March, 2014 | The Plaid Pladd Blog

Archive for March, 2014

March Book List

March 31st, 2014 by pladd

This month I read only 5 books from my list. A little less than usual, but that’s okay. I took a break and read some other great things that weren’t part of my goal. I’m about 29% of the way there so far.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Title: Grave Mercy
Author: Robin LaFevers
Amount Read: All
Rating: 5/5
Why was it on my list? That cover!

This book was awesome! I immediately looked to see if there was a sequel (and there is!! Though about different characters). It takes place in historical Brittany, where Ismae escapes from a terrible arranged marriage to an island abbey where the nuns serve Death. As assassins. There’s a little bit of magic, a lot of complex intrigue, and the perfect amount of ~romance~ with the added drama of whom can you really trust??. Love it.

More Than This by Patrick Ness

Title: More Than This
Author: Patrick Ness
Amount Read: All
Rating: 4/5
Why was it on my list? A list of good YA novels from last year

The novel opens with Seth drowning. He hits his head on a rock and dies. Then he wakes up, in the dusty remains of the house his family moved away from 8 years ago. Everything is abandoned and the entire town seems empty except for him. He must come to terms with the fact that he’s in some kind of hell…. or is he? I really liked the mystery involved, trying to figure out along with Seth what the hell is going on, and also the flashbacks to his life before drowning. There are multiple mysteries in this book, and I liked the way they twisted around each other. Only the ending was kind of unsatisfying, but maybe it’s a sequel set up. I’d be cool with seeing how this story continues.

Scorch by Gina Damico

Title: Scorch
Author: Gina Damico
Amount Read: All
Rating: 2/5
Why was it on my list? I enjoyed the first book in the series, Croak

True confession: I was not in the best state when I read this book, so maybe I would have liked it more at another time. The plot seemed unfocused, and the writing style and language kind of gimmicky. It ended on a cliffhanger, but I probably won’t read the third one.

Ash by Malinda Lo

Title: Ash
Author: Malinda Lo
Amount Read: All
Rating: 2/5
Why was it on my list? A list of fairy tale re-imaginings

This book was sold to me as “lesbian Cinderella” and I am all about that concept. Unfortunately, the execution wasn’t as exciting. Lo is very skilled at creating tone and mood, but all of her characters were somewhat two-dimensional and lacked personality. I didn’t really care about any of them, so of course none of them had any chemistry together and the romance portions seemed boring and awkward. I liked the world this lackluster story is built on top of, trembling between magic and modernity and full of myths and huntresses, and I wish the main characters had lived up to it.

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

Title: Penpal
Author: Dathan Auerbach
Amount Read: All
Rating: 1/5
Why was it on my list? A list of horror books from around last Halloween

This book started as a series of Reddit posts, and that’s pretty much all you need to know. It didn’t even creep me out, and I am the world’s biggest wuss. Each lengthy chapter is its own short story, with a classic-style “THE CALL WAS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!” urban legend gotcha line at the end. The writing style was overly pompous, especially when the main character is mostly a child. Most of the characters act or speak in ways that aren’t appropriate for their age or situation (Mom is totally cool with letting her 5-year-old wander around the woods by himself! 11-year-olds analyze their friendships and admit when they are being distant and at fault!). Also, I had to buy this one (e-book), the first book I’ve bought for this project, so perhaps I was even more disappointed than usual.

The Ones I Decided Not To Read

Title: The Night Climbers
Author: Ivo Stourton
Why was it on my list? I have no idea. It’s been more than 4 years
Why I’m not reading it: This book only has a 2.95 star rating on Goodreads. All the reviewers basically just said it was a rip-off of The Secret History and not to bother. Since I would have to ILL it, and I already have enough to keep my library’s ILL department busy, I’m going to take their advice.

Title: Glamour in Glass
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
Why was it on my list? It’s the sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey
Why I’m not reading it: The reviews made it sound like, though I enjoyed the first one, I wouldn’t like this one. I am still all about regency romance/historical fiction+now there’s magic! though

Previously: February
Next: April

Tagged: 2014, 2014 books, 2014 goals, Book Reviews, books

Posted in 2014 League of Six, Book Reviews |

2014: Three months in!

