Book List Challenge

-------- from Facebook, tagged by Anna and Heather C

List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take more than a few minutes and do not think hard. They do not have to be the 'right' books or great works of literature, just ones that have stuck with you.

- If on a Winter's Night A Traveler (Italo Calvino)
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson)
- The Princess Bride (William Goldman)
- Moranthology (Caitlin Moran)
- Good Omens (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett)
- The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
- Franklin In The Dark (Paulette Bourgeois)
- The Portrait Of A Lady (Henry James)
- Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think (D. Greenberger and C. A. Padesky)
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (William Shakespeare) Plays: Comedy and Tragedy

Extras
- Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
- Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)

Note: I wrote down all the titles first, and then looked them up to add links, fix spelling, and include the authors.

TB - September 2006

Throwback Thursday - Scroll to the bottom of the month and read up.

SEPTEMBER 2006

Looks like I started out the month pretty sick. I would have been leaving Second Cup, since it was just a summer job and there is a pretty scathing post about it. Also a little hic-up with depression and the first mention of my beloved 'Sleep perchance to dream' wall sticker that I have since bought tons of. I went to Waterloo (with side visits to St. Jacobs and Guelph) to see Teri for her birthday - a trip that I only faintly recall. She would have been turning 22, this September she will be turning 30. Where does the time go?!?

Noted Post: I love the Before and After pictures of my room at Le Manior. It was such a huge and awesome room, pretty much the size of my whole apartment now - okay, that isn't true but it was insanely massive.

Book List 2012

I'm not going to give myself a time limit, but I do want to move through the following list quickly!! Canadian authors are identified.

ONGOING (2):
- My Future Listography: All I hope to do in lists by Lisa Nola. Gift from Erin AH.
- Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think by Dennis Greenberger & Christine A. Padesky. Purchased from gift cards from Uncle M and Aunt E, my cousins, and Kristen's Mom.

FINISHED (4):
- When Parents Text: So Much Said... So Little Understood by Lauren Kaelin & Sophia Fraioli. Gift from Kristen.
- Bossypants by Tina Fey. Gift from Teri.
- How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche (CanLit). A gift from Kristen.
- Various Positions by Martha Schabas (CanLit). Gift from the WOTS office.

READING (4):
- A Life of Pi by Yann Martel (CanLit). Gift from Uncle Simon.
- A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro. Gift from Mom and Dad.
- The Happiness Project: Or, Why I spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin. Purchased from gift cards from Uncle M and Aunt E, my cousins, and Kristen's Mom.
- Ruska: The Novel of Russia by Edward Rutherford. Borrowed from a friend.

TO READ (51):
- Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherford. To be borrowed from the library.
- London: A Novel by Edward Rutherford. To be borrowed from the library.
- Social Media 101 by Chris brogan. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Idoru by William Gibson (CanLit). Gift from Uncle Simon.
- Making Pictures: Vision, Imagination, Skills & Techniques in Photography by Julian Calder. A gift from a family friend, written by his son.
- C'mon Papa: Dispatches from a Dad in the Dark by Ryan Knighton (CanLit). Prize won at WOTS 2010.
- Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. Gift from Aunt Dan.
- Fruit: A Novel About a Boy and his Nipples by Brian Francis (CanLit). Purchased on sale.
- Bridge at your Fingertips by Amalya Kearse. Stolen from Dad.
- The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff by Mark Hughes. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Worse Thing She Ever Did by Alice Kuipers (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Fictional Career Change of Jim Kearns by David Munro (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey (CanLit). Gift from WOTS office.
- Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. To be borrowed by Kristen.
- Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie. To be borrowed from the library.
- The Romanovs by Robert K. Massie. To be borrowed from the library.
- Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream by Stephen Watts. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Quiver by Holly Luhning (CanLit). Gift from WOTS office.
- The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture by Terry O'Reilly & Mike Tennant (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol by Tony Scherman & David Dalton. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Fallback Plan by Leigh Stein. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston (CanLit). Gift from WOTS office.
- Writers [on Writing] edited by the New York Times. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Gift from Uncle Simon and Aunt Dan.
- The Fine Art Of Small Talk: How to Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills -- and Leave a Positive Impression! by Debra Fine. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming by Shreve Stockton. Gift from Mom and Dad.
- The Withdrawal Method by Pasha Malla (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Cat's Cradle by Michael Ondaatje (CanLit). Gift from Teri.
- The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart. To be borrowed from Kristen.- The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Earthgirl (Advanced Reading Copy, uncorrected proof) by Jennifer Cowan (CanLit). Gift from university Fiction Workshop instructor.
- A Guidebook to Contemporary Architecture in Toronto by Margaret and Phil Goodfellow (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (CanLit). To be borrowed from the library.
- Weight by Jeanette Winterson. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. To be borrowed from the library.
- A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Jpod by Douglas Coupland (CanLit). To be borrowed from the library.
- Microserfs by Douglas Coupland (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. To be borrowed from the library.
- The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- Canon EOS Digital Rebel: Digital Field Guide by Charlotte K. Lowrie. Gift from Uncle M.
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Story of Jane Doe: A Book About Rape by Jane Doe. To be borrowed from Kristen.
- The Everything Guide to Social Media by John K. Waters. Gift from Noah.
- Writer's Gym by Eliza Clark (CanLit). To be borrowed from Kristen.

