BEDITSHOA: And the winner is . . .

. . . Jessica at Forever Young: A YA Lit Blog! Congratulations!! I've emailed you, but if for some reason email monkeys have snatched my message out of cyberspace, please contact me at: steph AT stephanieperkins.com

So. I just spent eighty minutes copying and pasting your names into name-picker. Eighty minutes! Copying and pasting!

Thank you all SO MUCH for entering—for sending me hundreds of pictures of Hot British People, for putting the Anna countdown widget on your blogs, and for spreading the word about my novel.

♥ THANK YOU! ♥

I'm running out of time before midnight, so this last part will be muchmuchmuch shorter than I intended. But I just want to say publicly one more time today how unbelievably, extraordinarily, overwhelmingly happy and proud of Kiersten White I am. As of TODAY her debut novel Paranormalcy is available in stores EVERYWHERE!!!

I met Kiersten right around the time she finished her first draft of this book, and I consider myself fortunate to have been one of its earliest readers. I am very attached to it. (GIANT UNDERSTATEMENT.) I say with all of my heart that I love this novel like it's one of my own.

I love Kiersten, and I love Paranormalcy, and I really really really really REALLY hope you'll all read it! TIMES A BAJILLION!!!

Thus marks the end of Blog Every Day in the Second Half of August. Phew! I'll talk to you again soon, but . . . not tomorrow. Ha.

BEDITSHOA: There's still time . . .

. . . to enter my Anna and the French Kiss advanced copy giveaway.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE.

It's the last day! Do it, do it!

The novel is funny and romantic and smart. (Says the author.) The heroine is BFF-worthy, and the hero is crush-worthy: French name, English accent, spectacular hair. And look what Gayle Forman—Gayle! Forman!—said on her blog this weekend:


"It somehow managed to be the perfect romantic comedy, lovingly and excruciatingly (in the best of ways) drawing out the realistic relationship between St. Clair and Anna over a year at a boarding school for Americans in Paris. But it’s also more."


If you want to know what the "more" is, check out her blog. P.S. You'll also find another opportunity to win an advanced copy.

In honor of the best book written by myself set in France that's being published in 2010, here's one of my favorite French bands, Phoenix, doing a "Tiny Desk Concert" for NPR:

I love them.

FUN FACT #1: Phoenix's vocalist Thomas Mars is in a long-term relationship with film director Sofia Coppola. They have two children together. Anna Oliphant—heroine of Anna and the French Kiss—named her car Sofia in her honor.

FUN FACT #2: Sofia has a goooorgeous-looking new film called Somewhere. Phoenix is on the soundtrack. Phoenix's song "Love Like a Sunset" plays in the beginning of the trailer. That song is on my Anna playlist! I'll release Anna's complete playlist this December, but here's Sofia's trailer now:

Good luck, everyone! I'll announce the winner tomorrow night.

BEDITSHOA: North of Beautiful

In July, Anna received a fantastic blurb from novelist and Readergirlz diva Justina Chen. But I confess, it came with some guilt attached. I'd heard nothing but amazing things about her books, but . . . I hadn't read any of them yet! I felt ashamed that she read my book first.

I immediately went out and purchased North of Beautiful, her latest, which received *THREE* starred reviews! Here's the description:


It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper.

She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her small, stifling town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?


Guys. This book was perfect. My kind of novel.

It's fun and romantic, with depth and themes and complications and darkness. The characters are many-faceted and real—they make mistakes!—and because of it, I cared deeply for them. And the story is PACKED with interesting things like mapmaking, geocaching, collaging, wish-making, and exploring.

I love novels with a genuine sense of place. This story was split between a tiny Northwestern town and China, and they were both richly drawn. I read the chapters set in China especially slowly, savoring the flavors and sights and sounds. It made me ache to see the skyline of Shanghai!

And Jacob, the "handsome but quirky Goth boy"?

HOT.

So hot that I've switched from Team Edward to Team Jacob. Team Jacob the Goth. I don't want to spoil anything, but I know I'm reading a successful love story when I find myself cheering every time The Boy steps onto the page. Terra and Jacob's relationship was made up of tons of those delicious little moments that make the delicious big moments in the end that much better.

The novel is about the meaning of beauty, and appropriately, the prose is beautiful, the story is beautiful, and the romance is beautiful. I loved it. L-O-V-E-D loved it. I'm so excited to read Justina's first two novels Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) and Girl Overboard.

I give this book my HIGHEST GLOWING RECOMMENDATION to fans of contemporary fiction, as well as to readers who enjoy romance and to anyone who loves a story that takes them around the world.


