My TV Schedule 2011-12 Season

I thought it'd be fun to share my TV schedule with you... Why yes, I do have a spreadsheet for my TV shows! You can laugh, it's OK. When my friends found out about this a few years ago, they started requesting for me to send them a copy. So I thought it was worth posting :). I'm really late getting it out this year, but here it is:

Yellow indicates a new show I'm going to try out.

Shows that ended or were cancelled: Life Unexpected, Hellcats, GREEK, Brothers & Sisters, Friday Night Lights (*sniff*), Medium, and Off the Map. I really miss FNL and Life Unexpected. I was soooo mad when I found out Life Unexpected was cancelled, I didn't know till I was watching the Series Finale! GRR.

Shows I'm considering giving up: Desperate Housewives, House, Gossip Girl, Biggest Loser, and maybe... Private Practice.

OK, so that's my schedule... it's actually a tad on the light side if you can believe it :). What are you watching? Have any suggestions for me... not that I need more to watch. Now that I'm book blogging I have no idea how I'm going to keep up with all of these. Thank goodness for TiVo and Hulu!

*Originally posted on my book blog, A Book and a Latte.

Funny: Evolution of Geek

This is awesome: The Evolution of Geek. I just had to share!

In other news... yeah. I'm really sorry I've neglected this blog for so long. I hope to one day sort of catch up... My book blog has pretty much taken over all my blog time. It's a little crazy but I'm having so much fun!

Concert: Mumford and Sons

Last night my husband and I went to see the Mumford & Sons in concert at The Fillmore in Denver. It was freaking amazing. Ah-MAZING! Matthew and the Atlas and Nathaniel Rateliff opened for them and they were great as well! I will be stalking them today and picking up some of their EPs :). All these bands are categorized as folk or bluegrass but some of their songs I think could fall under rock. 

I'm a lover of music in general... I listen to pretty much everything except maybe some hardcore heavy metal and rap... and I love LOVE Mumford & Sons. It's been years since a band has made me feel this way. Seeing them live was just incredible. There is something riveting and catching about their voices in harmony with all the different instruments. Let's see they have guitars (acoustic and electric), banjos, cello, violin, piano (keyboard and acoustic upright), drums, piano accordion, and probably more that I'm forgetting. The band members all play multiple instruments and it was fun seeing them rotate through them. 

Here are some pictures... sorry for the quality, they were taken with my iPhone.

The show was fantastic. This was a high energy clap/stomp/sing along show. They played a lot of new songs, one that was written 2 or 3 days ago! Usually that bothers me as I want to hear the songs I know, but I don't think anyone in the audience minded, the new songs are awesome. During the encore they did an all acoustic version of Sister (a new song). For it to work in the venue the audience had to be quiet. It was silent except for their voices and acoustic instruments (until toward the end when people couldn't help themselves). Even though they played 3-5 new songs they played all their well known ones - Little Lion Man, Thistle and Weeds, Awake My Soul (I about died), The Cave, and more!

We paid more than double the price for our tickets... and they were worth every penny! Never mind that we stood in line in the sun for over an hour before the doors opened. Never mind that we claimed spots about 10-15 feet from the stage and didn't move the rest of the night, so we didn't eat dinner and were thirsty (but thankfully that meant we didn't have to go to the bathroom!). I was NOT moving. 

My hands were red and hurt from clapping, my feet sore from stomping, my voice hoarse, and I didn't want it to end! I can't wait to see them live again!

Their final song was The Cave, here's the video for you :).

Review: Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Blurb from Book Browse:

An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons. 
When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. 
Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

I have to admit that I wasn't initially excited to read this book. I kept hearing great things about it, but I just had no interest in reading about a circus. Then I saw the movie preview... and knew I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie (I'm rarely able to finish a book if I see the movie first). So I started reading, and had a hard time getting into it at first... I think this was mainly because I felt like I HAD to read the book... as if I was back in school! I eventually got past this and was able to get immersed into Water for Elephants.

Usually, I rate books by how I feel while reading them, so my ratings are normally always subjective. In this case, I felt I had to give this book 5 stars based on the fantastic writing and the amazingly rich and unique backdrop of the train circus! It is obvious that the author did her research on circus culture and depression-era American history. She really dug into the down and dirty details of circus life. In the discussion after the last chapter you learn that many things in the story are based on true stories or anecdotes of the circus. The Bezini Brothers train circus is easily like another character in the book, flawed and deeply layered, like the characters themselves. I really liked how the story is told from Jacob's perspective as a spunky 93 year old man, having flashbacks of his life 70 year earlier. The altering perspectives (from young to old) effectively grounded the story and added another layer to his character.

