songs, recipes, books that keep you going

[meitachi]

Because I've been replaying this over and over on Youtube, I thought I might as well rip the song so I could just leave Repeat on in iTunes:

» Super Junior - 너라고 (It's You) (MF, ripped from here)

I figure it can at least tide us over until the repackaged album is actually out!

Done packing! My boxes and furniture are ready to be moved into storage tomorrow, and then I get to goof off (actually!) for about a day, and I fly home to NC on Tuesday night...

Oh quick random poll because I was wondering earlier today (and because I like seeing other people's journal talk about things besides just fandom - it gives people depth! :D)--

[Poll #1397793]

So I've taken an interest in food blogs recently because I have time to cook and bake again. Do you guys have any favorite recipes? Lunch foods, dinner foods, or desserts. Anything is welcome!

Or! Recommend a favorite book or recent love, because I am going to be flying a lot this month (and in August), so I would love something to read on a fourteen-hour-flight, for instance. (I'm particularly woeful that going to China in May means I'll be missing out on the June U.S. release of sarahtales's The Demon's Lexicon...what are the chances of China having it? Not so good, huh?)

Comments

[unmyeong.livejournal.com]

have you read "kitchen" by banana yoshimoto? it's a little bittersweet, but very cute. :) "goodbye tsugumi" by her is also kind of painful, but i loved that one too. ♥

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I have not! I haven't really had time to read for fun in ages and ages (...probably since college started) and the few snatches of time I got, I tended to reread books I already I knew I loved, because it was much more relaxing.

But I kind of want to discover some new loves now too~ Thanks for the recs! :D

[magicmelodyx.livejournal.com]

*breaks that whole not-commenting streak*

Don't know if you've ever read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky, but it's one of my favorite books evaaaar so I have to be loud about reccing it.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, ooh yes I knew lots of kids in hs who loved it yet somehow I never got around to reading it. Weird!

[havs.livejournal.com]

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray is my current favourite series.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Oooh, what's it about? What genre? :O

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Hahaha my roommate kasugai_gummie stayed up one night til 6am reading that and was SO ASHAMED OF HERSELF. It was hilarious. And yet there must be something compelling about Skip Beat if it kept her interested so long...! (Especially since she's usually a shounen person...)

Re: why yes, i can use html

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Ooooh lovely, lovely! I will definitely try these out sometime. :D Thanks!

[unmyeong.livejournal.com]

i don't know you, but oh my god those sound delicious ;A;

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

WHAT THE- WHERE IS THIS RL JOURNAL?

[meiface.livejournal.com]

shadesofmei~

It's been kept on the DL because...I don't like to mix too much fandom and RL but...yes! I have lots of tedious/similar/whiny entries haha.

[liangjingjing.livejournal.com]

Anything by Terry Pratchett is guaranteed to be hilarious. But Good Omens which he wrote with Neil Gaiman (who is equally awesome) is my favorite.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I adore Pterry and have read close to everything he's written. I'll probably pick up at least one of his books for the flight. :) And I own a much read and much beloved copy of Good Omens. I rec it out to other people too!

[chinapaper.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you can see who votes in a poll.... but yeah, that's right. >:(

I have this huge list of Books to Read Once I Have a Life, and just glancing at it, I could recommend "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" and "All the King's Men"? I haven't read either, obviously, but a lot of people have raved over the former (like sarahtales), and the latter is just a personal interest, yay rising corrupt politicians!

(also i think the digital single of It's You has been released?)

[meiface.livejournal.com]

WHATTA BITCH. IHU2.

Ooh yes I should start with her recs; they tend to be good and the style of books I like. I read "All the King's Men" in 11th grade English...it was okay. I don't remember loving it, but I was young, and tended no to love the assigned readings.

(Jeez! No one tells me these things. Yay for a better quality rip~ :3 Now of the other 3 songs...!)

