richlayers

My friend Tamisha (noita_ivy, you can read her account on her livejournal) was just in a car accident. :( She's okay, a little scratched and banged up, but the car is totaled, so she and her husband are trying to bring in some extra money.

She's got a shop with some beautifully designed jewelry, and in the hopes of some economic stimulus, she's offering a 10% discount if you use the coupon code WRECK when you check out.

Some of her lovely designs:





Check out the rest of her store at Tamisha Design!

I've gotten a few requests and questions about Mom's ever-growing Lord of the Rings collection, so I thought I'd take some pictures and meander on through the books, the other books, and the other things Tolkien-centric in our household.

This seems like a good place to start:

( Many Pictures! )

Cross-posted to prettybooks, told_tales, and richlayers

I was tagged by spinninghead. ME. She tagged ME. So I will answer these questions.

Firstly: If you've been tagged, you must write your answers in your own note and replace any question that you dislike with a new, original question.

Secondly: Tag eight people.

Who sleeps in bed next to you?
Sometimes Eowyn, sometimes Pepper, sometimes Chris, sometimes a combination of the above.

What's your all time favourite book?
The City of Dreaming Books, by Walter Moers

What kind of magazines do you read?
Smithsonian and Realms of Fantasy. Sometimes. Kind of like books of short stories, they usually take me a while to get through. Those are the only ones I can read cover to cover.

What's your occupation?
I'm a student at Butler Community College, a computer lab assistant, and, lately, an invalid.

What's really creepy?
millipedes

What websites do you always visit when you go online?
Facebook, Livejournal, yahoo mail, gmail... and often amazon.com, paperbackswap.com, imdb.com

If you could change your name to anything what would it be?
I like my name. I would change other Rachels' names so that it might feel more unusual, but I wouldn't change MY name.

What are you listening to right now?
People typing and mouse clicking. And Loreena McKennitt, but only in my head.

What are you most excited for?
I hope to have Subway for dinner in the near future.

What is your favourite item of clothing?
My green striped knee high socks.

What was the last thing you bought?
A peach pear apricot smoothie.

What was the best thing you've seen today?
http://girlsareprettyforever.blogspot.com/2009/08/run-through-field-of-tall-grass-holding.html

Does the weather affect your mood?
If it's really, really hot I feel drained and cranky. Other than that I like most kinds of weather.

What is your zodiac sign?
Capricorn.

Do you want to learn another language?
I want to know them all.

Five things you wouldn't want to live without (I changed this question cause "can't live without" is factual and boring and in every one of these things ever):
1. Beautiful artwork
2. Magical, transporting books
3. Side-stitching laughter
4. Fresh fruit
5. A luxuriously comfortable bed

Do you have any siblings?
One.

What's something you'd like to say to someone right now?
Oh, so it's HER FAULT.

Do you have to pee?
Not right now.

Say something to the person who tagged you:
I think if we lived near enough to hang out we'd probably be totally tight friends.

Tagged:
fa3ryg1rl
foxarris
gizzardgulpe
kalenel
king_laugh
ladytairngire
mcburnie
paradoxicalme

My dear wonderful friend Brian, who has always been there for me when I need a kind word or just someone to talk to, is terribly down on his luck these days. He's working full time at McDonalds and trying to get funds and paperwork together to go to college this fall, but you know the saying, "If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all?" That seems to be plaguing him lately and I can only watch and wish I could help.

He lives in a townhouse, and had a couple of roommates, but last month they skipped out -- he came home and all their stuff was gone, even though they were all on the lease together. So now he's paying for the place by himself instead of splitting bills three ways. Not easy to do even in much better circumstances!

He had his guitar and bass guitar over in a friend's garage, where they had been working up a band set together. Then his friend's dad got drunk and angry and threw all the instruments outside. He and his other friend want to sue the father for the cost of the damages, but before they can do that they have to pay an appraiser and for a court filing fee.

And if that's not bad enough, today I heard from him and his car was broken into, and his tape deck, ipod, and adapter were stolen. He filed a police report and apparently there were five other reports filed in that neighborhood or apartment complex. Maybe with enough evidence and momentum they can catch the person who did it, but the chances of that are pretty slim, and the chances of him getting his stuff back seem even less likely.

This is a great guy, a super talented musician and one of the nicest people I know. It breaks my heart to see things going this way for him and not to be able to do much for him. I'm hoping that a few of you might help -- send a dollar or two, if you've got it to spare! If you can't, spread the word! It's a small effort but I have to do what I can to help this guy, he's always been a great friend to me and I can't sit here and do nothing!

You can check out some of his music on his myspace page, The Music of Fox, and maybe find some tunes you like or learn a little more about the guy. Whatever you think, I hope you'll consider passing along a few dollars or passing the word along to other friends or music lovers.

Thanks.

Chantal Kreviazuk - Ghosts of You



I have loved this since the first time I heard it. I want to read the book of this song. Or watch the movie that's this same plot. And the music! It's just so good!

I also really love her song "Mad About You," and basically the whole album, Ghost Stories is awesome. (You can hear samples of all the songs on the amazon.com page.)

I'm on vacation. Sort of. I'm on break from school for last week and next week. I have some stuff I need to do but I don't need to drive back and forth to class every day and I'm pretty well setting my own schedule, which is nice.

The comic has been a lot of work and a lot of fun lately. Aaron went to ConnectiCon last weekend and had a blast, passed out tons of cards and sold a lot of t-shirts (which are now available in our store, check out our designs: http://www.nearandfarcomic.com/products-page/ ), and shmoozed with some of the coolest names in webcomics. (Yes, you've heard of them.)

Tues, Wed, and Thurs, Chris and I went up to Manhattan (the little one) to see Annamarie, Greg, and Brandon, and some of their significant others. It was a lot of fun: we ate out too much, stayed up too late, played a lot of Rock Band, and watched too much TV. Now, this is starting to sound like an ideal vacation.

So for the next 9 days I am planning to just stay home, spend very little money, and do whatever I can within a ten block radius. (Or I might go for a long walk sometime, depending on if they wind ever comes from the north.)

Chris said to me: "One of these days, soon, you should write a novel."

I said I'd get right on that.

He said: "You read so many. I'm sure you can write a good one."

Well, one thing's for sure, I need to write more. I'm starting to... feel the burn. Ta da, blog entry! About life and stuff! So that's ... a start?

I've got a two week break from classes and while I have a lot to do, I thought I'd try to get at least one BIG book read during my "free" time. But which one??


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