At times, this wasn't easy to read... It was sad to read about the indignities of being old, and I felt like Gruen's depiction was honest and very real. Though most of all, I had a really hard time reading some of the scenes with the animals. At one point I caught myself reading between my fingers, as if I was trying to block the scene from view as if it was a movie. I tried skipping over one but I had to go back and read it because I felt like it was important to the development of the characters and the story. It was, and they were. I just wish those scenes hadn't been seemingly timed to when I was getting ready to go to sleep.

Seriously, I'm so glad I finally picked up this book. I highly recommend it!

Increase the Awesome

This guy does a great job of explaining the James Webb Space Telescope, and the awesomeness of NASA. I think even the non-nerds can appreciate this video, at least the first couple of minutes about the philosophy of increasing the awesome and decreasing the suck :).

Thanks to N and ACQ for sharing this! Apparently I was late to the party.

Am I crazy, or should I...

Should I start my own YA Book Blog? Please vote (poll on sidebar)! I'd appreciate any comments/feedback too! Poll is anonymous, and comments can be too! Tell me what you really think, I can take it :).

I've gone back and forth on this idea for the past few months. This blog, New Shade of Green, lost its focus long ago... which is OK. I created it as an outlet, and it's been just that! If I started a book blog, most of the reading related posts, links, and widgets would be removed from this one.

There are seemingly a bagillion book blogs out there, and a ton of them are for the YA genre. I'm not really sure I could compete, but honestly, that's not what I'd want to do... more like play in the sand box with all the other YA loving bloggers. Am I crazy? Please help me out and vote via the poll on my sidebar!

IF I decide to venture down this path, my biggest hurdle is - what the heck am I going to name it?! If you have any ideas for me, please put suggestions in the comments.

Thanks peeps!

Coming Soon: Forever!

One of my favorite authors, Maggie Stiefvater, is so super crazy talented. She's not only a great writer, but is also an artist and musician. With this post, I'm entering her "Giant Forever Trailer Contest" in hopes to win an early copy of her book Forever, which is the last book in her Wolves of Mercy Falls series. There's also a BUNCH of other fantastic goodies in the prize back... including an ARC (advanced reader copy) of The Scorpio Races! I loved Shiver and Linger, and can't wait to read the conclusion, even if it means the series is at an end :(. Aren't these covers beautiful? They are what first attracted me to her books!

          

You can buy an autographed copy of Forever, and her other books at the Fountain Bookstore. Without further ado, here is the stop-motion book trailer Maggie herself created for Forever, featuring her music and her animation (using hundreds of paper cut-outs)!

And because I can't resist...

Painting: Seven Aspens

Last month I went with my friend M to one of those places where they instruct you on how to paint a particular picture while they encourage you to drink and blast fun music. It was great! This was my second time going, you can read about my first experience here. So, here's how we start out... everything all nice and white and clean...

The setup. Notice the "liquid courage" aka wine next to the pallet.

The painting of the night was Seven Aspens. Step one was to paint our sky blue (or whatever we wanted, me being type A stuck to blue). Second, we painted clouds... and I have to say I'm pretty proud of mine! Then we put in mountains and a path... 

Sky, clouds, mountains, and path... CHECK!

Then we painted the grass in the foreground. Below, you can see M's to the left of mine. I envy her... she's so brave and adds in different colors and features our instructor didn't tell us to do. I'm not that brave yet. It's kind of funny because we did this to hang out together but between the loud music (Lady Gaga, Bon Jovi, and Black Eyed Peas) and the crazy concentration zone I went into to keep up with the instructor (apparently I'm a slow painter)... we couldn't really talk. Except for when this picture was taken when we were on a break. We had to take a break so the paint could dry, and to get another glass of wine of course.

Almost there, just need to add the Aspens

Next was the most nerve racking part - except for maybe the clouds - putting in the Aspens! I wish I had added more branches, but I ran out of time and was afraid I'd go overboard anyway.

All done! 

Masterpiece #2 on our living room wall.

Now my "masterpiece" is hanging on our living room wall. My sweetie didn't even flinch. He loves me. Oooh, did you notice the little heart engraved on the first tree? It has a J and J in it :). John did give me a hard time for this... because I defaced the tree! I assured him I'd only deface a painted tree for our love. I promise I only hug real trees!

