Yep, I won't be making the TBR challenge again this month. That's twice this year :( Boooo! But then, I noticed that not many made it this month, so it made me feel better :)
I'll try to have a review up sometimes later this week... For the meantime, lots of miscellaneous stuff. So bear with me :D
I found 5$ this morning, so that made my day LOL :) Then, it went downhill from there... It's been very busy at work lately. I mean, there's just me doing experiments and I'm making up for the days I missed. The worst is that one part of the experiment is no longer working. So we've been stalled and now have to work on troubleshooting the problem. I hate when something which was working stops working :( It's just incredibly annoying :( My boss keeps asking Why? Why? Why? and all I have to say is: I don't know. I thought maybe it was me - the results been different since I started doing it, but he said no. That's good in a way. I just hope he doesn't ask me in this week-end to work it out :( So I'm crossing my fingers.
Aside from books, one of my passions used to be TVB series. I've only started watching American series in the past few years... before, I used to watch tv exclusively in Vietnamese, devouring TVB series. TVB series are TV series made in Hong Kong. Those series are extremely popular with the Asian community, being dubbed in Viet, Cambodgian, Thai, etc. I used to go to the rental store every week to rent these series. Of course, nowadays, I just watch them online ^_^; I have to admit that my interest has waned a little bit in the past few years... in part because I've been reading a lot more, but also because TVB stopped making my favorite kind of series: kung fu series T_T I still enjoy watching family drama, cops series and etc., but they don't grab me the way kung fu series used to :(
October to December is TVB's anniversary period. They usually go all out during this period, broadcasting big budgets series. One of them has piqued my interest: Beyond the Realm of Conscience.
What do you think? Looks great no? I mean, the costumes are soooo gorgeous. The color they used is so vibrant! I love the hair even though they're a bit exaggerated :D So happy the series takes place in the Tang dynasty and not the Manchurian period, that way we get much nice costumes :D Unfortunately, it's not a kung fu series, more like palace intrigues... So women fighting each other ^_^; Seriously, women can be soooo scary at time! Still, I'm looking forward to it and the series has a great cast :D Definitively looking forward to see Tavia Yeung's performance (she's the one with the scary eyes which I love by the way :P). The series has only started this week, but there's a lot of talks about Tavia's role being a breakthrough performance and seems like she has a real shot for the TVB awards. Charmaine Sheh is the other "lead" actress... Her role will be the usual goody-two-shoes, nothing special really... but at least, Charmaine usually delivers. Lots of good veterans as well in this series... the only disappointing factor in my opinion is not enough actors LOL :P Ah well. Now, I either have to wait for the version with English subtitles to come out or the Viet version. Sigh. The other TVB anniversary series is Born Rich, a family/business drama. Those are usually quite good and TVB learned from its mistake and the series is only 40 episodes long. Not 80 like Gem of Life ^_^; I'll probably end up watching this as well, because I don't have anything better to do LOL :) but also the series has a great cast, again lots of veterans, and I ended up enjoying the opening quite a lot as well :D
from Dorchester that I've seen making it to the bookstore on time was The Fire King by Marjorie M. Liu. I mean, this is really annoying. So yeah, Mischief in Mudbug? Hasn't made it to the bookstore yet and I doubt it will... (I mean, Trouble in Mudbug hasn't). But surprise, surprise... guess where I found it? At the hospital gift shop. Now, that's just wrong. Chapters can't seem to stock it, but hospital gift shop does?!?! I know that Ames Wal-Mart does receive the Dorchester books, but hey, we're talking Wal-Mart here. They have everything nowadays... But the hospital gift shop?!?!? Seriously?!?! That's just weird and wrong. Of course, Mischief in Mudbug was not the only book I bought. I also stopped by Coles (also part of Chapters/Indigo) - you know, the bookstore that shelves the books as soon as they receive it :P How do I know they've received the books? Basically, I stalked their online indicator. As soon the website shows that they've got the books in store, I give them a call and ask the clerk to put a copy aside for me and go pick it up after work. Lately, I've been a good girl... Of course, it might be explained by my recent haul from the States... but really, I've been a good girl. Proof is, I've been lusting after Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole & Gena Showalter, but I didn't buy as soon as it came out. Instead, I waited till other new books were released so I could use my coupons :) I have 2 "5$ off if you buy 35$," 1 "10$ off i you buy 40$," and 2 "25% off on any item in-store" coupons that are all expiring in November ^_^; Deep Kiss of Winter is 27$, so I need at least 1 or 2 books in order to use one of the coupon. Finally, yesterday, the bookstore received the Mira/HQN releases and among them, one that I was waiting for: Hot on Her Heels by Susan Mallery. So what did I do? Pick up the phone and call the bookstore... Problem is, Coles is a very small bookstore and they h
ave 4 employees... and lately, every time I've been calling, I get the same person: James ^_^; How do I know it's James? Well, it's the only guy that works there and he answers: "Coles des Cathédrales, bonjour. James à l'appareil." A couple of months ago, he suggested I leave a list of books I was expecting and they would put it aside automatically for me... but I haven't yet. One of the reasons is that Coles is very small and they don't get all the books. Also, I know they're the ones who gets Mira/HQN books first, but it's not the case for all publishers... Hey, I'm all about instant gratification - I'll go to the bookstore I know I can get the books the earliest... Okay, long story short, I didn't leave a list and as a result, I've been calling quite regularly and yes, lately, it's always James who answers ^_^; So yesterday, I got embarrassed ^_^; Cos I always call the day the books are unpacked. I mean, I know I'm obsessed, but it's another story when someone else knows. So instead of asking for Hot on Her Heels (to be sure that there were indeed out on the shelves and there were copies left - because others leave their list), I kind of panicked and asked for Deep Kiss of Winter which I knew they had. Anyway, he put it aside for me. 
My co-worker who has witnessed a lot of my calls asked me if the clerks at Coles recognize me. Quite frankly, I didn't know. Not everyone is good with faces, not everyone pays attention and not everyone cares... but after yesterday, I know. The answer: they do, or at least, James does. So I went to the bookstore, luckily found Hot on her Heels on the shelves (yay!)... Then, I cruised the aisles for another book. Finally, picked up Witches Incorporated by K.E. Mills. Wait at the cash to pay... James came, got Deep Kiss of Winter from the "put aside" pile without me asking and I haven't spoken yet, so he did not recognize my voice. Then he asked: "You were aware this was hardcover, right?" and I'm like "Yes." I can't remember if I said something else, but I must have because he then said: "Yeah, I was surprised you didn't call earlier for this book. It's been out a while and you usually call as soon as they come out." All I could answer was: "Oh, I was waiting for another release to use a coupon." "Yeah, this book just came out today," he answered, pointing Hot on Her Heels. So yeah. They know who I am now LOL :P I can't decide whether it's embarrassing or not LOL :P However, now, I'm really considering leaving a list with them, at least for the Mira/HQN books releases. Okay, this post is way longer than I expected ^_^; I'll just finish by posting pics of my Frostbitten gym bag :D 
The t-shirt has the same logo than the gym bag... and if it looks used already, well it's because I used it as my carry-on for California :D
