a99kitten's Musings

I’ve been thinking about getting an e-reader for awhile now. I love reading. It’s been one of my favorite past times since I was a kid. When I was about 12, my best friend’s Mom loved me because she was a voracious reader and saw it in me too. So she gave me tons of classics to read. Both of her kids weren’t readers so she sort of adopted me. And I discovered reading War and Peace at the age of 12 is not as common as I thought.

And I’ve been reading ever since. I always seem to have a crazy busy schedule but definitely need to find “me” time to read. In the summer I love to read out in the sun for a couple hours on the weekends. In the winter I love to curl up in my chair in front of the fireplace when the snow is coming down in Tahoe.

I love having nice books fill up my bookshelves. I would love a whole room in my house dedicated as a library with built-in bookshelves and the ladder you roll across to get up to the highest shelves. Darker wood than in “Atonement” but that was a great library (great book, great movie, great actors, GREAT dress!) :)

At the same time, not all of the books I read need to be kept on my bookshelves. I keep all of my leather bound classics there. My Greek and Roman mythology is there. All of my Arthurian tales. My Ayn Rand, my philosophy books, books about wolves & nature are there. My Siberian Husky training books have a spot (they are…ahem…dusty.) My husband’s Porsche and surfing books occupy the bottom shelf :) But I don’t need to keep my James Patterson, Janet Evanovich or Candace Bushnell books up. I do love to read them but I usually pass them on to others or trade them in at a used bookstore. The Twilight series…well..yes, I believe those will go up too :)

So I thought an e-reader would be great for books like this. Silly to waste the trees on me. But I have put it off so far because:

a. They are all fairly pricey
b. Something newer and “better” comes out a month later
c. I have 3 stacks of real-life bound books on my nightstand calling my name each night.
d. What I *really* want is a reader with a color screen that has comic book downloading/reading ability

And yet…I go to the Amazon homepage every day to see if they have lowered the Kindle 2 price. With the Kindle DX out, Sony’s readers shipping 8/26 (2 of them priced at or lower than the current K2 price point of $299), Barnes and Noble releasing their e-reader soon AND school starting any day now (isn’t that a reason to lower prices on everything!!) I keep hoping I might just open the AMZN home page one morning and see it for $249 (or less!) Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying….come on Jeff…

BUT…I am now reading about the other e-readers and am thoroughly confuzzled as to what I should buy. There are actually a few of them available (I had no clue) but I am only considering the Kindle, Sony or BKS ones as I want it to be seamless and easy with the e-bookstore associated with it. My take on these 3:

Kindle 2:
a. I love AMZN. And I am an extremely brand loyal girl if I like you.

b. Wireless purchasing. I will use this feature. I hate having to sync my iPod and iPhone with my home computer so having another gadget I’d have to sync is NOT what I’m looking for. BUT – is it worth the extra $100 compared to Sony’s Pocket Reader? Hmmm….

c. iPhone app. The idea that I can read a few pages while sitting at the vet, or getting my oil changed or waiting for my husband somewhere sounds awesome. B&N has a nifty app too though. Not sure about Sony. The touch screen function of turning pages is very nice..Kindle 2 does not offer this.

d. The screen/glare. I do a lot of my summertime reading outdoors so I need to know I can read the screen with NO glare. None. I tested a friend’s DX in the sun and it was perfect. From what I’ve read online, this is not entirely true of Sony’s (although this applies to the touch screen ones only & not the Pocket Reader.) This is actually one of the larger decision-making factors for me.

e. Built-in dictionary. I refuse to go past words I don’t understand so I need a dictionary handy. Kindle has it built-in. Sony Pocket reader does not. B&N has a downloadable Merriam-Webster dictionary for free for the iPhone app. Not sure on their planned Plastic Logic e-reader. Another large factor.

f. Can hold up to 1500 books. The DX can hold 3500 but by the time I read the 1500, my color one capable of comic book reading should be out for me to purchase :) The Sony holds 350.

g. Large e-book selection. And let’s be real, even if B&N’s offering is larger when their e-reader comes out – I feel AMZN will catch up quickly. Every new book that gets published for e-reading will go to all 3 (or whoever lives.)

h. It’s Whisper-Sync operates on Sprint. But this is built in to your reader cost. No monthly subscription fees. I believe the larger Sony reader coming out will be on AT&T but with a monthly fee. The Pocket Reader has no wireless at all. Not sure about the new B&N one.

i. CON – is kinda ugly…(ummm..why is that AMZN?)

