short book reviews

I often lament not having enough time to read; being off the strip for the last week gave me a bit more time than I usually have that I used well:

Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? - recommended by ladyaelfwynn, this is a humorous retelling/analysis of the author's experiences in Buffy fandom. It's a quick, fun, snarky read and rings incredibly familiar to me about the joys and tribulations of online community. I particularly enjoyed the "Munchausen by Internet" (people misrepresenting themselves online) and "Together, Alone" (on the intersection between introversion and online community) chapters. Genuinely interesting observations on social media and fandom with a sense of humor and without dense academic-speak. Recommended :)

Scar Night - the reviewer complains of "familiar fantasy and horror tropes" but happily (?) I've not read enough of either so it didn't really impact my enjoyment of the novel. The descriptions are so rich you can hear the chains creaking and it does not get much cooler than vampire angels. With the airships, constant smoke and city built in a web of chains, I think I can safely describe the setting as "steampunk". I liked. I'm glad there's sequel.

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twit(s) of the day

• 18:46 F*ck me, this is gonna work (!)

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weekend recap

Had a pretty good weekend, considering I've been an iffy mood for most of it:

As mentioned earlier, I took some stuff to Goodwill. Now I'm happy to report that I found someplace for my old pattern books other than the dumpster: URI's Commercial Pattern Archive is taking them in once I find a box large/sturdy enough to ship them in. I like finding good homes for things :) (Related note for seamstress/tailoring sorts - their website claims scanned images from 25,000 commercially produced patterns, dating back to 1868 as of 2005. Imagine what they've got by now!).

Last night went to zen4me's birthday party, along with vree, skill_grl, secretaryjen and some non-LJ People (yes, they do exist!) A fun if sweltering time was had by all. I learned a bit about krav, and also learned that I like margaritas, but only when they're very, very cold!

Today was (modern) fencing, because again it was too cruelly hot to do anything outdoors. I was really "in the zone" today and was rather pleased with myself, and managed to go ~2 hours before my foot squeaked (d'oh!).

Came home, ate like a horse, watched "Order of the Phoenix" and then laid out the gown pattern on the coveted wool. I'm still surprised (pleasantly so) that I can fit it all on there (it requires piecing, but that's period correct, so). Found the taffeta, doing some dyeing later this week.

Despite all this I'm rather on edge and nudging towards "unfit for human consumption". Think I'll go iron and growl to myself a bit - it will turn out well.