web-goddess

Category: Books

  • Friday Five

    1. What are your hobbies?
    Besides all this Internet crap? I quilt. My first blanket is coming along very well, aside from the fact that my fingertips are all raw and bloody from stabbing myself too many times with a quilting needle. I’m also learning Korean in the hopes of amusing my grandparents the next time I go home.

    2. Do you collect anything? If so, what?
    Though I collect books in general, I also have tons of Roald Dahl stuff. I’ve got an entire shelf of his books, including several rare volumes (that I paid an arm and a leg for on eBay). I’ve also got Dahl movies, Dahl CD’s, Dahl records, Dahl magazines, and even a doll (from Matilda). I tell myself that it’s all for the site, but really, it’s for me. 🙂

    3. Is there a hobby you’re interested in, but just don’t have the time/money to do?
    I’d love to actually get “serious” about my Dahl collection and go after some of the really nice first editions. Since I’ve seen prices with four digits, though, that’ll have to wait til I make my first million. I’ve also had a crazy desire lately to learn to knit. I’m just working my way through the domestic arts, people.

    4. Have you ever turned a hobby into a moneymaking opportunity?
    When I was first heading to London, I sold my rarest Dahl book because I needed the cash. I immediately regretted it though and was lucky enough to be able to buy the same volume back later. Quilting could possibly be a money maker, though. I used to scoff at how much the Amish back in Indiana charged for these things, but now that I know the work involved in making one by hand, I don’t think hundreds of dollars is out of the question. Of course, this first one is for my bed. It’s getting cold at night!

    5. Besides web-related stuff (burbs, rings, etc.), what clubs do you belong to?
    Not really anything. I don’t know enough people here to join a club yet.

  • Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Infocom Adventure

    Calling all old-school gaming nerds! You can now play the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Text Adventure online! It’s java-based, but I got it to run fine in Mac IE. It’s fun! I keep dying, though. I can’t figure out how to stop the bulldozer. 🙂

  • His Dark Materials

    Michele pointed me to a great interview with Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Did you know The Mail on Sunday called Pullman the most dangerous man in Britain? And here I thought all the conservative book critics were too busy burning copies of Harry Potter to notice. My sister just finished the books, so she should appreciate getting a bit more insight into Pullman’s personal religious philosophy. I was amazed by his statements that C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books are “detestable”. He makes some good arguments against the view of Heaven that those books present. Good stuff.

  • Books

    Have you guys heard of Singlefile? It’s a web-based application that allows you to keep track of your book collection. It sounds like a great idea, but I’m not sure if it’s worth $20/year. I could probably build something similar and run it here at my own site. Hmm… I smell a new web project coming on!

  • Big Trouble

    Hmm, so Dave Barry’s Big Trouble movie has finally been released? I’m less than enthusiastic. I bought and read the book years ago and – if I recall correctly – I thought it sucked. I’m normally a big Dave Barry fan, so the utter non-funniness of this book should be apparent to you. I can’t even remember what it was about. That’s how forgettable it was. I can’t imagine that it’ll make a very good film, especially if Tim Allen’s in it.

  • HP:5

    The next Harry Potter book has been delayed until autumn. Crap.

  • LotR + Sims

    Oh. My. God. Lord of the Rings skins for The Sims. Now you can finally live out your sordid little Frodo-and-Sam fantasies!

  • Fire ants

    South American fire ants are spreading through Australia, causing irreparable crop and environmental destruction. Just what I wanna hear while I’m planning to migrate. Has anybody else read a story called “Leiniken and the Ants”? I seem to remember reading it in high school about a guy who tries to defend his plantation from these things and ends up getting killed. I can’t seem to find any references to it on the Net though. Maybe I’m spelling it wrong…

  • Characters

    I’m doing some research for my Dahl site when I came across this list of Twenty Characters You Should Know. There were only a couple that I hadn’t heard of. Who are Hans Brinker, Mafatu, and Mr. Popper? Are they before/after my generation, or did I just somehow miss them?

  • Word find

    Done worming it yet? If you’re looking for something else to fill the hours before the show, might I suggest the Word Find I created the other day for my Dahl site. It’s based on Roald Dahl’s book Matilda and it’s got some lovely British-y sounding words like “Bovril” and “Thripp” in it. Have fun.