1. 13 things I want for Xmas
2. 13 of my favorite Xmas songs
3. 13 of my favorite Xmas movies
4. 13 things to do on Xmas
5. 13 things NOT to do on Xmas
6. 13 things for people who don't celebrate Xmas to do
7. 13 most memorable Xmas
8. 13 funny Xmas stories
9. 13 ways to celebrate a tropical Xmas
10. 13 ways I want to celebrate a white Xmas in Canada next year
11. Presents I got my dad for his last 13 birthdays (on Xmas)
12. 13 significant things that happened this year
13. 13 things to look forward to in the new year
    

Somehow I seem to have a lot of closer friends who are born in December than any other month! (Or maybe it just seems that way because there are so many presents to buy in December! Yikes!) So anyway, here are 13 December Birthdays!

Dec 2: Rob, a very close friend of mine who I’ve never met IRL!

Dec 4: Seng, an old and dear friend

Dec 4: Samantha, an old friend I’d lost touch with but have recently found again!

Dec 7: Eddy, a very talented musician friend

Dec 9: Lone, my dearest husband

Dec 13: Jason, one of my bestest friends ever!

Dec 15: Sanjiv, a student of Lone’s

Dec 20: Riri, one of the sweetest friends we have who’d recently gotten married

Dec 20: Sandra, Rob’s wife, whom I’ve also never met IRL but feel like I know so well!

Dec 21: Ceaser, the guy who helped bring Lone and I together

Dec 24: Tati, the wife of one of Lone’s bestest friends

Dec 25: My father! Born on Christmas!

Dec 29: Teody, a musician friend who taught us some very valuable music-related stuff.

Are you a December baby too?

Dear Enemy by Jean Webster

Dear Enemy is the sequel to Jean Webster’s more popular book, Daddy-Long-Legs. Daddy-Long-Legs is one of my most favorite books, and if you’ve read Daddy-Long-Legs and loved it, you’ll love this book too.

Daddy-Long-Legs featured Judy Abbott, an orphan from the John Grier Home, who was sponsored by a very rich and generous alumni, to go to college. The whole of the book then consists of letters that Judy writes to her anonymous benefactor about her life and her friends in college.

Among her closest friends is Sally McBride, who is the protagonist of Dear Enemy. Sally is asked to be the director of the John Grier Home after Judy’s husband bought it over, and this book tells the story of how Sally takes over the running of the orphanage, falls in love with the kids, and falls in love, all in letters that Sally writes to various people.

There is a certain charm to the way Jean Webster tells her stories, and although some people don’t like epistolary novels, I think these two books are among the good ones. Some epistolary novels are hard to read because of the way they’re written, but both Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy are written in short and witty chapters, with illustrations to boot!

Daddy-Long-Legs has long been a favorite since I was a little girl, and now I’ve added Dear Enemy to my exclusive list of favorite books as well.

The Music Lesson by Victor L. Wooten

If music was a religion, and some people would say it is, *this* book would be its bible!

I have never heard of Victor L. Wooten, and it was my husband, who is a musician, who bought this book.

Initially, I thought that it was some kind of autobiography of how Wooten grew spiritually as a musician, and I wasn’t really very interested in reading another musician’s autobiography, especially since I haven’t even heard of this particular musician.

Well, thing is, this book isn’t really an autobiography, or maybe it is, but you find yourself really wondering how true it is. It’s believable, yet so incredible that it you have to wonder at it. There’s so much in this book, about music and how to live your life fully and completely, and the more I read, the more I wonder, how could anyone live without music?!

The phrase “no music, no life” is true as far as I’m concerned, and I believe anyone, not just musicians, who love music should read this book. It is beautifully written, but I lack the skill to express how beautiful it is. There’s a lot to the book, I can’t describe it, I can only urge everyone I know to read it and live a richer and more musical life!

I have a lot of interests and hobbies, because I think there are a lot of fun things to do out there. I may not do them all at once, but all these 13 has been a hobby or an interest at one time or another.

1. Reading and collecting books!!
2. Singing and writing music
3. Crochet and knitting
4. Writing snail-mail letters to penpals
5. Cooking
6. Fishing
7. Palm reading
8. Tarot reading
9. Sketching and painting
10. Watching TV shows and reality TV
11. Learning Chinese
12. Looking for fairies in the garden
13. Making hand-made cards

The Book Depository is offering more than 11,000 free ebooks for a limited time! I’ve been downloading like crazy the last couple of days!!

