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Hello, Goodbye! Well: Goodbye, Hello really

Thank you to all who have added me to blogrolls, linked, etc. In true Murphy’s Law cruelty, I have finally obtained a new URL for my blogbaby, which is sure to annoy all but is MUCH easier to remember.

Please update as you see fit: It is *drum roll*….

www.withextrapulp.com.au

And it looks all new and shiny!!! The last two comments made here haven’t been transferred over but everything else is all systems go. Thought I’d professionalise it up a bit for you all. ^_^

If there’s anything you don’t like about the new site, let me know.

Also, thank you Nat for lending me part of your domain, being a general web genius and helping out with it all. I’m going to miss this domain, but it’s time to move forward.

There’s a new review up at the new With Extra Pulp to add to the revamped site. Enjoy!

August 1st, 2009GeneralRead More >1 Comment


Kreativ Award and Latest News

I was very excited this week to discover With Extra Pulp to be the recipient of its very first award!!! Thank you J.T. Oldfield for the lovely award that reminds me of a watermelon, what with the green and pink design. ^_^ :P

kreative-blogger-award

So the dealio is to now name 7 things I like and 7 blogs I like, which is going to prove a difficult task. Hmmmm.

Seven things Elena Likes:
1. Sleeping with my heatwheat pack in winter
2. Re-reading favourite books
3. Watching documentaries about chimpanzees and wishing I could have one as a pet
4. Singing and dancing to David Bowie loudly in my room
5. Discovering new music
6. My puppydog, Max, who is still in Brisbane :(
7. Regina Spektor’s new album that I’m listening to right now!

Seven Blogs Elena Likes:
1. Mad Bibliophile: Mae writes great posts, and usually leads me to discover a whole bunch of books I suddenly want to read. This was one of the first blogs on my blogroll, and also has sentimental value ^_^
2. Literary Minded: Angela is someone whose work I’ve come to look up to, and is as quirky as the Crikey writers come.
3. 3000 Books: Estelle keeps us Aussies up to date on the latest in the literary world. And she’s funny to boot.
4. Another Cookie Crumbles: Uncertainprinciples has some greatly entertaining posts about all things bookish, plus a bit more.
5. Not Dark Yet: This blog is about writing and arts in general, and features some pretty groovy poetry.
6. A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook: Yep, Matt actually writes in his Moleskine, and then transcribes it onto the interwebs. Insightful comments + intelligent literary criticisms = one of my favourite book blogs.
7. Cheeseburger Gothic: Brisbane author/journo John Birmingham blogs about all sorts of things, as random as the title of his website. Another writer I look up to (not to sound too much like I’m sucking up)….

In other news…Over the weekend, I have graduated, had a fantastic going away party, and moved to Sydney! So while I get settled in, I will try and have a review up this week. But I am currently reading about 4 different books, and the chances of finishing one of them soon are slim.

Lucky for you, my readers, I have provided you with a list of blogs already, to read while you sit in anxious anticipation of my next review/post.

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July 28th, 2009GeneralRead More >9 Comments


Kindle me, baby

With brand new e-books buzzing around the place in all their techno-awesomeness, looking down on the regular book readers with eco-friendly superiority, this avid and old-fashioned reader is wondering whether it’s worth taking the leap.

The apparent market leader is the Kindle, however there are alternatives.

kindle

I understand the benefits of these little readers. They’re convenient. I was book shopping with my friend on Wednesday, and when I left the house, I had 3 books in my bag, plus one borrowed book that I was returning to her. This is a typical occurrence. A Kindle-like reader (Sony has one, too) or even an iPhone with the appropriate application (birthday in 2 months hint, hint) would save me suffering from an even more lopsided shoulder, and would remove the possibility of being stopped at the gates in the airport because my hand luggage exceeds 7kg.

However, call me stubborn and call me unreasonable, but I just cannot imagine sitting and reading a 400 page book on a tiny electronic device. Millions of pairs of eyes around the world are this very second becoming more damaged due to extended periods of time in front of a computer screen. Isn’t this the same, only smaller? If you’re right in the middle of the latest “page”-turner by Matthew Reilly *cough* or completely absorbed in a stream of consciousness masterpiece of Virginia Woolf, are you really going to think to yourself “Oh dear, much time has passed! My eyes are now due a 10 minute break.”? Okay I’m sure nobody actually thinks to themselves like that. And if you do, I apologise.

