Tag Archives: doing

What You Can Expect from Me…

August 7, 2012

As many of you know, I took a little break from blogging. Surprisingly, in that time away, I picked up a few new followers. Well, I’m back now, new friends and old, and I’ve changed my look, as you might have noticed. I love it!

Here’s some interesting (at least to me) background info on the look: I was directly inspired by the art print, “Someday, You’re Gonna” by Jordan Crane, which hangs in my kitchen. I wish I could commission Crane to do the artwork for my header, but what can I do? Use silly pictures of myself and the covers of a few of my favorite books, I guess.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Since I have some new followers, and I’m returning after a long absence with a new drive, I thought I’d share some of my favorite posts that best reflect who I am as a blogger, and what you can expect to see here at Adventures in Borkdom. Many thanks to The Broke and the Bookish for providing the inspiration with today’s perfectly timed Top Ten Tuesday prompt!

1. Book Reviews

While I have been slacking in this area, a good chunk of Adventures in Borkdom is devoted to book reviews. When I put in the work, you can expect regular reviews on books of varying genres (I am a mood reader and like to read it all!) and I attempt to make these reviews as unbiased and professional as possible (when I might be biased, I make note of it in the review). I even created a rubric (feel free to use in your own reviews!) to make my methods of judgment transparent. Here are some examples of the positive review: Bleak House and The Waste Lands, the “meh” review: A Discovery of Witches, and the negative review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

When I don’t feel like putting in the work, you can expect posts full of mini-reviews: July Mini-Reviews

If you’re looking for more reviews, I post them up in the “Reviews” page at the top of the blog. *Coming Soon: Reviews organized by genre!*

2. Inspired Adventures

This is a new feature I started yesterday. It will appear twice a week (unless life gets in the way), and will center around a book I recently read, and an adventure or activity that I took part in that was directly inspired by the book. For example, after reading Hatchet, I took a hike in the mountains, and considered what aspects of the area would affect my survival if I were stranded there, à la Hatchet. Here is that post: Inspired Adventures: Hatchet and a Hike.

Upcoming Inspired Adventures include: Anne of Green Gables and Raspberry Cordial; The Return of the King and LARPing; and When You Are Engulfed in Flames and Quitting Smoking.

Check back on Thursday for this week’s second Inspired Adventure!

3. Bookish Featurettes

I enjoy writing posts on books that explore the various aspects of novels and reading in general. This is where I can really analyze certain literary/bookish areas without the limitations of a book review.

Some examples include:

4. Classic Authors: They’re Just Like Us!

These posts are biographical and discuss traits of a classic author that are surprisingly similar to either “us”, the everyday reader, or to the traits of modern-day popular authors. These ones are fun to read if you’re interested in a certain author, but don’t feel like getting bogged down by a long biography. I try to just give you the good stuff!

Examples:

Charles Dickens

Ernest Hemingway

J.R.R. Tolkien (posted over at Snobbery)

5. Fun Top Tens

Occasionally, I compile Top Ten lists that are connected to my reading preferences. I try to make these fun and somewhat informative. Typically, these directly derive from topics originating from the good folks at The Broke and the Bookish (like this post!).

A few of my favorites include:

Playing Hooky With Literary Characters

If Classics Were Set to Punk Rock

Oh Boy! It’s My Day to be a Girl! Here Are My Top Ten Book Boyfriends

The rest of my Top Tens can be found at the top of the blog in the page labeled “The Best”

6. Participation in Reading Challenges

This year, I signed up for a bunch of challenges. Not all of them have stuck (or, at least, I’m not attending to them right now), but I have seen a few of them through.

Two of these are

the horror- centric, annual Readers in Peril (RIP) Challenge, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings

and

Charles Dickens Month, hosted by Fig and Thistle

7. Writings on Current Blogging Issues and/or My Views on Blogging

I don’t often dabble in blogging politics, but on occasion, I’ll come across an issue that I think needs addressing. Here’s a sample of what it looks like when I do:

When Blogging Gets You Down: A Letter to Bloggers (Big and Small)

I have also created a blogging manifesto, which pretty much spells out my views on blogging, and still holds true today: My Blogging Manifesto

8. “Best of” Lists

This shall be an annual event, and since I am only just approaching my one-year anniversary, I only have examples for 2011. Yet, you can expect to see daily posts, during the last week of 2012, that list my favorite books of 2012, broken down into genres. Here are two examples from last year:

9. Readathons

I am a nut for readathons, particularly the big ones. This year, I took part in both of Dewey’s annual 24-hour readathons (held in October and April). I also held personal, impromptu readathons, which I chronicled on the blog.

Here are two posts reflecting my readathon participation:

October Read-a-Thon: And so it begins!

Post-It Readathon

10. The Person away from the Book

Finally, you will get to know the person that is separate from the books I read. Sometimes I write about what’s going on in my life:

She Was a Day Tripper…

Valentine’s Day?

A Slice of Crappy Life

and sometimes I feature the other interests and hobbies in my life:

Gaming:

Movies

Cooking

———***——–

All of this, and writings I can’t foresee, will be featured here at Adventures in Borkdom. Obviously, if you want to know a bit more about me, the writer, check out my “About” page .

Thanks again for reading my blog and taking an interest in what I care about. I hope you enjoy what I put out there.

Posted by borkadventures in Blogging Tags: About Me, Best, doing, read-a-thon, recommend, reviews, writing

4 comments

School’s Out for April!

March 31, 2012

At this time of year, working at a year-round school is so freaking awesome (not so much in June and July, when other schools start vacation and I’m still working in the heat). I get my vacation separated into months throughout the year, with two weeks added on to Christmas vacation, and a whole month for Spring Break, and then one month in August. Now, a reminder for those who don’t know…teachers are technically not paid for vacation…we get ten months of pay every year, and that pay is split up amongst the twelve months for some teachers. This is why many teachers take a second job during vacation–summer school, independent contract work, etc. But, not me!

