Between Here and There

Hey, everyone. I'm really in the mood to read travel memoir-type books (I don't know if that's a real subgenre, but I mean books like Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich, American Shaolin by Matthew Polly, and City of Djinns by William Dalrymple where people go to another country and live in one place and really get to know the ins and outs of that place) but I'm having trouble finding new ones, so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I'd prefer books about Asia, but I'm open to other places too. Thanks!

I can't believe I'm having so much trouble finding this recipe.

I'm looking for a recipe for whiskey-soaked bundt cake. Not just a chocolate bundt with whiskey baked into it, which is what most of the recipes claiming to be whiskey-soaked have turned out to be, but a cake that is actually placed into a dish of whiskey and allowed to sit overnight so it sucks up the liquor like a sponge.

Can you guys help me out with this? I hope you know what I'm talking about.

Name: Lucy
Nickname: Lucylu
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Location: at home on the computer lol
Occupation: Unemployed
Orientation: Straight
Relationship: Its Complicated
Religious views: Atheist

About Me:
I'm an easy going, fun loving, friendly, unique young adult. I enjoy spending time with my friends and am always looking for more :) I also like to go out at night with my friends, listening to music, playing video games when I can, watching movies, and learning new things.


Music: 3OH!3, Michael Jackson, The Killers, Delta Goodrem, Paramore, Evanescence, Placebo, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Savage Garden, U2, Avril Lavigne and many more!

Movies: The Golden Compass, 2012, The Chronicles of Narnia, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Taken, The Dark Knight, Sleepy Hallow, 28 weeks Later, Superbad, 27 Dresses, Harry Potter, Dirty Dancing, Charlie's Angels

Books: Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, biographies

Hobbies: dancing, drawing, singing, surfing the 'Net, writing poems

Interests: music, chocolate, how to fix problems with computers,

Loves: chocolate, my significant other (hehe), life, my friends, family

TV: The Nanny, Whose Line Is It Anyway, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Summer Heights High, Kath and Kim, Judging Amy, Veronica Mars


Pen pal Info:


How many penpals do you have? none
How many penpals do you want?between 5-10
E-Mail or Snail Mail? E-mail
How long are your letters? It depends on how I'm feeling. 
How long does it take you to reply to a letter? A few days to a week. Depending on how many I get at one time
Handwritten or typed? Typed
Gender Preference? Either one
Where in the World? Australia
What are you looking for in a penpal? Someone who is easy to get along with and has a good sense of humour

Skinned (2008)
Written by: Robin Wasserman
Genre: YA/Science Fiction
Pages: 361 (Trade Paperback)

The premise: snatched for BN.com, which is also the backcover blurb: Lia Kahn was perfect: rich, beautiful, popular — until the accident that nearly killed her. Now she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can't ever truly die. But she is also rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend, and alienated from her old life.

Forced to the fringes of society, Lia joins others like her. But they are looked at as freaks. They are hated...and feared. They are everything but human, and according to most people, this is the ultimate crime — for which they must pay the ultimate price.

My Rating

Must Have: but with one warning: this is not a plot-driven or action-driven book. If you like character-centric books, particularly those with more of an existential theme, and you love the themes behind the updated Battlestar Galactica (focusing on the cylons), then you're going to have fun with this. It's a good book, and even when I didn't agree with our heroine, never once did I not at least sympathize and understand where she was coming from. Wasserman really gets into the heart of the matter and makes you really THINK about how you'd feel if you were in Lia's shoes. The science fictional elements and social reaction to those elements are also very strong, which surprised me, though I don't know why: for whatever, unfair reason, I expect the science in YA SF to be light and fluffy and non-existent, not explained in detail (which isn't to say the science used in Skinned is accurate or not, but it makes you wonder about how such an process could take place in the future). At any rate, it's a pretty strong start of a series, and I'll definitely be picking up the next installment, Crashed, once it's released in trade paperback. :)

Review style: spoilers, because this isn't the kind of heavily plot-driven book the premise makes it out to be. It's actually very, very character-driven, and it's hard NOT to spoil such books. So if you want to avoid said spoilers, there's no need to click the link below to my LJ. Otherwise, click away! Comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Robin Wasserman's SKINNED

Happy Reading!

