on the one hand...
Jewish Rabbi in the occupied West Bank has written a book giving Israeli settlers permission to kill all non-jewish women, children, and even innocent bystanders. as long as you claim that those killed threatened Israel somehow.

and on the other...
Leading Jihadist organization has set out a code of conduct for those engaging in Jihad. It has forbidden the killing of women, children, or innocent bystanders, and has judged the actions against Gadhafi's regime as violating Islamic Law

Democrats are punishing Dennis Kucinich for speaking up about the Goldstone Report

not because they believe Dennis is anti-Israel, but because AIPAC is screaming that he is, and no one wants to endanger the millions in lobbying dollars they give out by arguing with them. (and who can blame them, the ones who stand up are labeled and blacklisted like we're watching them do to Mr Kucinich right now)

Being a man should never be an impediment to behaving like a gentleman.

Every now and then I like to give props to applications that particularly enhance my life. I've leave out music-related software, as that's a more complex subject. I put a lot of weight on efficient and intuitive user interfaces, and my selections reflect that priority.

Things. I've tried a number of task managers in my life, and this is hands-down the best I've ever seen on any platform. It lacks the depth of some other programs, but makes up for it with a beautiful and transparent user interface. Highest praise I can offer: Things actually makes me want to be more organized and productive. (A runner-up: OmniFocus).



OmniOutliner. Made by the people behind the aforementioned runner-up. This is the most versatile software organizational tool I know. It's perfect for any data organized in a hierarchy - outlines, lists, notes, and so on. You can add columns and use it as a more elegant sort of spreadsheet, or shallow database. I use this app all the time, in countless different ways. There are five or so OmniFocus documents on my Finder desktop right now, each for different purposes. It's also dirt cheap.

Billings. An elegant program for managing invoicing. Just the thing for a freelancer. A very useful supplement to a general finance program. Speaking of which...

Mint.com webware. Quicken has been bloatware for years, and the Mac platform offers only half-hearted substitutes. Along comes this beautiful, if somewhat overly structured, cloud solution. What it lacks in flexibility (at the moment) it easily makes up for in automaticity and thoughtful interface ergonomics. And it's free!

I cannot remember the title or author of this book. It was about a girl--I think she was fourteen--who began babysitting for her new neighbors. Then the father of the kids she was watching started hitting on her. There are two scenes I remember: one where the main character is asking her cousin what 'popping a cherry' means and the other where the mother of the kids she babysat is attacking the main character. I think she scratches the girl.

I haven't come across this book since so it might be really obscure. Out of luck, though, does anyone know what it could be?

Its so sad that Bellydancing is not as popular in India like its elsewhere.I create many lovely outfits and feel like dancing in them.Hopefully someday!


Kajal
www.modemystique.com

Its so sad that Bellydancing is not as popular in India like its elsewhere.I create many lovely outfits and feel like dancing in them.Hopefully someday!


Kajal
www.modemystique.com

( Review! ) 

More Reviews can be found lovebooks-letter4no1.blogspot.com/

• 10:10 I hit the ground running today... then found that no one else was ready to race. #
• 12:33 @Randydeluxe is it his heart? #
• 12:45 I have come to a point in my life where the only drinks I want cold are Milk and Beer. Everything else I want slightly cooler and no ice. #
• 17:35 today was better than yesterday (work wise) #

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- Talking with good friends about good, happy-fun things
- Funderwear
- Free bras!
- Discovering, rather unexpectedly, that I got back paid from June from the raise that just took effect a week ago. The money's been in my checking account since Friday and I didn't even know it!
- Realizing my goal of being free and clear of carrying a balance on my revolving credit cards before we get into the mortgage for the new house
- Stunningly beautiful sunshiney, fantasticly temperate days

something's knocking at the door

a great white light dawns across the continent
as we fawn over our failed traditions
often kill to preserve them
or sometimes kill just to kill.
it doesn't seem to matter: the answers dangle just
out of reach,
out of hand, out of mind.

the leaders of the past were insufficient,
the leaders of the present are unprepared.
we curl up tightly in our beds at night and wait.
it is a waiting without hope, more like
a prayer for unmerited grace.

it looks more and more like the same old movie.
the actors are different but the plot's the same:
senseless.

we should have known, watching our fathers.
we should have known, watching our mothers.
they did not know, they too were not prepared to teach.
we were too naive to ignore their counsel
and now we have embraced their
ignorance as our
own.
we are them, multiplied.
we are their unpaid debts.
we are bankrupt
in money and
in spirit.

there are a few exceptions, of course,
but these teeter on the
edge
and will
at any moment
tumble down to join the rest
of us,
the raving, the battered, the blind and the sadly
corrupt.

a great white light dawns across the continent,
the flowers open blindly in the stinking wind,
as grotesque and ultimately
unlivable
our 21st century
struggles to be
born.

The dove flew out the door and she followed it, and every seven paces a drop of red blood and a white feather fell and showed her the way. Farther and farther she went into the wide world. She never looked around her and never rested, and one day the seven years were almost over. Then she was happy, for she thought they would soon be set free, but they still had a long way to go. Once as she was walking along, no feather fell and no drop of blood, and when she looked up the dove had vanished. "No human being can help me now," she said to herself, and climbed up to the sun.