Reading: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Rebecca Skloot first learned about HeLa cells more than a decade ago, while enrolled at community college. Named after Henrietta Lacks, a poor African-American woman born in 1920, the famed cells were taken from a tumor removed during Lacks s treatment for cervical cancer. While she died from the disease, her cancer cells proved uncommonly hearty, reproducing at an unheard-of rate, and years later, billions of these cells are used in laboratories around the world. 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a story about science and so much more. Lacks died unaware that doctors would be using her cells to further advances in the scientific community and cashing in on such developments and never received a dime. In search of justice, Skloot seeks out Lacks's descendants to learn if they are aware of the famed cells and to see if they've derived any benefit from the important contribution to science their relative made. A fascinating discussion of the enduring legal and ethical questions that human-tissue research raises, Skloot's debut is a gem.

Fascinating and thought-provoking! Wow, I think this should be required reading. I'm not usually a fan of non-fiction (mainly because I use reading as an escape)... but this is just a phenomenal book. Rebecca Skloot did a wonderful job of explaining the medical advances made possible by using the cells of Henrietta Lacks, while telling the story of Henrietta and the Lacks family in a way that read like fiction. She tackled many ethical issues objectively, and there were times that I had to put the book down because my mind was stuck thinking about what I had just read.

I'm grateful that my neighborhood book club selected this book, as I'm not sure I would have picked it up on my own. I recommend this book to everyone!

View all my reviews

P.S. Hey reader friends, check out my new Reading Corner page!  Just click the tab at the top of this page.

Dolphin and Kitty sittin' in a tree...

UPDATE 5-4-11: The video now works! 

K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Ohmigoodness, this is so cute I had to share.

Princess Jennifer

Um, yeah. You read that right! Muwahaahhhaa. So, if you haven't noticed by my sidebar... I've been reading up a storm these days. Really, I haven't read this much since I was a kid and I have to thank the Harry Potter Series and the Twilight Saga for they made me realize that Young Adult books rock. Since I embraced this genre, I haven't stopped reading! I still keep "grown up" books in the mix too, but I'm devouring the YA ones. Reading was such a large part of my life growing up, and now I feel like I'm back to that part of myself. If that makes any sense at all.

Anyhow, to get to the point of this post... I follow a few of my favorite authors' blogs, and a recent favorite of mine, Stephanie Perkins (author of Anna and the French Kiss, sooo good - don't get hung up on the title), blogged about procrastinating from writing and shared this link for Princess Maker. And since I'm procrastinating to avoid filing a monster stack of papers, and typing up some almost-too-late-to-post blog posts... I happily clicked and made Princess Jennifer. I was going for comfort, even as a princess I avoid dresses (I blame my mom for dressing me up like a doll at every opportunity when I was little). 

Princess Jennifer

OK... back to the filing. :(

Kiva Goes Green

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of kiva.org. If not, here's a very brief description:

We are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. 

Why we do what we do
We envision a world where all people - even in the most remote areas of the globe - hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others.
We believe providing safe, affordable access to capital to those in need helps people create better lives for themselves and their families.

I've loaned money through Kiva.org three times now, two have been paid back in full already. They are a great, GREAT organization helping empower people all over the world. It really feels good to help a person help themselves and their family. I also love hearing about the progress they are making, as some will post updates on how their business/project/housing is going. I didn't think I could rave about them any more highly, until I saw today that they are going "green" and are offering loans to help people live sustainably around the world. For more details click here. I just tried to make another loan, but unfortunately all the green loan requests are already funded! I was too late. But never fear, there will be more opportunities soon I'm sure, so if this is something you're interested in check back in a few days... OR... go ahead and make a different kiva loan. :) 

Happy Earth Day and... allergies?

Well hello!

Happy Earth Day!

I'm supposed to be at Gem Lake hiking and celebrating today. But nope. I'm sitting here, thinking about how much I've neglected this blog lately (I have at least 4 posts I've been meaning to get to....) and waiting to go to my doctor's appointment :(. I've never had allergies before moving here, and I think I now have them. But I'm not sure if I can blame these cold symptoms on allergies or not. I'm a little confused. Can allergies cause a sore throat? Anyhoo, I'm going to the doctor to try and figure it out. I was sick for almost 3 weeks at the end of Feb through March and... I. am. just. so. frustrated! 

I'm going to drag myself off the couch to take Koda for a walk and get some vitamin D. Wish me luck that I can breathe out there. Then I may come back and *gasp* add some posts :). Coming up: painting my "masterpiece 2", hiking Three Sisters, hiking O'Fallon Park, and maybe finally post about my awesome snowshoe from back in December. I know it's April. Maybe you're sick of snow and don't want to see it... but really, it was awesome sauce.

Cuteness

I know I'm biased but I think her fetus position is adorable!




