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That Was The Year That Was: 2010

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January

  • I started Working at KPN
  • We had a very severe winter, which resulted in public transport being down frequently, which is very! annoying
  • Had a tea party with friends at Mellien’s place, it was very fun

February

I’ve got nothing for this month. For some reason I only took 3 pictures in the whole of February… And I didn’t blog that month either. Sadness. Here, have all three February pics to cheer you up from this huge, huge let down 😀

March

  • Spring was on its way! Not that enthusiastically yet, but I saw the first real flowers peeking their heads above ground
  • Finally found a good design starting point for my future tattoo
  • Chocolate fondue with Eva & Ingrid, yum!
  • Bought new plants for my back yard
  • Found an awesome stick to turn into a staff. So far it’s still standing unused in my mudroom, but this year I strive to actually make something out of it 🙂
  • Went balfolking for the first time (no, it’s probably not a proper verb, and yes, I’ll tell you what it is; it’s dancing old ball and folk dances on medieval-and-slightly-later type music)

April

  • With Eva, Ingrid and Nienke to Lauwersoog, which was hilarious since we got stuck in the parking lot for two hours due to no traffic regulators being present
  • This was also the month mom turned 60, Happy Birthday!
  • Nienke and I added a garden door to our shared backyard to keep the neighbourhood kids from using our space as a shortcut path

May

  • Went to see the Men’s Choir of Warffum (of which my uncle is a member) perform at the museum estate Verhildersum
  • Spent Liberation Day in Parentville, where the whole street came together to decorate it for the festivities, great sense of community then, it should be like that more often
  • Ingrid came by, time for scrabble in the sun. Eva & Mellien dropped by a little later, on horseback.
  • Saw a hedgehog in the yard, awesome little critters
  • Joined the LifeLines research project about long term health

June

  • Dad’s birthday, 67 for him. Happy Birthday!
  • With the summer in full swing, Nienke and I tried outdoor computing
  • It was also the time for the yearly full family visit to my aunt and uncle in Harderwijk
  • Went to visit Soestdijk Palace with Mom and a friend of hers, it was awesome! I’m very glad I got to see the place before they closed it down

July

  • Celtic Midsummer Fest! Need I say more? An awesome weekend in which I went re-enacting for the first time. Great friends, great environment, great things to see and do, in short, a great time!
  • Also, aforementioned festival will (for me) henceforth always be connected to ‘that time I banged my toes into oblivion on a tent peg’ 😀
  • It got so warm I regularly spent my free time lounging outside with my feet in water. At first in two buckets (one for each foot) and later in a giant tub-like thing. Monkey approved of this, always enough water to drink nearby
  • I bought my binder this month, which turned out to be a huge step on the road of self-discovery and gender identity

August

  • Castlefest! Again, need I say more! Another awesome weekend! I’d not been able to go to Castlefest for some years, so it felt great to be back here. I love the atmosphere at this particular fest, plus being able to see Omnia live again for the first time in a couple of years as well was great, too.
  • Nienke had a BBQ in honour of her birthday, it was tasty!
  • Mom started knitting socks, after a conversation about how the warm socks we had were not getting any better.
  • Went out for a sudden and unexpected pizza with Eva & Nienke
  • Dad, on request, cut off the hedge in my front yard
  • Monkey got weird spots on his back leg, he ended up with a salve treatment and antibiotics and return appointments at the vet three times in a row. Fortunately, they have cleared up completely
  • And finally, this was the month I decided to continue blogging here, instead of trying to maintain both this blog and a LifeJournal

September

  • I burned my arm a wee bit by splashing hot olive oil on it. Fortunately I washed it off right away, so it didn’t go much further than some light second degree burning one one spot and some intenser first degree burning on the others. The second degree spot left a scar, it’s pretty 🙂
  • Had Tessa over to dog-sit, and got both her and Monkey in the same room without Tessa trying to eat Monkey, and without Monkey trying his best to hide as far away as possible
  • Had my own birthday, turned 26. Happy Birthday me!
  • Got the flu right after the birthday parties, ended up having to stay home for about a week, and had noticeably less energy the weeks after that while I was recovering further, not fun 🙁

October

  • Became obsessed with Glee 😀
  • Got my iPhone
  • Mom started knitting gloves, nice and warm for the winter
  • Went out to wok with Eva & Ingrid, yum!
  • Attended Julius’ birthday, which was a sort of High Tea type thing with a whole bunch of cakes he and his mom made, it was awesome (and very, very tasty!)
  • Bought two awesome pumpkins for Halloween and carved them; one a face, the other a sort of cheese with holes kinda idea with mice in the holes

November

  • Was a bit down for a good part of this month, a combination of Daylight Savings Time ending, winter coming up and some other random shit. Took a while before I saw the colours of the world in full shine again, instead of dulled
  • Mom knit me a pretty hat to match the gloves she made, my mom rocks 🙂
  • Discovered the Instagram iPhone app (among many, many other apps; I <3 apps 😀 ) which is fun to play with

December

  • Had a St. Nicholasmas (a combination of St. Nicholas and Christmas) party with Nienke, Eva, Mellien and Ingrid. It was fun and very nice to have a group get together again.
  • CATACLYSM! W00t!
  • The snow really hit. It looks awesome, but just like last year, it’s wreaking havoc on the public transport system. Which is kinda ridiculous as they spent the whole year winterproofing their systems and all, and they were sure it would be better this year… And then the first few days we have heavy snowfall, everything falls apart, again.
  • December was good, even though in the beginning of the month I wasn’t sure about that (residual gloominess from November)

2011 Book Clubs

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With the last quarter of 2010 nearly upon us, I’m starting to think ahead to 2011 and my various goals for that year. One of the goals I have every year is to read an x number of books. For next year, though, I thought I would expand that, and not just set a number goal, but also a content goal. So for that reason I’ve decided to participate in two online book clubs next year, where we read a book each month. Both clubs are thematic, but related so I figured they would work nicely together. They are The Women of Fantasy, and The Women of Science-Fiction.

