Cals

Meh.

2009-07-09T01:13:21Z

I got a shock trying to unplug my laptop from the outlet, which was difficult because my hands were slightly slippery from the lotion I just put on. GAH. GAH!!!

I am so tired. My legs ache. And my uterus is doing its usual monthly FUCK YOU to the rest of my body. GAH. GAH!!!

A Stolen Magic by Mary Jo Putney

2009-07-04T01:27:40Z

I decided to read this because of the amazon.com summary, which amazed both myself and lesbiassparrow the other night when we were browsing for bad romance novels:

From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Putney's spellbinding second romantic fantasy (after 2004's A Kiss of Fate), Earl of Falconer, Simon Malmain, chief enforcer of the Guardian Council, which oversees the use of magic in 18th-century Britain, has been turned into a unicorn by Lord Drayton, a renegade mage whom Simon charges with encouraging the Jacobite uprising; only a virgin can transform Simon back into human form. Luckily for Simon, animal-loving "Mad Meggie," Drayton's "servant," succeeds in doing so, while Simon breaks the spell that's kept Meg in the dark sorcerer's thrall. Allied in a "pretend" marriage, the pair pool their unusual talents in an effort to ruin Lord Drayton's plan to prevent the Industrial Age from revolutionizing England. Putney's skill as a historical romance novelist serves her well in the depiction of London and the subplot featuring a gifted developer of the steam engine. The love that grows between Simon and Meg, though pretty standard fare, includes some wonderfully steamy moments. While the final battle between good and evil offers few surprises, it's still entertaining enough to raise anticipation for the next installment.

It's exactly as it sounds.

Which means it reads like a mediocre fantasy/romance from an author who I expect better from. I don't like the writing style: it's boring. And the plot points don't make sense at all! The evil guy is supposedly magically weak, but manages to enslave the heroine and suck her magic from her for ten years? Ok, so she was only 13 when he kidnapped her and overpowered her, I suppose I can buy that. I suppose I can even accept that he has enough stolen power to also turn the hero (who is a skilled mage/hunter) into a unicorn via a spell no one can remove that is triggered everytime the hero gets angry. But his managing to convince a whole council that he DIDN'T do any of those things purely because he has "alternate" excuses for every incident that mostly are "I DIDNT KNOW MY OWN POWER!" is just ridiculous. That entire scene annoyed me so much I almost put down the book.

I think worst of all is the very shoddy obstacle factor in the romance (which is also boring and has zero chemistry) - they can't have sex because HE NEEDS HER VIRGINITY IN CASE HE TRANSFORMS INTO A UNICORN AGAIN! So they just dry hump all the time which is really annoying to read in between bits of crappy plot. (Did I mention that her BLOOD changes him back into a human? On second thought, thank god for that, I don't think I could have survived a badly written Unicorn/Virgin sex scene. The thought gives me hives.)

Why, MJ Putney? "The Rake" was great. Tackling alcoholism and crippling lack of self-esteem! That was good times. Why the badly written romantic fantasies now?

I'm about halfway through, but I don't know if I can bring myself to finish it. But then I think, what if it gets better? What if there are more inadvertantly hilarious bits (of which there have been many thus far, I'll admit). Still, I'd much rather finish the first of Deborah Crombie's Scotland Yard detective mysteries instead.

Mary Balogh favourites for meganbmoore

2009-07-02T03:25:29Z

... and for anyone else who is interested in well-written, emotional regencies.

An Unlikely Duchess - heroine runs away from home because she's being forced to marry a duke, and then gets robbed, and ends up being accidentally rescued by the duke she's supposed to marry, but she doesn't know it. They go on a wild goose chase to find her stolen jewels. Similar to Georgette Heyer and Amanda Quick.

The Famous Heroine - heroine is lauded by the ton for acts of heroism that she stumbles into accidentally rather than deliberately. Becomes great friends with popular, flamboyant Lord Francis who must marry her after they are found in several inadvertant compromising positions. She thinks he is gay for the majority of the novel.

A Precious Jewel - Gut-wrenching romance between hero and his mistress. Realistic portrayal of "forbidden" love.

Dancing With Clara - heroine is disabled, hero is a rakehell who needs to marry a heiress to get himself out of debt. Manages to make the hero, essentially a manslut, sympathetic.

A Summer To Remember - heroine jilted at the altar by fiancee accepts a proposal from a rake who courts her to win a bet. Introspective look at heroine's character, some really good emotional discovery & growth.

There are more, but I can't recall them at the moment...!

Boss, eps 1-4

2009-06-26T00:35:16Z

The hotness level of BOSS is ridiculous. So good.

And, as if Amami Yuki, Takenouchi Yutaka, Tamayama Tetsuji and Toda Erika weren't enough: YAMADA TAKAYUKI IS IN THE PREVIEW FOR EP FOUR.

