It's Raining Hedgehogs

*snort, sniff, snort, grump*

     My pet hedgehog, Siegfried, is probably one of the cutest hedgehogs that exists. You might be asking yourself, what does a hedgehog even do? Well, mine huffs and puffs and pokes with his little toothpick spines, and licks things and chews things and puts spit on himself in a process quaintly called, "self-anointing". The best times are when he comes out of his protective cocoon of spines and looks at you with his clear, bright eyes and snuffles and licks his snout.

He'll only eat cat food, which is what they are fed while in captivity, but promises of a happy hedgehog nomming on grapes or other delicious treats have never really come true in this household. Until they do, I'm going to hold him, and talk to him, and snort back at him because of his rotten little attitude.  

Beauty Queens

     Almost completed the book Beauty Queens, by Libba Bray, but I seriously need to get this off my chest. What started out as a goofy ridiculous read, with great comedic voice and a poke-fun-at-self attitude turned into a giant soap box for every issue ever whined about by anyone. At first, the Corporation seemed similarly ridiculous and hilarious, I'm surprised she didn't just come out and call it, "The Man." Of course it's an evil corporation, with lots of clandestine activity, none of it good. And then there's the contestants.
   
     Each contestant dealt with a different issue. One was "not a nymphomaniac" she simply felt sexy more often than others, and of course we have the Abstinence issue. Then there's a lesbian, and a bi-sexual deaf girl who hates "pretending to be happy" when she's not really that happy because she can't hear. (Seriously? I'm going to respectfully ask the author to leave that topic alone. Unless she's dealing with handicaps herself, which I doubt considering her "insights"). Then of course there's damaging the ecosystem of the lone island, which of course was once inhabited by a brave race of proud people who have been relocated by The Man - ahem, I mean The Corporation.

     There's also a transgender named Petra who used to be a singer for a well-known pop boy band until she quit and started the transition from adorable boy-bander to sexy female. And my favorite character, the crazy, off-the-wall Texan. She's strong, she's opinionated, and she holds a card to the club Femmes and Firearms. Of course, we're supposed to hate her. She's crazy and stupid, right?! If I knew I was buying a soapbox, I would have asked it to kindly plead the fifth. 

Bitter:Sweet

I've been listening to Pandora radio on my phone a lot lately, due to the quiet my job creates (seriously, it's almost zen-like). Of course, since Pandora can read minds, it has selected for my aural pleasure the awesome retro, bubbly sweet Bitter:Sweet. And I've enjoyed every song that has played for me. A quick selection, if I may - -

1. The Mating Game: This song plays in a champagne commercial, which I immediately recalled upon hearing it.
"Dance with me across the ocean floor/
Sail away to heaven's open door/
Step right up/ you're the next contestant
In this sweet charade/
Take a number/ wait while I twist your fate."

2. Dirty Laundry: Another pop-sizzle song. The lead singers voice is practically angelic in quality.

"I've got a bad boy/ and that's alright with me/
His dirty laundry/ is nothing that I can't keep clean/
And when he needs/ an alibi
He can use me all night."

3. The Bomb: The theme song for the show "Lipstick Jungle." J'adore! 

"Read my lips/

Be/ all that you can be/Make a difference/ give your dreams/ to me
Just/ like the television says/ join the army/ get ahead/ oh please."

Check out their official website and enjoy their list of songs to sample. :)

What's New

     Currently, I am sitting through a boring class that allows me to keep my job as a student worker. I'm keeping my job as a student worker for only a month and some change. In December, after my birthday and my sister's birthday, but before Christmas, Hubs and I plan on moving to a new city, where he will work at his new job, and I will stay home to work on a master's degree in Library Science. In the middle of all of this, I'm hoping we can start a little family. Faith isn't about believing your plans will go through, it's knowing that even if they don't, God will take care of you, and everything will turn out just fine.  

LAPTOP!!1!1

My laptop has been on the fritz now for, oh-2 years now, and we were finally fed up with its shenanigans. The battery held charge for 5 minutes, and I think I'm being a bit too generous with that guess-timation. The charging port was loose, causing the charger to pop loose at a wrong glance, and if I didn't scramble fast enough, my computer died. Restarting it took ages, but it was necessary if the charger fell from the port since for some reason that rendered my headphones useless.