Sony:
a. It’s CUTE! And I can get a pink one :)

b. Much sleeker and prettier design over all – even in basic black or silver (but yes I’d get pink.) Metal (not plastic) and still very light – under 8oz! Kindle 2 is 10.2 oz.

c. I assume Sony will make a great product and I base this on past performance overall. I wouldn’t buy a brand I didn’t know for this reason but trust Sony to be fine.

d. Did I mention it’s cute and comes in pink?

e. They have a full-ish bookstore. And thumbs up for giving Star Wars and Star Trek their own categories but I think they will have to make a deal to have access to either Amazon or B&N eventually. A Sony bookstore just isn’t their market (much like hardware isn’t your market AMZN…..AHEM….)

Barnes & Noble:
a. You can download the iPhone e-Reader app and read books you buy online right away. I tested out their iPhone app with a sample book. Pretty nifty. With AMZN you have to own the Kindle for the iPhone app to work with it/your e-books account. Clearly this was so you had to buy their Kindle hardware and not just use your iPhone for their content. But AMZN is all about content sales anyway so this seemed like a silly road to take IMO…

b. Really no solid reason I can see I’d choose this one over the first 2 other than the larger store content which I feel is a non-issue. Now if it comes out quickly, is less expensive than the Kindle 2 but as feature-filled and yet cuter than the Sony….but good luck with that…

I have blogged about my desire for the Kindle before: https://a99kitten.com/?p=877 and I’m still sure that I don’t want the Apple $600-$800 one with a monthly subscription, but thanks for asking…unless someone was going to donate it to me that is ;-)

At the end of the day – I will buy 1 of these 3 soon to use and love until someone comes out with the color screen version that will offer comic book and graphic novel reading. And if I can subscribe to my comic titles with it – I will buy it as soon as it comes out and sell my KindleSonyBarnes e-reader on eBay faster than you can say “Wonder Twin Power Activate”…

Would you just drop the dang price already?!?! Or are you waiting for AAPL to officially announce their “iPad”? Sigh….

As I was reading “Breaking Dawn” in bed last night I realized I think I *really* do want a Kindle. I have big, heavy books (have you tried to read Atlas Shrugged using 1 hand to hold it up??) And if I want to keep as much of me snuggled warm under the covers, it’s hard to hold a big, heavy book with one hand and turn pages. I almost had to break out the Snuggie ;)

And since it seems like it will be a while before a color screen version of an e-reader comes out, that will display comics and graphics novels (unless the Apple iPad does?), I want to go ahead and get the less expensive Kindle 2 while waiting for a color screen with comic titles available (I assume it will be well over a year away for a Kindle version.)

And Apple will price their e-reader WAY too high. And the bits and pieces I’ve gleaned off the web describe it as a device needing a monthly subscription fee from a carrier – say wha? No thanks. But then, it is just speculation and gossip right now so who knows.

BUT…what if Apple does release the iPad and then Amazon doesn’t want to stay in the e-reader hardware business so it doesn’t keep working on a color version?? They already allow Apple to offer the Kindle iPhone app so what if they just phase out the Kindle hardware and allow Apple to take over the market? Hmmm…

I think I might be over-thinking this…

So I am impatiently waiting in hopes that Amazon will lower their Kindle 2 price a bit…and also why I chose for any revenue off my AMZN links to be paid to me in AMZN gift cards :)

Husband said maybe Santa will bring it to me. I am SO not waiting for Santa on this one…and really…Santa should be mining diamonds for my gifts :)

I finally finished reading the Entertainment Weekly mag featuring vampires. I must admit, I wanted to buy it to see where Angel/Angelus and Edward Cullen placed :) But I have loved vampires much longer than I have been familiar with these 2 characters.

