Weekly Geeks-Triva

Though I'm really not very good at it, I love trivia. Put books and trivia together and you've got a perfect match. So I thought it would be a fun Weekly Geek activity for us to come up with some book trivia questions to ask each other.So take a moment, don't stress about it all, and write down five to ten questions that pop into your mind. You could center all your questions around a particular theme or genre, maybe something in which you specialize. Or ask questions about one certain book. Or teach us about your favorite author through your questions.You could do really easy ones that you know we'll all get or really hard ones that will challenge even the best of us.Once you post your questions and add your link here, be sure to go around and answer the questions posted by everyone else. Remember, no fair Googling! At the end of the week, don't forget to do another post with the answers to your questions.

I had a real hard time coming up with the topic for triva. I almost decided not to do until Sabrina gave me an idea-children's books! So here's my attempt at writing trivia questions.


1. What are the names of the children from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I already gave you one.



2. From Dr. Seuss, what does Sam not like?



3. In Anne of Green Gables, what did Anne serve Diana, causing her to become dizzy?



4. In The Little Princess, where did Sara's father go?



5. What do Margaret and her friends want to increase in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret?


6. What curse did Harry Potter survive?


I only went with books I read as a child or as classified as young adult fiction in the case of the last question. Leave your answers below. I'll post the answers this weekend.

A Bloggy Meme

I stole this from Eva.

1. How long have you been blogging?
Since August 07.

2. Why did you start blogging?
Honestly, I was going to apply to be a bee. I never applied and decided that I liked just blogging on my own.

3. What have you found to be the benefits of blogging?
I've met some awesome people through this blog. I've been exposed to so many different ideas. I've been able to express myself so much better.

4. How many times a week do you post an entry?
I was posting everyday. Now I try to post frequently-about 4 times a week. I rather post something that means something to me than just posting to post.

5. How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis?
I have 217 Google Reader subscriptions. I haven't done any weeding there in a while.

6. Do you comment on other people’s blogs?
Yup. I love comments so I try to comment on other people's blogs. Share the love!

7. Do you keep track of how many visitors you have? Is so, are you satisfied with your numbers?I use hitstats.com to keep track of my stats. I look at it every week or so just to see if there are any spikes or new sites linking to me. My numbers have stayed pretty even for a long time now.

8. Do you ever regret a post that you wrote?
Nope.

9. Do you think your audience has a true sense of who you are based on your blog?
Hm, I try to stay positive on my blog. So if something is bothering me I probably won't blog about it. I can be a lot bitchier in real life. I try to reign that in here. You never know who's reading.

10. Do you blog under your real name?
I use my real first name. I try to avoid using my last name, but I think I've slipped before.

11. Are there topics that you would never blog about?
My work.

12. What is the theme/topic of your blog?
Life/books/food

13. Do you have more than one blog? If so, why?
Nope. I also post on the Filling In the Gaps blog though.

Library Loot #17

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
For Tai, Xenocide and A Stroke Of Midnight. I expect these to last time a little longer than the last group of books did. Finally Little Bee came for me. I can't wait!
I finished the first book on my Filling In The Gaps challenge-The Brief Wonderous Life Of Oscar Wao. I was so excited to read this book but was totally disappointed. I loved the parts about Oscar not so much about his family. Here's my complete review. Has anyone else read it? Other reviews can be found here at Trish's Reading Nook, Cicadian Rhythms, Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books.

Weekly Geek #16

This week's Weekly Geeks topic was suggested by Sheri of A Novel Menagerie. She writes:

"Reading Challenges: a help or a hurt? Do you find that the reading challenges keep you organized and goal-oriented? Or, do you find that as you near the end of a challenge that you've failed because you fell short of your original goals? As a result of some reading challenges, I've picked up books that I would have otherwise never heard of or picked up; that, frankly, I have loved. Have you experienced the same with challenges? If so, which ones? Do you have favorite reading challenges?"

As we pass the halfway point of 2009, how are you doing with your reading challenges? Did you participate in any challenges this year?

