Mallory's Other Places
Xylophone - A fanlisting for singer/songwriter Jaymay. Twelve Volt Reviews - My WPR site. Going Up The Country - An image gallery from my move from Michigan to California.
My computer starts on fire.
August 27, 2008 Filed Under: UncategorizedSo, whenever I try to plug my computer in, it begins to smoke and spark. Needless to say, I’m done trying. A new one is on the way, but it will be about 2 weeks - so I’ll be gone for a bit.
A few lyrics and a see you later.
August 19, 2008 Filed Under: UncategorizedAnd in the sea there is a fish, a fish that has a secret wish,
A wish to be a big cactus with a pink flower on it.
And the flower would be its offering of love to the desert.
And the desert, so dry and lonely, that the critters all appreciate the effort.
-Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants, Tree Hugger
I’m headed downstate for some work training, and won’t be back until Friday evening. Have fun!
EARTHQUAKE!
August 17, 2008 Filed Under: Around TownI’m so excited! I’ve just experienced my first earthquake, at 10:56 pm. It was a 4.5 apparently, and very cool! All of the sudden the house just SHOOK like mad, for about 5 seconds, and now all of the dogs in the neighborhood are going crazy. Also, I don’t think my cat will ever be the same.
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful.
August 16, 2008 Filed Under: Inner BuffettThere’s nothing like sitting at your computer with a 40 of PBR and Jimmy.
“We’re wanted men, we’ll strike again, but first lets have a beer.”
It’s all about having one’s priorities straight.
The Jane Austen Book Club
August 11, 2008 Filed Under: ReviewsWritten by Karen Joy Fowler
Published 2004
Penguin Books
One thing struck me over and over as I read this book. These characters are exactly like normal people. Too often, in the book world, characters end up too clean and perfect (it seems almost all teen books feature a beautiful but misunderstood heroine) or they’re just too bad or quirky. Karen Joy Fowler has written some really, truly believable people. And over and over these people changed their minds about eachother. Within the space of a page, the narrator talks about being inconsolably annoyed by another character, and moments later affectionate and kind toward said character. I find myself thinking, “That’s exactly how I am!” One moment I can hate someone, the next feel pity or love or envy toward them, and that is reality.
I know different parts of the story are important to different people, and for me, it’s the characters. I need to be able to believe the characters and understand them in some way, even if we’re drastically different people. With Fowler’s characters, I can forget that I’m just a spectator. I like her writing style in that, since you barely notice that the narrator is WITHIN the scenes but somehow withdrawn from them, you too get to be in the scenes. You’re suddenly the narrator, which is something I’m not used to but that I thuroughly enjoyed.
The basic premise is that 6 different people whose lives are somehow intertwined come together to form a book club around one of the greats, Jane Austen. They even let a man join, but only one. They read a book of hers each month until they’re through them all (Lady Susan, I notice, is absent, but I’m not sure of the circumstances surrounding that particular work). Then they get together to talk about the book. Interspersed between book club scenes are vignettes of the pasts of all of the members, so all the while the reader is becoming more familiar with one character. By the end, we are rooting for all of them, which I’ve read is one of the most important things in a novel.
Lastly, it was real - there was heartbreak, but there was redemption and renewal for that heartbreak. I don’t think this could be fairly categorized as chick lit because - despite the fact that it is all about Jane Austen and her books, it was much heavier than I would think chick lit is allowed to be and it seemed to take on much more relevant issues than chick lit normally does. It took me only a day, and I could barely put it down. I was happy that the ending was not a heart-wrencher, though I’m sure there is a place for that, too.
Margaux With An X
August 11, 2008 Filed Under: RejectionsWritten By Ron Koertge
Published 2004
Candlewick Press
I got approximately 5 pages into this book, and I think I can safely say that it is terrible and I wish I had never picked it up. It is written as if Koertge is trying to capture the inner-dialogue of an extraordinarily idiotic teenage girl (which, in my opinion, a man should never attempt) and then switched it to 3rd person. I had hated every single inch of the first 5 pages. It is one of those books that seems to be trying to be edgy, but tries so hard that the reader thinks, “Huh, this guy’s really trying to be edgy.” Furthermore, I refuse to believe, no matter how many times I have to read it or see it or hear it, that one’s life is dictated solely by one’s looks, which Koertge, a retired college professor, seems to be trying to convince us.
I didn’t bother to read any more than those first 5 pages.
Oh, the excitement.
August 10, 2008 Filed Under: Comeawake.com, Updates, Web DesignI think I’ve finally settled on a design I like. I’ve been messing with it and fiddling with it and changing it on and off forEVER, and now I’m satisfied.
For now.
But hopefully it will last.
Also, I’m extremely proud of my boyfriend, who has just finished Shelbey Foote’s Civil War Narrative, 2842 pages of Civil War this-and-that, which took him 3 months. He is now the expert on the Civil War.
