Review: Something Missing

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I was reading this book, I kept thinking to myself: here is a book that is detailing everything this guy is doing, step by step, and his entire thought process throughout. It is a novel that takes a moment to explain exactly how supermarket loyalty cards work. How is this interesting? Why did I keep reading, and actually enjoy what I was reading?

I really did find it interesting. It was sort of like a much more detailed Dirty Jobs for me. By taking us through every step of the character's thought process, he became a much more sympathetic character. I actually really appreciated all of the little details.

There were a few strange moments in the book, bits and pieces I thought would be important again but never came up, but perhaps they just seemed more important because of the way the protagonist considers every possible action carefully before continuing. He pushes everything way up to highest importance, even the way he greets his waitress at the diner he goes to for breakfast, so everything seems more important than it is.

Now, where's Mike Rowe when you need him?

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10 Good Things on a Monday 3/28

Hi everybody! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was fun - taco night on Saturday and then the Arizona Renaissance Festival on Sunday with Alicia and Chris. For this week's 10 Good Things on a Monday I'll be sharing the 10 things I love about going to the Renaissance Festival.

Scotty and I go every year to the festival with different people - friends, family and sometimes just on our own. It is always a good time!



1. Watching other people eat turkey legs

 2. Shirtless men in kilts, i.e. Tartanic!
3. The falconry show, which had lots of new birds this year.

4. Trying to sit in the "good guy's" section at the joust - and failing miserably.

5. Ded Bob - a classic comedy show with Bob and his dummy.
6. Any show with "LC" after it on the program (Loose Cannon) - it means the show will be geared toward adults and is probably going to be even more hilarious than usual!
7. The food! (Just ignore Alicia here; it was delicious!)

8. Souvenirs - we picked up a mug for Scotty and this little dragon figure for me. Isn't it perfect - a dragon and a cat to fit right with Loki and Sneakers?

9. Spending time with family and/or friends - whoever comes with us! It's so much fun.

10. The bizarre stuff people come up with!

Review: Flight, Volume 2

Flight, Volume 2 by Kazu Kibuishi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am enjoying this series of anthologies, but there are too many beginnings here for me, and not enough complete short stories. I love the variety, though.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day - with a cherry on top!

My Dad sent this to my brother and I this morning:

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter.

Lullabies, dreams and love ever after.

Poems and songs with pipes and drums.

A thousand welcomes when anyone comes... 

That's the Irish for you!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful St. Patrick's Day! I'm definitely wearing my green, in the form of my new shamrock t-shirt.

My friend Jennifer from What Would Jen Do? gave me this Cherry on Top Award! That definitely made me smile.

To accept this award, list 3 things you love about yourself

1. I love that I have a weird sense of humor. A lot of things make me smile... heck, the straw in my drink at dinner last night made me smile!
2. I love that I keep myself informed about things and can usually add random information to a conversation (note: it will definitely be random, and it might not make sense).
3. I love my wavy hair! It sounds silly, but I like that it curls and I don't have to do anything with it. The tangles, on the other hand, I could do without.

Post a picture you love

That's Scotty and I inside our new house :)

Pass on to 5 other blogs you just adore!

I just feel like picking one: my sister's blog life and love and wings!

10 Good Things on a Monday 3/14

10 Things I Am Looking Forward To
1. Our couch being delivered tonight! We have a sofa, loveseat and recliner coming sometime between 7 and 11 PM. Fingers crossed that it's sooner rather than later... I never stay up that late anymore!

2. The Renaissance Festival later this month! Every year I see many employees of the festival come in the library and we go every year. I love it!

3. ABLEconf on April 2. It's a business-oriented free software conference. It'll be my first year going.

4. Doing a "Day in the Life" in photos on April 2. It will be fun to do one in our new house!

5. Trying out the Mexican restaurant down the road from us. It is closed Sunday and Monday so that will have to wait! I've heard good things, though.

6. Playing Dragon Age 2! We have it but we just now got both PCs set up so we can finally play. I'm tempted to sneak over to Scotty's computer and start playing.

7. Having all the boxes unpacked.

8. Taking the books I've decided I don't need to Bookmans and Half-Price Books - not only will they be no longer taking up space, but I'll have money for more books!

9. Our housewarming party.

10. Swimming! I can't wait to relax in my in-laws' pool with everyone. It's been very warm lately so I think everybody is feeling ready for summer!

Our first week at home

This weekend Scotty and I moved into our new house - new to us, at least, and ours. We got the keys on Friday, and we spent the weekend moving (with the help of our awesome family), shopping (Ikea and other furniture stores - fun, but stressful!), and decorating our home.

I've wanted a house for a long, long time, and various setbacks and just the wandering way that life takes put it on the backburner for awhile. Scotty and I have for years remarked on and evaluated every house with a for-sale sign in front that we passed. I did research months ahead of time, and we knew in our minds what we wanted, so the process of picking out a house was relatively easy. As soon as we stepped into this one, which was only the second house we saw on our first day looking with the realtor, I felt comfortable, and happy.

I've been comfortable here ever since. Somehow it really feels like home even though I've only lived here five days. I usually talk in my sleep when I'm stressed or in a new place - both of those are accurate, but I haven't talked once.

Sneakers assists with Ikea construction.

We bought furniture over the weekend, all of which except for the sofa is in its proper place now, and discovered a few things: our little Chevrolet Cobalt can hold more Ikea boxes than we thought, Scotty is truly excellent at picking out rugs (for the wood floors in our living room, dining area and hallway), and our driveway is an optical illusion (it looks shorter than it is - it's actually very long).

We also got my cat back - Sneakers, a 14-year-old black and white kitty who originally belonged to my grandmother, then my parents, then us, then my mom and now us again. And of course, my bearded dragon Loki came with us, too. They're getting along pretty well. Sneakers is curious, but neither of them are aggressive or fearful of each other.

Hopefully I'll be able to blog/write more when everything settles and we get our computers set up. I feel like my Hearing Sparks blog is languishing, and can't wait to start writing again.

House tour

Below is a slideshow of pictures of our house. We moved in last night and are getting settled, with more moving and furniture shopping planned over this weekend and the next week or so. Thankfully I have awesome family members and friends who are always willing to lend a hand!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.