I've been reluctant to join any challenges. I've decided to make the Filling In The Gaps Challenge my only challenge until I make a sufficient dent in my list.
But I think overall challenges can help people read new things and find different books to read. I don't always know how to find out about various challenges. Can any point me in a direction to learn about them before they start?

Erin's Baby Shower

Erin and Sean are having a baby in July. Her sister threw here a jungle themed shower.I can't believe she made these cards. The details were wonderful.
Here's what I got her for the baby shower.
I want to rock n' roll all night and potty everyday. What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's.
And these teethers.
I put everything in this monkey box.
It was such a great box. Erin told me she was into monkeys. I guess she told everyone cause she got a ton of monkey stuff. Plus her sister used monkeys to decorate the whole party.
Erin started blogging here. Perhaps she'll have pictures from the shower.

Currently....

wanting

Untitled by honeylin featuring Old Navy

Click on picture for more information.

I'm in desperate need of more cute summer tops. Any of these would be adorable!

using
Marta gave me this for my birthday. I can't tell you how long I wanted one. I'm so happy using this instead of buying Pam all the time!

eating
I introduced Texas Toast to Tai. He'd never had so we bought a box. He's in love. I now have to ration the toast! Great another carb that we can't live without!

A Deal On Seattle Adventures

I know a couple of you have plans to visit Seattle. I stumbled on a free coupon book for Seattle area attractions. Admittedly most of the coupons are for touristy thingy. If this isn't your first visit here you might not be interested.
There's a $2 off coupon for the Woodlawn Park Zoo. I'd like to see the new penguin exhibit.
There's a $2 off coupon for The Museum of Glass. I've still never been there.
There's a $2 off coupon for The Seattle Art Museum. Tai and I haven't been using our membership to its full advantages.
I've lived here all my life and there's stuff I've never done. Sometimes it's fun to be a tourist in your own town.

Library Loot #16

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Alessandra and Eva that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
I've been lucky with pulling books off the shelf lately like Bittman's Food Matters. I was pretty stoked to see this one just sitting on the shelf. The next Ice and Fire book for Tai as well Seduced by Moonlight. He's already finished Seduced by Moonlight. Think he liked it?
I finished Dark Places by Gillian Flynn this week. Wow, I was engrossed. The characters, the story so well written. I hated to finish it but I was racing to finish it to find out who dun it and it wasn't who I thought. It was scary in parts especially the parts of the murders. I really liked it and would recommend it even though it's not my usually fare. Other reviews can be found at Today I Read...(spoilers), Carrie's YA Bookshelf, and Curled Up With A Good Book.

Wow!

Thank you all for your honest feedback. I really appreciate it hearing everything you all had to say.
It was not my intention to imply that anyone should feel that they had to comment. Even though every comment makes my heart sing, it's a gift, not an obligation.
A couple of you mentioned occasional trouble loading and commenting on my blog. If you do have a problem, I hope you will email me at sillylittlelinda@aol.com to let me know.
I love getting feedback so don't hesitate to email me at that address either.

Commenting Etiquette

I have an etiquette question and I hope you all can help me.
I believe being a good blogger is about writing interesting posts and commenting on other people's blogs. There are a couple of blogs that I have read for about a year. I comment frequently. But those bloggers never stop by and comment on mine. Nor do they email me and say thanks for stopping by. And I'm not talking about Pioneer Women or people get a thousand comments a post. I know those people don't have time to hit every blog that stops by. I'm talking about average people like me.
I know, wah wah. This is what I have to complain about? Here's my real question. If they aren't "replying" to my comments does that mean they want me to stop commenting on their blog? Keep in mind I'm posting comments that are relevant to topic.
If you think I'm talking about you, I'm not. I know everyone doesn't have time to stop by and comment on every blog so please don't think I'm talking about you.
I treasure every comment I get as well as the personal emails. I try to visit every blog that visits me and comment on their posts. I forget sometimes or can't think of a thing to say.
So what do you think?