I love this pup!




I can't believe she just turned 6 years old last week!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

An addition to our family...

No, not that kind of addition, I'm not preggers! 

We are finally getting a piano! For those that know us... you know that ever since we've moved into our house a year and a half ago, we've called our formal living room the "piano room". Our friends/family give us a weird look when they don't see a piano, and we have to tell them to use their imaginations :). John and I both grew up playing the piano, and are excited to re-learn since neither of us have played in a long time (over a decade, yikes that makes me feel OLD). I took 8 years of lessons which I mostly hated, I liked playing for myself and what I wanted to play vs. what I was instructed to learn.  Though I had all those lessons, I never felt like a good player. I've never been able to just sit down and play by reading the music without having to struggle to learn it... I've always been jealous of my aunt who can play whatever sheet music you put in front of her!

We have been searching for pianos on craigslist, ebay, and at local piano sellers seriously for the past month. We went back and forth on what our budget should be, and what kind of piano we should get - upright or baby grand. Though we found many potential pianos at reasonable prices on craigslist and ebay, we eventually decided we wanted to buy new. Not a very "green" decision I know, but we are extremely picky when it comes to major purchases. Ha, who am I kidding, we're picky about everything (and I like to say John is even more picky than I am)! We wanted a piano with great tone, manufactured with quality materials, and one that would play great for many years. Also, since we are limited budget wise, the idea of it being under warranty, and being able to "trade up" appealed to us.

We decided on the Kawai K-3 Professional Upright in the Mahogany Satin finish.

If you're interested, you can listen here:


So excited! It should arrive early next week!

What will you read next?

I just discovered a new website and had to share it with you - YourNextRead.com! Simply enter a book you loved or heard about, and it suggests several books for you to read next that it thinks you'll enjoy. You can also link up YourNextRead with goodreads.com to import/export your lists!

Check it out!

Reading: Hex Hall

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Here's the description from goodreads.com:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

What a fun, enjoyable read! I was a little weary of this book at first because I had read such good things about it, but at the same time I wasn't sure I'd be able to get into a paranormal-fantasy galore book... and I was still reeling from the fae world in The Iron King. Well, I had nothing to worry about! Hex Hall is a school for the Prodigium - witches, warlocks, shape-shifters, werewolves, faeires, ghosts, and you-name-it set somewhere near Savannah, GA. It's a murder mystery with a twist I have to admit, I didn't see coming, even though I thought parts of it were fairly predictable. I quickly liked Sophie, the protagonist. She's the "girl next door" with unrefined powers and full of witty jokes and come-backs. I had a few laugh out loud moments. I really enjoyed reading this book and can not wait to read the rest of the series!



View all my reviews

I decided to start my own book club!

OK. So. In a fit of rebellion toward my neighborhood book club's book selection for March, I decided to start my own on goodreads.com! So far we officially have 7 members, and I'm waiting for a couple of others to sign up (that have said they are joining). If you're a personal friend of mine and did not receive a direct invitation to join, it's because I didn't think you'd be interested. I promise it wasn't personal :). If you ARE interested, and seriously interested in participating (no online stalkers please), shoot me an email and I'll send you an invitation. This is a private group limited to my personal friends, and their friends (who will soon become my friends - sorry blog-land peeps). Links to the group are in the widget below.

Book BABES's currently-reading book montage

7 members
This book club is about having fun reading, and sharing the experience with friends. Reading should...

Books we're currently reading

Hex Hall

by Rachel Hawkins

Start date: March 13, 2011

View this group on Goodreads »

Here's the description which is cut-off above:

This book club is about having fun reading, and sharing the experience with friends. Reading should not be a chore! This group primarily reads young adult literature (who cares what our age is!), with a sprinkle of chick lit and best-selling fiction.

I selfishly want this club to be about FUN reading for ME, so yes, this group will focus on mainly young adult literature and all its fabulous sub genres - paranormal, mystery, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, and whatever else catches our eye. Occasionally we'll read best-selling fiction and chick lit (I'd say maybe 25% of the time). Basically, this book club is all about fun easy reads as the other club I'm in tends to be on the more serious side (historical fiction, non-fiction, etc.) I am personally striving to find those can-not-put-down-stay-up-all-night-OMG books!

I'm really hoping this book club thrives, and to do so, it needs active participants. We'll be selecting (by poll vote) a book to read each month and Denver locals will have monthly meetings (read: hang out, drink wine, discuss the book, eat chocolate, have girl talk, and drink more wine). If you're an out-of-towner, you are very much welcome! The books will be discussed online through discussion boards on the group's page, and depending on how many there are of us, we could try Skype to tie everyone together!

