Books

RIP JD Salinger

mig14 — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:30:00 GMT

I just read online that JD Salinger died. I'm a little shocked, mostly because I didn't know he was still alive.

Despite his idiosyncracies, Salinger was one of my favourite authors, if not for his body of work, then for Holden Caulfield, who is my favourite fictional character ever. And this is why:

. . . I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.

RIP, Mr Salinger.

Literature Questions

mig14 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:40:00 GMT

I like to read. We all know that. I have over 1000 books at home, and another 200 or so at school. I'm in the middle of reading “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand right now, and I'm finding that I'm completely blown away. At some point, I think I'll write a coherent review of it. But first I have to wrap my mind around it.

So here are my questions:

What is the best fiction book you have ever read?
Which author have you read more of than anyone else?
What book was recommended to you that you did not like?
If you could write a book, what would it be about?
What is the best non-fiction book you have ever read?
Are you jealous of people who write for a living?

My answers:

Trinity - Leon Uris
Bernard Cornwell
Water for Elephants - Sarah Gruen
War
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Absolutely.

And you???

Top Ten (Fiction) Books of All Time

mig14 — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:55:00 GMT

I like to read. That's no secret. At some point in time, I will expand on all of these. But here's a list, for you to start with.

Trinity - Leon Uris
Boy's Life - Robert McCammon
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
A Time To Kill - John Grisham
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
American Pastoral - Philip Roth

This is by no means exhaustive. But I've read all of these books at least 5 times each. So go. Read. Let me know what you think.

What would you put on your list??

Things of love: 2007-style

mig14 — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:23:00 GMT

Like Mack, I read MegFowler, and I started my list too, but he beat me to it. I am often intrigued by her lists, and where she gets the ideas for them. This one is no exception. Without further ado, here's my list of things that I loved from 2007.

Movie of Love: Transformers was pretty much the coolest. movie. ever.

Song of Love: It's a tie between two Bon Jovi songs. Born To Be My Baby and I'll Be There For You from their album New Jersey

Book of Love: I read so much that I don't even know how to pick one....I think though, that if I was forced into picking just one, I couldn't. I'd pick two. Shake Hands With The Devil, by Lt.-Gen (Ret) Romeo Dallaire for the beauty of the final sentences of his introduction -"This book is a cri de coeur for the slaughtered thousands, a tribute to the souls hacked apart by machetes because of their supposed difference from those who sought to hang on to power. . . . This book is the account of a few humans who were entrusted with the role of helping others taste the fruits of peace. Instead, we watched as the devil took control of paradise on earth and fed on the blood of the people we were supposed to protect." and for the message contained within.
I'd also choose Ken Follett's World Without End, because I had wanted it as SOON as I saw he had published a sequel to Pillars of the Earth, and it did not disappoint in any respect, except that I finished it so quickly.

Album of Love: Um. Wow. You'd think with all of the music I have that it'd be easy to pick. It's not Bon Jovi's newest (Lost Highway). I'd have to say Seth Lakeman's Freedom Fields. Check it out. It's on iTunes.

Place of Love: The farm, where the beer is always cold, and the rednecks are out in full force.

Month of Love: August because I went camping in Nordegg and I got my big girl job at McNally.

Best Day of Love: Boxing Day. Because it's my favourite day of the year every year.

Best Moment of Love: Hearing the opening chord of "Livin' On A Prayer" at the Saddledome on July 11. Which was of course surpassed when I got to hear "Bed of Roses" at Rexall last month.
And watching Brett Favre throw that ridiculous 82-yard TD pass in overtime against Denver, FTW. That was pretty cool too. And watching him break all those records this year, and lead the Pack to a 13-3 record for the first time in franchise history. And a home playoff game.

Word of Love: "Let me think...no"

Purchase of Love: The (still unnamed) Jeep.

City of Love: E-town in the summer. And Vancouver because it doesn't snow.

Food of Love: Mangoes. Pureed, in a smoothie with raspberries. Or, y'know, on their own.

Beverage of Love: Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea

Person of Love (someone who made a difference for you this year): George, for always believing in me no matter what, and Brad L (former student) for reminding me that I did choose the right profession.

Spot of Love (the best place to go to just be): Starbucks, especially for marking and people watching (and meeting Kara for coffee, and a bunch of other good stuff)

Clothing Item of Love: UnderArmor hoodie. Best. Idea. Ever.

Random Thing of Love (anything you want): iPod playlist called "Mellow". I listen to it every day in the car.

There you have it folks. My 2007 love-list extraordinaire. And like Mack, I found it to be very difficult too.

