La Vie En Rose for December 2005

Tue Dec 06 2005 15:56 Go vote for Jo:

http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/2005/walkup/index.html?cnn=yes

Tue Dec 06 2005 17:06 1928:

“At the time, you see, the war was so ordinary—it was just our life. Yes, we hated it, and loved it, both. Loved it only because we gave so much to it, and because it was bound up with our youngness… It was our war, you see. And although it was so every-dayish at the time, and we were so sickened with it, it seems, now, to have a sort of ghastly glamour…Our hearts are there—unwillingly—for always. It was our war.”
Irene Rathbone, We That Were Young

Tue Dec 06 2005 23:21 wish list update:

Still at the apple store. Sooo bored. I went around to all the computers to vote for Jo. But I've been here for over four hours and the reinstalling is taking forreverrr. And I had to buy disk warrior to fix the data key thingie that was wrong, hopefully it makes Dave better, but I'd much rather spend over $100 on this. (Bookfinder coupon for that book. HINT) The store has been closed for two hours now. I am just hanging with the boys setting up an ipod christmas display. They are being very nice to me.

(1) Wed Dec 07 2005 13:07 If Dave can laugh that long:

After all that, the reinstalling went wrong. Bekka, the genius who was helping me, said there MUST be something wrong with the harddrive, so Dave is being sent out for a new one. They were able to back up all my stuff so that is a lucky thing. I just hope I get him back sooon, I miss my Davie-poo. You never realise how much you depend on your computer till you have to go without one for so long. The first few days, even week, are ok, but then when you start wanting to send stuff to people's addresses, or reconcile your checking account, or burn CDs of musique....gah.

But anyway, I am actually feeling v appreciative at the moment. The people at the apple store were very friendly and helpful and nice, which is good because otherwise it would have been a very frustrating experience. And I realise again how many kind & caring people I have in my life. At the apple store they had these little red stickers that say "Lucky You" to put on things when people buy them so they know the iPods etc aren't being stolen, and I took a few, because it is such a catchy phrase, and eventually got to thinking, yes, lucky me.

Tue Dec 13 2005 22:55 196 emails:

And I have Dave back. Yaaaay! But now I'm having software issues. My MS word went bye-bye with the old hard-drive, so I can't open any of my word documents till I download Open Office, which sucks, therefore I have to get my hands on a new Word as soon as I figure out a way that doesn't involve paying for it, since even if I HAD $100 to throw away, which I don't, for the second time, I wouldn't want to spend it on office. I don't even neeed the whole thing, just word. It's so aggravating. Plus for some reason my Quicken won't open the backup data because it says it needs an updated version. How can it need an updated version for a file it created? Sooo tiiired.

Thu Dec 15 2005 13:01 What are we doing flying a car?:

Well, my quicken is back up & running, and I've taken to using drafts in gmail instead of word documents. Overall it's been very nice to have Dave back!

I keep thinking of things I border on needing, so if anyone is STILL looking for giftie ideas for me, the plastic lining of my shower curtain is coming apart (maroon color) and I've recently become obessed with Librarything but I used up the 200 book listings that come with a free account, and now they have gift memberships!

(1) Sun Dec 18 2005 10:15 Here's a thought:

Maybe I will actually start reading advance review copies of books before they come out, and writing reviews to send back to the publisher. After all, it's nice to say thanks for a free book, and it could be the start of a new career for me.

Tue Dec 20 2005 20:26 An English Woman-Sergeant in the Serbian Army:

I'm typing my Flora Sandes summary in Gmail and it's interesting to see the ads that come up as "sponsored links": "meet Serbians online," "holiday in Montenegro: online booking, stone houses on the coast."

Wed Dec 21 2005 23:19 Probably more like hanging around:

Everytime I think of something to post crummy is down. Now it is up and I can't think of anything to post. Except this.

I guess I could say I went to pilates for the first time in ages and I barely survived. I felt like I earned sushi, and I couldn't think of anything else the entire time, so I dragged Gabe to Miyoshi and had a delicious sunset strip roll (except he kept making me laugh & drop my sushi piece into the wasabi, so it was v hot), and put it on my credit card since I am scrapping together my pennies to pay the fees for CSUB which are due the 29th, before I get paid.

Oh, I guess that is sometime to write about. I'm giving up my pipe dream of UCL and going to start an MA program in history at CSUB. But most of you already knew this. I always want to wait to write about big things (like a trip to London) until the are official, but then by that time I forget to write about it, or everyone knows already, so there is no point in making a big announcing post on my weblog.

Anyway, there are actually two really good professors for me to study under, one in a Western European/Women's History specialist and one is big on Eastern Europe and WWI. I am starting with a reading seminar in European History and an Irish History class, and I think in general it will be a good thing for me. I miss being in school, after all, even if it means I will have to be very poor for the next 15 months or so, as they want all my money and I won't have as much time to be earning it.