My biggest concern was that, when I begin to work on getting my master's in library science, the computer would die unexpectedly, like oh-in the middle of an important 20 page paper!!1!1 Or perhaps in a video conference with a professor. So. Hubs and I went computer shopping and bought me a nice, little gold Asus: light-weight, compact, and best of all, a real battery that holds it's charge and a charging port that actually grips the charger. Aside from that, there are crazy good schematics that have been ok'ed by my husband, the computer science whiz. Yay laptops!

My Cup of Tea

I haven't officially announced on this blog yet, but I'll go ahead and do it now. I am a current holder of a crisp Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology. Although my real passion is books, I've always found the inner workings of the human mind entertaining, so I thought I'd go ahead and get a bachelor's in a field that I enjoyed until I could reach my master's in my true calling as a librarian.

Not too long ago, I was perusing the rows and rows of books and magazines of our wonderful Barnes and Noble, a past time which I find endlessly enjoyable and also a bit frustrating. If I could buy every book I saw and wanted on each visit, I would have a nice little collection! To assuage some of the disappointment of having to leave nearly empty-handed, I browsed through their magazine rack and randomly selected one that looked interesting and fun. I am now addicted!

The magazine is a UK based media called Psychologies. I bought it, very interested, but when I read it, I was enthralled. Here was a magazine that didn't mention flat bellies, yo-yo diets, or the newest celebrity trend. Instead, it had smart, simple articles on dealing with life in a way that makes anyone happy. From ways to keep that holiday happiness all year long to lightening your mind and body. And of course, one of the issues out there today that I feel is particularly relevant: The New Narcissism. Ironically, I may be engaging in this narcissism right now by blogging about me and my thoughts and feelings, but I digress.

Finally, a magazine with intelligence, with wit, with articles that I felt pertained to me and my life. Because Demi Moore's latest drama just doesn't do it for me (although I hope she smacked the hell out of Ashton). And just so I fully complete the circle of this post by coming back to the title, my favorite cup of tea is chamomile and honey.

Habitat for Humanity

Today, as a service project with my group 'o kids, we did a Habitat for Humanity Day. We showed up at the site at around 7 this morning. I was starting to feel awake after several donut holes and a jelly filled eclair, plus an ice cold Diet Dr. Pepper, so as the sun began to rise, I scampered up a ladder before hubby could see and watched the sun come up on the roof of the house.

At some point, I realized there wasn't much for me to do, so when my husband wielded a nail gun, I asked if I could give it a try. Apparently, I'm a natural, since I made few mistakes and hit the stud dead on. I also reinforced the bottom inch at the base. My thighs were on fire from crouching so long!

By noon, reinforcements came by way of pizza, and after a quick jaunt to a gas station for bathroom break and soda run, we were back to work. We finished reinforcing the walls, and papering the roof, not to mention beginning some siding work. The guys in charge were pretty impressed. We weren't as efficient as professionals, but we get a job done and we get it done right!

Very tiring, all in all, but satisfying. They ran out of things for us to do by 2, so we headed on home. Good day.

Ode to Libraries

I've always loved books, and with that came a true love for libraries as a safe haven. When I was young, I was very happy to get books for Christmas. I remember one year I got a Saddle Club Series book and just loved reading it and several installments thereafter.

I remember The American Girls.

I remember a series dedicated to the voices of young girls who would have been on the front lines of history - a girl during the civil war, the Boxer Rebellion, the Underground Railroad - all fictional, but nonetheless powerful.

And libraries were a big part of my love. Every Tuesday evening, my dad and I would go to the library. While I was too afraid of leaving my parents' sides in public places, I easily wandered off in the library and made myself at home in the stacks. Libraries are just so quiet, so peaceful and soothing, and very organized. I knew if I needed my dad, I would find him in the Sci-Fi section or reading a magazine while waiting for me to finish looking at books.

I stayed over in the children's section until I was about 10. My dad kept saying I should move to the adult section, there were tons of books I liked, but I didn't feel I could relate to the people in them. That didn't stop me from reading his books when he finished them.

And of course I had a favorite librarian. She was blond, with light blue eyes. I don't remember her name but she always talked and laughed with us at the check out desk. She always had a smile. She always exclaimed over my choices. When I think of a real librarian, she's the model I use: young, cool, sassy.

Libraries have always been important to me, now even more so, because I still feel safe, and I feel connected to my dad when I wander the stacks now.

THAT is why I want to be a librarian.

What's in a Name?

I was watching a movie recently, and was struck by the way names are used to really convey the idea of a character. For example, the name Kristy was used in conjunction with a tall, blonde, athletic, popular and attractive high school girl. I have to say, she did epitomize the name Kristy. Even the spelling singles it out as new and fresh. In a recent poll run by the Baby Name Wizard shows high agreement that "Kristy" is sexy, friendly and young.

