Alyssa Goodnight's Blog, page 15

On my radar…

Here are a few books currently on my radar.   I'm so excited!!   (And I like the whole red and black thing going on here…)

What's on your reading radar?

Plans for the Weekend

Finally, finally the weekend is almost here–I thought it would never come!  I almost yearn for the relaxed days of summer.  Almost.  But I love fall; it's my favorite season.  I've had mellowcreme pumpkins in my candy bowl for weeks!  I'm daydreaming about apple cider doughnuts and gingerbread chai tea lattes…  Bike rides and crisp, clear days.  Still actually dreaming–we're still in the nineties down here in Texas.

I have no huge plans for the weekend, and that's just fine with me.  There are a couple things on my agenda though…

1.  Make gluten-free apple cider doughnuts in my new mini doughnut maker.  This project is fraught with potential diaster, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway.

2. Watch Bride & Prejudice, the Bollywood version of P&P.  This will, by necessity, be by myself, and I'm good with that.  I wish I could get my hands on Aisha (Bollywood Emma), or watch it online, but that may not happen.

3. Take a bike ride in hopefully slightly cooler temperatures.

4. Finally get around to lunching at Rudy's Barbeque.  This is a barbeque joint/gas station/"country store" that serves up barbeque on butcher paper with plastic forks and sharp knives.  It was a favorite of ours when we lived in Austin, and they've just opened one near us in Houston. 

5. This is a bit of a long-shot, but maybe, just maybe, we could get a jump on our family Christmas card photo this weekend.  (This never happens–I'm not one of those people–but I would rather this than having to scramble in the second week of December.)

6. Read.  I've rediscovered my Kindle!  I've had it for almost a year and have only read two books on it!  (I've read plenty of samples.)  I'm re-reading Sense and Sensibility and also reading Off the Record by Dolores Gordon-Smith.

7.  I'm ready to tackle my next home project…the office, but Butters isn't quite ready yet, so that will likely have to be put off.

What are your plans?

Fairytale Funkiness

My photo accompaniment to this story isn't great, but I captured the shot on the run, so it's all I have.  As I'm sure you are aware by now if you've been reading this blog, I am the PTA Literacy Chair at my younger son's elementary school, and I set up a Reading Ninjas program to get kids excited about reading.  This included a bulletin board display, with each kid's name put up as soon as they earned five points in the program. 

 A helper and I made a trip to the teacher's center to try to find some die-cuts (shapes) that went along with the Reading Ninja theme.  Rather disappointingly, there were no actual ninjas, and no Chinese stars…although those might have been frowned upon anyways…   So, we used dragons, both the big Chinese dragons and the little Pete's Dragons (if any of you remember Pete's Dragon).  And then some sunbursts that I thought vaguely resembled Chinese stars.  But not enough to get anyone in trouble (i.e. me).

We lined the board in black craft paper and bordered it in red and then added the letters for 'Reading Ninjas.'  Next came the white Chinese dragons, which we used as grade markers, and finally the little dragons and sunburts.  I was rather pleased with the whole effect.

Until…I was in the library yesterday, and the librarian's aid came up to me and said that teachers had been talking to her.  Teachers plural.  Teachers had been asking that I switch the orientation of the Chinese dragons, because as it was, with the starbursts (Chinese stars) behind them, it kind of looked like they were coming out of…  She didn't finish her sentence, but I turned around in shocked amusement to stare at the board.  It was a bit of a stretch in my opinion, but these are elementary students, and evidently the situation in the dragon's rear was a topic of conversation.

I switched the Chinese dragons around today, and now it looks like they're breathing fire!  I meant to take before and after photos, but I was distracted by an adult Snow White biking up to the school at the same time I was walking in.  She was fully costumed, wigged, and wearing lace-up heeled boots, and she never came fully in, just waited in the school lobby.  It was quite the mystery…  Anyway, you'll just have to use your imagination regarding the dragon's gassy state.