March 27th, 2014 by pladd

I’ve been doing terribly on my goals this year, guys. I could blame being really sick for literally all of 2014 so far, but maybe I just don’t want it enough. Here’s how I’m doing on my goals, a quarter of the way through the year.

1. Read All of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: 30%

I’m actually ahead on this one! You probably know I’ve already gotten through A, B, C, and D. I have about 900 more pages (of tiny type) to go!

Bring it

So far this task isn’t proving as difficult as I thought. I hadn’t anticipated how much of the text is taken up with entries like “Black Death: See Black.”

2. Make a pie once a month: 8%

I had so many pie plans for this year! I was going to try new and interesting fillings and exciting experiments in savory pies. I was going to fail at making hand pies! Alas. The only new pie I’ve made this year was for Pi Day.

They turned out awesome

Hopefully I’ll be able to put something else towards this goal before December.

3. Make a new cocktail once a month: 0%

4. Get everything currently on my “To-Read” list off it: 29%

I guess it makes sense that, over the last few months, the only goals I’ve really succeeded at are the ones that involve lying motionless on the floor. I’ve read or otherwise eliminated 28 books so far, with 68 more to go. My favorite one so far has probably been:

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

But more about that later!

5. Make dwarf helms: 60%

Okay, these suckers are still giving me some trouble. I have the hat parts of both done, and the hair of mine (minus the mustache) attached except for styling and some fitting adjustments. So they look nearly complete, but I have a feeling the parts I have left will be the most finicky and annoying. Still, I have a lot of time before December!

6. Update my blog at least once a week: 25%

BAM accomplished for yet another week.

Total: 25%

Wow, I guess my over-achievement in some areas balanced out my total failure in others. Just like life.

See you in June!

Previously: 2014 Goals

Tagged: 2014, 2014 goals

Posted in 2014 League of Six |

Brewer’s Dictionary: D

March 21st, 2014 by pladd

I finally finished the D chapter in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable yesterday! There’s no reason it should have taken me that long. It’s only 63 pages (the 10th longest chapter), but, for the first time since starting this project on January 1st, I had a week where I didn’t read anything! I know, what a slacker.

Anyway, here are some interesting things that start with D:

I always think of jeans as being super American, but it turns out denim is from France:

Denims–Coloured twilled cotton material used for overalls and, especially, jeans. Its name is a contraction of French serge de Nimes (‘serge of Nimes’), from the town in the south of France where it was originally made.

Tres chic!

I read a book once about animal trials, where olde timey law courts would try animals for murder. Once even a swarm of flies! Apparently, even if you weren’t going to seek punishment for some animal or inanimate object killing a relative, that thing was still considered cursed, and you had to sell it:

Deodand–Literally, something that should be given to God (Latin, Deo dandum). In former English law a personal possession that was responsible for the death of an individual was forfeited to the crown for some pious use. For example, if a man met his death from the fall of a ladder or the kick of a horse, the cause of death (the ladder or the horse) was sold and the proceeds given to the church. It originated from the idea that, as the victim met his death without the sacrament of extreme unction, the money could serve to pay for masses for his repose. Deodands were abolished in 1862.

Also, some bad news:

Devil’s livery–Black and yellow: black for death, yellow for quarantine.

Sorry Steelers fans, Wiessmen, and Hufflepuffs

I like learning word origins from Brewer’s, especially when the word has changed meaning pretty dramatically:

Double-cross–Properly, to cheat or cross each of two parties, to betray both sides

Of course, this original meaning makes way more sense!

And another ridiculous story brought to you by history’s first troll:

The Druid’s egg–According to Pliny, who claimed to possess one, this wonderful egg was hatched by the joint labour of several serpents and was buoyed in the air by their hissing. The person who caught it had to escape at full speed to avoid being stung to death, but the possessor was sure to prevail in every contest and to be courted by those in power

Okay, Pliny, whatever you say

And finally:

The Drunk Parliament–The Parliament assembled at Edinburgh in January 1661, of which Burnet says the members ‘were almost perpetually drunk’.

Previously: C
Next: E

Tagged: brewer's

Posted in 2014 League of Six |

Pi Day 2014!!