In the meantime, life goes on.

Thu Dec 22 2005 11:32 Ouch:

I am sore all over. I can barely walk. I can barely move.

Fri Dec 23 2005 13:43:

A Mysterious Book Package has arrived in the mail today. It has not been opened, but put under the tree. However, I already know what it contains: the best present ever.

Mon Dec 26 2005 23:00:

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday. I certainly did, for the most part. More later. Tonksie seems to like my new sheets.

Wed Dec 28 2005 15:11 "You can't describe it.":

I've been listening to interviews with some of the last surviving WWI vetrans.

Thu Dec 29 2005 11:05 Library Thingie:

I want to get the little widget thingie onto the side of my blog. But I don't know how to do that. And it's not showing up here anyway. Woe.

Fri Dec 30 2005 12:47 If they asked me...:

I thought this would be kinda neat to do, before I realised it would take me THIRTY HOURS. But as I discussed with Becca, she and I (and Chris) have become rather OCD in terms of organizing information lately. This is an example. For another example, you can see the books in my library tagged "read 2005" at LibraryThing. This, sadly, though, is not complete, because I've reached my 200 book limit, so I can't add the rest of my books until I magically become a lifetime member.

Anyway, here is a list of books I read all or most of during 2005, in order of most recently completed first. Fun Times.

At the Serbian Front in Macedonia, by E.P. Stebbing (Currently reading for work)
The Truth with Jokes by Al Franken (Currently reading for fun)
The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke (Currently reading for class)
The French Revolution by T.C.W. Blanning (Currently reading for class)
Kosovo: Perceptions of War and its Aftermath edited by Mary Buckley (partially read)
Chamber of Secrets (for the DA)
Red Lily by Nora Roberts
We That Were Young by Irene Rathbone (work)
Divine Evil by Nora Roberts
An English Woman Sergaent in the Serbian Army by Flora Sandes (work)
Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy
Sorcerer's Stone (DA)
Not So Quiet, Helen Zenna Smith (work)
Dear Duchess, Denis Stuart (work)
Half-Blood Prince audio version (I still have not managed to make myself listen to the last three cds)
The Historian, Elisabeth Kostava
French Lessons, Peter Mayle
Cellar-House of Pervyse compiled by Geraldine Mitton (work)
Flanders and other Fields, by the Baroness de T'Serclaes (work)
The Boy Who loved Anne Frank, Ellen Feldman
Paris, 1919, Margaret Macmillian
Strange beds, Joan Conquest (partially read, work)
My War Experiences on Three fronts, Mary Eliza Martin-Nicholson (partially read, work)
Journal of Impressions in Belgium, May Sinclair (work)
With the Lost Generation, Dora Walker (work)
A Modern Victorian by Susan Raitt (partially read, work)
A Nurse at the War, Grace Ashley-Smith McDougall (Partially read, work)
Under Three Flags, St Clair Livingston. (partially read for work)
Undomestic Goddess, Sophie Kinsella
Half-Blood Prince
Field Hospital and Flying Column, Violetta Thurstan (partially read, work)
War memories, Princess Marie de Croy (work)
Condemmed to Death, Thuliez, (partially read, work)
A Noble Woman, Gott (partially read, work)
Women Who Spied, (partially read, work)
The Secret War (partially read, work)
My War Experiences on Three Continents, Sarah Macnaughtan (the Belgian half, work)
Black Rose, Nora Roberts
Quality of Mercy, Monica Krippner (work)
The Rape of Belgium, Larry Zuckerman (partially read, work)
Women With Wings, Mary Cadogan (partially read, work)
Powder Puff Derby, Mike Walker (work)
The Luck of Thirteen by Cora and Jan Gordon (work)
The War in Eastern Europe, John Reed (Partially read for work)
Desert Love, Joan Conquest
Goblet of Fire audio version
Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers, Louise Rennison
The Hygiene of Marriage by Isabel Hutton
Memories of a Doctor in War and Peace by Isabel Emslie Hutton (work)
Auntie Mabel's War (work)
Sorcerer's Stone (Audio)
Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them, Al Franken
The Stricken Land, Serbia as we saw it, Askew. (work)
Notes from a small island, Bill Bryson
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Prisoner of Azkaban, audio
Daylight in a Dream by E.M. Butler (work)
Merrily I Go to Hell by Mary Cameron (work)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Lady and the Unicorn, by Tracy Chevalier
The Balkan Wars by Andre Gerolymatos
Birthright by Nora Roberts Audio version
Green Tent in Flanders, Maud Mortimer (Partially read, work)
Red Cross in Serbia by Elsie Corbett for work
Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts, audio
Corsets to Camoflage: Women and War by Kate Adie (work)
Order of the Phoenix audio
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
Ignorance, by Milan Kundera
Stardust, Neil Gaiman

Books

La Vie En Rose for 2005 December