Teaser Tuesday

Taking part in Teaser Tuesday is easy. All you have to do is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments. 

Here's my teaser:

The clearing was bathed in starlight with the spiralling arcs of flash-lights everywhere, as officers tried to keep light on their targets. Zombies were everywhere.

Page 205, Affliction by Laurell K Hamilton

Random Quote #141

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me. 

Steve Jobs

Electric Violins & Charity

I couldn't think of anything else to call this so this will have to suffice.

So I went on my lunch break yesterday and as I was walking through the local shopping centre I could hear a violin playing.

And as I got nearer I saw a young woman playing the electric violin and she had a sign that said she was raising money for Cancer Research UK and Hilton In The Community Foundation by busking in 9 different places over 5 days which would add up to 24 hours. I'm a little late to this party because I'm pretty sure that yesterday was the last day of her charity tour.

I looked her up on the internet when I got back to my desk and it turns out it was Alexandra Parker who was on Britain's Got Talent in 2011. Now I don't watch Britain's Got Talent but in my opinion either the act that beat Alexandra was absolutely phenomenal or she definitely was robbed.

She has a blog and a YouTube channel.

If you go to her blog or watch her recent vlogs you can find out more about this including where you can donate... ;)

And I'll leave you with Alexandra playing the violin...

Teaser Tuesday

All you have to do to take part in Teaser Tuesday is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then go to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments. 
 
So here is my teaser this week:

Now it breathed along my skin in a near-scalding heat, power so hot it took my breath away for a second. Even for Nilda this was a lot of power flaunting.

Page 36, Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton 

This book counts towards two of the reading challenges I'm taking part in this year.

Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Reading Challenge 2013 hosted by Book Chick City 

Zombie Reading Challenge 2013 hosted by Book Chick City

 

Random Quote #140

If you can't be seven feet tall, be seven feet smart. 

Lois McMaster Bujold

How To Almost Destroy A Hat

Yes, you read the title right... I almost destroyed a hat. I was trying to make it a better shape and almost ruined it in the process.

I decided that rather than the same purple baseball cap I've been wearing for almost the last decade this summer I would try something a little different. I decided on a straw trilby but got a cheap one as I wasn't sure if it would actually suit me... and trying to work things like that out in the actual shop is difficult - especially when you have to wander around trying to find a mirror.

But anyway here is the hat...

This was actually after I had almost ruined it. Let me explain.

When I first got it the brim was floppier than you see in the photo. I tried reshaping it using steam and hot water etc. but it didn't really shape it as much as I had hoped.

Then after much fiddling I discovered where the plastic 'string' running around the brim was joined and promptly broke it (as in I broke the join apart).

I tried melting it back together and only succeeded in ruining a couple of small alligator clips I was using to hold the plastic together.

I the end I used a combination of sewing thread and PVA glue to fasten it back together, as you may be able to see in this photo...

How NOT to reshape a hat

So after that I redecorated it by changing the band. I sifted through my ribbon collection and came up with an old denim belt and some lace.

Which I then sewed together and created a band...

And then I simply put it on the hat and tacked it over the top of the old band.

Simple!

And now for a bit of modelling...

Excuse the sunglasses indoors but as we established I can't take a regular photo without my eyes ending up closed. So the options are: miserable, stupid or I have to cover my eyes with sunglasses.

What almost-disastrous-DIYs-but-it-turned-out-well-in-the-end have you had?

Heat Induced Ramblings

WARNING: This is a ramble. I repeat this is a ramble.

It is hot in the UK at the moment. For the last week it has been almost constantly in the late 20s to early 30s (degrees centigrade).

Now I know there are some of you out there where that kind of temperature is nothing. But this is the UK... we aren't used to this kind of heat. Every couple of years we might have 2 or 3 days of sun but that's about it. The last time we had a heatwave like this (apparently it is being classed as a heatwave) was in 2006.

Something that makes weather like this unbearable is having hay fever (I love some of the advice they give out for hay fever sufferers - which tends to be DON'T GO OUTSIDE!). I can't really sleep with the windows open, and walking along outside can be difficult when EVERYONE is cutting their grass (and yes I do take hay fever medication - but that does have it's limits).

So heatwave facts. I haven't actually slept in bed for over a week, I've been sleeping on top of the covers. I haven't worn socks for a week, and I have worn nothing but dresses for just under a week.

The building I used to work in has lovely air conditioning. But the building we expanded in to and I had to move in to has no air conditioning whatsoever - fans just seem to move warm air around the room (that being the same room that has 4 computers running in it).

And as I briefly mentioned last week my skin has 2 shades - pale and burnt, so I can't even lounge around in the sun without first having a bath in sun lotion of the highest factor.

In other news I had a bit of a splurge online at New Look - if you can call 3 tops, a pair of knickers, a bracelet and a necklace a splurge. But this splurge got me thinking. Every winter I put my 'summer' clothes in vacuum bags, and every summer I do the same with my 'winter' clothes.

Well I use these times to get rid of some clothes that I haven't been wearing or don't want any more. And I can already think of a few tops I'll be getting rid of - even though when I took them out of the vacuum bag not too long ago I made the decision to keep them.

And by getting rid of I mean take to the charity shop, and for a slightly selfish reason - I can't be bothered at the moment to put them on eBay. I can't be bothered to go through the rigmarole of photographing the items, and describing them, and working out postage, and for them not to sell the first 2 or 3 times, and then having to post them.

So I'll be lazy and let the charity shops in my area have them instead.

If you're in the UK how are you coping with the heat? And if you're not in the UK what's the weather like where you are?

