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New Community [25 Oct 2008|11:08am]

kelj99
I'm going to try my hand at this community thing. I joined </a></b></a>beautyandbrains  first, but it was not active.

So I gave this one a shot:

</a></b></a>brainsisbeauty

A lot like its predecessor in idea...but perhaps less...exclusive?

I am less interested in the IQ of a person or the books they read than the thought they put into things and the value they place on learning and education. Whether or not they truly believe that beauty is just as wonderful on the inside as out.

There are unique issues involved with people who fall into the "above average intelligence" category that I think could be discussed in depth.

As a woman, I deal with career v. family issues, in addition to the pressure to conform to the commercial idea of beauty.

As people, we deal with isolation in our communities and even ostracizism. We are accused of being stuck up. We are nerds and geeks and dorks. Although we all grow up and learn to love ourselves, these things never truly go away.

We look for that connection that is often difficult to find for us because we look for a depth of conversation that goes beyond the weather and the latest episode of Real World.  So talk about books, talk about art, politics, religion, whatever trips your trigger; just be respectful.

We are strong and independent.

Join. : )

(I am still working on setting things up, but give me a few days)

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Fantasy Web Serial - Free Chapter Each Week [31 Jul 2008|01:23pm]

xcpublishing

THE GAUNTLET THROWN


by Cheryl Dyson & Xina Marie Uhl


A Free Web Serial
New Chapters Every Tuesday


We've just published Chapter 5 - join us for more!


Brydon's quest was simple. Borrow the fabled Gauntlet of Ven-Kerrick, bring it home to prove his worth, marry the princess, and ascend the throne.

He had planned for the dangerous terrain and Redolian assassins, but he did not count on slavers and werewolves.  He did not expect the Gauntlet to be missing, nor to find the Kerrick royal family murdered, and he definitely did not anticipate the distractions of a sultry thief and a rescued slave girl.  

Luckily, his worst enemy was there to help him out.


To receive free chapters of the entire novel - one per week -  friend us or  join our newsletter here.
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Fantasy Web Serial - one chapter per week, free [23 Jun 2008|03:25pm]

xcpublishing
Hi all - hope you'll join us. :-)
THE GAUNTLET THROWN

by Cheryl Dyson & Xina Marie Uhl


A Free Web Serial Beginning July 1, 2008


Brydon's quest was simple. Borrow the fabled Gauntlet of Ven-Kerrick, bring it home to prove his worth, marry the princess, and ascend the throne.

He had planned for the dangerous terrain and Redolian assassins, but he did not count on slavers and werewolves.  He did not expect the Gauntlet to be missing, nor to find the Kerrick royal family murdered, and he definitely did not anticipate the distractions of a sultry thief and a rescued slave girl.  

Luckily, his worst enemy was there to help him out.


To receive free chapters of the entire novel - one per week -  friend us or  join our newsletter here.
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The Philosopher's Apprentice, by James Morrow [07 May 2008|03:27pm]

mojayokok

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us   Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

QuickPost 

Page 310
"Go ahead, adopt an ape, it sounds like fun, a chimpanzee or maybe even an arangutan, but be prepared to justify your decision when he eats your neighbor's begonias. By all means, have a baby, you deserve a descendant, but stand ready to defend your parenting skills when he grows up to become a serial killer. Mais oui, acquire a belief in God, theism is a popular and comforting lifestyle, but first do your homework, learning how the world's great minds have explained the Creator's seeming indifference to human suffering, lest you waste your time fretting about tsunamis and cystic fibrosis."

Page 401
"The real reason Charles Darwin distresses people, I would argue, is not that he stumbled on an argument against theism. No, the problem was that he replaced theism -- replace it with a construct more beautiful and majestic than any account of the Supreme Being out side the Book of Job, a construct that invites us to see every variety of life, from aphids to archbishops, zygotes to zoologists, as vibrant threads in an epic tapestry, its warp and woof stretching across the eons and back to the Precambrian ooze, the seminal sea-vents, the primordial clay-pits, or wherever it all began. An astonishing construct, a mind-boggling construct, a construct of which Jehovah is understandably and insanely jealous."

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Sword & Citadel by Gene Wolfe [21 Mar 2008|01:19pm]

mojayokok
"...so we have each of us in the dustiest cellars of our minds a counter at which we strive to repay the debts of the past with the debased currency of the present." pg 66

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFree Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

QuickPost Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!



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Girl killed...help us find the man responsible [01 Mar 2008|12:14am]

painterofroses
http://www.lindsayannhawker.com/

Lindsay Ann Hawker was a care-free 22-year-old following her dream of teaching English in Japan when she was brutally murdered.

Lindsay was last seen on the 25th of March with 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi and her body was discovered on the balcony of his flat in Tokyo. He remains the Japanese Police's only suspect and is on the run.

Click link above to view the article and see a picture of the man who killed her. Think about it people....this could one day be your girlfriend....sister....friend...daughter....please help find this man. And girls WHENEVER a suspicious man is around don't ever doubt your instinct!!!! Call the cops...even if you feel your over reacting and being stupid...it could save your life!! Please send re-send this link to people...livejournal is a huge connection for people and it could be what helps find the man. If you ever wanted to make a difference in life do this small thing for her and it will make a difference....Know one deserves death like this!
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Popco by Scarlett Thomas [13 Oct 2007|05:46pm]

mojayokok

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Page 449: Have you heard of cognitive dissonance?Collapse )

Page 347: people simply fight their own, individualistic wars Collapse )

Page 390: Maybe I have some idea of who the enemy is now. Maybe the enemy is me.Collapse )

Page 273: Can't people just desire you because of your breasts any more?Collapse )

Page 396: Scare them before they can scare you. Never appear weaker than them.Collapse )

Page 411: however you play, it's a game you can never win Collapse )

Page 448: remember the point when we first found out that Santa isn't realCollapse )

4 comments|post comment

On the road for my generation. [12 Sep 2007|09:02pm]

mojayokok

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

I'll let Pete speak for himself:Collapse )

The whole book is filled with these pearls of wisdom. I wish I had read this while younger. It could have helped.

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Graphic Novel Script [06 Apr 2007|09:57am]

zombie_surviver
Just wanted to post a link to my new graphic novel script book FINLEY so check it out if your interested.Its strange, brutal and bloody.You can see the first ten pages of the book on the preview. http://www.lulu.com/content/623548
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Quantum Consciousness and the Fifth Dimension [06 Apr 2007|12:19am]

indiriverflow
[ mood | contemplative ]

Quantum Consciousness and the Fifth Dimension

By Indi Riverflow




“Where ya comin’ from?”


Our worldview is largely a function of our location. The range of what we can experience and imagine is bounded by the culture that spawned us, and the place that we hold within it. Transcending locality is key to comprehending quantum consciousness.

Read On!Collapse )
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[16 Feb 2007|12:13pm]

conmoto
[ mood | blah ]

The Orphan's Tales: in the Night Garden

Secreted away in a garden, a lonely girl spins stories to warm a curious prince: peculiar feats and unspeakable fates that loop through each other and back again to meet in the tapestry of her voice. Inked on her eyelids, each twisting, tattooed tale is a piece in the puzzle of the girl's own hidden history. And what tales she tells! Tales of shape-shifting witches and wild horse-women, heron kings and best princesses, snake gods, dog monks, and living stars--each story more strange and fantastic than the one that came before. From ill-tempered "mermaid" to fastidious Beast, nothing is every quite what it seems in these ever-shifting tales--even, and especially, their teller.


Thoughts:
To put it simply this is a wicked book. It has a very lyrical style and is quite refreshing. I'll admit the story can get a little confusing because they way this book is written almost every character has its own tale to tell that is somehow involved in the overall plot. Think Arabian Nights if you've ever read it. A must read for fantasy lovers.

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How could I not read the rest of this book after a first page like this? [09 Feb 2007|04:55pm]

mojayokok
"My father called me out.

I was twenty-six years ol when I first came out of the lake, which puzzles some people, who wonder how I could have an age without having a past. But I get puzzled, too: most people I know can't remember being born, and what's more, it doesn't bother them that they can't remember. My good friend Julie Sivik once told me that her earliest memory was a scene form her second-birthday party, when she stood on a chair to blow out the candles on her cake. It's all a blank before that, she said, but she didn't seem upset by it, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be missing two years of her life.

I remember everything, form the first moment: the sonund of my name in the dark; the shock of the water; the tangle of the weeds at the bottom of the lake where I opened my eyes. The water is black down there, but I could see sunlight on the surface far above me, and I floated towards it, drawn up by my fathers voice."

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us Set This House in Order, by Matt Ruff.

The rest of the page.Collapse )
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[08 Feb 2007|01:31pm]

conmoto
The Ladies of Grace Adieu: and other stories by Susanna Clarke

Susanna Clarke returns with an enchanting collection brimming with all the ingredients of good fairy tales: petulant princesses, vengeful owls, ladies who pass their time in embroidering terrible fates, endless paths in deep, dark woods, and houses that never appear the same way twice. The heroines and heroes who must grapple with these problems include the Duke of Wellington, a conceited Regency clergy-man, an eighteenth-century Jewish doctor, and Mary, Queen of Scots, as well as Jonathan Strange and the Raven King. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories introduces readers to a world where charm is always tempered by eeriness, and picaresque comedy is always darkened by the disturbing shadow of magic.

Thoughts:

Having read this book, I have to admit that her first novel is stunning compared to her second. However, don't let that stop you from reading the book! It has a few good stories in it, including a story set in the world of Neil Gaiman's Stardust (my absolute favourite of his works, and soon to be movie). If you're a fan of Susanna Clarke, read the book and get it to complete your collection.
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Some quotes from 'The Futurist' by James P. Othmer [13 Jan 2007|09:15pm]

mojayokok
[ mood | inerberatered ]

‘To paraphrase someone smarter than me, who still knows nothing, the philosophical task of our age is for each of us to decide what it means to be a successful human being.’ (page 29)

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‘The world is based on futurism. On speculation. On finding clues in the chatter: Will there be a war? Is it gonna rain tomorrow? What will happen if he’s elected? Should democracy be applied like a tourniquet or a suppository? How will the chairman of the Fed’s predilection for velour sweatsuits affect the markets? Should I bet the over or the under if the wind’s blowing in off the lake at Wrigley Field? And this, the prevailing mantra of mankind since that horrible moment when we were cursed with the ability to wonder: Is there anything redeeming to look forward to tomorrow? Anything worth living for the day after?’ (page 73).

‘This is why people are so disappointed with the present. We talk so much about how wonderful tomorrow’s going to be that even if it’s great, it can’t help but be a letdown. Tomorrow is like a summer blockbuster for which the studio starts showing trailers the previous November. By the time it comes to your Cineplex, you fell like you’ve already seen it. All the best lines and biggest explosions. The most provocative coming-out-of-the-water bikini shot. You will already have seen it, by the time it comes, you have no desire to fork over $15 and actually sit through it in a theater. What’s happened is that you’ve already experienced something which hasn’t happened yet. In fact, when you think of it, the only real reason to go to the movies isn’t to see the feature but to get a taste of the future, to see the trailer for the next big blockbuster, and to experience that before it happens, And this phenomenon isn’t limited to the movies, it is the way we live today. And it is why I encourage you to ignore the hype of what’s to come, and to get some popcorn and gummy bears during the previews, and to thoroughly enjoy the feature.

In real time.

Not the black hole of expectation.’ (page 127).

all you have to do is look at the highway to see the state of the nation, to see all you need to know about leading economic indicators,’ his father had said. ‘You can talk to all the analysts and trend spotters you want to, but the semis in the passing lane will tell you more than any Wall Street Journal or CNBC forecaster. You can see a recession right in your side view mirror. A boom right in front of you. You’ll see it in the absence of things--wheels and mudflaps, fat men with amphetamine eyes glaring down at you as you pass them on an incline. You’ll see the state of the economy by how many stools are occupied at the counter of the truck-stop diner. You’ll see it in the lack or prevalence of particleboard and fiber-optic cable on flatbeds. Concrete culverts, turbines, sections of modular homes. When you have a nice traffic free weekday ride on an interstate, when no one’s bearing down of you or boxing you in, when there’s no fruit or helix screws or homogenized milk sprayed across five lanes, no refrigerated truck stuck in the underpass, when you don’t hear the word jackknifed in the traffic report on the eights, that’s when you start worrying about the economy, when you start thinking this might be a good time to sell, to get out, to switch to an interest-bearing money market account.’ (page 191).