Every time I get a month off, I set personal goals to accomplish. Most are simply things I wish I had more time for, and I always set one for something that I’ve always been too chicken to do–a big goal. Last year, in April, I set the goal of reading as many books as possible, and ended up reading 28 and gained 10 pounds in the process! In August of last year, my big goal was starting a blog, and here I am! January of this year was the beginning of boxing and Muay Thai classes, which I am still taking four times a week! So, what are my goals for this Spring Break?

Read at least two books per week! I think I can easily manage this one (except for The Canterbury Tales…I think that will be read concurrently throughout the month!) I’ll just be reading during the day while the husband is at work. Depending upon the difficulty of the books, I should be able to manage more than two per week!
Write at least five posts per week! Again, I think I should be able to easily manage this, if not more. With all of the reading I’ll be doing, I’ll have a lot of reviews to write and post. Plus, there’s some really good television happening in April (Mad Men and Game of Thrones), so I’ll never run out of things to talk about!
Drop five pounds–cut calories, run, bike, etc. Ugh. Despite my major sweat sessions doing boxing and Muay Thai for four hours per week, I have actually gained about six or seven pounds since January! I’m told that this is muscle, but this is ridiculous. I have never weighed so much in my life! So, it’s time to get all Dr. Phil and get real…time to cut calories and take more walks or ride my bike. Maybe I’ll also “Just Dance” it off. I just want to see if I can!
Deep-clean the house! When I say “deep-clean”, I mean normal stuff that I’ve been putting off–dusting and sweeping, clean the bathrooms, pick up the clothes in the bedroom, shred the huge pile of stupid, unsolicited credit card applications, etc. I’ve become a terrible housekeeper!
Sansa's Lemon Cakes! (Man, she drives me nuts)

Cook at least one Game of Thrones- A Clash of Kings-themed meal! Ah yes! This is a fun one! Last year, when Game of Thrones premiered on HBO, I got together with friends to watch, and I cooked Honeyed Chicken with potatoes and onions (like they serve in King’s Landing) and Sansa’s favorite–Lemon Cakes. Then, for a later episode, I made a true Dornish meal with pita, hummus, olives, rice, and chicken (I think?). I get all of my recipes from The Inn at the Crossroads, and this year, I want to make another GOT-themed meal. Maybe something they’d serve in the kitchens of Harrenhal…
Go for at least one hike! I better do this one–I need some nature in my life!
Do something special for my one-year anniversary with my husband. We got married during my Spring Break last year–April 12 in Reno. We need to do something for this occasion, since we both accidentally missed our other anniversary–the anniversary of our first date, which we have celebrated every year for the last five years. What to do though? Maybe a camping trip or a night in a hotel or something. I have no idea.
Read The Canterbury Tales! This one is long and difficult! I will be reading TCT in it’s original format (using the footnotes a lot!), so I’m anticipating a very slow rate of reading. Since it’s broken up into each traveler’s tale, I’ll probably set my goal for two tales per day. That way, I should be able to complete the text by the end of April. It’s a moral imperative that I do so! I have been wanting to read this for the last 12 years!
Write a short story that I don’t want to throw in the trash! This is the big goal! I haven’t written a short story since college–ten years ago, to be exact. I want to see if I can write one complete short story that doesn’t make me want to puke! To do this, I have to do the next task as well.

Start writing in my office. Last summer, I turned our spare bedroom into my own personal writing office. All of my writing books are in there, I have a huge desk covered in quotes from my favorite writing texts, pictures of my heroes staring down at me from the wall (two pictures of Stephen King, hard at work on his own writing, as well as my signed picture of Felicia Day, who is one of the hardest-working creators I know of –she’s my lady-hero!) It’s all set up and ready for me, but because I don’t have a working laptop, I haven’t been working in there. But, for Christmas, I got a keyboard to go with my IPad, so I could turn that into a laptop. I need to start making that office work for me! This will have to happen!

So those are my ten goals for Spring Break! If you had a month off from your responsibilities, how would you spend it?

Posted by borkadventures in Blogging, Life, Reading Life Tags: 2012, About Me, doing, Reading, san diego, short story, Spring, writing

5 comments

Mad Men on My Mind

March 25, 2012

Tonight’s the night! Season 5 of Mad Men premieres on AMC at 9:00! Two hours!

While I haven’t had to wait as long as other fans (I only just started watching seasons 1-4 in November), I am still very excited to see what’s happening to my favorite characters!

So, today I will be gearing up for the premiere by watching some of my favorite episodes from the past seasons (all previous seasons are streaming on Netflix). These favorite episodes include:

-Warning: Don’t Click on These if You Haven’t Watched the Show–Synopses Contain Spoilers!-

“A Night to Remember” Season 2: Episode 8

“Six-Month Leave” Season 2: Episode 9

“Meditations in an Emergency” Season 2: Episode 13

“Out of Town”: Season 3: Episode 1

“My Old Kentucky Home”: Season 3: Episode 3

“The Grown-Ups”: Season 3: Episode 12

“Shut the Door. Have a Seat.” Season 3: Episode 13

And most, if not all, of Season 4 (definitely my all-time favorite episode “The Suitcase” and the finale).

A Cold Blustery Day

March 18, 2012

Free air conditioning--all year long!