Looking for a Night Cream Recommendation

The day cream I was using caused me to have allergic reaction. Nothing I love more than having bumps all over my face. I bought some Cetaphil day lotion, so hopefully that will not irritate my skin.
I finished the night cream I was using. It thankfully was not giving me an allergic reaction. I choose not to buy Garnier Nutritioniste Anti-winkle Night Cream (say that ten times fast) right now because I think it's too heavy for summer. I bought Oil of Olay's Original Hydrating cream, an oldie but a goodie.
Can anyone recommend a good light night cream? I have combination skin and I'm not needing any heavy duty wrinkle cream. I prefer something I can get at the drug store.

Yeah For Strawberry Season

I love strawberries! I bought these at the farmer's market Saturday. What will I do with them?

Chocolate Dipped Stawberries-where's my fondue pot?

Stuffed Roasted Stawberries-I've never had them roasted. It sounds delicious.

Strawberry and Brie Bruschetta-A completely different appetizer. I wish I was having a dinner party soon!

Other than plain, what your favorite way to eat strawberries?

Weekly Geek #15

This WG asks give us some fun activities to do during the summer.
A Summer CruisePicking Blueberries
Bumbershoot photo found here
Picnics photo found here
Roasted Corn On The Cob photo found here Love the tattoo!
I love summer and can't wait to enjoy it all!

Library Loot #16

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Alessandra and Eva that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
I was excited to see Pretty In Plaid on the library shelf. I've never read any of her books. Looking forward to actually reading one of her books. EcoChick gave me the impetus to look to see if there were any other becoming green books. Yup there are. I decided to check out The Lazy Environmentalist and Gorgeously Green.
I finished Ink Exchange this week. Wow, I really liked Wicked Lovely but I loved Ink Exchange. I loved hearing about the dark fairies especially since we got to learn about new characters besides Aislinn, Seth, and Keenan. It gave me a whole different perspective. I'm excited that Marr decided not to tell the story from Aislinn's POV again. It brought a lot of depth to the book. I can't wait for the third.
What did you get this week?

All About Me (The AV edition)

Shamlessly stolen from Erin.

I think the best shows on TV right now are

Lost

Fringe

Castle

I think the best show(s) NOT on TV is (are)

Firefly

Buffy

Shows I think I would like but haven’t watched yet are

How I Met Your Mother

The show I am most anticipating is

hmm, not sure

My go-to movies for repeat viewings are

Clueless
Hitch
Lord of The Rings

I will watch any movie starring

Jason Statham much to Tai's dismay

I will listen to any CD by

the Beatles
Fletwood Mac
Justin Timberlake

My favorite musical soundtracks are

Rent
Les Miserables
Mama Mia

My favorite Beatles song

All You Need Is Love

My favorite Regina Spektor song

I don't know

My favorite Weezer song

Island In The Sun

My favorite Simon and Garfunkel song

Cecilia

My favorite Britney Spears song

Right now Womanizer

My favorite movie soundtracks

Singles
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist
Moulin Rouge
Trainspotting

My favorite Disney movie

Lion King but I love all of them

My favorite song from a Disney Movie

Kiss The Girl

My favorite songs at this exact moment are

Craft Project Completed

For several weeks, I've had this idea running in my head. With Dad's help, we made this:
Something to go over the bed. I wanted some large but my budget was tiny. I wasn't finding anything I wanted to pay for. So I asked Dad to build me a frame and I attached this fabric to it. The total cost was $25. If I get tired of that print or color, I can rip it off and buy a different fabric.
So I can quit looking for something for over the bed. Hmm, do I need something on the hall way?

A New Challege

So 6 months ago I said I was going to read 1001 books you should read before you die. I was pretty confident I could read all those books and I started head on in the list. Aside from the 29 books I had previously read on the list, I read 3 on the list. In 6 months. Of course you know I've been reading. I just haven't been reading books on that list.
Then I saw a post on Fleur Fisher about The Fill in the Gaps challenge. It seemed like a better idea than trying to read 1001 books picked by someone else. Especially when I wasn't thrilled about half of them. Perhaps I should have thought about this before I said I would do it huh?
Well I'm admitting that I can't do my original challenge and I'm going to do a total new one. So here are my 100 books that I want to read. For now this will be my tbr list.