[Also, may I add how flattered I am that not only did my editor think to send my book to Justina, but that Justina actually liked it? When hers is the kind of novel that I wish I could write?? Thank you again to my editor Julie and Justina!]

[Also, may I add how thrilled I am that Blog Every Day in the Second Half of August is almost over? Daily bloggers, you have my endless respect and admiration. OMG, THIS IS HARD.]

BEDITSHOA: It's real!

KA-BAM

Look what Jarrod and I found today! Paranormalcy's official release isn't until Tuesday, but we'd heard a rumor that Books-A-Million was stocking it early, and *POOF*. There it was.

YOU DID IT, KIERSTEN!!!

I am so, so, so proud of you!

BEDITSHOA: This one is for Esther.

As many of you know, sixteen year-old Esther Earl passed away this Wednesday. I didn't know Esther personally, but as she was an active member of both the Nerdfighter community and the Harry Potter Alliance, she was a friend to many of my friends. They all say that she was bright, hilarious, optimistic, and very human.

It was in Esther's name that the HPA won $250,000 (!!!) in the Chase Community Giving contest, which is now spreading literacy around the world and fighting for LGBT equality. (Here is the amazing HPA video.) And here's the video that John Green made about Esther that helped them win:

And . . . here is the video that John made this week:

You can read Esther's beautiful obituary here.

You can visit cookie4monster4, her YouTube channel, here.

And you can donate to the Friends of Esther fund here, through the Harry Potter Alliance. All of the money raised will go directly to her family to help pay for the expenses incurred during her care.

I encourage you to honor Esther as John Green suggested in his latest video: "Don't just do something. Stand there." That there's value in being still, in "bearing witness to Esther's life and allowing ourselves to be transformed by it."

I also encourage you to honor her memory as a true Nerdfighter: DFTBA. Don't forget to be awesome. As Melissa Anelli (webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron) tweeted, "Honor her by shining as brightly as you know how."

Thank you for being you, Esther. Rest in Awesome.

BEDITSHOA: Recent-ish Teen Movies, Part 2

I totally have Drew Barrymore's rainbow thigh highs.

Several of you mentioned Whip It (2009) in my comments yesterday. Yes! Thank you! I loved that one, too. And it had a GREAT soundtrack. Here's my fave, "Crown of Age" by The Ettes:

I also thought of one more on my own, Disturbia (2007). A guilty pleasure!

Admit it. Some of you loved it, too.

Here are the other teen films that qualified via my post-High School Musical (2006) definition. There were plenty of great ones in my comments, but I'm only including the titles where the characters are still in high school:

• Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging (2008)
• Bandslam (2009)
• The Invisible (2007)
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
• 17 Again (2009)
• Youth in Revolt (2009)

Corey Wright also mentioned that the soundtrack for The Invisible is "pretty much amazing," so I checked it out on iTunes, and I'm intrigued! Also, HOW DID I NOT KNOW that Louise Rennison's Angus was made into a movie? Directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), no less! Though I'm bummed that the title was changed from "full-frontal" to "perfect."

And it was pointed out that slasher flicks like Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) and Friday the 13th (2009) are about teenagers, and by my above definition COULD count. But . . . I can't do it. And that's not a slight against horror films, because I love horror films.* But when asked to put them in a genre, I think we'd probably all say "horror" before "teen."


*Though not those films. Seriously, Hollywood. The international market is kicking your butt in horror. Example: Let the Right One In (2008), which was perfect. Perfect! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO REMAKE IT, TOO?? I hate you, Hollywood.**

**Okay, that's not true. I love you, Hollywood. But I hate you sometimes.


Toy Story 3 (2010) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) were also each mentioned a few times, and though I'd agree that the audience is right, I don't think they officially qualify as teen films, because only one character in each film is a teenager. But Lisa Aldin—another fan of Let the Right One In!—brought to my attention the Irish teen film Kisses (2008).

It's called KISSES. I must see it.

And speaking of teen cinema, the Queen (Meg Cabot) had a hilarious post today about revisiting one of her favorites. An excerpt:


Then they Do It all over the place. In the gym. In the boiler room. In the pool. In Tracey’s room. In Tracey’s mom’s room. In Tracey’s living room. Under the coffee table. Maybe some other places I forget. It’s basically awesome.

Which makes it so much less awesome when they stop Doing It.


Ha ha! I love Meg.

