Helpful votes received on reviews:
93% (134 of 144)
Location: white mtns
In My Own Words:
Some people focus like a laser beam on their career, their interests, their goals; I have been more of a wanderer, taking a lovely stroll with frequent digressions. Math, Engineering, Zoology, History. Eventually I got a graduate degree in library science and found that many other librarians had taken similar paths -- being interested in too many things to pursue one exclusively. I read and re… Read moreSome people focus like a laser beam on their career, their interests, their goals; I have been more of a wanderer, taking a lovely stroll with frequent digressions. Math, Engineering, Zoology, History. Eventually I got a graduate degree in library science and found that many other librarians had taken similar paths -- being interested in too many things to pursue one exclusively.
I read and review adult and children's fiction; political nonfiction; reference works; cookbooks and kitchen items; children's software and toys; pop-up books; films -- primarily foreign, documentary and family dvds, with some science fiction and classics thrown in; and rock and industrial music.
At one time or another, my literary interests have included: Euripides, art, architecture, Tolkien, Sherlock Holmes and the pastiches, Great Britain, cemeteries, politics, Isaac Asimov, historical mysteries, biography, creativity, Warwick Deeping, the history and philosophy of science, Italy, H.G. Wells, gardening, Jane Austen, Alfred Hitchcock, computing, metaphor, Oulipo, cooking, cognitive science and reference books. See what I mean? No focus. I can see my life and my interests reflected in my book collection, and the most fun I could have on a rainy day is to take down a few shelves' worth, peruse them, reorganize them and put them back. I don't think new books smell as good as they used to. On the other hand, I don't have to go everywhere with a long list of books I'm looking for.
What drives me crazy is the terrible packaging on CDs and DVDs, and people who write reviews about items they haven't seen or read yet. What warms my heart is the sense of community at Amazon. It's wonderful to share opinions with everyone, and I wish there were similar public review venues for stores, doctors, restaurants, schools, politicians, etc.
I do vote on reviews and want to thank the many people who've taken the time and effort to write thoughtful, articulate reviews, and whose opinions have helped me make informed decisions about books to read, music to try, and objects to incorporate into my life. Thank you all.
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Reviews
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I bought this compilation for the music -- you'll find tracks from Sum 41, NOFX, Descendents, Anti-Flag, Offspring, even Ministry and Jello Biafra with DOA, among many others -- and I wasn't disappointed. I am ready for Bush & Co. to be out of the White House, and any little thing I can do to help, including listening to great music, I will do :-) What I wasn't expecting was the terrific second disk, which contains music videos by Anti-Flag, NOFX, Bad Religion and Strike Anywhere; a comedy routine by David Cross; some of the MoveOn.org ads speaking out against Bush; and very well-done featurettes about Enron, the 2000 election and the Iraq War. Superb -- grrrr!
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Gus Van Sant has created a wonderful and disturbing film, creatively using long tracking shots that move from character to character and double-back in time, until we gradually view this high school as a fabric of kids and teachers each going about in their isolated but intimately linked day. It takes a little while to figure out who the shooters will be, and even then we don't get much insight into their motives, but from a dispassionate camera that's okay. I found that, even knowing what was coming up, the emotional impact of the carnage was not diminished, and by "carnage" I don't mean that this was gory or sensationalistic - just devastating. Gus Van Sant wrote and… Read more
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wonderful character study, July 8 2004
Sometimes friendships form through common interests, sometimes through circumstance. Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) is a dwarf who works in a train hobbyist shop and associates only with other train enthusiasts; however, when his elderly employer dies and leaves him an abandoned train depot, he travels to the Jersey wilderness to set up a new life, and there he meets people very different from himself -- Olivia, a grieving divorcee; Joe, a loud and nosy hotdog vendor; a curious local librarian; and a young train enthusiast. Not having much in common, nevertheless friendships develop here, and it is fun to watch, as the performances are universally strong and the script is well-written… Read more
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