It’s another cold, wet, blustery day here in San Diego! One of the perks of being in San Diego is that there really isn’t any reason to have a high energy bill. The weather typically is moderate, so no need for AC in the summer and no need for heat in the winter. However, on days and nights like this, with a house full of wide door jambs and such, it’s not too different from camping. You can feel the wind blowing in right through the cracks of the walls! That makes for a chilly house (but great on a hot, windy summer day)! So, I’m all bundled up in the house in my robe, scarf, long johns, wool socks and sweater. We San Diegans can be wusses about temperature changes, I know! But, it would be ridiculous to try to heat up this old, drafty house with no insulation whatsoever. So, we bundle up!

So, the fanfare may commence…I finished The Wise Man’s Fear relatively early (9:00 p.m.) last night! It was so good! If you missed them, I wrote readathon posts on Friday and Saturday, each with reading updates and reflection (and silly videos). Today, I will write my review (to post tomorrow) and begin reading The Waste Lands in continuance of The Dark Tower Reading Challenge (and The Stephen King project). I also need to read a classic for March still, and while I was planning on reading The Forsyte Saga for this month, it’s a hefty book and March is almost over! So, I’m going to push that off until I have a lot of free reading time (Spring Break in April or summer vacation in August). Instead, I think my classic will be A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. My sister has urged me to read it, and the little bits I’ve skimmed while flipping through have shown it to be a very interesting book. So, I’m excited to start that up this week! I hope it counts for some of my challenges…

What else has been going on? Well, I’ve been having an internal debate on whether or not I should accept books for review. I’ve been getting approaches by authors about reading and reviewing their books, and I am skeptical to say the least. I don’t like being given something to read. It’s like someone throwing themself at you. I’m all about the chase. I want to find the perfect book for right now, and read it on my own time. Plus, I’m a horrible snob when it comes to what I read. It sounds pretentious, but I don’t read bad books. I just don’t. Or, if I do, I’m doing it on purpose. I can be in the mood for fluffy crap, but, even then, I seek it out. I seek my crap carefully. Plus, there’s the whole problem with my dislike of contemporary fiction. It’s a struggle for me to even read the Pulitzer winners for the Insatiable Booksluts’ Award-Winning Challenge, and those are award-winners!

So, after careful consideration, and the seeking out of advice from two book bloggers I greatly admire, and finally, after reading this article from the Los Angeles Review of Books, I have decided that I am not accepting books for review at this time. I will place this in my Contact page to avoid further consideration. I’ve just got too many good books of my own choosing to read, and I read enough sucky writing from my students–I don’t need to read potentially sucky books in my free time! So, if you’re looking for reviews of the newest upcoming novels, Adventures in Borkdom isn’t the place! Sorry!

Some really good news…Dewey’s Readathon is returning in April! I participated in my first Dewey back in October, and I had a blast! I read for the full 24 hours, ripped through 4.5 books, and participated in the challenges! If you’re looking for a good time, I urge you to sign up when the official linky becomes available (I’ll let you know when it does)! It could be a like a big fun sleepover, where we are all reading together and blogging and tweeting and rooting each other on! It could be so fun!!! It’ll take place April 21st, the third Saturday in April. Please, friends, set aside the date and sign up! IT COULD BE SO MUCH FUN!!!

Finally, I’ll be tuning in to tonight’s season finale of The Walking Dead! I was very happy when Shane died in the last episode (though, I wish it had been Carl who shot him. He could’ve done that when he was creeping around and saw Shane pointing a gun at his Dad. That would’ve been a huge turning point for Carl’s character! Of course, I’m assuming Carl was there to see the scene between Shane and Rick.), and I’m hoping to see some of Hershel’s red-shirt kids bite the big one tonight. And, if they’re not going to give T-Dog any sort of purpose, he could die too. If we played a drinking game where we drank everytime T-Dog appeared in an episode, we would be negative-drunk. He needs a purpose if he’s going to take up a valuable space on our survivor squad–there are too many stronger characters who could take his place! I’m crossing my fingers that one of those awesome characters will appear in tonight’s finale and set up an awesome new season in the Fall!

A rare sighting of T-Dog...

So, that’s what I’m up to. How ’bout you?

Posted by borkadventures in Reading Life Tags: 2012, About Me, Books, characters, classics, Dark Tower, doing, fantasy, horror, non-fiction, read-a-thon, Reading, recommend, san diego, Spring, Stephen King, television, walking dead, watching

3 comments

Weekend Readathon Is Still On!

March 17, 2012

I stayed out a bit too late last night…one of those rare nights where I went out with friends. I got to dance to some of my favorite old tunes–The Smiths’ “Hang the DJ”, Blur’s “Girls and Boys”, Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. It was a good time, but now I’m a bit groggy. So, my readathon is off to a slow start!

But, as soon as I finish writing this, it will commence! I am going to finish The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss by the end of the weekend! I’m pretty excited because, yesterday, one of my commenters, The Other Watson, stated that the last 300 pages were his favorite, and that he read the final 200 in one sitting. So I’ve got some really good reading today!

I’m at page 767, so I have roughly 230 more pages left to read.

It’s a rainy day here in San Diego. I’ve got my favorite, comfy robe on. I have lit my Jane Austen candle for a good bookish scent. The couch is calling my name! I will check in here again in about two hours. Hopefully, I will have read at least 40 pages by then (the going is so slow with this book!).

Update 1:

Well, I didn’t start when I said I would. Not even close. I just started reading about 45 minutes ago. Before I started, I was emailing, commenting on blogs, reading blogs, and then I decided I wanted a fattening hot breakfast for this chilly wet day. So, my husband and I went to the local greasy spoon joint and each ordered a plate of chicken-fried steak, hashbrowns, eggs, and toast. It was delicious with a good cup of coffee.

Once I got home, I finally sat down and got to reading. I did get close to 40 pages read, and I think this book is really about to kick into high gear. I think Kvothe is about to step up to the Adem people who have been training/threatening him. It’s hard to describe, but the last 40 pages have been like a classic ’80′s movie training montage, and now the Adem are threatening Kvothe, and when I stopped, it looks like Kvothe has had enough and is ready to get all Arcane on their asses! It’s gonna be good!