And now I'm off. Will I return to blogging about books tomorrow? Eh, maybe. This BEDITSHOA thing is hard. One thing I've discovered: the less rules, the better!

BEDITSHOA: Recent-ish Teen Movies

While browsing the blogosphere today, I stumbled across this trailer for Beastly (Thanks, Mandy Hubbard!):

Neil Patrick Harris! Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer getting kissy! Mary-Kate Olsen as a witch! (A witch with cool eye makeup!) Not only did it bump Alex Flinn's novel to the top of my to-read list, but it also got me thinking about teen movies in general. Is it just me, or have the last few years been kinda . . . empty?

It's no wonder that I've been so excited for Easy A:

I love Emma Stone, and it looks like a GREAT role for Amanda Bynes, à la Mandy Moore in Saved! And the adults look intelligent, too. (One of my pet peeves: Teen movies and novels where the parents are idiots or nonentities.)

So . . . where have all the good teen movies gone? Or have I just been missing them? I tried to come up with a list of awesome teen films from the last few years (post-High School Musical, 2006), and my list is very short:

Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Juno (2007)

Adventureland (2009)

Superbad (also 2007!) was pretty good, too, and no matter what opinion any of us have about it, the Twilight series can't be overlooked. But then . . . blank. I'm coming up BLANK.

What am I missing, you guys? Help me out in the comments!

BEDITSHOA: Cleansing Time

I don't know about you, but after Mockingjay, I feel like I need to . . . oh, I dunno . . . take a bath.

(With Jason Isaacs.)

Or at least jump in a lake.

(With Elliot Cowan.)

In fact, I'm just going to shirk today's blogging duties and keep posting pictures that you've bestowed upon me in the Anna and the French Kiss giveaway (still time to enter!) comments.

I've received quite a bit of Ben Barnes:

A great deal of the Doctor(s):

Plenty of Alex Pettyfer:

And mucho of My Celebrity Boyfriend Jim Sturgess:

♥ ♥ ♥

I hope everyone had a nice day . . . even if you've been turning the pages of a grim novel all afternoon! And again, please refrain from putting Mockingjay spoilers in my comments. Not everyone will have had the opportunity to read it so quickly. Thanks!

BEDITSHOA: Oh, is there an important book being released at midnight?

Photo by Leigh Taylor

"See all that grass down there?" she asked.

Hovering over the lawn, all he could see was grass. "Yeah, I see it," he said. His voice cracked a little because he was thinking about moving his sneaker over to touch hers, which, of course, he didn't.

"So this music," she said, "it makes me feel like, even though I'm looking at a whole bunch of grass, all I can see is a single blade."

This was the great thing about Anabelle. She spoke so poetically about music. Tobin knew what he liked and what he didn't like, but talking about it never came naturally to him. "That is the most absolute perfect way to describe it," he told her.


I'm not sure if it was because BEDITSHOA (Blog Every Day in the Second Half of August) is wearing me out or if it was because I blogged so late, but yesterday I had a difficult time explaining why I love Hillary Frank's The View from the Top. So I wanted to give it one more shot by including the above (appropriate for my stumble-y thoughts) excerpt.

It's a wonderful book. I hope you read it.

Though . . . I shouldn't even pretend we're not thinking about anything other than Mockingjay right now. Jarrod and I are leaving for the midnight party at Malaprop's in just a bit.* We already have our plan of attack: He'll read our copy until he falls asleep tonight, and then I'll read the whole thing, and then he'll finish it tomorrow when he gets home from work.

We make a good team.

He was certainly on my mind when I saw this (un-embeddable) beautiful, happy, sad video about a couple in Brooklyn who were "married for 27 years and in love the entire time." I watched it twice, and I cried twice! Thanks to Bob Boyle for finding it.

I'm off for the night. I hope you all—whether Team Gale or Team Peeta—enjoy Mockingjay. You won't hear any spoilers from me, so I ask that you please extend the same courtesy and refrain from putting spoilers in my comments. Thank you!

*EDITED TO ADD: Whoops. It's a regular release party tomorrow, not a midnight release party tonight. One of these days, I will read websites more carefully. Guess I'll pick it up in the morning!

BEDITSHOA: Susan + Hillary + Ira

I was supposed to tell you about these.

It occurred to me after writing yesterday's post—in which I mentioned reading Into the Wild Nerd Yonder during my July beach vacation—that I never finished blogging about that trip! I didn't take any more pictures of the beach, but I did come away with a handful from my side trip to Wilmington, NC.