Women of Fantasy Reading List:

  1. January: N.K. Jemisin – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
  2. February: Freda Warrington – Elfland
  3. March: L. Jagi Lamplighter – Prospero Lost
  4. April: Cherie Priest – Four and Twenty Blackbirds
  5. May: Emma Bull – War for the Oaks
  6. June: Juliet Marillier – Dark Mirror
  7. July: Elizabeth Bear – All the Windwracked Stars
  8. August: A.M. Dellamonics – Indigo Springs
  9. September: Mercedes Lackey – Firebird
  10. October: Jo Walton – Tooth and Claw
  11. November: Karin Lowachee – The Gaslight Dogs
  12. December:  Reader’s Choice, to be determined later

I don’t have any of these books yet, but I have heard of some of these books or authors (N.K. Jemisin (+book), Cherie Priest (+book), Emma Bull (+book), Bear (I <3 Dust) and Mercedes Lackey). Haven’t looked the list up yet to see what they’re about. I think I’m gonna go in blind with both book club lists.

Women of Science Fiction Reading List:

  1. January: Elizabeth Bear – Dust
  2. February: Ursula K. LeGuin – The Dispossessed
  3. March: Sarah Hoyt – Darkship Thieves
  4. April: Connie Willis – Doomsday
  5. May: Justina Robson – Mappa Mundi
  6. June: Octavia Butler – Lillith’s Brood
  7. July: Lois McMaster Bujold – Cordelia’s Honor
  8. August: Maureen McHugh – China Mountain Zhang
  9. September: Elizabeth Moon – Remnant
  10. October: Jo Walton – Farthing
  11. November: Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale
  12. December: Karen Traviss – City of Pearl

I have one of these (Dust), and have heard of a few others, either book or author (Ursula K. LeGuin, Octavia Butler, Lois McMaster Bujold, The Handmaid’s Tale) but never read any of their work. I’m really looking forward to reading so many things that are new to me.

Books 2010 // Update

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Updated booklist!
A facebook convo reminded me I hadn’t posted one of these in quite a while so here goes 😀

2010 (so far)
1. Sarah Monette – Mélusine
2. Naomi Novik – Throne of Jade
3. Naomi Novik – Black Powder War
4. Kat Richardson – Greywalker

5. John Scalzi – The Android’s Dream
6. Paulien Cornelisse – Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding {Language is, like, my thing} [Dutch]
7. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Betrayed
8. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Chosen
9. Naomi Novik – Empire of Ivory
10. Joris Luyendijk – Het zijn net mensen {They’re just like people} [Dutch]
11. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Untamed

12. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Hunted
13. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Tempted
14: Louisa May Alcott – Little Women

15: Louisa May Alcott – Little Men
16: Louisa May Alcott – Jo’s Boys
17. Brent Weeks – The Way of Shadows

18. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Resistance (J.M. Dillard)
19. Brent Weeks – Shadows’s Edge

20. Ryan Sohmer & Lar DeSouza – Looking For Group Volume 1
21. Ryan Sohmer & Lar DeSouza – Looking For Group Volume 2
22. Brent Weeks – Beyond the Shadows
23. Preeta Samarasan – Evening is the Whole Day
24. Jeff Lindsay – Dearly Devoted Dexter

25. Terry Pratchett – Unseen Academicals
26. Bert Benson – Euro 5 antwoordt niet {Euro 5. Not answering} <A sci-fi series from my childhood, I recently stumbled across a second hand store that had almost the entire series. I only read maybe two or three of them back then, so am really enjoying the newness of most of these>
27. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Dreiging van de H-Mannen {Euro 5. Threat of the H-men}
28. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Duivels van de diepzee {Euro 5. Demons of the Deep Sea}
29. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Slaven uit de ruimte {Euro 5. Slaves from Space}
30. Bert Benson – Euro 5. De Monsters van Dr. Einling {Euro 5. The Monsters of Dr. Einling}
31. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Op drift in de tijd {Euro 5. Adrift in Time}
32. Bert Benson – Euro 5. Machten uit het heelal {Euro 5. Powers from the Universe}
33. Karen Chance – Touch the Dark [reread, in preparation for reading parts 2-4 which I borrowed from a friend]

Called quits on Deathwish (see previous bookpost). It was getting too damn obvious this wasn’t part one and the continuous half-assed referencing was driving me nuts. Plus, the story didn’t really pull me in. I haven’t touched Perdido Street Station anymore either. I’m giving it till September before I declare it a lost cause. Haven’t started A Thousand Splendid Suns yet, but it has made it to the nightstand 😀

Of the ones I read since last update, Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals was a bit dissapointing. I’m a devoted Discworldian but this one seemed a bit… stretching it, like he wanted to pull too much from everywhere together. The football as topic bothered me only slightly (I’m not a football fan so I expected worse) but the story didn’t seem to pay off the way the other books did.

The Euro 5 books feel like a warm bath. And I’m realising they’re actually pretty well written too, has something to offer to both kids and adults. It could do with some more female personnel, but for 80s books the author is doing very well with his one female character so far. She’s strong, not afraid to do things herself and, as the books get on, gets a fair share of the action too when she’s around (she’s not part of the regular crew of the Euro 5 spaceship so she’s not always there).