This montage is for Kvothe and readathoning me today!

I think I’m going to finish this book today! Even though I got a late start, it’s all good because my husband left for San Clemente a little while ago, and I think he’s going to spend the night up there. What that means is I get the whole house to myself to be a true readathoning bork!!! I can be in my own little world in the house with my book and not have to worry about anybody but me! Yes! So, I might make it a true readathon and be up late tonight reading–I really want to take advantage of this rare occasion.

So, it’s on! I will check in here in another couple of hours! How’s your reading going, friends?

Update #2:

So, my prediction was wrong… but Kvothe has just gotten into a tussle with some ruffians. Pretty tuff, that Kvothe. I am at page 866 now, and I am fairly confident that I will finish this book tonight. No big deal if I don’t, but I’m going strong. I’m taking a short break right now to check in and make some dinner, but I plan to keep on reading through the evening. It’s still raining here, and I am still enjoying it.

For some reason, this theme song has been stuck in my head for the last 24 hours…To keep with this post’s ongoing sharing of song, I give you The Kids in the Hall theme!

Update #3

I have 20 pages left to go. Surely, I will be done within the hour. Well, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?

Denna, Kvothe’s love interest has just reappeared in the story. Earlier this week, I had planned and began to draft a character sketch of Denna. That didn’t happen, but now I’ll at least share what I think is the perfect love theme for Kvothe and Denna. It’s Candy’s Room by Bruce Springsteen.

Enjoy, and I’ll be back tomorrow, finished with The Wise Man’s Fear, and bubbling with excitement over the beginning of The Waste Lands by Stephen King. Good night!

Posted by borkadventures in Reading Life Tags: 2012, About Me, blur, Books, Bruce Springsteen, Candy's Room, Denna, doing, fantasy, Joy Division, Karate Kid Montage, Kids in the Hall, Kvothe, read-a-thon, Reading, recommend, Rothfuss, san diego, Spring, The Smiths, The Wise Man's Fear

11 comments

Weekend Readathon? The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

March 16, 2012

I called in sick today. It’s a mental illness sick day–I need to not be in the classroom.

As I already wrote about, I received a pink slip on Tuesday.

Then, one of my students was put into handcuffs in the middle of my classroom, in the middle of my lesson on “Main Idea and Supporting Details”, in the middle of a student participating in discussion. This was uncomfortable for all of us, to say the least. Particularly because she is a classroom favorite–always participating, always smiling, always getting her work in on time. In short, she is ideal in the classroom. Apparently, she is less than ideal outside of the classroom. I have no idea what she was arrested for, and I have no idea why the vice principal decided that it would be appropriate to arrest her in the middle of my lesson, without even letting me know ahead of time, but let’s just say that it shook me up. Luckily, my classroom is full of pros, and my students continued on with the lesson as they led her out, continuing to raise their hands to contribute to our lesson. They blew my mind with how cool they were. And, at the end of the day, I received a letter from the student, apologizing for getting in trouble and getting arrested in the middle of my class. I certainly didn’t receive an apology from the two adults who participated in this disruptive scene. Grrr.

So, I’m mentally ill today. I will stay home today and begin what I think will be a readathon weekend.

The goal is to finish The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss this weekend. This is a 1000-page book, and I’m only at page 700, and I’ve been reading for 3 weeks now! Something must be done! I want to start reading The Forsyte Saga and The Waste Lands next week, so it has to be finished by Sunday.

Usually, when a book takes me this long, it can be assumed that I’m just not really into it. Let me be clear, this is a VERY GOOD BOOK! If the next 300 pages are consistent with previous 700, I will write a glowing review of this fantasy novel next week. Plot is excellent and fast-paced, the characters are very well-developed, lots of good themes going on, and I am just really enjoying it! But, for some reason, it is taking me forever to read! Maybe it’s because I keep falling asleep when I read it–not because it’s boring, but because I am exhausted!

So, I think I will do a readathon this weekend. Starting today! I will probably do updates on my progress and reflections on my reading throughout the days too. I need to go to Jiffy Lube, take a nap, and go to the gym tonight, but I should be able to read quite a bit throughout the day. Tomorrow should be wide open too.

If any of you have free time this weekend, maybe you’d be interested in readathoning with me? I always love company on these sorts of endeavors. Will you at least consider it? Either way, I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I will be updating here later on, throughout the day!

Reading Update #1:

I just finished getting an oil change at Jiffy Lube…whoo! 230 bucks with a few of the extras thrown in. I don’t know anything about cars, so I just space out when they talk about what needs to be changed or fixed and simply nod my head “yes”. A few of the suggestions I said ”no” to, just to add in variety to the conversation. I really don’t know what the hell is going on! Ah well. I’m sure it was all necessary.

Meanwhile, I read 30 pages while sitting in the waiting room. Not much, but it’s pretty much par for the course with this book. I wonder what the word count is on this book. Am I just savoring every word, or am I just tired? All I know is my reading speed goes dowwwwwn when I read Rothfuss (I was pretty slow at reading The Name of the Wind as well, but that definitely had some less than thrilling parts).

The reading is good. Kvothe just took a journey to Stormwal, and is now seeing the Adem life for the first time (a stoic type of people who are trained in a sort of martial art and live as mercenaries). Pretty interesting…

I think I’m going to be asleep in the next two hours. Didn’t get much sleep last night. Will probably check in again in the afternoon!

Reading Update #2

Woke up about two hours ago from a good 2+ hour nap. Before falling asleep, I read another 20 pages of The Wise Man’s Fear, putting me at page 752. Not as far as I’d like, but I’ll have less to do tomorrow, so I should probably get more reading done.

