Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Advanced Reader Copy: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory



I received this in the mail yesterday! I have a few days off from work and will hopefully be done with it by Saturday.

I'm extremely excited to have this opportunity from Living Social.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Supreme Court Confirmations ain't what they used to be...

I miss the days when Supreme Court confirmation hearings revolved around pubic hair

It isn't the most boring stuff on C-Span, but there are only so many times I can care about the "wise Latina" remark.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher



I went into this book knowing that it was going to be a novel about suicide for teens.

Its not that I don't understand that life can be painful (especially during your teenage years) or that some people have problems dealing with things. I just got totally annoyed by the girl who committed suicide.

She commits suicide before the book begins. Our narrator, Clay Jensen, receives them in the mail and gets to go on a emotional roller coaster ride (with a punch in the face every thirty seconds). On the tapes, the suicide girl, Hannah Baker, says there are thirteen reasons/people why she is not among the living anymore.

And really, it all seemed like normal high school stuff. Getting put on mean lists, being sexually harassed, feeling like you weren't noticed...that's what high school is?

And the last person on the list has to go through this test, this test to see if he will answer her cry for help. She whispers into the tape recorder that this is the last chance for someone to save her. If this guidance counselor takes her seriously, she'll not do it. Only this guy? He's not really a guidance counselor. He's the English teacher filling in.

Bah. She makes it so difficult for anyone to help her, for anyone to reach through. Its frustrating as well, because at the end of the book? She's still dead. There's no adequate conclusion. And these tapes? They are torture. She is placing the blame squarely on these thirteen people. It is your fault I killed myself, she tells them, over and over and over.

I was thinking about how frustrated I was when Oasis's Don't Look Back In Anger came up on my random iPod shuffle.



Chill out about high school. And for God's sake, don't posthumously lash out.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Mortal Friends On Sale Already!...and other thoughts on quitting my part time bookstore position



I didn't realize this was on sale already! I read an Advance Reader Copy way back in February. I was in Barnes and Noble and picked it up. Now that I've quit the bookstore I won't know about things like that anymore. Or get advanced reader copies.

The last perk I got was this:



A handy little book to have around, more detailed than the Zagat restaurant guide. Even so, I can't imagine not using the internet in conjunction with the guide. If I'm going to put so much thought into find a place to eat that I'm looking through a book, I'm also going to double check with Google.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Frak it Friday: La Roux's Armour Love (my new fave song!)



Seriously listening to this over and over again. And also have the day off, so this may or may not be it for the day!

[Note: changed the outline of the blog because, ugh, posting pictures and videos is my life, and the old outline was too small. No big deal.]

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Temping is apparently kinda like casual sex



...or at least that's how you should approach it.

[Via my new favorite website, The Frisky]

Sunday, June 28, 2009

SNL Skit: Annuale



Every time I see those Seasonale ads in the women's magazines, I cringe a little. Four times a year? Really?

(Its also nice to see Tina Fey!)