I Only Got 13

From a Facebook Notes thing:
Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors who've influenced you and that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.

1 - Shakespeare
Umm, obviously!
2 - A.A.Milne
For his poetry not for Pooh.
3 - Marian Keyes
Chick Lit with depth.
4 - Aaron Sorkin
Best screen writer of all time.
5 - Jonathan Safron Foer
I have read two, they do stick with you.
6 - C.S.Lewis
Read over and over in my childhood.
7 - Italo Calvino
If On A Winter's Night A Traveller blew my mind.
8 - Audrey & Don Wood
Children's author and illustrator.
9 - A.E.Maxwell
Fun series.
10-Aldous Huxley
Even beyond Brave New World he is awesome.
11-Douglas Coupland
He writes my world.
12-Robert Fulgman
Better than Chicken Soup for the Soul.
13-William Gibson
Cyber-punk is an awesome genre.

Is it bad that I didn't come up with 15 and I'm an English Major? I never remember authors.

When The Bee Stings - Literary

Favourite Books
The Narnia Series, Franklin Books, If On A Winter's Night A Traveller, The Time Traveller's Wife, A Brave New World, Slaughter House Five

Favourite Authors
William Shakespeare, Douglas Coupland, Robert Fulghum, Audrey & Don Wood, A. E. Maxwell, Marian Keyes

Favourite Poets
A. A. Milne, S. T. Coleridge, Mary Roberts

Favourite Plays
Shakespeare!, The Importance of Being Ernest, Good Night Desdemona - Good Morning Juliet, The Sandbox, Mini Putt

Totally Love It!

Anne found these and I love them. She equates "The Sassy Gay Friend" to Anthony from Sex and the City and Clinton on What Not To Wear on her blog. It think it is just such a fun juxtaposition between Shakespeare and pop culture. Basically I like almost anything with even the briefest connection to Shakespeare. Second City also did one for Hamlet and Othello which are super funny as well!!

Thanksgiving Sonnet

This poem will sit at fourteen lines long.
Perfected by Shakespeare, however my
Iambic-pentameter isn't strong.
Lines are ten syllables, thought I should try
My hand at a Sonnet. The rhyming scheme
Is beyond specific but I will keep
Writing these poems as if in a dream.
Wait that's a lie, shouldn't get in too deep,
This is the last poem. Holiday's done.
My plane leaves tomorrow, so much to do.
I'll miss Halifax as it is such fun.
But I need to get back, school work is due
Soon. Don't worry it is still on my mind,
Happy Thanksgiving, now back to the grind!!

-C.S.

