Seriously. There is a good chance that many a thing will soon change in the Etsy world of Vicentine Design, and it all started a number of weeks ago, when in a flurry of activity and confusion, I ordered the wrong size of envelopes for not one, but two clients. Oops.

No matter, though. I  placed the order, received the order, and then realised my error. It’s not like I was sitting in a cafe over coffee with my happily engaged couple only to realise, “Oh, look! Your invitations are too big for your envelopes! That’s peculiar!”

That would make a happily engaged couple very unhappily engaged rather quickly, I bet.

During this envelope sizing mishap, I was emailing back and forth with one of the local printers I work with to graphically enhance the backs of my envelopes. Turns out, they didn’t have the size I needed on hand (big pain!) and they were looking to me to supply them with the specific size in question.

Needless to say, once the appropriate envelopes arrived on my door step, I sat in my office, humming and hawing over whether or not I should deliver the envelopes to the print shop or give printing the envelopes at home a whirl. We have an incredibly decent and powerful printer, but I had always been wary of navigating the envelope printing world.

That is… I was wary until I finally said “Forget this outsourcing business,” set everything up and hit the ever dangerous print button.

What happened? Nothing! The envelopes printed perfectly and I was thrilled, for I not only saved myself some cash, but I was staring at the very real possibility of printing my own envelopes in house.

Invitations are still an entirely different ball game, and that will never ever go in-house, unless I invest in all of the fancy, expensive things like an even better printing, an incredible multi-sheet paper cutter and trimmer, perforating tool, etc etc etc.

The quantity thing is what’s scary, of course. I miss the days when this was my full time preoccupation. Things would be so much easier then.

Envelope adventures aside, as I was previewing my Etsy shop stats sometime in February, I realised that I rather suddenly had a lot of traffic coming from a website called Discover Paper. I followed the links and sure enough, stumbled upon a post featuring my mustache notepads. I was tickled pink. Absolutely.

It took me a few weeks, but I managed to throw the feature up on my Features page for permanent safe keeping. In the meantime, go ahead and check out the post at Discover Paper. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.

Shameful. Totally shameful.

I didn’t know a whole lot about The Curious when I finally got around to picking it up. It was one of those books that I had always looked at (when, you know, it was still really popular and on the “books to read” shelves in the book store), but never really looked into. I could only recall hearing great things about it and since it seemed so highly recommended, threw it onto my must read one day list.

Enter the ever wonderful university book sale and bam, the book finally finds itself on my bookshelves.

After finishing up The Future of Us, I decided I wanted to venture back into the realm of adult fiction, rather than diving headfirst into yet another YA book. I picked out The Curious as my next book, not realising, somehow, that it was written from the perspective of Christopher, an autistic 15 year old boy, and so, wasn’t venturing very far away from the easy read young adult novels.

It was a neat perspective to read, however, and yet, it was also a perspective that made me feel guilty at times for feeling frustrated with Christopher’s choices, actions and decisions.

It was, also, the first book that compelled me to dog ear a page and highlight a passage. I haven’t done this in a book since, oh, 2009? As much as I may have enjoyed the novels I’ve been reading, they just haven’t been moving me enough to want to highlight them.

Then again, I’m mostly big on noting observances or statements about life, who we are, and how we deal. That kind of thing hasn’t been in most of the books I’ve been reading.

Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them. (p.12)

It was nice returning to a book that was real. Rather than reading about magic, time travel, super powers, werewolves or alternate realities, I read about “real life,” so to speak. Every once in a while, that’s a nice change. Keeps things fresh.

Christopher’s character really helped draw the story telling down many paths, which is something that I’ve always enjoyed in books. I like when characters have tangents and discuss ideas or theories they have, rather than simply narrating a sequence of events. I like seeing their personality. I like seeing the way their brains work. I like diving into concepts about things, no matter how abstract. Christopher was just enough random and just enough structure to make it work.

I’m not really surprised that it won awards.

I’m surprised that it took me so long to get to it.

