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In sharp contrast to the aforementioned Spellbinder, which took me days and days and days to slog through, this book took me a day and a half to read. Granted, it's young adult fiction, but I'm not agist--I'll read anything as long as it's good. And this one was.
It's about a group of mutant kids who are the victims of a scientific experiment--they were injected with avian DNA in utero. They were all born with wings, lighter (but stronger) bones, and stronger muscles, and some have other superhuman talents, like telepathy, or breathing under water. The narrator details that before the start of the story, they had escaped the lab with the help of one of the scientists there. He went missing (they assume he's dead), and they are left to fend for themselves until their hiding place is found and the youngest one, Angel, is kidnapped back to the lab.
It's up to Max, the oldest, to organize a rescue mission. This book chronicles the "flock's" journey to rescue Angel, their discovery that their guardian is not dead after all, but back working for the lab and apparently "one of them", and their travels after that to uncover their history. It feels a bit like young-adult Xmen! One of the interesting points of the book is that the kids each need upwards of 3000 calories per day, and it's hard for a group of runaway kids with no money to obtain that much food very easily. This kind of everyday detail is what makes the book so engaging, although it never approaches the all-encompassing (and IMO, overwhelming) Stephen-King level of detail.
It's true, 6-year-old Angel does speak like an adult, and the "Voice" that talks to Max later on in the novel is a bit annoying (and why is Max so trusting about it,after being so paranoid about everything else?), and maybe the writing isn't going to win the Pulitzer, but the book was engrossing and entertaining and I have already requested the sequel from the library.
This book wasn't good. I was going to be more scathing, but at the end of the book there's an author note about how she was struggling with mental illness before writing it, and that she wanted to write something totally new, unrelated to her other series, and in that I guess she succeeded.
I support authors trying new things, getting out of ruts, growing and learning. This book, however, should have been workshopped with her writing group, not published. It was bad. The dialog was bad, the story meandered, the characters were stereotypes, and it read like a bad romance novel. The main character was a writer, and the snippets of her writing were bad. It was just bad, bad, bad.
So, Melanie Rawn, I'm truly very sorry you've been going through a tough time. I hope things get better for you, and I look forward to your return to the Exiles series (still waiting eagerly for Captal's Tower!). I also hope your editor applies a heavier hand to your work. Best wishes!
Needless to say, I don't recommend this one.
Yesterday Daylight Savings Time seems to have imbued me with some natural uppers. Here's what I accomplished:
Did a sinkful of dishes
Swept kitchen floor
Posted about a year's worth of photos to Flickr
Took our Halloween purchases our of their bags, photographed them, reorganized them, and stowed them out of reach of the cats
Did four loads of laundry, including our bathmat which takes TWO HOURS to dry
Fed the cats
Washed out the cats' fountain watering bowl
Emptied the cats' litter boxes, washed them out, dried them, and filled with clean litter
Cleaned the bathroom
Put away remnants of Sarah Palin costume, clean clothes, jewelry, etc.
Cleaned up my desk area, did filing
Shredded some junk mail
Went grocery shopping
Cooked dinner
Paid bills
AND...the point of this story...I updated our wedding budget and input the numbers from our venue's proposal into the budget. Mostly, we were right on target (Mr. T was hoping we'd overestimated, which wasn't the case), except in two areas (where I underestimated), which I'm kicking myself about: tax and tip. I can't believe I got that wrong! I thought I was being so careful!
Anyway, it worked out okay, because Mr. T decided that the wedding rings should be taken out of the budget and that we should be responsible for them ourselves. This gives him a raw deal, but if he insists...
So we contacted the venue back and said that we'd like to sign a contract and put a deposit down. Woo-hoo! We're on our way...
The day after Halloween, Mr. T and I woke up (not too early), went out to breakfast, and strategized about what we needed. We then proceeded to go to 13 stores:
Ace Hardware
Halloween Superstore
Walgreens
Andronico's
Z Gallery
Restoration Hardware
Crate and Barrel
Sur La Table
Some random other home store in the same neighborhood as the last four
Paper Source
Target
Ikea
Pottery Barn
I was worried when we set out because it was later in the day (like noon) and I had gotten multiple calls and emails saying that stores were out of things and that some stores had started discounting items earlier in the month, but we did okay, actually.
