Pulp Sushi

Big Ass Craft Review

It's up!  The book review I have written for the upcoming book, The Big Ass Book Of Crafts by Mark Montano.  I absolutely loved going through this book and I want to try so many new projects, I just don't know where to start! It makes my head spin.  It is just an overall very inspirational book and I think a must have for anyone who wants to spice up their decor.  Not to mention Mark is the nicest guy!! He has a boutique in the city that I must check out some time.  His show, 10 Years Younger is going prime-time on TLC, good for him!!!

Just as soon as I finished this piece I now already have another assignment which I can't wait to get started on but I feel a headache coming on as I write this (uh oh) so I better not think about working on anything else until this passes.  I have to say I really love writing for Venuszine.com.  Not to toot my own horn, but I think my writing has come a ways.  I would love to become an editor for either a yoga or diy type of publication one day.  Who knows where this life will take me. 

Shout out to Indiepublic!

Awww Indiepublic!!!!

What a great community to be a part of. I joined Indiepublic back in August of this year after reading about it on Etsy. It's a very helpful, non-catty (can you believe it?!?!?!), online community. I try to help out others as much as I can since I received so much from others. Not that I'm some super expert on the art of selling crafty treats. I still don't understand the whole tax stuff but lets not talk about that right now, my right eye will start twitching.

Today is a "Friday" for me. I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow. The only thing I have planned at the moment is to step out in the morning for coffee, breakfast, and a NY Times. Bring it all home and just veg out. Reading the NY Times is a treat for me, I don't read it every day or else I would be in the poorhouse. I don't even want to watch television because daytime TV sucks.  I don't watch soaps, don't care for talk shows, court shows, all the Law & Order reruns.  Oh if only TMC or AMC would show some nice classics during the day and not A Few Good Men for the gagillionth time.

This morning on the way to work, I finished reading the cutest novel,

Look, I have a serious weakness for some Chick-Lit alright? The last couple of books I've read have been so-so but this one was fun.  It's a thriller-humor-chicklit-fluff. Just perfect!!

Did we have an Autumn? It's FREEZING outside right now!!

I've Got Color!

Oooooh it's that time of the year again for Apartment Therapy to host their I've Got Color! Contest. I always enjoy their contest, they're very inspiring even though you wouldn't think so looking at how boring my place looks. I like colors, I really do!!! Anyway, I'm sure I'll be voting away and chiming in my two cents when I see an entry I really like (or don't like). I did that with my old PS blog, that was fun. It gives me something else to talk about besides hocking the stuff I make for Etsy.

I just finished reading Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. As always, I enjoy reading her stuff but when I get to the end of the book I want to tear the pages out. I have read four of her books and I feel the same way every time. She's an EXCELLENT writer and tells a wonderful story, but I feel like she doesn't know how to end it, how to wrap things up. Oh by the way, so and so did this. HUH???? It leaves you with that kind of feeling of having the rug pulled from underneath you. Maybe that's her nitch. I'm sure I'll read more of her stuff.

Ode to Gabriel

After reading this article this morning, For García Márquez, a Magical Homecoming, I am SO in the mood to read his stuff again.  I only have two of his books: Love in the Time of Cholera, and One Hundred Years of Solitude.  Of course there is NOTHING at Bookins.com because no one would want to give his books away.  His books are a challenge for me but I think he was the first author to really take me to another place, giving me a nostalgic feeling for a time and place I never experienced first hand, how weird is that?

So I'm in that mood again and I'm sure I have his books buried somewhere in a crate.  There are some others that I'm thinking about checking out Memories of My Melancholy Whores and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.  The titles alone just grab you.   I have a $25 off coupon from Amazon that is just waiting to be used!!

Summer Reading

Happy Spring everyone (one day late), you know what this means? SPRING CLEANING!  And I'm doing a little bit of that myself.  I am *hoping* to get rid of some books on Ebay to some lucky gal, or guy....if he likes Chick Lit books because that's mostly what I'm auctioning off.  Check it out!  You know these books would make great summer-beach reading!

Everything else good otherwise?  I'm actually in a bit of a funk.  One of those What am I doing with my life! spells that hits me every now and then.  You know the feeling, when you think that life is too short to waste away in some office doing work you have absolutely no care or passion for, yup, that's kind of where I am right now. It's too bad finding a new apartment is a priority right now or else I would be SO out of here.

Thankfully, today is Friday for me as I'm taking tomorrow off to attend a friend's wedding, oh I hope I don't cry.

Ah Choo!!!

Man do I suck...or I feel sucky. I don't suck, I didn't do anything wrong. I just scheduled an appointment to see an Allergist on Monday.  My allergies started kicking in yesterday and today I am super stuffed up.  I've never been to an Allergist before so I don't know what to expect.  Will he inject me with a series of shots? Not that I'm scared of needles, it's just annoying.  It seems like as I get older, my allergies get worse.  I wasn't like this when I was a teen or even in my early 20s.  Now I dread seasonal change. Now that the weather is just bonkers and unpredictable, my system is like "Whaaaa, what's going on?????" so it just shuts down completely.

