cabinet of curiosities

i got a new bookshelf.
by which i mean my mother bought a new cabinet at an estate sale, didn't want it, and offered it to me in exchange from my desk. i agreed to the swap because i think it's adorable, even if it's top drawer smells profusely of parchment. which is weird, but oh well.
the cabinet is meant for displaying commemorative dishes or porcelain plates from china (made circa 1763 or something, maybe before then, whenever it was that the chinese had the secret of how to make porcelain and no one else did).
but instead of dishes with niagara falls on them or prettily painted porcelain i am putting all of the books that currently reside on the surface of my desk in the cabinet. plus some weird nicknacks i've collected throughout the years, so there you go. 
the title has been explained.
in the process of moving books i have also gotten, like, three spider/mosquito/mystery bites. thankfully i'm too sleepy to have a panic attack. 
also it is far too late early in the morning for capitalization. fuck that shit.
 future me is probably experiencing regrets about the lack of proper capitalization. well, whatever future me.
you'll be fine.


so! here we go!

music!

 or 

portions from the soundtrack of me moving books and nicknacks and sneezing like the seventh dwarf

"always gold" by radical face
rating: omg feelings, what is this doing to my heart, this is gorgeous

"stubborn love" by the lumineers
rating: i love this band this is my favorite song holy kitten tits i love this song

also, it has been taken from youtube last i checked so follow the link below
http://supercon.tumblr.com/tagged/%5BThe-Lumineers%5D


"would you go with me" by josh turner
so, i often stuff notes, b-day cards, and other papers of importance in between books. i found a lot of stuff tonight and one thing was a typed letter addressed "To my good friend Rachelle, who has found the way," and was signed in windings, but, because of the writing in between, we'll just take a wild stab in the dark and - aha! i have accidentally stabbed a trisha.
how it ended up in my room i have no idea, though it had been next door neighbors to a map of the paris metro and two birthday cards from when i turned four. idek.
but anyway, the note was comprised of quotes and a line from this song was one of the quotes and the only reference i couldn't figure out. thank you google.

rating: fuck this song is cute, omg cute, now i will attempt to sing along - oh god how does your voice go that deep?

"oh dear!" by good for grapes
rating: instrumentssss - let's dance and spin around a camp fire

"forever" by walter meego
rating: yes, yes good

"runaway" by mr little jeans
rating: what kind of band name is that?, more awkward dancing than book moving happening

i also listened to ridiculous things which i won't post here because they are very silly. like, "call me maybe" was included, the opening song to the film boondock saints made an appearance, as did the incredibly sexy female cover of "whatever you like"... which, actually, if you're unfamiliar with the anya marina version you should probably go listen to it and possibly swoon a bit. or maybe it's just me lol.


so i started proofreading this. why do i allow myself access to the internet this late? i'm at the point where if i keep fixing shit i'll just delete everything so i'm gonna just post it.

apologies for excessive obnoxiousness. 

i love you all, darlings

Summer Songs

Guys.
Guys, I need more summer music.
What's going on in my life is inconsequential.

Just post some friggin' music.

Aziza showed me this the other day and I friggin' love it. Easily sitting at the top of my "Favorite Music Videos of the Summer" list. Think you can top it? :3

First Lazy Week

So the semester ended and I barely noticed. Seems like I notice less and less after each school year, to be honest. One day I'm hustling off to class, and then suddenly...I have nothing.

The first week is always super lazy for me. I sleep a lot more than I usually do, and I attempt to make schedules for productive days that never really happen. Hell, I still haven't unpacked most of my crap from the car(s) yet.

But next week I should be more active, so I hope we can get to some of the excellent things Rachel has listed in her post. I feel like we're running short on summers where everyone is going to be here, so let's try and take advantage, yes?


Also, this kid. Holy shit.

I was completely thrown.

NaNo in the Summer

So I'm just going to spam all of our blogs with this--Camp NaNo is now open, and for those of you who don't know, it is essentially NaNoWriMo, but in the summer. This is great since November is always a tricky month for a lot of us who still have to deal with finals, and the months of June and August are blessedly finals-free! The rules are the same as standard NaNo: write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I personally intend to participate in both June and August, and I really hope some of you will join me. It's a great experience, and one you should definitely have if you've ever entertained even slightly the thought of being a writer.

Here's the link:  http://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in

You really have no excuse. So do it.




Song: 

I apologize any potential creepiness. 

Sunshine, Celery Stalks

Woooo summer is almost heeeere!

When do you all finish up with your finals?  I will be done by the 11th and in town by the 13th or 14th, I am thinking.  I will probably bring the Brendan with me at some point in May, so if any of you have yet to have an official encounter, we can plan something.  Maybe a city day.

Also, my dilemma is over.  My indecision is gone.  I will be returning to Chicago for the summer, as I have received a really nice, solid job offer (something I was unable to find in Milwaukee).  It's official.

But I don't think I'll be able to sublet my apartment because I made this decision too late, so it will still be available for visitations, summerfest purposes, etc.  I think that will be nice because the only things you can really do in Milwaukee are eat and drink... and a lot of us are turning 21 this summer (or are already 21), soooooo that might be a lot of fun.

Finally, I figured it was time to divulge a well-kept secret.  Not really, this isn't even a secret probably: I think My Little Pony is so cute.  Season 2 just ended, and I watched it all.  The animation is just really cute, and it is not bad for a children's show.  It restores my faith in cartoons, to be honest. It makes me smile.  I even like the songs.


