booklist

The UK's 100 Favorite books. As per stariel, I've bolded the ones I've read and italicized the ones I have plans to read soon.

I find it not at all surprising how heavily skewed this list is towards Harry Potter...I wonder what this list originated from? I feel like I've seen it before.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Oy, guess I'd better get reading!! xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Memory Keeper's Daughter AUTHOR: Kim Edwards
	TITLE: The Underboss AUTHOR: Gerard O'Neill & Dick Lehr

sock curse?

Apparently my sock-gifting M.O. is to give only one sock out of a pair. I've done that every time I've gifted socks, and that's been 3 times. In fact, once I was giving 2 people each a pair of socks, but only had one pair completed, and thus gave one each one sock from the same pair. Yes, all quite befuddling, I realize.

In any case, one of these times occurred a few months back, on the eve of my sister Sarah's September birthday. I was taking a bus back to CT both for work & to help her celebrate! I had just settled into a good rhythm of watching The Baxter on my laptop and finishing up Sarah's second sock (I was just past turning the heel), when the bus hit a bump, and my 4th needle went flying. I calmly watched it arc through the air, somewhat detached from it all & feeling rather helpless to do anything. I figured I'd just wait until it settled, and then go & retreive it, rather than look like a crazed woman flailing around after it in the relatively small, enclosed space of the bus.

Well, it wasn't meant to be -- I continued to watch as the needle landed on the aisle floor...and then, hop! (said the French way), it kind of jumped & slid right through the grate running alongside...yes, the one the leads to the inner workings of the bus, I am sure, and not one that would be accessible to someone like me. Eep! I don't know how long it took for me to realize the gravity of the situation, but thankfully I didn't freak out on the bus. I calmly stowed the incomplete (and unable-to-be-completed) sock and pulled out the extra yarn (for yet another pair of socks) I had packed in a fit of ESP-esque inspiration earlier that morning. The rest of the ride went smoothly enough, with no more men down, but it was still rather upsetting. I had to, of course, present Sarah with only one sock on the night of her birthday. (Ironically, she later presented me with a bunch of needles she had purchased for me at a tag sale!)

I kept putting off finishing the second sock for so many reasons, but the other day I finally bit the bullet and picked it up again. The rest of the knitting flew by, and over Thanksgiving, I was able to present Sarah with the pair:


(That's me modeling them, but you get the idea.)

Luckily, I don't think the one-sock-giving affliction is going to continue to plague me much longer...but I can't reveal anymore.

For now, I've got non-knitting work to get done! xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Memory Keeper's Daughter AUTHOR: Kim Edwards
	TITLE: The Underboss AUTHOR: Gerard O'Neill & Dick Lehr

:(

This morning has been so awful. I broke the Bottomless Jar of Misfortune this morning while I was trying to get some change to use at Boylston (they still don't take Charlie Tickets there). Here's a picture of the awful damage, mid-cleanup:


Ugh. I feel so terrible about that. I loved the BJoM! Not only that, but I don't know how to dispose properly of this one (without killing someone with the dangerous glass) or where to locate a replacement. Sigh. Can anyone help me with any advice on either of those things?

Boy, I hope this day gets better, and the week isn't miserable. I am looking forward to seeing my family for Thanksgiving -- I don't want it to be a terrible time, the way all the signs seem to point right now. Meh.

And I'm also sad because Danny just got back from a week away, and now because of the holiday we're going to be apart for another several days. I miss him already!

Oh, day, please start getting better...xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Grassroots AUTHOR: Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards
	TITLE: The Memory Keeper's Daughter AUTHOR: Kim Edwards

mail update

Also, hooray! It looks like my little package finally made it out of the pinball machine that was MO:

Enroute, November 17, 2006, 3:55 pm, BELL, CA 90201

Enroute, November 15, 2006, 5:12 am, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 14, 2006, 9:49 am, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 12, 2006, 10:04 pm, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 11, 2006, 7:20 am, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 08, 2006, 11:06 am, SPRINGFIELD, MA 01152

Acceptance, November 07, 2006, 3:12 pm, BOSTON, MA 02113

word nerd

Okay, so I know this is kind of lame, but I've found my new favorite (for the time being) site:

Common Errors in English
(Scroll down to see the list.)

I find it so fascinating! I've always had a thing for figuring out why people mistake certain words for others -- like, one of my favorites, that I once saw a guy type "computer rail" for "commuter rail". Sounds totally funny, but say it out loud a few times fast, and you can see where it might have come from -- it seems like he simply misheard the word.

I could spend hours on this site, reading all of these little tidbits over & over!

