Things I Have Recently Learnt About Myself: Part 4,782

- It’s amazing winning a shitload of money during the weekly poker session, but it sucks to take most of it off one of my closest friends.

- It’s gratifying to know my friend hates winning money off of me too. Abby, you’re sweetheart.

- It’s SUCH a turn-off when guys talk about their new Porsche / Ferrari/ Lamborghini/ Any fancy-schmancy car 5 minutes into our first meeting.

- It’s also a turn-off when they refer to said car as ‘baby’. Just massively creepy.

- It’s possible to miss my little brother so much that my heart physically aches. And still possible to remind myself that he’s having the time of his life, so I HAVE to be upbeat instead of mopey when I talk to him. Even if I can’t bring myself to walk into empty room now.

- It would be kinda interesting to have an all-vampire episode of ‘Glee’. And they could cover the songs from the ‘Nosfaratu’ musical, or ‘Lestat’, or even- OOOH, the musical episode of ‘Buffy’. Please, Mr. Producer/ Director/ Writer, hear my plea?

- The thought of a brand-new as-yet-unread book will get me through the toughest, crappiest, most horrible-no-good-very-bad day at work. And if it happens to be the new Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong or Janet Evanovich? Even better!

- I have fantastically pathetic taste in the men I choose as eye candy. This was brought home to me when I bumped into one piece of candy a few days ago and thought “Ew. On a scale of Cough Drops to Godiva Hazelnut Truffles, he’d be a chocolate laxative pill: ergo, so far below the lowest point on the scale, I don’t know what I was inhaling when I thought he was cute.” If hindsight is 20-20, I have Superman’s X-Ray vision.

- I love saying “Ergo.” Why? Dunno, just do.

- I am ADDICTED to fashion blogs! fatsandchints, highheelconfidential, purplepeeptoes and, of course, fashion bombay. And to supplement my daily fix, I’ve taken to trawling Yahoo’s OMG site for their weigh-in on various celebrities’ outfits at appearances. It’s madness, I tell you! The next thing you know, I’ll be watching Joan Rivers on ‘Fashion Police’. Oy vey.

- I love saying Oy Vey, even though I’m about as far from Jewish as a person can get. Why? Dunno, just do. Must be a hangover from a childhood spent religiously watching ‘The Nanny’.

Ah, Screw It

So I'm abandoning any grandiose plans I had to blog a rant about Raj Thackeray and his MNS goons and how they're going about systematically trying to ruin B'bay. Partly because honestly, I'm not the most political-minded person around, and I'd hate to get a lot of facts wrong. And mostly because I can't work up enough of a rage right now. Perhaps if I come across another arrogant-as-shit interview of his, the ire will rise and I'll quickly jot down every slow, painful way in which I'd like to see him tortured :) Oh, did you know his website proclaims him the 'King of Mumbai'? I kid you not, that's actually the slogan there. I'll pause for a moment to allow you to laugh derisively at the sheer wrongness of that.

Meanwhile, mid-unemployment laziness is getting to me. It's all very well to go for interviews and doctor's appointments, but at the end of the day, I'm left feeling like I haven't really accomplished anything. The boredom is crippling, CRIPPLING I tell you. I've become addicted to Facebook Scramble (sort of like Boggle) and apparently I'm 3rd amongst my friends, which is unacceptable, so of course I'll be playing till I'm top dog! Not to mention I've severely depleted my savings by nearly cleaning out the bookshelves of the local Borders...but I'm quite pleased with my finds:

1. Rosemary Clement-Moore

Author of the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs Evil books. Very YA, of course, and something I should've been reading when I was 16, but I've never let that stop me! Kick-ass female protagonist - something I love in any genre, fast paced witty dialogue, great supporting characters, and demons! What's not to love?

I picked up the first of her novels - Prom Dates from Hell (yes, yes, it does sound a little too young for me) and was thoroughly entertained from start to finish..so much so that I practically pitched a fit when I found out Borders didn't stock the follow-up, Hell Week. But I found a very helpful site to download it from, so all is right with the world again :)

2. Kelley Armstrong

She writes the extremely popular 'Otherworld' series, dealing with everything that I love in fiction - ghosts, vampires, werewolves, witches and sorcerers. It's amazing that I haven't discovered her work before now, but I rectified that by picking up the entire lot of her books, from 'Bitten' to the most recent one that I could find, 'Living With The Dead'. Unfortunately, her latest work, 'Frostbitten', isn't on the stands here yet.

Branching off from the Otherworld, but still in keeping with the supernatural theme, is her 'Darkest Powers' trilogy, which is again more YA but as usual with the very relatable (um, unless you count being able to raise the dead), very strong female lead. Only two of the three books have been released thus far, but I'm looking forward to the third one with an eagerness that all too clearly shows I have no life!

3. Kim Harrison

Famous for the Rachel Morgan series, which, most lamentably, is not available here. I did however manage to pick up her first foray into YA literature, 'Once Dead, Twice Shy' and found it delved into the world of a supernatural race previously unexplored by me - the Nephilim, or angels. So we start with the premise that all angels actually act as reapers (or soul-gatherers) for their respective bosses (either the Lord or the Devil) and throw in one very human girl caught in the middle - it makes for a very different, very enjoyable read.

4. Buffy and Angel books!

Look what I found!

....any many many more! These should be enough to tide me over until the next bout of reruns! Excuse me while I do a little happy dance!

...Actually, with all this available to me, why the hell am I bored?