The Past Week via Twitter: 2012-04-08
by V.E. on April 8th, 2012
filed under twitter
- April Fool's Day is the only day I'm absolutely guaranteed NOT to have a sense of humor. And no, I'm not kidding about that. #
- So if you think that I just "haven't heard the right joke" or "have never had a funny prank played" on me, then just save your breath & time #
- Because I will just loathe you if you try to pull something on me today. Seriously; no joke. #AprilFoolsDaySUCKS #
- Hahaha what. RT @Jesus_M_Christ: Just got my Mega Millions tickets. Totally moving out of my dad's house if I win. #
- @TWLOHA you don't need to be accepted by others to be beautiful, but you do to survive. I'm just sayin'. #
- Truth. RT @AdviceToWriters: Writing is a suspension of life in order to re-create life. JOHN McPHEE #writing #
- In my experience, this also works with apple pie. RT @jetset_: Was mad. Had pecan pie. No longer mad. #
- Yes please! PLEEEEEEASE? RT @TheYaoiReview: RT: @AdultSwim Want it back? Let us know. #BringBackToonami [DOOOOO EEEEEEEET!!!!!!] #
- @TheYaoiReview hahaha I retweeted it before I realized there a threat involved lol. #
- Hahaha whaaaat. RT @ProSexTips: When I have a shit day, I imagine a T-Rex trying to shuffle cards and everything is fine again. #
- So, yes; I do lie in bed late(-ish) at night and catch up on my twitter feed. And, y'know, retweet things. Obviously. #
- I want a giant poster of this. Seriously. RT @Nate_TheMan_: Shout to whomever made this! http://t.co/2GjmKY9S #
- @Dredgly I'm not going to lie on this one: I have all the Britney Spears perfumes. >_> Don't judge me lol. #
- @Zekor you're not seriously telling me you're offended FOR an extinct-for-millions-of-years animal, are you? #
- RT @PhillyD: Im thankful for twitter trends like "We Support Chris Brown" because it puts all the people we should euthenize into one group. #
- @Dredgly haha yeah. well, I think so, at least. I like Fantasy and Midnight Fantasy best but I have the others, too. #
- RT @lifehacker: Girl scout cookie season is almost over, but you can actually get your Thin Mint fix all year round: http://t.co/Bo7dcIPe #
- OH my jeeesus… RT @ollymoss: I play draw something like a moron http://t.co/SsdZGxpQ #
- Hahaha whaaaaat. RT @mandyvandeven: How is it that Ryan Gosling has become a superhero? http://t.co/iWRk6d5X #
- @maymaym is there a place I can read that article (or whatever it is) not on facebook? I don't have an fb account. #
- @estherium I'm INTJ. My little sister is ENFP. Go figure. ^_^ #
- @sarahtv3 ooh ooh I took a bartending certification class while I was still living in NYC! *high five* #
- Tonight is not a good night. #
- @mandyvandeven yeah…. I don't know any guy who would do that. #
- @xxxchurch I don't believe in any god who would respect me more and "give" me more for letting HIM make the decisions. >_> #
- Lolwut @TweetsofOld: A small rat terrier, his two right legs injured, ran past the depot on his two left legs, making very good time. NY1883 #
- @TweetsofOld pics or it didn't happen. Lol just kidding ^_^ #
- @postsecret sometimes words are the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction a person (or country) can wield. #
- @jetset_ is it bad that I'm jaded enough that I might not (probably wouldn't) take that as a compliment? #
- @donnatalarico ooh ooh I like it too! #
- Aw. The moon went down before I could get a good prayer in. I suppose Lady Artemis doesn't mind if my heart's in the right place, right? #
- @TweetsofOld holy shit yeah. #
- Dear everyone: when you fuck up, apologizing is fine, but please refrain from pretending to shoot or hang yourself; really not appropriate. #
The Past Week via Twitter: 2012-04-01
by V.E. on April 1st, 2012
filed under twitter
- @estherium Finding Nemo, obvs. ^_^ #
- http://t.co/e1kS57QZ reason 336149 I don't have a Facebook… and also hate Montana. I'm just sayin'. #
- okay: I don't like children AND I *really* don't like their parents. I mean, kids are kids, but adults have no excuse. Seriously. #
- Good people don't either. RT @AdviceToWriters: Good books don't give up all their secrets at once. STEPHEN KING #writing #
- You said it. Ugh. RT @PoetryDivas: @AdviceToWriters Bad books either give them up straight away or never #
- Sweet. RT @maymaym: This is beautiful. #agitprop #activism RT @sickjew: Expect us. RT @justinwedes Check it: http://t.co/AAZYJpQ9 #OWS #