If you are not interested in the YA genre, or don't expect you'll be able to participate on a regular basis (life happens - work, kids, family stuff - so missing out on a couple of books is not a big deal), please do not join. I hate saying that... but I really rather keep it small than to have a huge group with only a few participants. We officially begin in April, the poll for book selection goes up this Wednesday (April 16th), and voting will end on Saturday. I'm trying to give everyone enough time to get their hands on a copy of the book. In the future I'll try to have books selected a month beforehand.

Anyhoo! Friends, let me know if you're interested.

Reuse It: Straws

photo: reuseit.com

I finally, FINALLY, purchased a set of glass straws from reuseit.com. I've been wanting to get some for quite a while and now I will have my very own (I really have no idea why I didn't buy them sooner). I'm not a girl that needs a straw, but I would like to start using them to prevent staining my teeth with coffee and tea. 

I know I'm a dork but I'm sooooo excited for these to arrive! I ordered  the Glass Dharma set of 3 Glass Straws (9.5 mm) with Brush.

photo: reuseit.com (this picture is of the larger 12 mm size)

Eeeeeee! And... I found a coupon code (NEWCUST1, I heart retailmenot.com) to get this workhorse reusable bag FREE.

photo: reuseit.com

Now I'm on a hunt for a case or cozy (I didn't like the one they had) to carry one of the glass straws in my purse. Any chance any of you peeps know of one? 

Alrighty, just had to share! I'm not paid by Glass Dharma or reuseit.com, but I think you should hurry over and get some too... because really, gazillions of plastic disposable straws in our landfills is just sad. I'm happy to eliminate another plastic item in my life. 

Catch up: Jan and Feb

Well helloooooooo! I can't believe I haven't posted in over a month. I'm so behind in the blogging world - with posting and reading others blogs! I really have no idea where January and February went... but here's my attempt to catch up.

January:

The first week in January I began consulting and traveled to Boston to meet my client and get to know the company. Don't worry, I'm not moving! I get to work from home in my lounge wear aka work PJs :). In the same week I started my own Limited Liability Company while hanging out with great, supportive friends in NH. I quickly learned that there are great free tools for small business owners out there. I could probably do an entire blog post on them... but I'll just point you to my previous post on dropbox.com, and tell you that freshbooks.com ROCKS. Through Freshbooks I can track my time by project and task, create and send invoices, customize it with my logo, and look professional to my clients... for FREE. Oh yeah, and there's an app for it too.

I also started volunteering with a couple of local non-profits. I have been looking for organizations to get involved with since I moved here, and then when I finally figured out what I wanted to do they coincided with me going back to work. Not complaining! I just think it's funny. I serve on a committee for one and donate manual labor to the other (I know I'm being vague but I'm a little paranoid about sharing details publicly). I'll just say I happily shovel manure for the good of the kids. Ha!

February:

February wasn't quite as exciting (as far as big changes), but it just flew by... it was a whirl of work, celebrating 8 years of being with John, hanging out with friends, and ended with my friend H and family visiting us. We had a full house this past weekend and I loved it! Unfortunately I've been sick so I wasn't able to do snowshoeing/hiking as planned... but we fit in some CO must-dos and ate yummy food!

I think that pretty much sums up the past couple months. Ooh, I have been reading a ton lately, if you're interested you can find me on goodreads, here. I don't think I've read this much since I was a kid!

Hope 2011 is treating you well so far!

The Frontier is Everywhere

I loved this "unofficial" NASA promotional video. Narrated by Carl Sagan... Beautiful!

Dropbox ROCKS!

I have a new - must have/rocks my world/can't live without it - rave that I have to share with you.

Dropbox has seriously saved me this past week while traveling for consulting work. I'm traveling with my nifty new 11" Macbook Air, which has worked perfectly expect it has limited storage space. Enter dropbox... I use it like a server by keeping all my document files (also works for pictures, music, whatever) on it so I can access anything, anywhere. A free, yes FREE profile gets you 2 GB of secure space! It constantly syncs itself so I always have the latest file on my laptop, iMac, and iPhone. PLUS, you can login to your Dropbox profile from any computer with an internet connection!

Check it out! Did I mention you get 2 GB free?

In case anyone is wondering, I'm not getting paid by Dropbox to rave about them. However, if you sign up through one of my links I do get more space, um free! :) So... go sign up and then spread the word so you can get more space too!

Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2010, hellooooo 2011! I'm so pumped for Twenty Eleven. It's going to be a good great fantastic year.

Happy New Year everyone!