Intergalactic House of Paisley

Amazingly, it's the 28th Annual Banned Books Week, sponsored by the ALA.

Support your local librarian; let them know you appreciate their hard work.

There's this new book, Palimpsest, by Catherynne Valente, which looks to be quite cool and has blurbs by people like Warren Ellis, and you should go out and buy it as soon as it is available, which will be March 9, if not earlier.

And there's this special promotional giveaway, wherein people who pimp the book in their blogs and ljs and what not can win spiffy stuff like perfume and chocolate, all packed into a wonderful chest/box created by the lovely and talented naamah_darling, whose work I have admired for many a year (I'd make a cheap remark about her chest/box, but that would, of course, be totally out of character for me. My remarks are expensive, damnit!).

For more details about the book and the contest, check here.

So go buy the book. Stimulate the ecomedy.
.

As I wait for the Vicodin to fully kick in, I shall discuss my weekend, in its many forms.


( Cut so I can feel <i>something</i> )
And now it's 1230p, and it seems that the pain has subsided enough for me to assay sleep. But before I go, a belated (by a half hour) happy 200th birthday to Edgar Allan Poe, creator of the mystery and horror genres, as well as supplying, over a century after his death, a raison d'etre for Roger Corman, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and so many otheres. Had I some amontillado, I would raise a glass to his memory. Instead, I will suggest everyone go out and buy Poe, a new original anthology edited by ConQuesT 40's Toastmaster Ellen Datlow. Help save the economy and buy a couple three copies.

Sleep now, and we'll see what new fun I can get into tomorrow.

This afternoon Rohanna called me at work, asking me to run an errand for her, specifically to get a Barnes & Noble Gift card for her to give in her work's Secret Santa program. I said sure. Later, Dragonet called me to suggest that we go out for dinner, as Ro was going to be busy attending her grandson's first violin recital [1] and then a Communiversity class. I came home long enough to print out a 15% B&N coupon, on the off chance Isaw something that would make it worth using.

While D2 waited in the car, I headed into the Plaza B&N, and immediately was confronted with a copy of Neal Stephenson's latest hernia inducing product novel, Anathem, with a big "50% off!" sticker on the cover. While not a math major, I quickly calculated that this, in combination with my membership discount and the coupon, made the final price really fucking cheap. Cackling with glee, I returned to the car and we headed over to local brewpub McCoy's. I had the 12-PACK OF THAI WON ON WINGS (Dry-rubbed Thai-spiced chicken wings, carrot sticks, honey-lime pepper sauce for dipping), which had an incredible kick to them. D2 had a soup and salad combo that she enjoyed greatly. My first beer was a cask-conditioned ESB, which was quite smooth, with a nice hop kick. I followed it with an incredible Imperial Stout that came in a snifter. Wonderful flavor, many nuances. If you like stouts, I suggest you get over to McCoy's soonest to check this one out.

Back home, I am sampling the beers NPulsfer brought back from SmofCon. The fine folks at Great Lakes Brewing Co. of Cleveland offer Burning River (hi, Elaine!) Pale Ale, which has a wonderful hop kick, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, which goes down smooth (couldn't resist), and Commodore Perry IPA, which is quite tasty in its own right.



[1] Connor has been playing the violin for three months or so, and is already the first chair in his organization. Having heard him play at his great-grandmother's 95th birthday party, I must conclude this is not so much due to his mad fiddlin' skillz as the lack of competence of his contemporaries.