I went to visit my agency sister Susan J. Steward, who lives in gorgeous historic downtown Wilmington, which is everything a Southern town should be: the houses have massive porches and white columns, ferns drip from hanging baskets, and flower gardens peek from between wrought iron fences.

But because it's on the coast, it also has an artsy, surfer flair.

Susan and I spent the afternoon strolling around, talking about writing and books. Unfortunately, I dropped (and broke) my camera about halfway through, so I never took any pictures of the houses! But here are a few other things that made me smile:

A giant skateboard bench.

A fence decorated with keys.

Orange and green store = Planet, home of the squirrel undies.

Me on the Riverwalk with Planet bag. (No undies actually purchased!)

A painting of Captain Jack in the coffee shop.

Venus Flytrap sculpture. (A native plant!)

With my fabulous hostess, Susan.

One of my favorite things about my job is how many incredible friends I've made, people I never would have met otherwise. Special thanks this time to Agent Kate for having such cool clients. I can't wait to hang out with Susan again!

So I read several excellent novels during that week at the beach, but Hillary Frank's The View from the Top was the other one that left a lasting impression. Here's the jacket description:

TOBIN won't miss anything about life in Normal, Maine, when he leaves for conservatory . . . except for his dream girl.

JONAH would give up his player ways—and his best friend—for a chance with his best friend's girlfriend.

LEXI desperately hopes that her crush will see her in a new light, but fears that her love will remain unrequited.

MATT is anxiously clinging to the past, afraid that he won't be a part of his girlfriend's brighter future.

MARY-TYLER wishes people would look past her weight and wealth and accept her for who she is.

And then there's ANABELLE, the one who ties them all together. As she sorts out her love life and tries to make sense of her increasingly complicated friendships, Anabelle begins to question how well her friends really know her . . . and how well she knows herself.


I was interested in this book because I read Hillary's first novel (about art school) Better Than Running at Night when it was released in 2002, and though many of the details have since escaped my memory, the tone has never left. Interestingly, I've talked to a number of people who've had this same experience! There's something compelling about the way she can string a sentence together.

It's haunting.

I inhaled her latest in one breath. The novel is told by six characters in seven stories, and each character's story begins where the last left off. (In other words, the plot moves forward. It's not a Rashomon.) Sometimes, as a reader, when I'm thrown from point-of-view to point-of-view, I feel like the work suffers. I get antsy for the author to return to the interesting character. Not so here. I was impressed by how different each voice was, but how the overall tone (that word again!) worked seamlessly as a whole.

This book falls into the category of "hard to describe." It's a deceptively simple story with real characters, but . . . that's a complete undersell. It just works. I think the key is in the language, but I still can't explain WHY or HOW her language so captivating.

It just is.

I recommend The View from the Top to all fans of contemporary fiction. There's humor, there's heartache. It's good. Really, really good. I'm curious to revisit her first novel and to read her second, I Can't Tell You. (Which, unfortunately, I only learned existed after reading the bio on this one. Me, upon finding out: "You mean I could have had another Hillary Frank novel six years ago?")

One cool tidbit is that she's also an independent producer for several pubic radio programs, including MY FAVORITE RADIO SHOW EVER, This American Life. Which means . . . she probably knows this guy:

Ira freaking Glass.

Who I do not not not have a crush on. At all.

Except I totally do, because not only does he host the most fascinating show on radio (and in such a *human* way), but he also did an amazing four-part video series on storytelling. I've posted this one before (and at least twice), but it's always worth re-posting. I love it so much that for several months while writing Lola, I kept it as my homepage:

I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing those first two minutes. Thank you, Ira.

He also gave this INCREDIBLE interview for Slate a few months ago on the subject of being wrong. Again, storytellers take note. There's a lot of wisdom packed into that one interview.

I can't think of a smooth way of ending this, so in summary: Susan J. Steward rocks. Please read Hillary Frank's new book. And if you're in the business of creating—anything!—watch the Ira Glass video.

BEDITSHOA: Into the Wild Nerd Yonder

A few months ago, my friend Natalie Whipple wrote a wonderful, gushy post about Julie Halpern's Into the Wild Nerd Yonder. Here's Natalie's quick plot description (the Amazon descriptions all have spoilers!):

"Jessie is in between social groups, what with her friends going punk while she'd prefer to sew skirts out of Pikachu fabric. But when her supposed best friend does the unthinkable, the nerd crowd starts looking way more appealing than it should . . . especially that freakishly cute boy with the flooded pants and white sneakers."

My interest was piqued, and I scribbled the title on my (loooong) to-read list.