In other news, I have to say that I am utterly wowed by the efforts taken by Blake Leyers and Bex to get my countdown widget up on their blogs.  Blake worked herself into a Yosemite Sam style tizzy and then eventually just dedicated a blog post and tab to the AUSTENTATIOUS countdown, and Bex debugged and brought in outside support until she finally got it working for WordPress blogs.  You ladies are rock stars!  So, if you have a WordPress blog and you'd like to post the widget for a chance to win an ARC of AUSTENTATIOUS, click here for Bex's code.

Details & A New Show

Okay, perhaps it's best if I give a little bit more clarification on the whole 'Post my widget, win an ARC' setup.  I was so distracted by getting my widget setup and having my bookmarks come in that forgot to mention the contest details.  So sorry!

I should be receiving my ARCs sometime in the next couple of weeks.  In order to be entered in the contest, you need to keep the widget posted until that point in mid-October.  Naturally, I'd LOVE it if you kept it up for the entire countdown, but you'll have to decide that for yourself.  I will post here, and on Facebook and Twitter when the ARCs come in, and I will choose a random winner from anyone still having the widget posted.  This will be the first ARC I send out!!

Here is the list I currently have–a lovely list of blogs, by the way:   (If you're not on this list but have posted the widget and would like to be entered, please let me know ASAP!)

Claire at La Collezionista di Dettagli

The Lizzies at Old Friends & New Fancies

Rebecca at A Word's Worth

Melissa at Green Girl in Wisconsin

 Lúthien at My Love for Jane Austen

Hardly any competition…  Good luck to you all!

In other news, I was really quite thrilled with the turn-out I had to my Practical Magic Blog Party quiz.  There are more practicing witches around than I ever would have imagined!  And plenty of superstitiousness too!

Lastly, did anyone watch Pan Am last night?  I have to say, I think it looks promising.  It reminds me of Catch Me If You Can, which I LOVED, and then there's the whole spy dynamic, and all the visual lovliness of the 1960′s set.   Butters is not so sure…

 

A Little Witchiness

Welcome to my personal stop on the Practical Magic Book Party tour!  I'm glad you stopped by! 

 

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Let me start by admitting that I'm a first-timer.  I stumbled over the Frosted Petunias website quite by accident, read the details of the upcoming party, and couldn't resist.  I was intrigued that this book I'd never read and movie I'd never seen was inspiring such a party.  And the photos of the Practical Magic kitchen were a-maz-ing!

So, I borrowed the movie from my MIL and checked the book out from the library and hunkered down to watch and read.  I have to admit, I'm still working my way through the book, but I'm facinated over the differences between book and movie!  What has struck me the most, is how this book is about making choices.  (I had to make a choice myself…book or movie.  Normally I would have chosen book, no question, but I was so curious, and in a bit of a time crunch, that I went with the movie.  I am, of course, following up with the book.)

With this theme in mine, I decided to come up with a little quiz.  I posted a Preferences quiz last week and had so much fun reading the comments.

So have fun and consider your answers carefully…

Practical Magic Questionnaire 

1.  Are you a Sally or a Gillian?

2.  Would you work spells and cast enchantments if you could?

3.  If you answered yes to question #2, would you ever cast a love spell for yourself?

4.  Midnight margaritas or afternoon ice cream sundaes?

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5.  Would you marry if you knew you were destined to hear the deathwatch beetle?

6. If asked, would you participate in a séance? 

7.  If you answered yes to question #6, who would you summon?

8.  Are you prone to lies of omission or little white lies to spare someone's feelings?

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 9.  Are you superstitious?…of what?

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10.  Dependable or dangerous men?

I can't wait to read your answers!  (And check out all the other Practical Magic posts!)

Reminder:  There is still time to post my widget in your sidebar and enter to win an ARC of AUSTENTATIOUS!  Go here for details!

Sick Day

I got an imprompu flu shot yesterday while at Target, and now I imagine I have symptoms.   Whether real or imaginary, flu-shot or allergy-related, the symptoms are making me feel a little 'poor baby.'  I got the kids off to school and walked the dog, and now I'm sitting under the fan, the dog sprawled out beside me, reading Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.  I am participating in the Practical Magic Blog Party starting tomorrow, and I need to get my act together.  I watched the movie Wednesday night, and am now midway through the book.  (They're so different!)  Have you seen the book?  Watched the movie?  Which is your favorite?

