Rumi: Those Who Don't Feel This Love

Fan Dancers!

Literary update

It didn't take long to decide that Jane Boleyn was going to be kind of crappy so I returned it to the library and picked up a book from my own shelf to read. I have a number of books that I've purchased because they look interesting but have never read. Umberto Eco was the lucky bastard this time so last night I started The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana and already I'm feeling much happier and anticipating a good read. Links for both books are to the right.

Eight Drawers

Eight Drawers, originally uploaded by Maryja.

Moving into, and sharing, a small space means utilizing every square inch of available real estate. One way that we decided to do this in our bedroom was to have a friend who is a furniture designer and builder actually, well, design and build a storage bed that we could put two dressers worth of clothes into. We worked with Craig to figure out the unique properties of the room (long and narrow with a radiator) and designed the bed to function within those properties. It was a pretty cool and painless process.

Anyway, Craig is finishing up the bed today (drawer pulls that took forever to decide on) and it will be delivered tomorrow. I can't wait to see it! There are a couple other pictures of the bed in process on my flickr page. Hopefully, Ivan will remember to take lots of pictures tomorrow when he helps Craig load it up, transport it, and set it up.

I'll post more when I can.

Today's Moment of Happiness: Iron & Wine

A fan vid of still images set to "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car" by Iron & Wine. I suggest cranking volume and pretending that you are listening to the radio.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Van Helsing.

Heh. The facial expression on Dracula's face when dealing with Van Helsing pretty much matches my own when thinking about him.

At long last, I finished Dracula last night and I'm glad to be done with it. I am generally in favor of Victorian romances counting Wilkie Collins' "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White" among my favorites. In point of fact, Stoker borrowed heavily from "The Moonstone" by using multiple narrators and journal entries to weave his tale. Unfortunately, he lacks Collins' ability to create well rounded characters that are distinguishable from each other. This might not actually apply to Van Helsing but he insists in saddling the character with a weird 'pidgin' english (the character is from Amsterdam) and a propensity to go on at length that makes reading a tedious, tedious experience. And please, don't get me started on the whole religious aspect of the text.

Anyway, done now and on to an historical biography of Jane Boleyn (check out the link under Bedside Table). Unfortunately, at 4 chapters in, I am beginning to find the writer's style amateurish and the subject matter lacking any real meat. After slogging through Dracula till the bitter end I may give myself permission to drop this before finishing it.

Red Valentine!

Darryl Hall once pointed at me during a concert! Soooo dreamy...hee!

Happy Valentines Day!

Blue Valentine

Because all the best love stories have an element of sadness.