Same Story, Different Versions (and all are true)

WARNING:  This post is NSFW (Not Safe For Work) Back in 2013-2014, I was a contributor to the  Insatiable Booksluts  blog, which specialized in small-press literature reviews, Reading Rages™, and other fun and snark-tastic book-related business (I never did master Susie’s particularly awesome brand of snark myself).  It’s one of the most fun projects I’ve taken part in, and I’m really going to miss working with Susie, sj, and the rest of the IB team. Unfortunately, the site has since been retired, but I’ve decided, with Susie’s permission, to resurrect some of my posts here and at  Postcards . .  .  .  .  . Originally posted at Insatiable Booksluts on April 9, 2014 One of the first Anne Sexton poems I ever read was “Cinderella,” her adaptation of the Grimms’ tale, during my freshman year of college.  I didn’t know at the time that she’d written sixteen other fairy tale verse adaptations.  But a few weeks ago, while looking f...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Mar 2, 2011 Yes, I realize one wouldn't usually expect to see those two topics lumped into one post -- one is a fun, sparkly, creatively orchestrated, but ultimately frivolous tradition, while the other is a fantastic author who's described the hazards of being a dedicated, open-minded female professor in Iran. But here I go.  First, hooray to Colin Firth and  The King's Speech  for getting Best Actor and Best Picture.  And hooray to  Toy Story 3  for their Best Picture nomination!  It would've been awesome if an animated movie won that category, and TS3  is  one of my favorite Pixar movies ever...but seriously,  The King's Speech  deserved it more.  I can't comment on how it compares with any of the other nominees, because I haven't seen any of them.  I've heard  True Grit  is amazing, and would've made a great Best Picture. Second, Anne Hathaway is one of my favorite O...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Jan 30, 2017 So, this was me after watching "The Lying Detective" and "The Final Problem" just now. Also, So, I know I'm totally Tardy To The Party.  For reasons, I didn't watch S4 when it first aired at the beginning of the month.  I would've done the whole Hola magic on bbc.co.uk after the season was done, but they've gotten wise and attached a TV Tax to their video service. . So I waited until the DVD was released and got it from the library.  And now I am all caught up. Ahem. . . SPOILAAAAAARRRRSSSSS MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS . . Unfortunately, someone already spoiled the ending of "The Six Thatchers" for me, so I knew they were going to kill off Mary after all. Sigh.  I guess I always knew they would, if the show was going to follow the stories.  At least they gave her a dignified, noble, not-off-screen-and-barely-mentione...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Jan 2, 2014. "What? I'm in shock - look, I've got a blanket!" ...AND it's because I just watched "The Empty Hearse."  Twice in a row. Last night, a fellow Sherlockian book blogger told me about this thing she'd just discovered:  hola .  It unblocks websites from other countries -- for example, here I am in Not the U.K., thinking wistfully about all those lucky Brits who get to see S3E1 today.  Along comes hola (which kind of totally looks like Calcifer from the Miyazaki  Howl's Moving Castle  XD ) and suddenly I can use the iPlayer on bbc.co.uk.  Which just enabled me to watch S3E1 twice in a row. ... SPOILERS AHEAD This isn't going to be very coherent.  'S a bit too soon and a bit too late in the day for that.  And things may get cheesy at times. It... both was and wasn't what I expected.  John's reaction to Sherlock's Surprise!-it's-me-aren't-you-thrilled? stunt ( rea...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on July 19, 2012 So apparently I'm still on this lovely  Sherlock  cloud, and despite all my protestations of  Imma go back to my regularly scheduled life aaaany day now …my brain is still running in a constant (though perhaps more quiet) loop of SherlockSherlockSherlockCumberbatchSherlockFreemanSherlockReichenbachSherlock- Season3Sherlock… Or if you'd like a visual representation, it's a bit like  this  (the four panels in the middle).  Or also this: ...which is a bit frighteningly accurate. I did watch an episode of NCIS the other day. But guess which fandom has the most fic recs in  my deviantArt journal ?  I knew entering the Tumblr-sphere was a dangerous move, but man have they given me some lovely Johnlocks to read! These are my top five: " Five Times John Woke Up Next to Sherlock  (and one time he did something about it),"                   ...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Dec. 8, 2013. Guys.  It's almost here.  It's.  Almost.  HEEEEEERRRREEEE!!!!!!!  *does the headless chicken dance*                   It's actually Jan. 19th for us U.S. fans and I am inwardly -- like so many of the Sherlocked have already expressed on Twitter and YouTube and who knows where else -- screaming exactly like Mrs. Hudson (poor Mrs. Hudson.  Really, Sherlock, you should take your own advice and think it through next time). That lovely lady with John is Mary Morstan, played by Martin Freeman's wife, Amanda Abbington.  Now, I'm still totally in the Johnlock camp in terms of fanfiction, but I've become pretty comfortable picturing Mofftiss' John and Sherlock as platonic best friends, and I do think that kind of friendship has room for other people.  Just look at Turk and J.D., from Scrubs!  They're both totally in love with their ladies, but t...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Feb. 23, 2012 I was recently invited by two of my cousins to join a 10-day trip to Scotland and England, along with two of their book club members and twelve others.  Here are some highlights: Rosslyn Chapel .  I have yet to read  The DaVinci Code , but that didn't make Rosslyn feel any less amazing or mystical.  Some call it the "woods bursting into song" because it's so full of nature imagery.  According to one of the guides, there are over 100 Green Man carvings throughout the chapel.  The ceiling is carved with lilies, roses and forget-me-nots, as well as stars and moons.  There's the vine-entwined Apprentice Pillar and the window carvings that look like maize and aloe (which some take as evidence that at least one 15th-century Scottish explorer had traveled to North America before Columbus.  Others say the carvings were probably stylized depictions of local plants or general patterns, and their resemblanc...