When The Third Policeman Tells You About a Bicycle
The Third Policeman: A Novel by Flann O’Brien
There are books that exist to confuse and bemuse and I find it a treat whenever I encounter just such a book. The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien was not at all what I had expected and I mean that in a good way…I think.
The Sandman My Old Friend, Darkness Comes Again
The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by Sam Keith & Mike Dringenberg
There is an endless love in my soul for Neil Gaiman. He is everything I would love to be as a writer. Even still, I have never once picked up a copy of The Sandman – until now. Though I’ll admit picking up a graphic novel is covered in the shadow of bad graphic novels of the past. What I love about Gaiman is his ability to make a dark story seem light. There is always an element of darkness, but never fear and I appreciate that this is a feeling unique to his stories. Vol 1 of The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes did not differ from this.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Wow, society really sucks!
This is especially true if you don’t follow the herd, if you don’t live like everyone else, and if you decide to do this, you open yourself up to ridicule and pity regardless of how you see your life. This is the main tenet in Sayaka Murata’s novel Convenience Store Woman. In the span of only 180ish pages Murata had me feeling some kind of way about how we as a society deem the norm. It was eye opening, even for someone such as myself. I’d like to think I don’t run in the pack of norms, but I have to admit I’m not as out there when compared to modern Western society. However, the Eastern culture is vastly different and in the end more strict about what they consider normal (or being a functioning member of society) this is what made this story so compelling.
The Colour of Magic (The First Discworld Novel) by Terry Pratchett
Part of my 2019 resolutions will be to read in totality the complete Discworld series. I decided to get a jump on things and read the first novel and I think this is going to be a fantastic experience all around. A few years ago I had read another Discworld Novel, but having zero context as to the world and characters within I felt that I wasn’t able to give it the adequate adoration it deserved. Now, having read The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett I think I can push forward and enjoy each subsequent novel in the series.
To put it simply, it was an adventurous delight.
Changes are Brewing: Update
This last month has been a doozy! I’ve never managed to not have a hectic October and I don’t see that changing in the near future, at least for a while. It is my favorite month after all, consisting of my absolute favorite holiday. For these reasons I have been strikingly absent from this, my website. So I felt I owed my readers an explanation.
Malian Kinkeliba Chai by Oya Tea
It’s no secret that my favorite time of year is coming up and while most would probably call me basic for loving the autumn season I have always been an autumn child. In my 30 years of living this has been a true constant and I don’t see it ever changing. One of my dreams is to move to a place with actual changing leaves as my current home provides not even a tri-colored fallen leaf to keep me sated. All I can do is look out my window hoping for gray skies, orange trees, and a crisp wind as I cuddle with a warm cup of tea.
Last night I was ready for a warm cup partly for the satisfaction it brings me and also because I wanted something to help me sleep as that has been an issue as of late. I dug through some of my boxes and right after I proclaimed aloud that “I need one BIG tea box to organize these,” I pulled a caffeine free tea out from my May Sipsby box.
August Sipsby Box Reveal!
Another month has come and gone and with it a new Sipsby box has arrived on my doorstep. Now I know that I am tragically behind in tasting/pairing these teas off, but I can’t help but be overjoyed at adding even more teas to my collection. Though this month will tragically only add 3 versus the standard 4 due to a recall that the great people at Sipsby were kind enough to inform me of. Despite that I will however still list the entirety of the box for fun.
Jin Xuan Oolong by Terroir Tea Merchant
I have always found Sunday’s to be perfect tea drinking days. No matter the weather if I were to pick a day that I could guarantee I would want a cup of tea, it would be a Sunday. Living in Southern California I don’t get much choice in weather, so today, like most days, it was rather warm, sunny, no clouds. I know most people like this kind of weather, but it’s really no fun in my opinion. Give me a rainy day any day.I woke up this Sunday morning with the need to write and have a cup of tea. The later was the easiest of the two. There are just those unfortunate days that the words don’t come as easy and today was one of them. Of course it didn’t stop me from getting some words down, but where I would normally write close to 2,000 words, I was lucky to get 500 today.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
When I find the time outside of writing and reading I enjoy watching films and television – like most other humans. If I get lucky I am able to find sweet stories told through film dealing with a literary plot line. I saw the trailer for this film about a month ago and I have been eagerly waiting until it was available on Netflix. I watched it the other night and I wasn’t disappointed.
It is an incredibly lovely story dealing with books, chance encounters, book clubs, and WWII. Needless to say this hit a lot of my sweet spots. The aesthetic of anything in the 1940s era I simply adore. The clothes, the customs, the mannerisms, I find it all fascinating. Additionally, I love stories in this time period that deal with strong women as this was one of the first times in history that women were beginning to make their place in the world in large numbers due to the men lost at war.
Pomegranate Mojito by Zest Tea
Saturday’s are always busy for me. I try diligently to set aside time to write, but more often than not I have to resign myself to getting nothing done in that department. Lucky for me there is a second day in the weekend and this past Sunday was great for my writing bones. I edited one entire chapter, which may not seem like much, but when you work full time you take what you can get.
To help me accomplish this task I sought the help of a decently caffeinated tea. Unfortunately my April Sipsby box didn’t contain anything helpful so I had to move on to May where I found the Pomegranate Mojito by Zest Tea. While there was another “High Caffeine” tea in that box, this one was advertised as “Coffee-level Caffeine” and I felt my nerves tingle.
