Plan your day

#49 Read Montana fiction winners of the last 10 years

2002 Stonedogs / Craig Marriner.

Cheese, HP sauce and a jar of coffee

#80 Have a p.j. party
I made a cake and put up a few balloons for this. My sister and her family plus LoM came round. The movie was a bit disappointing. Never mind though cause it was fantastic to have everyone to hang out with. I did themed food - nachos and dips to start, crunchy chicken and salad for dinner and then cake for tea. The cake was decorated with a pool party theme - I was quite pleased with the jelly babies in fruit rings in the jelly pool but wished I'd added a bit more green to the icing.

Strangely appealing

#49 Read Montana fiction winners of the last 10 years
oof. can you feel the reluctance to tackle more of these?

#80 Have a p.j. party
It's tomorrow! Now, I must confess that I'm not entirely sure how far to go. It's just me, my sister, my nieces and my friend. (and maybe my boyfriend although he is threatening to bail). do I go the whole bash and have party food, streamers and themed stuff or not?

#44 Go without Alcohol for a month and check results
This month cannot be over soon enough.

They play for the full 80 minutes

#86 A-Z reading challenge - authors
Zusak, Markus "The book thief"
Narrated by Death this book tells the story of a little girl during a specific period of her life.
What did I think?
Fucking brilliant. I was daunted by the size of the book until I read the first paragraph. This is one of those books that I don't think I will ever be comfortable reading again as the first time was so perfect.

A great way to finish #86.


#49 Read Montana fiction winners of the last 10 years
2004 Slow water / Annamarie Jagose.

Portugal scores!

#87 A-Z reading challenge - titles
"Zarafa: the true story of a giraffe's journey from the plains of Africa to the heart of post-Napoleonic France" by Michael Allin
About a giraffe who was gifted to France and her journey overland from Egypt to Paris.
What did I think?
A lovely story. Much more interesting once the author gets to the giraffe - yes, the history (and people named) is interesting but it's the giraffe I want to know about. Makes you think about what it would be like without all the communication technology that we have now - letters for correspondance, few books, no movies. Also interesting to compare what was happening over in France with what was happening in NZ at the same time. (Man we're a young country.)

Great Wall of Sound

#87 A-Z reading challenge - titles
"Yu-Gi-Oh: volume one (Aka: The Millennium puzzle.)" by Kazuki Takahashi
About a boy who solves a puzzle and becomes the guardian of right and is given the power to pass judgement on evil. He doesn't know he has this power.
What did I think?
A typical manga with some violence, justice and a bit of sexiness thrown in for good measure. Plus of course the TV/Film tie-in which results in massive popularity. I caught one of these on TV one day - now I understand it. Surprisingly fun with a pretty good storyline...not sure if I'll follow it up but I certainly won't have the same attitude toward it as before. (i.e. damn kids and their messsed up cartoons.)

#49 Read Montana fiction winners of the last 10 years
2003 The Shag incident / Stephanie Johnson.

Lunch special

#49 Read Montana fiction winners of the last 10 years
2000 Harlequin rex / Owen Marshall
2006 Blindsight : a novel / Maurice Gee

#86 A-Z reading challenge - authors & #87 A-Z reading challenge - titles
Robin Waterfield "Xenophon's retreat : Greece, Persia and the end of the Golden Age"
About the retreat of an army led by Xenophon (among others) over rugged land way back in, um, I forget the exact date, but it's before Alexander the Great.
What did I think?
I thought that it was going to be heavy going as the first chapter dives right into the story and descriptions of the weapons. However, with a bit of concentration, it turned out to be a fascinating bit of history. The Greek soldiers made an already arduous journey more complicated by their own treachery and greed. Of course, that all seems so obvious from our vantage point in history but I guess if you're desperate you're not exactly thinking clearly.

#86 A-Z reading challenge - authors
Xinran "What the Chinese don't eat"
A collection of columns from the Guardian.
What did I think?
An interesting reminder of the differences between Eastern and Western culture and of the fact that China is such a large country that even if a Chinese person was willing to talk to you about their country it wouldn't follow that every Chinese person thinks that way or has expereinced that situation. Which is pretty bloody obvious when you think about it.

Yancey, Rick "The extraordinary adventures of Alfred Kropp"
About a boy who gets involved in stealing a sword and then has to deal with the mythical aftermath.
What did I think?
I very much enjoyed this take on the Arthurian legend. Especially the very well done bit just before the wrapping up scenes. Some very exciting blood and violence for the boys in this story, perhaps not so much for the girls - sometimes Alfred comes across as a bit of a whiner. Apparently the rights have been sold to Warner Bros Pictures...I hope they get the casting right. One tiny niggle about the resolution about parentage but if it hadn't have panned out the way it did what would be the point of the story? Recommended. (oh, it's another teen book.)

don't tell me it's fuckin not blahdeblahdeblah

#44 Go without Alcohol for a month and check results
Right. Almost gave up on the first night. Managed to make it through a nice dinner out (spanish tapas without red wine *gasp*). Hopefully will make it through tomorrow night (another work thing) without a drink. I suspect I will be too tired to even lift a glass. Yay for not enough sleep.

#80 Have a p.j. party
So, like, High school musical 2 is released on NZ in a couple weeks and I thought that I'd like, have a pj party to celebrate.


I might be the only one there.

sweating like a pig

oh dear. last week was so busy that I didn't even have time to get on the computer let alone do some blogging. missed it.

#30 Have a weekend with the whanau
Spent this weekend with the family. Saturday we raced off to the Lily Pad cafe in Cambridge for Dad's birthday luncheon. Delicious - although I wished I'd picked the pancakes instead of the vege stack because all I could smell was the maple syrup from my sisters pancakes! Spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around the emergency dentist while the other sister got her tooth checked out. Poor thing. She ended up full of anesthetic and foul tasting mouthwash. Watched the game (damn Canterbury for nicking the shield in the first 10 mins) then went to bed early. Had a rolling breakfast in the morning. It's nice to hang out at Mum and Dad's place. All we seem to do is read the paper, drink cups of tea and watch telly but it's a very companionable individualistic time.
And yay! Dad has a stack of bottling jars to lend me. Superb.

#44 Go without Alcohol for a month and check results
This is the month! It nearly fell over last night but luckily we forgot to buy a bottle along with dinner. And no. It isn't anything special that I have chosen a month with only 30 days in it. :) From the previous month food diary I have concluded that alcohol makes me (variously and at the time/the next day) tired, nauseous, lethargic, sneezy, give me itchy/bloodshot eyes, makes me go red in the face and saps my get up and go. Will I be a bit more energetic this month? Let's find out!

#49 Read Montana fiction winners of the last 10 years
It's NZ Book Month. Montana winners, here I come. Here's the list...
2000 Harlequin rex / Owen Marshall.
2001 The book of fame / Lloyd Jones.
2002 Stonedogs / Craig Marriner.
2003 The Shag incident / Stephanie Johnson.
2004 Slow water / Annamarie Jagose.
2005 Tu / Patricia Grace.
2006 Blindsight : a novel / Maurice Gee.
2007 Mister Pip / Lloyd Jones
2008 ?
2009 ?