On the Bookshelf

So, I realise that this blog has gone pretty quiet the past few months and I wanted to give a brief update. 2010 was a bit of a rough year for me and my focus ended up shifting elsewhere for a time. My intention has never been to leave this blog behind and hopefully I will start getting reviews out again in the coming days.

I have high hopes for 2011. This year I want to be happy, healthy, and read a lot of new books!

I hope you all have had a fun and safe start to 2011. Happy new year, everyone!

Did you know that today is Towel Day? Towel Day is an annual celebration on the 25th of May to celebrate the life and works of the late Douglas Adams (1952-2001).

Adams brilliantly wrote the famed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Dirk Gently Series.


Today you can pay tribute to this brilliant author by carrying your favourite towel out with you with pride. Remember, as The Guide teaches us, the towel "is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have."

One of these utility towels describing the meaning of life, the universe, and everything is the perfect choice for such an occasion. (Available from ThinkGeek and, yes, I have one of these.) Or perhaps you would prefer a towel with ever solid advice for every hitchhiker, "Don't Panic", written across it. (Also available from ThinkGeek.)

Check out the Towel Day website for more information.

Terra

On Sunday I lost one of my best friends and a much loved member of my family. Jasper lived a long life for a cavalier and would have turned thirteen in a few weeks. I feel so lucky to have had him for all of these years and I treasure every moment, every memory. He was so friendly, loving, and gentle. While his body grew older his mind remained young and right up to the end he loved chasing lizards, barking down the side of the house at birds and other passing dogs, and always wanting to make his walks last just a little bit longer even when he was completely tuckered out. I miss his cuddles, our walks together, having him curl up beside me while I read, his love and companionship.

Thank you for everything, Jasper. Love you always.


Terra

This is completely off topic from books but I think that it is a very important subject that more people need to be discussing, especially at this time of year.

This holiday season, as many of us join the maddening dash to find the perfect gift, I would like to ask that this year, if any of you are considering giving a pet as a gift that you give it some long thought and discuss it with the intended gift receiver first.

The purchasing of a pet should never be something that is done on a whim. Taking responsibility for the life of another, including an animal, is a big decision that deserves time and thought. Time must be taken to consider what animal and then what breed is suitable to the lifestyle of the would-be pet owner. Do they have time to walk the pet, to play with it, exercise it, and groom it? Can they afford regular visits the vet, to worm and neuter their pet, and be prepared to go that extra mile if their pet becomes ill? Far too many people do not consider these issues and as a result far too many pets are abandoned shortly after Christmas.

Pets are also NOT fashion accessories. I was reading just today about how the number of chihuahuas being abandoned has sky rocketed after the breed becoming fashionable thanks to the film Legally Blonde and Paris Hilton toting one in her purse only for people to lose interest in them after purchase. I was also horrified to read in another article that some people, in the face of financial difficulty, would rather abandon their pet than cut back on buying Christmas presents and holiday treats. That materialism could take priority over the love and care of a member of your family absolutely stuns me.

This year, one London animal charity is refusing to let people take pups from them after Sunday, December 20. Anyone wishing to adopt one of the pups must wait until January 2nd to take it home. This is a move to stop people thoughtlessly giving pups as gifts for Christmas only for them to abandoned on Boxing Day and I could not support it more.

If you must purchase a pet this Christmas, do not look to the pet stores where your cute new kitten or puppy may have well come from the cruel conditions of a puppy farm (also known as puppy mills), but consider going to the local animal shelter and adopting a pet that really needs that second chance. Pets adopted from, for example, the RSPCA, will have already been checked by a vet to assess their temperament, and will have been desexed and microchipped as required!

Please also be mindful during your seasonal celebrations, to safely secure your pet so that it will not become spooked and escape only to be hit by a car or end up in a shelter itself.

Please, feel free to check out the links below for more information.

Terra

Resources:
Chihuahuas a 'victim of celebrity culture'
Don’t buy a dog for Christmas, Isle of Dogs MP urges
RSPCA condemns pets as presents
RSPCA NSW Website
ABANDONED: Animal rescue centre is full and it needs your support Can you give these pets a loving home
Animal abandonment rising, RSPCA says
Companion Animals Fact Sheet
Leeloo Dog Blog

So, the original intent had been to have a review up and ready for today. Instead I have found myself caught up with cleaning out excess junk. It's turned into a pretty big job. I have dared to venture into The Vortex, otherwise known as the space under my bed. Holy carp! The amount of stuff that fits under there!

Hopefully all this hard yakka will pay off and a clean space will equal a good writing space to try and sprint through the last few days of November. I am not going to hit 50K for NaNoWriMo but at least I have posted something everyday for NaBloPoMo!


We have also been getting a lot of spiders around lately so better not to provide them with too much clutter to hide in. It's a great thing living in a country with so many poisonous things. =D

Not to mention that I am terrified of cockroaches so I definitely do not want to be attracting them to my personal space. De-clutter away!

My apologies, by the way, to the arachnophobes.

Terra

So, I was wondering, where is everyone's' favourite place to hideaway for a few hours to read? Do you have a favourite chair? Maybe a beach or a park where you like to go?

On a nice sunny day I love to go and pull one of the chairs over by the back garden into a sunny spot to read in. If we actually had any cushioning on the deck chair by our pool I would probably claim that. When it is not so warm I lie on my bed to read. My bedroom window faces out west and I get all of the afternoon sun keeping my room a nice cozy spot to curl up in with a book.

You might have guessed that I love the sun and hate the cold. One day when I am, of course, very rich I am going to live half of the year in the Southern hemisphere and half of the year in the Northern hemisphere and skip winter all together.

It is spring here and today was pretty warm and sunny so I found a nice warm spot in the backyard and pulled up a chair. Mum had even turned on the little water feature so I ending up having a very nice little spot to relax in. Usually I am pretty good at being sun smart but today I forgot to put on any sunscreen and now have bright red shoulders! Yeowch! My first sunburn of the season and hopefully the last. So not a smart move. Always remember to slip, slop, slap kiddies!

Terra

This has absolutely nothing to do with books but is highly unusual for me so I thought that I would share. Just humour me, yeah?

Today I went and did something that I have actually never done before. I went to an actual salon to get my hair styled. In the past it's always been cut by a family friend but I decided that I wanted to do something different. I even got foils. Oooh. Exciting!

I snapped a before and an after shot for the comparing. I just used the my laptop webcam as my actual camera is bust.

Please ignore my unmade bed in the background. Ooops.




Nothing too drastic but still a change which I definitely needed. Change is good. Very good.

Terra