OMFG. SO EXCITED. I AM GOING TO WATCH IT NOW!

ps. I love Takenouchi Yutaka hitting on every and any woman in sight.

A couple of things I love:

2009-06-18T04:02:31Z

1. The new H/G poster, which you can look at here, along with many others, including some hilarious Hermione/Ron/Lavender love triangle ones. The H/G one is ridiculously sweet. Here's the icon I promptly made:

2. The Thin Man
A very entertaining series of black and white detective films from the 30s and 40s starring super popular screen couple William Powell and Myrna Loy. Nick and Nora Charles are a wealthy New York couple who occasionally delve into sleuthing when murder and mayhem land in their laps.

Favourite quote:

"What were you doing on the night of October 5th, 1892?"
"I was just a gleam in my father's eye!"
"... :O"

Best dialogue/Powell-facial-expression ever.

---------------

I had the day off today and did absolutely nothing. Summer is slow at the post office, so I'm only working four days a week now (plus every other saturday), but I'm going to ask my boss if I can come in earlier each day to get some extra hours. I'm not in dire need of money but I'd rather be working. When I'm not I feel terribly guilty and it's very distressing, so I want to work as close to full-time as I possibly can.

PS: Lookit how many films I've already watched so far in 2009! I TASTE SUCCESS. (Maybe I should extend it to 100 films for the year?) Believe it or not, I watched #24 to #36 all in the last two weeks. Old Hollywood is good Hollywood.

I don't like milk either.

2009-06-11T14:12:05Z

The sight of Nick Charles gulping down a tumbler of milk like it's hemlock brings me back to my own childhood. NICKIE JR!! That kid is ridiculously cute.

I really want the DVD collection box set!!!!

I cannot understand

2009-06-08T00:18:28Z

... the absolute shit that is "Two & a Half Men". My brothers love it and watch it on DVD. DVDs that they paid good money for.

I DON'T UNDERSTAAAAAAAAND.

When I open it, it says, "Papa" and not "Ochi Tchornya."

2009-06-07T17:24:20Z

"My dearest, sweetheart Klara, I can't stand it any longer. Take your key and open post office box 2-37 and take me out of my envelope and kiss me." (The Shop Around The Corner)

... has got to be the most romantic line in a movie I've ever heard.

unpopular opinions #1

2009-05-30T01:54:48Z

Maybe I'm boring, but I just don't get paranormal romance. I'm fine with the object of my desires being human and all. If a guy suddenly sprouted fangs or began CHANGING INTO A DOLPHIN* I'd be wetting myself, and not in the, uh, good way.

But I'm fine with fantasy romance. As in, wizards I guess. Or whatever.

God, my feet hurt. And I got snapped at by a customer for being pushy today. I probably deserved that, though.

*in fiction I think this is great, however.

Work.

2009-05-26T14:06:18Z

Don't wanna.

PS. Enchanted, Inc. is a very cute book.

less old college buddies, more hot female cop

2009-05-26T00:23:29Z

Over the weekend I acquired two jdrama related things, both on dvd:

1) the Galileo movie
2) Voice (2009) drama starring Eita, Ishihara Satomi, Ikuta Toma, etc.

I watched the Galileo movie but found it very bland, which was very disappointing. This was my reaction to the SP with Miura Haruma as young Yukawa, too... I think it's partly because both the film and the SP are too long for the admittedly gimmicky yet entertaining premise to work to its campy potential, and more importantly, not enough Utsumi. What on earth are the writers thinking? It's true that Galileo is a fun hero on his own, but without the banter and UST between the two, the whole franchise falls flat.

Now I'm off to read chick-lit and relax. I'll start on Voice this weekend, provided I can rouse myself to finally finish Love Shuffle. I'm STILL three eps to go, my brother commandeering the laptop during my marathon really made my interest level drop.

i don't think so

2009-05-19T00:14:50Z

The Regency Romance Quiz: What kind of Romance Heroine are you?

Lucky you - you are the Belle of the Ball. Looks, wit, charm, accomplishments and money - you have them all. You are the toast of Society, and have received offers from no fewer than three Dukes. There is no-one who does not love you on sight. Sound good? It isn't, because to compensate for these riches, the author has something very nasty indeed in store for you. I mean, she does have to write a novel here, and you can't expect to be happy all the time. So, you have a Dark Secret. Or perhaps a Secret Love for the only man who does not appear to desire you. Or maybe you will be kidnapped, or become embroiled in a scandal, or be wagered and lost by your brother in a card game. The possibilities are endless, but you may be certain of two things. 1) You will not get through this book without some kind of scandal being attached to your name. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. 2) Whatever it is, he (the man of your dreams, that is) will fall in love with you, rescue you, slay your opponents, defy your detractors, marry you and live happily ever after. This is a romance novel, after all.