I was first really intrigued by vampires after seeing the 1979 version of  “Dracula” starring Frank Langella. I remember seeing that movie with my Mom and just thinking vampires were the *coolest* ever. I didn’t go to public school. I had a private tutor (my Dad did not like the local public schools) and so I was allowed 1 period of my study for a subject of my choosing. So I chose vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. I was already kinda there with so much Arthurian reading and delving into Merlin,Morgan Le Fey and paganism. So just one or two more steps…I read every book I could find. I was such a regular at the library.

Although, in looking back, it does seem strange that neither my parents or my tutor thought this troubling. I guess since I had excellent grades, never caused any trouble, did all of my chores voluntarily and didn’t wear black – I could safely study the pagan arts and creatures of the night without causing any adult worry :)

I was quite annoyed by EW’s assertion (or the story’s author’s assertion anyway) that the first “sexy” vampire was Tom Cruise’s portrayal of LeStat.  Langella was HOT in this role. By far sexier and certainly before LeStat was ever even created. This entire movie is GREAT. Sir Laurence Olivier plays Dr. Van Helsing. And Frank Langella as the Count – awesome. And very creepy parts too. I *highly* recommend watching this version.

Frank Langella's Dracula

I read Interview With a Vampire before the movie was cast and enjoyed it. But when I heard Tom was cast as LeStat I was mortified. And I actually LOVE Tom Cruise – especially back then!  But I simply could not see him as LeStat. He was Maverick.  And Maverick-like characters. Completely different characters from LeStat.

Now, I really liked this book. But I didn’t love this book. Louis is a frackin’ whiner and I simply could not deal with his constant whine, whine, whine. LeStat was a welcome distraction to his whining for sure! And when I saw the movie I was taken aback by how much I loved Cruise’s LeStat. He definitely made the movie fun. And did not have to have a creepy movie kiss with kiddie Kristen Dunst (heebie-jeebies…). Good for him going against type and showing the nay-sayers (me included!) that he could rock the role.

I did NOT like Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” at all. And not because of Keanu Reeves. I just thought it was a boring, overly pretentious movie. And I liked the book, like the director and all the actors. Just the movie as a whole practically put me to sleep and I’m not that hard to please in the movie-watching department. How Gary Oldman ended up on the EW Top Vampire list (#10??) and not Frank Langella is mind-boggling. I like Gary Oldman…but not as Dracula in this movie.

And Gary’s vamp (#10) was ahead of Kiefer (#14) in Lost Boys?? Kiefer’s David was excellent. That movie ruled! Obviously completely different version but thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining, jumpy/scary and funny. The Coreys simply couldn’t do better (and so they seriously took a digger to avoid any kind of comparison obviously.) Dianne Wiest was excellent as the clueless Mom. Plus *great* soundtrack. I will always watch this if I come across it on TV.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie) – meh. I can remember I only really cared to see it because Luke “Dylan McKay” Perry was in it! However, Buffy the series – I loved from Episode 1. Still love it. When I’m flipping through the channels and come across a rerun – I will absolutely watch it. My favorite character was Angel/Angelus. Yes – he is absolutely physically hot (met David Boreanz at SD Comic Con – RAWR!! and very sweet in real life too!) But Angel was also tortured and bad but good and just awesome :) I was so sad when he left Sunnydale but watched every single episode of Angel (more than once) and feel they did a better job with the Angel series than Buffy after Angel left Buffy. The writing was darker, more grown-up but they also kept a dark humor to it. One of my favorite episodes was “Smile Time.”

