The Zoo over Ambuscade Street

I'm not sure if I want to read a book called The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror or not. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I can resist a book with a title like that...

First sentence: Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.

Mmmm...maybe I'll pass. Funny books are very hit and miss with me, and I don't know if I can handle that style of writing for any length of time.

On the other hand, I just finished reading Shadow and Claw (finally!), and am about to embark on the second half of the series. Good stuff, although it's one of those books where it's really hard to describe what it's really like.

Thea! I thought of another famous female science fiction author who never lets me down - Lois McMaster Bujold. You'd probably want to start with either The Curse of Chalion (her fantasy series) or The Warrior's Apprentice, which features one of my favorite characters of all time.

Heh - more people asking for book recommendations makes me happy. I think I'm going to tackle the Ohtori series next...Although The Bonesetter's Daughter has been sitting on my side table for some time as well...

Bizzare sentance of the day:

"It's also possible to rent your bees out to farmers and serious gardeners in many areas of the country as a source of even more income."

I sense that beekeeping will provide me with an endless source of amusement, even if it's only from the literature.

[EDIT] Add to that "Great deals on Honey Bees Shop on eBay and Save!" All capitalizations as it originally appeared.

[EDIT2] Ok, this is awesome. And there's only one "local" apiary I've been able to find - in Louisa, which isn't exactly all that close. Note to self: Research what it takes to rent out hives for pollinization purposes, and make sure to have Dirty Hands Garden Center (and others, not family-owned) advertise. Need to get a truck - transporting hives of bees in a Mini would probably suck. A lot.

Fredericksburg is culturally dead (unless "Civil War" = culture), Spotsyltucky is a virtual wasteland, but Charlottesville just strikes me as an increasingly awesome place. The problem? To move there I'd have some difficulty in finding a job, and Erik would take a $15-20K pay cut if he did a lateral transfer. Ouch.

But Charlottesville has everything - music (niche, mainstream, free, big-name, obscure), theatre, museums, places where you can walk without being killed, wineries, beekeeper associations, great libraries, neat little shops, awesome radio stations (how many radio stations in your area play Ukranian Gypsy Punk, classical, reggae, and opera all in the same day?), amazing hiking...pretty much everything I'd want in my ideal city.

Sigh...I'll just have to go visit more often. It's a fairly long drive, but I'm used to those by now.

I just got my first issue of Shojo Beat, and it's pretty impressive.

Provided that you don't read the editor's letter. I quote:

Shojo (show-joe) means "girl" in Japanese...Note: the word shojo usually appears with a circumflex or macron over the first o...we removed it for the sake of simplicity and readability in the magazine.

The hilarity never stops. But there's a small preview book for the Ultra Maniac manga, and a preview disc with the first episode of the Ultra Maniac anime, both of which are nice touches. Also stupid articles about fashion. And about sixteen "Subscribe now! Special Introductory Rate!" cards.

But the title...

[EDIT] Speaking of never-ending hilarity...Pointy knives can kill. There are so many comments I could make (and have been, to Erik), but I think I'll let that stand on its own for now.

[EDIT2] Virgin Beat grades: Nana, Godchild and Crimson Hero were great, each for different reasons. That's "great" as in I really enjoyed them, and doesn't necessarily reflect actual quality. Absolute Boyfriend wasn't bad. Baby & Me and Kaze Hikaru were dull, dull, dull...

The articles weren't bad, other than taunting me with Ace wo Nerae. Don't tease, Viz, don't tease! I could win a Mini Cooper... ^_^;;