People believe in God because the world is very complicated and they think it is very unlikely that anything as complicated as a flying squirrel or a the human eye or a brain could happen by chance. But they should think logically and if they thought logically they would see that they can only ask this question because it has already happened and they exist. And there are billions of planets where there is no life, but there is no one on those planets with brains to notice. And it is like if everyone in the world was tossing coins eventually someone would get 5,698 heads in a row and they would think they were very special. But they wouldn’t be because there would be millions of people who didn’t get 5,698 heads.

[...]

And people who believe in God think God has put human beings on the earth because they think human beings are the best animal, but human beings are just an animal and they will evolve into another animal, and that animal will be cleverer and it will put human beings into a zoo, like we put chimpanzees and gorillas into a zoo. Or human beings will all catch a disease and die out or they will make too much pollution and kill themselves, and then there will only be insects in the world and they will be the best animal. (p.164-165)

Then, I hit a brick wall.

I stopped reading entirely.

I ran into one of those books that is making it next to impossible to finish my dinner, choking down each bite.

That’s a whole other story, for an entirely different blog post, but, let me say that this rut I’m in is awfully disappointing because the book I’m currently stuck on was one that I was incredibly excited to read for months and months and months.

Having said all that, let’s retrace our steps and go back to that wonderful week in January where I read Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler’s recent novel, The Future of Us.

I first discovered Asher via Thirteen Reasons Why a few years ago. How I came across that book, I still can’t remember. It was most likely online somewhere or within a publishing magazine that I first saw it publicized. When I went to actually buy the book, however, I discovered that this new book was out of print, for one reason or another.

A few months later, on a shopping trip to the US with a friend, we walked into the now defunct Borders, and I immediately beelined for the clearance racks. What did I find there? Thirteen Reasons Why, just waiting for me. Whatever happened with the publishing and distribution of these, I’ll never know, but I got my hot, little hands on a copy while it was still technically listed as temporarily “out of print.”

I raced through that book. As much as it slightly disappointed me in one or two tiny areas, it was a book you could easily fall into, always wanting to know more about each person’s connection to the untimely suicide of the “main” character.

Then, when I found out that Asher was releasing another book (finally!) I was instantly pumped. Like John Green, Asher felt like one of those YA male writers who would pump out a book that I had no ability to hate, despite any quirks or plot pitfalls.

So far, that’s ringing true.

The basic concept behind The Future Of Us intrigued me. As much as I hate when books date themselves too much – in this case, the book is entirely about Facebook – it’s a book perfectly suited for the present and sure, may never become a classic, but is definitely a great here and now kind of story.

The idea of what you do in the present affecting your future, however, is a classic concept, and so, I was interested to read Asher and Mackler’s rendition of that concept with modern day ideas.

Sure, some of it felt silly reading, but I’m not going to say that’s because the book is YA or plainly not good. I think I was having a personality conflict with Emma that was getting in the way of me feeling any sort of sympathy for her. I’m a firm believer in that internet cliche of, face your problems, don’t Facebook them, and so, I was having a hard time with Emma’s future self posting so many personal, intimate details as status updates.

At some points throughout the book, I caught myself rolling my eyes and feeling genuinely irked by Emma’s inability to keep her mouth shut and/or to deal with the problems in her lives rather than simply posting about them on a social networking site. Maybe it’s because I don’t associate with people who publicly air their dirty laundry or because I just don’t see the point to it myself, but I was having a hard time believing that someone would so blatantly post about their husband being MIA, not coming home one night, or any other similarly themed statement.

(I know that people do actually post stuff like this out there. I don’t understand it. I don’t think I ever will.)

That was, however, my biggest beef with the novel, for what it was.

I got sucked into it, and regardless of my beef with Emma, wanted to see what the changes in her present made to her future. I wanted, much like her, to see if her decisions today made tomorrow better or worse. After all, I think that’s probably something we all think about in one way or another at some point in time, whether it be obsessively or rarely.

Who wouldn’t wonder what laying in bed on a windy, cold Saturday afternoon could do to your future that going out into the wind couldn’t?