Foxfire (Trickster's Game #3) (2009)
Written by: Barbara Campbell
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 628 (Mass Market Paperback)

The premise: taken from the author's website, because I'm evil like that: On the bleak northern moors, Darak and his family begin a new life, free from the prejudices of their tribe and the looming threat of the Zherosi. But their past continues to haunt them, and choices made years ago threaten their future as surely as the armies that raze their forests.

As rebellion spreads and the tribes fight for survival, a new force enters the game--Rigat, the youngest son of Darak and Griane. Gifted with magic far greater than Keirith’s, Rigat is the only one who might be able to save his people. Aided by the Trickster, he embarks on a dangerous game of deception that will determine the future of the children of the Oak and Holly--and the fate of the gods they worship.

My Rating

Give It Away: which is a hard rating for me to give. Because I sort of know the author, and I really, really, REALLY like the author. And I'll be honest: I couldn't have written something like this, so I applaud that she was able to write an epic fantasy trilogy with such detail and description and well-realized characters. It's her "first" effort, and as a writer, it's not a stretch at all to say that Campbell's got potential, and I'm really, really, REALLY looking forward to her future books. I want to see what else she's capable of, and based on what I've read so far, I think she's capable of a lot.

That said, the trilogy's final installment didn't satisfy me the way I'd hoped, but I think that's in part due to my own personal bias when it comes to reading fiction. And an important note: Heartwood, the first book, is essentially a stand-alone. You can read the second book, Bloodstone, without reading Heartwood (though you'll miss important character-building stuff), but you cannot, absolutely CANNOT, read the third and final installment, Foxfire, without having read at least Bloodstone.

Should you give the trilogy a shot? Heartwood remains my favorite of the trilogy. I love Campbell's focus on tribal people, as that's not something I've seen often in epic fantasy unless it's to vilify them. And the latter conflict between the tribal people and the Mediterranean-like peoples is also compelling--again, it's something I haven't personally seen all that often in fantasy, so I was happy for something different. And again, Campbell does a great job with setting and world-building. It's just that the trilogy didn't resolve on the emotional note that I wished, and I'm happy to acknowledge that may be more my fault than the author's. If you're interested, I'd say you should start with Heartwood, especially since it can be read as a stand-alone.

Review style: if I'd reviewed this book sooner (sorry folks, I've been distracted), you would've gotten far more in-depth. Instead, you're gonna get something stream-of-conscious that has the POTENTIAL of going in-depth, but may or may not get there. Spoilers? Yes, because it's the end of the trilogy and I want to talk about how that makes me feel. :) So if spoilers don't bother you, feel free to click below to my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Barbara Campbell's FOXFIRE

Happy Reading! :)

ALSO!!! November's Book Club Selection is Alaya Dawn Johnson's Racing the Dark (YA Fantasy). Interested? Details are here.

As the Yellow pages say:

Harry Dresden – Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or
Other Entertainment.

( Read more... )

While doing a few loads of laundry today and listening to the washer squeak like a mouse is caught in it and then during the rinse cycle sound like a space ship landing I started to think about how nice it would be to have a new washer/dry. Then how nice it would be to have a new dish washer. The unit is like 14 years old.

So...if you could get any new appliances what would it be? And how pathetic are some of your appliances?

Hi everyone. I am interested in reading Rainer Maria Rilke's only novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. I searched online for what I naively thought was perhaps the only English translation, but learned to my bewilderment that there are not one, nor even two, but at least four different translations available (including one published only earlier this year)! Can anyone familiar with this work tell me which I should read, or at least which I should avoid, or (blasphemous notion) whether it even matters? It would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Evan Lewis writes mysteries, westerns and historical fiction. He has a new story coming up in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 2010. He also has a blog called  Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West that I check out on a regular basis. 

He has lots of good stuff, including posts about old Detective and Cowboy magazines including their covers. He has a real love for these magazines that set the standards of today and it shows. Check out his blog if you can, I think you will like it.  :)

Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and the Wild West

"She was a talker, wasn't she?" Bobby Lee said, sliding down the ditch with a yodel.

"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

"Some fun!" Bobby Lee said.

"Shut up, Bobby Lee" The Misfit said. "It's no real pleasure in life."

Hi all, I hope this is an appropriate question for the comm - it's certainly about books, anyway!

I've recently been reading a lot of books, non-fiction historical accounts, memoirs and biographies about World War 2, particularly books about the Jewish experience in Eastern Europe.

All of them have been from the public library, and I've noticed something a bit weird - in a lot (almost all) of the books, people have written their names and a date - presumably of their reading - in the very back of the book. I have never seen this is any other book, fact or fiction, and it's got me really curious...

Does anyone have any insight into this for me? I'm curious whether this is a common act in books like this, a sign of acknowledgment and respect, or is it something culturally specific to Judaism? Or something specific to those who have some kind of personal connection in some way to that story?


It strikes me as quite a lovely idea, it's nice to see a list of people who have read the same book - particularly some of the sadder or more traumatizing tales, it's quite a comforting sense of connection to others who have been effected, an act of witnessing. I haven't written my name in any of the books, and I won't unless someone can give me some insight - especially if there is some kind of cultural/community significance, but it's certainly piqued my curiosity!