But for now, I've got work to keep me busy for this first half of the week... xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Grassroots AUTHOR: Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards
	TITLE: Confessions of a Recovering Slut AUTHOR: Hollis Gillespie

hmm

Should I be worried that a package that I mailed out last week seems (according to the USPS's tracking site) stuck in MO?

Enroute, November 15, 2006, 5:12 am, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 14, 2006, 9:49 am, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 12, 2006, 10:04 pm, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 11, 2006, 7:20 am, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

Enroute, November 08, 2006, 11:06 am, SPRINGFIELD, MA 01152

Acceptance, November 07, 2006, 3:12 pm, BOSTON, MA 02113

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Grassroots AUTHOR: Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards
	TITLE: Confessions of a Recovering Slut AUTHOR: Hollis Gillespie

yikes

So, I had heard these horror stories about a yarn store on Newbury Street, but the only one I'd ever been inside of was Newbury Yarns, which I definitely hoped was not the one everyone was talking about, because the proprieters there were great when I stopped in.

However, this morning after working at the WLP, I made sure to leave after 9 because I knew that was when the store currently known as Knit & Needlepoint (it's also been known as Mary Jo Cole and Back Bay Needlepoint) was supposed to open. Oh, good lord. I wouldn't recommend it, even if you're desperate! I walked in and was basically watched, eagle-eyed, by the woman hunched behind the desk (I can only assume it was Ms. Cole herself), until I made it to the cash register, where I inquired as to the location of their circulars. The woman kind of growled at me that they were in the back, and she could "make things easy for me" -- she laid it out as such: "They're Addi Turbos. They're metal needles. That's the only kind we have. They're in back." And then she kind of looked me up & down and added, "They're $30. Do you want me to go & get them?" I don't know if she didn't think I could afford them or what, but I wasn't about to stick around & find out. I said thanks and hightailed it out of there. What a meanie!!

I did definitely feel better as I walked home from the T, though. The weather is so nice today, and there were plenty of people (but not too many) out on the streets, all very friendly. I made some stops at the post office & White Hen, and then as I cut through the Prado (the park near our house), the wind was just right so that it was making all the brilliant yellow leaves blow off the trees and drift down, just like a light snowfall. It made me smile, especially to think of the upcoming first snows (I do love those; it's the 88th snow that really gets to me! hehe).

I need to go start work, but I just had to comment. What a morning! xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Grassroots AUTHOR: Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards
	TITLE: Confessions of a Recovering Slut AUTHOR: Hollis Gillespie

neighborly love

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I cannot understand what reason in the world a group of college kids would have for taking turns yelling "WHOO!" at the tops of their lungs at various intervals -- at 2 in the morning. Were they performing magic tricks for each other? Were they just so overcome by the drink and by their sheer joy at being alive that they had to constantly reaffirm to themselves that they were still there? It just makes no sense -- but it certainly did happen. I had the joy of listening to them last night. Ugh.

It just made me so, so glad that I am not those people. Whatever faults I have (and I know I've got plenty), at least I'm not keeping my neighbors up at all hours by making really annoying noises. I mean, honestly, I would have been happier to have any kind of music blasting or even actual words. But, no. They were just so at a loss for actual verbiage that they had to express their feelings in short bursts of annoying yells.

Whoo.

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Bitchfest AUTHOR: Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler
	TITLE: Confessions of a Recovering Slut AUTHOR: Hollis Gillespie

what garbage

Yesterday I went out to Central Square to go see Heather Roger (author of Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage (it's also a film, I believe) speak at the Center for New Words. She was nothing like I expected her to be, but it was a very good talk. She read bits from her book -- was I one of the only people there who had read it? -- and discussed them, then took questions from the audience. I actually had the nerve to ask one myself, and got her talking about biodegradable plastics and whatnot. She was really informed and it's nice to know there are others out there who are as concerned about trash in this world as I am.

One interesting thing she pointed out that I had forgotten from the book was that the "Don't Litter" campaign was started by corporations; it wasn't a grassroots movement of the people & for the people. Instead, the people were starting to get upset at all the trash that they were seeing in the world, and they began to want to pass laws restricting how many disposable products could be produced. The companies who made these things got scared, and they promoted a campaign that got people cleaning up after themselves -- and thus taking all the hard work off of the businesses' shoulders! Unbelievable. Rogers made a really good point, too, that these days it's so natural of an instinct in most people that if we see someone toss something out their car windows or drop a wrapper carelessly on the street, we have an automatically negative reaction to that person, and most have no problem confronting the litterer.