Here are 13 (out of like a thousand!) of the books I downloaded:

	Dear Enemy by Jean Webster This is the sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, one of my favorite books in the world! I’ve been looking for this book a long time, and I found it free! How cool is that! They also have Daddy-Long-Legs if you want to download it.
	Edmund Dantes by Edmund Flagg A sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo which I didn’t know existed! I love the Count of Monte Cristo, and I’m thrilled to find this! The Count of Monte Cristo is also available for download.
	The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas I loved the movie, I fell in love with the Musketeers, but I’ve never read the book. Maybe I’ll love it even more! =)
	The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan This is one of those books that you always hear about and kinda know what it’s about, but never actually read. Now I finally got me a copy and I’m going to see what the fuss is about.
	Fanny Hill by John Cleland Banned book, never seen a single copy of it anywhere, heard so much about it, finally found a free copy! ‘Nuff said! =)
	Five Children and It I’d never heard of it until the movie came out. Haven’t watched the movie, but found the book and got curious.
	Les Miserables by Victor Hugo I got a copy years and years and years ago, from a very generous bookcrosser while I was in Melbourne. Unfortunately, I lost the book coming back from there, and haven’t been able to replace it until now!
	Paradise Lost by John Milton A book that everyone seems to know about and talk about, but I’d never read it. It doesn’t seem easy to read either, but I’m curious!
	Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin I vaguely remember hearing this title somewhere, but the author’s name isn’t familiar and I don’t know what the book’s about.
	The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang And also the Red, Green, Yellow, Crimson, Brown, etc. Fairy Books!!!! These books were featured in a blog I visited a while ago, but I never thought that I’d actually be able to get my hands on them. Now I have! =)
	The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope I don’t know what it’s about, and to be honest, I was never interested, but finding free books is one of the best ways to open yourself to books that you’d normally not read!
	Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche Again, not a book I’d normally be interested in, but I’d heard about it and thought I’d try it. Since there are free books galore!! =)
	Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe A classic I’ve been wanting to read a long time. I still don’t know what it’s about, but so many great reviews can’t be wrong!

And these are just 13 of them! I’ve got lots more, and there are lots more free ebooks waiting at The Book Depository! Go download like crazy now! ;-)

1. The first concert I ever remember going to was Debbie Gibson’s Electric Youth tour. I was really, really, really, young.
2. I hate the smell of smoke from cigarettes and cigars, but funnily enough, I love the smell of tobacco.
3. My favorite perfume/cologne is Polo Sport for men. I get a little high if I smell it on a man. =)
4. One of my favorite memories as a child is of my mum making pancakes for us in the mornings. I loved those pancakes…
5. I’ve never understood why people would be afraid of the dentist. I’ve never been afraid of going to the dentist in my whole life. Everything I’ve gotten done has always been relatively pain-free.
6. I had my first “boyfriend” when I was 10 years old. He was my best friend, and we had crushes on each other. It was really sweet, but then we parted on bad terms, immature kids that we were, and I still miss him now.
7. My first ever performance in public was when I was 4 years old. I sang a children’s song on stage at my father’s restaurant at the time, and got the whole crowd clapping and singing along with me. If only it was as easy now. =P
8. I don’t like long fingernails because they get in the way, but I’m too lazy to trim them every week, so they end up looking untidy. Once, I went for a manicure just because I was too lazy to cut my nails myself for an interview the next day.
9. I love eating fries dipped in ice cream. Some of my friends think it’s gross, I have no idea why!
10. I love going outside after a heavy rainstorm and smelling the fresh air and looking at the beautiful sky. It makes me smile because it reminds me that the best things in life are free.
11. I’m Chinese, but I can’t hold chopsticks the right way. =P
12. Oh yeah, I can’t really speak and read Chinese either, though I’m learning. Really slow.
13. I kinda like doing TTs about random stuff about me. Shows you how narcissistic I really am. =D

The Mist by Stephen King

Another Stephen King novel this year! =) I got interested in this book because I read on a website somewhere about best and most unexpected movie endings and the movie for based on this book was listed as one of them.

So anyway, it made me really curious to watch the movie, but I wanted to read the book first.

Luckily enough, I found the book in a sale not long after visiting that particular website (which address I forgot).

As with most Stephen King books, it was thrilling and scary, never really knowing what was in the mist. The buildup of the book was incredible and I read anxiously to find out what would happen next.

I anticipated the ending, but I realized also that the movie and the book isn’t always identical, and it wasn’t. The book didn’t end the way the movie did (the website gave spoilers, so I knew what would happen), and in fact, ended by not ending, something I noticed with a few of King’s earlier books.

But it was a great read anyway. Not my favorite from King, but great nonetheless. I watched the movie after I finished the book, and while I prefer the book to the movie, I loved the movie’s ending a whole lot more!

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

This sounded like a promising book. A Jane Austen addict, Courtney Stone, falls asleep reading Pride and Prejudice, and when she wakes up the next morning, finds herself living in Regency England.

She’s in some other woman’s body, living some other woman’s life, and she doesn’t know when or how she’ll ever get back to her own time, or if she’d even want to.

I was intrigued by the storyline and I had high hopes for the book, but while it was quite entertaining, it wasn’t really all that well-written.