More Quotage, of the Asexy Variety This Time

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Reading Google Reader this morning, I saw this post from Asexy Beast, it describes the moment she discovered she was different from hetero/homonormative people.

A guy had asked me out (I think my friends were more excited than I was) and I found my thoughts wandering to: “Would I ever want to have sex with him?” My answer was an emphatic “no”. If I’d just stopped there, I wouldn’t have dug up anything unusual. But I continued on with, “Who would I have sex with?” Away from my familiar routine, I felt free to answer: No one.
At that moment, I had a realization. It wasn’t that I was asexual (yet), but that I hadn’t been separating sex in practice from sex in theory. Sex in theory sounded well and good, something I would do when I was “in love” with someone (which still hasn’t happened). But sex in practice was something I never had any interest in. And in that moment, I knew that meeting “the right guy” wouldn’t change that.

THIS. This is, almost word for word, how I came to the same realisation. It can feel so good, sometimes, to find someone out there who gets that stuff in the same way I do.

The post continues with a list of things she has learned since, some more serious than others, but I want to spotlight a few of ’em

  • …that I was a normal asexual, not a “failed” heterosexual.
  • The gender binary is silly, and some people fall outside of it.
  • Being married, or in a romantic relationship, is not an instant cure for loneliness. Plenty of people feel alone, regardless of orientation, and being asexual doesn’t mean you’ll be lonely.
  • Heteronormativity is a problem.
  • The language we use to talk about sex and romance, from “just friends” to “in a relationship”, could do with some updating.
  • It’s okay to not be “in love” with anyone. And the love I do feel is just as valid as romantic love is.

Finally, she ends with a question:

Whether you came out as asexual yesterday or 20 years ago, I want to ask…what have you learned? And if you’re not asexual (or if you like this question better), what are some of the most important things you’ve learned in the past 5 years?

So… what I’ve learned in the past five years, not specifically asexy related…

  • Just because I’m now working as a customer service agent after trying a couple different studies and instead of continuing in the field I graduated in does not mean I failed.
  • I’m fine by myself as long as I have my friends, my family and my cat
  • Playing videogames, World of Warcraft specifically, is a perfectly valid hobby
  • Sometimes people you like/respect let you down, and that is okay, because nobody is perfect. It just takes a moment to deal.
  • One can never have enough books. Or Billys.
  • I don’t need to be in ‘a relationship’ with someone. but should it ever happen, I really don’t give a rat’s ass whether that person is a he, a she, or something else entirely, as long as they and I want to be together.
  • There’s a gigantic list of things that are better than sex
  • I don’t like being touched, but sometimes a hug feels very good
  • Toe socks are awesome
  • Do what you want to do, even if you’re not very good at it, as long as it makes you happy

Books 2010 // Night Angel Trilogy & Evening is the Whole Day

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The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks (The Way of Shadows, Shadow’s Edge & Beyond the Shadows)

I loved these books. I’m a sucker for epic fantasy, and especially when the world is so detailed as Brent Weeks makes his, I’m sold. He manages to turn the world of his books into a living, breathing thing with history, good politics and economy and a nice variety in cultures. I like how the magic in the book comes in a few different types, and offers nice mechanisms (in the way the Talent and the vir work) I’ve not come across before. Bonus points for limiting this magic by giving it a price/requirement so it’s not the catch-all solution. Finally, the ka’kari and how it works was very well done. I like how it is both an entity as well as an object, plus the cost of the immortality is a killer.

Then, on to the story. It starts with a young thief in a guild in the poorest district of the city of Cenaria. Azoth tries his best to steal enough to pay his guild dues, protect his friends and in general, make it through his miserable little life. When he sees the greatest wetboy (assassins with magical Talent) of this time deal with a threat, he decides he wants to be his apprentice. Convinced this will get him out of his sucky life, he trails Durzo Blint. Durzo finally caves and orders Azoth to kill his guild leader Roth (who is a bastard). Azoth has trouble with this, but after Roth severely mutilates his friend Elene, Azoth succeeds in killing him.

Azoth trains with Durzo and becomes Kylar Stern, supposedly son of a distant baronet, now living with Count Drake and his family. Through this persona, he also befriends Logan Gyre. When Kylar has grown up and is working as wetboy, Logan is set out to marry one of Count Drake’s daughters. However, with a twist, after the assasination of the King’s son, Logan ends up being married to the King’s daughter and  is proclaimed heir to the throne. After the festivities, as Logan and Jenine head upstairs to consummate the marriage, as ordered by her (rather crazy) father, Cenaria is invaded by Khalidor.

Much murder and mayhem ensues and many characters, both flat and fleshed out ones, end up dead. Through another twist, Kylar ends up with an old magical artifact which bonds with him, a so-called ka’kari. Before, while he had two of the three internal things needed for the Talent, the third was missing and he could never use it. With the ka’kari, he can. The longer he has the ka’kari though, the more he learns of what it is, and what it can do. It effectively renders him immortal, after every death he is brought back to life but at a cost, which takes him ages to figure out what it is. Kylar struggles with what the ka’kari is, what it does to him, and what it all means for him for the rest of the book. He displays a very well written growth in this process and it was something I really enjoyed.

From that moment on, Kylar works tirelessly to free, and restore, Cenaria. Not always willingly, and not always very well thought out, but he does it. He finds out Logan is not dead and rescues him and together with him and other friends and accomplices they manage to free Cenaria. But then it’s still not over…

I must say I really enjoyed the direction the book took after Khalidor got repelled. I was expecting, when the invasion happened, that it would take them all three books just to get rid of them. But getting rid of Khalidor in Cenaria was just the start. Pulling on all the history and cultural differences Weeks showed and told throughout the story he pulls the different peoples together for a climactic battle that’s not just about restoring Cenaria, but about saving the entire world.

