Oh Happy Day!

I'M FINALLY GETTING MY AC FIXED!!!!!! I am so excited to finally get my house below 92 degrees!!!!!!.  

I'm gonna crank that AC so high that it snows in here!!!!!  Can't wait to curl up under a pile of blankets and read with out dripping sweat on every page.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Ready For Spring

In general I prefer it cold to hot, but I will admit, this year I am ready for winter to be over.  It has been to cold to go out and play (think frost bite conditions) but I'm still out there on calls, hauling sick people up and down freezing, icy stairs and driveways. I'm not complaining, I love my job...but still, it is not fun.

I am ready to get out my Jane Austen books and read on the porch.  I am ready for a color other then white and gray and I am ready to not have to read while wearing gloves. I'm not advocating for 90 degrees with 99 percent humidity...just a bit of sunshine.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Cop Out

Ok ok I know I owe you all a rambling or a nice long rant or something more substantial then a comic, but 36 hours later with 12  more to go and I just don't have it in me.

I will however spend the next free hour that I can find to hide under a blanket (we are experiencing below zero temps here) and finishing at least one book so next week will be an awesome week of rambly epicness (my spell check hates me so much right now :-)  )  Anyways, I hope you all have a great and warm weekend and I will see you all on Monday.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Wrapped In Words

It is COLD out!  Like seriously it's so cold it hurts to breathe, fingers turning blue, ears falling off and that is just going to get my mail cold.  The plus side to all this is that I get to wrap up in a nice warm blanket like one of these and read!

Harry Potter Blanket

Keep track of your minions while you wrap up and read

Alice In Wonderland Blanket

I need this to go with my book pillow...I could get a whole Alice bed set!

Shakespeare Quote Blanket

This blanket will add a bit of wit to your wrap

Pride and Prejudice Blanket

A sweet blanket to curl up under with your sweets

Quote Blanket

The perfect blanket for when you just can't choose a favorite.

Ok I am now going to go and curl up under my own favorite fuzzy blanky until I have to go to work and face the unforgiving stupid cold.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Where The Whales Go To Die

Growing up, one of my favorite movies was (and still is) The Island at the Top of the World.  It's a weird, strange movie, but it triggered my sense of adventure (and scared the bejeebus out of me) so a favorite it became.  I have recently discovered the book The Lost Ones by Ian Cameron, on which the movie was based, and fell in love with it as well. Since it is set in the frozen tundra I held on to it until winter set in.   Before we get into that though, as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

The book is written in first person/journal form and follows the strange adventures of Keith Rogers, a whaler; Professor Somerville, a teacher of flora and Captain Anthony McIver, a man looking for his son.  The Professor and McIver convince Rogers to come with them to find McIver's lost son Donald Ross.  Donald it seems has found some information on the mythical legend of a place where the whales go to die.  He was last seen hijacking a helicopter and heading out over the frozen tundra.  The threesome put together an expedition and head out in the undiscovered snow and ice to see if they can find out what happened to him.  As they travel, they uncover some unsettelling information about the mysterious island they are heading towards.  The island is Prince Patrick Island and there is no official record of anybody ever actually setting foot on the island and all maps, such as they are were made by aerial recon and even the aerial footage is iffy because of a perpetual mist that obscures parts of the island.  They are warned against the yellow-haired men that supposedly inhabit the island, confusing the trio as only Eskimos are known to inhabit any of the area.  Many cold