- "Cats, like an entire bag of cats" lol RT @FCKH8: LOL! Check Out This Picture: "What Gay Marriage REALLY Is" PIC: http://t.co/qKE0B4MX #
- @Dredgly maybe they meant "stuffed beef"? but if so, then the picture is wrong, so >_> #
- @mandyvandeven the way that reads is: writing, language, & pinterest… and I thought, "well, two outta three isn't bad, I guess" >_> #
- @mandyvandeven haha… that IS the question, isn't it? #
- My computer is giving me signs it's about to give up the ghost. Now if I can juuust get my act together before it actually does… #
- You're not kidding >_> RT @annelisebaer: WEDDING SEASON BEGINS 0_o #
- @Zekor do your German homework flashcards. #
- @Zekor yeah, no. #
The Past Week via Twitter: 2012-03-25
by V.E. on March 25th, 2012
filed under twitter
- @sammiguidera I just watched "Totoro" the other night because I wanted to read that article you talked about a while back… #anime #
- @sammiguidera I still haven't gotten up the nerve to read the article, though. haha ^_^;; #anime #
- RT @mintychip .@postsecret morning. A weekly reminder that even on our worst days, we are not alone. #
- RT @TweetsofOld There are five churches here, and if a little Christianity could be found to go with them, we would be nicely fixed. IL1892 #
- haha whaaaat. RT @Jonathan_Rocks Captain Jack Sparrow. Buying a beer. http://t.co/RcVw90O3 #
- Haha I Laughed RT @editorialiste: Let's Stop Capitalizing Chatty Blog Headlines Because It Looks Weird And Oddly Formal #
- nachooooooos #
- seriously, though: the Prometheus trailer reminds me way too much of Event Horizon. nooo, thank you. #
- @justicewrites that was basically the problem with the book, too. wasn't super well written, but is it still worth seeing? #HungerGames #
- @KaylieJones I really REALLY hope that passes. Because, seriously. #
- RT @KaylieJones: http://t.co/o3lrfRDq HAHAHAHAH! Senator introduces bill to make men see sex therapist B4 getting Viagra prescription. #
- Damn it, Hemingway, I don't even like you RT @AdviceToWriters: Anyone who says he wants to be a writer & isn’t writing, doesn’t. HEMINGWAY #
- @FCKH8 seriously? I like him more and more, teeny bopper or no. #
- Actually, defining myself as "gay" is still too narrow. RT @FCKH8: Radio Host Bigot Says GAYS DON'T EXIST?! LOL! http://t.co/ocaXivyU #
Crafting Magick
by V.E. on March 20th, 2012
filed under recap/review, writing
I’ve got a new review up at Eternal Haunted Summer! Please check out my thoughts on Crafting Magick with Pen and Ink, and comment if you so desire, and then read the rest of the issue as well.
The Past Week via Twitter: 2012-03-18
by V.E. on March 18th, 2012
filed under twitter
- guess what?! I've got @yaoipress story "Maelstrom" on tap over here: http://t.co/4ENuTulq anyone else read it? did you like? (I did!) #yaoi #
- @yaoipress I have 5-7 but not 8 haha. #Maelstrom #yaoi #
- @yaoipress yes! I've got it saved in my inbox. see if I cant get to it sooner than later. want to know what happens! *_* #
- @Dredgly "I wanna drink goat's blood." — "But son; it's only Tuesday." #
- @TweetsofOld the same could be said today … sadly about both the woman and the bicycle. #
- @Dredgly lol, I know, right? hahaha #
- Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" RT @DovesandSerpent: Hallelujah Chorus – …just get the Shrek connection out of the way. http://t.co/X6DCFHHe #
Sixty Acres and a Bride
by V.E. on March 15th, 2012
filed under recap/review
Sixty Acres and a Bride
By Regina Jennings
Bethany House Publishers
01 February 2012
Rosa is transplanted from Mexico to Texas with her white mother-in-law, Louise, after her husband and her mother-in-law’s husband are killed in an accident. She cares for her new relatives (and her own family in Mexico had shunned her since her conversion to Christianity), but the town is sharply divided down color lines—whites on one side and brown people on the other.
Rosa and Louise also have to come up with four years worth of taxes before August—in just three months!—or they’ll lose their homestead, a beautiful sixty-acre ranch. They’re willing to work (if there’s something Rosa knows she can do, it’s an honest day’s work), and offers of help come from multiple sectors—some protective and others manipulative, and it’s difficult for Rosa to tell which is which. She’s not used to Texas propriety, “respectable” clothing for women, or the idea that when something bad happens between a man and a woman, the woman is always in the wrong, no matter the situation or how she got there.