I mean, I could go outside and get whacked in the head by a falling tree. That’s certainly not the type of near future I want. Then again, staying indoors and laying around in bed could result in the cat laying on my face and suffocating me. That’s also not a near future experience I’d like to have.

Decisions. Decisions.

Back in January, I received an Etsy message from a Go4Pro marketing gal, informing me of the site’s monthly prize pack contest on their blog. They had stumbled upon my mustache notepads and were hoping to feature them in their upcoming March giveaway.

Not going to lie, I was pretty stoked about the opportunity. It seems like, every now and again, some pretty neat things happen over on Etsy when you’re least expecting it. This was definitely one of those moments.

And, sure, it’s not like I was handpicked by someone over at Martha Stewart Weddings for a feature, or acknowledged by any of the other big wig stationery sites/magazines/bloggers, but hey, it’s the little things that count, and beggars can’t be choosers. These days, I’m thankful for what I get, seeing that my time to focus and pour my entire self into the stationery end of life is rather limited. Ho hum.

Go ahead and check out this month’s giveaway on the Go4Pro blog for yourself. There are some pretty nifty items this month that you just may want to try to get your hands on.

Sorta.

Kinda.

I still go mental every now and again because I forget to do something or my because my task lists feel like they’re a mile long.

Regardless of all that, I’m pretty much working from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. That’s also a lie. I definitely take a break to eat an awesome supper while watching an awesome show with awesome husband. D’awww.

I’m gross. So what?

Since it’s Etsy Tuesday for just two more hours, I thought I’d take a stroll down 2012′s very short memory lane and showcase some of the invitations I’ve been working on. The mustache and lip invitations have proven to be an incredible seller, as have the concert ticket styled invites. To my surprise and pleasure, the silhouette save the date cards were finally picked up by a cute couple in the UK and I can’t wait to get to work on their invitations.

See? Adorable. I really wish more people would hop on this bandwagon. I love the style of the silhouettes on a simple, almost 1950s background.

While working on Kevin and Nicole’s invitation, I had moments of hesitation and frustration. I wasn’t happy with it and no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to force happiness upon myself.

Then, the printed piece came in and as I held it, I thought to myself, “Nope, I’m still not a fan. What was I thinking when I created this invitation?”

Now that I’m four variations in with this style, Kevin and Nicole’s may be my favourite. The blue tones with a hint of yellow turned out to be one of my favourite colour combinations. Now, the yellow was supposed to be gold, but Nicole opted to forgo the extra fee for a metallic ink. I don’t think going yellow has tarnished the feel at all. Heck, gold may have even been too much, in the end.

Marci is a sweetheart. I have been helping her with everything from save the date announcements to table number cards to place cards and favour stickers. She’s quick to respond and an absolute doll to brainstorm with. I’ve spent so much time bouncing ideas off of her and showing her samples, and I don’t even care. She’s one of those customers you want to help as much as you can.

Soon, we’ll embark on the invitation adventure, and I can’t wait to see the results. Her colour scheme on the mustache and lip invitation has been my absolute favourite so far.

Steph and Geoff were my first couple to request something other than my standard silk stock. For them, I ventured into linen territory and ultimately, I was rather pleased. In fact, I’m beginning to think that I may to start offering linen as an available option in my listings. The texture adds a neat element to the feel (Hah! Feel!) of the invitations, making them a little more traditional rather than something that’s a little bit more in the ways of an artistic print.

I guess?

Gary and Victoria were my first couple European couple to place a very large order. My heart broke when tracked shipping came up at just over $80. I understand that I’m paying for someone to take my package and fly it overseas for me, but wow, $80. I knew international shipping was expensive, and I suppose I should have known to expect something like this, but I still managed to hold out hope that Canada Post would surprise me in some wonderful fashion.

No such luck.

No such luck at all.

On the bright side, she was lovely about it and LOVED them when they arrived:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I absolutely love my invitations!!!! They are exactly what I was expecting. I can’t wait to send them out!!! You have been wonderful !!!!

