Just in case you haven't seen:

Wrock Chicago

This isn't Terminus related, but I've been waiting for voting to start for a while. Go vote (preferably for me)! Just make sure you really take a minute to look before you vote, because in this contest, it comes down to the details.

I'm home from Terminus, and I'm not happy about it. I seriously did not want to leave. I'll make my actual updates later; I just wanted to make a public post where people can link me to pics and posts about the con.

All I have to say right now is how truly amazing it is that a 5-day conference can be such a life-changing experience. First, Phoenix Rising changed my life, and now so has Terminus.

P.S. See you girls in October! D.H. FTW!

BEN (while setting up the grill): I'll need matches.
SANDI: Good for you.
BEN: Will you get the matches?
SANDI: I don't want to get up.
BEN: How else am I supposed to light it?
SANDI: *points* Incendio!
BEN: *facepalm*

Unfortunately, it didn't work, and I had to get the matches.

I was browsing books online, and I came across a terrible summary. It's a book called Vampire Kisses, and this is it's summary:

The mansion on top of Benson Hill has been empty and boarded up for years. But a new family has moved in. A family that never ventures out during the day. Who are these creepy people -- especially the handsome, dark, and elusive Alexander Sterling? Or rather, what are they? Could the town gossip actually be true? Are they vampires?

Raven, who secretly covets a vampire kiss, both at the risk of her own mortality and Alexander's loving trust, is dying to uncover the truth.

So, I made fun of that for a while. I mean, old, boarded-up mansion? Girl named Raven? Can you say "cliche"? I foolheartedly named that the worst book summary I'd ever heard. Wow, was I naive.

I then stumbled upon this book by accident. I was browsing the "dark fantasy" genre, and I couldn't let a book titled The Undead Kama Sutra go by without investigating. I mean, seriously? It's like a train wreck; you can't help but look. Well, this is the funniest train wreck I've ever come across. Seriously, if you think the first half is bad, oh, just keep going.

Felix Gomez returned from the war in Iraq a changed man -- once a soldier, now forever a vampire. So the undead underworld put his skills to work as a private detective, specializing in the sordid, the sexy, and the supernatural.

After surviving aliens, nymphomaniacs, and x-rated bloodsuckers, it's high time for a vacation. Now the aliens are back in a fiendish conspiracy with the U.S. government, and only Felix stands between them and the Earth women they covet. But when an army hit man attacks Felix and the bodacious vampire sexpert, Carmen, not even the astonishing erotic powers of the Kama Sutra for the Undead may be able to save them.

When you are done choking and wondering what is happening to the world that things like this get published, please tell me: Wwhat is the worst book summary you have ever come across?

A little slash always makes me feel better.  Oh look, is that Daniel Radcliffe kissing a man?!?  Why, yes it is!  Now, where is Tom Felton...

Finished! I did finish my other project, but still stayed up to finish the book anyway. I had to. It got so twisted by the end that I stayed up in bed with a flashlight (so I wouldn't wake Ben) to finish it. Sadly, it did not make me cry, but it did get me as close to tears as I come these days. But am I talking about the ending? I won't tell.

I will say this: My initial reaction upon closing the book was, "Where is my ending?!?!" I was spazing and compiling a list of unanswered questions. I like a book to end somewhat open ended so that you can fill in the gaps yourself, but there is a difference between that and the story running into in a brick wall and going no further. I was pretty pissed.

Then it occurred to me... I ran to the computer and looked it up. Supposedly, the author is currently working on a sequel! Squee! I'll definitely be buying it, but I have low hopes for it to be as good as the first. Also, it's so far off they don't even have a release date yet.

Now that I know I will have my ending, I can relax. I still don't know what I think. Yes, it was rather "Gossip Girl-ish", and I mean the book, not the show. Then again, it was still so good despite the maiming of history. If you can just let go of that and enjoy, it's a good book! I still highly recommend it!

I cannot put this book down. I just started it last night, and I've been enthralled since the first chapter. I can't tear myself away. I have a huge project due in Marketing tomorrow, but I can't make myself work on it.

The book is called The Luxe by Ann Godbersen. Anyone read it? If so, don't spoil me! I saw it on several recommendation lists, and the cover jumped out at me immediately. After going through the summary I had to read it. I had my doubts since it was associated with other books and authors I am less than fond of, but I still gave it a try.

It's like all the Jane Austen novels melded together into an unoriginal but still exciting YA fiction. There is the girl with two lives, the girl who is mean but rightfully so, the angry, manipulative girl who is really just hurting, and the wild cad who breaks all the girls' hearts and can only be tamed by threat of disinheritance and/or and equally wild girl. Said wild girl is a younger sister with no sense of manners and a taste for adventure who I realized is an older version of Miss Margarette from Sense and Sensibility. There is the sweet, young servant boy with the bright eyes and adorably crooked nose, and there is the mother/widow with a family on the verge of losing it all. There are young members of rich families desperate to get away from all of the rules and formalities, arranged marriages, betrayal, and more secret affairs than you can imagine.

The book starts out with the funeral of one of the main characters. It's all a big mystery; how did she die? Was it an accident? Suicide? Murder? The suspense keeps up throughout the whole book. Sometime around Chapter 8 I declared that I had already figured it all out and was slightly disappointed that I was able to do so. Around Chapter 20-something, I realized I was wrong. Now, I can't wait to find out what happens. At this point, I can't even decide if it will turn out a tragedy or a somewhat happy ending.