In the meantime, I’ve really enjoyed the conversations that I’ve been having here on the blog today! Thanks so much for your comments and support! It’s really been a good recuperative day thanks to the reading and all of you!

I don’t know how much more reading that I’ll get in today, as I am going to the gym in an hour, and then I’ll have to make something to eat when I get home, and, after that, apparently my husband and I are going out to drink and dance to Britpop at a local bar. All in the name of consoling a grieving friend who just lost her father. I do enjoy dancing though, so hopefully it will be a good time. However, I have a tendency to almost get in a fight at this bar with hipsters. Usually over something stupid, but this bar puts me in such a pugilistic state that I seriously think about using my fists on someone with cute bangs or a handlebar mustache. And I’ve never been in a fight (well, except the one in 6th grade, with a boy whom I beat in arm wrestling. But, that was more shoving and kicking. And I didn’t want to fight, but he wouldn’t let it go. It didn’t help that my sister Erika was egging us on.)! So, who knows how this night will go. With the luck I’ve had this week, I could be writing a post on Sunday about how I spent the night in jail after breaking a bottle of Jack Daniels over the head of some chick who snickered at my chucks (“that is so 2002.”).

I’ll be back to reading tomorrow if I’m not in jail! Have a good night!

Posted by borkadventures in Life, Reading Life Tags: 2012, About Me, Books, doing, fantasy, read-a-thon, Reading, Spring

21 comments

Six Months Old, Baby!

March 4, 2012

Paging Miss Personality! There she is, smiling, waving, talking, and entertaining anyone in her orbit. Your baby is also ready to explore a bit more, so beware her impulse to touch (and taste) everything and anything within her reach (including dog biscuits and poop!). She’s probably able to bear weight on her legs when you hold her upright and may even be ready to hit the road, albeit at a crawl.

- WhatToExpect.com

Well, somehow this milestone passed me by last Saturday, but Adventures in Borkdom turned six months old last week!

I don’t know about “Miss Personality”, but I do feel that I have grown more in my blogging and am ready to explore a bit. When I started blogging in August, I had no idea what I wanted to do, I just knew that I wanted to be writing regularly and that I loved books and wanted to meet other people who loved books as much as I do. That goal was certainly met, and now I have found that blogging is as important to me as teaching. I feel a real need to write and publish posts regularly.

Since I started, I have taken part in a few reading events (R.I.P.,Charles Dickens Month, and Dewey’s Readathon), signed up for A LOT of reading challenges (just check out the side bar to the right! and I just signed up for another!), and have pulled away from all the memes that constituted my blog at the beginning (except for Top Ten Tuesday, my favorite!). I’ve also made some amazing friends here–I really wasn’t expecting the level of camaraderie I feel for my fellow bloggers and I am thrilled that I am still meeting new people every week.

In short, I am so glad that I started blogging in August, and I am so glad that I have joined this amazing community of book lovers. I am honored to be a part of this group of passionate and intelligent readers and writers and I hope that I am contributing as much as I am taking in. Thank you Tris Hussey for writing your book on blogging, as that inspired it all, and now, here I am! And, of course, thanks to all of YOU for reading my blog and making this hobby so very, very rewarding.

Speaking of Rewarding…

My newest blogging/reading buddy SJ of Snobbery has given Adventures in Borkdom its first blogging award! Yes! Achievement unlocked!

So, I have been given the Liebster Award, a Circle of Excellence award for blogs with less than 200 followers. SJ was ultra-flattering in considering that I might have over 200 followers (I wish!) and yet gave it to me anyways. She also said some very nice things about my book reviews and their influence upon her reading interests.

Thanks so much SJ! I am flattered and honored if I have any influence on anyone’s reading interests.

So, now, I shall pass on this Liebster Award to a couple of other amazing blogs that may or may not have fewer than 200 followers (I have the same problem, SJ–I’m not sure who has less than 200!).

Coffee and a Book Chick: Seriously, I don’t know how many followers Natalie has (it could be a gazillion), but I know that I love reading her blog. She is really sinking her teeth into Stephen King this year (even going as far as hosting a challenge, which I am participating in) and I am enjoying reading her reviews on King’s masterpieces. She has also recently discovered a love for audiobooks, so I actively take note of her favorites, as I am trying to fit more audiobooks into my life. Finally, I enjoy her feature “A Walk About Town”, which features pictures and descriptions of where she lives. Hopefully, I will soon be posting my own “Walk About” featuring San Diego. You’re awesome, Natalie!

A Reader’s Pensieve: Kyle is a lovely young teacher from Michigan who reads and writes a lot! If you’re trying to find the next best young adult book, Kyle is your lady, as it seems that she has read and reviewed them all! Also, she has started a new feature on her blog titled “Former Favorites” which features a book or series that she loved when she was younger. I love these trips down memory lane as I am way into nostalgia! Finally, Kyle is just awesome, someone whom I love to engage with on Twitter and even send the occasional, extremely long, ranting email to. She’s one of my first blogging friends and I am so very grateful to know her.

Shhh… Mommy’s Blogging: I love when I get a new post from Jessica in my Google Reader because I’m never quite sure what I’m going to get, but I know I’m going to love it. Jessica has such an engaging voice in her writing that her posts feel as if I am sitting at a coffee shop with her, discussing whatever is on her mind. That could be a lot of things, from a wide array of current reads (young adult to contemporary to science to fantasy to science fiction…she’s all over the place in her reading!), to her 30 before 30 goals, to her disgust at common grammar mistakes (one of my all-time favorite posts!). Jessica is also pretty special to me because she is always rooting me on in my reading–when I was reading (and, at times, struggling with) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, she kept up with me and encouraged me to keep going, through the entire experience. I’m so glad she did, as now I am reading The Wise Man’s Fear (book 2 in the series) and am loving it! And she is, of course, there with me now, rooting me on in my reading!