The Post

For Christmas, Kristen got me a desk calender called Forgotten English. (She also got me this really neat Shakespeare mug that I use all the time.) I took the calender to work, it sits on my desk, and I read it everyday. I especially look forward to Tuesdays when I get to read Saturday, Sunday, and Monday too. Each day is a new Old English word and some trivia about it. Every one is so interesting it is hard not to bring the pages home and blog about them all. I have been waiting for an exceptionally cool one. I found one but what was even more interesting was the trivia.
'bodword' - an ominous message
Henry Reddall's book, Fact, Fancy, and Fable (1889), describes a no-nonsense 'language of postage' used by Americans. Stamps on the upper left corner upside down means I love you! One on the upper left corner crosswise, I love another. Stamp on the upper left corner up and down, I wish to be rid of your correspondence. On the left lower corner means Do you love me? On the left lower corner upside down, I am displeased. Stamp placed on the left lower corner crosswise, I wish to have your acquaintance. On the left side in the centre means Accept me as a lover. Amusingly, a stamp on the left side in the centre crosswise means Who cares? On the upper right corner up and down which is what everyone uses today every time, means Business Correspondence.

Bring It All Back

Around this time last year I talked about bringing back the word 'league' as a measurement and in February of this year I mentioned wanting to start using long speeches to curse people instead of swearing. Jerrica has been joining me as I stalk Shakespeare lately and we just came back from a production of Twelfth Night done at a local community centre. I could watch Shakespearean plays every day, I just love them so much. Jer and I have been talking for a while about using the phrase 'go to' more and have starting saying it to each other when trying to remind of the need to study. "Want to do such and such" gets responded with "No, we/you should really study, go to." Now, I also want to use the word 'knave' to mean a person who is a jerk. The actual definition is as follows:
knave -noun
1. an unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest person
2. a Jack, in a deck of cards
3. a male servant, a man of humble position
I think it is best used with a good adjective in front of it like, "That dirty knave" or "He was such a foolish knave" or "She is an arrant knave" but then I guess we would would have to bring 'arrant' back too, which means unmitigated or notorious. Maybe we should just bring it all back.

Sucker For Shakespeare

I don't know how it happens but I fall for them everytime. Guy dancers, guy actors, guy actors doing Shakespeare. It sometimes even starts out with me thinking that their are no attractive male actors in the play but by the end I will always have some sort of crush on at least one of them. The cute members of the cast are not the only good thing in Sock 'n' Buskin's Shakespeare play this year. As usual the set was well done, direction near professional, and the acting was pretty good. Again, my usual complaint is that the costumes are never up to the quality of the rest of the performance. Their performance's are good, really good. Shakespeare is hard to do and they always do it well. The company tends to start off the season with one of his plays before doing a musical and Canadian play later in the year. I have been to three of the Shakespeare ones and loved it every time. This year's Much Ado About Nothing was no exception.

Proud Of Myself

I got my mark back for the one course that I have been trudging through since September. Third Year Shakespeare, a mandatory credit for English. I got an A. I had been hoping for an A+ since I got an A on both the essays and thought I rocked the exam enough to pull up my mark. I’m still really happy though, since it is the highest mark I have so far in Arts. I got another A back when I was doing engineering but haven’t seen one since. It was my first third year course and better then the standard A- I tend to pull off in my English courses. I also have almost paid off my little student loan, after which I can start saving money for going back to school full-time. I thought I was super close to paying it completely off, then I had to pay a huge chuck to Carleton for the Mass Comm course I’m taking over the summer. Also we had to pay first and last months rent at Die Höhle. I’m still proud of myself for the high mark and that I’m trucking along at paying back my line of credit. Great start to the summer semester!

