A Dog's View on Politics

I took my dog outside this morning, not for a full on walk yet, just to do some business, and we came upon a giant sign affixed to the fence of my apartment complex for a local guy running for some sort of office or other. It was giant, it was bright, and it hadn't been there before. My dog looked at it out of the corner of her little chocolate brown eyes, crab-walked a bit around so that we were on the far side of the sidewalk, and continued on. On the way back down the same sidewalk to my apartment, she did the same. She refused to look straight at it, and gave it a wide berth.

Amen, Sophie, amen.

On My Shelf

I'll admit, I "borrowed" a book from my sister's shelf. P.I. on a Hot Tin Roof, by Julie Smith. Lately, I've been watching a lot of thriller/mystery TV shows, specifically Bones, as well as Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice, and all of those combined have put me in the mood for some great mystery novels. When I saw this particular book had been left on my sister's shelf at home, I picked it up and started reading.
The P.I. mentioned in the title is Talba Wallis, a whip-smart private investigator by day and New Orleans-famous poet by night, who goes undercover in order to get her friend, Angie, off the hook for something she had been framed for. But things get complicated when the man she is investigating turns up dead, and his fiance hires her to find the killer. The case has many twists and turns, which I really enjoyed, because sometimes I know "who-dun-it" before the book really gets to that point, so finding one that kept me guessing until the very end was a real treasure.
Things I didn't like about the novel, however:

1. Talba is kind of weird. Especially her alter-ego, Baroness de Pontalba.

2. The author, who is white, is writing about the life of a black woman. I felt often that she was over-compensating for the lack of experience she had in that field, and I was a little annoyed that anytime someone of a Caucasian descent was introduced, they were automatically labeled as racist, especially if they were middle-to-upper-class.

3. I KNOW it was a New Orleans based book, but the accents and bad grammar were KILLING me.

All in all, I'd recommend this book, if only for the good mystery it provides.

Friday the 13th

Little known fact about Geek Girl: I am superstitious. Not in any crazy, out there kind of way, but certain things alarm me. You won't catch me stepping under a ladder, or opening an umbrella inside, because seriously, why risk it? So of course I was dreading Friday the 13th. I waited for most of the day for something to go wrong, some sort of sign that bad luck was upon me. But it never happened, thank goodness!
I made it through the day, problem-free, which makes me wonder if it's trying to loll me into a sense of security and the BAM! hit me with some bad luck. Anywho, here are some facts about Friday the 13th, gleaned from that great little website that librarians love and hate, Wikipedia.

1. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. (That's me!)

2. There is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century. (This gives me pause. An ancient superstition holds more sway for me than does a newer one.)

3. However, it can be traced back through oral traditions, as according to author Charles Panati, one of the leading authorities on the subject of "Origins."

The actual origin of the superstition, though, appears also to be a tale in Norse mythology. Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil - a gathering of thirteen - and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week.

So, there you have it, some facts and lore. History, even, to back up why Friday the 13th is considered unlucky. Some say, in these modern times, that it is merely a combination of the unlucky number 13, and the unlucky day, Friday. Either way it gives me the heebie-jeebies.

What's On My Shelf

I recently completed the book The Mercy Seller, by Brenda Rickman Vantrease. Some may recall this author from her previous book, The Illuminator, which I have yet to read. The Mercy Seller follows the lives of two main characters, Anna and Brother Gabriel, during the uprising of the Lollard cause. Anna, who believes that man needs no mediator to God and that all should be able to read the Bible in their own language, instead of the Latin that the Church decrees by law, goes through unimaginable hardships because of her faith. In fact, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to put the book down because it was so sad, or continue reading because her character, strength, faith and wisdom was so inspiring. Brother Gabriel, who is given the job of finding those guilty of heresy and supporters of the Lollard cause, comes into contact with Anna, thus setting an entirely different path for himself than he ever could have forseen, and going through a few trials of his own.
In the end, I finished the book. If you happen to pick the book up yourself, you should do the same.

Chick Lit Faze

So the second book that I've read so far, is Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella. If I read one book of a certain genre, it usually gets me started on that particular genre, so much so that I stay on it for a while. Now, I know that it has been a week since I actually updated my blog, but it's not because it has taken a long time to read this book. I have another book that I am also almost finished with, and it is decidedly heftier. When I finish that one (almost there!), I will definitely update with that one as well.
Anyway, back to the first book mentioned. I had high hopes for this particular book, mainly because Sophie Kinsella happens to be one of my favorite chick lit authors. But the character in this book was annoyingly naive and matierialistic. I understood all of the parts of describing her anxiety, and her need for distraction, which she finds through shopping, but when the bills start to pile up and she does nothing to stop the cycle, I slowly became frustrated. My opinion of the main character dropped even lower when she discovered that her best friend and flatmate's cousin is the fifteenth richest bachelor in Britain. During the first part of meeting the cousin, the main character describes him as annoying and creepy, yet when she discovers that he is rich, she begins to plan how they'll fall madly in love, and . . . just ugh. The ending redeems the novel somewhat, but all in all, not one of my favorites.

