jackshoegazer: (Default)
jackshoegazer ([personal profile] jackshoegazer) wrote2005-09-15 08:07 am

And a porridge in a pine tree?

Curses abound in the light of night!

I don't know either. I'm home again, and it took me an hour and a half to get through all the posts I missed in the past two days. I really need to trim my friends list a bit, but I don't have the heart.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel is a very odd book indeed. I'm barely 200 pages into this massive tome, but my impression thus far? It's exactly like every other novel set in early 1800's Britain, except this one has weird fairies and magicians in it. The usual fixtures? Servants! Oh, god how I miss my lives when I had servants! Sure, they were nosy and spread gossip to your neighbors for favors and cash, but damn, they would heat my bed-warmer to just the right temperature!

I'm cold.

Fucked up story: Apparently, FEMA communications are messed up, they often accidentally send multiple construction crews to sites for jobs. So these crews arrive and guess how they decide who gets the contract and does the job? They fight over it! Someone I know, his brother runs a construction crew who did a lot of work in Florida after their last hurricane. They would show up at a job, see another crew and then they'd have pipe and crowbar fights over who got the job. This time, this guy and his crew are headed to New Orleans with three campers and a bunch of guns and knives and other nasty weaponry. WTF?

[identity profile] jackshoegazer.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 08:59 am (UTC)(link)
Exactly.

[identity profile] bencollier.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I really enjoyed JS & Mr. N. It gets really dark later on in the book - I'll be quite interested to see what the authoress's subsequent stories are like.

[identity profile] jackshoegazer.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, it's very good so far. I love novels setin that time period, even though I've never been able to force myself through a Dicken's novel :P

And usually anything with magicians is yummy in my tummy.

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
This is the reason why people outsource. Americans are stupid. We should bring Iraqui construction companies here to rebuild New Orleans.


*hangs head in shame*

[identity profile] jackshoegazer.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 08:59 am (UTC)(link)
Now *that* would be ironic :)

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
For some reason, porridge in a pine tree sounds really good right now, wrapped up in a blanket with the scent of pitch and tart needles and a big steaming bowl of oatmeal with maple syrup drizzled on top. The air conditioning has come on in my office randomly and I'm freezing.

Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Image

It's a good thing that Texas is the largest contiguous state or he'd never be able to find it.

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry this isn't behind a cut, but it took me so long to get the HTML code right that I decided I didn't want to fudge with it. It wasn't nearly as large on the source site...!

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] maeghanne.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
WORD! ;)

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, and have you noticed we call our country "America" much more often now? It used to be "the US" or "The Untied States." Now, in complete disregard for the other nations that make up North and South America, we're just: "America."

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] maeghanne.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah.. I actually have been hearing a lot of confusion over that. I just moved to the UK and if someone says "I am from America" No-one knows where the hell you are talking about. I have heard the phrase "the states" more than anything else from brits.

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
My parents were in the military, and I lived in Italy for three years. Even people in the military (arguably some of the more patriotic and pro-American people in the nation, though that's a generalization) call it "the States."

How are you like the UK? I was in London taking a course from the University College last January, and though I was very, very poor at the time it still rocked my little world.

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] maeghanne.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I love it! I was very scared and having a few issues adapting when I first got here.. but I am doing much better now and enjoying myself very much!

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
Good to hear! Try some Indian food if you haven't yet (so much better than here!), and if you can get your hands on some Kinder Surprise Eggs you won't regret it!

I miss the "drinking yogurt" I used to have for breakfast there. "Sigh."

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] jackshoegazer.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Drinking yogurt? Like Nouriche?

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] antarcticlust.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
The closest thing I've found so far is Stonyfield Farms smoothie thingies (the other yogurt smoothies are fake-sweet-gross-crap, but SF is all natural), but it's not quite thick and rick enough. Their yogurt is very custardy, and this came in little bottles and was heavenly. I'd get that at the corner market and a chocolate croissant every morning for breakfast and eat it on the Underground.

Damn, I miss London.

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] maeghanne.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
HAHA.. You know what's funny is that I was just talking about how I need to get some good ole Indian fodd because I haven't yet since I have been here. Since I have a "meal plan" at the cafeteria I kinda feel bad when I don't eat there... but not as bad if I do eat there..

Re: Ok, let's see if I can post a picture in five tries or less!

[identity profile] jackshoegazer.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
You mean they don't call it "That Old Quagmire of Ours"?

[identity profile] tellme-too.livejournal.com 2005-09-15 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
yeah you should really get rid of all teh nasty trolls
*URK!*
;)

[identity profile] jackshoegazer.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 09:00 am (UTC)(link)
Noooo, I like people reading me. Just sometimes I don't want to read everyone. I should just make a custom friend filter, like a series of them... the 30 minute filter, the 1 hour filter, and then everyone :-P

[identity profile] matt120.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, servants are good. Especially flogging them!

[identity profile] jackshoegazer.livejournal.com 2005-09-16 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
I never flogged mine :) I had to fire a couple for stealing. I could never understand why they would do that; I paid them so well!