adventures follow, culminating with the men stranded on the mystical island, under siege by the mysterious yellow haired men.  They are captured and taken to an impossible city, that has survived and flourished due to thermal vents warming the area to comfortably habital temps.  The natives, who all sport blond hair, seem to live under a very medieval code of suspicion, taboo's, and rituals.  The men are found guilty of trespassing and are sentenced to death.  They meet Freyja, a girl who knew Donald, and was his lover.  She helps the men escape and promises to guide them to where she thinks Donald may be.  The place Freyja takes them is a sacred spot that only the Shaman's may go and look upon, keeping the natives in their grip.  After some more harrowing events the trio plus Freyja end up trapped on a sort of beach, along with numerous whale carcasses where they find Donald, alive.  They have finally found where the whales go to die.  Freyja tells them the story of how whales used to eat the young of other animals, and as punishment they were barred from heaven and must circle the waters of hell.  To this end, when a whale gets old it goes to a special grave yard to be tipped into the waters of hell.  This strange beach is littered with the bodies of all kinds of whales, and they are eventually carried by a river to an underground whirlpool, fulfilling the story.  The other part of this myth is the Guardians that Freyja is terrified of, which turn out to be very aggressive Orca's.  In desperation the five of them build a boat out of various whale parts and try and get past the Orca's.  Freyja, out of guilt and fear feeling that she is the reason the Guardians won't leave them alone is because of her, she jumps into the water, dying as she gives the men a way to escape.  They all finally head home and go about their various lives, always having this surreal adventure to think back on.

To be 100% honest, I was not prepared to like this book as much as I did.  I wanted to see the source material for my favorite movie, and found a decently written adventure.  It is hard for me to talk about the book without talking about the movie which are intertwined in my head, even though they are both very different.  I think what struck me most about both is the sense of adventure, the idea that there is something still unknown out there.  As a kid...ok even now, I always wanted to discover something, always looking over the next ridge, or opening the old doors, or squeezing through the holes, hoping to find something new.  I also love the idea of hidden things, lost things rediscovered, mystical myths and this book had it all.  The pacing of the book was surprisingly brisk considering 90% of it was spent trying to survive on the frozen tundra.  I loved the mix of science, exploration,

anthropology and myth.  This is one of those books that reminds you how many facets of life come together to form a culture ore society.  The actual physical book itself was also pretty neat.  The story was published in 1970 and the book I have was printed not much later, making the physical tome itself about 45 years old, which doesn't seem that old, until you realize that it is in paper back, still in one piece and older then me :-)  It felt like holding a discovery, which added to the enjoyment reading it.  Of course now I am terrified it's gonna fall apart.  I also loved the words that the author used.  One of my favorite things about older books is that people use grown up words in every day conversation, I miss that, none of this shortening or acronyming of words, just full, meaningful, beautiful words.    This book rekindled my love of adventure and exploring and now I want to go find more books like this.  I give this book 7 out of 10 sacred lockets and recommend it to anybody who likes adventure, myths, or snow.
When is it ok for the movie and the book to differ?  How awesome is the combo of myth and science?  Is this the reason people say "Hey this is a weird book/movie...I think you'll love it"?

Baby It's Cold Outside

Ok folks I'm back in one piece...mostly.  It has been cold, and my poor Hubbin has been sick, and I have been doing my best to not freeze, while simultaneously trying to stay awake while not throwing my stupid computer out in the snow.  The plus side is I did get a little snuggle/book time, mostly at the station.  Here are some blankets that do double duty in keeping you warm and also entertained when you finish your book and are to cold to get out of your reading chair to get another one.

Dick and Jane

Here is a great way to get your little one warm and well read

Quote Blanket

This one is big and fuzzy and has so many words!

Bookshelf Quilt

I don't know if I want to use it or hang it on my wall!

Book Before Bed

I like that you are supposed to have the words facing you like a giant book

Book Quilt Fabric

And here is a little fabric if anybody would like to make me my own book blanket!

I hope everybody who is experiencing these lovely winter temps with me (which seems to be a good chunk of the world) can find a warm blanket and a good book to see them through.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Windchill Below Zero

Brrrrrrrr...it is a wee bit cold this morning. Spent the night running calls and avoiding frostbite, but the snow was beautiful.  This morning however it is just plain freezing!  This however does make for a great excuse to curl up with a blanket, a giant mug of hot cocoa and a stack of books, preferably by the fire place in your giant library, but any comfy place will do.

Alas I must first get through a day of work, and try and stay awake (seriously long cold night last night).  But as soon as I get home it is comfy cozy reading time!!!!!   Let me know what you are all reading to stay warm!  Happy Reading!

