afuna_archive

Taking a break on committing until I can figure out how to deal with Bugsy overwhelming #dw.

It's a lazy, rainy Saturday, and I've spent most of the afternoon curled up in bed, reading Wicked. I've seen the musical (a short version live in Japanese. <333 Universal Studios Japan, and the full length musical as well). It's taken me about a month to finish, I haven't been making time to read lately.

The musical and the book are very different. Not going into too much detail, though if you have the chance to watch/read, do; they're both good, in very different ways. Short version: the musical is like high school; the book like college beyond. Slightly longer version: the musical is brighter and happier, but not shallow. The book is darker and grittier, but leaves me hanging at the end.

(I think I would not like Glinda in the musical if it weren't for Kristin Chenoweth. Hmm or maybe, well I liked young!book!Glinda better than grownup!book!Glinda; I liked old!musical!Glinda better than young!musical!Glinda).

So I've closed Wicked, put it aside, and now going through the books in my drawer, I've settled (with some trepidation) on The Lost German Slave Girl. I'm not sure it's the right book for my mood, as I feel somewhat pensive, and this promises to be complicated and emotionally troubling, but none of the lighter-hearted books appeal to my mood right now, for the same reason.

So, I'm going out of town the next four days, to spend half a week at Fort Ilocandia, which apparently is very pretty and luxurious and has stuff like jet-skiing and parasailing and archery and other stuff you can't get here (wind and sand and sea and nature and stuff).

I am terrible at taking vacations, by the way. I just spent today stressing over finishing code for work, because I hadn't finished enough to justify to myself skipping Monday through Wednesday of next week relaxing ("relaxing"). Though it's better to stress before the vacation, than during or after? I'm about to resume coding for work after this, but took a quick break to pack my bag.

Packing two books: Dragonfire by Charles Ashton, and Snare by Katherine Kerr. Should I swap one of them out for Ellen Kushner's Thomas the Rhymer, or Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar, or DWJ's Unexpected Magic? Or maybe I should bring Wicked instead, since it's already tattered, from the time I lent it to my brother's friend. I'm gone four days; two books had better be enough! (Maybe I should bring three?)

I'm actually in the middle of the first book of Abarat, but I don't want to bring it because first book is glossy (and therefore heavy). Second book is hardbound (and therefore heavier).

Oh hmm what else do I need? Clothes, probably. Must not forget that. Ummm, money, too. Not bringing the laptop, but am bringing the iPhone. Also going to try to bring a bit of self-discipline so I don't end up spending the next four days hunched over my phone, trying to connect to the internet.

Place looks good enough to have assorted toiletries in the room? I'm bringing a towel anyway, for the beach.

Hm. Hm. Hm.

I hope I didn't forget anything.

ETA Oh yes, need to turn off changenotify, otherwise I'll be spammed with emails for things I can't help out with anyway.

habeo just gave me an amazing Christmas present: a 10% discount card for Fully Booked! It's even better than actually giving me a book, because I get to pick out the book(s) myself, and going through a bookstore is an experience all its own. Especially now that I have money. Mmm, money. Mmmmmm, books!

Got lost in the bookstore and ended up going through the generic fiction area first, where one book caught my eye: The Food Taster by Peter Elbing. Was intrigued by the title, the setting, and the description of it as "a sparkling tale of love, intrigue, and dodgy food". Sounds like it could potentially be delicious.

I next went through the YA section, which tends to have cheaper but very fun books, then went down to the sci-fi/fantasy section.

From the YA, I picked out a couple of books by Diana Wynne Jones (Castle in the Air, House of Many Ways, The Merlin Conspiracy) and Gaiman's M is for Magic -- both of them are authors I've read before and trust. I also picked up Charles de Lint's The Dreaming Place, because it caught my eye. I feel like I should know this author; name is vaguely familiar, but I cannot place him!

Initially had a few more books lined up from this section, but decided to go back for them another time (and there will be another time), after I got to the counter and realized I may not have enough to pay.

One of those I left behind was the Bartimaeus trilogy, because I remembered someone telling me something about it, but I forgot if it was good or bad, so I decided to go home and do my research first. Septimus Flynt series caught my eye, but they didn't have the first book, and I wasn't sure if it was good. I also almost bought Coraline. What stopped me was that there was a much cheaper edition in YA, and another edition in the non-YA fantasy section, which cost almost twice as much. I wasn't sure which one I should get. I wanted to get the cheaper one, but was worried it might have been simplified for younger readers; didn't want to risk it.

Ohh, and we found a parents' guide to Harry Potter, which (from the admittedly brief scanthrough I gave it) was full of itself explaining how to take away moral lessons from the series. The very existence of the book makes me sad.

I could have stayed in the YA section longer, but there was still the sci-fi/fantasy section and it was almost time to go home, so we headed to the first floor. I knew a few more authors in this section than I had in YA.

