I came across this book meme and decided to try it. Sometimes I think of things like this as my virtual TBR pile. Well, these and banned book lists. As I told my daughter as I gave her the most recent list of the 100 Most Banned Books, "Here's a list of some good books to read." Granted that's not a foolproof method of finding books you might like, but it works as well as many other mostly random methods.


The instructions: “These are the top 106 books most often marked as ‘unread’ by LibraryThing’s users. The rules: bold what you have read, italicize what you started but couldn’t finish, strike through what you couldn’t stand and underline those you have no intention of reading.”

A few of these probably should be underlined, but I've found that today's intentions are tomorrow's "What was I thinking?" so I'm trying to keep an open mind. (But between you and me, odds of me getting a sudden inspiration to read Les Misérables are slim to none.)

( Some books I've read...Some books I've not )

Is that really 106 books? Too lazy to count...if not I could probably come up with some other books I've read and loved that others found tedious or that are reputedly very fine, yet remain in my TBR pile. And I keep hearing terrific things about Never Let You Go, but I keep forgetting that every time I think, "I need something new to read" and tear off to the library or bookstore. Is there a name for such a list of books? Those that you intend to check out and which could join those other very fine, though still unreads, that are scattered in clumps and stacks throughout your house?

Tags: books, meme

Comment on this entry and I will give you a letter if you want. Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation of what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along.

Because she's e-ville, sarahf gave me i. But I said I was looking for a challenge, so I suppose calling sarahf e-ville is pretty hypocritical of me, so I take it back. OK...deep breath...10 words starting with the letter i...

iodine: because they (whoever "they" are) say it's essential for life and thus added to salt - one of the seasonings I consider essential. I've heard salt described as the seasoning that makes something taste more like itself, and I think that describes it perfectly.

intuition: because I believe it exists. I know the talk is always about "women's intuition", but at the moment I'm thinking of an example from this season's Lost: Sayid was laying on the torture mojo to a guy who he suspects is an "other" and later on he's asked why he felt it was right. He responded, "Because I didn't feel guilty." I believe there are clues that we pick up about people and situations and our environment that we incorporate subconsciously and they affect how we respond to a situation, though we can't quite consciously put our finger on why.

in toto: I dunno, hearing this phrase always gives me a giggle - it's the way people always speak it, with some sort of verbal quotation marks around it, that gets to me.

I: this one's kind of a given, no? How many times to we use "I" in our entries, I wonder? Plus, like I was speaking of the other day, thanks to U2 I now hear "I and I, in the sky, you make me feel like I can fly, so high...Elevation" when I think of "I".

invitation: it's almost always nice to get an invitation, isn't it? Except when it's for something you feel guilty saying no to and you feel obligated to make up some excuse because the truth of why you can't or won't be attending would sound too rude to say out loud.

impossible: because I'm starting to think know 10 words with "i" are just about impossible to think of on the spur of the moment. Plus, it's part of the title to my favorite Loretta Chase book Seriously, I love that book. That scene with the brother near the end of the book when he tells Rupert he's in love? Just one tiny reason why I love it.

irradiation: because I've heard that irradiating meat and other foodstuffs is supposed to be quite safe and an easy way to kill off E. coli and other harmful bacteria. Which I have in mind because I was reading something yesterday about pollution and the fact that several manufacturers that use chemicals and thus have chemical waste have been choosing to use chlorine bleach and ultraviolet light as cleaners in lieu of the more dangerous chlorine gas. I'd never heard of ultraviolet light being used in this manner and I was fascinated by the concept. (This was in relation to an article about all of the major problems with polluted sites that people are living amidst in the wake of Katrina.)

instant: because this word has a couple of different connotations. One is the instant meal, where a few moments in the microwave or bathed in boiling water will reconstitute and/or cook some food. These nearly always taste terrible, and yet we eat them all the time. Then there's the connotation of instant like "in the blink of an eye" and how an action that occurs in the smallest instant can change a person (or persons) forever.

in or inside: because I love the the kanji for this word and have ever since I learned it. All of those - inside, on top, underneath - are so elegantly simple and expressive and help you know just what they mean by looking at them, don't they?

insulate: because this can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. It can be something you do to make your home more energy efficient. Or it can be a way one is cut off from realities that one really should know. (Until Colbert comes along and gives you the wake the f* up smack down, anyway.)

And a bonus word!

idiot: because my husband was on a roll this morning responding to someone's bigoted rant on the current immigration issue and this word came up.

Whew. I'm amazed I didn't end up cracking a dictionary for this...but now I've started, a whole list of words keeps scrolling 'round my mind: India, illustrate, indigestion, irritate, ignoble, irate, ibex, index, inchoate, idiom, Ionian, interference, issue, inviolate, Ixstapa, intravenous, interdependence... All in all, I suspect this kind of a Freudian exercise.

Anyway, if anyone else would like a challenge, give me a comment and I'll give you a letter.

Tags: meme

I've been tagged for a meme, so here goes...

( The love meme )

And because I've been really curious to learn something new about my birthday, here's the wikipedia meme...

( On my birthday... )

So there you go, Saturday meme-age for the masses (the fast food of blogging).

Tags: meme

Baah. I follow the herd and do the meme first seen at Smart Bitches. First I didn't think I'd be able to do this. After all, I failed the The Slut Test a few days back with a showing of 39% (warning: the graphic there on the opening page is not for the faint of heart...or the non-adult, I suppose I should add). Then there's the fact that I'm married and it's completely and utterly impossible for me to imagine anything shagging-related that doesn't involve the husband. But I decided I could make this work if I supposed this was one of those parallel universes I was learning about the other day. Obviously, it would have to be a universe like this one in every way except for a) me being married, and b) me living a life that involved meeting people such as this. Possibly there could be a couple of changes to politicians in that universe. And maybe some alternate advances in earth-friendly fuel sources. But I digress.

Without further ado, my list of thoroughly shaggable celebrities (in no particular order, except for the Ewan McGregor bit cause he's definitely #1):

( Click to see the pretty, pretty boys... )

Tags: meme

***Ground Rules: The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yours" and people who get tagged need to write an LJ entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.***

( Of course, to me these 5 things are completely reasonable, normal, and only make sense... )

6. A bonus weird habit! I have to have a source of water ready and available wherever I go. Therefore, there's always at least 1 bottle of water in my car and there's at least 1 glass of water within reach. My husband swears that little girl in the movie Signs was inspired by me. He often bemoans the fact that you can find half-full glasses of water all over the house and in the strangest of places, thus there are always several to hunt for and gather up when a load of dishes is run.

I know I'm supposed to tag someone, but you can all rest easy because I'm making this completely voluntary on your part. So if you feel like letting your freak flag fly, go ahead and send it up the mast 'cause I'd love to see it. If not, I understand.

Tags: meme