Is it just me, or is Half-Price books one of the greatest store in the world? In the last week, I've picked up beautiful old copies of Bulfinch's Mythology, the Arabian Nights, the Iliad and the Oddessy (and those four books are part of what once was an enourmous set of classics, but the store only had a few of them), Grimms Fairytails, a hardcover copy (in perfect condition) of The Giver (for no other reason than that I've read it so many times my paperback copy is literally falling apart), copies of the first two in the LOTR trilogy with cover art by Alan Lee (still hunting for a copy of the third one in the same set), and the prize of my collection, a copy of the Silmarillion (because once again my paperback is falling apart) in hardcover filled with pictures by Ted Nasmith, it's absolutely beautiful, and in 100% perfect condition, it's got a foldout full-color map of Beleriand in the back, and the best part is, I got it cheap. Now, if I could just be as fortunate as my friend Anna who found a first edition copy of the Silmarillion at Half-Price Books for $3!!! Someone obviously had no clue what they were putting out on the shelf.

So (not that I have ever or will ever expect anything from anyone for my birthdays, especially considering my advancing years) if anyone is without a clue as to what to get for me, gift cards to places like Half-Price Books, Moments with Majesty, or Barnes & Noble are always your best bets.

Anyway, enough fishing for handouts (just kidding).

In other news, my book is progressing at a rate rivalling the travel of a sick snail in unfamiliar territory. That made no sense, but is nonetheless true to my situation. I seem to come up with an unusual break every now and again where I write a fantastic five-page scene, and just when it seems I might actually be able to continue from there and make some progress, I'm stuck again.

Not that I'm going to complain about it, considering that the last scene I wrote may be one of the best things I have ever written, and I intend to use it as the measure up to which I hold the rest of the book.

I think that as soon as I finish the six novels that I've been working on the longest (don't laugh, it's actually two trilogies, so hopefully it won't take as long as it normally would) I should tackle my "Mary Shelley." By that, I mean the dream I had that turned into a full blown novel as soon as I woke up. In case you still don't know what I'm talking about, Mary Shelley had a dream one night that was so vivid and powerful that she wrote it all down as soon as she woke up, and it turned out to be "Frankenstein." Now, granted, I didn't get mine done the day after I dreamed it, but I wrote as much of it down as I could, and as soon as I get the time, I'll actually finish it. Not that I think it's going to be of the same caliber as "Frankenstein," nor that it is going to be anywhere near my personal best work, but it's a decent story, and I had fun dreaming it.

Unfortunately, I have no movies to review at present, as I haven't been to the movies since Pride and Prejudice, but I intend to see X-Men III as soon as it comes out, I'm so jazzed about this movie, I just can't wait!

As far as book reviews, I have to confess falling behind in that area as well. These last few weeks, I have unfortunatley been more concerned with the season finales of a select few of my favorite shows. Now, I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but I have my shows like CSI (Vegas and Miami, I don't like NY), and Numbers. I have to say, there were lots of cliffhangers this season, but all of them were good. I get a little nervous of cliffhangers because a few years ago, a show that my whole family was addicted to ended their first season on a massive cliffhanger, and the show was cancelled!

Anyway, now that all the finales are over, I'll be sticking my nose back in the books, and reviews will come soon thereafter.

I think that's all for now, we're going to pick strawberries today, which means jelly-making, and strawberry shortcake, and fresh strawberries on my ice cream... yum...