[New Year’s Resolutions] 67 SciFi Books

I've been in a rut when it comes to reading lately. Most of the authors I like have either passed away, have few books in print, or publish new stories infrequently. And with most new books priced at $8.99 or more, I'm wary of unfamiliar authors with a blah synopsis on the back cover. So I've decided to tackle the 67 books I haven't read on the Sci-Fi Top 100 Books list.

There's a fair number of authors on the list that I haven't gotten around to reading, so hopefully I'll find something to get me out of the rut.

Three C’s: Cowboy Mouth, Chinatown, and Cold

So last night, Tamara, Adora, and I went to go see Cowboy Mouth. It's hard to believe that I've been going to their concerts for 10 years now. We were front and to the far left, so we had a great view of JTG. He noticed Adora was having a great time and even handed her one of his guitar picks in between songs. It was a really great concert, and makes me wish Cowboy Mouth would come this way more often.

We got to meet the band afterwards. I'm still amazed that they really seem to enjoy hanging out with their fans after the show, with as many shows as they do. They still were just as nice as they were the first time I got to talk to them when they dropped by our radio station ten years ago. Unfortunately, there was another band booked for midnight, so the 9:30 Club staff were trying to get all of the Cowboy Mouth fans out of the building. We managed to catch JP and Regina outside, and they didn't mind posing for a picture with Adora.

We also talked to Justin Trawick, the lead singer of the opening group. I really enjoyed the set his group did and wished they had a little more time. They were all strings, with a violin, electric mandolin, guitar, and upright bass. He's performing in the National Mall next Sunday, so I think Paul and I will head over that way.

We had an interesting walk back to the Metro station. We didn't have a chance to eat before the concert, so we decided to stop in Chinatown for a bite to eat. It probably would have been faster to take the Metro back to Virginia and get fast food, since it took us forever to find a restaurant that wasn't 21+ after 10:30pm. We ended up at Tai Shan, which was a bit of a let down, but it had food and was right next to the Chinatown metro stop. After a quick change from red to orange lines, we settled in for the trip back to Virginia. Adora was pretty tired and nodded off before we got across the Potomac.

As for the cold, I'm not used to it being too much below 80 this time of the year, so I waltzed out of the house without my jacket. Oops. It was in the 60s today (brrr), so I guess it's time to get my winter clothes back out.

[Semi-Random Links] Pretty Ladies, Medieval Beasties, Rhymes, and Ikea

So, I've been out of town for a good chunk of the summer, and haven't had a stable net connection the whole time. So I finally managed to catch up on my RSS feeds, and ran across a few neat things in one of my favorite blogs, Drawn!.

First up is Chad Geran's rhyme book, Do You Know What I Am?. Paul really enjoyed reading it. The words used in the rhymes get more complex towards the end of the book (chair, square, pear).

After that, we looked at the Medieval Bestiary. Paul wasn't really sure what to make of the medieval art style, but seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. I would have loved to have something like this as a kid. It lists what the medieval folk believed as fact, the allegory, and cites their sources (with the century they were written in). I found the sources to be more interesting than the general attributes, since they ranged from myths and Aesop's to reference books like Pliny's Natural History or Isidore of Seville's Etymologies.

Then I ran across the Women in Art Morph. It was really neat to see how our perception of feminine beauty changed over the centuries, along with the art styles.

And lastly, I ran across a hack for my dream room with Floor to ceiling and over the doorway bookshelves on Ikea Hacker. I've always wanted something like that since I was a very little girl.

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Full of Fail

Adding more fail to the situation? Probably!

There comes a day in every cat macro fan's life when you really need a macro. My day has finally arrived. But I couldn't find a cat macro that was full enough of fail to accurately reflect how I felt about reading the synopsis on Amazon for the "Great Big Glorious Book For Girls". I was really looking forward to this, since it was supposed to be the girl's version of the Dangerous Book for Boys.

All girls know that there's more to them than just make-up and gossiping - although they're not averse to a little bit of both. Boys aren't the only ones to like a little danger, a little adventure in the Great Outdoors and a lot of fun, wherever they can find it.And that's what makes "The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls" just so glorious. It's big enough to cover every element of girlhood, from the luxurious pampering of a home made spa to the quiet delight of reading the stars on a clear summer's night. It's great enough to satisfy the whims of diehard tomboys and devoted flower fairies. And it's certainly glorious enough to provide inspiration, come rain or shine, to girls of all ages. So if you've never been quite sure how to do the perfect French Plait, or if you are in need of a dastardly trick to keep your pesky brother in line, or you feel a friendship bracelet would be just the thing to show your best friend how much you love her, delve into "The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls" and discover all the other treats waiting inside.
Amazon.com synopsis of The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls (emphasis mine)

Maybe I'm missing something, but aside from the dastardly deeds and diehard tomboys, the synopsis makes this sound like another run of the mill girly girl book. Where are our instructions for pinhole cameras, secret inks, being spies, and building a periscope? Granted, I haven't read the book, but after reading this, I have no real desire to grab a copy.

If I had a little girl, I'd skip this, and use The (Hypothetical) Dangerous Book For Girls over at Ask Moxie. (The comments are also worth a read.) She's got everything from "Walking Gracefully in High Heels", to "Maintaining Control of the Story During a Press Conference", and my personal favorite, "The Basics of Digging to China in Your Backyard". If that were expanded into a book, I'd probably pick up a few copies for the little girls I know.

Via Bookslut

Surprising Results

I'd been meaning to do this since this fall, but I kept forgetting. I've been a scifi fan since the Christmas I was 5 and my dad read us The Christmas Tree by Ken Wisman from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

I read a lot, but until I was old enough to order from Amazon or could drive to Half Price Books in Dallas, I was stuck with the two shelves of SF/Horror in the B. Dalton. With the number of books I have, I thought I'd have read at least half, but I'm only at 19/50. At least this will give me an idea of something to try when I'm drawing a blank.

There were a few books I thought should be on there, but weren't. David G. Hartwell's World Treasury of Science Fiction is my favorite anthology. Asimov's Golden Age and Before the Golden Age anthologies should be also be required reading for science fiction fans of my generation and later. When I was born, nearly 11.5 years had passed since Apollo 11 completed its' mission. It's very interesting to see what people thought the present would be 50 to 100 years ago.

Anyway, here's my list.

Fifty Classic Science Fiction Novels Read more »