This is a very strange result. I was so sure I was going to get Spinster or Bluestocking. Or even Hoyden.

love is never wrong!

2009-05-17T01:22:35Z

Why do people despise romantic fiction so much? What about it is any worse than science fiction or fantasy or crime or anything else? I remember a professor of mine telling a story in lecture once about a conference she went to where a group of academics were discussing Anne Michael's Fugitive Pieces, and they all got to the sex scene, and everyone kind of scoffed over it, and she said she had to wonder why we're all so dead set against romance that we can't accept it has any sort of redemptive value.

I suppose it's like pop music. Anything so obviously popular and abundant can never be legitimate.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-05-16T01:53:01Z

Well, I liked it. It was ridiculous but highly entertaining. Hugh Jackman had manpain and SLICED lots of people and exploded Danhen*!!! WHAT MORE DO YOU REALLY NEED FROM A MOVIE?

Please tell me what exactly it is that Gambit's powers are? Once upon a time I knew but that was at least ten years ago and now I haven't a clue.

*BLARRRUGHHHHHH! I swear those were his exact words when the copter did you-know-what. HAHAHA. Oh Danhen you beautiful korean man.

Love Shuffle - spoilers for ep 6!!

2009-05-09T01:34:55Z

LOL.

I half expected that Kiku-rin's mysterious dead lover was probably a dude, or looked like one of the guys, but I was totally betting it to be Usa-tan and not Ojiro. IS it a dude? Or does Ojiro have a twin sister? Cue creepy staring in the communal male showers! OH BOY.

Cutie pie suicidal ghost girl is not going to like this. Come to think of it, there WAS that odd scene when she stated that Kiku hated Ojiro and he looked disturbed... that was a nice bit of foreshadowing.

Also, as much as I sympathized with Mei during her photoshoot with Ojiro, I'm starting to find her constant air of matyr-dom grating. It may have to do with the fact that I rather ship Usa-tan with Ai-ai, who is really likeable. Either that, or with Daigo. There is SO much gay subtext in this.

And wtf is up with the married lady and her husband?

ON TO EP 7! Don't spoil me please.

Sigh.

2009-05-07T14:14:19Z

The hero of this Georgette Heyer novel is called Vidal, which naturally puts me in mind of Vidal Sassoon, which reminds me of Namie Amuro, and then it's all DIP IT IN THE SAAAAUCE! DIP IT IN THE VIOLEEETTTT SAAAAUUUUUCE in my head for hours.

Love Shuffle eps 1-3

2009-05-03T02:45:45Z

... is really lots of fun. It plays out like a collection of sometimes startling, sometimes poignant vignettes connected by a paper thin premise (which is so flimsy it's almost laughable but nevertheless gets the job done). Yet the mixture of slightly-wacky/not-always-successful-comedy and exuberant bursts of drama works.

I'm about to start ep four and I think I might end up marathoning the entire thing in a couple of days. Not many dramas have that effect on me but boy do I love it when they do.

I really do like everything Tamaki Hiroshi deigns to touch with his godly-yet-skeletal hands.

Mmmhmm

2009-05-02T13:22:14Z

Once I catch up on the jdramas from last season, I plan to watch these:

Shiroi Haru which, aside from starring the greek god that is ABE HIROSHI, has Yoshitaka Yuriko, who is also in Love Shuffle (another one on my list). I've only seen her in a few episodes of Ashita no Kita Yoshio, which I unfortunately never finished. But I really, really liked her in those few eps I saw.

BOSS: what can I say? Glossy looking with great cast. Loads of pretty people. Erika Toda wearing geeky glasses. Wish there were subs already.

What are y'all watching?

on the bright side, i did lots of spring cleaning

2009-04-29T00:05:02Z

All the computers in our house broke down except for the one laptop, and as my brother is having his exams and requires online lectures he has approximated it - for how long I do not know!! So I have no internet and probably won't for another few days (maybe a week?). I KNOW YOU ALL MISS ME TERRIBLY BUT TRY TO STAY STRONG IN MY ABSENSE.

If you direly need to tell me something comment here. I will endeavor to try to check in again tomorrow morning.

weredolphins are just the beginning!!!