Lastly, I’ve added a photography section (down toward the bottom). I’m very excited for it, and hope you’ll enjoy the photographs! I’m quite the beginner, though.
The Truth About Forever
August 9, 2008 Filed Under: Reviewsby Sarah Dessen
Macy Queen and I have completely opposite taste in men.
She’s dating a brain - really. You would think it impolite to refer to someone as just a part of the body, but Jason goes out of his way to be a brain. He’s perfect at everything that doesn’t involve human interaction. But human interaction is exactly what Macy Queen needs, even though she doesn’t know it yet. Her dad is dead, and she saw it happen. All she wants is a little normalcy, and someone to pull her back together. When Jason, the one person who’s been able to hold her up, goes off to “brain camp”, she thinks the world is falling apart again.
I’ve read one other Sarah Dessen novel - Just Listen - and feel comfortable saying that she is definitely not the average young adult “romance” author. Many YA authors give me headaches. Their novels are formulaic, and they spew the exact same teen angst nonsense into every single book. Admittedly, these novels (Like the Clique and A-List series) appeal to the more vapid of the YA generation, but there are teen girls out there who want something that’s several steps up. Dessen includes description, and not just of what Kyle’s hair looks like. She shows readers how the characters are feeling, what they’re thinking, and what they’re seeing. She gives readers several more layers to the story and to the characters than can usually be expected in this genre.
The plot is standard for all literature, really, but especially for romance. The woman or girl is traumatized by one thing or another and needs the man to help her realize one thing or another. I would say that almost all romances fit into that boundary. But Dessen doesn’t play it up and make it obvious - she’s got a simple story and that’s ok, because the way she writes it so refreshing. Though her target audience is the young adult crowd, she’s expecting more of them. She shows us that romance literature and chick lit can be more than just emotional pornography by making it smart.
She makes it smart by giving us smart characters. Macy is not your average heroine and she doesn’t fall for your average hero. She’s quirky and damaged, and falls for a geeky socially inept brain first, and an artist second. Her best friend isn’t perfect, nor are her family members. Everyone is flawed and damaged. Some of them are plain weird. But Dessen doesn’t spoon feed us any of the typical YA crap - there are no prom queens, no A-lists, and no debutantes. Just a simple, well-written story about a girl figuring out what she wants.
Is “liates” really that much more work?
August 6, 2008 Filed Under: Web DesignI am having an emotional meltdown right now. My nerves are shot - I can barely focus. I’m surprised I haven’t chewed through my pen. Would you like to know why? WEBSITES. I’m obsessed with reading website reviews. As I mentioned two posts ago, I’ve been poring over
Anyhow, off topic. So, I’ve gotten into looking at all these websites listen on review pages, their sisters and affiliates (remind me to tell you how much I hate the word “affies”) and I am struck dumb with horror 95% of the time. I have many gripes - the tiny pages, the ones inanely obsessed with the Japanese, the scene kids and their respective idols, but what I’m really dying to know is:
WHY THE CELEBRITIES?!
What the hell is the deal with this? I’m doing an experiment right now. I’ve randomly chosen a website from one of the reviewers I read and looked at every single one of their affiliates. There are 28. 16 of them have a celebrity layout (counting models but NOT counting movie layouts - I think those are justifiable). Alright! Now, I’ve clicked the random advertisement on the page and come to a new site (with a celebrity layout). And I’ve gone to everyone of this site’s affiliates. On 62% of them had celebrity or model layouts. WHAT? I don’t get it! Most of the celebrities consist of Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, or some other similar pop star. OR some random model who looks like a little boy. What’s with all the thigh shots? How is this creative? How is this unique? Why do we idolize these people? How does pasting these people onto our websites and drawing on them with Photoshop brushes reveal who we are? How does it represent these girls (and boys).
Of course, I’m an absolute FREAK for even doing that, maybe delving right into loser, and it is of course a person’s choice to use the celebrity images…but…I really think it says something disturbing and sad about our culture. Especially since a lot of these girls are YOUNG girls - 15 or so - and I hate to think that someday these people could be our Congresswomen and Presidents and bankers and lawyers and…etc. etc. Plus, it has to be every so slightly damaging to the self-esteem. I guess my point is, I wish, in such a “creative” field as web-design, there was a bit more creativity.
P.S. I hate the word “Affies” A LOT. On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 10. It makes me want to throw my vodka and lemonade across the room. At the cat. I hate it. Just spell it out.
Treasure
August 3, 2008 Filed Under: Around TownI found this this morning at an estate sale, for 50 cents. I am extremely happy about it.
I was absolutely tickled some weeks ago to find out that there is a Church of Buffett, Orthodox. They even have a creed. From what I have gathered, I’m just a parrot head and do not belong to the church, but am still extremely excited that such a thing exists.
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