back on the horse

I'm a neglectful shit. Forgive me.

'Kay , some random shit...sundry thoughts & transpirings (don't expect coherence, 'cuz I'm DAMNED RUSTY)--

Got my nails did. ..not so remarkable maybe. But for the first time ever, I shelled out for some upkeep. Yep..I got a fill 2 weeks after I got my nails done initially. Yippy effing skippy, right? Yeah, I realize that is how MOST gals do it. But I've always just gotten gels put on once (often coinciding with me being in somebody-er-other's wedding ..ha haa) and then I just try to MacGuyver the maintenance myself (filling the gap with clear polish & then painting over the whole mess) and let 'em grow out for a while until I finally pry 'em off myself after approx a month.

I may even pay for another fill in about a week. I think I gotta find somewhere else to get 'em done though. I mean, a fill is cheaper than the original job, but still, methinks I could be getting a better deal than a $35 fill.

I finished reading Smilla's Sense of Snow and overall, I recommend it. I had trouble with it at times because it got very sciencey and those parts bored me and made me feel stupid at the same time (neither of which do I enjoy) I guess the reason I overall recommend it is because the main character is a very unique one...worth meeting, so to speak. I just finished up (last night) a novel called A House and its Head (by Ivy Compton- Burnett) and that one was..eehhh. The following is how I summed it up on BookCrossing-

"This book was --for the most part--lots and lots of dialogue. Prim quibbling like "Oh should I have called her by her Christian name? I *do*hope I wasn't being too forward. Do you think it unseemly of me, cousin?" Not a direct quote there, but the book is full of blather just like that. Odd thing is, I usually go for that stuff. Austen, Bronte, Gaskell-- I'm always gleefully devouring books like that. I can't really pinpoint why it didn't engage me in this book. Perhaps there was just too much of it? I kept reading, well, mostly just because I try to be conscientious about finishing the books I start no matter how much of a chore they become (so that I'm at least conscientious in *one* area of my life). Oh, and also the blurb on the back promises "sexual passion" Ummm, not so much. OK, there was passion goin' on,but it was way subtextual. This snooze of a book coulda benefitted from being a smidge more explicit about it, knowwhatimean??Now I would have rated this lower than a 4, except that 3/4 of the way thru, the book delivers a sort of a judo chop to the throat that wakes you up and renders the book memorable. I presume spoilers are verboten, so I'll just say that one of the characters does a baaaad, BAD thing and what got me was not the act, but how it was so nonchalantly woven into the story. It made me do this WTF?? style double take, during the sort of novel in which you don't generally do WTF?? double takes. I was all "HUH? Did she really do what I think she did? And why is everybody acting like it was a bit of foolish caprice?" Seriously, this is a JAIL-WORTHY OFFENSE and her family acts as if she left her best parasol out in the rain. It's bizarro."

Yep, I've long been intrigued by BookCrossing.com, but have been reluctant to try it out. Mostly it's that I'm too possessive about my books and it's hard for me to part with 'em. But of course, that's not the case with ALL the books I've acquired--there are certainly books I've read and been quite disappointed with, and feel confident I shall never revisit their pages again. But with those disappointing books, I always feel like I ought to try to dump those off with some used book store and recoup at least some of my wasted moolah . But all that said, I really AM attracted to the Book Crossing concept... connecting with random strangers via intinerent books... very neat. And the fact is, I usually don't revisit books, even the ones I like, and I HAVEN'T been schlepping any books to the used book stores, so why not give it a shot?? I thought I'd start out with "A House and its Head"--and if that yields any interesting results, I'll put some other books out there. None of the books that I ADORE, of course. .. but any reads ranging from horrid up to pretty good are fair game,I think. But anyways, at this point I'm just starting out, I created my account just this afternoon, and I've just registered that 1 book (getting the BC ID# & writing the initial review) I'm pondering where I should leave it...I might ask my coworkers for suggestions in tomorrow's daily email.

I just started reading Embers. I may keep you posted on whether I LOOOVE that one (or if I'm sending it off into the wild with a BC ID# label on it)...but no promises. Once season premieres kick off next week, I may just ditch this whole reading kick I've been on...

I saw on IMDB that cutie James Marsden turns 35 today. Which struck me as a major coinky-dink since I kinda watched 27 Dresses on my iPod last night. By "kinda" I mean I fast forwarded through all the bits with her boss & sister and just watched the cute parts with K-Heigl & Marsden. (Ohh..speaking of Heigl..she's now shooting a romantic comedy w/ Gerard Butler. I am rather stoked. I could so go for GB in a rom-com, and yes there was PS I Love You but I think I've previously mentioned that I can't watch that horse-tastic Hillary Swank in anything.)

I kinda wanna see this movie.

Okay...I shall post again soon. Hopefully I'll be able to yarf up something a bit more substantial..