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New Community [29 Nov 2006|07:26pm]

anon85
I'm not really sure if this is allowed...if not then I'm sorry and please feel free to delete this. But I've just started up a new community :) If you love reading and books then feel free to come over and check it out! You'll be able to meet new friends and other people who enjoy reading and books. Feel free to post about your favourite books, favourite authors or genres, about a book that you've just finished reading, maybe a movie that's been based on a book that you've read, reviews...anything to do with books/reading! It's called books_au so come on over and check it out :)
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Any Story Writers out there? [26 Nov 2006|07:19pm]

anarchistbanjo
I have been busy on my own journal posting my book as a serial and was wondering if there are other writers here doing the same thing. I've noticed that short stories and poems get read on the internet and long stories get the shaft.

I love long stories and have discovered that posting them as serials brings readers!

I'm setting up a listing of serials at Serialadventures. Consider posting your story as a serial and get it listed there. As long as you are not selling anything it is a free service!

You can check out my story on my journal. Happy Holidays!

bright blessings
-anarchistbanjo
1 comment|post comment

the wisdom of jim dodge [26 Oct 2006|07:50pm]

mojayokok
[ mood | sad ]

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Page 107:
"'let's burn another one.'

'Ain't happening,' Eddie mumbled. 'They're already pissed off aout one. Wanna know why we can't use a twenty.'

Mott erupted, 'We can't use a fucking twenty because Ben Franklin's on the hundred!' He took a breath. 'And you see right there how that Puritan killjoy tight-ass Ben Franklin has infected the American mind.' He minced in a searing falsetto, 'A penny saved is a penny earned,' then boomed, 'Well, fuck that shit. A penny blown is a penny enjoyed.'"

Page 133:
"'Put it back,' Willie hissed.

Daniel thought willie was kidding and didn't even pause as he stuffed the sheaf of bills and an ounce baggie of cocaine into his pocket.

'Daniel,' Willie roared, 'did you fail to hear me or fail to understand? Put it back. We're practicing.'

'Be serious,' Daniel pleaded. 'If we get busted, is that what we tell the cops--it's okay, officer we're just practicing.'

'We don't tell the cops shit, ever. And we don't steal unless it's necessary. And we harken to Salinius's observation that 'the great enemies of honor are greed and convience.'"

Page 134:
Volta: I've never been a foe of sweet confoundings. After all, who's to say what the lesson is unless you learn it.

Willie: You're shameless! You stole that from sophocles!

Volta: William, as T. S. Eliot said, "A good poet borrows; a great poet steals."

Page 140:
"'I tell ya Daniel, there's no sure thing. Why, I as in a big-stakes Five-Card Draw game in Waco--we were playing with the joker--and I saw a hand with five aces get beat for everything the guy had.'

'Wait a minute', Daniel said, 'nothing can beat five aces. What'd the other guy have in his hand?'

'A Smith and Wesson. A thirty-eight, I believe.'"

Page 143:
"Bad Bobby told Daniel that a friend, a famous stock-car driver, had told him what he considered the greatest danger of racing: 'When you're driving hard out on the edge, and the love of speed comes over you so true and deep and real, you don't want to slow down. You know you ought to. But you're locked into something so awesome and consuming you can't back off. It's always the same--the faster you go the less you care about being able to stop. Ever.'

2 comments|post comment

I Want To Look Like Henry Bataille [17 Oct 2006|11:34am]

queen_evie
Hi everyone, the new Chapbook 'I Want To Look Like Henry Bataille' by a writer I greatly admire, (dayonfire) is out now and available here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/374916.

I recommend his stuff. 

Quality. 

:)
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Greetings [10 Oct 2006|12:43pm]

queen_evie
[ mood | calm ]

Hi I'm new to this community.

I just finished reading 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho. I enjoyed it's subtlety and sweetness.

I am about to pick up Utopia by Thomas More...

has anyone read it? Good/bad?

Thanks!

1 comment|post comment

(=^.^=) [19 Sep 2006|07:50pm]

ravennightworld
[ mood | content ]

I am new to this community! Hi everyone! I'm currently reading 'Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell' by Susanna Clark. From the publisher:

"At the dawn of the nineteenth century, two very different magicians emerge to change England’s history. In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England—until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight. Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell’s student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear."

Have any of you read this before?

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