March 14th, 2014 by pladd

Happy Pi Day!! As you might recall, Pi Day is the most important holiday in the Ladd family, and it’s always hard for me to be away from home. But my Mom usually mails me a gift of a new calculator or some fancy graph paper or what have you, and, of course, I always make some kind of pie to keep the tradition alive. And to avoid a year of careless math errors, because that is one superstition I am afraid NOT to follow. I do way too much math (sewing, cooking, stats at work) to risk becoming bad at it for a whole year!

This year’s celebration will be a little more subdued (although of course Steven and I will break out the word problems later tonight) because I can’t really eat pie right now. I decided to make one for Steven to take to work, and since normal pie can be messy to pass out, I lifted my ban and agreed to make mini pies in my muffin pan. Don’t worry!! I had a few bites of one before he left to avoid math ruin.

Hand delivered in bed, because Pi Day is classy like that

These mini pies went a lot better than last time. My previous experience informed the crust cutting-out step, and there wasn’t an awkward lattice top crust to worry about. Plus, the filling was actually delicious because I used a legit recipe. Still more work than a normal pie, but I might be convinced to do it again sometime.

The perfect portion!

The filling is pear ginger, and you brown the butter with ginger and vanilla bean for a smooth, well-balanced flavor. Pear on its own would be too bland, but adding just enough ginger makes it pop. I was really pleased with how these turned out!

Happy Pi Day!!

Tagged: pi day, pie

Posted in Food, Things I've Made |

Etsy for Rich People: Everything Else Category

March 7th, 2014 by pladd

Last time we took a tour of the most expensive things you can buy on Etsy in the “Geekery” section. I felt like the best section to follow that would be “Everything Else,” a hodgepodge of random listings that wouldn’t fit anywhere else. And one of the subheadings is “Taxidermy” so you know this is going to be good.

Everything Else–>Educational

The educational section seems to be kind of a mix of teaching supplies and instructions for things. The most expensive item listed right now is this:

Yes, you’re paying $12,182 to download a file

The description claims that “IT training includes website creation and Internet marketing,” and that’s all the information you get.

Everything Else–>Magic

The Magic section has the crystals and tarot card readings you’d expect. The most expensive item is this 6-month psychic therapy session for $5,500:

Hey, it’s cheaper than some life coaches

Apparently you’ll meet for an hour on Skype once a week, and she’ll assign you homework to turn your life around! I feel like I already do that for people under the guise of my conversational English lessons. Clearly I need to up my prices.

Everything Else–>Metaphysical

In this section, you can pay $21,370 for a painting full of healing energy that will bring you happiness and longevity:

The description also mentioned how angels guided me to this page

It also comes with a certificate to prove how much healing energy it has.

Everything Else–>Personalized

This one is actually super cool, but I’m not sure why it’s in the Personalized section:

It’s an awesome chandelier!

$3,650 isn’t that bad for something forged, right?

Everything Else–>Religious

Bringing it in the Religious section is this “very large chanukah menorah” at only $4,450:

It IS a very large menorah

Made of bronze, straight from Jerusalem!

Everything Else–>Custom

In the custom section, we find a dude trying to sell his patent for a light-up fence:

I mean, it is a pretty cool fence

Sorry to disappoint you, but the asking price is ACTUALLY $1,000,000 US dollars. $250,000 is apparently the largest price Etsy will allow.

Everything Else–>Taxidermy

Taxidermy yes!!!!! And I’m not disappointed:

It’s everything that was promised

This $8,500 articulated cow skeleton would make “a great gift for a veterinary student or for yourself” and will be “at home in any collection of veterinary specimans, bones and skulls, or for the discerning cow owner.” Thank you, Taxidermy section.

Everything Else–>Weird

Alright, time for weirdness! The most expensive is at Etsy’s top allowable price ($250,000), and I don’t really understand what I’m looking at:

At first I thought it was like a copy of the book with Ray Bradbury’s spirit trapped inside or something

The description doesn’t really help me out either:

So you get a magical mirror box that will let you see into the ocean?

My favorite part of the Weird section was definitely this steal at $100,000:

Grimace’s autograph!!

“He was solely focused on the art of being fat and purple back then, man.”

Well, that wraps up this session of Etsy for Rich People. Try to contain your burgeoning fortunes till next time, when I’ll show you some more ridic things you can buy

Previously: Geekery

Tagged: etsy, lists

Posted in lists |