I Wish

I want to...
-be painted by Michelangelo
-play improve games with the cast and guests of Whose Line Is It Anyway?
-speak another language
-go to a Caribbean resort with all my friends, drink and swim in the ocean
-win an Olympic medal for Canada
-have my Grandma back, alive and healthy
-be young again and playing 'Kick The Can' with the neighborhood kids
-see Twelfth Night in the Elizabethan Court
-like and know wine
-go to a Harry Chapin concert with my parents
-see the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
-wake up everyday with someone I love, and who loves me back
-climb Mount Kilimanjaro
-swim in a bath house in ancient Rome
-live in the same city as my little brother

Every Week

I have fallen into some patterns. It now seems as though I have a weekly routine. I wasn't intending on this, but it just formed on it's own.
Mondays: Grocery shopping right after work at Hartman's
Tuesdays: Meet Kristin on campus to workout
Wednesdays: Shakespeare night course at Carleton
Thursdays: Go to Taylor & Kristen's for dinner and to watch ANTM
My weekends fill up too, but there is less of a pattern. Well actually, lately there has been a pattern of being very social as well as going out a lot to drink and dance. I will have to cut back on that in order to be more diligent with my school work.

Everything I Love

I went to see a ballet tonight at the NAC. I love the dance program they have here in Ottawa, they have lots of different companies touring through, and there is alot of dance. Tonight's performance was Le Songe (Midsummer's Night Dream) done by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. It was incredible; great music, interesting costumes, great choreography. The dance was just traditional enough to be beautiful and just modern enough to be interesting. They stuck really close to the story and the erotic nature of the characters and story really showed through. Three things I love; eroticism, Shakespeare, ballet, all together in one!!

Curse Them Out

I think that instead of turning to swear words in anger, we should bring back the long drawn out curse speeches. They seem much more powerful, and can be so very harsh. Not just "A plague on both your houses." Dig deep and find what will really upset them. For a prime example look to the one said by King Lear, in the Shakespearean play of the same name, to his daughter. Here he wishes her infertility, and if she does bare children that they are so evil they will torment her and cause her to quickly age.

"It may be so, my lord.
Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear!
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend
To make this creature fruitful!
Into her womb convey sterility!
Dry up in her the organs of increase;
And from her derogate body never spring
A babe to honour her! If she must teem,
Create her child of spleen; that it may live,
And be a thwart disnatured torment to her!
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth;
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks;
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt; that she may feel
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child! Away, away!"

Word Geek

My English Professor (for my Shakespeare course) touched briefly on the use of the suffix '-ling.' It was in the context of the villain in Marlow's play The Jew Of Malta calling the audience 'worldlylings' which is insulting. Adding '-ling' to the end of a word demeans it. It makes it mean a young, small, or inferior thing. Think 'duckling' or 'underling' or 'darling' or 'fledgling' or 'yearling'. I wish it was around more still, as it is amusingly condescending.

7-Eleven

I took a late evening walk with Em and Ami to the 7-Eleven to get some snacks for my essay writing. I grabbed a slushie and some chips and dip, I figured it was a good treat to eat while watching The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert. It was a nice break from typing up my King Lear essay for British Literature. I had barely had any when my stomach started to hurt. Now I'm wide awake from all the pop that was in the jumbo slushie, sick from the chips and dip, but still working on the damn essay.

Get Thee To A Theatre

I just came back from William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream which I went to go see with Kristen and WifeT. It was put on by Sock'n'Buskin, a theatre group run out of Carleton. This is one of my least favorite Shakespearean comedies but I loved this production. It was incredibly done with excellent attention to detail. It is playing at 8pm, in the Alumni Theatre November 16-18 & 23-25, 2006. I completely suggest going to see it, really really amazing, done so well.

Looking Up

[Photo of wall quote lost.] I just spent the past few hours getting my notes in order from this past week. I'm feeling a little more confident about this school year and am not feeling as sick. I'm going to have a little nap before working some more at getting my life in order. The photo is of a recent purchase, it is a quote that sticks to your wall. I think it is beautiful and inspiring. I have placed it near my desk so I can see it as I work, it is perfect for an English Major. Although beautiful and bought in a chic home decor store, it is actually from Hamlet's famous soliloquy "To be or not to be" which is about his thoughts of suicide. To me the quote is amusing, slightly morbid, and beautiful. I love having it up on my wall.