 

So be sure to come back tomorrow for a Practical Magic party post!

Count it down with me…

Want to countdown to the release day of AUSTENTATIOUS with me? If you post this widget in the sidebar of your blog and let me know about it, you'll be entered to win an ARC of AUSTENTATIOUS!  Bookmarks came in today too…I LOVE them!

A Medley of Stuff

This weekend we visited my in-laws at their lakehouse because Butters wanted an opportunity to get his catamaran out on the water while the lake level was so low.  It was quite low and we all did a bit of exploring, looking for arrowheads and stumbling over fish bones and racoon prints. 
 

The rest of the weekend I spent on the covered porch reading Girls in White Dresses and then Ammie, Come Home, while watching in awe as the hummingbird population came to dine on my MIL's candy apple red sugar syrup.  The good news?  It RAINED while we were there!!  Still waiting on rain at home…
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This week, I am reading and watching Practical Magic, in preparation for this Practical Magic Blog Party, in which I will be participating.  I've never seen the movie or read the book, but I'm very enthused.'
 
In other news, I received a blog award from the lovely Eve Marie Mont, who has a fantastic looking YA coming out in April 2012, called A Breath of Eyre.  Thank you, Eve! 
 
 
 
The Rules of the blog award are as follows:
1. Thank and link to the person who nominated me. (see above)
2. Share seven random facts about myself. (see below)
3. Pass the award along to 5 newfound blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.
 
Seven Random Facts About Me: 
1.  I've never seen Casablanca or Gone With the Wind all the way through. 
2.  My favorite colors are red and turquoise.  Sometimes together.
3.  I am not a cat person.  That is an understatement.
4.  Scholastic book fairs and book order forms still thrill me.
5.  I love the Olympics, the swimming events most of all.
6.  Never in my life have I pulled an all-nighter.
7.  I think Butters' dislike of cream cheese might be rubbing off on me.  That's unconfirmed.
 
Five (Relatively) Newfound Blogging Buddies:
1.  Nightstand Debuts: For Books Both Sinister and Strange (a group blog that features Eve and several other authors who always keep it interesting).
2.  Austen Authors (a group blog that features whole mess of authors writing Austen sequels and retellings, including me, on occasion)
3.  Blurb Is a Verb (awesome source for authors)
4.  Natural/Artificial (Stephanie Perkin's blog.  She is the author of Anna and the French Kiss, which I LOVED.)
5.  Austenesque Reviews  (All Austen all the time!)
 
 

An Austin-tatious Ninja

Thanks to all who participated in my little quiz–I thought it was fun and very enlightening.  Only one Peru; only one cream pie, and only one Sherlock Holmes.  Most of you would clearly be content reading Jane Austen with a slice of cake on a terrace in Paris.  Me too!

Today I am going a little crazy.  I am painting my nails a glittery Austin-tatious Turquoise (OPI), which is already totally over-the-top for someone like me.  And not only that, but I am currently wearing a ninja t-shirt (from this etsy vendor) and black cargo shorts.  And I plan to wear this for the rest of the day, right through the PTA meeting, at which I will be chatting up any number of parents about the programs in my son's school library.  And…AND…I will be donning all six colorful Reading Ninja wristbands to complete this ensemble.

I am very psyched about this Reading Ninjas program.  I'm starting to distribute the wristbands for kids who have reached various point levels for reading books and taking quizzes, and I think the kids and the teachers are a little excited about it too. I mean, who's not excited about becoming a ninja?  I love my t-shirt and wish we could all have one!  A school full of ninjas with multi-colored wristbands…reading and skulking…silent but smart.  LOVE it!

What's your preference?

Today, a little questionnaire for you…[image error]

Would you choose…

1.   Star Wars or Harry Potter?

2.   Cookies and milk or wine and cheese?

3.   A day at the beach or a day shopping?

4.   A Jane Austen novel or a Sherlock Holmes mystery?

5.   A skirt or jeans?

6.   Something inspiring or something hilarious?

 

7.   Sunrise or sunset?

8.   A layer cake or a cream pie?

9.   Air travel or road-trip?

10. Paris or Peru?

 

Images via here and here.