Books finished:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Whew! That was a helluva read (or will be, have about 20 pages to go which I'll do tonight). Very very tight POV of Thomas Cromwell where you have to pay attention very closely. And it's very rewarding because it brings an immersive experience to the thing, not to mention an intriguing characterization of not just Cromwell but Wolsey, Thomas More, Henry not really. I would have finished this sooner but halfway through I was overcome with the desire to watch The Tudors Showtime series, which I did, all five seasons. Luridly delightful. My favorite wife was Catherine Howard. Now once I finish Wolf Hall, it's on to the second volume in what is going to be a trilogy of Thomas Cromwell's life, career and predictable death, given Henry's fondness for killing people. As first volume was Anne's ascendancy, so the second volume is her downfall.

This is all making me want to find a copy of the old Masterpiece Theater series The Six Wives of Henry VIII, made back in the 70s. It was wonderful.

What's that saying? In springtime, a young man's thoughts turn to love?

Well, in Harry's case, his thoughts turn to killing. Not sure what it was but I think it was his third squirrel. Man, have I got a hunter.

Ha! Gacked from dreamflower02.

So, baranduin, your LiveJournal reveals…

You are… 7% unique (blame, for example, your interest in zadrakarta), 29% peculiar, 45% interesting, 13% normal and 6% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy yoga). When it comes to friends you are popular. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are wary of trusting strangers. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is overcomplicated.

Your overall weirdness is: 54

(The average level of weirdness is: 28.
You are weirder than 89% of other LJers.)

Find out what your weirdness level is!

Pretty pleased.

Happy birthday, hanarobi, friend and travel partner in crime (or at least a lot of curbage)! Since I know you like these: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This is a very important post. Very important.

( shards, not chunks or chips )

I have nothing particular to say. But I've observed that all my appointment TV (shows I'm following) are on Sunday nights. It takes a bit of arranging. Game of Thrones. The Killing. Now Mad Men (Don Draper is such an SOB but I can't take my eyes off him). And now Next Food Network Star is starting tonight.

Am halfway through Wolf Hall and am blown away by it. I'd tried it once before and couldn't get into it but thought I'd give it another go and now I'm hooked. I can see why it was hard to get into, you have to give it your total attention, the writing is that complex and subtle. Makes my head hurt a bit but in a good way :-)

Well, Happy Mother's Day to the mothers on my flist! Hope you have a pleasant day with your families.

Hey claudia603! Did you know that Detective Stabler is going to be on True Blood next season (which I think is starting pretty soon). Here's a peek:

http://trueblood-tv.livejournal.com/870624.html

I have so many different foods going through my mind, mostly from childhood -- chocolate chip ice cream from Giffords, pizza from The Kitchen and King of Pizza in Boston, chicken and dumplings in Texas -- but what do you think keeps insisting being written about? No guesses? OK, I'll tell you.

( Chicken livers )

Well, I decided that doing posts on Soviet Russian/Holocaust/WWII required too much thinking so I'm going to do posts on Food, splitting it into two categories: nostalgic foods (mostly from childhood) and memorable restaurant meals.

( Fruit pies my mom made )

A very happy birthday to gentlehobbit. I hope it's a good one for you and that Dr. Who treats you right!

I did that meme of fics with most hits on the AO3. Now I'm going to follow claudia603's lead and give the list of my favorite 17 fics, in no special order. Just for fun.

( Top 17 Favorite Fics of Mine )

Books finished:
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace. I haven't read one of the Betsy-Tacy books since I was a kid. This one is the first in the series and is as sweet and fun as I remember it. The illustrations are included and are part of the fun.

Books finished:
The Patagonian Hare: A Memoir by Claude Lanzmann. Intermittently fascinating and annoying memoir by the maker of the seminal Holocaust documentary, Shoah. Really interesting to read about the process of how it got made, and I'm looking forward to reading the parts about his association with Sartre and de Beauvoir but I haven't finished this and probably won't completely. The weight of his ego tends to become overwhelmingly annoying after a while. But still, very interesting because of the content. Very long sentences that he says in the Preface just flowed out of him naturally, perfectly, with no need (indeed it would have been a crime!) for editing. Also, people interrogate his work from the wrong perspective. Who knew he and Anne Rice had anything in common :-) Recommend with reservations.

To go to Starbucks or not to go to Starbucks. That is the question.

Random entry.

Listening to: Lana del Rey
Watching: Mad Men season 1 (am hooked)
Reading: The Patagonian Hare (autobiography by Claude Lanzmann, the man who made the Shoah documentary)
Eating: Nothing at the moment, am contemplating Starbucks run
Working: At home, got lots to do.

Hi Wednesday.

TV watching lately. Second seasons of both The Killing and Game of Thrones. Both awesome and complicated (and get more complicated each episode). Arya and Dany are even more awesome than in first season, Dany's speech from last night was perfect. And I love it every time Holder says to Lynden, "Snaaap!" and kind of gets her goat. I can't decide if I want them to hook up or not. Kind of do but that tends to be a show killer.

I'm not sure it's good for my constitution to have two shows to watch on the same night that pack so much into an hour and generally end with a jaw dropper lol. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I keep wondering if I should watch Mad Men. I know it's really well-regarded but it's always seemed a little offputting. Plus there are all those episodes to catch up on. Then again, it's less episodes than if I were to start going through all The Sopranos which I also think about doing and then reject as too much work :-)

Anyone watching Chopped All-Stars? Was glad to see Michael Symon win his set. Not so happy to see that Jeffrey Saad win his, wanted Aarti to win. OK, wanted anyone to win but him, am not a fam. Not sure how I feel about last night's win. On the one hand, I find the winner obnoxious but on the other hand, it will make for a livelier final.

Dear OTW,

If you want to really ensure that people make contributions may I suggest:

1. The ability to connect to the page on the link in the email should actually work and not go into la-la land or error out. Repeatedly. Hours apart.
2. Once connected and having entered the information, the transaction should actually work and not error out at the all-important step of paying the money. Providing the message that the contribution has been submitted does not make things exactly encouraging.

Yours in annoyance,
An AO3 user who would like to make a donation but is now fed up. I can use that $25 in other ways.

Books finished:
The Last Chinese Chef: A Novel by Nicole Mones. From amazon: In her satisfying, sensual third novel, Nicole Mones takes readers inside the hidden world of elite cuisine in modern China through the story of an American food writer in Beijing. When recently widowed Maggie McElroy is called to China to settle a claim against her late husband’s estate, she is blindsided by the discovery that he may have led a double life. Since work is all that will keep her sane, her magazine editor assigns her to profile Sam, a half-Chinese American who is the last in a line of gifted chefs tracing back to the imperial palace. As she watches Sam gear up for China’s Olympic culinary competition by planning the banquet of a lifetime, she begins to see past the cuisine’s artistry to glimpse its coherent expression of Chinese civilization. It is here, amid lessons of tradition, obligation, and human connection that she finds the secret ingredient that may yet heal her heart.. Highly recommend.

Ha! Old lj cut style is back!

I saw this meme on sophinisba's LJ, where you list the 10 fics with the most hits on the AO3 (Archive of Our Own). Thought I'd give it a go and wondered if it would be LOTR-heavy since that's the fandom I've written the most for. But the fandoms are spread out, which makes me happy, not sure why.

( 10 Most Read Fics on the AO3 )