Stephania’s having a contest – leave her a comment about the etsy/Ravelry/elsewhere crafter who particularly inspires you, and you could win a skein of her hand-painted sock yarn. Contest closes midnight, November 7, PDT.
Hee hee – have you seen the “Ye Olde Google Charts” sailing directions for Columbus?
In the future, will your plants be wandering around, competing with your kitties for the sunny spots? (I’m sure Mayhem won’t take any crap from the plants – I can hear the *crunch crunch crunch, nom nom nom* now.)
Hmm… here’s a nice IKEA hack that creates a cat friendly charging station.
If you haven’t switched to Google Reader from Bloglines, maybe this article about Bloglines’ failure to update and further failure to communicate what’s up will inspire you. The article includes information on how to export your blogs from Bloglines and import them into another feed reader – very easy. I ran Google Reader and Bloglines in parallel for a month or so earlier this year, and Google Reader was definitely more reliable. (Interestingly, it appears Bloglines fixed the update issue and communicated about it not long after Lifehacker posted about the problem.)
Megabus is coming to Minneapolis – a ticket to Chicago starting for less than $11? Same amount of time as the train or driving? And free wi-fi? Hmm…
Have paranormal romances killed off the contemporary romance? The folks over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books weigh in.
If you’re a fan of Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series, Caine’s agent has a Weather Warden short story posted on her blog.
I only found out about Saturday’s Readathon on Friday (from Nicole), so I didn’t participate this time. But there’s another one coming up in April. Cursingmama and I are already in training!
Reading Update
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. This is the tattoo-focused sequel to Wicked Lovely – much of it won’t make sense unless you read that book first. It was good, but it bothered me – not quite the same squinky feeling that, say, reading the Twilight novels gave me – but definite discomfort. And the ending was odd – it felt as if there was a chapter or two missing before the final two chapters.
Hot Spell by Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, Shiloh Walker, and Meljean Brook. I picked this up for “Falling for Anthony,” which is the first tale of the Guardians. I also read the stories by Leigh and Walker – the stories were ok, but I’m not inspired to check out anything else they wrote. Speaking of Meljean Brook, she’s having daily contests until November 4, when the seventh Guardian novel, Demon Bound, is released.
Cockatiels at Seven (A Meg Langslow Mystery) by Donna Andrews. Yet another madcap installment in the Meg Langslow series, featuring a borrowed toddler, a boa constrictor, dancing poodles, wayward sheep, and missing Gouldian finches. My only complaint was the book’s abrupt ending – things were definitely left hanging.
Blood Drive and The Watcher (The Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 2-3) by Jeanne C. Stein. Being the further adventures of newly turned and reluctant vampire, bounty hunter Anna Strong.
A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix. A very dark and suspenseful first novel – I’ll definitely read the next book when it comes out later this year. (Note that I kept reading even though I am not a fan of novels with serial killers in them.) (Sorry, CarrieK, there are vampires in this one, too.)
“Why do you think I’d be a good spokescat for Caribou Coffee’s Obsidian blend, Mom? Are there spiders in it?” -Mayhem
Click the picture to discover the answer to the spokescat question…
I did see the Columbus chart!!
Mayhem, you would be a perfect spokescat for the coffee, only don’t drink, I think you could probably do without the caffeine.
Spider bites!!! Good for you May – protecting Mom from the spiders!!
Knew there was a reason I’m not a coffee fan: I’d have to watch for spiders.
I just set up Google reader because Bloglines has been so unreliable.
Chris- We care not for spiders or coffee- it’s so hard to get a decent cup of the stuff without mortgaging your house.
Chops does like a good daddy longlegs to play with.
Hmmmmmn, now I want coffee.
I think I’ll train for the next readathon too – is using my new Kindle gonna be cheating?
Yeah, I think I’ll stick to stationary plants. I like them to know who’s in power.
Linkorama! Megabus has been doing the Twin Cities-Chicago run for a while now. I’ve heard mixed reviews from friends who have done it, so I’m going to pass on it for now. But it’s good to have another option.
Ye Olde Google Charts. Heh.
May would be a purrrfect spokesperson for the Obsidian Coffee
It’s been ages since I last used Bloglines. A friend of mine was surprised a few days ago when 150+ unread posts showed up in her Bloglines – I was like, GOOGLE READER FOR PREZ!
Nope, none of those links were interesting. Not one. ;-D
I’m afraid that plant robot wouldn’t work too well – the plant would be dead from the cat laying on top of it in order to stay napping in the sun.
I switched over to Google reader about a month or more ago because not only was I not getting updates, but it had randomly dropped about 25 or more blogs OFF of my reading list. I’m still not sure I recovered everything, but I’m sure my blog reading list is way too long anyway.
I love the cat charger- perfect for a Feline Blocking Unit.
A $10 bus to Chicago? If I wasn’t so anti-bus, I’d do it.
I’ve pondered the switch to google reader (and even exported over to there), but I’m just stuck in my ways I guess.
Megabus makes a trip to Chicago for dining & shopping a lot more affordable ~ I’m going to investigate that for sure.
I thought of Obsidian Kitten when I saw that label
I like the cat charging station. Hmmm… I think I’ve got one of those in the garage.
Will have to check out the google reader… have been wondering about that. Gotta get myself and my computer over viruses first though!
Yup, Bloglines pissed me off a few weeks ago and that was it, I switched. They can blow smoke up someone else’s chimney now….
Always the vampires, never the werewolves.
I’ve been too lazy to switch bloglines – turning my list into those characters defeated me but they’ve been pretty awful about updating.
A google map of the Columbus map? Too cool!
Love the Google Map directions for Columbus….
Oh! That “Ye Olde Google Charts Directions for Columbus” was awesome!!! Thanks for the link.
I have a friend who uses the Megabus. The price varies depanding on how early you book. She said the bus is always full but for the price it was a good deal and gets her to Chicago to visit her college girl.
If I had plants roaming around the house, I would also have a trail of potting soil and pot shards trailing after them.
I transferred my blogs into Google Reader a while back when I got frustrated with Bloglines. It’s been way more reliable than Bloglines for me.
I did think “A Rush of Wings” would hook you, if you could get past the bit that was similar to what you disliked about “If Angels Burn.” (But then, you also have continued with the Darky series despite that, so…)
I’ve been thinking about switching over to Google Reader for a while now, think I’ll go do that. Thanks for the links!
Thx for the heads up on Google reader. I’ll definitely give it a try as Bloglines’ unreliability has made it very difficult to keep up with all the contests!!! Hate it when I’m 2 days late because I didn’t know there was a new post!
I’d definitely drink that coffee if you were the spokescat.
Maybe you could share the job with a spokesdog Abner.
Megabus has been here for at least a year already, I don’t know why the person you linked to is making a big deal over it.
I’ve a total fan of Google Reader since it came out