I have been so lucky with my Etsy brides. They have been so lovely and sweet. There have been the rare instances of bridezillas, but they tend to be so zilla that they opt to work with someone more traditional. My gals have been nothing short of the best. At the end of the day when I’m exhausted after a day of work, followed by a night of work, their excitement and appreciation makes this all totally worth it.

/end sappy moment

But then, I started getting a little bored.

Why?

Despite the bread being tasty, it still wasn’t tasty. The making bread at home thing never lasted long enough to see a recipe perfected. That, and, once I started using a bread maker at home myself, I wasn’t the biggest fan of how big the loaves were. Each slice of bread was as big as my head and that, I definitely was not feeling. I like big sandwiches as much as the next guy, but that was just too awkard.

Recently, I began to hum and haw over the whole yeast business of bread making. I began wondering if it really was that much of a bother to bake things that required having to wait for yeast to activate and rise in dark, warm areas. I had attempted a recipe for french bread, utilizing the bread maker to make my dough and the loaves just didn’t turn out the way I had hoped and/or was promised in the recipe. Never mind that the recipe called for kneading the dough by hand and all of that fun business. I decided to forgo that part and attempt bread maker experiment number one. Clearly, the bread maker failed.

I then experimented with multiple batches of cinnamon buns and had a go with a couple of loaves of french bread. My experiments resulted in delicious samplings of sweet, sweet heaven wrapped in cinnamon and french loaves that were so quick and easy, all I need to do now is finesse my method enough to never have to worry about buying store baked bread again.

Seriously.

Fingers crossed.

Up for a yeasty experiment of your own? Give this 30 (give or take) minute french bread recipe a shot. It’ll help you to feel as though you accomplished something in your day.

Quick & Easy Baguette
from Babble’s The Family Kitchen

• 2 cups very warm water
• 1 packet yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 cups flour

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, as you whisk together the warm water, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Allow your yeast to activate for 10 minutes. If your oven emits heat, leave the bowl sitting on top of the stove. If your oven is like mine and feels frigid along its exterior (thumbs up insulation!), just make sure you don’t do something silly like put your yeast in the fridge where you’ll successfully kill millions and millions of little yeast men and women.

After ten minutes, stir in the salt and add flour one half-cup at a time. Add flour until the dough becomes soft but not sticky, followed by kneading the dough until it’s elastic.

Cut the dough into four even pieces and roll each piece into a long, thin rope.  Twist together two ropes to form one loaf and transfer both loaves onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

You can either bake the loaf right away if you’re in a hurry or allow it to rise for an additional 15-30 minutes. The original recipe tells you to allow the loaf to continue rising on top of your warm oven. Frankly, I knew I was going to allow my dough to rise the 30 minutes ahead of time, and so, never preheated my oven to 425 at all. Instead, I preheated my oven to about 200 and then shut it off, somewhere in the dough kneading process. I use the remaining heat in the oven to help my loaves rise during this time. It’s the only way I can do it around here, since my oven doesn’t warm the whole stove top and we keep our home relatively cool – cool enough to prevent a good rise out of our dough.

When you’re ready, put the loaves in your 425 degree oven. To prevent the loaves from drying out during the baking process, cover a cookie sheet with ice and place it on the rack below your loaves. Shut the oven door and do not open it again until you’re pulling the loaves out of the oven – approximately 15-18 minutes later or until they’re golden brown.

I over did with mine, accidentally. I put the loaves in the oven and went upstairs to play video games (it was for my YouTube channel! Not mindless pleasure!) and left the loaves baking for 20 minutes. Oops.

They were still really soft and tasted great. They were just a lot more golden than they were supposed to be.

Then again, we could say that their being more golden only made them that much more valuable.

Am I right? Am I right?

Okay. Lame joke. Whatever.

Then, I spotted the black and white cover of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The vintage photograph image of the creepy, little girl peaked my interest, because, seriously, how can old, creepy photos NOT peak your interest, right?

I picked up the novel and started flipping through it. The old photographs sprinkled throughout the book pretty much sealed the deal for me right there, despite not having a single clue what the book was about. I don’t know what it is about me and those photographs, but, it seems that you can sell me on anything if you throw them in. It’s like an extra interest bonus or something.