I for one would love it if Weeks were to write more books in this world. Not necessarily even about Kylar but just in this setting. It has such depth he can easily craft more stories. I’d love to read more about the Chantry for example or Sho’Cendi.

Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan

This is literary fiction and it shows. The book is floating on themes and flowery descriptions without a whole lot happening. The story, insofar as you can call it that, is that Chellam, the servant of the main family in the book gets thrown out because she supposedly did something really bad. Then, through flashbacks it is told how she was hired and life in the family went until the bad thing (which it turns out she didn’t even do) happens. Mixed with that are flashbacks to the 1950s and 60s that give background to the father and mother of the family. How they became the people they are. The other flashbacks serve the same purpose but then for the two daughters of the family.

All in all I liked the setting (Malaysia) since I’d never read a book before that took place there. The continuous descriptions of everything started to get on my nerves though. The book really gets bogged down by it, nothing moves, it becomes this sluggish thing in which nothing really happens. This is part of the overall theme (nothing really changes) but I like a bit more action in my plots. In the end, I wouldn’t really recommend this book to anyone unless they are definite literary fiction readers and/or have an interest in Malaysia (she does very nicely show us crucial, and interesting, parts of Malaysian history and culture)

2010 (so far)
1. Sarah Monette – Mélusine
2. Naomi Novik – Throne of Jade
3. Naomi Novik – Black Powder War
4. Kat Richardson – Greywalker

5. John Scalzi – The Android’s Dream
6. Paulien Cornelisse – Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding
7. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Betrayed
8. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Chosen
9. Naomi Novik – Empire of Ivory
10. Joris Luyendijk – Het zijn net mensen {They’re just like people} [Dutch]
11. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Untamed

12. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Hunted
<Audio Book> Neil Gaiman – Harlequin Valentine
<Audio Book> Neil Gaiman – A Study in Emerald
13. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Tempted
<Audio Book> Lilian Jackson Braun – The Cat Who Played Brahms
<Audio Book> Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Emissary
<Audio Book> Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Fallen Heroes
14: Louisa May Alcott – Little Women

15: Louisa May Alcott – Little Men
16: Louisa May Alcott – Jo’s Boys
17. Brent Weeks – The Way of Shadows

18. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Resistance (J.M. Dillard)
19. Brent Weeks – Shadows’s Edge

20. Ryan Sohmer & Lar DeSouza – Looking For Group Volume 1
21. Ryan Sohmer & Lar DeSouza – Looking For Group Volume 2
22. Brent Weeks – Beyond the Shadows
23. Preeta Samarasan – Evening is the Whole Day

I’m now also listing audio books, but still keeping them separate from the rest. This because I have a much harder time remembering them later on, which is not a problem I have with regular books. By now I cannot remember what the ones I’ve listened to back in March were about. I’ll have to go and read them for it to stick. This is probably because I can’t do just sitting and listening very well, I must do something with my hands. When reading, I hold the book and this enables me to fully concentrate on the reading and get lost in it. When listening, my hands are free so I end up doing something else beside it and thus I get distracted and don’t process the audio fully. I have the same with watching TV.

I’m also rather behind on my reading. My goal for this year is once again 60, so I should be at 30 books around now. Currently reading Dearly Devoted Dexter. Also still plowing my way through Deathwish (although I might call it quits on that one, it’s getting frustrating that this is obviously not the first part, I feel I’m missing too much) and just picked up A Thousand Splendid Suns to start for my read-owned-but-unread-books effort. Perdido Street Station also seems to be a lost cause. I’ve been trying for three months or so now and still not getting anywhere. Somehow it’s really not pulling me in. And I’ve so wanted to like it 🙁 The one I have officially called it quits on is Emma. I’ve come to the conclusion I actively hate this book.

So, with that said, here’s to the second half of the year with new chances to still make the goal 😀

101 in 1001

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(The List can be found on the page above marked 101 in 1001. That’s also the one that’ll be updated as I complete things.)

A friend of mine started one of these a while back and it intrigued me back then but I never got around to doing anything with it. When she approached me, among others, a few days ago with a request relating to one of the items on her list, I got re-intrigued 😀
So I looked it up, at Day Zero Project, and decided to create my own list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. It took me a few days to make the list, but it’s complete now.

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on your part).

My startdate is May 15, 2010
My enddate is February 9, 2013

I wanted to make the list start today, but something already got done yesterday. Might have been slightly cheating as I didn’t think to include it after it had been done, but I still find it something that I want to include, so I shall try if I can get it done again.

I will be posting an update on this list at least every three months (as per my item #100), but probably a bit more often as I complete things. When I do, this master list will be updated to show what’s been done and when, and will link to the relevant LJ post.

Also, when I finish #36, which should be this week or next, there will be a pretty icon for the 101 posts as well.

Without further ado, here’s the list, conveniently divided into categories:

Home/Finances
1. Finish transforming the attic from mess into usable space.
2. Finish the garden (tile the part in front of the window, put up a privacy fence between me and neighbour, get a picket fence at front, create a proper flower/rock garden in front of the privacy fence and get a nice looking piece of lawn in between the tiled area and the garden)
3. Sort my finances, goal is to be in order by the end of 2010.
4. Start saving, goal is to set up automated savings by the end of 2010.
5. Build a counter-like thing in the kitchen to make better use of the space.