Tabula Rasa: I am very biased towards Priya because she has almost identical tastes in reading. She loves Harry Potter. She loves Stephen King. She loves Neil Gaiman. She loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not a book, but it says so much). Yet, recently, she’s been reading a lot of books that I’ve never even heard or thought of… a lot of German literature for German Literature Month. Going by her similar tastes, I’m guessing that I’ll have to check out some of these German titles simply if she recommends them. I’m pretty sure that I’ll enjoy them as well. It should also be mentioned that Priya was the first bookish friend I ever made here in the blogging world, and it’s been a while since I sung her praises. Priya, I still think you are just as wonderful as I did way back in September. Please keep up with your writing… I love it!

Cummings and Goings: Here is the obligatory non-book blog that is deserving of the Liebster. This isn’t the first time that Pat has been inducted into a Circle of Excellence, but it is the first time his writing has gotten some recognition. Book bloggers, meet Pat, a friend of mine who recently traveled around the world and wrote all about it on his blog. To say Pat is quirky is an understatement–as he traipsed across Morocco, France, Italy, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Australia, he got into some major hijinks and was brutally and seriously (I mean it’s all here, folks) honest in his writing. It should be noted that Pat is a huge fan of science fiction, Hall & Oates, and Jim Jams. If you’re looking for a high-flying adventure and exceptional writing that documents it, I recommend this blog. Come on guys–we’re readers, and Pat has a really good story to tell. But, you have to start at the beginning, as it is a story! I highly recommend this blog, and award it the Liebster for its story-telling excellence!

A Quick “What’s Going on with Me” Closure:

Lately, I’ve been a very good reader, devoting at least an hour a day to my reading of The Wise Man’s Fear. This book is highly addictive, and I definitely recommend the series. I’m thinking that I might write a character feature post on Kvothe (the main character) at some point this week.

Today, I will be watching a few episodes of Mad Men with my sister (we’re gearing up for the March 25 premiere of season 5) and then, later this evening, I will be tuning in for tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead. Shane’s gotta die soon, that’s all I’m going to say about that!

Have a wonderful week! Hopefully, I won’t be too sporadic in my posts here, and ideally I’ll have some sort of review to write later this week. Meanwhile, I will be announcing a giveaway today, so be on the lookout for that!

Posted by borkadventures in Blogging, Reading Life Tags: 2012, About Me, Award!, Best, blogs I love, Books, doing, Reading, recommend, watching, Winter, writing

17 comments

Checking In!

February 26, 2012

It's a chilly morning in San Diego...

So, February is just flying by! It’s the last Sunday of the month, and I thought I might write a little about what I’m up to/been up to lately.

Today:

• On the Blog- I think I might change up the theme on the blog and add some copyright info, as well as my affiliate listing disclaimer (I’m simply going to imitate what I see on some other blogs). I’ll also update my Reviews page and Challenges page so that they’re all caught up with where I am.

• Reading- I am back in the world of Kvothe, fully engaged in my reading of The Wise Man’s Fear. This book has picked up right where the last one left off (Duh, Mandy, it’s book 2 in a series.) and I am enjoying being back at Kvothe’s University, watching him expertly play his lute on the stage for his adoring audience at the Eolian, and waiting to see what hijinks he’s going to get into. Right now, his nemesis has poisoned him with a drug that turns off his “inappropriate” filter–he doesn’t know what he shouldn’t say or do. Thus, he told a female friend of his that he would like nothing better than to see her with her clothes off and he had to be coaxed out of murdering another student. It’s a lot of fun to see Kvothe letting loose, even if it’s under the influence.

• Watching- Tonight, I will be watching The Walking Dead (unfortunately, no more Downton Abbey until next year). In Walking Dead news, one of the top theories about The Governor has been disproven via the announcement that The Governor has been cast. For those of you who haven’t read the graphic novels, be prepared for the introduction of one of the most interesting and disturbing bad guys to the show. He’s definitely one of my all-time favorite villains! I, along with many other internet theorists, had guessed that Darryl’s brother Merle would make his return on the show as The Governor. Apparently, Merle is dead, or up to some other mischief. Fine by me!

- Also, it should be noted that I watched Drive last night and loved it. The acting was perfect, the story was solid, and I need to download the soundtrack right now, as I loved the music throughout. It’s weird how I haven’t noticed the absence of a score in most movies until I watched this movie, which uses music perfectly to set the tone. I think movie directors are really forgetting what a useful tool music can be to add to the story of their films. Hitchcock knew it, and Bernard Herrman’s scores for his films always added a great deal to his films. Would the shower scene in Psycho really have hit us without Hermann’s screeching violins? I don’t think so!

• Writing- I am planning on writing at least two of my posts for this week in advance. This week you can expect to see a review of I Want My MTV and a fun post that is tentatively titled “Punk Rock and Classic Literature”.

• Other Stuff- Might as well share that I will also be grading about 60 persuasive essays and doing some laundry today as well.

Winner of A Discovery of Witches!

Yesterday was the last day to enter to win A Discovery of Witches, and a winner has been selected! With the use of a random number generator, SJ of Snobbery has been selected! I will mail out her copy of A Discovery of Witches this week! Meanwhile, a new book giveaway should be announced at some point later today. I’m thinking that it will be a signed copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. Keep your eye out for the announcement!

