the number of 50 page samples I've downloaded.