I had high hopes for Sixty Acres and a Bride, set in post-Civil War Texas. Rosa is an interesting character, but I really worry when a non-white character is written by a white author. The other characters are appropriately Victorian, but Rosa is virtually out her element, and I’m not sure the author really made her convincing to me. The character tries (mostly in vain) to fit in, but she’s thwarted at every turn by propriety, respectability, even her skin color. Perhaps especially her skin color. Aunt Mary, Louise’s late husband’s cousin’s wife, is inspiring (and not all that tied up in “proper manners for ladies” as Louise is, to my relief), but I have a hard time believing she’d actually give someone like Rosa—someone so different from her—a fighting chance with so much prejudice in the town against her. (I mean, I’m glad she did, but still…)
And the men. Wow. Weston is a gruff-yet-honorable cowboy hiding past pain—he’s a decently-written but completely stereotypical character, even if that stereotype isn’t a poor one. Tillerton is basically (realistically, I’ve found, however unfortunately) a complete opportunistic douchecanoe… er, pardon the language. He’s utterly two-dimensional.
What can I say? It’s a standard Christian romance with a dash of historical fiction for flavor. It’s not bad, and it’s not bad writing, but I wasn’t surprised by or even particularly pleased with the ending. It’s… safe, I guess, and if that’s what you’re looking for, then great. This is the book for you. It won’t make you think about race relations or even really the disparity between what women are “allowed” to do and what men are. It’s great beach reading. I mean, even the good guy, Weston, sits at a kitchen table watching Rosa work and thinks, (italics mine)
… but that wasn’t all that captured his attention. The broad neck on her blouse exposed more skin than he was used to seeing before evening—and then only if the ladies were dressed for a social. As [Rosa] scrubbed against the stubborn drip of beans, he noticed her delicate collarbone, which was exposed to the very point it met her curved shoulder. And the hollow at the base of her neck… really! How did Mexican men get anything done during the day if all their womenfolk flitted around the kitchen dressed like that?
Yes, how indeed? -_- If the good guy is thinking things so, well… so not good, what hope is there for the rest of the characters to treat women fairly? Someone might point out that it’s historical fiction, but the author—as was her prerogative—already tossed out a lot of the history in favor of a good romance. In that case, why not make things more fair for women?… unless the author actually believes that women and men are truly the gender roles society prescribes for them upon their births?
DISCLAIMER: I received Sixty Acres and a Bride free from LitFuse Publicity in return for a review of the book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Read other reviews and learn more about the book on the blog tour’s main page.
Ascent from Darkness
by V.E. on March 14th, 2012
filed under recap/review, spirituality
Ascent from Darkness:
How Satan’s Soldier Became God’s Warrior
By Michael Leehan
Thomas Nelson Publishers
04 October 2011
This book has been sitting in my room for months after receiving it, waiting for me to do something with it. I chose it because I’ve been learning about the god Lucifer recently, and was interested to learn if a story with a Christian end could have a non-hateful view of other things non-Christian. Well… not so much, it turns out.
I finally sat down and read it and… well, sorry, Mr. Leehan, but I’m kind of not impressed. Ascent from Darkness is a kind of personal testimony to how far a person can “fall” and still experience the saving power of Christ’s grace. While it’s clear that the author needed saving, I don’t think a lot of the things he considered to be “Satan’s soldiering” actually are. As someone who’s not a Christian, it’s easy for me to have this view because (1) I actually think Lucifer might be a decent guy, and (2) I don’t have any investment in any god saving me from anything, even myself.
The story follows Michael Leehan’s struggle with depression, addiction, and poor behavior (generally speaking). I wouldn’t go so far as to say it involved spiritual warfare, but he certainly thought that after the fact, and I can’t argue with his feelings, so I’ll say this: a lot of shitty things were done to him as a child. He didn’t feel loved. He was abused. I sympathize. Truly, that really sucks.
But then he grew up and instead of asking for help or trying to prove all those horrible adults wrong or even taking revenge on them (all reasonable reactions, I’d say, though they all come from different human needs), he instead made a lot of shitty decisions on his own (who hasn’t? I mean, really)—some because he was depressed, some because he was arrogant, some because he was scared—and now he’s blaming those decisions on Satan? And his subsequent decision to stop making poor decisions on his conversion to Christianity? Wow. Way to take responsibility for your own actions, man. Good job.
I mean, Leehan’s life was in a downward spiral toward complete self-destruction, so anything that saved him from that is a good thing. I just think that he didn’t give himself enough credit for the positive changes he made in his own life. Then again, he didn’t really take credit for all the crappy things either, so I guess that’s par for the course.
DISCLAIMER: I received Ascent from Darkness free from Thomas Nelson Publishers in return for a review of the book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