The writing isn't the best in the world, but it's certainly not bad. For every flaw in character development I can think of, I can think of something else that was very well done. (If you really want more details you can ask me, or better yet, read it so we can discuss!) Sure, the term "historical fiction" is used loosely since this book does to turn-of-the-century Manhattan what the movie Gladiator did to Ancient Rome, but it's still enjoyable.

I am certainly not going to put this book in league with Austen, Tolkien, or Rowling, but I still highly recommend it. It's still unclear if I will list this as a favorite; I'll have to wait to see how I feel after having finished it and thought about it for a while. It may just be that I have read so many bad books lately that anything resembling decent literature gets me overly excited. We'll see.

Today is Super Tuesday, and if your state is going to the polls today, remember to vote for Hillary!

"Change is just a word without the strength and experience to make it happen." - Hillary Clinton.

I has new icon! w00t! It's been a while. XD Levi, this one's for you. =P

67% Hillary Clinton
66% John Edwards
65% Barack Obama
65% Bill Richardson
62% Chris Dodd
62% Tom Tancredo
55% Rudy Giuliani
55% Joe Biden
52% Mike Gravel
51% Mitt Romney
47% John McCain
46% Fred Thompson
45% Dennis Kucinich
44% Mike Huckabee
36% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz


That's only on the issues. Don't get me started on who would be good (Clinton) and who would be worthless (Obama, Kucinich) as president. Issues are only part of it; personality and politics are also some of the factors. Luckily, Clinton is the best on all of them. VOTE CLINTON!!!

Seriously, I'm so worried that Obama will win the primary. If Obama is the democratic candidate, I might wind up voting Republican. I'd rather have a Republican than a freshman Senator!

I just spent nearly half an hour face-first in a giant box fighting with a fake tree. I suddenly hate Christmas.

I've always complained that there aren't enough hours in a day, but now I realize that also means there simply aren't enough days in a year. Lucky thing I get an extra next year.

Stolen from voldiebeth.

1. Randomly list twelve of your favorite Harry Potter characters (any of them... could be the Muggle Prime Minister or the gerbil...)
2. Click on the cut below to read the questions and answers :D

1. Draco Malfoy
2. Harry Potter
3. Severus Snape
4. Lucius Malfoy
5. Bellatrix Lestrange
6. Hermione Granger
7. Remus Lupin
8. Sirius Black
9. Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort
10. Salazar Slytherin
11. Rubeus Hagrid
12. Minerva Mcgonagall

12 is not enough...and they certainly aren't in a particular order.

( HP Fun )

Oh. My. God. FAIL.

I was DREADING news of the Half Blood Prince movie ever since it was announced that David Yates was going to direct butcher this one, too. OotP is one of my least favorite of the series, so while it sucked, it's not nearly as painful as watching what is happening to my absolute favorite book of the series.

There is a video here from the DVD of OotP about the filming of HBP. It includes Dumbledore and Harry talking about horcruxes, a brief Harry/Ginny moment (kill me now), Quidditch, and part of the Harry/Draco scene on the train. I haven't words enough for the horror. Just...if nothing else...watch it to see Draco. See what they did. What have we done to deserve this?

It just keeps getting better! First, there were the OVAs. Then, it was a whole new season, 39 episodes. Now...it's the MANGA! It's been licensed!!!

SQUEE!

It's going to be in English! I can actually buy them! The only problem I see in this is the translation. I trust fansub groups to give the most direct translations. It's a sub vs. dub issue. I remember what they did to the English version of the anime, and I don't want that to happen to the manga. Still, either way, I'm buying them! As far as I can tell, they should be out in summer 2008. Maybe next we'll get the video games?

The DVD cover for the third Kyou Kara Maou OVA has been released. O. M. G.

( Be prepared... )

Stupid hurricanes making it hard for me to get to and from classes and turn in my timesheets... It could have at least had the decency to become a Cat 2 so school would have canceled. =\

There are two main things beyond the obvious that bother me about the Senator Craig scandal.

Let me first say that I think he should resign. It doesn't matter if he really is innocent and was too stupid to know to not plead guilty or if he is guilty of a crime. Both are qualities that a US Senator should have. If a politician is going to break the law (and they certainly do) they should at least be sneaky enough to not get caught. That said, there are two other things that really do not sit well with me.

1) The crime was lewd conduct. When he addressed the situation he seemed unconcerned with being labeled a pervert or sex offender and more concerned with being labelled as gay. This is very offensive to me. It should not matter what sexual orientation he is. The focus should be the lewd conduct regardless of whether it was heterosexual or homosexual in nature.

Yes, there is irony because he is so conservative and anti-gay, and that merits discussion about his orientaton. However, his orientation should be a side topic ONLY. The main focus should be on the crime committed by a US Senator.

2) There is an underlying aspet o this that doesn't sit well with me. The practice of police officers hanging around in public bathrooms to catch "lewd acts" bothers me. Yes, what Craig allegedly did was wrong, but how often does that happen that it warrants an undercover officer? I could go into suspicins and questions I have about the practice, but I will leave them unsaid. Let me just say that is doesn't feel right to me.

BEST. POST-DH INTERVIEW. EVER.

Rowling finally tells what I want to know, including the fate of the Malfoys, what Dudley saw when the Dementors attacked, what happened to The Dark Mark after Voldemort died, and especially, Harry and Draco's post-war relationship.

Leaky Chat

I'm passing this along from izzerwurst's MySpace because I adore it.

If you are Harry Potter fan, go to this page and listen to the song End Of An Era. It actually made me cry!

( Spoilery Comment )

Ok, I'm going to bed now. I swear!