2011 Book Eight - Living Dead in Dallas

I have to tell you that I'm truly addicted to my Kindle....I'm seeing an episode of Intervention coming soon....

I spent all day today reading the second in the Sookie Stackhouse series Living Dead in Dallas. Here is what would be on the back of the book, if I had a physical book:

Waiting tables, sweeping floors, reading minds and solving mysteries for the undead. It's all in a day's work for Sookie...

Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of real bad luck. First, her co-worker gets murdered and no one seems to care. Then Sookie is attacked - and poisoned - late one night by some weird and apparently mythical beast. She only survives because the local vampires roll up and graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it). But in return the blood-suckers need a favor.

Which is why Sookie ends up in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire, on the condition that her undead friends don't do anything, well, vampiric while she's there. Easier said than done. All it takes in one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly...

As I said earlier, I tore through this book today and only was able to stop myself from getting engulfed in the next one because I have a commitment this evening and some work to do tomorrow. While, these books are no literary masterpieces, they are fun mind candy and I'm obviously enjoying reading them.

Perhaps, I should hold off on reading anymore on the Kindle until my next trip....

2011 Book Seven - Dead Until Dark

I'm traveling every other week now and decided that carrying my library is really tough, so I bought a Kindle and the first books that I downloaded were the first 8 in the Sookie Stackhouse series. If you are unfamiliar with the series it is what the HBO series True Blood is based on. The first book that is Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. Since I am downloading the books, I don't have the back of the book to quote here, however here is what is written up on the Amazon site:

Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life - and one of her coworkers checks out.....

Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.

This book was a great, fast read and I'm already 1/3 of the way into the next in the series. I have a feeling that for some light sumer time (and plane) reading, this set of books is going to be great!!

On a different note, completely away from the book..... I LOVE my Kindle!! The thing that is great about it is that I can't read ahead. With a "real" book, I am in the habit of flipping to the back of the book and/or the last chapter and reading how the book ends after a couple dozen pages, and the Kindle doesn't easily allow me to do that (and if it does, I haven't figured out how to do it, which is a good thing).

Okay, now I'm off to chomp through my next book!!

30 Day Challenge - Day 30

A Picture of Someone You Miss

My first thought was to post pictures of the people in my life who have died. And then I was going to post pictures of the people who are far away. But then I had a thought: Someone I really miss is the person I used to be....

At one time in my life I was pretty carefree and goofy and didn't care if I acted the fool in public and with my friends. I miss that girl. I'm finding that girl again, but it is taking time and there are a lot of walls that have to be climbed, but I'm going to get there.....

30 Day Challenge - Day 29

A Picture of Someone who Inspires You

Many historical figures inspire me..... but Abraham Lincoln was a great man. I wish I could stand up for all humans the way that he did.

(That and I think this is a really cool picture that I took....)

30 Day Challenge - Day 28

A picture of something you're afraid of I do not like crowds. I do not like to be in crowds and I freak out (mostly internally) whenever I am in a crowd. Is it any wonder that I am a huge fan of wide open spaces and why I think I really want to retire in the desert mountains someday? I do have other things that I'm afraid of such as fire.

And then there are the things that are harder to represent in pictures....

I don't like loud noises. For example, I always tend to get a little freaked out when there are fireworks close to me. My family has learned to accept this and support me when we go to the fireworks shows on July 4th.

I am afraid of dying alone. When you do a google search for images of "dying alone" you get back some very odd things, and I just really didn't want to include any of those here.

30 Day Challenge - Day 27

A picture of yourself and a family member

I have so many pictures to choose from, but this picture makes me happy. It is a picture of my Dad and me at Muir woods.

30 Day Challenge - Day 26

A picture of something that means a lot to you

Initially I was going to put pictures of my friends and family here, but thought differently as I've given so much homage to them over this month. Instead, I decided to dedicate this blog to two things that do man a lot to me..... Art and Nature and since both of these pictures were taken on a trip to Washington DC, they represent something else that means a lot to me and that is my country. I'm not going to get all political and preachy here, but I do believe strongly in what our country used to represent, what our constitution represents, and what our country was built on....

But, back to Art and Nature.... Ahhhh, they are our blessings and lets hope that we never lose them.

Day 30 Challenge - Day 25

A Picture of Something You Wish You Were Better At

I really wish I was better at exercising. Deep down in side of me there is an athlete, I just know it. If only I would let her out. I know that it only takes me getting off the couch and as Nike says "just do it."

30 Day Challenge - Day 24

A picture of your day.

In case you haven't figured this out yet, I do have put all these posts together and then scheduled them to be posted. So, when I first came across this requirement, I was trying to find a picture of a woman staring at a computer screen or something else to reflect the fact that my day is typically spent in front of a computer or on a phone or in a meeting or some other mundane office activity. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate my job and am glad that I have one, but I am not an office drone and really have a much more artistic soul that has to be suppressed when in the office. However, I then looked at the calendar to see what day of the week April 24th actually fell on this year and saw that it fell on a Sunday and I can't tell you how excited I was knowing that I would not actually be in the office, or at least I shouldn't be, and that I could display what I will be doing on this day.
Okay, so I will not be laying naked on a hillside reading, but there is a strong possibility that I will spend at least a portion of this day outside reading. This picture makes me happy, though, which is why I posted it instead of the skinny girl in bed reading.... If I'm not outside reading (or inside on the couch for that matter), then I will more than likely be doing some quilting. Following is a picture of Caryl Bryer Fallert, who is an amazing quilter and her use of color is unbelievable. I probably should have referenced her on Day 13 when I mentioned Freddy Moran as one of my favorite artists because Caryl is right up there as well, however, her name did not jump to the forefront of my mind, which tells me that while I admire her work and use of color, perhaps my subconscious is telling me something different.