2012 So Far: January and February

• Number of Books Read: 10

• Number of Reviews: 7

- Mrs. Warren’s Profession

- Locke & Key, vol. 1-3

- The Drawing of the Three

- The Gunslinger

- Bleak House

- Charles Dickens: A Life (not really a review, but a reflection)

- A Discovery of Witches

• Number of Pages Read: 4, 226

• Favorite Book of 2012: Bleak House

• Challenges Completed: 1 (Charles Dickens Month)

Posted by borkadventures in Blogging, Life, Reading Life Tags: 2012, About Me, Books, doing, movies, Reading, recommend, san diego, television, watching, Winter, writing

8 comments

Final Fantasy, Skyrim, and Tolkien…What’s My Gaming Mood Telling Me?

February 22, 2012

I am a warrior. I carry an Elven Greatsword, poisoned with Drain Magicka. I am equipped in full Steelplate Armor. Four brown dragons have attacked me in various towns–I have taken them all down with my trusty bow and arrow. I am also somewhat versed in magic and alchemy and am considering training at the Bard’s College. Or becoming a thief. I hate trolls and the undead, while I enjoy a good hunt. There is nothing better than clearing out a bandit’s den and grabbing all the loot.

Actually, this is Skyrim Me. Or, rather, Kajagoogoo from Skyrim, as that’s my character’s name.

I am loving Skyrim. Almost more than reading one of the two books that I am reading.

For those who don’t know, Skyrim is a role-playing game (RPG) that I play on my PS3. After I create a character, I go on quests where I fight other humans, monsters, and the paranormal, using weaponry, magic, and, occasionally, wits. I love these kinds of games, and have had a long history with them.

I started out playing PC games in the late ’80s with King’s Quest, and then when I got sick with pneumonia in 8th grade, my dad brought home Final Fantasy IV. I truly fell in love with RPGs then. I would be home sick, playing for hours, gaining levels, moving on through the story, and then I’d get stuck with a boss monster that I couldn’t beat, and my dad would take over through the night. I’d wake up early in the morning to find that he had moved our game on a bit. We never did beat that game (I still think there’s a glitch at the end!), but it began a long love affair with Final Fantasy games.

I fell out with gaming in my teen and college years. Other things were more important, like hanging out with my friends. Yet, when I moved back to San Diego in 2004, my sister and I found a way to hang out together across the 500+miles of separation–online gaming. And, no we didn’t WOW it up–we stuck to our roots and played Final Fantasy XI together. It was awesome to sign on and find her in one of the towns and then go on quests together–me, always the warrior, and she, the trusty mage. She really enjoyed instigating tiffs with the players who chose dwarfish characters as their avatars. She was a troublemaker and a lot of fun!

Dorky Me at Comic-Con in front of a poster for Final Fantasy XIII

For some reason or another, we fell out of love with Final Fantasy XI, and then last year, I finally gave in and signed up for World of Warcraft. I leveled very quickly and then got bored again.

Now, I have Skyrim, which is not an online game, but is so amazing in its limitless possibilities. I am loving it!

I’m thinking my Skyrim addiction is pointing me towards reading one of two books on my TBR list.

RPGs are heavily influenced by Dungeons and Dragons. Dungeons and Dragons is heavily influenced by The Lord of the Rings. Therefore, my love of Skyrim and RPGs is telling me that I either need to read Tolkien’s The Hobbit or The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.

With The Hobbit, I’ll get thieves, wizards, warriors, elves, dwarves, and the most awesome of all dragons (Smaug still beats out Dany’s dragons in the Song of Ice and Fire series). With The Wise Man’s Fear, I’ll get a bard who is attending magic school, romance, and battle. All of these things are my favorite parts of Skyrim and RPGs in general.

I’m guessing that I’ll probably go with The Wise Man’s Fear, as it’s part of a series that I’m dying to pick up again and I want to read The Hobbit around the release date of the upcoming movie (that means that I should read it in the Fall/early Winter).

So, that’s how my mood reading typically works–I pay attention to what I’m up to in life, what my interests are, or what I’m trying to escape from (stress and the weight of the world on my shoulders usually equates to a light read). And now you know a little bit more about what a huge dork I am. : )

Posted by borkadventures in Life, Reading Life Tags: 2012, About Me, Books, classics, Comic-Con, doing, family, fantasy, final fantasy, gaming, Reading, RPGs, san diego, skyrim, Winter

15 comments

What’s A-Happenin’ Hot Stuff?

February 12, 2012

I haven’t checked in with the Sunday Salon in a while, so today is a good time to do so!

Well, as mentioned on Friday, I was in an apathetic funk all week. I didn’t do much of anything, including blogging. I did write a Happy Birthday post for Charles Dickens, as it would’ve been wrong not to as I spent so much time getting to know him in January. Which, by the way, I did complete all of my posts for Charles Dickens month and finished Bleak House in January. Win for me!

I have been reading in my funk, and am still reading Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw and I Want My MTV by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum. I should have both books finished this week. Yesterday, I picked up volumes 2 and 3 of Locke and Key by Joe Hill at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, so I’ll be reading those this week as well.

Speaking of Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, after much debate about affiliation, I have decided to hitch my wagon to Mysterious Galaxy and IndieBound books as an affiliate. For the last month or so, I have been considering what it means to be an affiliate, and would it be like selling out or going commercial if I did so? Am I plugging in like Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival? I don’t want my blog to be a crummy commercial. After being approached by Audible and I considered Amazon, I decided that I would affiliate my blog with something that can use some attention. I realized that I could use affiliation to show my love for my favorite bookstore and help support other struggling independent bookstores. So, I applied for and was accepted as an affiliate for Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore and IndieBound. Now, if, by some off-chance, a reader clicks on one of the links that is connected to MG books or IndieBound AND decides to BUY the book via the link, I will get a small commission. However, that is unlikely, although it would be very cool. But, at least I am spreading the word about independent bookstores and Mysterious Galaxy, the coolest bookstores in Southern California (there are two- one in San Diego and one in Redondo Beach).