Later that same week, Julie contacted Natalie, having read her post, and she asked if Natalie would be interested in an interview. (Proof that authors DO use Google Alerts. Be careful what you say about us. We're listening. Mwahahahaha!) The result was this interview which had so much heart that it vaulted her book to the top of my list.

Two choice quotes for aspiring writers:


". . . finding the right editor is like finding a mate—it’s not easy, there is only one of them, and you have to fit together. This is the one person who decides to make or break your book, so if they don’t like the book initially, then you probably wouldn’t like working with them anyway! It’s just a matter of finding the right editor or agent to work with, and that can take time. Don’t give up if you really want it!"

"If you like what you write, someone else will like it, too."


I especially love that second one. It's so true! If I can't make myself happy, how could I possibly make anyone else happy?

Anyway, so I took Into the Wild Nerd Yonder to the beach, and I read it in one glorious sitting. And here is the honest-to-goodness email I sent Natalie right after:


INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER!!!!!

OH MY GOSH.

I LOVED IT. Passionately. Like, I have a bad habit of dog-earing my pages, especially if I want to talk about a book with someone, and nearly a third of it is dog-eared! And that was me holding back! Thank you so so so so SO much for talking it up on your blog. I can't wait to read her first book. It sounds right up my alley (but in a totally different way).

SERIOUSLY. I WANT TO MAKE OUT WITH THE BOOK SO HARDCORE.

Also, I want to date Jessie's older brother. And make out with him. Of COURSE there will be making out!!


Ha ha ha! It's safe to say that I enjoyed it. A lot.

There's so much about this story that's GREAT, but my favorite thing is how well it deals with one of the more painful aspects of friendship: What happens when you grow apart from the friends you've had your entire life? And how do you find a home with new ones?

There's also a storyline that I see frequently in teen literature (because it happens so frequently in real life), but that's never felt this true to me. You know, that one where you find out that the super-dreamy guy you've been crushing on? Yeah. He's kind of an a-hole.

And, yes, Jessie's orange mohawk-ed older brother was YUM. I still want to make out with him. Especially for how he handles the a-hole situation!

I recommend this book to any teen that might secretly be wondering if one of her friends isn't really a friend anymore, to anyone who walks on the nerd-side, to anyone who has ever had a crush on a guy in a band, and to anyone who thinks the following sentences are as funny as I do:


"I look back fondly on my Arbor Day beret."

"That would be like me stopping from fantasizing about Rupert Grint just because I had real make-out sessions with real people."

"I punctuate the word like I'm touching dirty underwear."

"Bob Dylan is playing over the PA system, 'Lay, Lady, Lay,' which is a song I always liked as a kid because I thought he was saying 'Lady Elaine,' like that scary puppet from Mr. Rogers."

"The Sandwich Maker is perhaps the greatest invention of all time."

"I'd like to think that as [my pet goldfish] faded away, his forgiving fish soul would tell me, 'It's okay, Jessie. You are just a young girl. My life was a short but happy one. Godspeed. I see a bright light ahead . . .' But what he probably would have said was, 'Why didn't you clean my bowl, bitch?'"


Just like Illyria (recommended on Tuesday), I checked it out from the library and ended up buying my own copy. I've also heard great things about her first YA novel, Get Well Soon, and I'm excited to read it!

And Julie . . . if Google Alerts has led you to my website . . . thank you for writing such an awesome, hilarious novel. Consider me a fangirl.


TINY COOL THING: I nerdgasmed while browsing Julie's website, when I ran across this picture of her with Joss Whedon. LUCKY!!

TINY WARNING: If you read this book, you will never think about Krispy Kreme donuts the same way again.

BEDITSHOA: House Sortin' Time

Ask and ye shall receive, Donna. DOUBLE PAUL BETTANY. (You weren't the only one who put this particular picture in my comments. Ha!)

So speaking of Harry Potter—ah hem, yesterday—you guys have sent me several Hot British People who play students in the films. Behold:

And it has me thinking about houses. One of the most intriguing aspects of Harry Potter (and there are many) is how balanced and well-conceived Hogwarts' four houses are. Who hasn't read the novels and instinctively known what house they'd be sorted into? I, for instance, am in Ravenclaw:

My husband Jarrod is in Hufflepuff:

Our dog Pip (L) is in Gryffindor, but Sable (R) is in Hufflepuff:

And Mr. Tumnus?

Slytherin, of course.

(I'd guess nine out of ten cats would be sorted into Slytherin.)

So . . . I'm curious about my blog readers! What house are *YOU* in?