Post-Christmas Wrap Up

mig14 — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:13:00 GMT

Since I'm off work until January 7th, and I'm gettin EXTREMELY bored at home, I thought I'd write....

Anyways. I was going to talk about how nice it was to have family here for the holidays, andhow much fun it was to have time with my folks, but instead, I think I'd like to tell you about my presents... No. Really.

As most of you know, I'm a voracious reader (how do you like that ten dollar word?). Seriously, I read A LOT. I did a quick count of the books in my bookshelf the other day, and I think I hit about 500 before I stopped. I know there are more than that in my room, but I honestly didn't feel like counting them all.

Anyways, when it comes time for a holiday, most people know that a good bet is a Chapters Gift Card, mostly because then they don't have to worry about getting a gift receipt for a book I most likely have already. My cousin Rob did it for me this year, and that's awesome. Then I can "go mark at Starbucks" and actually find a book and not worry about how much it costs.

My parents, however, listen well when we talk about books, and tend to do well on the book-buying front. I LOVE historical fiction, and one of the books I had been looking forward is the sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. The sequel is called "World Without End" and is WONDERFUL. It's only about 1000 pages, and I read it in less than 2 days. It's fantastic. I would recommend them to anyone. I'd recap them here, but then I'd need to spend 2 days reading the first one again. So here's an online review of the first and the second. Go buy these books. You won't be disappointed.

Notes for 07/08/2007

mig14 — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 22:54:00 GMT

I've been HORRIBLY remiss. I apologize from the depths of my soul. Or at least...never mind.

I went to see my grandma this past weekend. She lives in a town in Saskatchewan called Mankota. It's a beautiful place. I could live there. And maybe I'd buy a truck, because then I'd really fit in. I could buy a house for a dollar....
Went to see The Bourne Ultimatum on Friday night with Mack and others. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite it not being anywhere close to the third book in terms of accuracy. But that's ok, because it was very entertaining nonetheless.
My computer died. It's still at the data recovery place. Not sure if I'm going to get them to send it away....I guess we'll see when they call me. Mack put a new hard drive in this machine, and then I got new Windows. And other things. It is kind of a pain in the ass to redo all the stuff that's on here. Like my Outlook rules and filters...I have lots, and it took a mighty long time to put it all back the way I had it before.
I also went to see The Simpsons Movie with Mack on its opening night. I laughed really hard at the gags in the first 45 minutes of the film. It did kind of slow down a bit, but it was essentially a long version of an episode. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Folk Fest is this weekend! Minus the nasty weather that seems to be heading this way, it should be a decent time.
Most of you know that I read like books are going out of style. I've been enjoying two separate series by Bernard Cornwell lately. The first series is known as "The Warlord Chronicles" and is made up of the books The Winter King, Enemy of God and Excalibur. At first I wasn't too crazy about the first book, because even though it's set in the time of the legendary (and perhaps mythical) King Arthur, the magic stuff (as it relates to Merlin and other Druids) was not exciting me. I plowed through, however, and am now 75 pages away from finishing the second book. Definitely not a light read, but VERY entertaining!

The second series of his that I'm reading at the moment is known as "The Grail Quest" series. The books inside this series are called Harlequin, Vagabond and Heretic. I only read the first one this past weekend, but I liked it so much I went and bought the other two tonight when I got home. The series is about Thomas of Hookton and his quest for the Holy Grail. I'd recommend this one to anyone, because the books aren't quite as detail oriented as the other series.

Countdown:

Prison Break starts in 42 days (Sept 17)
Bones starts in 50 days (Sept 25)

That's it, that's all she wrote. Back soon, I promise.

Notes for 07/09/2007

mig14 — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:28:00 GMT

Well, despite my holiday time, I haven't found the time to blog. Instead, I've been looking at pictures of Jon Bon Jovi....sigh...

2 sleeps! I made a playlist of 'classic' Bon Jovi songs. It goes like this: Livin' On A Prayer, Someday I'll Be Saturday Night, Always, Wanted Dead Or Alive, Lay Your Hands On Me, You Give Love A Bad Name, Blaze of Glory, Bad Medicine, Have A Nice Day, We Got It Goin' On, Misunderstood, Something For The Pain......*drools*....
I bought the "Instant Karma" CD (you know, the one where musicians cover John Lennon stuff...as in Green Day's cover of "Working Class Hero".) It's pretty freaking fantastic, especially Jack Johnson's cover of "Imagine". Can you say eargasm? I can. Eargasm.
2 sleeps! (I know I already posted that, but holy STINK I'm excited!)
Live Earth happened on Saturday. I'm not sure how I feel about the hypocrisy of such an event. 'Hey, lets have 7 concerts to highlight the importance of reducing Carbon Dioxide production (among other things), and just forget to mention that outdoor rock shows produce tons of unnecessary CO₂." ANYway...the shows were pretty cool; I like how the musicians are at least coming together for something bigger than their own personal gain.
One of the things I find myself doing a lot is reading. I mean, you all know that I read A LOT, but lately I've been devouring books like they were gin and lemonade. I'm currently reading Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. It's the book that the film Shooter was based on, and is SO much better than the movie.

