Libra | DVD, Book, Audio CD, Game library organizer software:

My friend tatianamik shared this with me. It's a free software that keeps track of your library, very much like the delicious library software for mac. The awesome thing is that it uses your webcam, if you have one, to scan the barcodes. Even better, it's not just books. The different choices you have are: Books, DVDs, Music, Games. The only problem I've had has been with paperbacks, you need to scan the EAU barcode on the inside cover; the sandman hardbacks, it just wouldn't find the EAU, had to type in the ISBN manually; and a few foreign language books and movies we have.Rule of thumb is, if it's listed on Amazon, it should find it. Not only have I done all my xbox/ps2 games, but it even reads the barcodes on PC games. Haven't tried the board games but i'm sure those will work too. Doesn't have a barcode? Pull up amazon, do a search, and then use the inhouse amazon code to get the info in Libra. There has only been like two things I've had to manually type in entirely.You can tag things, add additional information (like where you actually keep it), and even have things 'checked out' if someone borrows something.

Well, christmas is come and gone, still have a handful of cards to still send out.. hopefully before new years. *sighs* But.. got a LOT done.

( Cut for kids stuff. )

( Cake and Soup Adventures! )

( Christmas. )

( Gaming. )

( LJ Icons! )

( Health and Depression. )

( Da House! )

Gah.. that's about all I can think of.

Trying to get back in contact with friends again.. but it's hard. Ya'll know how bad I am at keeping in touch.

Looking forward to ShadowCon though.

Enough for now.. hope ya'll enjoy the LJ cuts.. didn't want to clog up the friends pages and make everyone ignore me. >_>;;;

Laters!

Not much going on..

Last weekend was ShadowCon and was lots of fun. Got to see synamontwist, ladyalexis, tatianamikhail, devlyn_moreland, lostboydv, and even internetbrain showed up despite saying she wasn't! Got all sorts of things too. synamontwist gave me "Archangel" by Sharon Shinn along with the new Elfquest series. I made the mistake of saying "I'm just going to read a few pages while i'm sitting here waiting for the rest of them" and got completely sucked into the book and couldn't put it down for the rest of the con. >_< There are a couple more books, hopefully one day I'll get them. For now they areon my Amazon.com wishlist.

Let's see, got the "Art of Discworld" and "A Tourist Guide to Lancre" which is a map of the kingdom of Lancre in Discworld. Also got the In Nomine sourcebook. It's a pretty easy system... quu kinda wants me to try my hand at running a game, methinks it is more of a try to get me to be more social and interact with people than a real urge to play the game. *shrugs* I dunno. Either way I'm reading the book and looking around.

Not much else to say. Forgot to post this yesterday. Thank god for autosaving of drafts in Semagic. *sighs*

morinon just posted a new meme... from the Top 50 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books list published by the Science Fiction Book Club

Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien*
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert*
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett*
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien*
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson*
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

To tell the truth, I'm mostly posting this so I've got a list of books on the "Must Read" list. Soo much i've never read. Mostly because I've had to live off of loans..

Ok.. thanks to lord_darkseid and tatianamikhail, I decided to buy and read the book "Undead and Unwed" by MaryJanice Davidson.

My first encounter with her "Queen of the Vampires" universe was the short story "Dead Girls Don't Dance" in the "Cravings" book. It was extremely funny and actually quite original. Then I got a chance to read the first chapter or two of Undead and Unemployed and I was hooked.

Soo.. a couple days ago, </a></b></a>quu took me to Barns and Nobel and I went ahead and pickedup Undead and Unwed (the first book in the series) along with a few others.

Wow... it's excellent!

I guess, the best way to describe it is that it's "Legally Blonde" with Vampiers instead of Lawyers (Not much difference if you really think about it!). Now.. if you haven't seen the movie.. I actually SUGGEST you go see it. Despite your initial revulstion to the vallygirl type you might have, the movie is actually very funny and enjoyable.

Same with Undead and Unwed. Betsy (short for Elizibeth Taylor ^_^) starts her 30th birthday out by arriving to work late, getting fired, having her cat run away, being ditched by her dad, having a snowstorm to cancel her party, then to top it off, get's killed by a car. Problem is.. she can't stay dead. Turns out she's a vampire... but not your run of the mill kind either. Crosses are fine with her, holy water only makes her sneeze, sun doesn't affect her, she's stronger than most, and isn't consumed by the thirst. Unfortunatly... it makes some other vamps think she's some kind of prophesied Queen of the Vampires.

All Betsy want's to do is live her own (undead) life. Hang out with her friends, feed her cat, argue with her evil stepmother, and buy more shoes. Too bad the local Vamp ruler, Nostro, want's her head on a plate; while the super sexy yet highly annoying Sinclair wants her to join him in overthrowing Nostro's unholy reign of terror.

All in all this is a very excellent book. You'll find ourself laughing out loud thoughout the whole story.

Two thumbs up!

Ok everyone... I need some Fantasy readers to help me out on something... Back in the early to mid 90's I read a book that, while not a total blockbuster, was at least entertaining and kinda cool.

I think it came out before Jordan started publishing TWoT, but I can't be real sure.

Anyway.. what was very unique was it's system of Magic. They were like flows of rope that were always present in nature. To preform magic you simply need to cut/tie/braid those ropes into whatever you needed.

The book starts out with the Prince/King/Person-in-charge-of-the-kingdom out exploring his kingdom. I "THINK" he's out on his required "Rescue the Princess from the Dragon" senero. When he get's to the dragon's cave, he's immedately drenched with a bucket of (warm, soapy? or dirty?)water. Apparently the Princess, who's actually more living with the dragon than being held captive, explains that there's like a wizard or enchanter or something who keeps bothering them and that the bucket of water melts them. The dragon explains that he's actually been trying to get rid of the princess but she just won't go.