Here's what we bought (I haven't totaled the receipts yet, but I believe we spent about $150?):
Ace Hardware: 6 strands of lights. There's not a ton of outlets in the room, so we were just going to light up the two sets of railings that separate the sunken middle section of the room:
At the Halloween Superstore, they were pretty cleaned out, and anyway, their stuff is always pretty cheap. I did pick up a cute plush bat bucket for the flower girl's basket:
Tikka agrees that the bat is very interesting:
At Andronico's, I picked up two high-quality pumpkin carving sets, two metal luminaries, and a spider candle holder:
At Z Gallery, they didn't have much, but what they had was 70% off! We got a glittery "tree" and a glittery black cat candle:
You can see that Dobby is very interested by the tree, or maybe it's that paper bag she's spying on:
Target, which I thought would be empty, actually had a lot and was our biggest haul. We got a 5-foot black tree with orange lights (we figured this could go in one of the two large niches in the wall, or over by the bar area), a smaller table top tree with vintage-looking Halloween ornaments for the guest book table, a black (fake) pumpkin with Happy Halloween carved into in orange letters, a cute box for cards for the gift table, runners for the cake and guest book tables that are silver with black velvet webs on them, and two orange frames for photos:
Pottery Barn was our last stop, and again, I was surprised they still had stuff. We probably got there around 5:30 and we were what my friend calls "hangry"--so hungry that we were very irritable. Mr. T didn't love their stuff, but I did, but it was one of those disagreements where it was very civilized and considerate, "If you like them, get them!" "No, if you don't like them, I don't want to buy them; this is not all about me." So, instead of buying their entire stock of skull and crossbones votives (Mr. T had mixed feelings about using a lot of skull imagery for our wedding), we compromised and got one set to help decorate the bookshelves. And we also got a really cool metal bone candle holder. They had cool feathery garland, but those were $15 a piece even on sale, so I thought I'd skip them.
After all that shopping we were exhausted! Our feet and legs even hurt, and this is from a couple of people who walk over 2 miles almost daily. We were also soaked, since it was pouring rain all day.We still need table decor (and a fog machine for Mr. T!), but we might be almost set for the rest of the room, so that's progress!!
Happy Halloween everyone! I can't wait to see everyone's costumes at the MOH's annual Halloween party tonight!
And, most importantly, I'd like to wish a happy 11th anniversary to my honey. We go to eleven! I love you boo.
I'm tidying up my saved jpegs, so that means they have to get posted before I forget about them!First up, some invitation ideas. Lately Mr. T has said he wants to do a more typographic design, so I'm not sure we'll end up with anything resembling the following, but I like it all.First up, a "woodcut" made out of construction paper. Although we certainly have plenty of time to make these, I think it would drive us crazy. Still, amazing, no? So skilled.
Next, an adorable pumpkin bag that holds the invite. A bitch to ship, but cute.
I love the silver ink on the black paper. I wonder how that's done.
Some more "traditional" invites. You can actually buy these blank and print them yourself at home. If we're cutting some more corners, this might be a way to go:
And finally, some inspiration boards about Halloween weddings, exciting! I love the one of the drinks; that's black vodka in some of them! Who knew that existed?
Oh, and one Day of the Dead board. Love the black glitter pumpkin! Hmmmmm....
So, as the one-year mark approaches I'm starting to make some more substantial plans. I know, I said I wouldn't do anything until 11/1, but come on, it's just a few days away!
One of the things I decided recently is that I need to take the plunge, go to a "traditional" bridal shop, and see what silhouettes look good on me. I mean, I have an hourglass shape, so I'm considering a mermaid-shaped skirt, and yet I don't want the focus of the dress to be my saddlebags and junk in the trunk. I'm currently investigating shops that carry plus-size samples (ain't no way I'm fitting in a 6!) so I can do some preliminary work before I go see the corset-maker. I am dreading going into the land of white poofy dresses a little bit. I just haven't heard encouraging things from my plus-size bridal sisters. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
And, of course, there's always the internet. Look at this gorgeous red! That is the perfect color. Love it.
I also like that it extends to her hips and that there's some coverage in the bosom area...good for the more amply bosomed ladies like me. I don't love how jarring the silver clasps look against the red. I wonder if these come in other colors? They must, right?
And, courtesy of a bride on Live Journal who designed her own pale pink and black dress, check this out!:
I love, love, love this dress. I love the beading on the front that drapes over her arms, I love the flashes of black lace from the skirt, I love that it's pink and black, I love it all. Drooling now. Well, I do think the train is a bit much, but maybe it's just the photo making it look that way.
I also think she did a kickass job of doing her own makeup:
I would definitely like a redder lip but I love the drama around the eyes. Sigh.
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