Name: Kate
Nicknames: Katie
Age: 16
Birthday: August 27
Location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Occupation: College student, aspiring lawyer
Languages spoken: English, Filipino, a little Spanish and French
Relationship status: Single (and loving it! xD)
Religious views: Atheist

About me: I'm a Political Science student aspiring to be a lawyer. I read a lot, and write sometimes, and one day I hope to have a book published. My moods and tastes vary--a lot. I play volleyball and badminton. I go swimming whenever I can. I love to take pictures, although I'm not very good at it. xD I love to sing and dance. I'd like to learn how to play the piano. I love sci-fi and fantasy, romance, and horror. I have a really twisted and perverted sense of humor. I'm pro-choice and an atheist, but I'm a very "live and let live" kind of person. :) I can't cook to save my life. I enjoy generally childish things like playing on the swings, blowing bubbles, and watching cartoons. I'm kinda short-tempered, so...yeah. xP

Interests: Check me out here. :)

Pen Pal Info
How many pen pals do you have? None. T_T
How many pen pals do you want? Maybe 2 or 3? :)
E-mail or snail mail? E-mail please. But if you want to snail mail, that's alright too. :)
How long are your letters? It varies, but usually longer than one page. 
How long does it take you to reply to a letter? Maybe three or four days.
Handwritten or typed? Typed. I'm lazy. xD
Gender preference? Either one is fine with me.
Where in the world? Anywhere.
What are you looking for in a pen pal? A friend. :)

One last thing: I'm a Grammar and Spelling Nazi, so please don't use 'u', 'lyk', and other forms of chatspeak. I can accept chatspeak in texting, where this a need to conserve space, but there is no such need on e-mails, so there's no excuse for spelling the word 'your' out properly. :) Sorry if this makes me a demanding, pedantic bitch, but c'est la vie. :)

E-mail me at: klmh93@yahoo.com

See ya! :D

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/patgavin/sets/72157603591676303/

This is the oldest cemetery in the east valley area of Phoenix (established in 1891 though contains graves older than that). Waylon Jennings is buried here along with several other Arizonan historical figures. In the oldest section, there are graves from before Arizona was officially a state and Mesa was still being colonized, as Phoenix grew.
I find most of the cemeteries in the Phoenix area to be quite boring but I still found some interesting grave stones here anyway.



( Read more... )

There are one or two more over in my Flickr (click any of the images to go there) and you can find more information on the cemetery here: http://mesacemetery.com/Home.aspx

( A rather lengthy explanation )

To sum it all up, I’m looking for suggestions on different carbohydrates she can eat that do not include wheat, peanuts, soy, rice, or corn, and some kind of bread recipe would be absolutely fantastic as well. She can have yeast and potatoes, which helps a lot. Additionally, any good granola recipes or pasta recommendations would be much appreciated.
Thanks so much!

X-posted a few places.

Name: Casey
Nickname: Saltychickencrispy
Age: 14
Gender: Female
Location: In your head. I'm the voice that tells you to randomly dance in large crowds of people while screaming "rollback!"
Occupation: Student
Orientation: Straight
Relationship: Single
Religious views: Christian

About Me:
I love to dance, scream "rollback", sing, and draw. I ALWAYS have to hear music in order to do any of those things.
I don't live the average teenage life. At first glance everything seems perfectly normal, but I'm trying to do something that none of my peers would dream of doing in a million years. For the most part, I'm accepted pretty well. Still, I know some of them hate me, some are afraid of me, and some of them are still in shock at how I've changed. It's not every day that they meet someone who gets saved and practices ministry at the age of 14.