If you're reading this as an RSS feed, you might have to visit my actual blog to vote. But the important thing to remember is that no matter what house you're in, we can always still be friends!

Hufflepuff & Ravenclaw, BFFs since 1999.

Four last things:

• My BEDITSHOA book recommendation? I'm skipping it today. So time consuming!

• Did you know that the first seventy pages of Kiersten White's hilarious, thrilling, romantic, genre-bending Paranormalcy are online? WELL, THEY ARE.

• Did you know that Penguin is giving away a copy of Anna and the French Kiss on Goodreads? Enter here between now and October 1st.

• And I *LOVE* this picture from Jade's blog:

♥ ♥ ♥

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I will be here. Blogging.

BEDITSHOA: One of those horrible posts about how sleepy the blogger is.

OHMYGOSH, THE BACK (Thanks, Katie!)

I stayed up super late/super early last night doing Book Three research, and then I woke up early to meet a friend. And tonight I'm going to a special showing of Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2—I'm on a horror kick—and I need to nap first, because I cannot keep my eyes open. (Because of that whole late to bed/early to rise thing.) And when I come home from TCM 2, it will be too late for BEDITSHOA.

So here I am to give you a book recommendation. With zero brain power.

Are you ready?

Harry Potter. Yeah. You should definitely read J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. It's about a boy wizard, and it's all cool and magical and stuff.

BOY WIZARD

Time for my nap.

*blink* *blink* Zzz . . .

BEDITSHOA: Miscellanea

Today's BEDITSHOA (Blog Every Day in the Second Half of August) is a roundup of miscellaneous items crowding my desktop and inbox. Items like this:

YES.

Miss Universe 2010 costumes with snarky commentary (via my agent Daphne Unfeasible).

And if you like that, then you should also check out their 2010 Winter Olympic "Ice Princesses" figure skating coverage: the men, the women, and the couples.

SERIOUSLY.

Now! A selection of videos for your enjoyment:


• Sexy Alan Rickman reading Shakespeare's Sonnet 130. (Gift from Khy.)

• Silly cinemash of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Sid and Nancy. NSFW language. (Gift from Kat.)

• TWO MORE Joseph Gordon-Levitt short films done in an old timey, semi steampunky, word play-y kind of way. I like the restaurant one the best (second on that page), because of the kissing. (Gift from Mariah.)


Judging from the videos being sent to me, the word is out that I just-so-might have a crush on Joe. I have NO IDEA how you discovered this. I mean, I have definitely not mentioned him on this blog two or maybe even three times in the last month.

Oh! I need to recommend a book. How about something appropriately miscellaneous?

Bigfoot: I Not Dead is the third illustrated Bigfoot biography by Graham Roumieu. They're all hilarious (warning: and adult), and there's no need to read them in order. They aren't everyone's cup of tea, but if you think the following excerpts are funny, chances are excellent that you will like this book:

(Click to big-ify.)

(Click to big-ify.)

HA HA HA! I love him.

Bigfoot is also on Twitter. Just so you know.

Also—because I'm in that kind of mood—you should probably check out this vintage safety manual called "It's Great to Be Alive!", via Gwenda Bond.

TRUE.

Digging into my blog comments, Donna Hosie asked:


"Where is Paul Bettany? Didn't you know it is illegal to post about hot Brits and not mention Paul Bettany?"


I did NOT know this, but I believe it. Paul won my heart playing Chaucer in A Knight's Tale, and he was my favorite thing in The Young Victoria. And Master and Commander. I will HAPPILY post a picture of Paul Bettany the moment someone links to his picture in my Anna giveaway comments.

And Haley (no link) provided this commentary on yesterday's topic:


"I'm from England. To me, British means English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish but not Irish.

As for the Scots and Welsh not wanting to call themselves British, I am not so sure. True they tend to prefer to say they're Scottish or Welsh primarily, but I think very few would object to being called British.

In my experience it seems that a lot of Americans use British to mean the same thing as English. This is mainly based on the term 'British accent' that is often used by Americans - Welsh and Scottish and Irish and even some English accents are very different to what is meant by this.

Anyway this is just my input and other Brits may well disagree with me, so don't take this as The Ultimate View of Britain!"


Thank you, Haley! That's very helpful!

And, finally, stolen from Katie's blog for Buffy/Angel fans . . .

♥ ♥ ♥

EEEEEEK!! Willow and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce! The adorableness of this picture is so hardcore that it (almost) makes my eyes hurt.

See you tomorrow!