HSU IT Department

...and not one but TWO of my prompts got claimed already -- squeee! You are looking at one happy little fangirl :) It's almost enough to compensate for the truly horrendous amounts of snow and frigid temperatures we've had for what seem like YEARS, and which are rapidly driving me into terminal cabin fever :P Where is the sun?? ::mopes::

Oh how much do I love thee, Canada, let me count the ways. Not only do you have a brilliant ice skating team, you do things like this:

"...The hilariously controversial LGBT public service announcement responds to the Russian government's anti-gay policies and was released Thursday by the Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion, an equal rights organization..." Rest of article here


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A bunch of Friday random fun stuff, for your edification and jollification:

Too much snow? Bored with snowmen? Try a lovely snow-pig!

For you fabric artistes in the audience, I bring you Spoonflower, where you can design your own fabric. I expect to see lots of peacocks from shiv5468.

Ever pondered why your state is so ________? And perhaps been curious how most people would fill in that blank? Wonder no more!! io9 has mined the data and brings you the answers. Unsurprisingly, the answer for Texas is "big" but some of the others may make you scratch your head.

Did you know that the NFL, which grossed $9.5 billion last year, is a non-profit? This is a true thing. If you think it's stupid, which apparently 87% of the public does, you can sign a petition to change it. (On another football-related note, there's more at stake in this year's Super Bowl than just a big silver trophy: a Frederic Remington and a Japanese painting.)

Want a few LOTR-related giggles but can't face another Legolas/Gimli slash fic*? Visit The Tolkien Sarcasm Page, a collection of very funny things indeed, including Saruman's diary and "Tales from the Prancing Pony," the story of three British adventurers who spent four months in Middle-earth in the late 1880s, with a genteel and well-mannered Uruk-hai as their guide. Oh, and there's also the Crackpot Tolkien Theories page, featuring a well-argued theory that Tom Bombadil is actually the Witch-King of Angmar. Really.

Then when you want something a little more serious, meet Clint Smith. I can't really describe him, you just have to listen.

OK, 'nuff said. Have a nice Friday, y'all!

* Apologies to anyone in the audience who actually likes Legolas/Gimli (what do you call that pairing, anyway? Legimli? Gimoglas?)

So, you know how so much of what we do happens on a little screen, and/or over headphones/microphones, and involves pixels instead of people? Here are two VERY funny takes on what if some of those things happened in real life. My favorite is the first, which only makes me laugh, but I identify more with the second, which makes me laugh AND cry.

How funny would it be if Google were a person you actually had to talk to? Very damn funny.


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And a conference call in real life:


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On the other hand, the Old Spice guy has a new ad out. I luuuuurv him.

Also, it is STILL SNOWING. Grrrr.

For all of you who claimed titles from the Great Weeding of 2013, your books are en route!

For those of you who haven't yet, there are still some good 'uns left. You have until Sunday, when they go to my favorite local second-hand store down the street.

Free books, free books, free books, still some very good 'uns left to claim!! Surely someone wants all those Terry Pratchettses, precious? Then there's The Kingdom of Little Wounds ("a fairy tale about syphilis") which is intriguing and unusual, and The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius which is absolutely wonderful. And surely someone out there wants to learn jQuery, no?

Pleeeeeeeease don't make me cram these back on my shelves ::begs::

Yep, you heard right: it's my annual free book giveaway! I was pretty aggressive in my weeding this year, and only four ended up being rescued from the cull and put back after the second review. Go me! (Alas, the number being disposed of is still less than the number acquired, so my shelves continue to bulge...)

The rules are pretty simple: You don't have to pay postage, you don't have to pass a test, you don't have to give me your credit card number or your mother's maiden name, you just have to say, "I want that one!" I would of course love it when/if you read the book(s) you claimed, you post something about them: whether you liked them, didn't like them, hated them, passed them on to a friend or a library sale, whatever. (If you wish, you can also "pay it forward" by donating to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust or Planned Parenthood, but that's totally optional.)

You can ask for one, or three, or ten -- as many as you like. I'm sitting here looking at a giant pile of 70+ books and eagerly anticipating sending them off to new homes where they'll be happy and cherished, so don't be shy about asking!

If you have questions about any of the titles listed, feel free to ask. Or, you know, use The Google :) Checking the title on GoodReads is another great way to see a summary as well as other people's reviews. Everything is a paperback unless it's starred; "BCE" means Book Club Edition. Enjoy your shopping experience!