My Angel puppet from the "Smile Time" episode

And of course whenever Angelus took over and came out to play…he was great when he was being the ultimate baddie (and yes, where I got my dog’s name from.)

Sure, they lost it a bit during the whole Conner/Cordelia and Jasmine story lines but still – always loved the show. Buffy went downhill with Angel leaving, then Dawn arriving, Buffy turned into a whore, died, came back and then fell for Spike?? No. Eww. No offense to Spike – great character – but as a BAD guy!!! He and Drusilla were awesome together! Second vampire with a soul who Buffy falls for – no, yuck. Cheap, blonde imitation of Angel at that point. But was sad to see Buffy end. And was VERY sad when Angel ended. Much darker series ender…I just recently found out they have made some graphic novels as a follow up to that ending. I need to get on reading those (into my never-ending stack of reading!) But now with both off the air…there were no more vamps :(

We did have the Blade movies (first movie was good but the others – meh) and the Underworld series which I liked. But again – the first one I loved and the rest – ok. Although I did just read a rumor today that Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is returning in #4 (she was not in #3.) Notice though having said meh to the movies…I did see them :) What can I say – I love the vampire/werewolf story.

And to really capture the apparent epic battle between vampires and werewolves comes Twilight. And yes, I fell for Edward Cullen’s charms :) The author definitely hit a nerve in the girl market with these. She writes teen-angst very well. Edward is written as the perfect soul mate. Oh sure, there is one small issue – he’s a vampire – but whatever. True love conquers all, right?! :) I made fun of this movie when I saw the ad for it and heard all the commotion for it on TV. They (the cast) came to a mall in San Francisco to promote it before it came out and he (Robert Pattinson) was nearly trampled to death (according to the news.) I remember thinking “Are you kidding?” But then a friend and I saw it on a lark – and I think we were swooning in about 10 minutes :) Such suckers for the idealized romantic hero. So then I bought the books and am now a proud member of Team Edward. hehehe…

But now that I am almost done with Book 4 of the Twilight series and have to wait for each of the next 3 movies to come out, I will start watching True Blood and reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Not sure how I will like it. I saw about 10 minutes of an ep and didn’t like it when it first aired on HBO last year. But everyone I know loves it so I bought the Season 1 DVD set and will give it as try. But none of the guys are very cute :( At least in the pictures I see of them – I want my vamps hot! ;)

Plus the EW article had a couple other book suggestions that I will check out (maybe once I get a Kindle!?) namely the “Blue Bloods” series by Melissa de le Cruz (probably my next one) and “Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter” by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Plus the CW has a new Twilight rip-off/copy coming this season called The Vampire Diaries (starts Sept 10 – set your DVR!) Who knows, it could be entertaining :) At least worth watching the first couple…

Our company has an office in Romania…aka Transylvania. I’d like to go there sometime. Prince Vlad “the Impaler” Tepes’ castle is big tourist attraction. You know, because why wouldn’t it be? :) Many more vampire tales elsewhere but can you find and go into those castles? And it’s where the name Dracula started so I think a fun visit!

All the newer tales have definitely changed up the vampire (and werewolf) lore though. So no matter how many books, legends, historical tales, and movies you consume on the subject, you can’t be sure you know everything. Because then they come along and sparkle in the sun on ya!

But at least I can say I was way ahead of this fangy fad :)

I just finished reading Marvel’s New X-Men “New Worlds” graphic novel. It was third in a series. The first 2 were “E is for Extinction” and “Imperial”. I really, really liked these.

The X-Men have been my favorite comics since I was a kid. Now, there were X-Men, New X-Men, The Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, and then of course the New Mutants, Weapon X and Wolverine and then allllll of the cross-overs they did. Seriously could go broke trying to keep up!