[danii06.livejournal.com]

YOU SHOULD WATCH STAR TREK. I'm one of those big nerdy fans of the series (TOS and Next Gen only though) and I was very pleased with it. Also, you don't have to be a fan to like it. I watched the premiere here (OH YEAH BABY INVITE ONLY TICKETS YAY FOR GEEKY CONNECTIONS!) with a friend who belongs on the Star Wars side of the sci-fi spectrum and he liked the Star Trek movie more than the first three prequels combined. Oddly enough, it was Lucasfilms who did the special effects, imagine that. Odder still, is that I am using a Yoda icon.

Get a Nintendo DS to pass time during travels. :D It's the handheld that pleases everyone- heck, my GRANDMOTHER has one. I bought one mainly to pass time when waiting. Actually, scrap that, I forgot that the US is stricter regarding the chip that lets you download games for free.D:

Books! Um, I always recommend the Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels (you can download them from torrent and read in your laptop if you want to go that route), and American Gods. I also highly recommend the Night, Dawn and Day Trilogy of Elie Wiesel-- one of the most heartwrenching depictions of World War 2 I've ever read.

Oh and random stuff- I just watched bits of Hetalia yesterday (yes, I am 100 years late to the party) and I was um, very amused.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Oh I read Night in school and I liked it a lot - in that heartwrenching way, as you mentioned. I didn't know it was part of a trilogy though. I should go after Dawn and Day sometime.

Yes, I am hearing fantastic think about the Star Trek movie from everyone on my flist, including non-fans! I definitely want to watch it either tomorrow night with Michael before I leave or with a friend back home...

I still haven't watched Hetalia - only read the manga strips (always was a manga > anime girl, idky) but it's hilarious. ;) Mocking history as tribute!

[forochel.livejournal.com]

I WANTED TO TICK ALL OF THEM (COMPULSION) BUT FIGURE THAT WOULD BE EITHER (A)CONFUSING OR (B)ANNOYING.

books! if you want something full of adorb then - well, have you ever read the paddington bear series? or is that too british for words? I also bought this lovely book by alan bennett (playwright of the history boys) last year, called the uncommon reader, and it's a lovely read. tom stoppard's also really funny!

[meiface.livejournal.com]

aksdjflk OH MISHY. I HAVE READ THE PADDINGTON BEAR SERIES. ♥ I ADORE THEM, I ADORE PADDINGTON T__T I like British writings. I like British bears picked up from train stations~ (Idk I used to read a ton of stuff as a kid. I devoured a lot of the children's books/series but now...now I am so behind...)

Tom Stoppard wrote Arcadia! I enjoyed that. :D It's a favorite play, though it does not top The Importance of Being Earnest.

[forochel.livejournal.com]

OH, OH, OH, AND kazuo ishiguro! I recommend you start out with his remains of the day before you move on to the artist of a floating world, because THAT one is seriously ~~~-y. that is my jellyfish hands gesture. i can't explain it in words. /o\ I've been seriously lemming for his Nocturnes anthology, too.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Remains of the Day sounds so saaad. :( People not knowing human warmth. :( Yet intriguing! Japanese writing on British history/customs!

[suxing.livejournal.com]

I know that you've read Nightrunner (you recced it to me, duh!), but have you read Lynn Flewelling's other books? And by other books, I mean the Tamir Trilogy, of course.

Also, kind of random, but also of interest, did you know that Ellen Kushner came out with another book set in Riverside titled The Privilege of the Sword? With 20-years-later!Richard and Alec and omg I don't care if they're old now, I'm still wildly tempted to read it. Summer, I suppose, summer, which is just around the corner.

You know it just struck me that you're going to be gone a lot of the time this summer and therefore eljay-less, which makes me saaad because we've been so out of touch (no thanks to academia *sigh*). :( E-mail though? I promise I will be more prompt in responding this time around!