Hey Vic, want to rob a bank? I’ll give you these really neat creepy, old photographs. SOLD.

Hey Vic, want to burn all of your clothes? I’ll give you these really old, creepy photographs. SOLD.

It’s like the icing on the cake, guys! ICING ON THE CAKE.

Anyway, I digress.

I picked a random spot in the book and started reading a little snippit in order to get a feel for the writer’s style. I do this with every single book. It may only be a paragraph, or it may be a full page, but I always read a small, random section of each book to see how I feel about the style it’s been written in. I can no longer remember where I picked this habit up from. All I can remember is that I recall reading the suggestion to do so somewhere, a long time ago.

The style seemed good, the photos were spot on, and I loved the fact that the book had colour throughout. I’m always intrigued by books that have a print style slightly different from the norm. Miss Peregrine’s has a neat maroon filigree along the bottom of each page, as well as patterned chapter pages which add to the whole feel of the book, as silly as that may be.

I fell right into the story rather easily. It’s written smoothly and carries you along like a perfect wave from start to finish. It does feel jumpy, though, I suppose, at the beginning where the pace is quicker, moving almost… too fast? I understand that this is what gets the ball rolling, but it felt really quick and didn’t overly develop the one relationship between the main character and his grandfather.

The further I got into it, the more it reminded me of X-Men. The fact that the novel revolves around a group of gifted children isolated in a secluded historical home with a headmistress who cares for and helps them to develop and hone their talents is very similar indeed. Sure, that may be where the comparison’s end, but the premise is there.

Even though I found the book enjoyable and devoured it in only a couple of days, I found myself frustrated with the ending. Why? This book is obviously the first in what will one day be a series. I was blindsided, and I didn’t like it. I had no idea this was going to be s story involving more than one book, and so, expected a novel that would tie up its loose ends and complete properly. Instead, I closed it up, having one small plot point resolved, and a much larger, more vague adventure on the horizon… THAT I CAN’T EVEN READ ABOUT UNTIL WHO KNOWS WHEN!

I’m the type who delays reading a (popular) series until it’s a bit more developed as I prefer reading as much of the story as possible in one go. Injecting gaps between books only requires you to read the preceding novel before the newest, which, let’s face it, never happens. Then, I find myself confused in the newest book’s plot unless the author does a decent job of recapping what’s happened before, which, at the same time, can become irritating, I suppose, if you’re reading through them all at once.

So hard to please, I am.

Miss Peregrine was good. Heck, I may even say it was great. It had all the elements of interesting and fun with just the slightest bit of suspense and a dose of intrigue. It also had just the right amount of creep factor for others like me who just can’t handle books and movies that are too heavy on the creep.

Seriously.

Don’t read this novel late at night when the house is dark and quiet and you’re right at the point of the novel where they’re discussing Wights and you have to look at the accompanying photos and then decide, “Do I venture out of the bedroom, into the dark house, to use the washroom? Or do I stay here safe and warm?”

Getting up to go to the bathroom was the hardest thing I did that night.

Silly Miss Peregrine.
Silly Wights.

Silly Vic.

As a result, I began experimenting.

There is a good chance I started safely with spaghetti squash. I prepared it as an alternative to standard wheat pasta with some nom-tacular pasta sauce. I was skeptical, but after giving it a taste, you’d never know that the “noodles” were vegetables rather than delicious strings of boiled dough.

Having a successful first go at it, I tried acorn squash. At least, I think it was acorn. It may have been something else. Either way, the second attempt was awful and I nixed that cute looking green squash off my list.

Then, I came around to butternut. I was a little timid after my experience with the acorn, afraid that the flesh of the butternut would taste equally bitter. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.

Ever since, butternut squash has been a regular fall and winter guest in my kitchen. In fact, butternut and zucchini are the only squashes to grace my kitchen at all. I haven’t revisited spaghetti squash since those early experimentation days, no matter how often I think about picking one up. It’s a shame, really. I need to be a little more proactive about that one.

I’ve been preparing butternut squash soup for maybe three or four years now. It’s undergone minor alterations over time and by now, there is no real outlined recipe anymore. I make it by eye and by taste, which is really great when you’re attempting to tell others how to make it themselves. Seriously. A number of gals asked me for my recipe a year or so ago and you should have seen the copy I put together for them. I’m fairly certain the whole thing was, “uh, some of this, some of that… just eyeball the amount of this.”

I’m afraid to tell you that this is probably going to be no better. I assure you, however, that it does taste really stinkin’ good.

Butternut squash… away!

HEARTY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP (STEW)

• 1 medium sweet onion
• 3 medium carrots
• 4-5 potatoes
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 1 medium-ish butternut squash
• salt & pepper to taste
• curry, if you’re feeling exotic
• cayenne, if you’re feeling spicy
• chicken / beef / vegetable broth (whatever tickles your fancy)
• ground meat (optional)

I’ll start off, right away, by saying that the meat in this recipe is 100% optional. This is, traditionally, a meatless soup, but, since I can’t leave well enough alone and much more prefer my soups to be stews, with chunks of vegetables and meat in them, I’ve since started adding proteins. Also, this helps make the dish rather filling and a bowl of this stuff can leave you feeling … well … pretty stuffed yourself.

The makings of this soup are pretty basic. Chop up your celery, carrot, potato, butternut squash (not shown here) and onions and toss them around in some olive oil, salt and pepper, over medium-high heat. This allows your veggies to fry up a little prior to adding the broth, which adds a nice flavour.

Give the veggies about, oh, 5-10 minutes of fry time before adding broth. I think the recipe I originally adapted this from called for 5 minutes, or until the veggies were brown. I have never let my vegetables brown. Maybe the onion, but that’s about it.

I typically start all of the vegetables cooking, just as I’m starting to peel and chop up the squash.

I make LARGE quantities of this at a time, and so, I prefer to allow those veggies the time to fry before adding in the squash.

The quantities of vegetables listed above is based on my recent batch, which very clearly made a full pot of soup. Decrease quantities to make less, and use this rule of thumb in terms of ratio:

Most: Squash
Second most: Potato
Some: Carrots, Onion
Least: Celery

Once everything is warmed/browned to your liking, add just enough broth to cover the vegetables. If you add too much broth your soup will turn out rather watery. The idea here is to have a nice thick, creamy soup, and so, the amount of broth you add is key.

Allow everything to simmer on low heat for about 30-40 minutes, or until the squash is soft. Using an immersion blender, blend all of the veggies down, until you get a nice, creamy texture.

If you don’t have an immersion blender, a regular blender is fine, but holy smokes, be careful. I have splattered butternut squash all over my walls far too many times using a regular blender.

Leave LOTS of air space in the blender, as the heat from the soup will create a vacuum that will only explode once you start blending. You have to move pretty quick with the regular blender. Don’t leave the soup sitting in the  jar covered with the lid for too long before blending or you’re asking for trouble.

Now, as I’ve mentioned, I prefer soups that are more stew-like in nature, and so, as the soup simmers, in a separate pot, I chop up and boil an extra couple of potatoes and a carrot or two.

Then, once the soup is blended down, I add the potatoes and carrots from the separate pot, as well as the meat that I’ve prepared ahead of time, to create a thick, creamy soup base, with chunks of vegetables and meat to complete the wonder that is a steaming, hot bowl of amazing.

Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Add curry if you want to change up the flavour. Add cayenne if you want a spicier butternut squash soup.

Most importantly, enjoy.

And don’t get any on your walls.

Anyway. Boom. It was added.

Then, a friend of mine went to see it. I only know this because she posted it on Facebook, but according to that status update of hers, it was dreadfully depressing and yet, also amazing.

Flash forward a few months to the Trinity College book sale where I stumbled upon a book entitled, Never Let Me Go. I picked it up, read the synopsis and thought to myself, “It’s a book! The movie is based on a book!”