FICTION TITLES
* Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs)
Eye in the Sky (Philip K. Dick)
Brown Girl in the Ring (Nalo Hopkinson)
Mara and Dann (Doris Lessing)
The Algebraist (Iain M. Banks)
Idlewild (Nick Sagan)
* Brightness Falls from the Air (James Tiptree, Jr.)
The Infinity Concerto (Greg Bear)
Orphan of Creation (Roger MacBride Allen)
* The People of Pern (Robin Wood) (really lovely artwork: illustrations of Anne McCaffrey’s characters; BCE but in beautiful condition, good enough for a gift)
The Sentinel (Arthur C. Clarke)
The Sacred Pool (L. Warren Douglas)
The Moon of Gomrath (Alan Garner)
Terry Pratchett books:

Eric
* Feet of Clay (BCE)
* The Fifth Elephant
Going Postal
Guards! Guards!
Jingo
Making Money
* Maskerade (BCE)
Men at Arms
Moving Pictures
* Night Watch
Pyramids
Soul Music
Good Omens (Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett)

Year’s Best SF 16 (authors include Joe Haldeman, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Gregory Benford, Catherynne Valente, Michael Swanwick, more)
The Sixteen Pleasures (Hellenga)
The Virgins (Pamela Brens)
* The Kingdom of Little Wounds (Susann Cokal) (unusual book; billed as YA but definitely not)
The Eight (Katherine Neville)
* The Fire (Katherine Neville) (sequel to The Eight)
The House of Mirth (Edith Wharton)
Manic Quixotic (Blye) (Warning: This one is very weird and more than a little disturbing)
* The Clothes They Stood Up In (Alan Bennett)
Regina’s Song (David and Leigh Eddings)
Garden Spells (Sarah Addison Allen)
The Hill Bachelors (William Trevor)
White Noise (Don DeLillo)/
Fortress in the Eye of Time (C.J. Cherryh)
Silver Wedding (Maeve Binchy)
The Weird Sisters (Eleanor Brown)
Oronookoo, or, The Royal Slave (Aphra Behn) (has highlighting and marginalia)
Tuesdays at the Castle (Jessica Day George) (ARC)


NON-FICTION TITLES
* Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver)
Mary Gilliatt’s Shortcuts to Great Decorating
* The Algebra of Infinite Justice (Arundhati Roy)
Better World Shopping Guide (2008 edition)
* Bizarre Books (Russell Ash) aka “Frog-Raising for Fun and Profit” (collection of hilarious but real book titles)
Family Wicca Book (Ashleen O’Gaea)
Free to Succeed: Designing the Life you Want in the New Free Agent Economy (Barbara Reinhold)
* Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad (Jacqueline Tobin)
* Men and Manners of the Eighteenth Century (Susan Hale) (this is the oldest book on the list, published in 1898, in illustrated boards)
* The Mind of the Maker (Dorothy Sayers)
* Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Time Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right (Thomas Frank)
Pocket World in Figures, 2013 Edition
* The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius (Kristine Barnett)
* Summer of the Great Grandmother (Madeleine L’Engle)
What Every American Should Know About Who’s Really Running the World (Melissa Rossi)


TECHY TITLES
CSS: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly, 2007)
CSS3 Anthology, 4th edition (Sitepoint, 2012)
JQuery: Novice to Ninja, 2d edition (Sitepoint, 2012)
UNIX Shell Programming (Hayden Books, 1990)

Huh. I'm sure there's something important about today but I can't for the life of me remember what... ;)

...the two gifts I received this fest season; they are things of beauty!

The first is from minerva_fest last month. I had asked for a story that explored the differences between Minerva and Molly, and realmer06 delivered a thoughtful series of vignettes, anchored in the aftermath of the final battle, that shows us not only what might have been but what perhaps was always meant to be.

Title: Roads Not Taken
Author: realmer06
Word count: 10,300
Prompt: Minerva has no children; Molly has seven. Minerva led a busy and successful career; Molly was a busy and successful wife and mother. The two of them muse on why they each made these choices, and how they feel about them now.

Eighteen-year-old Minerva McGonagall had never imagined herself the
kind of person to fall madly in love. She had never imagined herself to be the
kind of person who ‘madly’ did anything. But that had been before she met Dougal...

The second is from this year's hp_holidaygen. I had asked for something about how either the Hogwarts ghosts or the Hogwarts House-Elves celebrate the season; what does it mean to them? My Mystery Author (reveals are not up yet) has written a ghostly meditation on the holiday from the viewpoint of the Fat Friar, a true gem composed of love and loss and loyalty entangled.

Title: Doorways
Author: ????
Word count: 1100

The Fat Friar leaned back in his chair and considered the glass on the table
before him. The wine was a deep, rich red, a red that whispered to him of promises to
come. Almost – he licked his lips around the word – seductive. A half-remembered quote
came to him. I have looked upon the wine when it is red. Indeed.

We've gotten several many inches of snow over the past few days (18", according to our local news, and the high -- high!! -- yesterday was 12 degrees), and the puppy is ecstatic. Here she is doing her "I am a snow gopher!!" impression: