Went on FB yesterday and my friend said that if my life was a movie I'd be played by Joey from Dawson's Creek.

*blinks*

I never knew she hated me so much. *points to icon*

Also, finally read Shutter Island since I saw a giant movie poster of awesomeness when I went to see Mao's Last Dancer. After reading all the Kenzie books, I needed a break from Lehane and thus distracted myself with other genres. Leonardo Dicaprio and Martin Scorcese again. I think they're trying to defeat the guy love ratio of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp but they have catching up to do. After reading the book, I actually think Leonardo Dicaprio is well cast so I'm looking forward to that one. Book was an intense read with an ending that left me with a couple of bloody, black eyes (what can I say, Mr. Lehane makes me get attached to his characters and then he's sadistic enough to make me enjoy watching them get pulverised). I still prefer the Kenzie & Gennaro books over his others. Wish another one would come out...*begs*

Other books I've enjoyed while I've been away:

"Frenemies" by Megan Crane. She compared the hot male character to Sark and also made geeky references to fans that get pretentious over Buffy costumes at halloween parties (season four hair should not be worn with season three leather...heh). The fan geek in me squeed. Ultimately more about friendship than romance, this book cracked me up and reminded me so much of that period when you grow apart from highschool/college friends while still hanging out with them. Very fun summer chicklit read.

"Benighted" aka "Bareback" by Kit Whitfield. No, it's not porn as the Australian title would have you believe. If you like your paranormal thrillers, you won't find a better written one than this gem. I love this book because it's not just porny, violent paranormal romance which is par for the course in the genre. This has multilayered themes and takes a wonderfully grey stance on the morality of power and the necessity of violence(both lunes and 'barebacks' do very dark deeds in the name of what they believe is right and sometimes just because they can). I love the whole concept of normal people being the minority, the way she has distorted and challenged religious history as she incorporated it into her mythology (Inquisition and 'witch' trials in particular) and that the weakest population is actually seen as the most violent and dangerous by the majority. Fascinating themes. It has everything you want in the paranormal genre but it was written by someone with a gift for constructing poetic prose. Buy it now.

"Company of Liars" by Karen Maitland. I've honestly never read anything like this before. It's all sorts of weird and wonderful. It's biblical and brutal and who doesn't love this level of schadenfreude? Key words: medieval, plague, godly wrath, extremely gruesome death, and a creepy little girl who really doesn't like liars. The complete lack of sentimentality for this period was refreshing but it also made the read a stomach twister at times. I loved that she didn't impose contemporary morals on the characters, it makes some of them hard to sympathise with but heightens the tension in the book and was a brave, well executed choice.

Firstly, HAPPY All Hallows Eve.

I seem to be spyware free. *looks around shiftily* I probably am about to fall into the hole of paranoia though so I doubt I'll get to keep up to date on my shows. :( This makes me sad because I was actually quite enjoying TB.

In GREAT news: the universe taketh, the universe gives something back. When I managed to get back online and did a half hearted browse I found updates for "The Politician's Wife" by pir8fancier, "The Fallout" by Sage and "Foul-Weather Friend" by waking-epiphany. THREE fics from my AWESOME-BUT-SELDOM-UPDATED list. Is there something in the water? I must drink it!! *guzzle* It was like coming back from a vexing day to get a nice, cushy hug. *cushes fics*

I also come bearing marks of boredom *cough* GIFTS for those so inclined. I was so bored while watching my computer get scanned the umpteenth time that I started making icons. Icons ahoy!

**** x27: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Largley poster based quote icons. Gotta love Perry's lines.)

**** x28: Kenzie & Gennaro as cast in Gone Baby Gone.

**** x34: True Blood (Mostly Eric, Sookie, and Lafayette; Two quotes from Charlaine Harris' Dead to the World)


Preview:




( KISS KISS BANG BANG )

( Dennis Lehane - Kenzie/Gennaro (Gone Baby Gone) )

( True Blood )

The Kenzie and Gennaro novels should be made into a cable show NOW. It's got plot, it has two sexy, persnickety detectives with the hots for each other. They snark, they kick ass, they kill people when they have to and that's what makes them different from other cop mainstream cop shows. They ALWAYS cross the line because they follow their own moral code and see such fucked up shit.

How many TV shows do they make where they force chemistry between the partners and it utterly fails? This partnership works and is multilayered, it has history and the characters are shown to work and fail together. We get a nice build up to anything between them and the story never compromises for the sake of that relationship either. RARE! Ultimately they see each other as the person they confide everything in and tell stupid shit to. In other words this "ship" wouldn't need to be forced since all the groundwork is brilliantly handled by Dennis Lehane and pre-packaged for ease of adaptation.

It's violent, it's captivating, it has a wonderful array of themes and the rich, diverse texture of Boston as a background. It would be an awesome TV series - especially considering they also have a rich, textured past that would make awesome multilayered flashbacks.

( Blah de blah. )
I thought I'd put that wish out there since there are so many book series' being picked up for cable now. Dexter was translated extremely well. True Blood is almost as good (series reservations about upcoming changes) but then I didn't LOVE the books, I merely found them good light entertainment. I do hope someone sees how much depth is in Kenzie and Gennaro and that it deserves cable too. After all, films would just condense favourite moments and be forced to alter things that would disappoint me and cloud my judgement. On TV there's so much more freedom to stretch things out and explore all those secondary characters that movies brush to the side.

Got my license. Photo is far better than the last one they had but damn is the RTA a rort. Over thirty dollars for the privilege of sitting the test, then twenty dollars for the license itself. It's my most expensive little bit of plastic and mediocre photo ever!! (Don't knock mediocre RTA photography, Belinda, and be glad that you don't have a horribly, horrendous photo that will prevent you from speeding because you don't want anyone to see it let alone a hot cop) It sure is incentive to study that's for damn sure.

A poor UNSW student sat the Hazard test while I was doing mine and failed. Then RIGHT afterwards when she was still a bit shocked and - surprisingly - teary, they said, "You can sit it again right away if you want, it'll just be another thirty-six dollars."

WHAT??

She agreed straight away so maybe she was weepy because she really needed her license (or was crying as her money circled the drain) but DAMN. There should be laws about doing it twice in the same day, encouragement to go study more for example. That's over seventy dollars just for the privelege of sitting in a crappy plastic chair and doing a touch screen test. What an unbelievable rort.

The roads should really be in better condition for that sort of money.

*gets off soap box*

Imagine my indignation if it was my money circling the drain more than once. lol But seriously, don't you think they should at least give a discount if you're sitting it a second time in the same day?

Good news: My Dennis Lehane pack arrived from the US (best ebayer ever). I only paid for it a week ago so that's amazing international shipping (leave it in ebay feedback dorkface). YAY! Now the only one in the series I'm missing is "Prayers for Rain" which is the last one so I'm good to go. Whee.

Note to self: in future, research books people recommend to you to make sure you don't read the fourth one first ever again. *slaps self*

I've been floating and, embarssingly enough, willfully unemployed for the last month or so. I had saved up and I'm still making rent but nonetheless it felt like a funk. The I-don't-know-who-I-am-or-where-I'm-going-and-who-am-I-kidding-anyway kind of funk.

I've oscillated all over the place on a variety of issues.

1) Should I be writing?
2) Should I focus on the immediate goal of full time employment - no matter the field - and finding a long term residence to call my own?
3) Should I get a part time whatever job and continue to help out familial situations like I have for the past twelve months?
4) Should I get a part time whatever job and start studying again in the other half of my time?
5) Should I start studying full time and fast track that real qualification for a better paying job?

( Actual firm decisions. Feel free to skip boring details. )

Read A Drink Before The War. Still loving Dennis Lehane and still finding it WEIRD since I don't normally like crime. I think Patrick's character has a lot of appeal. Just bought a whole pack of his books that should be arriving any day now. Yay!

Oh and Dexter season two arrived finally. YAY! Good news all around my friends. The forensic pack was kind of wanky but I couldn't resist. Now I have crime tape and a toe tag among other things and what am I meant to do with them? *mischievous smile* Okay, well I kinda, sorta, tied the toe tag on my nieces foot, freaking out her mother, but it was funny at the time. :p

You know you love a book when you realize you have to babysit tomorrow because your sister has an important court date. Yet, you still keep reading. And you know you have to get up quite early for the early rising spud but you still keep reading. Until natural light filters through the window and the book is finished. Then after ruminating on the awesome, you burrow your head down and think: "Two hours sleep? Well worth it!"

But seriously folks. Gone Baby Gone by Dennie Lehane.

I've heard the film praised but I have yet to see the book praised on my Flist. But DAMN and Holy Hell. That ending? It was so perfect. It pulled no punches and there was nothing saccharine sweet or hokey about it. This is true ambiguity with no right or wrong choice, just a bunch of choices that all of have bad consequences. And which one can you live with in the end?

Dennis Lehane, I'm a new fan. I've already passed the book on to spread the love. I think I will look for "Mystic River" and some of your other books. It's very hard to get me to enjoy crime fiction but you succeeded because first and foremost I believe you write characters and they drive the novel, rather than the plot. Their actions are intrinsic to who they are, rather than something they must do to keep the plot moving.

I found the characters in this book interesting for the vulnerability exposed by their ferocity. Does that make sense? Kenzie and Angela are great PI characters and I think they'd seriously kick Veronica Mars's ass. Their bad ass friends would eat her's for breakfast too, no offence Weevil and Logan, you know I love you.

But even Broussard and Poole and Beatrice and Lionel and Helene. All of them fucked up in a variety of ways that ebb and flow and crash together. I think the final confrontation wasn't the spectacular, adrenaline pumping chased you'd expect but then...I felt the point of it and the climax had been far before that. This book felt more about that sick sink into resignation, when we see the world isn't black and white and even if the happy ending seems within reach, it's probably not a happy ending at all.

I thoroughly recommend it and I'm more excited about trying the film when it comes out on DVD now. I'd already heard good things but I think Michelle Monaghan (who I love for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang alone) and Casey Affleck really suit the characters. Plus, at least we know Ben is good at capturing the rough and tumble side of Boston since that's how his career jetisoned in the first place.