moar funny pictures

This is the last day of NaBloPoMo and I made it! Wahoo! A whole month of daily posts. I feel a little blog burnout. It was a challenge but it was one I met. Hopefully, they were all 'blog worthy' posts. And no I won't fall off the face of the earth now. Anyway, what's the buzz?

• Norman Mailer wins the Bad Sex Award. I read the excerpt that won all this acclaim. Oh yeah, he deserved it.

I wonder what one it was?

So, are you planning on eating, I mean, reading anything good this weekend? I'm not as behind in my reading as I usually am. I think it's my plan on not joining too many challenges. So far, so good. Anyway, what's new?:

Good or bad news, depending on how you look at it. Books-A-Million moves into Nebraska.

Kindle and Cook Books? It's funny I used the internet to look for a recipe last night.
I was too lazy to look in my cook books.

Hello Book Lovers! We have a winner for 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom:

Christina from Ardently Book Reviews

I didn't pick her because she has a great name. My girl drew her name out of the basket. All was fair! So I hope to get that out to her soon. I hope you'll all stop in next Friday when Linda Wisdom visits.

More buzz:

-This is the neatest thing: A personal library kit.

In my part of the world, we're wringing out after the deluge we had on Thursday morning. Overflowing manholes everywhere. And that lovely covering of snow is gone. The backyard looks nasty. Anyway, I have a busy weekend of running the kiddie all over the place. I'll try to squeeze some reading in somewhere. Here's all the book news:

Neil Gaiman fan? He'll be offering one of his books for free online. Vote for your choice.

Gaiman is just one of the six authors to have their book posted on the Harper Collins website for free. Yay! Free books!

Okay, maybe not popular demand, but a few of you said you missed The Friday Bookish Buzz. Honestly, I liked hearing that because I wondered if anyone was reading! Anyway, I'm still reeling from last night's Lost season finale. Whoa!

*Wondering what to read this summer. Some popular authors give their picks.

*I stole this from Kookie: Nerdic as a second language.

* Christine has a Giveaway of Awesomeness.

*Got some extra cash? An interesting auction may be for you.

* John has Munro vs O. Henry. Sign up for the Canadian Book Challenge (2) while you're there.

*They're really pushing e-books at us.

I had a crazy busy week so collecting links kind of got pushed to the side. But there is some stuff I want to share

-The Bookworm's Carnival- Latin American Authors- is up at In the Louvre. Enjoy!

-It's Roald Dahl against Walt Whitman. Sorry John I haven't read either.

-The sk*rt Book Smackdown (don't you love that phrase) podcast was last night. You can view it here.

- We need more Kleenex! The Harry Potter Lexicon Trial.

Anyway that's all I got. If you have anything you'd like to share, please comment.

February 29. A whole extra day in the year. It should be a holiday, shouldn't it? Here it is, a day that doesn't exist for 3 years, let's celebrate it. It should be National Goof Off Day since it's a free day. Play video games, laze around, and read.

Anyway let's celebrate by checking out the book news:

This was interesting. A picture of Anne Frank's sweetheart has been found. It's sweet and sad at the same time. Peter died during the Holocaust.

Found through bookgirl: 50 Crime Writers to Read Before You Die. That's quite a few!

(from I Can Has Cheezburger)

The hit counter passed 200,000 today, which when I think about it is really pretty amazing. So I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for stopping by to read what I have to say. And even thanks to the bunches of you that just came to grab an MP3 with no care for what commentary might be attached. Hopefully at least a few of you stuck around for a minute or two, saw something else you liked, and maybe even became a regular.

It really means a lot to me.

So, while I'm in a good mood, how about some covers? Everybody loves a good cover, right?

With Valentines Day next week, I'm wondering if any of you have any romantic plans for this weekend. Any that you can share..hem, hem.

My taste of romance this weekend will be watching Pride & Prejudice on Sunday's Masterpiece Theatre.

Speaking of movies, Lindsay Lohan or Kiera Knightley could be the latest Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights. I can see Lohan as Cathy. She's got the crazy down.

The latest Bookworms Carnival is up at The Armenian Odar Reads. The theme is short stories, and she's collected a nice range of posts, including a couple of original stories submitted from blogging writers. Take a look, and enjoy the options! Thanks for hosting, Myrthe.

Hello! We made it through the week. The kid's ear seems to be cleared up (thank goodness!). Hopefully I can get some more reading done. I just got Marie-Therese: Child of Terror and am looking forward to reading it.

* Ellen Page will play Jane Eyre. Whoa! I'm of two minds on this one. First, she's a Nova Scotia girl so Wahoo! But... This is Jane Eyre. I hope she can do that accent. Still, I like this writer's take on it: So what! Anyway, good for Ellen.

*Nuala O-Faolain died. She had some interesting things to say before she went.

*The Book Carnival is up. Theme: Urban Fantasy.

*Dewey is plotting another Read-a-thon. The last one was fun. Go sign up.

Booking Through Thursday

• When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
• Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Lit-Ra-Chur. I can just imagine a gray haired man writing 'literature' on a chalkboard when I read that. It's funny the first thing I think of isn't Tolstoy or Dickens but the CBC. I think of on-air interviews with Margaret Atwood or someone of that type. Books written by Tolstoy or Dickens don't make me think 'literature'. They make me think 'classic'. Dickens wrote most of his stuff as a serial for the newspaper. He needed the money. At the same time, he brought to the public an awareness of important societal problems, like poverty. I don't know if he was aware he was creating literature.

I found out something new today....a Bookworms Carnival!! I was hanging out on Dewey's blog, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, and found out that every month someone different hosts this carnival. Each month there is a different theme as well.