Some very fond childhood memories are of having my Dad take me to the comic book store to pick up my new arrivals. Always a good Saturday!! I would pour over them there and then again, in more detail, at home. Other favorite regular titles at the time were Wonder Woman, Justice League, The New Teen Titans, Alpha Flight, Batman and the Outsiders, and of course every new X-Men title/crossover they pumped out.

But I do have to admit, I slowed down and then finally stopped. I always wanted to go back and start back up again but when I would grab a few issues, I seemed soooo out of the loop in terms of story and characters, that I never stuck with them.

I was in line opening weekend for each new X movie and they always made me want to start reading the comics again. My favorite story arcs were the Hellfire Club storyline and, of course, the Dark Phoenix saga. If Hollywood could ever make these 2 story arcs correctly – these would rule! Although can not possibly be done in a 2 hour movie. So maybe best left to pages. I reread my Dark Phoenix comics a few years back and loved them just the same. What I always loved about X-Men (and Marvel titles in general) were they were darker and far more convoluted than the DC titles were back then. DC figured it out and revamped. Good move.

These 3 graphic novels were fairly dark. Murdered mutants, murdering mutants, apocalypse, death and mayhem – just a regular day in the X universe :) I highly recommend reading these. They cover New X-Men issues 114-133. Although not for someone who isn’t familiar with the X and Marvel universe for sure. The continuity for me was a bit hard (especially Scott and Jean’s multiple issues) since I have been so out of the X Universe for so long but I could figure most out and it really made me want to find the before and after stories! My only real complaint with any of them is the artwork in the first 2/3 of the 3rd novel (New Worlds.) I have seen this art type in past X-Men comics and never liked it. Much prefer the normal artist renderings of my beloved characters :)

I guess I do wish they had more Wolverine and Storm. Wolverine is in them but not as a MAIN character all the way through. Storm only appears briefly. They were always my 2 favorites. But seeing Emma Frost was great. And I was quite confused to see James Proudstar and Sunfire since last I read they were dead. So clearly (umm…yeah notsomuch) we are now in a different universe? Or they were reborn? Or never killed after all? Or…..? See why I need to get back issues??

I am desperately waiting for Amazon (or Sony?) to make a color-screen Kindle. And then being able to read my comics using that. I would end up spending so much $$$ in monthly titles (hear that Amazon, Marvel and DC???) I LOVE real books. And real comics. But the fact is it will just be easier to get and store. I have 2 huge acid-free comic boxes holding my individually bagged and boarded comics. I just don’t have more room (my Star Wars collectibles take up a *lot* of room…)

I did see that you can buy Marvel titles on CD. Maybe. But still prefer the idea of a color screen Kindle for comics/graphic novel viewing.

So for now, I will likely pick up a few more graphic novels. And maybe bring out my boxes and start re-reading my old ones :)

Today, August 4 is said to be the day Dom Perignon invented champagne back in 1693. Now, I have no idea if this is true. Not sure anyone can confirm this as all parties involved are long gone and record-keeping was a bit spotty back then what with no iPhones, laptops or even a PC around ;-)

The funny thing is naturally occurring bubbles were seen as a problem at the time in wine-making so this was more of a problem than an invention but I’ll take it :) And from what I have read, what was invented back then as a sparkling wine/champagne bears no resemblance to what we love to toast with now.

The Dom :) Looks like its bubbling over to me :)

Now, if you know me, you know I call all bubbly ‘champagne’ (or just bubbly) because that whole “it can’t be called champagne if the grapes aren’t from that region” is phooey to me. But I’ve ranted about that before so won’t re-hash :) So if you are offended if I call a delicious Gloria Ferrar Carneros Cuvee or a Schramsberg Brut “champagne” – you should hang up right now because I simply don’t care if I offended your delicate sensibilities about that.

Champagne is a happy drink.  It can be served, and goes well, with any food – from fanciful 6 course dinners to pizza. A long-standing holiday tradition for me is when trimming my Christmas tree I order pizza and drink champagne. Love this! Another of my favorites treats is, when my husband is out of town and I don’t need to make dinner and feel like being bad, a glass of dry Brut with a McDonald’s cheeseburger and fries. The salty food and sweet but not really that sweet Brut mixture is fantastic!  I *highly* recommend you try it!