Underestimation

A while back I bought Queen of Babble in the Big City, by Meg Cabot, an author that I've nejoyed for a few years. I've read nearly every one of her books. However, when I began this particular book, the lead character irked me a bit. I suppose I just wasn't in the mood for her ditzy, talkative personality. But I recently picked the book up again, since it has been in my to-read pile, and I found that I am enjoying it quite a lot.
The Queen of Babble finds herself in New York with her new boyfriend, who has quit his high paying career to go back to school to become a doctor. Through a series of events, she finds two jobs, one that pays in cash, and one that pays in experience toward her dream of becoming a wedding gown specialist. What enues is an enjoyably light read, filled with a few giggles, a bit of a shocker or two, and a realization (for this reader, at least) that the Queen of Babble may have a big mouth, but she more than makes up for it with a big heart.
I would recommend it to any fan of chick lit, or for anyone who enjoys Meg Cabot's characters and books, or just wants a light read. it'll be worth it. Trust me. However, if this book does strike your fancy, I recommend reading Queen of Babble first, since it is the beginning of the series.

Ok, Ok. . .

So, it's been forever. But, I did find a neat little idea from velocibadgergirl, and I'm steal, urm, borrowing it.


I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Unwanted :: sad
2. You’d better :: not shout
3. Woman :: man
4. Weighed :: truck
5. Upright :: no scoliosis!
6. I feel :: happy, Oh so happy. . .
7. Ill :: ailing
8. It’s like :: You know!
9. Poor man :: he lost his puppy
10. Great :: balls of fire!

I'm a little strange, if you haven't figured that out already. . .

Absolutely Creepy-Yet Amazingly Gorgeous

For some reason, I have Yahoo! set up as my homepage when I log onto the nets, so this was the picture that greeted me. I've always had a strange fascination and respect for snakes. Immediately I wanted to learn what I could about this amazing specimen. To learn about it and other species that scientists have recently discovered, including a rat species thought to have been extinct for 11 million years, click here.

When I first studied the picture of the green piti viper up close, I was trying to compare it with the snakes I'd seen over the years. Something about it's face didn't seem quite right. And then I realized, those big black pits that seem to be glaring at you? Yeah, that's it's nostrils. It's eyes are behind them, and when I finally realized that, I was thoroughly chilled. Just because I think the creature is beautiful doesn't mean I ever want to meet it in person!

Only Fall Out Boy Looks Good In Tight Jeans and Eyeliner

Since I'm bored, and have been watching Fall Out Boy videos on YouTube all afternoon, I have to say that I've seen guys dress like them in real life, but I've never seen anyone pull it off besides FOB.

Also, Pete may be the "looker" of the group. . .


but the lead singer has an adorable geekiness that I find just as appealing.

Twice Tagged

I was tagged TWICE, by my sister and my lovely friend, Tiffany. The rules:

Link to the person(s) that tagged you - (see above).

Post the rules on your blog.

Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

After speaking to my sister over the phone about everything including blogging, she said that since I was tagged twice, I should do twelve habits/quirks/non-important things about myself. I think it will be a challenge, but let's see what I can come up with. . .

1. I think the color gray is so pretty. Other people see a gray day and think it is drab, whereas I feel my spirits uplifted by it, or a gray shirt and think it is boring, whereas I own a bazillion different gray shirts and I adore every one of them. Of course, it helps that I have the coloring that works with gray. :P
2. I find a lot of pleasure in really jamming out to some pretty hard rock. If a good Rob Zombie song pops on the radio, I'll turn it up as loud as my car radio will allow me. I also enjoy System of a Down, Seether, Flyleaf, Drowning Pool, and Disturbed.
3. However, I make it a point to keep the songs on my iPod upbeat and uplifting. There is nothing like walking to class while listening to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," by Daft Punk. It's also hard to be in a bad mood when taking my dog for a walk and listening to jack Johnson.
4. I love different kinds of ethnic food. Among my favorites are German, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Greek.
5. I am unable to deny my dog anything when she puts her mind to getting something by utilizing her big brown eyes and cute little face.
6. I am an avid follower of Questionable Content, and ICanHasCheezburger.
7. I think I'm missing the gene that makes me able to come up with cute, creative things, and the artistic ability to achieve them when I DO happen upon a cute idea.
8. My favorite dinosaur is the T-Rex.
9. I find geology fascinating.
10. I love to star-gaze when I can.
11. Taking me to a bookstore has been likened to taking a kid to a candy-store. In fact, my brother-in-law lost me once in a small bookstore. It's not hard; I'm pretty small and end up in unusual book sections.
12. My hair is almost black when I'm indoors, but when I'm outside in the bright sun, and you look closely it's actually red. Seriously, my sister might not believe me, but my hair is dark red when I go outside to take my dog for walks. I should know, I'm the closest to it!

