what you should read

I have many wonderful blogosphere friends — all of whom you should check out on my sidebar, but here are some of the most recent additions!

> My friend Richard Lam is now writing for a FFWD blog called Cemetery Polka! Film, theatre, music, what-have you, Richard’s writing is insightful and entertaining no matter what the subject.

> Also new in the blogworld is PC in YYC, Peter and Christina, an adorable progressive conservative couple, write about politics and life in Calgary! I think this is only the beginning for these two, we’ll definitely be hearing more and more from them and about them in the future!

> Zoey Duncan is a journalism student and publishing editor of the Reflector, Mount Royal University’s student newspaper. Zoey’s Journalism Blog documents her experiences in her field and provides helpful advice for fellow student journalists.

> Trevor Bacque is a journalist and freelancer currently writing for the Airdrie City View and the Rocky View Weekly. Definitely not a shrinking violet, Trevor’s storytelling at The Bacque Bencher is smart and engaging.

> It Is All Happening follows Drea L‘s adventures exploring (soon-to-be influencing) the Canadian and Calgarian music scene. If you’re looking for some great local talent, Drea can direct you to the up-and-coming, genre-bending and/or party-inducing Calgarian bands.

> Blogiraptor is the internet home of Radiosaurus, the radio show of some random hot guy who loves music so much he stays up all night listening to it – literally. On Sunday mornings from 3-7am Bryan Leedham fills the airwaves with music worth staying up — or waking up — for on CJSW. Check out his blog for his playlists and CD reviews!

(Also click on the owl picture for more cute owl photos. I want a pet owl now.)

who needs pants?

Those jeans do make my gangster ass look good though. I mean ghetto booty. Whatever they call it. Yes, I'm in front of a tank.

I have decided to be more girly. Sort of. I’ve always enjoyed reading fashion magazines and blogs, looking at all the dresses and pretty outfits I am too lazy to coordinate. I usually stick to jeans and a t-shirt because they are simple and comfortable, but lately I feel like a boy when I wear them. Or a baseball player for some reason.

My simple strategy to become more girly is this: no pants! I haven’t worn pants in weeks, just skirts and dresses. Already I feel a lot more feminine and it’s awesome. Plus you can buy so many styles of skirts and dresses, whereas you can only go so far with jeans and t-shirts. I’m just really tired of being bored with what I choose to wear.

I refuse to give up practicality though. I plan to expand my wardrobe of tights and cardigans for cold days. Let’s see how long I can go without pants…so far it’s been almost 3 weeks. Will I make it into the fall/winter? Will I go broke replacing my wardrobe? We’ll see.

Yes, this is something I thought I should share.

best twitter update ever

Excellent.

finals suck

…and so I will direct you to some other cool posts you should probably check out:

blogiraptor has a great post on the worst (and most hilarious) superheroes, like animal-vegetable-mineral-man. Good material for putting off studying =)

Remi Watts has a post about the various responses my book review has garnered on Facebook. Go here to contribute to the discussion about sex, lol.

Nick Walks the Dinosaur is a cute webcomic and also a nice distraction from studying.

You know, how about you just check out my blogroll. You’re bound to find something you like there.

Also, I just finished reading the Bacchae studying for my Mythology final. Dionysus is bat-shit crazy.

get a little action tonight

Here is The Expendables trailer. Watch and be in awe.

Now I know it’s often a bad idea to judge a movie by its trailer…but this legitimately looks awesome. Finally, an action flick featuring 80′s and 90′s stars that doesn’t revive and mutilate a beloved franchise (Die Hard 4, anyone? Rocky MXXVIII?).

There’s something about swashbuckling, cynical, action/adventure heroes that I just totally love. They’re usually jaded, looking out for number one, but have a streak of integrity that in the end forces them to do the right thing and save the day. Hot.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and reminisce my love for action heroes:

Okay, so here is the classic Die Hard dvd stand turned bookshelf. I worked at Superstore a couple years ago and totally called dibs on it when the electronics department was about to throw it away. I thought it was funny that such a bookshelf should be the home of Anna Karenina, The Complete Works of Shakespeare and many C.S Lewis books – although the Tom Clancy was right at home. I had to give it away last year when we moved, but it is in the hands of good friends now.