Health/Self Improvement
. Loose weight, I’m not setting a specific goal here, just that the line ever goes down.
7. Move more, start with cycling at least once a week, building up over the summer.
8. Cook properly at least once a week.
9. Spend a day in silence, and without the common technologies (internet, tv etc…)
10. Identify something I’m grateful for, something that made me happy, something that made me angry or sad and something I learned each week.

Arts & Crafts
11. Complete NaNoWriMo
12. Enter (and hopefully win 😀 ) a writing contest.
13. Get back to playing the bagpipe, probably after accomplishing #88 & #89.
14. Do a photoshoot of my parents.
15. Do a Picture-a-Day series in 2011, doesn’t matter what, just one photo a day of something that piques my interest, except one shot of myself a month. Afterwards, make it into a little photobook.
16. Finish scrapping 2008 and 2009 in 2010. Then scrap 2010 in 2011 and try to stay up to date with scrapping 2011 itself so when 2012 comes around, finishing it should not take more than a month or so before sending it off to the printer.
17. Get a new moleskine and actually fill it with sketches.
18. Write fiction at least once a week.
19. Learn to properly sew with a sewing machine and then learn to make clothes.
20. Make my own holiday cards for at least the closest friends and family.
21. Do a self-portrait shoot in various forms and locations.
22. Finish that scarf I started knitting 😀
23. Participate in at least five 26 Things projects from http://sh1ft.org/projects. (0/5)
24. Create that big painting I’ve been planning/thinking about for ages.
25. Buy a pretty colouring book and finish it. Try to do this as neatly as possible too (my fine motor skills could do with some training).

Reading/TV/Movies
26. Read 8 currently owned but unread books per year (5 for 2010), where owned but unread is being defined as books I’ve had for longer than 6 months. <2010 read: 2/5, 2011: 0/8, 2012: 0/8>
27. Read 4 owned but unread non-fiction books per year. (2010: 0/4, 2011: 0/4, 2012: 0/4)
28. Over the summer of 2010, get caught up with the various, currently airing, tv shows so when the new seasons start I’m up to date.
29. Watch 26 movies I’ve never seen before starting with each letter of the alphabet. (0/26)
30. Read a poem each day for a month.
31. Watch 2 owned but unwatched DVDs per month until I have actually seen every DVD I own.
32. Get my geek cred up higher and watch all six Star Wars movies. (0/6)
33. Post reviews of the books and movies I read/watch on my LJ at least once every 2 months.
34. Finish S4 of (new) Doctor Who.
35. Reread my entire Suske & Wiske comic collection.

Computer/Internet
36. Create new icons for my livejournal from my own photos and/or graphics.
37. Update LiveJournal at least twice a month outside update posts on the booklist, this 101 list in general or number 10 on this list.
38. Update Photo Blog at least once a week.
39. Sort and file my GMail inbox.
40. Find a better way to manage all my logins.
41. Get a new theme for the Photo Blog.
42. Learn how to make themes for WordPress.
43. Finish scanning in and editing the old photos I have around. Get at least the B&W ones done.
44. Keep my bookmarks sorted, sort new additions into the current folder structure at least once a month.
45. Get a new mood theme for the LiveJournal.

World of Warcraft
46. Level Yathra to 80 before Cataclysm.
47. Level all my current <80 toons (5) plus the Worgen I’m going to roll once Cataclysm comes out to 80.
48. Try getting into the Cataclysm Beta. This one isn’t really in my hands, I’ve filled out the opt-in thing, now to wait and see if I get picked.
49. Down the Lich King with Asraelion.
50. Get Cataclysm in pre-order 😀

To Go/See/Do
51. Go to the Zoo! I’ve not been since I was a kid.
52. See another opera, a play (preferably Shakespeare) and a ballet.
53. Go to Castlefest and, starting in 2011, to more of these things.
54. Visit at least 3 museums or other type of exhibitions a year, no matter how large or small.
55. Bicycle Road Trip! Go out and about with bike, mini tent and sleeping bag for a weekend or so.
56. Go abroad on a holiday.
57. Visit the UK family again.
58. Visit all of the twelve provinces.
59. Go to Madame Tussaud’s.
60. Go to Madurodam.

Fun Stuff
61. Shave my head again.
62. Try postcrossing.com.
63. Send random cards to friends and family.
64. Join a (board)game club or a D&D group.
65. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy, in no particular order.
66. Tie 5 notes to 5 balloons and let them go.
67. Put 3 notes in 3 bottles and set them adrift.
68. Toss all countries in a hat and pick 10. Read up on that country (either via a book or the internet) and discover (through watching/listening/reading) an artist, musician and author from each country.
69. Buy a few basic t-shirts and decorate them myself.
70. Get a top hat.

Learn
71. Learn a programming language to such an extent that I can produce functional code on my own.
72. Learn some balfolk dances.
73. Once #84 comes around, take a photography class.
74. Learn some more basic star-gazing related astronomy so I can identify more star signs than just Orion, Ursa Major, Andromeda and that tiny cluster whose name I forgot.
75. Learn CSS and update my HTML knowledge.

Nature
76. Watch a sunrise and a sunset from start to finish. (0/2)
77. Collect rocks of varying sizes for my garden and the small flowerpot.
78. Spend an afternoon cloud gazing. Take pictures and note what I see.
79. Sleep under the stars.
80. Get soaking wet in a big rain storm.