Teaser Tuesday

All you have to do to take part in Teaser Tuesday is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then go to Should be Reading and add your link to the comments. 

 So here's mine:

It's a Mylar balloon. Drifting over the road-top, caught in a heat haze, dripping blood onto the asphalt, where it sizzles as if on a hot griddle.

Page 121, Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig

Random Quote #139

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. 

W. Somerset Maugham

The Weekend That Was

So last week I was very busy. Friday, Saturday, Sunday - I was out everyday, and it was hot and sunny every one of those days.

York

On the Friday we went to York for the day. We spent most of the day at the National Railway Museum with a minor adventure to track down the nearby McDonalds - can you believe that their McFlurry machine had broken down due to the heat? Seriously, an ice cream machine broke down because it was hot outside.

Anyway back to the museum, we hadn't planned to go during a particular exhibition but purely by chance we visited shortly after the opening of the exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Mallard's steam locomotive world speed record breaking run.

And especially for the occasion the Mallard and it's five surviving A4 'sister' locomotives were brought together at the museum for 'The Great Gathering'.

I would really have liked to have inserted a clip here from Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End of Captain Barbosa saying 'There's not been a gathering like this in our lifetime'. But I couldn't find one of just that... or started with that - it was the whole trailer or nothing... so you'll have to do with out.

So anyway this was the Great Gathering...

L-R Sir Nigel Gresley, Dwight D Eisenhower, Union Of South Africa

L-R Bittern, Mallard, Dominion Of Canada

Waddington Airshow

And so on to Saturday when we were up bright and early(ish) to head off to the Waddington Airshow at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

Momentary blip when we got stuck in traffic whilst approaching Lincoln we didn't do too bad for time when it came to getting there. And we arrived with just enough time to get to a good spot to watch the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight arrive.

There was also a special flypast for the 70th Anniversary of The Dambusters Raid which included the Lancaster Bomber (pictured above in the centre) and a Tornado jet currently in 617 Squadron (the squadron that took part in the raid 70 years ago). However I didn't actually get a photo of that but I did get a photo of the specially painted tail of a Tornado that was in the static display.

And amongst other flying displays of course there were the Red Arrows and the Vulcan Bomber XH558 which we were actually able to see being moved in to position ready for it's take-off.

Red Arrows

Vulcan Bomber XH558

Bridlington

And finally on the Sunday we went to Bridlington.

Of which I only took one photo.

We had fish and chips, waffles with fruit and loads of cream and went for a paddle in the North Sea - which I might add, no matter how hot the weather is the North Sea is always icy cold.

I made it through this weekend with only minimal sunburn thanks to applying copious amounts of sun factors 30 and 50 sun lotion* every two minutes (tiny exaggeration there). I say factors 30 and 50 because I actually had two different sun lotions with me.

*I have come to the conclusion that my skin only does two shades - pale and burnt to a crisp, so lots of sun lotion is a must.

So what did you get up to last weekend?

Teaser Tuesday

Taking part in Teaser Tuesday is easy:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments. 

Last week I was pretty sure that I'd be using the same book for Teaser Tuesday 4 weeks in a row. But surprise, surprise, despite the hectic weekend I managed to get that book finished and start a new one.

So here are my teasers for this week:

And then, she can't help it. She has to know.

Page 30, Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig 

This book counts towards my total for the New Authors Challenge 2013 hosted by Literary Escapism 

Random Quote #138

The only limits in your life are those that you set yourself.

Unknown

Cowabunga Dude!

I have briefly mentioned on this blog before that I was (am) an uber Teenage Mutant Hero* Turtles fan when I was little.

*in the UK during the 80s they were known as the Hero Turtles not Ninja Turtles.

Well some things never change. Their influence can still be found in my life.

Looking around my room I spotted numerous things relating to these cool dudes. I sometimes wonder if my choice of university course (History of Art & Design) was inspired by these dudes (Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael).

FYI Leonardo was (is) my favourite! (Even if my favourite colour is in fact purple - Donatello)

Clothing

Eagle eyed readers might recognise this t-shirt from a previous post.

This top started out life as a large t-shirt.

These are the latest edition to my collection - found in the men's section in Primark.

Food

I mean who doesn't have turtle shaped cookie cutters? You don't? How weird are you?

 

But seriously this cutters are good when used with a stiffer dough (with a softer dough they just become splodgy shapes rather than turtle shaped cookies) but Leonardo and Raphael are a pain in the a*se to try and get out of their cutters in one piece.

Random

Excuse the dust on this money box... he sits in my cupboard/wardrobe usually. I can't use him as a money box though any more as I lost the stopper.

Another dusty turtle here - my Uncle bought me this one when I was little, he also sits in my cupboard/wardrobe guarding my clothes.

And then I have the random crap my Dad found in the attic which include a wooden plaque...

And a rug...

TV

And no self-respecting Turtles fan could go on without having the original 80s series on DVD could they?

Cowabunga!

Teaser Tuesday

Taking part in Teaser Tuesday is easy:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments.

Much like the last book I read I'm still on the same book 3 weeks in a row. Last time I hit week 3 on a book my sister was coming to visit and threatened to distract me enough to stop me finishing the book before week 4.

Well she's visiting again this week and I get the feeling that she will succeed this time - we have an action packed weekend planned and I have over 150 pages to go so if I manage to finish this book before next Tuesday it will be only just.

So anyway back to this week and my teasers:

Peter gave me a disgusted, incredulous grimace. 'She's not going.'

Page 385, In The Woods by Tana French

Random Quote #137

Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill.

Christopher Parker