Kristy is "A short form of Christine, which is derived from the Latin Christiāna, which is from christiānus, a derivative of the Greek christianos (a Christian, a follower of Christ)."

So, how did this name become linked with adjectives you may not link to Christianity? I believe the name has been used historically and most commonly by WASP families.

So, what about my real name? Well, I've concluded (on my own) that it's less "sexy" and more grounded because it is primarily used by White Anglo-Saxon Catholics. A follow-up on my own name shows in an identical poll that my name is associated with smarts, strength, and sophistication. Not exactly the bubbly popular teen. I have my own image of what my name corresponds with and I can say with confidence that smart, strong, and sophisticated work, but they left out "home-body" "staid" and "somewhat boring".

Banned Books Week

It's unfortunate that we even have need for such a week in this country, but since censorship is the watchword du jour - CELEBRATE THIS WEEK EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR BY READING WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!

Ancient Rome

I was disappointed in the last novel I read: shallow storyline and one-dimensional characters. I couldn’t have chosen a better novel to shake off the ennui from the last one, than Daughters of Rome, by Kate Quinn. Having already read and fallen in love with, her novel “Mistress of Rome,” I settled happily into reading the prequel. This is the story of four sisters and how they shaped and had been shaped by the changing climate of four years and four different emperors.

The outrageous Lollia, who marries several times before she is even nineteen (divorce was allowed back in Progressive old Rome). Lollia, who wanted nothing to do with her daughter or her husbands, bedding other men without much concern for whom it affected. Lollia, through trials and tribulations, becomes a wise woman, a fantastic mother, a sympathetic true sister, and still maintains her outrageous popularity among the gossiping wives in Rome.

Then there is the cool and collected, soon to be Empress, Cornelia, the matron of the family. Until one night changes everything she ever planned for. Lost in grief, she goes through many changes psychologically, and winds up finding herself happy and in love and married to the man they saved them all.

Diana, the youngest cousin, is my hero in this novel, although I have a special place for them all in my heart. Diana, some whispered named after the Goddess of the Hunt. Diana is beautiful beyond compare and doesn’t care what people think of her actions. A little savage with a whole lot of heart, all directed to her beloved horses. Her tongue cannot be stayed, and let’s just say she was lucky the Emperors took a shining to her or it may have been “off with her head.”

Last and least is Marcella. Throughout the novel you gather a sense of unease about her, but you still feel for her as part of the family. Until her true colors show. I don’t know about anyone else, but once I’ve been betrayed, I rather lack the pity that others may have for what troubles come upon those who deserve it. And she gets everything she deserves.

In all, this novel was rich, a joy to read, to know the characters and watch them change before your very eyes and before the changes in their very lives. The connection you feel with the characters is exactly what was missing in my last novel. I want to feel a part of their lives. Of course, this novel based on historical Rome tells of exactly how the culture was; the society as a whole. You really get a feel for what life was like for patrician women. I would give this book and author a bag of Swedish Fish!

*a quick aside about the rating system I’ve decided to use. Stars are so last week, and my favorite candy happens to be Swedish Fish. Of course, it’s going to change for each novel I read, but just know when it’s bad, it’s BAD. For last posts novel, as an example, I would award it a bathtub of jellyfish.

Doggies Are a Geeks Best Friend

My lovely little dog Sophie adores me, and I have to say that I feel content when I look into her big brown eyes and see how truly happy she is (ew, I ended a sentence with a preposition). She lays languorously across my lap, her chin up for scratches, her eyes half closed with doggie bliss. Doggies are a geeks best friend!

I rescued Sophie a little before my 19th birthday. My favorite sister (love you!) knew I wanted a puppy and we'd looked in the classified ads to find puppies for sale. We made an appointment with a lady about a brand new dachshund, but halfway there my sister got a call saying the last puppy had been sold. Thank goodness for that! We went to PetSmart, where they host a few local adoption agencies every weekend. I walked in, smiling at all the chipper, yippie puppies waiting for some love, and then my smile turned into bemusement.

"What is THAT?" I asked, pointing to one lonely dog, laying quietly in her pen, looking docile and content. "That" was my soon to be rescued pooch. I couldn't resist going up for a closer look. A short, coarse tan and brown brindle coat covered what appeared to be a very small hyena. But the moment I pressed my hand to the bars of her cage, I was a goner. She didn't jump and run and dash about madly, like the other puppies; she simply began to lick my fingers. I immediately asked if I could interact with her outside of her pen.

