Stitching and books -- what more can you want?

I received word today that Jane from Wiehenburg has received her ornie from me in our Christmas exchange so I can finally post my bragging pic --



Of late I've made some progress on ST's Fruit of the Vines -- I'm doing 3 or 4 of these in different wine colors--

So far they've gone together quite quickly, but so far I haven't tried to bead them or do the fiddly vine stitching. lol

Currently I'm spending most of my time pondering crud from the ever-growing piles in my office. I do have some serious pondering to do:

and that's just one corner!
When not pondering I've been working on a semi-stealth project. Anita (hi there) knows I'm working on an M-Designs sampler for her, but not what it looks like. I really want to show off, but ya'll just have to wait. Sorry.


I saw this at StashDiva’s (http://stashdiva.blogspot.com/ ) and just had to do it --
1: Hardcover or paperback, and why?
Both. Hardcover for the “ones that matter” (and in my life far too many matter. And paper for the rare disposables or the ones I can’t get any other way.

2: If I were to own a book shop, I would call it...
To myself I’d probably call it “heaven on earth,:” but on the sign, I just don’t know.

3: My favorite quote from a book (mention the title)
You get a wonderful view from the point of no return.
Terry Pratchett – Making Money
or
In the mirrors of the many judgments, my hands are the color of blood. I am part of the evil that exists in the world and in shadow. I sometimes fancy myself an evil which exists to oppose other evils. And on that great day of which prophets speak, but in which they do not truly believe—On that day when the world is completely cleansed of evil,
then I too will go down to darkness, swallowing curses. …Until that time I shall not wash my hands not let them hang useless.” Roger Zelazny – The Guns of Avalon
or
I will live my life in the conviction that when it finally happens – when we hear that midnight whine, when Kansas burns, when what is done is undone, when fail-safe fails, when deterrence no longer deters, when the jig is at last up – yes even then I will hold to a steadfast orthodoxy, confident to the end that E will somehow not quite equal MC2.
Tim O’Brian – Nuclear Age

4: The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be...
Oh I don’t know. I’m generally too shy to say anything but “I really liked your book” so it would have to be someone friendly and charming -- And who knows which authors are that. Probably Jane Austen or Mary Shelley, but possibly Laura Ingalls Wilder or Rex Stout.

5:If I was going to a deserted island and could bring only one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be...
I should bring the Bible but the chances I packed it would be slim. Either the Complete Amber anthology (Roger Zelazny) or The Complete Short Stories of Arthur C. Clarke.

6: I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that...
Would bend space and time so that an infinite number of books would fit in whatever space you wanted them to fit in to. In other words, I might like to maintain the aesthetical appeal of a shelf of books, but have, say, 4000 volumes fit there.

7: The smell of an old book reminds me of...
Locked, university archives, and hopefully not mildew.

8: If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title) it would be...
Oh, that’s hard. Who wants someone else dictating their every move?

9: The most overestimated book of all times is...
Hands down, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Whine if you will, but OMG could a book be more boring?????

10: I hate it when a book...
Is inconsistent, badly edited, and has a stupid cover (“stupid” being defined as: 1. having a picture where it is obvious the cover artist was never in the same room with the book or anyone who knew anything about it, or . 2. having one of those trendy, new covers which lacks a real, honest-to-goodness painting by an artist representing the characters and events in the book --- no more photoshop weird pics, no more stick figures, no more covers recycled from another volume.)

-------------
Under the heading of "Only in CA:" 9-year-old girls standing next to me in Coldwater Creek this weekend playing their own personal quiz game--girl one names a category and writes down everything girl 2 comes up with in x-minutes. When I first encountered them they were on animals so lions, bears, and dogs came up. Then they started a new category!
Girl 1: "Ready?"
Girl 2: "Ok."
Girl 1: "Cars!"
Girl 2: [4-5 second pause] "Hybrid." [no other answers were forthcoming]
See-- only in CA! lol
------------
Things to be thankful for: Kids that make you smile.
-----------
Recently finished: Pratchett's Making Money (Jeez, I love that man! Sure, the perfect man for running a bank is an inveterate con man. Seems logical to me. As usual another ROTFLOL volume.]
Currently actually in process (as opposed to allegedly in process): Pratchett's Pyramids (a re-read -- expect no great speed as it's what I'm falling asleep to nightly... on purpose.. not that it's boring) and Simon Green's The Man with the Golden Torc (love this book -- the man has a weird, but everso wonderful mind!)