But I do not like to talk too much about it because I am not a huge fan of the community members sometimes.  I do like some of the shitty pony music they make, though.  It is so catchy.  Here is an example:

Blargh

Haven't posted in a while. Don't have much to say, really. I have one more full week of classes before finals, and then freedom--well, freedom of a sort. I'm still trying to figure out my summer plans--working, and all that business, as I have to get ready to move into my off-campus apartment with my roomies come August. So that'll hopefully be fun!

The only interesting things I've done in the past week or so is throw caution to the wind and write a paper on BioShock. I was terrified when I handed it in, but we'll see how that goes, haha.

I'm in a bit of a weird mood at present--I want to write something, anything, but I seem to be permanently stuck in the plotting/scheming stage, and no matter how badly I'd like to move on and actually start writing...I can't.

It kind of sucks.

Maybe some new reading material and music can help; both have certainly helped me before. But I'm starting to think this is one of those cases where I need a change of scenery. Sitting in my dorm, all I can think about is all the things I ought to be doing, and not doing any of it because my laptop broke and my netbook can't handle much and the stupid computers in the lounges here on campus haven't been updated to include the versions of the programs I need in order to do half of the crap I have to do anyway.

So I play Kingdom Hearts instead.

Blargh.

Any reading and/or music suggestions? I bought a new book the other day that is quite lovely, but maybe having a nice stack of new things to read once I'm out of the dorms will get me out of the constant state of doing nothing I'm finding myself in.

Occasionally my mom and I will delve into the past and listen to the stuff we listened to in the 90s. Alice in Chains (original line up) was one of our favorite bands.

Adjust Accordingly

Hey, so I'm back to deviate again--though since a lot of us are more or less involved/invested in the Writing and Publishing world to begin with, this stuff isn't *too* off-topic. I hope.


So a few days ago Macmillan's CEO posted a message on Tor.com, and I put it in the back of my mind to consider and deliberate over later. Then I got super distracted with school things and replaying Kingdom Hearts until this morning, when Amazon and Tor posted on Facebook and their blog, respectively, that the new JK Rowling book was to be released in late September of this year.

So that was exciting for about five seconds.

And the reason my excitement took a downhill turn is this:

JK Rowling's book costs twenty dollars. As an EBOOK.

The hardcover version is about thirty something dollars--that's five bucks more than most hardcover Stephen King books go for. And while five bucks really isn't THAT much when you think about it--thirty bucks for a friggin' book is nonetheless ridiculous. (Hell, I won't pay in the 20-25 dollar range for a book unless it is a hardcover and/or special edition of a book or series that I love from the bottom of my heart).

That the hardcover version is 30 bucks is ridiculous. But that ebook price? Have they lost their damn minds?

I mentioned this to a few of you via text already, and Jose mentioned to me that the price wasn't that shocking. I knew more or less that other ebook vendors charge more than Amazon typically does, but I wasn't aware the gap was that friggin' big (and to be honest I'm still not--I have yet to check how much ebooks go for through Barnes and Noble, and theirs is the only other market I see in the bigger picture of competition, though I know that there are others). Point in fact, Amazon's Kindle store is selling JK's newest at 20 bucks for the ebook, too.

So all this bullshit brought me back to my consideration over Macmillan's current predicament with the DOJ and that whole collusion problem.

Apparently the Department of Justice has gone after some publishing companies for changing to the agency model, which influences the prices of their ebooks. The DOJ accused them of collusion, and according to Macmillan's CEO, the other companies have agreed to settle while Macmillan, claiming against the collusion accusation, has decided to duke it out in court. Here's the CEO's message regarding the matter:

http://www.macmillan-speaks.com/2012/04/11/a-message-from-john-sargent-3/

The part of the issue I'm most interested in though is the pricing of ebooks in general. Personally I think they should NEVER cost as much as a physical book--and why the hell should they? They're digital. You produce them once--and that's it! All downloads from there! There is no cost of reproduction after the initial production. They simply don't carry the same amount of value that a physical copy does--physical copies that can be autographed, easily loaned out, and resold. I mean, you can cuddle with your Kindle or Nook or whatever--but in your heart you'll know it just ain't the same.

All joking aside, what do you guys think? Are the big publishing companies right for what they're trying to do, or should they stop being such big babies and learn to adjust their marketing model for a digital product, and stop treating said product like a tangible set of goods? I'm not saying what Amazon is doing is necessarily right--they ARE undercutting the set price, and they are gaining a monopoly in the ebook industry by doing so--at least, it certainly seems that way. But on the other hand, I'd argue that Amazon's prices are generally fairly reasonable for what they're selling. 5-10 bucks for an average ebook sounds reasonable to me. 15-25 bucks does not, especially if you can't even inhale the new-book smell and sleep with them next to your head all night. Not...not that I do that. Often.

I know I don't have all the facts at the moment, so if any of you know more about this topic, please share!

Uhh, music, music...Any Once Upon a Time fans on here? Here's two music vids Jen showed me a week or so ago (potential spoilers!).

First one is RumBelle, and features some footage from other things Robert Carlyle and Emilie de Ravin have been in, like LOST, and whatnot. Second one is OUAT in general:

Enjoy!