Archive for February, 2007

Double booked

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

I’ve been quite blur of late. Managed to double book myself not once but thrice in the span of one week. Escaped today unscathed, but there’s tomorrow and the weekend to deal with. Unfortunately all four upcoming events are equally important for different reasons (work, friends, work, friends) and albeit having neglecting my friends for a bit due to work I can’t actually neglect work because I’ve skipped the last two work events for raids which I can’t neglect either because.. I don’t want to. Hmm. Anyway.

Caught up with Aom and Nik and some friends for drinks at Vintry tonight. Finally got out of my house on a weeknight. Aom is leaving back to Thailand indefinitely so it was a farewell of sorts. Plus, server was down for maintenance. I’m actually going to miss her - Aom is really bubbly and she cooks the most fantastic Thai dishes. Well, at least I have someone to visit in Chiang Mai! The one conclusion I can draw from tonight is that I still love a good glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I actually haven’t had any vodka since Mink Bar in Melbourne.

On Books

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
I will read anything. Even shampoo bottles in the bathroom.

Amazon or brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Amazon for reviews, Borders or MPH to browse and buy. I can never walk out of either without buying something or at least finding something I promise myself I’d buy later.

Bookmark or dogear?
Bookmark - if you consider anything from Starbucks receipts to random business cards to flyers as one.

Alphabetized by author or alphabetized by title or random?
Mosty random - books sit on my shelf according to sizes mostly, unless they are a series.

Keep, throw away, or sell?
Keep. Which explains the massively over-burdened bookshelves in my house.

Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Without. Having one on irritates me and I can’t focus on the book.

Short story or novel?
Novels.. with some exceptions. Like Roald Dahl and Kaz Cooke.

A Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology short stories by different authors)?
Collection. I find consecutive vastly varying styles a little displacing in one sitting.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
When tired. I some times fall asleep on my books.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
Once upon a time

Buy or Borrow?
Buy.

New or used?
Both. Some of the best gems I’ve uncovered are from long afternoons in used book stores - and for a bargain too.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
Mostly browse, and sampling paras. But I’ve picked up a lot of books I like through recommendations and reviews.. only from reliable sources though ;)

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Both. Happy ever afters are a little too idealistic for cynical ol’ me.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
Morning if I’m on a beach, otherwise I prefer to read at night when there is some peace and quiet.

Standalone or series?
Both.

Favorite series?
Some of them would be Terry Pratchett’s Bromeliad trilogy.. Joe Dever’s Legends of Lone Wolf (the novels).. David Edding’s The Malloreon (never read Belgariad)

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Probably Iain Bank - The Wasp Factory.. but it’s not that obscure.

Favorite books read last year?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude

Favorite books of all time?
In no particular order, here are some recent ones: Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude, JRR Tolkien - The Silmarillion, Nien Cheng - Life and Death in Shanghai, Camilla Morton - How to Walk in High Heels, Plato - Republic, Jhumpa Lahiri - Interpreter of Maladies, Loius de Bernieres - Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Anthony Bourdain - Kitchen Confidential, Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” ~Groucho Marx

Moving? So soon?

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

Whee!

Sylinfel has generously offered to help me sort out my WordPress woes and I am moving the WoW Blog back to this domain. Mainly due to Itemstats having a WP plugin for easy loot linking!

http://www.absolutely-fuzzy.com/fazhira/

This is currently where it’s sitting. And I will be importing them posts back over the weekend. Now all I need to sort out a theme and I am gold.

Steph turns 21.. again

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

Thanks for all the wishes, gifts, lunches and dinners.. you guys are the awesomest. And you know I mean it when I use a word like awesomest :)

I especially enjoyed the picollo of brut rose M&C I was fed on the way to dinner *wink*, the zomg wtf so cheesy R&J balcony scene and the umm, random faxes to the office. Pfft, you guys.

fazhira.blogspot.com

Friday, February 9th, 2007

All WoW-related posts will now be posted on the WoW blog. Decided to make it external so I didn’t have to bother with trying to figure out how to run two blogs off the same WordPress engine. I can’t believe I have enough nonsense to fill up a blogspot page already.

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