Books I Own And Haven't Read

1. Knit Two-Kate Jacobs
2. Under the Banner of Heaven-Jon Krakauer
3. Dust On A Road-Zora Neale Hurston
4. All Men Are Mortal-Simone de Beauvoir
5. Stiff-Mary Roach
6. Wicked-Gregory Maguire
7. Almost Moon-Alice Sebold
8. The Host-Stephanie Meyer
9. Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil-John Berendt
10. A Million Little Pieces-James Frey
11. The Crimson Petal and the White-Michael Faber
12. Snow Falling On Cedars-David Guterson

Books I Probably Should Have Read In High School

1. Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
2. The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
3. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
4. Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Jules Verne
5. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
6. The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
7. The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
8. Of Human Bondage – William Somerset Maugham
9. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
10. A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
11. For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
12. The Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway
13. Cannery Row – John Steinbeck
14. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
15. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
16. Slaughterhouse-five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
17. Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

Books I've Started But Haven't Finish

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay- Michael Chabon
2. The women : a novel -T. Coraghessan Boyle

Books I've Gotten From The Library And Had To Take Back Before I Read Them

1. North of beautiful - Justina Chen Headley
2. Lament : the faerie queen's deception-Maggie Stiefvater.
3. Eternal-Cynthia Leitich Smith
4. The luxe-Anna Godbersen.
5. The girl she used to be-David Cristofano.
6. The rest falls away : the Gardella vampire chronicles-Colleen Gleason

Books That Are Movies Too

1. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -Patrick Süskind
2. From Here To Eternity by James Jones
3. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream-Buzz Bissinger
4. From Hell-Alan Moore
5. All the Pretty Horses-Cormac McCarthy
6. American Psycho- Bret Easton Ellis
7. Bodies Are Where You Find Them-Brett Halliday (movie Kiss Kiss Bang bang)
8. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- John Boyne
9. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson
10. Color Purple- Alice Walker
11. Cider House Rules-John Irving
12. I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
13. Girl, Interrupted-Susanna Kaysen
14. Cold Mountain-Charles Frazier
15. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-Ann Brashares

Books I'm Waiting For From The Library

1. Little Bee-Chris Cleave

Library Books That Are In My Possession Currently

1. Thank you for smoking-Christopher Buckley
2. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao-Junot Diaz
3. A reliable wife : a novel-Robert Goolrick.

Books I Want To Read For No Good Reason

1. Dangerous Liaisons – Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
2. Justine – Marquis de Sade
3. The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
4. Blonde – Joyce Carol Oates
5. White Teeth – Zadie Smith
6. The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
7. The Hours-Michael Cunningham
8. The Omnivore's Dilemma-Michael Pollan
9. The People's History of The United States-Howard Zinn
10. The Power of One-Bryce Courtenay
11. Night-Elie Wiesel
12. Special topics in calamity physics-Marisha Pessl
13. Suite française- Irène Némirovsky
14. The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
15. The Pilot's Wife-Anita Shreve
16. The Diary of Anaïs Nin- Anais Nin
17. The Tropic Of Cancer-Henry Miller
18. Catch-22-Joseph Heller
19. The Help-Kathryn Stockett
20. Water for Elephants -Sara Gruen
21. Middlemarch-George Eliot
22. Six Characters in Search of an Author — Luigi Pirandello
23. Interview with a Vampire-Anne Rice
24. Diana: Her True Story- Andrew Morton
25. Paradise- Toni Morrison
26. It's Always Something- Gilda Radner
27. Experience- Martin Amis
28. The Teahouse Fire- Ellis Avery
29. The Satanic Verses- Salman Rushdie
30. Mists of Avalon-Marion Zimmer Bradley
31. The Thirteenth Tale -Diane Setterfield
32. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel- Lisa See
33. And Then There Were None -Agatha Christie
34. The Reader -Bernhard Schlink
35. When You Are Engulfed In Flames- David Sedaris
36. Food Matters-Mark Bittman
37. Dry- Augusten Burroughs
38. The Beach House- Jane Green
39. I Was Told There Would Be Cake-Sloane Crosley
40. The Triumph of Deborah-Eva Etzioni-Halevy
41. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-Stieg Larsson
42. A Year In The Merde-Stephen Clarke
43. Fluke-Christopher Moore

I'll be posting my reviews here as well on the Filling In The Gaps blog.

