Etsy Rocks!

If you don't shop, or at least browse, on Etsy, you should. Why? Because it is totally awesome and because I have a Favorites list there, in case you want to buy me something.

Borrowed from the Etsy FAQs:

What is Etsy?
Etsy is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell items that are handmade,as well as vintage goods and crafting supplies.

How do you pronounce Etsy?
Etsy rhymes with the girls' name Betsy.

If you want to check out my favorites:

1. Go to www.etsy.com
2. Click on Buy
3. Scroll down and click on Connections
4. Find User: katgill111
5. Click on the little body and select Profile
   
6. Click on Favorites

You can look at Favorite Items or Favorite Sellers. By the time you look at my favorites, the items I chose might be gone, but I typically like similar stuff from the favorite sellers. Some of my favorite sellers were chosen when shopping for other people, so don't assume I want everything you see.

You can also click on the items to see who else likes it. Scarfmaker and I like the same purse; she (or he) has excellent taste.


-Kathryn

No Such Thing As Too Many Purses

Ben is in Portland this week. Since he is a very good husband, he agreed to go by Queen Bee Creations and purchase bags for a friend and me. I've included some pictures that he took at the store. They didn't end up having the bag my friend wanted (she'll order it online), but he did buy me a messenger bag (brown flap with little birds on it). Once I've had it for a couple weeks, I'll provide a review.

-Kathryn

The Graveyard Book

Ben shamed me into posting.

Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Medal this morning for The Graveyard Book. Hurray!

You can listen to Neil read the book online for free. Technically, you can watch him read the book, but why would you do that (no offense Neil). I listened to the book over a few days at work. It's written for young readers, but I enjoyed it a great deal. It's lovely. Check out the audience reaction at the end of chapter 7.

Also, looking forward to the release of Coraline.

-Kathryn

Semi-Anual Post

Since last I posted, Here are the books that I can remember...

• Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk : Not his best work. The plot twist seemed forced. I should have reread Rant or Lullaby.
• Island - Terry Pratchett : I really enjoyed this book. It's supposed to be aimed at young adults, but it seemed completely appropriate for me.
  
• Something that escapes me at the moment
• Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson: Rounding the final bend on this one. Because of it's girth, you really have time to grow accustomed to the many characters and times. It's still has not brought all the threads together, but I have faith that it will eventually.
  

Follow-up to my previous post about the Grand Prix du Canada, the brain trust at FOM/FIA have canceled the Canadian Grand Prix. You know, the race that always sells out and was the only GP in North America. At least now there's room for another GP in Asia that nobody will attend. No, I'm not bitter. Really.

And I am finally entering the HDTV Era. Delivered, or on there way currently are...

• Pioneer KURO PDP-5020FD Plasma TV
• Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray Disk Player
• Denon AVR-3808CI A/V Receiver
• Dish Network ViP-722 HD PVR
• Logitech Harmony 890 Remote Control
  

So far, the Harmony is the only purchase that I've regretted at all. The software that comes with the remote that allows you configure it has some usability issues. First, it's a web-based application thinly wrapped in a Mac application skin. You can't copy or paste text to the application, and the application will time-out if left unattended. The real problem is that the only interface to adjust any of the parameters is a wizard interface that makes it infuriating to make minor changes, and frequently impossible to correct configuration problems. For instance, I set up a "Watch TV" action that sets the receiver input to satellite, turns on the satellite PVR, and sends the output to the TV on input 4. That's fine, but then I tried to set up a "Watch DVD" action (There is no option for Watch Blu-Ray). The remote software never asks me how the receiver should be set-up to receive from the Blu-Ray player, but instead insists that the receiver's input should be set to Satellite. It asks me if the setup is correct, but steadfastly refuses to let me change the receiver input.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure that I've ever been satisfied with anything that Logitech as produced. I go MS for mice, and Kensington for my favorite big-ass trackball.

-Ben

Canadian Grand Prix

This past weekend we went to the Grand Prix of Canada in Montreal. We sat right across from the pits at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in grand stand 1. Ben enjoyed looking in on the mechanics; I enjoyed the comfy seats instead of the metal bleachers at most grand stands.

Here are pictures from our trip, but they aren’t very good. I’m still learning to use my relatively new digital SLR.

Last year we sat in grand stand 33, which wasn’t bad. Next time I think we go we should try grand stand 11 or 12, near the first two turns, or one of the grand stands by the hairpin.

The race is on a street course at the Parc Jean-Drapeau, which is great because between races you can relax in a shady spot by the lake and have a picnic. It’s also fun to keep an eye out for groundhogs.

I could talk about the race itself, which was awesome (Go BMW!), but most of you aren’t F1 fans and would find it boring.

- Kathryn

Amber Rubarth- You Will Love This Song

And you will, yes indeed. I bought her album Green Lines on the strength of this song and 23, and find her voice familiar, but wonderful, and her pop songs complete ear worms. So, here you go. Give here a shot.

Amber will be touring my neck of the woods in July, but only as a supporting act. I might have to wait until she comes around headlining.

-Ben

You Suck (not you)!

I finished reading You Suck (2007) by Christopher Moore. Since my past book reviews have been criticized for using hyperbole such as, "I liked it", I will borrow from a professional:

"All [his] books exhibit the same marvelous virtues. Engaging, deftly limned protagonists whose human failings are always offset by surprising moral depths, heroes and villains alike. Zippy, jet-propelled plots whose parts are intricately connected and whose endings offer genuine surprises. Bright, clean, witty dialogue. Juicy descriptions, similes and metaphors in the hyperbolic mode. Vivid physical settings and cultural milieus, meticulously reported from first-hand experience....And - finally but essentially - ingenious fantasy elements that are integral with the other components of the books, engines of action, not just add-ons." - Washington Post Book World

I've read several Christopher Moore books. You Suck is a sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends (1995). Both are about recently turned vampires, but in a funny, I-could-see-myself-as-a-vampire kind of way. You Suck picks up exactly where Bloodsucking Fiends ends, the exact same scene. Most of the characters are very young (late teens to early twenties), so I related most the the giant shaved cat. For vampire books they are very funny, romantic and surprisingly optimistic.

If you are considering reading a Christopher Moore book, and you should, you should read Lamb (2002). It's the story of Jesus, the missing years, as told by his best friend Biff. It really is Moore's best book. I've heard that it is read in some religious study courses. Apparently, when it first came out some Christians were offended by it, but it is actually very respectful of Jesus Christ, if you worry about the sort of thing. Fluke (2003) is his LOL funniest.

- Kathryn