Books I've read: 2008

Books in bold are ones I've especially liked:

1. The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
2. Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde
3. Bastard of Istanbul, Elif Shafak
4. Audrey, Wait!, Robin Benway (ARC)
5. Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris
6. An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England, Brock Clarke
7. How to Be Bad, e. lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle (ARC)
8. Bewitching Season, Marissa Doyle (ARC)
9. The Last of the High Kings, Kate Thompson (ARC)
10. Thursday Next: First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde
11. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, Barry Lyga
12. Garlic and Sapphires, Ruth Reichl
13. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
14. The Memory of Running, Ron McLarty
15. What the Dickens, Gregory Maguire
16. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
17. How Reading Changed My Life, Anna Quindlen
18. Secrets of My Hollywood Life, Jen Calonita
19. The Singer of All Songs, Kate Constable
20. The Queen of Cool, Cecil Castellucci
21. Rash, Pete Hautman
22. The Waterless Sea, Kate Constable
23. The Tenth Power, Kate Constable
24. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
25. City of Bones, Cassandra Clare
26. Twisted, Laurie Halse Anderson
27. Peeps, Scott Westerfeld
28. The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick
29. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart
30. The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart
31. Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me, Ben Karlin
32. The Contract with God Trilogy, Will Eisner
33. Lady Friday, Garth Nix
34. Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman
35. The Time Machine, H. G. Wells
36. My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult
37. Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman
38. Ever, Gail Carson Levine
39. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
40. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
41. City of Ashes, Cassandra Clare
42. Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri
43. Rapunzel's Revenge, Shannon and Dean Hale
44. Squids Will Be Squids, John Scieszka
45. Y: The Last Man: Girl on Girl, Brian K. Vaughan
46. Y: The Last Man: Paper Dolls, Brian K. Vaughan
47. Y: The Last Man: Kimono Dragons, Brian K. Vaughan
48. Y: The Last Man: Motherland, Brian K. Vaughan
49. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ann Brashares
50. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares
    
51. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson & the Olympians Book 4), Rick Riordan
52. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares
53. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares
54. The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci
55. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
56. The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson
57. Suite Scarlett, Maureen Johnson
58. Y: The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores, Brian K. Vaughan
59. The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Michael Scott
60. Kitty Kitty, Michele Jaffe
61. Girl at Sea, Maureen Johnson
62. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
63. The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, Book 6), Eoin Colfer
64. Just Listen, Sarah Dessen
65. Breaking Up, Aimee Friedman and Christine Norrie
66. A Conspiracy of Paper, David Liaa
67. The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
68. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
69. The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
70. Something Rotten, Alan Gratz
71. The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
72. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O'Farrell
73. Physik (Septimus Heap: Book Three), Angie Sage
74. Paper Towns, John Green
75. How to Ditch Your Fairy, Justine Larbalestier
76. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
77. Physik, Angie Sage
78. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
79. Graceling, Kristin Cashore
80. Ironside, Holly Black
81. The Book of the Unknown, Jonathon Keats

From the internets!

Here are two things from the internets that you must see.

First, a comprehensive list of problems solved by MacGyver. And second, well, let's just let this one speak for itself:

He returns!

July 15th.

Raytheon Red is soooo last year

So I was manning my employer's table at a career fair during a regional meeting of the Society for Women Engineers this afternoon. As a participant in the meeting I was entitled to one of the gift tote bags that were handed out. Along with the standard crappy pen, notepad and lens cleaner, I was dismayed? amused? bemused? to find this:

For those of you who are slightly confused, it's a pretty silver gift bag with sparkly bead dangles and, inside, nail polish and lipstick. Both in "Raytheon Red."

It seems to me that if we are to be taken seriously as female scientists and engineers, possibly our organizations should arrange for other gifts? My employer had me handing out small computer tool kits that the women who stopped by to talk with me were thrilled to get. Just saying.