Music: Family Force 5, Leeland, Forever the Sickest Kids, 3OH!3, Michael Jackson, The Killers, Nevershoutnever, Owl City, Eleventyseven, Everyday Sunday, Mandisa, Lecrae

Movies: V for Vendetta, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Star Wars, Sweeney Todd, Speed Racer, The Passion of the Christ, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Taken, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Horton Hears a Who, The Dark Knight, Sleepy Hallow, Coraline 

Books: Blade of Fire, Warcraft: Ghostlands, Proverbs, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Cry of the Icemark, Larklight, Battle of the Labyrinth

Hobbies: singing, dancing, drawing, screaming random words, praying, reading the bible

Interests: ministry, music, art, RRS (really real show), Spongebob, chocolate

Loves: God, Jesus, pie, MP3, Jacob "Crouton" Olds 

TV: Spongebob Squarepants, Monk, Fanboy and Chum chum, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack 


Pen pal Info:


How many penpals do you have? 1-2
How many penpals do you want? Fifty million kajillion... I could keep up with that.
E-Mail or Snail Mail? E-mail
How long are your letters? It depends on how I'm feeling. For the most part, I love to talk.
How long does it take you to reply to a letter? A few days to a week. The internet has been shut down at home, so I might have to wait until the weekends to check my e-mail or any of that fancy super-spiff stuff.
Handwritten or typed? Typed
Gender Preference? Either one
Where in the World? As long as you can speak English, it doesn't matter.
What are you looking for in a penpal? Someone who is totally crunked out and doesn't harp on Christians or what we believe in.

Mt. Pleasant is a very large, old cemetery in the middle of one of the neighborhoods. My battery died long before I was ready to stop taking pictures of it, but here are some images:


This is near a large Asian section of the cemetery, and I'm guessing from the multiple arrows in the ground there, site of a recent Shinto ceremony.





( More below the cut )

More here.

Hey ladies and gents,

I just wanted to post and thank you all for the awesome reviews and suggestions. Through your reviews and from looking at what you've suggested for others, I've found some truly awesome reads that I may have never bothered to look at before.
So thank you, and have a happy new year!!

Name: Tiffany I want to legally change it. I don't know to what, haha.
Nickname: -
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Location: Massachusetts All over the world.
Occupation: Panera
Orientation: Straight
Relationship: Single
Religious views: Open

About Me:
I sometimes get bored with paragraph form, lists are my favorite.
I just started work at Panera, but I work like 40+ hours a week.
I want to learn to speak as many languages as I can, starting with Italian.
I want to backpack throughout Europe.
I want to hike the wet, green forests of Washington.
I want to buy out Japan and eat gazillions of noodles with chopsticks on the streets.
I want to climb mountains.
Basically, I want to travel the world.
I'd also like to study photography and writing.
I fall in love easily and tend to get my heart broken quite often- I am working on this.
I am going to get the most out of this life, I can bet you.

Music: The Beatles, The Kooks, Van Halen, AC/DC, Incubus, Jack Johnson, Vampire Weekend, Flyleaf.. etc etc

Movies: Kiki's Delivery Service, The Last Unicorn, The Boondock Saints, I Love You, Man, Superbad, The Hangover, Pineapple Express, The Little Princess, and probably more.

Books: Siddhartha, My Sister's Keeper, Black Boy, The Glass Castle

Hobbies: Reading, writing, working, hiking, nannying, the occasional recreational drug use

Interests: Photography, journalism, music, culture, languages, fashion

Loves: the ocean, tea, bright colors, sparkly things, my ipod, pasta, vegetarianism, Converse, parfums, animals, bean burritos and guacamole, lavender and vanilla, fresh flowers, candlelight, independence.