Jack's Fish and Chip Spot

The other day I ventured down to the Pike Place Market. Even though my office is just a few blocks away I tend not to head there simply cause of the tourists. But I decided that a Tuesday afternoon might be ok.
People clamor to watch the fish guys toss fish. When you order fish they throw it to the guy in the back to prepare and wrap. No tossing while I was there. But fish did sound good. I had seen a fish and chip place around the corner. It always had a crazy line so I never tried it before. But I had some time so I choose to try it.
Jack's Fish and Chip Spot is actually part of Jack's Fish Spot, another fish market in the market. I decided to try the prawns.
Yes, that's my desk at work. Very yummy prawns. I think the fries could have used some ketchup but I neglected to get some. But I can't wait to go back with Tai.

Library Loot #15

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Alessandra and Eva that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
I saw EcoChick on the shelf at the library. It might have some neat ideas in it. Yes, Fragile Eternity to complete The Wicked Lovely series. I still have to read Ink Exchange. It's in the pile. And Where Shall We Go For Dinner caught my eye off the shelf too. Another foodie memoir :)
I finished Sarah by Orson Scott Card this week. It was a slow start but I got into it after a while. At the beginning I felt that I read it before and perhaps I did but I don't think I finished it before. I had been looking for another Red Tent. It wasn't quite what I wanted but it wasn't terrible either. If you like biblical fiction, I would recommend it.
What did you get this week?

Weekly Geek #14

This week's task was sent in by Maree of Just Add Books, who's been thinking about those things that we do when we're not reading or blogging. Here's what Maree has to say:

The comments on this post of mine got me thinking about guilty pleasures. Non-reading guilty pleasures.

Mine at the time the post was written was American Idol. Particularly one contestant, as you can see. By now, the show is over, and the results are in, one way or another. But my inappropriate addiction to Idol got me thinking about the things we do that we love but that we don't like to admit to--our guilty pleasures. Mine is reality TV, which scratches that small, dark place that we all have.

So. Weekly Geeks, we're going into the confessional this week.

What's your non-reading guilty pleasure?
Trashy TV?
Trashier movies?
Junk food?

Well Tai would say my guilty pleasure is bad movies. At least bad to him. I love cheesy action flicks (like anything with Jason Statham) and teen movies (my favorite being Can't Hardly Wait). I could watch Bring It On, She's All That, and Mean Girls over and over again. Or an action flick marathon would also keep me happy. Put on the Transporter series and the third Blade movie and I will sit happily in front of the tv for hours!
But I would say my guilt pleasure is junk food. I love candy, carmel corn, ice cream, brownies, cupcakes, and fast food. I'm trying to limit all that but I could eat it all day!
What about you? What your guilty pleasure?

Steamed Shrimp

I had some shrimp and I wasn't sure what to make with them. It's been getting warmer here so I didn't want to make anything too laborous or involving the oven. I decided to try the steamed shrimp recipe on the back of the Old Bay seasoning container.
So yummy. Next time I'll buy more shrimp!

Exploring Ballard

Saturday night the girls and I headed to Ballard to try some Mexican food and cupcakes.I heard good things about La Carta de Oaxaca so we decided to check it out. We were not disappointed. I got the carne asada tacos. So delicious!I also got the chile rellenos. It was yummy. It was not like another chile rellenos I ever had but still really good.
Ashley and Erin got the tamale. I had a little bit of the dough and it was good.
Next we tried Cupcake Royale. Consensus was that Trophy was better. But Tai liked the cupcakes I brought home.
I got the chocolate scorcher, salted carmel, mint chocolate, triple chocolate, pink frosting with chocolate, and The Royale with Cheese (cream cheese frosting).
It was a fun Saturday night and I'm looking forward to the next time.