This issue has been bugging me for some time now, but what better time to write about it than when I have two 1000 feature articles due in less than 72 hours. To those who use these devices, please share any pros and cons you’ve experienced, of saving up for one of these expensive little babies. I will need some convincing.

Is this a fad that Australians just haven’t caught on to yet, with the vigour of say, Americans clamouring to get their hands on Version 2 and what not. Does it really replace the feeling of seeing stacks and stacks of books overflowing from your personal library?

More importantly, could it possibly be more nostalgic than cracking open an old favourite for the first time in years, to breathe in the scent of years gone by…

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July 9th, 2009General Literary musingsRead More >7 Comments


The Happy-haps/Currently Reading


If you look closely, there is no book more visual than Three Trapped Tigers, in that it is filled with blank pages, dark pages, it has stars made of words, the famous magical cube made of numbers, and there is even a page which is a mirror.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

I’m currently having incredible difficulty finding time to read.

I blame a number of factors:

1. My recently rekindled love affair with Brisbane music which has seen me out on the town the last three nights in a row. I don’t know about you but I find it incredibly hard to read a book after getting home at 2am with my ears still ringing and mascara stubbornly refusing to be removed properly.

2. A number of writing projects which include a CD review for FasterLouder, an article for BloomAsia, and a couple of other little tidbits to be sending out soon. Maybe somebody somewhere, someday, will actually pay me for my efforts, but for the moment I’m happily slaving away for the love of writing.

3. The stresses that are inherent when jobhunting and being invited for an interview/open day for a company that is far from what you ever imagined doing with your life. In short, I might have to make the choice between moving to Sydney to pursue my dream, with employment still a grey area, or possibly having to stay in Brisbane, possibly long term, to work a full-time job while I continue to write in my limited spare time.

4. Been a bit under the weather the last few days, and not in the fun curl-up-in-bed-with-good-book kind. I blame my ridiculously cold bedroom which doesn’t not want to retain any heat. Ever.

Therefore, my currently reading list STILL consists of G. Cabrera Infante’s Three Trapped Tigers, Wake Up, Sir by Jonathon Ames which so far, is a shameless and self-proclaimed, um, rip-off, of beloved man-servant Jeeves. I ended up putting Next by Michael Crichton away, my head just isn’t digging the science fiction/genetic patenting debate at the moment. Oh, and the Playboy short stories still feature sporadically in my currently reading list.

I also have a bookswap on Tuesday, which will of course continue the exponential growth of my TBR pile. Woot.

stephenfryasjeeves

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June 14th, 2009GeneralRead More >2 Comments


Musing Monday

musing_mondays_big_thumb31Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading time…

Do you have a set reading time (before bed, perhaps)? Do you read more at night or during the day? Is there a day of the week, perhaps, that you set aside to catch up on reading?

Considering I don’t have anything pressing (i.e. a JOB!) to wake up early for, I’m in the habit of staying up late reading, and then grabbing one off the pile in my groggy morning state to wolf down for an early breakfast (reading breakfast! I don’t eat the books).

I find it hard to read during the day because I usually feel guilty, so I try to fill my days with more productive activities - catching up on other people’s blogs, writing my own blog, applying for jobs. I can still manage to fit in a fair bit of reading in between all of this though…

Now that I’m cracking a 9-5 on myself in order to get my own work done, I’ll probably have less time to read. This might possibly be a good thing….

Also, being cooped up at home all day makes it a rare treat when I take myself down to a cafe/restaurant and can just chill with a book. When you know the right place, the atmosphere can be great, and there’s often good coffee involved, minus awkward conversations about my ongoing unemployment or arguments over who will pay. Reading has definitely increased my, um, loner tendencies…this might change now that I’m back in Brisbane with actual friends.

Does anybody else have a reading schedule?

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June 8th, 2009General Monday MusingRead More >11 Comments


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