The ladies of the rescue agency made it very clear that this pup had been looking for a home for quite a while. It's easy to overlook a strange looking hyena when there are floofy, yippie balls of excitement all around. However, Sophie was very calm, very sweet. She walked up to me and my big sis and sniffed us, cautiously giving us a few kisses as we cooed over her and pet her. When we stopped the petting, she sweetly jumped up and looked at us with those big brown eyes as she softly leaned into our legs. I didn't have the heart to put her back in that cage.

So it is; I now have a sweet, older, content chihuahua/min pin mix. She still looks at me with those big brown eyes. She cuddles with me when I watch TV, and gets super excited when the leash is anywhere near my hand. She has a sweet disposition, and quiet way of being. One of the best investments I've ever made. :)

The Heretic Queen

I finished yet another book and am finally ready to get back on the review wagon. For my first review after such a long sojourn in me-land, I chose to write about The Heretic Queen, by Michelle Moran. Although I have read many an historical fiction novel, this one led me down a different path. I usually stick with Elizabethan era fiction, mostly covering the lives of the royals themselves, or little known characters that may have had a huge impact on history, if you have a vivid imagination. Reading about Ancient Egyptian royalty, although something I studied at a young age with a precocious mind and an unexplainable interest in ancient religions, was new to me.

This novel covers the story of Nefertari, Nefertiti's niece, after Nefertiti and her heretic husband have died. Basically, due to her ahku, or ancestry and family, the niece is considered to be a heretic princess. When her best friend is crowned ruler of upper-Egypt, she finds herself in an awkward position. As a pawn in the hands of a priestess, who wants nothing more than to get Nefertari named Chief Wife of the pharaoh, she is forced to play Senet with another girl, who is being used by another high priestess, the sister of Nefertari's priestess. Power games ensue.

I have to say, I was disappointed. Although the book went into great detail about many things in the everyday life of a royal - the temples, the royal family tree, even what they wore and the make-up they used- it left me feeling as though I were merely glimpsing the surface of the characters, which were stagnant and shallow, two things you try to avoid in any situation. Since I couldn't really get a great connection with the characters, I didn't feel the joys and sorrows I would have felt had this novel been written with a much deeper story line. Thus I finished the novel without any feeling one way or another, whereas when a book is good you feel sad that the experience is over, and when a book is bad, slamming the cover down on all of those words is mighty satisfying.

Oh well, on to the next!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Lately (and by lately I mean over the past month or so) my sleeping habits have changed. Completely. Before, I would stay up until the wee hours of the morning, then manage to somehow drag myself out of bed by late morning to early afternoon. It was SO HARD to even think about getting up, let alone making myself do so.

Over this past month, I've been waking up (without an alarm clock) at around 7:30 AM. I think maybe the amount of light has something to do with it? I mean, 7:30 AM looks a lot like 11 AM to my brain, I think. So, I get up at 7:30 because I am honestly invigorated. I want to do things and go places. This morning I woke up early, showered, dressed, and prepared my talk. . .four hours before church starts!

I am in no way upset about this new change, except that I pay the price when the evening rolls around. 9 o'clock PM and I'm getting quite sleepy. 10 PM and I need to go to bed or I'm going to get cranky. I've never, ever been accused of being a morning person; I've always been a night owl. But this new change in my life has brought some wonderful things with it. :)

Let Them Eat Figs!

I've been on quite an historical/historical fiction kick lately, and I have been reading several books that breathe fire into ancient lives. So when I saw that figs were being sold in the fruit section of our grocery store, I managed to convince my husband to buy us one little, fresh fig.

The outside was dark purple, plump and firm, but still delicate. A stem stuck out of the top, giving it a tear drop shape. We rinsed it off and sliced the stem off, revealing soft white sweet-smelling flesh. I took a cautious first bite. It was like eating a mildly sweet, earthy tasting peach. The flesh was soft, but firm, and the middle was full of small, crunchy edible seeds surrounding a hollow center. After Hubs took a bite, I asked for some honey, since that is the usual way of eating them in books and whatnot. It added a distinct, sweet taste without canceling out the earthy taste of the fig beneath.

As I like trying new and interesting things, and I am glad I can say I have tasted a real, fresh fig and I could describe it as well! Would I buy one again? Probably not; but it was a good experience to have had.