Holy crap

If this isn't enough to fill you with joy and wonder, I don't know what is:

On pictures

It's been my experience that all online dating profile pictures can be lumped into just a few categories.

Category: Guy with a small child.
What he's trying to say: See? I like kids! I've gotten my niece/nephew/friend's cousins's child to pose with me in this picture and I must be a nice guy since he/she/it doesn't seem *that* uncomfortable standing next to me. I can be trusted with all of your hopes and dreams.
What he's really saying: I'm *probably* not too creepy.
Variants: Guy with a dog.

Category: Guy abroad somewhere.
What he's trying to say: I once took a chance and set foot outside of this country. I'm adventurous!
What he's really saying: I have a passport.
Variants: Guy hiking, riding a motorcycle, hang-gliding, rock climbing, surfing, etc.

Category: Head-shot taken at an off-angle.
What he's trying to say: I'm quirky and spontaneous! Life will never be boring if you choose me!
What he's really saying: I have an inner ear problem.
Variants: Guy with a goofy look on his face.

Category: Guy with his arms around a hot girl.
What he's trying to say: I was once funny/clever/smart/entertaining/good looking enough to date someone this beautiful. That should tell you I'm worth your time! Even if this girl turns out to actually be my cousin.
What he's really saying: I'll secretly always wish I was still with the girl pictured here. So now you know what you're up against.
Variant: Guy with his arms around more than one hot girl.

Category: The professional head shot.
What he's trying to say: Look at how handsome I am!
What he's really saying: I needed a lot of air-brushing to look this good, so don't expect to actually see the guy in the picture waiting for you at the bar when we meet.
Variant: Picture taken from far enough away that you can't make out any features; guy wearing a doctor's lab coat/scrubs (comes complete with the not-so-subtle "can support you in the manner to which you've become accustomed" message).

Category: The cropped picture taken by a friend
What he's trying to say: This is what I look like, I thought you might like to know.
What he's really saying: This is what I look like, I thought you might like to know.

Not enough alcohol, part II

Continued from here:

1. Guy whose name I can't even remember
   
2. Guy who kept touching my hand
3. Guy with two kids
4. Guy who thinks science is sexy
5. Guy who wrote me from Kosovo
6. Guy who wanted to compete to see who knew Vermont better
7. Old guy who swears he's only single because he was busy getting his PhD
8. Guy who offered to help me get my butt in gear
   
9. Guy who hates all Arabs (and made sure I knew within our first ten minutes together)
10. Guy who asked me to go to Mexico with him sight unseen
11. Guy who had an unfortunate name
12. Guy who wanted to see a "clear, honest picture" of me before telling me about his research as a history grad student
13. Guy who made me eat Pad Thai after I told him how much I dislike it, who is the same guy who was upset I don't wear heels, who is the same guy who asked me (twice) to take advantage of him while he was drunk, who is the same guy who insisted he walk me one block to my car, who is the same guy who made me wait 10 minutes while he washed his dishes before walking me one block to my car, who is the same guy who asked for a ride the one block from my car back to his apartment
    
14. Guy who didn't talk
15. Guy who offered to fly in a helicopter up from Delaware for a date with me, who is the same guy who called me three times in the space of 15 minutes at work (and no, I never gave him my phone number)
16. Guy who asked to practice massage on me for our first date
17. Guy whose profile says "...I'm the guy that doesn't have the white infront of his face....The white is in use to protect the innocent. This is all I have for the moment, but I will have more."
18. Guy who took the time to write a (very nice) kiss-off email.
19. Guy who quickly became obsessed with the idea of my dating other guys.
20. Guy who was so nervous he couldn't really talk, but did manage to say I looked like a librarian (flatterer!).
21. Guy with a hair fetish.
22. Guy who wasn't exactly local.

And that's where this'll ends, folks. Because the guy who wasn't exactly local is local now. Who knew this whole online dating thing would really work!