Got the fourth Temeraire book, by Naomi Novik (though, leafing through it now, I don't really remember what is going on. I may need to reread the first three). Two books by Ellen Kushner -- Thomas the Rhymer, The Privilege of the Sword, because I vaguely recall one of my friends recommending her. A book, Snare by Katharine Kerr, because I keep seeing her name/Deverry, but I wanted to try her first (standalone novel) before committing to buy what seems to be her three or so series set in the same world. Dragon Fire by Charlie Ashton, which I know nothing about, but it caught my eye and it's an omnibus edition (three-in-one), so I figured I'd try it.

Three books by Elizabeth Bear! Recognized her name from a friend's recs, and from Shadow Unit (which I haven't read yet but seems cool): Hell and Earth and Blood and Iron, both novels of the Promethean Age, and Dust which I think is a standalone. Windhaven by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle (saw while trying to see if there was a new book in the ASoIaF series -- no there isn't, which I knew since I would have heard from my friends otherwise, but...). And finally Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber, which I got because the summary caught my eye (swashbuckling! Giant barbarian warrior and master thief! Most of the stories I've seen involving thieves have been good) and it had a blurb by Gaiman on it. Normally, I hate blurbs*, but this seemed to be an unusually sincere blurb from an author I respect.

* Tell me what the book is about, not who read it. How hard is that?

I'm wondering if I should have picked up some Tanya Huff. Her name sounds familiar, but I can't remember if I have ever read anything by her. Meant to get the Kushiel series, but I forgot which book (singular) I already have. May go back for it at some other time, but I had no money for another book. Literally had only forty pesos in my pocket after everything.

I bought 16 books in total, about 5.5k pesos. Bye money, mmmmmmm books!

You know, I just realized I was so busy in 2008, I did not finish a single book, at least not in dead-tree form, though I did manage to go through a few books on my computer That... is a very sad realization. This year I am definitely going to change that.

( My loot )

PS. I would kill for a public library in the Philippines with a decent selection of books. Or at least, severely MAIM.

Went out with friends to Shangri-La Plaza today, and watched National Treasure. It was pretty good. ( What I liked most about it is... (cut for spoiler) )

I liked it; it was interesting.

Speaking of things that I like because they're interesting, check out this gorgeous take on the Cinderella story (not a fairy tale; not for kids. Warning, contains sex. I would babble on about it, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Also, words fail me). I've linked to part ten, as it links back to parts one through nine, so do take care not to scroll down that page until you've read the first parts. Originally found via the wonderful keilexandra.


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I was late to the movie because I accidentally left my wallet at the office last night and had to drop by there first to search for it. Found it in my jacket pocket, untouched. After the movie, I handed out boxes of chocolate truffles (my pasalubong from Hong Kong!). Some milk, some dark, some white, some hazelnut. I hope you guys enjoy them ^_^

Discovered an easter egg for the mall -- a set of out of the way restrooms. No lines! Woohoo!

I felt ravenous after the movie, so I suggested dinner (Pho Hoa; Vietnamese noodle place. Never eaten there before. Flank+brisket+tendon noodle soup is quite good.) Kinarir ni habeo ang hoisin sauce ;) Kinarir ko naman ang bean sprouts at basil. Wanted to have some mango crepe, which apparently was infused with pandan, but I was too full after the noodles.

Dinner conversation revolved around various languages, including English in the Philippines, PHP, Java, Lisp, Erlang. A few quick dips into load balancing (which sadly I know little about), and the rules governing domain names and valid email addresses rounded out the small talk nicely.

jan247 had to leave early! Sad! But okay, we understand. Some things are more important than friends ;p And then it was just me, habeo and iruka11. Headed to PowerBooks, right next door to the restaurant. There was a sale! Everything was at least 20% off, so I bought four books: silly book about being a Filipino (You know you're a Filipino if...), The King of Attolia and The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (I've read The Thief, set in the same universe, and liked it, so this seemed a good gamble), and then bought Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley.

I just remembered that someone may have recommended that last book to me last year (before it was published), though that wasn't in my mind when I picked it up from the shelf. Hmm. Aha, found it.

I love the smell of books, the feeling of covers under my fingertips (matte, glossy, smooth, rough, everything), the fonts and colors as they sit there on the shelf. I have a hard time keeping my fingers and my eyes away from them. I tend to get dizzy when walking past shelves of books, especially long ones, because I'll be trying to walk forward to get to the next set while my eyes (and occasionally fingers) are still trying to read everything behind me.

I'm still revelling in the feeling of having money in my pocket. This is the first major thing I've bought for myself since I started earning*. I mean I've bought books before, but I didn't have to pay for them or anything.... It feels good to own my books completely utterly entirely.

*lunch and treating my family to dinner do not count!

Had on a blouse that was cut lower than I usually wear. The deep V has an amazing slimming effect, but it meant that I had to take care that I didn't accidentally flash anyone when I crouched down to get at the books on the lower shelves. I also had on my sister's sandals so I could walk tall (the things I will do for more height ;-)), and I keep forgetting how much I like the crisp click-clacking of hard heels against tiles. So nice. Tried not to be too obvious that I was enjoying walking so much, but so nice.

Saw it recced here, and I'm excited! It's coming out in September, by which time I'll be in China. I hope I'll still be able to find it there (or at least manage to find it when I get home around Christmas :))