twinkelbelpeach

Every year on this day I like to list the books I have read in the previous year. Unfortunately I screwed up when I was moving stuff to the new computer a few months ago and lost my list.
Library Thing to the rescue as far as books I kept. There were at least a couple dozen books that I didn't keep though and I've no idea what the titles were. A minor thing I know, but I'm so anal that it bugs me not to have a complete list. So anyway, books I read and kept in 2011 are

The Sandman, Volume Eight - World's End by Neil Gaiman
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
The Sandman, Volume Nine - The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman
Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
Behind The Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
The Sandman, Volume 10 - The Wake by Neil Gaiman
A Personal History by Dorothy Caruso
The Sandman, The Dream Hunters - Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano
A Misalliance - Anita Brookner
The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise - Julia Stuart
The Debutantes - June Flaum Singer
Hons and Rebels - Jessica Mitford
Growing Pains - The Shaping of a Writer - Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier: A Daughters Memoir - Flavia Leng
A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf
I Feel Bad About My Neck - Nora Ephron
My Life At Grey Gardens: 13 Months and Beyond - Lois Wright
What Alice Knew - Paula Marantz Cohen
Memories: An Autobiography by Ethel Barrymore
The Diary of Alice James - Alice James
Like Water for Chocolate - Alice Esquivel
Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circue Tresaulti - Genevieve Valentine
Homer and Langley - E.L. Doctorow
The Face of Trespass - Ruth Rendell
Master of the Moor - Ruth Rendell
The Speaker of Mandarin - Ruth Rendell
Murder Being Once Done - Ruth Rendell
Death Notes - Ruth Rendell
Appetite for Life - Noel Riley Fitch
Losing Mum and Pup - Christopher Buckley
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
The Wine of Astonishment - Rachel MacKenzie
History of the Donner Party - C.F. McGlashan
A Dark-Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine
Leaving Home - Anita Brookner
Lives Like Loaded Guns - Lyndall Gordon
The Strange History of Suzanne Lafleshe - Susan Koppelman
The Doll; Lost Short Stories - Daphne duMaurier
Kissing The Gunner's Daughter - Ruth Rendell
The Lost Sister - Robert Love Taylor
Turn of Mind - Alice LaPlante

I just realized that none of the feeds I watch on LJ have shown up for about a week now. They are showing up just fine over on Dreamwidth. Is anyone else having a feed problem on LJ?

I love Christmas shopping online, I really do, but deargawd you do have to keep a constant watch on it. First came the CD of pictures I ordered from a professional photographer. Only $65, so much cheaper than individual prints. Except two days later when I checked my charge card balance, he had charged me $650! After I revived from my (almost) dead faint, I contacted him and listened to his tale of woe about how he was posting charges late at night and so on and so on. The only part I cared about was "I'll rectify this right away." Which he did. So on then to dealing with a big company which shouldn't make these kind of errors, right? Cyber Monday and I'm ordering from my beloved Coldwater Creek. 40% off and free shipping!! So says the big blue banner at the top of their page. Except when I get to the end and hit purchase, guess what doesn't happen? Yep. So here I am sputtering indignantly on the phone again. "Hmmm, no," says the guy on the other end of the line, "It didn't take that 40% off, did it? Let me rectify that right now." Okay fine, you do that. 'Rectify right now' has become my favorite phrase this holiday season.

So check your bills closely boys and girls. Don't let the retail grinch steal your Christmas.

It's that teeth-gnashing-jaw-clenching season when I need to replace my computer. I've always had HP's and been happy with them, but their whole company seems to be in such flux right now it's making me hesitate. I don't want an all-in-one because I love my big beautiful monitor and my Bose speakers. I just need a good dependable tower that will give me the best bang for my bucks. I don't do any gaming, just lots of reading, listening, and movie watching. Recommendations would be very welcomed.

You've always got to have a Plan B my mama said. Since I haven't been able to get on Live Journal for more than ten minutes in the last four days, I decided to take her wise advice. Hello Dreamwidth.

I'm home from Southern Media Con in Tampa/St. Pete and I'm hot, tired, and five pounds fatter (thanks Starbucks, for being right there in the hotel.) But I had a wonderful time! Thanks Deb, and all the Stonehill gang for putting on a great little con once again. And after Perry read that Transformers story at Vogon Prose, I will never again be able to walk into a "portrait gallery" with a straight face.
You guys always have some of the best panels too, so I hope you can keep The Best Little Con in Florida going for many years to come.

My daughter brought her new puppy Bentley over to meet the Moose.
I don't think either one of them was quite sure what the other one was. At least the 75 lb Bella didn't try to eat the 4 lb Bentley, so we were all happy.

Originally posted by kythryne at internet powers, activate!

I'm really mad at General Mills. I stopped by Walmart this morning to pick up a few things including cereal. The hubby loves Cheerios so I picked up a box, but then noticed the store brand sitting right beneath it was 40 cents cheaper. I picked it up to compare ingredients and immediately noticed how much heavier it felt. Now these two boxes are within millimeters of being the same size. So now I look to see how much cereal each box contains. The box of General Mills Cheerios contains 12.25 oz. The box of Walmart True Value Honey Nut Spins contains 17 oz. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this is nearly one third more cereal in the box that costs 40 cents less.
In a box that is the same size. Okay, I know this goes on all the time, but somehow this was so blatant! I hate it when a giant company like General Mills implies through their packaging that they think I am stupid. I'm going to be watching this stuff a lot closer in the future. And not that I think it will do any good, but I'm going to send a copy of this message to General Mills too. "Hey, Giant Company! I saw what you did!"