2009-04-25T02:44:29Z

euterpeslullaby says:
i feel the world needs more were-random animal stories
calixa says:
i'm going to write a regency novel where the hero is a were-stallion
calixa says:
imagine the possibilities
euterpeslullaby says:
wow
euterpeslullaby says:
dude
euterpeslullaby says:
that's excellent
euterpeslullaby says:
one of those UNTAMED STALLIONS
euterpeslullaby says:
and the woman will try to tame it!!
calixa says:
and there is so much room for really bad innuendo
euterpeslullaby says:
awesome
calixa says:
it will sell like hotcakes
calixa says:
book 1 will be called HOOVES OF STEEL
calixa says:
book 2 will be about were-stallion's bastard sister, who is a were-donkey
calixa says:
their father is like zeus
euterpeslullaby says:
jakmlg
calixa says:
the youngest sibling is half-rhino
euterpeslullaby says:
ROFL
calixa says:
that book will be called HORNS OF DILEMMNA
calixa says:
and book 2 is HIS MISTRESS MARE
calixa says:
i am on fire tonight

great things

2009-04-23T00:50:00Z

I had a sucky, pain-filled day that is continuing to be somewhat painful so I want to just focus on all the good stuff I can think of at this moment:

1. The hero of the book I am reading is a WEREDOLPHIN. YES. HE TURNS INTO A DOLPHIN DURING THE FULL MOON OF EACH MONTH, SO HE GOES TO SEA WORLD WHEN THAT TIME COMES AND HANGS OUT IN THE AQUARIUMS. I want to be a weredolphin.

2. LIAR GAME: They are making a season 2! AND A MOVIE! I thought the plot and, um, script of this drama was pretty terrible, but the Matsuda/Erika pairing made up for it. So I am excited.

3. I have the most delicious smelling hand cream - gardenia and green tea. Ohhh I love green tea scented things :D

4. Psych S3... the second half of it was pure brilliance. I can't wait for S4. I miss Gus already.

Anyone want to reccomend some books to me? I want to read fun, joyful, addictive things. Nothing that requires too much brain power, please... I have none of that to spare these days.

calixa's Journal

2009-04-19T22:21:45Z

Created on 2003-01-12 19:34:18 (#851929), last updated 2009-04-19

20,506 comments received, 11,209 comments posted

Paid Account, expiring 2010-06-19

1,800 Journal Entries

Yoikes!

M.I.A.

2009-04-19T00:22:59Z

1. I will never read anything with literary merit again. THANK YOU REGENCY ROMANCE NOVELS FOR DOING THIS TO MY LIFE. BTW, I have Gossip Girl circa-1899 aka The Luxe, plus about 30 other romance novels lying around.

2. DO NOT READ "PRINCE OF ICE" by Emma Holly. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS SPARKLEY AND KIND AND GOOD, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. IT CONTAINS THE PHRASE "VAGINA CHI". I CAN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT IT WITHOUT FEELING PHYSICALLY PAINED. DON'T READ IT.

3. The problem with not posting for long periods of time is that I have developed the habit of noting what's worth writing in my lj after all these years, but when I finally have the time to post, I can't remember what I wanted to say. I should update more often but most days I'm so tired from work and just want to relax with my bodice rippers. I definitely read my flist, though - I do that every day, twice a day.

4. I love whatever it is that koreans do to their movie posters - has anyone else noticed how they're all the same? It's like there's one guy out there who makes all the korean movie posters in the world with the same fonts and the same lighting...

IT'S A SERIOUS ROLL.

2009-04-07T01:39:29Z

Last night I was talking to lesbiassparrow about Twilight - SHE'S OBSESSED!!! - and I informed her that before Robert Pattison was cast, everyone seemed to think Gaspard Ulliel was the living embodiment of Edward Cullen. Even I knew this, and I didn't even know what Twilight really was for years. (Seriously. I had no idea until around the time the rumours of a movie were making the rounds.) We watched an interview he did which was entertainingly full of typos and marvelled at his weiiiiird accent (he stresses at all the strangest places!), then came the trailer for Hannibal Rising: you know a movie is worth watching when you have to wonder if the hero might eat his own love interest.

Castle: Hee!! I like that it's an actual murder mystery show, and not a procedural masquerading as a detective show or vice versa...

Primeval: This show is GREAT. I love watching the dinosaurs and various prehistoric monsters chasing after poor english people across London forests and sewers. It just never gets old. AND THE MAIN CHARACTER IS A PROFESSOR WHO HAS A VERY FETCHING SCOTTISH ACCENT. That's all I want.

i was really crying. with mirth.

2009-04-05T02:48:19Z

Dollhouse: It just keeps getting more and more disturbing... and compelling. I can't NOT watch it. Even as I'm thinking nothing good can come of this (and I know it's going to end terribly and tragically) I just cannot make myself want to stop. connielane's musings have started me on a downward spiral of ending-of-1984-esque thoughts and now I can't cease the concern.

Psych: A scene in ep 3x09 (I know, I'm catching up) had me in stitches for a good 15 minutes. I still giggle whenever I think about it. I'VE SCREENCAPPED IT TO SHARE WITH YOU.

"Sorry, man. We don't trust you as far as Gus can throw you."

"Now we know where Britney got this little trick."

"Dude, I think he's really crying."

"You know I can't handle it when a cruel man cries. I'm a sympathetic crier!"

"Oh... OKAY, FINE! We'll see what we can do!"

It's soooo much better in video. I LOVE YOU, PSYCH.

Oh, tv. Good times.