Sell/Buy
81. Sell the books I’ve read and don’t like enough, this will mostly be from my classics pile (prime example once I finally manage to chew through it, Jane Austen’s Emma).
82. Try to get my Star Trek dvd collection complete (TOS 1-2, TNG 1-7, DS9 4&6, VGR 1-7, remaining movies).
83. Sell the dvd’s I’ve watched and don’t like enough (Heroes for example).
84. Get a fancy DSLR camera and tripod.
85. Get a pair of proper high boots that fit properly around my larger than normal calves (probably from duoboots.nl)

Other
86. Actually use my Public transport chip card, will have to learn/do this sooner or later anyway :/
87. Finally pay a visit to that cute little gift shop thingy in my town.
88. Get my driver’s license.
89. Get a car.
90. Inspire someone else to create a 101 list.
91. Get my tattoo.
92. Research opening a book store.
93. Sort my clothes.
94. Re-join the GreenLeft political party in 2011.
95. Replace my current phone with a fancier smartphone when my current contract is up.
96. Try 5 different cocktails. (0/5)
97. Create a staff from that long branch I have.
98. Once #89 happens, decorate the car.
99. Subscribe to a magazine.
100. Review this list every three months. Mark what has been done and post about it on LiveJournal. This way I stay accountable.
101. Make a new list in the week before the time period for this one is up.

Booklist: 2009

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The final book list of 2009. Didn’t quite make the goal of 60 that I set at the beginning of the year, but at 53 I did beat my previous years by a good number. For 2010, the goal is once again set at 60. And, just like last year,  I’m making good progress 😀 Let’s keep it up.

My favourites of this year, going from top to bottom:

– Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves
– Star Trek: DS9 – Relaunch 1-5 – Twist of Faith (S.D. Perry, David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang, Keith R.A. DeCandido)
– Robert J. Sawyer – Hominids
– Suzanne Wood – Stargate SG-1: The Barque of Heaven
– Terry Pratchett – Nation
– Naomi Novik – His Majesty’s Dragon

The ones I liked least:

– Esther Verhoef – Alles te Verliezen {Everything to Loose}
– Atte Jongstra – De Avonturen van Henry II Fix {The Adventures of Henry II Fix}
– a couple of the Charmed books although I’m not sure if that’s actually caused by the books or if the translation’s bugging me

2009
01. Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves
02. P. Nowee – Arendsoog. Vogelvrij {Eagle-Eye Outlaw} [Dutch]
03. Maggie Tallerman – Understanding Syntax (translated into Dutch and edited for Dutch students by Jan-Wouter Zwart) [Dutch] [school]
04. Hanneke Houtkoop & Tom Koole – Taal in Actie. Hoe Mensen Communiceren met Taal {Language in Action. How People Communicate with Language} [Dutch] [school]
05. Erica van Boven & Gillis Dorleijn – Literair Mechaniek. Inleiding tot de Analyse van Verhalen en Gedichten. {Literary Mechanics. Introduction to the Analysis of Stories and Poetry.} [Dutch] [school]

06. Star Trek: DS9 – Relaunch 1-5 – Twist of Faith (S.D. Perry, David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang, Keith R.A. DeCandido)
07. Esther Verhoef – Alles te Verliezen {Everything to Loose} [Dutch] [school]
08. Orson Scott Card – Ender’s Game [re-read, it’s been years 🙂]
09. Robert J. Sawyer – Hominids
10. Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere
11. Justin Richards – Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man [Dutch]
12. Star Trek: DS9 – Prophecy & Change (short story collection)

13. Keith R.A. DeCandido – Supernatural: Bone Key
14. Paul Ruditis – Charmed: As Puck Would Have It [Dutch]
15. Laura J. Burns – Charmed: Sweet Talkin’ Demon [Dutch]
16. Atte Jongstra – De Avonturen van Henry II Fix {The Adventures of Henry II Fix} [Dutch] [school]
17. Martin Caidin – Indiana Jones and the White Witch) [Dutch] [re-read]
18. Bobbi J.G. Weiss & Jacklyn Wilson – Charmed: Between Worlds [Dutch]
19. Martha Wells – Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary
20. Cameron Dokey – Charmed: Truth & Consequences [Dutch]
21. Sabine C. Bauer – Stargate Atlantis: Mirror, Mirror

22. Scott Ciencin – Charmed: Luck be a Lady [Dutch]
23. Laura J. Burns – Charmed: Inherit the Witch [Dutch]
24. Doeschka Meijsing – Over de Liefde {About Love} [Dutch] [school]
25. Emma Harrison – Charmed: A Tale of Two Pipers [Dutch]
26. Debbie Viguié – Charmed: Pied Piper [Dutch]

27. L. Frank Baum – The Wizard of Oz
28. Eliza Willard – Charmed: The Power of Three [Dutch]
29. Cameron Dokey & F. Goldsborough – Charmed: The Crimson Spell [Dutch]

30. Suzanne Wood – Stargate SG-1: The Barque of Heaven
31. David Brin – Kiln People
32. A.A. Milne & E.H. Shepard – The World of Pooh (The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner)
33. Christopher Golden – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Lost Slayer (4-in-1)
34. Terry Pratchett – The Bromeliad (Truckers, Diggers, Wings)

35. P.C. Dohery – Murder Imperial
36. Thomas Greanias – Atlantis herrezen (Raising Atlantis)
37. Karen Miller – The Innocent Mage
38. Karen Miller – The Awakened Mage

39. K.E Mills – Accidental Sorcerer
40. K.E. Mills – Wiches Incorporated
41. Terry Pratchett – The Dark Side of the Sun

42. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Marked
43. Amber Benson – Death’s Daughter
44. Jeff Lindsay – Darkly Dreaming Dexter

