Am so bored

[brigdh]

Things I have been doing recently:

1. Watching way too much reality TV (particularly of the "I want to be a supermodel/Miss America*/a fashion designer**/ghost hunter" sort) and lamenting the writers' strike. Seriously. I need new things to kill brain cells with, people.

2. Reading lots of fantasy/Regency romances/humor novels, and not one single one of the thousands of things I should read in the spirit of academic research.

3. Not doing anything on my more specific academic goals, such as, oh, the PhD proposal due next month, the MA thesis due in May, or the various visas/vaccines I need to go to Syria***.

So, what are you all procrastinating with?

*Miss Vermont is awesome and you all know it. I totally want a Miss America who looks like a shy hipster.

**Christian, on the other hand, should be set on fire.

***Did you know the Syrian government apparently reads the mail and will kick you out of the country for mentioning even the name of Israel? Awesome, people. Also, I hear peanut butter is ungodly expensive there, for some reason. I am here to bring you these bits of trivia.

Comments

[redshoeson.livejournal.com]

Catching up on LJ. :)

Also, here are the queer books I was talking about:

Baby Remember my Name
The Book of Salt
Drag King Dreams
Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties
A Simple Distance
The Borgia bride
Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary
Stone Butch Blues
Trans-sister Radio
Keeping you a secret
The price of salt
Nightwood
Kissing Kate
Dare truth or promise
The Terrible Girls
Odd girl out
Patience and Sarah
Empress of the world
Sister Safety Pin
Valencia
Calculated risk
Godmother night

I can't speak for any of them, but they are on my To Read (Queer Fiction) list. If you read any of them, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on them! ^^ Also, are you familiar with LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com)? It is an AWESOME resource, particularly when searching for books similar to those you've enjoyed in the past. ^^

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! I haven't read any of these, so this is really awesome.

And I do know Librarything! It's really useful. *grins*

[redshoeson.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. ^^ Definitely let me know what you think of them. I actually almost bought Borgia Bride b/c it looked like such a fun romp, but I resisted. Baby Remember My Name is a selection of queer short stories. The Book of Salt is actually about the queer relationship of Gertrude Stein and her lover as told by their chef. Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties has the best title, sez me. I think it's more about the main character's latina/chicana (can't remember which) identity than her queer identity, but it is definitely in the queer lit section. A Simple Distance and Stone Butch Blues are written by the same person and I /think/ they're both more about the trans-identity than the queer identity.

...that's all I can remember about them ATM. ^^