Another blogging thing I was considering was copyright. I see all of my friends’ blogs have little copyright symbols or some sort of copyright statement at the bottom of their page. What’s the deal with this? Do I need to do this? What do I need to do to get started on this? If anyone can give me some advice on this topic, I’d appreciate it!

Meanwhile, in my outside-of-blogging life, my husband and I have a dilemma on our hands. It looks like this:

This is a young gentleman who we like to call Mr. Fluffers or Morgan Freeman (he’s so cool and calm around our own hissing cats that he seems to be ready to handle any job in a crisis, much like Freeman in his presidential roles). He’s been hanging out on our porch the last few days, and the collar that he wore on Wednesday is no longer there. So, there is no contact info. One of his eyes is sorta cataract-y, and he’s awfully thin and needy, so we decided to let him into the house last night. Our little lady cats are not too happy with this decision, but what are we to do? He might get eaten by a coyote or beaten up by one of those ginormous raccoons I see fishing in the sewers. Today, I will make some posters to post around the neighborhood and put a “found cat” listing on Craig’s List. Then, today or tomorrow, I will take him into a vet or the humane society to see if he has a microchip that we can scan. Poor Morgan Freeman. Is he somebody’s lost baby? Is he abandoned? Who are you Morgan Freeman?

Other mentionables before I sign off on Sunday–

• I am offering four giveaways this week! I am giving away Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, A Visit from the Goon Squad, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and And Then There Were None. These are all in very good condition (Kavalier and Clay and And Then There Were None are brand new!) and are all very popular and/or acclaimed books. I will mail them out next week, to anywhere! So, sign up people! I don’t have that many followers on my site, and not many people have signed up, so you have a very good chance of winning! Just do it! Click on the links attached to each of the titles above to be directed to the announcement post and sign-up form. All I need is your name and contact info. That’s it! You don’t have to follow my blog and you don’t need to leave a comment. I’m just trying to share the love with other book lovers!

• I should be posting my reviews of The Drawing of the Three and Locke and Key, vol. 1 this week. Be on the lookout for those!

• Obviously, January is over, and I have not yet shared my challenges progress. I will do that now!

- Charles Dickens Month in January–COMPLETE, with Bleak House read and 5 Dickens- related posts written.

- End of the World Challenge: have read 2952 pages toward my goal of 3500 pages (really? only 3500 pages? that’s the end of the world? someone has to have won by now. I’ll be done with this challenge by the end of the week! oh, I just read the rules. it’s the person who reads the most pages by the end of the year that gets paid out a penny per page via giftcard, up to a limit of 3500 pages. I see…).

- The Stephen King Project: have read two books towards my goal of 12 books. This will be a piece of cake!

- The Dark Tower Challenge: have read the first two books of the series. I am actually holding myself back from reading The Wastelands right now. I want to have just finished Wizard and Glass when The Wind Through the Keyhole comes out in late April. I guess I’ll read a book per month!

- The Award-Winning Challenge: have read two books towards this challenge, and am currently working on the third.

- Back to the Classics Challenge and A Classics Challenge: have read one book towards both of these challenges, and am working on the second. I have written one post for A Classics Challenge, and will probably put my February post out later this week.

- What’s in a Name Challenge: Have read one book (Bleak House) towards the challenge. 5 more to go!

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday! If you have any advice regarding copyrighting blogs, please leave a comment! Well, of course, please leave a comment about whatever you want. Also, don’t forget to sign up for one of my giveaways! I want to give you a book!

Posted by borkadventures in Blogging, Giveaway!, Salon Tags: 2012, About Me, adult contemporary, Best, Books, bookstore, cats, classics, Dark Tower, Dickens, doing, fantasy, Historical Fiction, horror, IndieBound, Morgan Freeman, mysterious galaxy, mystery, non-fiction, Reading, recommend, salon, san diego, Stephen King, Winter, writing, young adult

4 comments

Adventures in Borkdom is an affiliate with Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore and IndieBound. While I doubt that I'll ever receive any compensation as an affiliate, it is necessary to concede that some links will direct you to an independent bookstore site, AND IF you were to purchase a book via a click from my site, I would receive a small comission. If this were ever to happen, please know that I would simply use it to buy a book from Mysterious Galaxy and blog about it.

Honestly, I'm just trying to show my love for Mysterious Galaxy and other independent bookstores!

Tag Archives: doing

School’s Out for April!

Weekend Readathon? The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

Reading Update #1:

Reading Update #2

Final Fantasy, Skyrim, and Tolkien…What’s My Gaming Mood Telling Me?

Previously on Adventures in Borkdom…

Winners of the Popularity Contest

@borkadventures

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Goodreads

2012 Reading Challenge

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This Is What I’m Talking About!

The Not So Distant Past…

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Tag Archives: doing

1. Book Reviews

2. Inspired Adventures

3. Bookish Featurettes

4. Classic Authors: They’re Just Like Us!

5. Fun Top Tens

6. Participation in Reading Challenges

7. Writings on Current Blogging Issues and/or My Views on Blogging

8. “Best of” Lists

9. Readathons

10. The Person away from the Book

Other Mad Men Links That Have Me All Worked Up!

Update 1:

This montage is for Kvothe and readathoning me today!

Update #2:

Update #3

Reading Update #1:

Reading Update #2

Speaking of Rewarding…

A Quick “What’s Going on with Me” Closure:

Today:

Winner of A Discovery of Witches!

2012 So Far: January and February

Other mentionables before I sign off on Sunday–

Previously on Adventures in Borkdom…

Winners of the Popularity Contest

Subscribe via Email:

Goodreads

Subscribe to Posts via RSS

This Is What I’m Talking About!

The Not So Distant Past…

Follow “Adventures in Borkdom”