Then there was the time I coerced a group of friends to dress up as John Mclane for the Live Free or Die Hard premier. Yes, we are wearing wifebeaters, dress pants and flip flops. It’s the attention to detail that counts (Flip flops were the closest thing to barefoot. O what a dork am I). You know, because John McLane was barefoot the entire movie. Anyways, I don’t think anyone who saw us really caught on. I think they all thought we were servers who just got off work or something.

And then there was the Indiana Jones 4 premier….had to dress up for that, of course. Btw, those are straw hats we painted brown because we were too poor to buy real fedoras. I was an epic wannabe once. Back in the day. Definitely not anymore…nope.

….The Expendables premier, anyone?

happy sappy

I am in a rather sappy mood right now, so here is an excessively romantic quote from Persuasion by Jane Austen:

“If I loved a man as she loved the admiral, I would always be with him, nothing should ever separate us, and I would rather be overturned by him than driven safely by anyone else.”

-Louisa Musgrove

Siiiiiigh.

For the less romantically inclined, here is a picture of a dog dressed up as a lobster.

Open Late

So, like, srsly mates? My brother is in Grade 9 and had never heard of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Fin. If only he had read the story where Tom Sawyer conned his friends into whitewashing the fence for him, my brother would have known what reverse psychology was a long time before a few days ago.

Apparently there’s a crisis in Canadian school libraries. This makes me sad.

I’m sure Harry Potter and Twilight are just soooo awesome, but come on.

What ARE kids reading in schools these days? I remember in Jr. High, when I went to a public school, the short stories were less than stellar. The Great Leapfrog Contest? Give me a break.

Maybe I’m too much into classical education.

Maybe I think I know it all.

Maybe schools’ reading curriculum just sucks?

Updated info

Just thought I’d let you know that I have updated the Welcome to Gin and Tonic page with a bit more info about me and the blog, so you know who the heck is telling you, “ZOMG, you HAVE to read Without Remorse by Tom Clancy!”

Which you really should, btw. John Kelly is my hero.

Anyways, what you can probably expect in the next few posts, whenever they may be, is some stuff on Micromegas and Candide by Voltaire, House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (first book in a long time that I abandoned due to ridiculousness), the poetry of John Donne and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I have not read any Paradise Lost in over a month, but I am not abandoning that, so sometime down the road there will still be Paradise Lost posts…

Also, if you’ve been with me since near the start of the blog, I am still reading through the Bible, although the pace has slowed. A lot. =P I won’t be posting so much on that though; I’m leaving theological/debate traffic for other blogs; I prefer to stay more in the books/literature niche.

Anyways, thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again soon!

How Beowulf Should Have Ended

I’m sorry, I can’t not post this! I kill myself laughing every time.

I’ll write a random post about this movie later, but right now I’m super tired. Needless to say…it was terrible.

story of my life…

Mint-Cucumber Cocktail

I had one today and it is sooooo excellent! Well, this isn’t the exact recipe, but it’s similar and I imagine still pretty good. 

Ingredients:

3 oz. gin
4 oz. tonic water
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
3 mint sprigs
2 slices cucumber

Tools:

highball glass
muddler
bar spoon

Muddle 1 slice cucumber and 2 sprigs mint in highball glass; then fill with ice. Add 3 oz. gin,4 oz. tonic and1/2 oz. lime juice. Stir and garnish with a cucumber wheel.

Welcome to Gin and Tonic

Hey there! This is a blog which I hope to use for writing mostly about books and literature etc. I am not as well-read as some people are, but hopefully that will change as time progresses. From Dante to Dekker, Chaucer to Clancy - hopefully you’ll see a bit of everything here.

If you’re wondering why my blog is named after a beverage…. well, you either have not had gin and tonic or you have and do not like it – otherwise you would see it as a perfectly fitting name.

So thanks for visiting, I hope you will come by again soon!