Courtney Stone is supposedly a Jane Austen addict, and as such, she would know the acceptable “modes of conduct” for a lady in Regency England, yet she says things like, “We haven’t even slept together yet” when Mr. Edgeworth asks her to marry him, and is surprised with his shocked response. I’d understand if she was going for the shock factor since she knows it’s not acceptable in that era, but it’s just stupid when she doesn’t get things that she should.

That being said, it doesn’t make me hate the book, just exasperated with it. I did feel that the ending was incomplete though, because we never really find out what happens to Courtney Stone.

It was definitely an interesting and fun read, and the journey was quite exciting. It’s only that I’m not sure the destination is worth it.

When I say 13 books that are helping me through NaNoWriMo, it doesn’t mean that I’m reading them all at once! If I was, I probably wouldn’t have the time to write at all!

What I mean is that I sometimes glance through these books when I need some inspiration, or I read or re-read passages, or only specific chapters. Sometimes, I just look at these books on my shelves and they will spur me on.  So…

13 books that are helping me through NaNoWriMo:

1. Mad Cow disease, Bird Flu, Swine Flu...what barnyard animal will cause the next big outbreak of disease?

2. Sesame Street turns 40 this month. If you were to be on Sesame Street, which character would you want to be in a scene with?

3. We are out shopping for a new laptop. Which one do you pick and why?

Because I wanted something small and lightweight, and I think after years of being a tomboy, my inner female is finally coming out; I love that it’s pink! =)

 

 

 

4. Have you ever dried a flower in a book (pressing)? If so what was the flower and the name of the book?

Not the whole rose, just the petals. 

 

 

In my favorite book, The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Do you think it's important to study other planets? If so, why or why not?

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6. Have you ever walked out of a movie at the theater? What was the movie, how much was the ticket and why did you walk out?

I never did walk out from a movie. Even the ones which I really hated, I kept on watching in hopes that they might get better… I’m an optimistic person. =)

 

7. Does the city/town you live in have traffic enforcement cameras? Have you ever gotten a citation/ticket/fine from one? If so, did you pay or fight it?

Yes, to enforcement cameras, but never been fined coz of that. I’ve gotten parking tickets, and I pay those. I’ve gotten stopped by the traffic police too, and I fight those. =P Long stories.

 

 

8. If your neighbor is having a baby would you buy a baby gift for them?

9. How many questions are too many questions?

10. Do you have a handwritten journal you write in everyday?

Kept one ever since I was 11, but I don’t write everyday though.

11. Have you already made plans for 2010?

 

In January! =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Thursday Thunks has a huge party for all those who play along each week. Where is the party,

how long does it last

and does Kimber fall off the roof dropping crayons?

 

If so, what color of crayon does she fall on?

13. We may have "blogger celebrity" questions in the near future. Are you excited?

13 Random Things about me:

1. I love spicy food. Love, love, love it!! Even though I don’t exactly have a high tolerance for it, but I love a little bit of it in my food whenever possible!
2. When I was a teenager, I wanted to marry Christopher Pike, who was my favorite author at the time.
3. Now I want to marry Bon Jovi, because I think he’s such a wonderful person. Saw him on Oprah a while ago, love him! Also, I’ve never seen Christopher Pike in person…
4. Once, when I was I think 12 years old and on a two-week school break, I read 7 books (YA books) a day, every day, for the whole two weeks!
5. I think the best song to make love to is Def Leppard’s Hysteria. I think it’s really sexy. I think a lot of Def Leppard’s songs are sexy.
6. I can read palms! My father studied palmistry with a master when he was young, and he taught me a little. I’m a little out of practice now, but I used to be really accurate.
7. My favorite fantasy art is Jonathon Bowser’s Goddess Art, his artwork is amazing! I’d love to see more art like his, but haven’t found any others to my liking yet.
8. I once paid for a full year’s membership at the gym. I only went twice.
9. The only trophies I’d ever won in my life was for singing. That doesn’t mean I’m any good at it, it’s just that I’m really lousy at everything else.
10. My favorite online forum is at Bookcrossing.com. It’s also my favorite book site.
11. I made a promise to myself when I was younger, that I would never get into a relationship with artistic musician types, because most of the musicians I knew at the time were always over-sensitive. I ended up marrying an artistic musician type. =P
12. I’m terrified of flying animals! The usual disgusting-looking insects, but also butterflies and birds! I’m afraid they’ll fly at me!
13. When I was only 3 or 4 years old, I fell and hit my head on a grill. I had to have stitches, and now there’s a small bald spot at the back of my head (luckily not visible).

Guess what??

I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this year!

The last time I did this was in 2006, and I gave up pretty early on. =( 

I never tried again in the years after that, but this year I thought I’d give it another shot, so here I am!

I’ve written 1,714 words the first day, so I’m off to a good start! Wish me luck in completing NaNoWriMo this year as a winner! I want to go all the way to 50,000 words! =)

Hey, if you’re participating too, leave a message, we can motivate each other!