But whatever the truth is about the true origins of champagne, we do owe the Dom (not to be confused with the Don!) a big THANK YOU anyway! And I see this as a good enough reason to toast him this evening with a glass of bubbly  – although likely not opening one of my bottles of Dom to do it since I can’t drink the entire thing by myself and it is school night after all :)

If you love champagne like I do, I highly recommend reading “The Widow Clicquot”:

I really liked this book.  A good amount of reading on champagne making history in general plus about the Widow’s life. Fun read for sure. Starts off a bit slow so keep with it :)

And if you really want to try a “fancier” bottle of bubbly but find the prices out of reach, look around for a newly released vintage and just hold onto it for a few years.  They are still pricey but much less so and it’s a great way to enjoy a really nice bottle on a special occasion later. Champagne should be enjoyed within 10 or so years of its vintage year (on bottle.)    Although I had a bottle of Cristal that was given to me as a gift (2 bottles actually) about 13-15 years ago. I finally just opened 1 of them last year and it was GREAT! I need to enjoy the other one soon because if it were to go bad – I would definitely cry over the needless waste of a $400+ bottle of anything!!

And get yourself a champagne stopper so you don’t have to drink it all in 1 night (this is for the less expensive bottles – finish your good ones!) Or *horrors* waste it….this was the best buy ever! I love mine from Beverages & More.  I think it cost like $5.00 or something. I had one from Bed, Bath & Beyond – not as good.

Hope you enjoy some soon!

I love to read. I have loved to read ever since I was a kid and my best friend’s Mom would feed me books (her kids weren’t readers so she adopted me :) ) like my favorites The Scarlet Pimpernel, Anna Karenina, Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, Count of Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, multiple Greek & Roman mythology books, and more and more classics. I would soak up all these books. Then throw in all the comic books I would read and it seems like that’s all I did! (even though I know I did more as I was outside all the dang time!)

Summer is a great time for me to read as I lay in the sun and read…for hours. My current “To be read book right now” stack on my nightstand is:

8th Confession – James Patterson (JUST FINISHED LAST NIGHT!)
Capitalism & Freedom – Milton Friedman
Gossip Girl: A Novel (Book #1 in series)
Breaking Dawn (#4 Twilight series) – Stephanie Meyer (once I start this I know I cannot put it down!)
Wishful Drinking – Carrie Fisher (Just finished today ! 7/1)
New X-Men: e is for extinction
New X-Men: imperial
New X-Men: new worlds
The Daily Coyote – Shreve Stockton
Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane (need to read before movie comes out!)
Free to Choose: A Personal Statement – Milton & Rose Friedman
Illiad – Homer
Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand (I need to finish this: I put it down after I could no longer take how close to reality it is becoming with the new administration and it depressed and sickened me.)

Then there is my 2nd stack under my nightstand of “I need to read very soon”:

Lipstick Jungle – Candace Bushnell
Assassin – Ted Bell
The Fountainhead – Any Rand
Gossip Girl (books 2 and 3 in series – I bought the boxed set!)
entire Harry Potter series (I know, I know..slow)
The Road to Serfdom – F.A. Hayek
The Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith

And in my cart at Amazon…
Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire – Amanda Foreman (movie The Duchess was based on this book)
The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg – Helen Rappaport
Swimsuit – James Patterson
The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown (pre-ordered for 9/15!)
Run For Your Life – James Patterson & Michael Bennett
Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology – Ayn Rand
Outtakes from a Marriage: A Novel – Ann Leary (Denis Leary’s wife)

This is a lot of stuff to read! And I still have more I want or will definitely find and want it soon!! So I better get on this!!! I was hoping to get at last 4 books read this vacation week. I’ve finished 1…I am waaaay behind…yikes….