So there you go. This is extremely close to a meme a did awhile back, but that one concentrated more on food. Enjoy! Oh, and I tag velocibadgergirl.

How a Geek Girl Keeps Herself Occupied

I promise I am not a ditz. Ok, I have my moments, but show me someone who doesn't! When boredom encroaches at my job, and I'm stuck unable to do much about it, my mind switches to Distraction Mode. And it isn't pretty. Here are some things that I've thought in the last week in DM.

• Wow, I've heard of split ends, but I don't think I've ever actually seen them before. Definitely time for a hair cut.
• Why do people wear so much perfume? She's way over there and I can still smell what she's wearing.
• I wish I could whip out my crossword puzzles right about now. I'm pretty sure I'm losing brain cells.
• I wonder what will happen next in Elantris. Why can't I read books on the job again?
• Why do they call them pants? It's one item of clothing. Sure they have leg holes, but shirts have two sleeves and we don't say, "I can't find my shirts."
• Unless of course we are searching for more than one shirt.
• How can I wear a skirt without freezing my legs off, and without doing the whole "jeans under my skirt, I'm so fashionably forward"?
  
• OMGsh, if my boss comes out to tell me something I already know one more time she's going to learn the definition of smart-ass.
  

New Addictions

A few years back, a friend showed me her set of tangrams, 7 shapes that you must use in order to fill in a larger shape. I must admit that it is a lot harder than it sounds. You have to use all seven shapes, they can't overlap each other, and they can't go outside the lines of the larger shape you are trying to re-create. That still makes it sound simple. And in a way, it is. Not in the sense that it's easy, but that it's not complicated. It takes all of your mental processes to work, but it's almost zen-like in it's style.
When my friend first showed me tangrams, I wasn't all that interested. I tried one, found that I couldn't figure it out, became frustrated, and decided that it wasn't a game for me.

But I recently rediscovered it in an unlikely place. My iPhone app store. I found Tangram Pro for free. It has 8 puzzle sets, with many, many puzzles inside each set, providing for hours of this (for me) stress-reducing game. It's free for a limited time, so I snatched it without much thought. I figured I could give it another go, and if I didn't like it, it wasn't as though I was wasting a buck or more on it. I could just uninstall and be done with it. But I became addicted. I'm actually stuck on one in the second puzzle set, having already completely the first.

I also got a couple of my co-workers hooked. One of them helps me solve the ones I get stuck on, or will just gaze at my phone until he can get himself to ask if he can try. My other co-worker downloaded it onto her iPod touch the night I showed it to her. Now we all geek out at work!

I Have Issues

I am getting beyond angry right now at Mozilla Firefox. It continues to crash, refuses to start up, and leaves me seething while I use the inferior IE browser, instead.

It started about a week ago. Continually, Firefox would give me a pop-up: "We're Sorry" and then go on to explain that it had crashed. I could restart it. So, I did. And the pop-up reappeared. So I quit, providing my e-mail address for information and updates. No information or updates were ever given. I finally uninstalled and re-installed it today, and it seemed to work just fine. I was ecstatic. All of my saved blogs, all of my comics! I could visit my sites again!

Alas, it has decided to crash and refuse to start once more. As I type this, I am looking at the IE browser with distain and trying to remember my stupid foxmarks password.

Urban Shaman

I've noticed a pattern in the books that I lean toward when I'm really wanting a good read. I end up with the urban fantasy genre most of the time. Oh sure I go for more traditional fantasy as well. For instance, one of my favorite authors is Julliet Mariller. I loved her Seven Waters trilogoy, which I just discovered has another book out, which I am totally psyched about. Anywho, I've basically finished my newest urban fantasy book: Urban Shaman, by C.E Murphy. This book was amazing. I loved it. The heroine is totally likable, and her powers are amazing, and the way the author describes the universe from a shamanistic point of view was really transcendant. Definitely worth the read! Sadly, I can't really offer a synopses because there are so many stories and twists and such that it's really more of go-see-for-yourself kind of book. Enjoy!

GeekGirl Wonders. . .

There are two shows on Discovery Channel that seem to me to be the exact same, except for different hosts; Man Vs. Wild, with Bear Grylls, and Survivorman, with Les Stroud. Each show has each host out and about in different harsh environments, roughing it and giving you tips that could "actually save your life" if you were ever, say, shoved out of an airplane in the middle of Alaska. They do things like build shelters, and eat dead carcasses, and drink their own pee. Really, the only difference I can fathom is in the host's accents. One is British, and one is American (or at least, he sounds American.)
So, the whole point of this little blog is to pose the question: Why have both shows? Which is better? Is drinking your own pee really a good idea?