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Re: Kushner - yes and I read it! Or skimmed it! Idk. I remember I just couldn't get that into it for some reason and only really like the Richard/Alec parts. I should probably reread Swordspoint and try to give PotS another chance.

Re: Flewelling - the premise of that trilogy didn't fly well with me? IDK IDK. T_T I guess I'm not the kind of person who picks an author to love and then proceeds to love all their works (Terry Pratchett possibly being an exception). I pick and choose the books/series I love. Possibly I was just inherently biased against this series b/c it lacked Seregil and Alec?

Yes, email! And I will be keeping a travel blog (http://heartwaters.blogspot.com), and I'll still have FB. ♥

[chasedbytime.livejournal.com]

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is all kinds of love ♥

Honestly, I haven't read books because of school and stuff in like... 2 years ._. I'm excited for this summer because I plan on catching up!

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I know! I feel like there are so many things to read (and also reread).

Ooh psychological thriller that is The Secret History. Intriguing!

[konnistique.livejournal.com]

It's You is taking over my brain too :O

Um. I picked some and no ;; Considering there's a reason why you have a rl journal in the firsssst place :< Plus, shadesofmei is a quiet, nice, cosy and humble little place ♥

Wish I could help you but I don't reeeeead D: aljsklsj /fail.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

It's a gorgeous song *__* and I love the (leaked) MV. The official one is ~meh compared to the leaked. alksdjfldsk /awful

[papered.livejournal.com]

thank you for the rip, I'm definitely snagging it. :3 (and :O!!, I didn't even realize you had an rl journal.)

on another note, totally jealous that you are spending most of the summer in china! (sadly, I had to be plan in some summer school courses, and so my trip to asia only lasted about two weeks, but I would've loved to stay longer.) as for book recs... the uglies series by scott westerfeld? it's about this distopian world where everyone go through an operation that makes them drop-dead gorgeous on their 16th birthday, and after the surgery, those people would move out of "uglyville" into "pretty town". I read it quite a while ago, but it's a pretty good read. :'D (and wow this reminds me that I need to read more.)

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the MV(s) now? :D I love it! And the song. Yay SJ~

alksjdf I was so so excited about being in China/Beijing this summer but I just got an email from my internship supervisor with ominous stuff about the swine flu alksjfdlk. God what a downer. I'm still going because tickets have been bought/plans have been made, but I guess I just have to be super cautious about staying hygenic/healthy.

[black-goose.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you've read it, but My Sister's Keeper is a brilliant book, really touching. It's the only time I've ever actually really cried at a book - tears were streaming down my face ;____;

And Catch 22 is my most favourite book ever so I recommend that whenever I can XD

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I cry all the time over books and...everything. ;_; So My Sister's Keeper may reduce me to a state unacceptable in public, haha.

I've always wanted to read Catch 22 since it's such a classic. I should look into that!

[risabet.livejournal.com]

Snagged the song, something that in retrospect wasn't necessarily such a smart move since holy heebie-jeebies is that song addictive or what :o

As for books:

Beijing Doll by Chun Sue. An autobiography of a troubled, rebellious music-loving teenage girl living in Beijing, trying to find her place in the world. I absolutely hated this book at first because my values differ from Chun's so much, but I learned to love it and even understand her a little bit.

The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki. One of my favourite books. Describes the daily life of the Makioka family living in Osaka just before second world war. It's a huge book, though, and will weigh like a ton of bricks, should you take it to the plane :/ Thus, I shall also recommend

In praise of shadows, also by Junichiro Tanizaki. An essay on aesthetics. I don't think I've ever enjoyed someone's description of a bathroom (among other things) quite so much.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

IT IS SO ADDICTIVE, ISN'T IT? Ridiculous. Go watch the MV(s) too! :D I liked the leaked version better.

And thank you for the book recs!

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

Have you read the Guide? It's awesome :3 And Lolita is good if you like reading prose-y things. Godel, Escher, Bach is completely amazing, but it requires a lot of thought..