45. The Medieval Murderers – House of Shadows
46. Bernard Knight – The Grim Reaper

47. Christopher Moore – You Suck
48. Terry Pratchett – Carpet People

49. Jeffrey Lang – String Theory, Book 1: Cohesion
50. Kirsten Beyer – String Theory, Book 2: Fusion
51. Terry Pratchett – Nation
52. Heather Jarman – String Theory, Book 3: Evolution
53. Naomi Novik – His Majesty’s Dragon

Books 2010 // A Start

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I might as well post the beginning of the 2010 list, seeing as we’re already in the third month of the year. Some comments/notes on some of these books:

Mélusine: I loved this one, and am majorly bummed out that the 2nd book is out of print. I’ve been looking for it in second hand places but no luck as of yet 🙁

Naomi Novik: I’m in love with the dragon Temeraire, he is such an awesome character and I can’t wait until I get my hands on the fifth book in the series 😀

P.C. & Kristin Cast: These are the books in the House of Night series. They’re fun, easy to read YA novels about a vampire, eh vampyre finishing school. A bit over the top in places but a very nice mix of standard vampire mythology mixed with wiccan and Cherokee bits to make their brand of vampyres and their culture fresh. Plus, I find their teenagers to be actually acting like teenagers most of the time, which is nice 😀
The only thing that gets on my nerves is that they feel the need to very specifically introduce the gay couple in every book and then make a point of it not being anything special or weird.  The book is a first person narrative as told by the main character and she then says things like: “Oh, Jack and Damien are a couple. Which means they’re gay teenagers. Hello. It happens. More often than you’d expect. Wait, scratch that. It happens more often than parents expect.” (Hunted (bk 5, which I’m reading now), page 10).
And then the next page over she has Jack and Damien have a very cute moment where they kiss, which drives the point home much better. I would’ve preferred that by now, since this introducing happens in every book of the series, they stop telling it like this, it feels stilted and too politically correct.

Het zijn net mensen: This is an awesome book! It’s a non-fiction written by a Dutch journalist who worked as foreign correspondent in the Middle East for a good number of years. The book is about how the media (and then specifically television) portrays that region and how the usual way of making (TV)news in the Western world doesn’t work over there. So what we see here is never what it actually is, not because the networks don’t want us to know, but because TV by it’s nature can’t do it. Not in the Middle East, where most countries have some form of dictatorship as government. TV generally evokes a more visceral reaction, but that doesn’t work if you just put a voice over with pretty pictures. You need an actual person on screen to tell his or her story and in the Middle East, people will gladly tell their story, but often not on TV where they can be identified and become targets of police and government security services and all that crap. So you can tell a story there, but you’ll need writing a lot more, and that just doesn’t get the same attention and reaction as TV does.
This should be required reading for anyone working in media. Hell, even for everyone else.

2010 (so far)
1. Sarah Monette – Mélusine
2. Naomi Novik – Throne of Jade
3. Naomi Novik – Black Powder War
4. Kat Richardson – Greywalker

5. John Scalzi – The Android’s Dream
6. Paulien Cornelisse – Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding
7. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Betrayed
8. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Chosen
9. Naomi Novik – Empire of Ivory
10. Joris Luyendijk – Het zijn net mensen {They’re just like people} [Dutch]
11. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Untamed

Books 2009 // Update Again

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2009 (so far)
01. Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves
02. P. Nowee – Arendsoog. Vogelvrij {Eagle-Eye Outlaw} [Dutch]
03. Maggie Tallerman – Understanding Syntax (translated into Dutch and edited for Dutch students by Jan-Wouter Zwart) [Dutch] [school]
04. Hanneke Houtkoop & Tom Koole – Taal in Actie. Hoe Mensen Communiceren met Taal {Language in Action. How People Communicate with Language} [Dutch] [school]
05. Erica van Boven & Gillis Dorleijn – Literair Mechaniek. Inleiding tot de Analyse van Verhalen en Gedichten. {Literary Mechanics. Introduction to the Analysis of Stories and Poetry.} [Dutch] [school]

06. Star Trek: DS9 – Relaunch 1-5 – Twist of Faith (S.D. Perry, David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang, Keith R.A. DeCandido)
07. Esther Verhoef – Alles te Verliezen {Everything to Loose} [Dutch] [school]
08. Orson Scott Card – Ender’s Game [re-read, it’s been years 🙂]
09. Robert J. Sawyer – Hominids
10. Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere
11. Justin Richards – Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man [Dutch]
12. Star Trek: DS9 – Prophecy & Change (short story collection)

13. Keith R.A. DeCandido – Supernatural: Bone Key
14. Paul Ruditis – Charmed: As Puck Would Have It [Dutch]
15. Laura J. Burns – Charmed: Sweet Talkin’ Demon [Dutch]
16. Atte Jongstra – De Avonturen van Henry II Fix [Dutch] [school]
17. Martin Caidin – Indiana Jones and the White Witch) [Dutch] [re-read]
18. Bobbi J.G. Weiss & Jacklyn Wilson – Charmed: Between Worlds [Dutch]
19. Martha Wells – Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary
20. Cameron Dokey – Charmed: Truth & Consequences [Dutch]
21. Sabine C. Bauer – Stargate Atlantis: Mirror, Mirror

22. Scott Ciencin – Charmed: Luck be a Lady [Dutch]
23. Laura J. Burns – Charmed: Inherit the Witch [Dutch]
24. Doeschka Meijsing – Over de Liefde {About Love} [Dutch] [school]
25. Emma Harrison – Charmed: A Tale of Two Pipers [Dutch]
26. Debbie Viguié – Charmed: Pied Piper [Dutch]

