I'm a finalist

I drew a picture of a cat.

I entered my picture of a cat into a 'tattoo design' competition.

My picture of a cat got chosen as a finalist.

I grinned like a cheshire cat.

Happy days!

In order to win I need votes. If ya wanna help me win, please vote here:
http://redbubble-tattoo.strutta.com/entry/2616675

I am currently running 7th out of 10 finalists. Voting closes 5th June! I've got a long way to go to catch up!

Oh, here's the picture of the cat:

You can buy t-shirts, prints, cards, iphone cases, stickers, and hoodies from my Redbubble shop here:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/swanstardesigns/shop

Slingin' Guns

Well, I'm sticking with the Gunslinger, by Stephen King.

It reeeeeeeally makes a difference to read well written sentences.

That's not to say that the Great Gatsby wasn't written well, or Robin Hobb's Rain Wild series. I guess I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to start reading those.

I am determined to stick with the Gunslinger. I will finish a book if it goddamm takes me all year!

Aging

Well, I'm another year older.

Hey ho and onward...

I'm reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King.. the first of the Dark Tower series. I'm hanging in there. It's soooooo nice to be reading something by someone who can actually write!!!

All good :-)

Stephen King

I'm ashamed to say that I'm quite behind the times when it comes to Stephen King. I've seen some of the films, but only ever read a book of short horror stories which I think contained a Stephen King story, or it was full of them.. I can't remember...

I'm feeling drawn towards The Dark Tower series. Maybe it's because I watched Firefly not long ago, which kinda has that same wasteland feel to it. I dunno. I don't even know what it's about, but for some reason I'm drawn to it.

I'm still trying to read The Great Gatsby, but it's not going very well. I'm finding it difficult to even remember that I'm supposed to be reading it.

I feel like we're living in a futuristic world now, where imaginations are running wild but attention spans are shrinking. In only the few minutes it's taken to type out this post I'm bored with it already and want to move on to something else. Perhaps that's just the influence of Homeland's bipolar character, Carrie, coming through. I just finished watching that series, and the agitation her character emanates is a little catching.

I think I'm going to go horizontal on the couch for the rest of the day.. and try to shake off this looming migraine. That's probably what's eating me at the mo. Although this snowing weather has also sapped my energy. Snow in March. Snow in fucking March! It's after the spring equinox for fuck's sake. Enough already! Bring out the sunshine.. I need it!

Vegas Baby!

I am going to Fantasy Con in Vegas next year! I dunno how I'll afford it, or how I'll get there, where I'll stay, or whatever, but I'm definitely going!

http://www.fantasy-con.com/

Yeah!

The Next Book

So, until I can actually get my fat ass into a bookshop to go through all of Feists books to figure out which one I'm up to, I can't really download anything onto my phone (via Kobo) to start reading just yet.......

I read an interview in the newspaper the other day with Isla Fisher about her role in the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, and she gushed on and on about what a good book it is. I've heard of it, but I've never read it. To be honest I never even knew what it was about. So, I googled a synopsis of it, and it sounds kinda ok, so I thought I might give that a go. There's no dragons in it, but perhaps I can look past that if the actual writing is good.

That reminds me, I also downloaded a free preview of it, but haven't started it yet. perhaps I'll do that before I go to sleep.

Watching Skyfall tonight. Love it! I saw it at the Odeon in Leicester Square, sitting in the Royal Circle in the centre with the perfect view. Now I shall watch it from the comfort of my couch with my trusty little heater keeping me warm while my roast beef bubbles away in the slow cooker. Shit, I don't have any red wine. Ah well, almost a perfect evening!

Feist Is Finishing It!

So, the riftwar saga is ending! I'm not sure what I think about this. Magician was my very first fanasy novel that I read.. waaaay back when I had glandular fever and was confined to bed for a week.

I can't remember where I got up to in reading these.. I think I'm four from the end, so perhaps they can fill the void until Goodkind's new novel is out later this year.

Yes, that sounds like a mighty fine plan. After that Grey bollocks I need some fabulous fantasy to return me to normal! I still don't understand why anyone would want to write a book without any dragons or magic in it. Sex can't fill a void like that! If a book is not at least medieval style with a war or two thrown in then its just a means to a snooze!

I gotta get back to reality and get my head into fantasy, quick smart!

Normality, here I come!

Bookless

I haven't got a book to read....

Terry Goodkind is publishing another Richard & Kahlan novel soon! FUCK YEAH!

I'll have to find some trash to read until then.

Grey

I've stooped so low.....

I'm reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

Purely as research, of course!!! ...to find out why it's so popular. Apart from all the sex, which actually gets quite boring after a while, I'm not yet sure why it has become such a phenomenon.

The main characters have got to be the most annoying people in the world! Anastasia is a vapid wench who 'explodes' at the mere thought of a shag, and Christian has no redeeming qualities at all except that he's good looking (which you can't see anyway coz its just words on a page).

The car chase in book two, and the kidnapping plot in book three weren't bad.. but far too brief.

And there are no dragons or wizards.

And there is no war between good and evil in which the main character must overcome surmountable odds and travel vast distances on an adventure where they meet lots of different creatures to not only grow as a person but to save all of humanity with the knowledge and powers they have acquired along the way.....

So... I'm finding it quite lacking.

On the plus side I guess the writing is fairly easy to read, and the descriptions are quite creative.

That is all.