This month's carnival is hosted by This is the Life and the theme is Thrills and Chills: Spooky Books That Keep You Up At Night. In order to enter your scary book just click on the Bookworms Carnival picture and submit an entry using the Blog Carnival Submission Form. The deadline is this Friday, yikes that's tomorrow!!

This is sooo cute:

Reading is Sexy.

It was in an Etsy Treasury {BOOK IT!}.

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

How can one even think of comparing books and movies? Both are entirely different mediums. I am not much of a movie person. I seldom even watch a movie. I prefer reading anyday. When a book is made into movie, no doubt it gets better publicity, lot more people watch it then reading the book. However, I find most of the movies that have been adapted from a book, leave me wanting more. In a book, everything is happening inside your mind. You form certain opinions about certain characters. I would rather escape the world reading a book than watching a movie. Most of the times, I get distracted from a movie but not while reading a book.

As I get ready to watch Persuasion, the first of the Jane Austen marathon on PBS, I had a couple of things to bring to your attention:

*1st Becky's Mini-Austen Challenge is underway. Hope you have your books picked out for that.

Framed! Last Chance
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com The Night Before
White Stripe
She Dances
Misty Beauty
Feminity
Dragon Fly!

Man, oh, man, it's cold outside! I'm wearing my fuzzy socks to keep my toesy warm. I hope it's warmer where you are. So what's new?:

Attention Atwood fans! She just handed in a new manuscript to her publishers. Watch for that.

For anyone who's complained about movie adaptations of books. It ain't that easy!

Speaking of movies. The Kite Runner is banned in Afghanistan. I don't know what to think about this.

It's up at Scooter Chronicles and the theme is Urban/Contemporary Fantasy. Check it out. Want to learn more about the Bookworms Carnival and how it works? Go here.

I'm all in a tizzy this morning. Our power was out and I had to pick the kid from school. I'm so off track. Anyway, some interesting things in the book world:

Contest: Girls Just Reading is giving away Change of Heart by Jodi Picault.

Please take Dewey's survey on a Spring Read-a-thon.

Estella's Revenge, March edition is now available.

Reviews on the film version of The Other Boleyn Girl: "tasteful, but unappetising" and "not recommended". Ouch.

Every year the same thing happens. As Good Friday approaches, I forget about my hubby's 'no meat on Friday' thing. I'm not Catholic, so of course, it doesn't really cross my mind. I don't know why hubby always forgets since he is Catholic and all. I happened to remember a couple of days ago, so it's halibut tonight.

Last night was the last new Lost episode until April 24. Kookiejar has the discussion. Talk amongst yourselves. Also here's a funny Lost show by show recap.

Anyway let's find take a peek around the web:

- Put on a bib, you're about to drool. Look at these bookshelves!

I just stumbled upon some book blogs I've not seen before and they are giving books away!

She Reads Books is giving away 5 books but the deadline is Thursday, June 3 at midnight EST so hurry on over! A comment give you one entry. Posting about the contest on your blog earns you two more!

A Book Blogger's Diary has very frequent giveaways! The current one is A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander. Enter by June 15!

Mama Bear Reads is giving away her copy of Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. Contest ends June 10 (her birthday)

Book Room Reviews is giving away a copy of The Safety of Secrets by Delaune Michel. Contest ends June 15

I skipped the buzz last week because of Karen's book tour. Thanks to Karen and everyone who dropped by. I'm into week 2 of NaBloPoMo and so far, so good. It's been challenging but not impossible. So here is what I found in the bookish news category this week:

Wahoo! First, Bookish Buzz of the new year. I don't have a lot of links because of my laziness over the holidays. I could also whine about the flu, but I won't.

Contest! It's BAFABW (totally did not know) and Dewey is giving a book away. It might take some creativity on your part, however. Also, check out Rhinoa, for more book giveaways.

Ten days left! Have you bought anyone books for Christmas? Planning to? What's on your wishlist?

There are a few book links this week. Here we go!

Skatha (welsh goddess of the underworld)
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.comI'm not sure where my inspiration always comes from other than just looking at the world with open eyes. Taking in the shapes and the colors and being constantly and sometimes overwhelmingly inspired by what I see around me.

Lately, and by that I mean the past few days since maybe my last printing session last Thursday, I haven't been feeling it much. And I really need to. I received some beautiful Japanese Chirogami washi papers in the mail and I have barely touched them. I feel distracted and not just because of my teething daughter.

I think it is about time for me to go out for a nature walk and take some inspiration pictures. Since it is really difficult to sit down and sketch outside with a baby strapped to me I take pictures and then use them (hopefully) later.

Quiet Playground
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.comThe new street team for Etsy Printsy is up and running with me doing the first artist interview. Check it out over at the Printsy blog. Printsy Interview : Fustian

Last Thursday and Friday I was finally able to get some printing done, first time since March I believe. It felt very good to be printing again and even better having new prints like these. I was able to use my latest block, but only with this one for now but I know I will be bringing it out again in the future. All of my latest creations will be making their way into my shop in the next week or two. With new pieces in the works this week my shop will stay current for a good long time hopefully. Check it out!

Gothic novelist Phyllis Ayame Whitney has died, at age 104! So many authors seem to be passing away lately, but I'd say she had a good run at it. 104, wow.
She wrote young adult novels, gothic suspense, and some 'how to write' books as well. I remember reading her gothic novels during the summers, when they were the books sitting around at my grandma's or aunt's houses. I've always had a taste for gothic romance - and Phyllis Whitney was one of the big ones.