I've been reading another Jodi Picoult book, My Sister's Keeper and I'm really digging it so far.  I was digging her other book The Tenth Circle until I got to the last quarter of it and it got a bit lame. I hope Sisters Keeper doesn't have a lame ending. But this is an interesting subject matter, a 13 year old seeking medical emancipation from her parents because she was made pretty much to keep her older sister from dying. Such a touchy subject, I'm still unsure how I feel about it.  I don't know if the parents are messed up for bringing a life into the world just for the sole purpose of using her body as organic materials or if the daughter is being selfish.   When I finish maybe I'll have a better idea.  Picoult is a good writer, she knows how to suck you in, I just hope the story doesn't just end abruptly the way it did the last book of hers I read.

Polly

My latest book review for "Polly" by Amy Bryant, has been posted at Venuszine.com. Just click here to read it. I love the tag lines they come up with for my reviews. I could never be that witty. Hope you enjoy!

Oh it hurts!!!

Emily at The Black Apple is teasing everyone with a painting she made based on Ofelia from Pan's Labyrinth, the latest movie to be added to my list of favorites films ever! I cannot wait until I own it on DVD. I say "Oh it hurts" because I know as soon as Emily will post this in her Etsy shop it will be gone in a heart beat. Boo! Hiss!!!

So were the Superbowl commercials lame yesterday or what? Is it me or does it get worse every year? The only decent ones worth mentioning are the ones from Careerbuilder.com. Those were kind of funny. Coke had a good one where it looked like a Grand Theft Auto commercial but instead of killing everyone in sight, he was doing nice things.

In the spirit of doing nice things, I updated the books I have featured on here. I've been meaning to pick them up and re-read them again. I can definitely say that they have made a big difference in my life as I strive to learn more about Yoga and Buddhism. Even if you're not into those things, it's still a good read and a lot can be learned from them in striving to just be a better person. Nothing wrong with that.

Cupcakes & Yoga is a go! Take a look at http://cupcakesyoga.blogspot.com. Speaking of yoga, I'll be taking a class tomorrow night. I feel like it's been forever since I last practiced. It was only last week but still, I need to step it up a notch. I use to go a few times a week but now that I have a crappier commute, it's harder to stay in the city after work.

I finished reading HH Dalai Lama's The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Journeys and Conversations. Some of his books are pretty intense to read but this one was pretty easy and interesting. Actually he didn't write it, Chan Victor did and each chapter is a different encounter and discussion he has had with His Holiness. It actually is a good reflection on the Dalai Lama as a person and his little quirky traits and humor. It made me happy.

And now I'm on to the next book, Polly by Amy Brant. It's about...I don't know, I haven't started reading it. It's actually a promo copy I received for a book review I'm doing for Venuszine.com. If you wish to read past book reviews by moi, check out my About page.

Does the cabbage-patch, it's my birthday!

That's right, today is my birthday and I'm celebrating by sitting at work slacking off. Actually I don't have much on my plate today. The middle of the month tends to slow down workload wise. I did get a book in the mail this morning which I look forward to reading, The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. It was a recommended by a friend who I like to think shares the same brain as me, so if she digs it, I'll probably dig it too. I actually got the book from Bookins.com. It's a book-swapping website where you ship your books out for free and any books you receive are free of charge except for shipping but still, we're talking just chump change here. It's great if you love books and love to collect books, or if you're like me, probably just read a book once and you're finished with it but hate to see it collect dust. I've turned some coworkers on to it and they swear by it.

I also started reading the other day the Che Guevara biography.  It's a pretty big book and it will probably take me a while to get through it.  I'm still very early in the story where he's only 5 years old but so far, Anderson is telling a good story.  A lot of Argentinian (sp?) history that I never learned about in school.  I became interested in learning more about Che after I saw The Motorcycle Diaries.  I would see kids in the mall wearing the tshirts with his face on it and I would comment on how they probably have no idea who this person is but realized I didn't know much about him either, so let me check this out so I don't look too much like a moron, I'll leave that to those wearing the shirt.

Let's talk CHICK-LIT

I may not seem like it based on some of my other interest but I am a chick-lit freak.  Unfortunately I have been too busy to keep up with all the fluff that's being published.  Currently on my desk at work I have a stack of books I've snagged as freebies, one of them titled Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, you gotta love it! 

One book I read a few years ago and surprisingly enjoyed was The Devil Wears Prada.  I watched the movie last night for the first time (I skipped the theater release like I usually do with movies).  It was a good film but I really enjoyed the book more.   And it's not that I don't like Anne Hathaway, I just don't like her face, her lips disturb me especially when she decides to wear BRIGHT RED LIPSTICK!  I loooooved Meryl Streep as Miranda. So perfect!

Another book-turned-movie that I enjoyed reading was In Her Shoes but skipped on the movie with Cameron Diaz. I'm not even interested in Netflixing it.  Sometimes the book is enough.

I'll tell you what what series I just could not get into and that was the Shopaholic series, starting with Confessions of a Shopaholic.  Reading that just made me frustrated and it made me want to reach into the book and shake the crap out of Rebecca Bloomwood.  Unfortunately, I think I know people like her. People who are addicted to spending money even if they don't have money to spend, they do it anyway because they just HAVE TO have it.   I'm lucky that my logic doesn't work that way.  While there are a lot of nice things I would like to have, I know how to prioritize and manage my money.

Like I mentioned before, I've slacked off on the book reading.  At the beginning of this year I started keeping a book log which I was doing pretty good with for a while but then stopped.  I think I need to try again.