I am a stranger travelling from the west

Spent today trawling through used bookshops. It actually wasn't how I was planning on spending my day, but I didn't really have a plan when I left the house, only that I was going to get some lunch and then, I dunno, go to Barnes and Noble? But then I went to a used bookshop I'd never been to instead! And then I went to four others after that!

Didn't actually buy any books, though the second bookshop I went to (and my second favorite in town) had a pretty set of Wodehouse's Jeeves novels. The only thing stopping me from getting them was the fact that I already have the books. But I am seriously considering going back and getting them anyway, and selling off the ones I already have. Because, seriously, they match. My current set doesn't, and that's enough to set me a-twitching when I look at it.

I did make a purchase today, though, like I said, none of them books. The last place went to was located in an antique mall, and it had a lot of other things there besides books. Like, umm. Vintage clothes.

Segue! I don't really care much about clothes. I can wear the same pants (American, not British) for years and years at a time and only throw them out when they're practically falling apart. What I do care about, though, is jackets. Jackets and coats and whatever else you want to call them. I have, umm. A lot of them. Rather a lot. My manager once commented with some amazement that I wore a different coat to work every day. So, yeah.

With that said, you know the Tenth Doctor? I always liked the pinstriped suit, but the coat. Well, it looked nice on him, but it was so...brown. Brown is totally not my color; I think I have a total of one blouse that's brown. And the way it looked when it hung on something not David Tennant? Ehh. Didn't look like much. Totally not my thing.

Then I went to this antique mall. There were a bunch of coats on sale there, and hanging with the lot was this brown coat that reminded me a lot of Ten's, except not quite as long. And in a fit of whimsy because I was wearing a pair of Converses, I went, why don't I try it on? snickering to myself the whole while. So I did and I looked in the mirror and, oh my god you guys. It is the most beautiful coat ever seriously seriously seriously. I fell in love with it right then and there.

So I bought it. How could I not?

I finally finished the Percy Jackson series over the weekend. I have to say, it really improved as the series went on. The first two books were entertaining enough, but it didn't really pick up for me until The Titan's Curse. After that? Yeah, it was awesome. Every book was better than the last, the characters improved by leaps and bounds, and I might have, just might have, teared up a bit at some of the minor character deaths. All in all, I'm looking forward to the sequel series this fall. (Also, the second book of the Kane Chronicles next year. Yay!)

Also, I'm now pretty sad that the chances of the rest of the books becoming movies are pretty much nil at this point, because seeing the Battle for Olympus onscreen? Would have been pretty epic.

Earlier tonight, I watched my first Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movie.

...

I can't. I just. I can't. I don't know if I can watch another one, seriously you guys, their Watson just hurts. I can't get around it, I really, really can't.

Just so you know.

Moving on. Finally finished TNG. Well, the series, still need to rewatch the movies. Shall be moving on to DS9 as soon as the first season comes in from the library. I can't wait! \o/ I know I've watched huge chunks of it, but I also know I haven't seen all of the episodes, so hopefully I'll actually be doing that for the next several months. After that should hopefully be VOY, if I don't burn myself out, and I'm still up in the air over whether or not I want to put myself through ENT.

I've also been doing more reading. I've been amazing myself with the speed I've been reading this year; I noticed several years ago how slack I've been in reading books, and I've been putting more effort (well, that's really the wrong choice of words, but I can't think of a better one) since then to change that. Which is good, because hopefully this means I'll finally be getting to the backlog that's been collecting for some time now! Book buying is my weakness, haha. I just hope I can keep up the pace. I've finished all of the Sherlock Holmes canon and have now moved on to published pastiches. Still mixing in the Jeeves books between those, and I've decided on following that with the Blandings Castle series, since I got a collection of several of the novels at a used bookstore. Currently also reading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde and The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino. Maybe I'll finally get to his collection of Italian folktales this year! One can only hope, right?

Someone mentioned Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler on the meme earlier, and it reminded me that the DW fic that I have always wanted to write, but knew I don't have the skills to actually do it any justice, is based on that book. It would start off with a future male companion of Thirteen's who finds and starts reading the Doctor's however-many-years diary, maybe starting off with a One adventure, only to find that, gasp! the last several pages of what he's reading is gone! So he goes off in search of the rest of the pages, on the way meeting a fellow female companion who joins him on his search. And every story they find that they think finishes off the last adventure they read is about a different Doctor and whichever companion(s) is currently traveling with him.

And of course, like the book it's based on, every story chapter would be written in a different genre and style, with different themes being explored, though I've never been sure if the writing process would be one of those because, tbh, if you want that, read the original book.

...and dammit, now I want to reread If on a winter's night a traveler, but I told myself I wouldn't until I finished all of Calvino's books. Shoot, where's The Baron in the Trees...?

-Doctor Who friending meme over on lizbee's journal. Go! Shoo! :D

-This makes me a happy J. Hurrah for traditional animation! :D

-So I got to the part in Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic where Ceaser is killed, and it goes, "And Brutus is known to be an honorable man" and I just winced, yo.

Because, of course, that's Shakespeare and Mark Antony's speech, and, oh, I love that speech! You can hear, with each reiteration of "Brutus is an honourable man," his doom slowly being sealed. I am so, so glad that ( cut for stuff about Rome the tv series. )

I was looking at the list of books I'd read last year and it's so pathetically short it makes me embarrassed. I've been reading less and less books over the past several years, and it's not that I'm reading less, really, it's that I'm reading more fics. And I'm, like, "Wtf? Read more books, girl! Especially since you have all these ones on your bookshelves that you still haven't read!" So I am. Or, I'm going to try to.

So there.

Is anyone on my flist a fan of the Horatio Hornblower books?

Um, yeah, read the subject line. =D Was just looking through my icons and decided to list which ones were my favorites. So...

( My favorite LJ icons... )


( Aaand, my Journalfen icons... )

So. Yeah. Nothing much has been happening lately. Just same old, same old. Work is mind-numbingly boring. Pretty much just spend my day reading. Have been making my way through the Amelia Peabody series, which I started a couple of years ago but stopped several books in. Right now? Am on "Seeing a Large Cat." Whichever book I'm currently reading, I keep hoping Sethos will show up in. I ♥ Sethos. ("The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog"? BWAH!!)

Well, apparently, I now have my summer job. Yeah, I was very O_o, too.

Anyway. Watched PoA again today. Loved it even more this time around. Afterwards, Gem and I went to Borders (well, actually, it went, comic shop, Jamba Juice, then Borders), where she bought the first three books in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and I oggled the Stargate DVD sets I have yet to buy. (And, of course, our conversation went as follows: Gem: "Hey, isn't that MacGyver?" Me: "Noooo, he's Jack O'Neill!!!!11" Gem: "My aunt used to have a huge crush on him!" Me: "Dude, I have a crush on him!")

Afterwards, came home and played Crystal Chronicles with Gem and my bro. Then moved over to Gem's house, since her parents were having a barbeque, and played CC there, this time with Gem's younger sister. Much fun was, of course, had, though we still haven't beaten the last boss we went up against. Grrr. (And, of course, our conversation went as follows: Me: "I'll take point, Gem can watch our six!" Bro: "You watch too much tv...")

And I just remembered that I have an eMentor shift I have to do, sooo...*t00bs off to complete it*

ETA, cause I have just learned it: Duuuude! Blaise is a boy! W00t!