I don't remember much beyond that other than the 3 become good friends and that the kingdom is being sucked dry of it's magic by some form of evil (the wizard who was bothering the princess?). I also think the princes-type person had a sword that could absorbe the magic and which he could pull out the threads of magic to work with at need.

Does this sound famillar at all to anyone? I thought it might be one of Terry Brooks "Landover" series, but it doesn't sound right. *sigh* Please... does ANYONE have any clue?

Wow...

um...

WOW!

What else can I say?


I just finished reading Cerulean Sins. For those of you unfortunate souls who don't know, that's the newest Anita Blake book by Laurelle K. Hamilton. quugot home early yesterday so we and ottom went out to enjoy the day. I most wanted to go get the book. I'm SOOO glad I did. Here is a brief, non-spoiler review:

As one Editorial stated, Laurelle has deffently returned to a more traditional Anita Blake style (which I know SOME of you will be MOST joyful about). It hearkens back to books like The Laughing Corpse and Dance Macabre with a dash of Burnt Offerings in it.

As per-traditional style, you've got two plots going on: The visit of Musette, one of Belle Morte's Vamps; and with a serial killer/rapist. There are other tidbits sprinkled in, all of which are wonderment for ANY Anita fan. No, Edward does NOT make an appearance (though he's at least mentioned), but we do learn the answer to the ultimate question about Asher (Though the what, how and why I won't tell... go read for yourself you slacker!). IMO it doesn't mark the re-readablity that Obsidian Butterfly has, but it's still excellent and shows that Laurelle has finally gotten back into swing for writing Anita.

My only real disappointment was that the Title, Cerulean Sins, never makes it's appearance as the name of a club anywhere in the book. I think this is a first and it's sorta made me puzzled. Have the titles be the names of clubs was a trademark of the Anita Blake series... but that's not true with this one... In fact I'll even admit to having to look up "Cerulean" to find out what it means. For those who didn't know.. it means "Azure; sky blue". The only tie in that I can find is that blue is all over the place in the book (clothing, etc.). But the phrase "Cerulean Sins" isn't mentioned once, I think. The only thing I can think of is that it was accidentally left out. Laurelle mentions in the dedication that someone had to help her come up with a title. Maybe what happened was that she was having problems coming up with a new name for a club and left that part out. It mentions that some of the murder victims were at a club, but it never names it. *shrugs* I don't know.. I'm just guessing here.

Anyway, if you're read up on Anita Blake, then go get this one. If you're not, get off your lazy butt and start reading the series!

Now I think I will make a spoiler post cause I want to discuss stuff with people out there.

But another year wiser? I dunno...

Quu has been trying to get home for the past couple of hours... he hasn't even made it to the freeway yet. -_-;; My poor baby.

So far it's been a lazy day. I slept late and then stayed in bed reading Snow Crash, a REALLY awesome book. Very interesting ideas about linguistics and so forth... The one thing i'm suprised that didn't come out is how a computer is modeled after the human brain anyway... therefore it's not a quite a big of a jump to think that a computer virus and binary code could affect the human brain. I won't get into detail, but for anyone who loves to study bullshit physics and theories, this is an excellent read. My biggest beef with it is the ending... was anyone else left feeling left hanging like I was? It was going so good... but had major premature ejactulaion... I'm left feeling cold and hollow and EXTREMELY wanton for more. ¬.¬;;;;;;;;;;

Right now I'm waiting for Quu to get home so we can go to Fogo de Chow for dinner.. ^_^ Happy carnovour bliss awaits! But... while i'm waiting.. I'm reinstalling all my programs like LochJ and Trillian.

It's also good to chat with old frinds that I haven't seen in a long time... like Tatiana and Arwen. I whish Celesta was on... but she's having puter problems...

Ok.. for those who didn't know, I love to read. I like to write, but I love to read even more. My own feeble attempts at painting with words pales in to insignificance when compared to these magnificent authors... ok.. even the rather mediocre ones too.. I suck.

Anyway.. over the past 3 days I've been playing catch-up. I had already read the Interview with a Vampire, and I longed to finish The Vampire Lestat. After the Queen of the Damned movie came out, I went out and bought the first three novels. I had started to read them in order, but after watching the movie I was unsatisfied and started skimming the QotD for the answers to the questions I had... Like Lestat, I longed to know where the Vampires came from... and was shocked beyond belief. The movie is so far off from the book it's not funny. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE the movie.. but it's just NOT the book. The names are the same, but the similarities end there.

I won't spoil it for everyone, but I must say it was NOT something I expected. Anyway...

After seeing and reading Interview with a Vampire... I could not for the life of me see what all the fuss was about Lestat. He was an arrogant prick. Louis was a winy cynic. The only one that held any respect from me was Armand (in the movie, which is NOTHING like he is in the book) and Claudia. I just chalked it up to the fact that I just don't seem to ever go along with public opinion. So... Sunday night, I pick up my copy of The Vampire Lestat and am immediately hooked.

How different he is.. how utterly loveable. He truly was the Brat Prince. Lestat, the Golden Vampire, the embodiment of Light in a world of darkness. You learn more about him in this book that you could about a person you spent your entire lifetime with. There are times when you cry with him, feeling his pain, there are other times when you want to shake some sense into him. Headstrong, stubborn... he is this and so much more.

So.. you can see.. I picked this book up Sunday night... then picked it up on Monday morning and only put it down when I was forced to. Last night i was up till 5:30 am reading... Today I am worth shit. I want to quit my job so bad. *sigh*

But now.. I've finished it at lunch today and now to fully read The Queen of the Damned.
( More on my weekend, EXTREMELY LONG POST! )