It gives me pause because on the one hand, I don't want to give those companies any more reason to produce disposables, but on the other hand, I don't really want to encourage someone to throw their garbage all over the place, nor do I want to do that. I guess it's one of those things that I can't do much about, single-handedly. If the entire nation was somehow moved to be angry at the disposables industry (which I so wish would happen), then I can see a mass trash-strewing movement making a difference, but I know that's just a pipe dream.

Rogers says things do have to start at the corporate level, though, not with the people. Even if we put all of our effort into recycling as individuals, that's not enough. Until companies start seeing profits that can be made from reusables or recyclables, it looks like we're stuck with tons & tons of trash. Ugh.

That, or they could be forced into stricter regulations by laws. But who's going to pass those laws?

Sigh. Oh, I get too passionate about this stuff. Thanks, Mom! :) xoxo

p.s. I believe a recording of the talk will be available on the internet soon; I'll be sure to post a link if I ever come across one.

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Bitchfest AUTHOR: Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler
	TITLE: Confessions of a Recovering Slut AUTHOR: Hollis Gillespie

quick needle update

Just to fill everyone in (thank you all for your sympathetic comments!), Woolcott was totally great about simply giving me another #3 Addi Natura to replace the one that broke. I just brought it in with my receipt & the original packaging (and the needle, complete with ruined knitting for dramatic effect, heh). They were totally understanding about how upsetting it all was, and just great about letting me know that if it happened again, to come right back to them. They suggested I might want to try metal circs instead, but I do love wooden needles. So I'm giving them another shot. (So far, so good.)

If this happens again, though, I might not be so in love with them...and it also might mean that I treat my needles pretty harshly! Eep.

In any case, other than that I had a lovely weekend (got to spend time with both of my sisters, jewelry shop & chat with some great people, eat french toast, knit a bit, socialize with some CodePinkers, see a movie, eat a much-too-brief lunch with Adrienne, and even run errands)...even though I only had one thing penned into my schedule. I was surprisingly busy, which might account for why I've now got a mild sore throat and some minor achy-ness...but we'll see. Hopefully I can curb that from becoming full-blown sickness.

At least I'm feeling really productive at work recently! But yeah, I have to get back to that now. Love to all! xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Bitchfest AUTHOR: Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler
	TITLE: Confessions of a Recovering Slut AUTHOR: Hollis Gillespie

knitting tragedy!

Okay, so the title is a bit overdramatic, but I was quite upset last night. This is why:



See what happened? I had just cast on in some lovely Jade Sapphire Cashmere, using a brand new Addi Natura circular that I had purchased at Woolcott in Cambridge, and was completing the first bits of Dan's new winter hat, when disaster struck -- the wooden needle snapped right off of the cord!

This a very blurry picture because our camera doesn't do closeups well, but maybe it'll help you get the idea:



I hate being so stalled on a project. Good thing I will probably be near a yarn store sometime this weekend so I can purchase another set of circs, but I'm still so frustrated right now. (Luckily I had like a zillion WIPs to work on when that happened! Haha.) Hmm, I wonder: do you think Woolcott or Skacel would give me a new pair? I am uncertain whether they'll say it's my fault or their own...but honestly...shouldn't needles (even wooden ones) be a bit hardier than that?

At least I still have the receipt. I'll have to stop by Woolcott (if I get up the nerve & motivation to do so) and see what they can do for me.

In the meantime, I haven't finished a project in quite some time, so it's kind of a good excuse to force myself to work on older things... xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Bitchfest AUTHOR: Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler
	TITLE: Effroyables Jardins AUTHOR: Michel Quint

why i want to marry Natalie Dee

p.s. Don't worry Danny, I didn't really mean it. xoxo

*yawn*

Dan & I just got back from Death of a President, which was really an interesting concept & well-filmed, but I think would have been a lot more believable for me (in the way that documentaries about the future can be...) if one of Bush's speech writers hadn't been Mrs. Weir...heh.

I also had a lovely evening with the fabulous Kelley, who was tons of fun to spend time with, as always! We were a bit disappointed by Boloco's promising-sounding "Late November Wrap" (I was expecting more of a Thanksgiving feast wrapped up in a tortilla), but oh well! We had some fun examining gloves & bike horns, and making lots & lots of copies (which I couldn't have done without Kelley's expertise). We ended the night by Good Will Hunting it, enjoying the beautiful warm weather outside on the Au Bon Pain patio in Harvard Square (at least, I'm always reminded of that movie when I see that patio!).

A long but definitely very fun night. I think it's time for bed for me now, though!! xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Bitchfest AUTHOR: Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler
	TITLE: Effroyables Jardins AUTHOR: Michel Quint