peeps

One of my top picks for 2005 is a book called Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. It's unlike any other vampire book I've ever read. Awhile back I recommended Twilight, and I'm recommending this one, too, though it is completely different. There is no ethereal romance, no dreamy misty anticipatory delight. This book takes a whole other approach to the concept of vampirism - that it is caused by a parasite. Vampires are known as peeps, short for parasite-positive. Our hero is Cal, a carrier - he's got the bonus side-effects (night vision, pumped-up reflexes, etc.) without the hassles. Well, he does have a few hassles, but nothing compared to the non-carrier peeps.

Every other chapter is focused on a different parasite, describing these lovely organisms and their ways of life in blunt detail. Cal's voice is authentically geeky. The scientific descriptions of the parasite, the realistic setting, and believable character interactions make this a vampire book that reads like realistic fiction. The fantastic elements fit in seamlessly, making the temporary suspension of disbelief exceedingly easy. Westerfeld blends science and legend seamlessly.

This is the second vampire book of the year that I have loved, and I "don't like vampire books." (I'm obviously reevaluating that opinion. It seems that I just don't like most vampire books. Or crappy ones. Or something.)

nook

How clever is this? I love the clean line and the fact that it would be perfect in a hip city apartment. This also means that it is something I'd probably never use personally, but that doesn't stop me from admiring it.

BT

Is it wrong to love this?

feets

I'm in the market for very comfortable shoes. The last few pairs of heels I've purchased have felt comfortable until I tried to stand in them for more than a few hours. I feel like a wuss.

K and I made a trip to the Cobbler Shop in Alma over the weekend in hopes of finding good, healthy shoes that will prove comfortable for our big trip in May. We both ended up finding a pair in the Sale Room. He found a great pair of Doc Martens (he got 8312 in Bark Grizzly) and got some nice Birkenstock insoles that he can slip into any of his shoes. I found a pair of Footprints loafers.


They're not the height of fashion, but they have the loafer style I'm fond of and they are very comfortable. I like loafers because they're so versatile - easy to wear with dress pants or jeans. Because they were in the Sale Room, we got great prices on both pairs - almost half off for each pair.

I also tried on some Finn Comfort shoes which were probably the most comfortable shoes I've ever had on my feet, but the price intimidated me. I realize that such shoes are an investment, but it still seems outrageous to pay more than $200 for a pair of shoes. I usually don't like clogs because of the flap-flapiness, but (perhaps because they fit so well) these didn't seem to have that problem.

We did find it humorous that all the shoes we looked at are from the various countries we'll be visiting. The pedorthic specialist at the shop mentioned that because the walking surfaces in Europe are often less uniform and harder on a person's foot, better shoes are produced there. Many of the Footprints and Finn Comfort shoes are also a cottage industry - the uppers are handsewn.

I still haven't found any very comfortable heels. I saw these in a catalog, but they're such a low heel, I'm not sure it's worth it. If anyone has found any, please comment!

dress-up

Watching Project Runway has rekindled my interest in fashion, just in time for the spring collections.


This Donna Karan suit is actually wearable, though the color would wash me right out like a proverbial spider. The neckline is a bit open for my taste, but in a doable way. I also like the skirt length and the way the sleeve length falls just at the same line as the hem of the jacket. The necklace/piece is just distracting.

For years I was a fan of Gwen Stefani's personal style, but I don't think she's yet designed an item I like. The entire L.A.M.B. line is ridiculous. The appeal of Gwen's earlier style was that it was the kind of thing any gal could make in her bedroom, but Gwen was the one to actually do it. She's been completely sby seduced by couture and her attempts to make it more appealing by throwing in some street elements only make it that much more weird.



It is sometimes difficult to imagine outfits like this Ralph Lauren ensemble on a person with actual shape. It'd probably either be a nice way to show off a more Rubenesque figure or make the wearer look like a roly-poly sausage.


This B-Rude bug dress is not something I'd ever wear, but I love it.

returnamundo

San Antonio was decidedly underwhelming. The conference itself was great - my committees got a lot accomplished and I got to sit in on some neat meetings (BBYA).

The city itself was nowhere near as much fun/neat/interesting as I'd hoped, or as any of the conference cities I've visited so far.

