Yearly : 2010

in Books, Poetry, Life of Giang

Brilliant, like a FOX!

I like lists. I like books. I have compiled “greatest hits”-type lists for each genre, and will read them all this year. The lists are meant to be semi-representative of the different sub-genres in each of the larger genres. I am exploring, see.

The Ought-To Books
1. Literary: Ulysses by James Joyce
2. Satire: Catch-22 by The Guy Who Is Not Kurt Vonnegut
3. Can’t Finish It: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Epic Poetry: The Iliad by Homer
5. To Prove I Still Hate Steinbeck: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
6. Political, With Animals: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Science Fiction Books
1. I Dunno, I Like the Title: Neuromancer by William Gibson
2. Hard: Foundation 1 by Isaac Asimov
3. Cerebral: 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke
4. Old-Time: War of the Worlds by HG Wells
5. Modern: Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
6. Ditto to #1: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

Mystery Books
1. Old: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
2. Noir: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
3. 1950s: Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
4. Historical: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
5. Modern: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
6. Cozy: Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown

Romance Books
1. Steamy: Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
2. Improper: Room With a View by E.M. Forster
3. Written By A Man: Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
(I’m quite sure Sparks will make me physically ill.)
4. Classic Trash: Whatever book I can get ahold of by Danielle Steel
5. The Bodice Ripper: The Last Viking by Sandra Hill (It was meant to be…)
6. Naughty: The Story of O by Pauline Reage

Fantasy Books
1. Nearly Canonical: The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
2. Blowhard: Game of Thrones by George R. R. R. R. R. R. Martin
3. The Rare Standalone: Tigana by Guy Gaveriel Kay
4. Mythical: The Once and Future King by T.H. White
5. Blowhard, Take II: The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
6. Modern: The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

Horror Books
1. Uncle Stevie: Pet Sematary by Stephen King
2. It’s a Squid, Everyone: The Call of Cthulu and Other Such Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
3. Monsters: The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene
4. Morality Tale: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
5. Haunted House: Hell House by Richard Matheson
6. They Say He’s Good: The Books of Blood by Clive Barker

Non-Fiction/Biography Books
1. Historical Autobiography: The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
2. History: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel Brown
3. Hollywood Biography: Love Is Nothing: Ava Gardner by Lee Server
4. Historical Biography: The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
5. Confucius Say What?: The Analects of Confucius by Someone (I Do Not Remember)
6. Science: Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice To All Creation by Olivia Judson

in Life of Giang

Sunglasses at night

Curt’s in Vegas with a buddy, so I’m on my own for a few days. The apartment is nice and quiet. But all I can think is As soon I step out of this room, the monsters will eat me.

I enjoy screwing with myself, and so I chose this dark and stormy night to begin reading the Swedish horror book Let The Right One In.

Does the rain suddenly take on a sinister aspect, as if something were tap-tapping to gain entrance? Or perhaps it is the sound of some sinister little man, crawling outside my window, testing for weaknesses and slowly, slowly cutting through the glass to murder me while I sleep? Will Curt come home to find the sheets soaked in blood and my dismembered body parts sticking out of pots of various colors, shapes and sizes like grotesque human topiaries!?

;)

in Life of Giang

Curt’s little atheist group

Wah, wah, freakin’ wah! UGH. It drives me crazy that my husband participates in this nonsense. (In his defense, he at least is not a brainless leftist-or-die zombie to the anti-god cause. He’ll still call out bullshit. Even if he is sometimes a jackass about it.)

I have as hard a time with organized non-religion as I do organized religion. The problem with groups of people who meet to encourage a single type of behavior is that, inevitably, it all becomes a giant stroke-fest of whining self-righteousness.

As a self-righteous whiner who enjoys her whining solo, it just seems to me a little specious, this gathering of self-proclaimed “Freethinkers”. How free can you be if you’ve got all these people around you telling you you’re right? It’s like Miley Cyrus saying that she’s brilliant and talented because, you know, like, all her dancers and her bodyguards say so.

“/scoff, scoff, scoff,” she scoffed, “/scoff scoff!”

in Life of Giang

Owl egg

Been a bit stressed out lately. My grandpa is doing better, recuperating closer to home, which I’m glad about. Today Curt and I went out to the desert to take a look at the vernal pools. Very slippery!

I’m reading the first in the Revelation Space series. Usually not a great connoisseur of sci-fi, but I’m enjoying this one.

And that’s it from here. Low on words lately. Mostly just stressed — but all is well, really. Happy trails.

in Life of Giang

Sad

My grandfather is in the hospital with kidney and liver failure, and he most likely had a heart attack this morning. I held his hand for awhile. There wasn’t much else to do. He’s 94. My mind is slow and dull now, and I sit here thinking insignificant thoughts while he’s in the hospital hooked up to machines, unable to sleep.

As you see, I’ve changed the blog. Things are still a bit broken and unfinished. I feel guilty for doing these stupid, mundane things – guilty for having wasted so much of my free time doing stupid things. And so it goes. I’m tired, and sad.