Yes. I am ashamed to admit that I had no idea the movie was based on a novel. Heck. The movie was based on a novel that was deemed to be the best novel of 2005. It was based on a Man Booker Prize short listed novel. It was based on a novel with so much buzz that I just couldn’t hear it!

So. Yeah. You can imagine that my plans to watch the movie were immediately pushed back in favour of reading the book first. I am not a movie before book kind of gal.

Then, I started reading it, and, of all things, I was… bored.

It was a really odd combination of feelings I had towards the novel at first. I was intrigued because Ishiguro doesn’t give away the premise right away. The story is built up slowly, with pieces being revealed to you, bit by bit. As a result, I was somewhat hooked, and yet, not hooked enough to devour the words any faster than a few pages a day.

That is, I wasn’t hooked enough to read it quickly through, oh, say, the first half of the book. Then, something clicked, and I raced through the last half five times faster than the first. However, I think that may have happened because by the middle of the novel, you’re aware of what the characters are and what their sole purpose is in life. It may be around the middle of the book that you start to connect and feel for the characters, wrapping yourself around them like a warm, cozy, “there, there, it’s going to be okay,” kind of blanket.

Except it won’t be okay.

It won’t be okay at all.

As soon as I finished the book, I sat down to watch the movie. Well, it wasn’t immediate. It’s not like I finished reading the last page and right away dived into the movie. There were a few days in between, but I figured sitting down to watch the movie right after completing the book was a good move if I wanted an accurate comparison of the two versions.

It should be made clear that I hardly ever, ever, ever see a movie about a book so soon after completing the book. It always ends up being one of those situations where I read a novel and then months or years later, someone decides to make a movie version and I never bother re-reading the book before seeing the film. I find this strategy tends to lead to less anger and frustrations.

And oh boy, was I was angry and frustrated watching the film adaptation. The details just weren’t there. So much of the character development, individually and as a threesome, was lost. Things happened unlike they did in the book. I had to bite my tongue numerous times to keep from saying, “But that’s not how it happened!”

In the end, I didn’t particularly find either the book or the movie all that sad and depressing. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m cold and callous or because, ultimately, I didn’t connect enough with Ruth, Tommy and Kathy, but I wasn’t left feeling much emotion at all. I found myself feeling pretty indifferent as I read the final few pages, which, I suppose, is kind of how Kathy ends up feeling by the end herself. Sure, there’s a sadness to the lives they lead, but there’s also a level of acceptance about the whole thing. You live the cards you’re dealt. You do with them what you can.

It was an interesting read and not blatantly science fiction, not that that would have been a problem. It is a nice change, however, for those who aren’t typically fond of the genre. It’s much like a soft introduction to the idea without being too overwhelming about it. The book is more or less about the characters, focusing heavily on their lives and emotions, rather than the sci fi elements of their being.

Otherwise, it may start slow, if the pace of the novel isn’t what you’re used to, but by the end, it’s worth it. Every word.

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are already here. In January, it always feels like December is ages and ages away, and, well, I suppose it is at that point, but before you know it, March has come and gone, summer has vanished and you’re looking at your Christmas tree again.

What a blur the last year has been. In all of its blurry goodness, it’s certainly been a whirlwind of really great proportions with lots and lots of learning opportunities.

Now, we can dive into 2012 and enjoy the last year of our lives … if you’re into that sort of thing. I guess.

On the topic of holidays, for your Christmas enjoyment, here are some shots taken during a Christmas photo shoot I did with a couple of friends. I was asked to shoot “cheesy” photos and I’m sure that by some point in the afternoon, there was regret hanging in the air over having asked for cheesy/tacky holiday photos. I took cheesy and awkward to some oddball places, and loved every second of it.

All in all, though, it produced some really great shots for these guys, and I hope they’re just as happy with their photos as I was with them. This was definitely one of those photo shoots where I was nervous throughout the whole thing, assuming nothing was turning out the way I wanted, only to get home and realise I was being foolish.

Tacky, cheesy photo success.

Happy holidays!