My One-hundred-and-seventy-fifth Post

I made several attempt to put disclaimers at the top of this post, deleting each one a few moments later. You're reading my blog, you have to put up with the things I want to talk about, no matter how innane or long-winded they may be. Love it or leave it.


Tuesdays tend to be my "fun" day during the week, so my friend Sam-girl and I have made a habit of hanging out and doin' stuff those days. Yesterday, we ended up carousing through through a mall looking at shoes and books.

It was while shoe shopping that I realized that I don't know how to wear winter clothing and accessories. With winter staring me cold in the face, I knew I needed to find some suitable winter/snow-type footwear to keep my tootsies warm and dry (try saying that aloud with a straight face). Unfortunately, every pair of boots Sam-girl tried to talk me into just felt ridiculous on me. They may look great on somebody else, but I think I look silly in them. It's the same with scarves and ear muffs and such. Because I grew up in southern Arizona, I didn't really need a winter wardrobe. I just added a light jacket to what I wore during the rest of the year. I never really got to experiment with and decide what I like and don't like when it comes to winter-y stuff. Sad. I feel like I'm missing out.

Next we hit up Borders. The problem with browsing in a bookstore is that it's really overwhelming. You have no choice but to judge a book by its cover; if it's not flashy or on special display, you'll never give it the time of day. Added to this, I don't actually like buying books I've never read, and I see no point in buying books I have read. It's just too much of a luxury for me right now. So I wandered around behind Sam-girl (who is an expert at bookstore-browsing, but a failure at self-control-in-a-bookstore) looking through a LOLcats book (sad, I know). Sam-girl was, among other things, looking for a copy of the novel Stardust for her collection. We could only find one of the mass-produced copies containing a picture section with still shots from the movie. Sam-girl likes pretty books, so this was out of the question for her. But, it managed to circumvent my self-control shield because I already knew the story (sort of), so I knew I would be interested in it, but I had never actually read the book. Plus, it was for cheap. So I picked it up. And I feel good about the purchase.

There was another purchase, though, that I feel light-to-moderately embarrassed about. It was The Confessions of Fitzwilliam Darcy, basically a rewriting of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. *wince* I know, okay? It was not a good buy. I made the mistake of buying a P&P spin off book once before when I was 15 or something, and it was bad. I mean really truely horrible. The review from Publishers Weekly for Mr. Darcy's Daughters pretty much says it all:

"Aston attempts to imitate Austen's style, with little success-the prose is stilted and anachronistic ("it would be very fortunate if we were to find a suitable young man for Letitia. To help her get over Tom's loss, you know, and give her thoughts a new direction"). The daughters' personalities are drawn in broad, predictable strokes, and the romantic plot feels contrived and overly drawn out. Despite the curiosity factor, even Austen fans will likely give this a miss..."

So I knew I should probably at least find a decent review of it before committing myself to buying it. Even then, checking it out from the library would proabably be the most it was worth. But I was stupid and feeling impulsive--I went ahead and bought it. But if anyone asks, I only borrowing it from a friend. I swear.

Now I have to go take a midterm. Even though I'm sick. And missed three of the eleven lectures this test covers. I blame my sister Melissa for always encouraging me to ditch class. See what you did? YOU'VE RUINED ME!!!!1