Cold, Tired, Happy

So incredibly tired, but so incredibly happy.  Had duty last night and ran so many calls I literally have not even tried to go to bed yet.  It was/is literally freezing (and literally is literally my favorite word today) and we were outside in the cold all night, but still happy.  See I am happy 'cause as exhausted as I am and as sure as I am that I will probably never actually be warm again I still, I got to spend time helping people, working with people I enjoy, coming home to a Hubbin and a huge cup of coffee, and looking forward to more Christmas shopping tonight. I get to look forward to crazy family time, farm time, and just all around awesome time.

I get to continue to teach people who are eager to learn, go to birthday parties with friends, I get to read and read and read and read and read!  So am I to tired to even keep my head up, yep, am I so cold I am pathetically huddled around a space heater with multiple layers of blankets, yep, am I sore and in a fair amount of pain, yep, am I incredibly happy YEP! Happy Reading Everybody.

Hard To Read When Your Fingers Are Frozen

Stupid weather, it keeps forgetting that it is supposed to be spring and my book should look like this

Spring Book

Instead my books look a lot more like this!

Ice Book

Arrrggghhh!  Somebody turn up the heat already (but not to much)

Winter Wonderland

Baby it's cold outside!  First real snow here in the DC area and I have to say, riding the ambulance in the middle of the night with just the lights on the new fallen snow and nothing else out there is kind of awesome!
Here are a few of my favorite snow/winter scenes form books that occupy my winter shelf.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - There are many winter scenes in this book considering part of the plot is a witch who has kept the land in eternal winter.  My favorite "wintery" scene is when Edmund meets the White Queen for the first time and he is cold.  Once she figures out who she is she wraps him in warm furs, gives him Turkish Delight and the best part is gives him a drink that I want to figure out so I can try it too!

A Song of Ice and Fire- Again plenty of coldness, when one of your main families sayings is "Winter is coming" you know that it ain't gonna be warm.  The coldest part for me was probably in A Clash of Kings when they are on the other side of the wall searching for Benjen Stark.  The descriptions of this scene always require and extra blanket to read.

The Cry of the Icemark-This book is set in the frozen north featuring a strong Viking like heroine.  It also has vampires, werewolves, and snow leopards.  I know, I know this sounds a little shady, but I love love love this book.  There is a scene where she travels over the frozen tundra to attempt to garner help for her country from former foes that will make you reach for your fuzzy socks.

Graceling-Most of this book is not about being cold, however there is one part of the book where our Graced heroine must get her and a 10 year old child over a treacherous mountain pass.  The way the author writes this scene is simply amazing and I am always shivering and swear my fingers are turning blue every time I read that passage.  Do not, I repeat DO NOT read this without a cup of hot cocoa in your hands.

The Fellowship of the Ring- How can one read about the passage of our intrepid nine over the mountains and not feel the sharp wind and the biting snow.  I am usually not a huge movie/book comparison person, but I will say the sweeping views of the mountain range in the movie really nailed that epic winter cold. Warm robe and possibly a pipe required for reading this part.

I hope these gave you all some idea's on how to make a little snow seem like not such a big deal :-)  Either that or a way to cool you down if you are in a hotter part of the world.

Have you seen snow yet? Do you prefer to read about cold winters during this season, or do you prefer to read something on the warmer side?  Does reading about certain environments make you feel them on occasion?

Brrrr

It's starting to get cold out there (well for most of us anyways).  Here are some literary inspired ways to stay warm and toasty through the next couple of months.

Pride and Prejudice Scarf

I want this so so so bad...hmm I may break down and by this one

Harry Potter Fingerless Gloves/Mittens

These come in all four houses Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.

Alice in Wonderland Coat

This Wonderland inspired coat should keep you toasty warm.

Where The Wild Things Are Boots

As awesome as these are, they are unfortunately not a reality yet.

Hopefully these will give you a few ideas on how to keep warm this winter...or you could do what I do and curl up in my comfy chair with a ton of blankets, a hot drink and a good book :-)