TV: Glee, Secret Life of an American Teenager, The Biggest Loser, and I just got Gossip Girl season one for Christmas so I'll probably catch up on that

Pen pal Info:


How many penpals do you have? None.
How many penpals do you want? I'd like two snail mail pals and unlimited e-mail pals, but I request that you add me on LiveJournal first.
E-Mail or Snail Mail? Both
How long are your letters? Varied. Never just a paragraph or two.
How long does it take you to reply to a letter? A week, perhaps?
Handwritten or typed? handwritten
Gender Preference? either
Where in the World? anywhere
What are you looking for in a penpal?
A friend.

gingerlytea[at]aol[dot]com.

ciao bellas.

Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff by Erin Arvedlund


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


( Review: Too Good to Be True )

I set myself to the task of recreating my Grandmother's coconut cake this holiday. It was something my entire family looked forward to, but with her death the recipe was lost (we thought). After Thanksgiving I tried one recipe, but it wasn't quite right. I was getting set to try another when my Mom told me she had found a recipe card with my Grandmother's recipe. She sent it to me and I made it last Friday. It was like bringing a Christmas memory to life.



It's not exactly a traditional Southern recipe, since the frosting isn't a true seven minute frosting, but it's still damn yummeh. And it has absolutely no regard for health. It takes 17 eggs to make this cake.

( recipe with my notes at bottom )

( Recipe )

# 93: The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs:

Night lay over the little cluster of green-roofed cottages. Now dark clouds came rushing in to cover the stars, and it rained. Wet drops pattered on the slanted roofs and on the gravel path. It rained for half an hour, a heavy pelting downpour. Then the clouds, driven by a strong wind, blew on past over the ragged top of Hellbent Mountain, and the stars shone down once again. Instide the cabin Johnny and the professor slept on. The chain lock and the sliding steel bolt held the door fast. But what was this? A tiny tinkling sound, and the chain fell from its groove.

Synopsis: Ebil finds a new home in the soul of Johnny Dixon, a pudgy, near-orphan in 1950s Massachusetts, who stumbles into a trap laid by an evil sorcerer/Catholic priest.

( Nothing says festive holidays like a good old fashioned evil curse. )

At Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock...

I hadn't noticed this before and can't imagine how I didn't.

It was erected by the members of the Little Rock Typographical Union #92, which was chartered in 1865.

It has dozens of names of deceased union members all over it.

 

( Front, back and sides... )

This review has spoilers for previous Women of the Otherworld books. For Frostbitten, I don't reveal anything much more detailed than what's found on the book jacket.

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Rating: Five stars
Length: 339 pages
Source: Christmas Gift
Similar Books: For other books about female werewolves, try Cry Wolf by Patirica Briggs, Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn, Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (my review), and the previous Otherworld books that star Elena Michaels (they are Bitten, Stolen, and Broken).
Other books I've read by this book: Bitten, Stolen, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken, No Humans Involved, Personal Demon, Living with the Dead (my review), Men of the Otherworld (my review), The Summoning (my review), The Awakening (my review), Exit Strategy (my review), and Made to be Broken (my review). I've also read the novella "Chaotic' from Dates from Hell, and the short story "Kat" from The Eternal Kiss (my review)

Hello! This is my first time posting and my first time attempting to make any sort of themed bento at all.


( My attempts behind the cut for size )

Name: Hope
Nicknames: Dezzi (a lot of ppl know me more so by Dezzi), Hopers, Hopey
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Straight
Sign: Leo
Location: Georgia, USA
Occupation: Accounts Receivables/Accounts Payable
Languages Spoken: English
Looking for: Snail mail friends who love sending & receiving packages & letters & whom share some what of the same things I do. I LOVE sending & receiving packages!!! I love writing long letters too.
Do you want new livejournal friends?: Sure! I love reading entries & seeing what others do through out the days.