I'm clearly giving up. I'm so stinking pumped for the concert that I canNOT focus long enough to write anything. Except...
44 days till Prison Break Season 2 comes out on DVD
50 days till Prison Break returns on TV
51 says till Justin Timberlake
67 days till Bones Season 2 comes out on DVD (I think I'm more excited about that because I wasn't HOOKED on it for the whoel season, so I missed some....)
That's all. Bon Jovi in less than 48 hours. There will be drinking. And pictures.

Notes for 4/23/2007

mig14 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:36:00 GMT

I've been posting like crazy lately. And no one is commenting. That makes me sad. So comment. Because, contrary to popular belief, feedback makes my heart sing.

Detroit WHAT?!?! Good game last night; here's hoping that Dallas comes through and beats the Canucks (because there's nothing I'd like more than to have the Sedin twins off my TV for another year!!)
Happy Birthday Ylz! It was fun times yesterday. And especially good to see Christie. I remember now why I like her so much. She makes fun of Mack too!
I actually have 20 days of school in a row until my next holiday. I don't think I'm going to be able to handle it.
May long weekend. Is going to be a gong show. Ask for details.
I'm clearly enjoying my Prison Break Season One DVD purchase, though I realize that they clearly rushed the release, as the special features are almost non-existent.
I just spent over $300 on tickets to see Bon Jovi. And I'm not even a little bit sad about it. I am, hoever, sad about the $320 I have to spend on new tires for my car. Priorities, eh?
I'm teaching another English 30-2 class right now. They're not nearly as entertaining as the last group, but there are a couple characters. It's amazing to me how they see the world in black and white. I'm sure some of you English types could take this sentence (“...what a shadow she threw on the wall with her slender body“) and give me 17 different meanings for it. In class, the answer to the question “What is he saying?” elicits the response “He wants to bang her.”
I heart my job.

That's all for now. I'll try again later.

Notes for 01/08/2007

mig14 — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:55:00 GMT

Well, it's 2007. And that means that I am going to post more often. At the very least, I'm going to try to post once a week, because I feel like a failure otherwise. In no particular order...

Canada wins the World Junior Hockey Championship for the 13th time, and 3rd in a row. Marc Staal should have been named the tournament's best defenseman, and I fell out of my chair with excitement when Canada tied the semi-final against the US with about 7 minutes to go in the 3rd. So I watched the rest of that game from the floor.
The Oilers can't buy a win. Patrik Stefan gave them life last week against Dallas. You know you've seen it; who misses from 3 feet?!?!
Green Bay won their last regular season game, 26-7 over the Chicago Bears. My dad picked the Bears. I told him he was nuts. Looks like I was right.
I read 8 books over Christmas, and am working on both 9 and 10 as we speak. I promised that I'd write a big long review post, and I will. Soon.
I went to see The Good Shepherd with my dad the other night. Such a good movie; it was so intense I hardly fidgetted. And for those of you who know me, you know that's a pretty impressive feat.
Back at work today. I wish there was another week of holidays.
On the upside, my 30-2 class is so funny. Today, I was asked if I had my tickets yet. I knew where the kid was going with his question, but I said “Tickets? For what?“ The reply to my question was “For the gun show!“
I enjoy them.

I think that's about all I've got. Except that tonight I have school again. This time it's a History seminar on the Cold War, focusing primarily on Soviet activities. Should be interesting.

Five Things Most People Don't Know About Me

mig14 — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 22:34:00 GMT

Mack tagged me, so i guess I have to comply with the "rules", whatever they may be. In no particular order, here's my list.

I live on the prairies, and yet the idea of a shark terrifies me.
My favourite day of the whole year is Boxing Day, because there's always a hockey game on and I never ever have to do anything.
My favourite football team (NFL style) is the Green Bay Packers. I had a HUGE crush on Brett Favre when I was about 10.
I have two favourite books: "Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon and "Trinity" by Leon Uris.
I, like Mack, am kind of a scrooge at this time of year.

I tag: Dickson Wong, Aimee Arsenault, Gillian Gunson, Ninja Stan, and Kent Akgungor