Other Stories: Despite the fangirling, somehow, it still comes around to books.

I’ve toyed with the idea of putting up another blog where I could write about non-book-related things and occasional personal stuff, but then I remembered that I put up a disclaimer that there will be non-book stuff in this blog because it’s The Girl Who Read and Other Stories after all, and stories are everywhere, not just in books. Besides, it’s just a pain to maintain too many blogs.

So, lest I protest too much, I will just go ahead and write, and…yeah, I’ll probably do this every weekend.

Caution: Fangirl Blogging.

Other Stories: The Curious Case of Origami Batman

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Tom Angleberger’s The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. In fact, in keeping with the Japanese tradition of folding a thousand paper cranes, I’ve challenged myself to fold a thousand Yodas. I hope to finish folding them all by the time George Lucas unleashes Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 3D on the entire galaxy.

In the course of folding the last batch of Yodas that I recently gave away, and just after hearing about Fully Booked’s The Dark Knight Reborn Bloggers’ Challenge to celebrate David Finch’s visit, I thought it would be fun to try folding an Origami Batman. I tweaked the Angleberger Yoda pattern I’ve been using, and eventually came up with something that sort of resembles the Dark Knight.

Okay, maybe you have to squint just a bit to see the resemblance, but I digress. 😛

Once I had that Batman finger puppet, of course, it had to have a story, right? And so further inspired by the structure and premise of Origami Yoda, I give you:

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THE CURIOUS CASE OF ORIGAMI BATMAN
As told by Jim Gordon (Headmaster, *redacted* Academy, Philippines)

Miscellany: A Temptation of Fairy Tale Penguins

 
Forgive the lame attempt to come up with a mash-up title. 😛

500 new fairy tales were recently discovered in Germany by a local scholar who was studying the works of historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810–1886), a contemporary of the Brothers Grimm. That means 500 new stories to scare kids into submission with, and 500 new tales that Disney can cute-ify and make animated musicals with. I mean, c’mon, who can resist this story:

…there is the tale of a maiden who escapes a witch by transforming herself into a pond. The witch then lies on her stomach and drinks all the water, swallowing the young girl, who uses a knife to cut her way out of the witch.

Or this one: The Turnip Princess.

Sounds like a new Disney princess, eh? 😛

Some of the tales were already published last year, but I hope they come up with a more substantial collection and translate the tales in English.

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There are only a few more days until the release of Michelle Zink’s A Temptation of Angels !

 

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world’s past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.

I’ve tried hard to resist reading the excerpts that Michelle has been posting, but I read the first, and that one peek into the story definitely piqued my interest!

I’ve always said that other than Lauren Kate’s Fallen series, I don’t really plan to get into any more of the angel-centric YA books out there, but I am going to make an exception for this one. I loved Michelle’s Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy, and I would like to know what else she’s got up her sleeve for her readers. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s one of the nicest authors around, and that she appreciate her readers so much that it’s definitely worth the effort to give her and her books a lot of support. 🙂

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I didn’t know that Penguin Books has this in their shop!

I want it I want it I want it! 😀

They have other cool items there too, like travel accessories that are “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac-themed. Witty!

Seven! Seven stupid vampires! Ha ah-ah-ah!

 
I’m a little too scatterbrained to post anything coherent today, so let me just post this:

Found by Minami on Tumblr.

Gold.

*runs away at vampire speed to read more The Vampire Diaries spoilers*

p.s. It’s “Niklaus.” Kthxbai.

Miscellany #01: 24 November 2011

 
Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
Anne McCaffrey, a legend in the SF/F community, passed away yesterday. As someone who loves fantasy, I understand what her loss means to the genre and to the people who were inspired and influenced by her works. I must, however, take this as a cue to confess that I have not read any of her books. I know, I know. Feel free to send out your fiercest dragons to hunt me down for this blasphemy (Warning: I wear a Ring of Dragonfire Protection). Or if you don’t have any dragons to send out, maybe you can hit the comments section and send me suggestions for which of her books I should read first instead. ;p

“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” clothing line to be launched
I still haven’t managed to get past the first chapter of the book, but I’m excited to see the movie starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. Trish Summerville, the costume designer for the film, is going to launch a men’s clothing line inspired by Mikael Blomkvist’s outfits in the movie, and a women’s clothing line inspired by Lisbeth Salander’s. This warms my little movie geek’s (and my little closet fashion fan’s) heart.

Speaking of fashion, I love Rooney Mara’s dress on the cover of Vogue. 😀

10 Themes Shared by Science Fiction and Historical Fiction
It explains a lot. 😉 [Link to article]

Also, Keith Thompson is ♥, and here’s proof:

Ronreads Interview: Junot Diaz
My friend Ron was very lucky to have interviewed Pulitzer prize winner Junot Diaz during the Manila International Literary Festival. He seems like such a fun guy to talk to (color me envious, Ron!), and I love that he’s taken the time to get to know the Philippines and the Filipinos. [Link to interview transcript]

Open Call for Submissions: “Horror: Fantastic Filipino Fiction for Young Adults”
Hit the link if you’re interested to submit something. [Link]

#bumperstickersforwriters
A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon this fun Twitter meme, #bumperstickersforwriters. Here are some of the funnier entries:
– “Support our tropes.” @3rdplacepress
– “I’m not lost; I’m procrastinating.” @katelhunter
– “I just killed someone.” @LisaDMartinez
– “Cut me off and I’ll break your fourth wall.” @IrisBlasi
– “It’s not cheating if he’s only an imaginary lover.” @EbonyMcKenna. I suppose this counts for the #bumperstickersforbookworms meme too, if ever one gets started. :p

Notable Children’s Books of 2011
The New York Times released their Notable Children’s Books of 2011 list a few days ago. Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races and Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone are on it! This makes me happy.
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Other Stories:

Salvador Dali + Walt Disney = Destino
I just had to post this link because the short film that Dali and Disney collaborated on is made of pure awesomeness. You can spare 6+ minutes of your time to see it, right? 😉

Star Trek sequel: 17 May 2013
My Star Trek men in IMAX 3D. World, please don’t end in 2012. That is all. [Link to report + JJ Abrams is seriously considering casting Benicio del Toro]

I hate season breaks
The Vampire Diaries is on season break, so I’ve had to resort to re-watching the first 8 episodes of season 3 and some from the tail-end of season 2 (Klaus walks into a bar and confronts Damon and Alaric…) Sometimes news breaks the monotony: lo and behold, Ausiello comes through with a spoiler!

For the record, though, I see all the other characters as “somewhat less evil” than Klaus even if he is actually more complicated than just plain “evil.” So that description from the spoiler doesn’t really tell us much about Finn. The flashback occurring in the 1400’s, though, makes for more interesting Originals Speculation Fodder and also begs the question: is there a curse on the Petrova doppelgangers that has something to do with brothers falling all over or fighting over them? ;p I wonder if the writers will spin an Elijah vs. Finn angle on this one.

Enough rambling. It’s time to post a gratuitous photo of Klaus. Just because.

Please note that the caption should be read with Klaus' American accent from S03E01. :p | Image Source: The TVD Facebook App

Now, I’m gonna go open my media player and listen to some Coldplay while I work. 😉
 

LUCID

My friend Karen Kunawicz was lucky enough to have attended the 2011 San Diego Comic Con. I asked her if she can pass by the Archaia Comics booth to pick up a copy of Michael McMillian’s LUCID for me when she has the time.