About Me:
I'm pretty boring now. Haha. My Birthday is August the 20th. I ALWAYS have something to write about, rather it's me venting, going on and on about just stupid stuff. Haha. I talk A LOT. I love tattoos. I have a few myself. I want more. I'm into the old school traditional look. I own 2 tiny Chihuahuas whom are 1-1/2 yrs old. They're brother & sister, their names are Macie & Gucci. They're my babies. I have a wonderful bf whom I adore more than anything. I'm into crafts, music, animals, MOVIES (30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s ESP) traveling & photography. Favorite colors are BLACK, red & pink. I LOVE sushi. I'm addicted to my iPhone, I'm always on Facebook, Myspace & Updating/Reading twitters. Oh, & I'm on AIM a lot too (sn(s) is/are: adult videos, arrogantly & totally) I've been a member in this community for a while now actually. I've posted a few times before in the past & still talk to the people I've met from here. I just wanted to meet new people again.

Hobbies/Interests/loves:
MUSIC. I have my iPod with me at all times. I love movies, esp old films & black & white. I have a thing for the time periods of 30s-50s. I loooooove hello kitty & anything that relates to cupcakes. I know, I'm 24 but, IDC I love it. I'm into computers & html/web design. Some of my favorite websites: tumblr.com, listography.com, weheartit.com, twitter.com, facebook, myspace. Anything electronic really. I use to roller skate a lot, I miss skating. No one ever wants to go anymore. I'm into makeup & hair, BIG TIME. I have so many hair products it's not even funny. I use to have fun/hip amazing hair but, now cooperate won't allow that. BUT, I still love the funky styles & I someday wish to have awesome hair again. I own more make up than you can imagine. I LOVE doing make up. Sometimes when I get bored, I sit in front of the mirror & just practice w/ new shades & colors. I know there is more but, that's all I can think of for now. I love cooking, finding new recipes.

Music: FAVORITE BAND: DEFTONES. I'm always carrying my ipod around and updating it with new music. I'm into experimental/electro (JEM, Imogen Heap, FrouFrou, Bjork, Air, Goldfrap, Owl City, Nevershoutnever!, Metric, Le Tigre...etc), dnb, trance, metal, hip-hop old & new, r&b old & new, rap, 80s, old classic rock. I love going to concerts too. I'll admit I even like the emo/hardcore stuff like Thrice, Thursday, OLD the used, Dashboard confessional...

TV: Don't really watch much TV, I mean I do movies but, not TV shows. I love cartoon network/adult swim though. My tv show I use to LOVE was One Tree Hill. Now, I like watching the food network a lot.

Movies: WOW. I'll try to post some off the top of my head. Grandmas boy, anything with adam sandler & will ferrell. Knocked up, The hangover, Gone with the wind, wizard of oz, BIG, The goonies, willow, legend, the door in the floor, kill bill 1 & 2. ANY Quentin Tarantino film. Transformers 1 & 2, The fifth element, sleepy hollow, pirates of the Caribbean 1 2 &3, ALL lord of the rings, ALL harry potter, twilight (not obsessed but, I like it), interview with a vampire, hocus pocus, tristan & isolde, the queen elizabeth, the queen elizabeth the golden years, the duchess, king author, the other boleyn girl, toy story 1 &2, UP!, a love song for bobby long, stepmom, titanic, zombieland, the family that preys, why did I get married, precious, the secret garden, transporter 1, 2 & 3, the italian job, anything with jason stantham, the science of sleep, fight club, virgin suicides, donnie darko. I can go on and ON and ON here.

Books: I like reading things like readers digest (wow, am I getting old?) & I like Mary Downing Hahn books. Nora Roberts books too.

How many pen pals do you want?: How ever many wants to become penpals!

Do you hand-write or type?: I love writing so, hand written.

How long does it take you to reply to a letter?: I work M-F but, I go in super early & come home before 5pm. So, I normally reply that night or the next day.

What age would you like your pen pal to be?: Over 18. Not really too picky about age.
Would you like them to be male or female?: Doesn't matter at all ;D
Where would you like them to be from?: Where ever!