All in all, we wished we were home several days before we returned.

earholes

I did end up buying these awesome earbuds and they work perfectly. They don't even interfere at all with my tragus piercing. It can sit in the normal position without any sort of pressure/irritation. I used my iPod quite a lot en route to and from San Antonio. Thanks again for the recommendation, Roland.

poocherinoville

Fun Stuff for Dogs delivers. Although Brodie wasn't quite clued-in enough to use the snuggle sack-type thing my sis made him, I think he might dig this Burrow Bed.

I also think that this Walking Harness might work well for him since he tends to pull so much when on a leash.

Currently we use a very economical version of this Trundle Diner (without the drawer). I love the style of this one, but, n'est-ce pas, not the price. Both of our dogs would like this TreatStick, though I would have to see it fulfill the claims of durability before I'd believe them.

peanut gallery request

Apparently I have freakishly small ears. The standard iPod earbuds won't stay in my ears at all, and if I manage to cram them in at a weird angle and get one to stay, then it hurts like hell (of course). So I googled and found the Griffin EarJams, which attach to the standard iPod earbuds. These work really well, except that the iPod earbuds themselves are still too big to fit in my ear and they end up hurting after a short while. I also tried a pair of Philips HS-320 Flexible Earhooks which absolutely did not work for me. They wouldn't even stay on my ears, so ridiculously tiny my ears seem to be.

So I'm asking, does anyone have any suggestions for earbuds for decidedly diminutive ears?

kiss me deadly

Gris Grimly is one of my favorite contemporary children's book illustrator/authors. I just learned that he is working on a stop-motion short film called Cannibal Corpse Riot. It looks so good!

Twilight

It's been awhile since I've read a vampire story, let alone a really good one. This book is really good. I would encourage everyone to read it, not just fans of vampires. I was afraid I'd hate this book, especially after reading the preface, which I thought was pretty melodramatic, but I ended up loving it. It has been quite some time since I felt a physical response to a book. Bella (main character)'s voice is so authentic, so real, that I actually got chills, stomach nerves, back-of-the-neck thrills, and so on. It gave me that so-sought-after book experience: wanting to both devour it as quickly as possible and to make it last as long as possible. So. Friggin. Good.

on a scale of 1 to 10...

How geeky is it that, while watching Cinematech, I got a little choked up watching Qui-Gon's death scene from Lego Star Wars?

fleecey goodness

For xmas, I received the most wonderful fleece robe by Land's End. It is officially the Best Bathrobe Ever! It's really warm and soft and it comes all the way to my ankles. Mine is charcoal gray, not blue.

TV this week

This week's Project Runway had the designers creating a party dress for socialite Nicky Hilton. Santino won and thankfully kept his gloating to a minimum, at least that we saw. Nick was totally robbed as far as I'm concerned. The designers who used black material made a bad choice - she was clearly looking for something fun and flirty. They also probably got slightly screwed because their dresses automatically ended up in the same color category as Marla's wrongheaded, ill-fitting, badly made copycat dress.

More: I tried to watch Four Kings, but ended up deleting it halfway through. Disappointing, but maybe it'll get cancelled and Seth Green will have more time to work on Robot Chicken. More happily, a new episode of My Name is Earl was on and it was great as usual. I love that damn show.

oh so wonderful

I cannot overstate how much I love our new bread machine! It is so freakin' awesome! I wish I could take a picture of how good this bread smells while it bakes. Instead, feast your eyes on this:



It brings me immense joy to imagine fresh bread whenever I want it from now on, ever. Woot!

yummers

So recently someone brought a certain chef to my attention and I'm officially hooked. I've been aware of AB's existence, certainly, but I never had any interest in what he was peddling. With the dawn of the culinary renaissance K and I are currently experiencing (brought about by two delicious-making gifts, a bread maker and a deep fryer), I decided to give ol' AB a try. Damn if there wasn't an episode of his show devoted entirely to cheese! Available for my DVRing pleasure almost immediately! This is almost certainly old news to everyone but me, but AB has a flair for being a word nerd and a gadget geek, as well as a fabricator of fabulous feasts. He actually reminds me of certain friend of Susan's (not sure why, exactly, but it's positive, anyway). I even watched an entire episode about making chicken stock, something I'm quite sure I will never, ever do. But it was interesting! I just need to figure out how to do it with vegetables.