27. L. Frank Baum – The Wizard of Oz
28. Eliza Willard – Charmed: The Power of Three [Dutch]
29. Cameron Dokey & F. Goldsborough – Charmed: The Crimson Spell [Dutch]

30. Suzanne Wood – Stargate SG-1: The Barque of Heaven
31. David Brin – Kiln People
32. A.A. Milne & E.H. Shepard – The World of Pooh (The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner)
33. Christopher Golden – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Lost Slayer (4-in-1)
34. Terry Pratchett – The Bromeliad (Truckers, Diggers, Wings)

35. P.C. Dohery – Murder Imperial
36. Thomas Greanias – Atlantis herrezen (Raising Atlantis)
37. Karen Miller – The Innocent Mage
38. Karen Miller – The Awakened Mage

39. K.E Mills – Accidental Sorcerer
40. K.E. Mills – Wiches Incorporated
41. Terry Pratchett – The Dark Side of the Sun

42. P.C. & Kristin Cast – Marked
43. Amber Benson – Death’s Daughter
44. Jeff Lindsay – Darkly Dreaming Dexter

45. The Medieval Murderers – House of Shadows
46. Bernard Knight – The Grim Reaper

Currently reading You Suck by Christopher Moore, Emma by Jane Austen and Marker by Robin Cook. Regardless of that, I’m behind schedule if I want to get to the 60 books that I set as goal at the beginning of this year. I think I can catch up but even if I don’t, at least I got roughly the same number as previous years, which is good.

Books 2009 // Another Update

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It’s been a while since I updated the reading list so here goes.

I’m used to varying quality when reading tie-in fiction, since it needs to compete with the image of the TV-show (since I tend to read TV-show tie-ins) I have in my head. And since I tend to read books of shows I really like, the judging is harsh. That being said, until recently I mostly read Star Trek books and I think they have been blessed over the years not just with great writers, but also great editors. I have been spoiled with a plethora of good tie-in fiction. I’ve branched out now and added not just Charmed to my list but also Stargate and read a Supernatural book earlier this year and have a Buffy book waiting.

So far, I also love the Stargate books and the Supernatural one was very good too. The Charmed books, however, we’re not so good. Caveat beforehand, since I read these in translation I can’t really judge if it’s the books themselves or the translation that bugs me. I usually buy tie-in in English but got these at a discount store for about 50 cents a piece so had to take them 😀

I kept hearing the characters say the Dutch phrases in English in my head but it still wasn’t really right. I found, with most of them, the initial plot idea fun and entertaining but the execution either out of character, long-winded, obvious or just plain boring. I might re-read the ones I liked best in English to see if that makes a difference.

I’m currently not reading anything, I’m in the middle of finals. So, yeah I guess I’m reading the school books, but no fiction 😀 I have planned, for after the finals, to hit the Buffy tie-in book (The Lost Slayer, which is really a 4-in-1) as well as The Color Purple, which I got from the Library’s pile of books-for-sale.

2009 (so far)
01. Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves
02. P. Nowee – Arendsoog. Vogelvrij {Eagle-Eye Outlaw} [Dutch]
03. Maggie Tallerman – Understanding Syntax (translated into Dutch and edited for Dutch students by Jan-Wouter Zwart) [Dutch] [school]
04. Hanneke Houtkoop & Tom Koole – Taal in Actie. Hoe Mensen Communiceren met Taal {Language in Action. How People Communicate with Language} [Dutch] [school]
05. Erica van Boven & Gillis Dorleijn – Literair Mechaniek. Inleiding tot de Analyse van Verhalen en Gedichten. {Literary Mechanics. Introduction to the Analysis of Stories and Poetry.} [Dutch] [school]

06. Star Trek: DS9 – Relaunch 1-5 – Twist of Faith (S.D. Perry, David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang, Keith R.A. DeCandido)
07. Esther Verhoef – Alles te Verliezen {Everything to Loose} [Dutch] [school]
08. Orson Scott Card – Ender’s Game [re-read, it’s been years 🙂]
09. Robert J. Sawyer – Hominids
10. Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere
11. Justin Richards – Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man [Dutch]
12. Star Trek: DS9 – Prophecy & Change (short story collection)

13. Keith R.A. DeCandido – Supernatural: Bone Key
14. Paul Ruditis – Charmed: As Puck Would Have It [Dutch]
15. Laura J. Burns – Charmed: Sweet Talkin’ Demon [Dutch]
16. Atte Jongstra – De Avonturen van Henry II Fix [Dutch] [school]
17. Martin Caidin – Indiana Jones and the White Witch) [Dutch] [re-read]
18. Bobbi J.G. Weiss & Jacklyn Wilson – Charmed: Between Worlds [Dutch]
19. Martha Wells – Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary
20. Cameron Dokey – Charmed: Truth & Consequences [Dutch]
21. Sabine C. Bauer – Stargate Atlantis: Mirror, Mirror

22. Scott Ciencin – Charmed: Luck be a Lady [Dutch]
23. Laura J. Burns – Charmed: Inherit the Witch [Dutch]
24. Doeschka Meijsing – Over de Liefde {About Love} [Dutch] [school]
25. Emma Harrison – Charmed: A Tale of Two Pipers [Dutch]
26. Debbie Viguié – Charmed: Pied Piper [Dutch]

27. L. Frank Baum – The Wizard of Oz
28. Eliza Willard – Charmed: The Power of Three [Dutch]
29. Cameron Dokey & F. Goldsborough – Charmed: The Crimson Spell [Dutch]

30. Suzanne Wood – Stargate SG-1: The Barque of Heaven
31. David Brin – Kiln People
32. A.A. Milne & E.H. Shepard – The World of Pooh (The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner)