the triumph of style over substance

[robling_t]

So, where was I with the blogging stuff... Still feeling very burned-out on this whole "trying to make sense to normal humans" thing after the insanity that was the Things Learned project, but seeing as it's nearly February I suppose I had better get back on the horse before y'all start thinking I'm dead, assuming anyone's still reading by this point anyway. First up, Media Consumption stats for 2007 worked out to 141 books read and 54 new-to-me movies viewed, which represents a steep year-over-year drop-off in reading towards the end of the year as the winter doldrums set in and a slight rise in sitting-in-front-of-the-telly, unless one considers that since I've only been counting material that received a theatrical release in these statistics it might actually be a little more constant that these figures really reflect. On to the Media Consumption List for 2008, which is already starting out in the crapper it seems --


January, 2008: 3 books, 0 films

BOOKS:

• Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik
  
• St Pancras Station, Simon Bradley
  
• A companion to wolves, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear
  

FILMS:
[no new films, WTF?]


February: 4 books, 3 films

BOOKS:

• All the rage : The Boondocks past and present , Aaron McGruder
  
• The accidental time machine, Joe Haldeman
  
• The third coast : sailors, strippers, fishermen, folksingers, long-haired Ojibway painters, and God-save-the-Queen monarchists of the Great Lakes, Ted McClelland
  
• The baby gizmo buying guide : from pacifiers to potties--why, when, and what to buy for pregnancy through preschool, Heather Maclean
  

FILMS:

• A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
  
• Across the Universe
  
• LA Confidential
  

March: 7 books, 2 films

BOOKS:

• Pushed : the painful truth about childbirth and modern maternity care, Jennifer Block
  
• Knock yourself up : no man? no problem! : a tell-all guide to becoming a single mom, Louise Sloan
  
• The first day of the Blitz : September 7, 1940, Peter Stansky
  
• Sick girl, Amy Silverstein
  
• The James Tiptree Award anthology 3
  
• 10 questions science can't answer (yet) : a guide to the scientific wilderness, Michael Hanlon
  
• House lust : America's obsession with our homes, Daniel McGinn
  

FILMS:

• Revenger's Tragedy
  
• I Am Legend
  

April: 10 books, 1 film

BOOKS:

• In defense of food : an eater's manifesto, Michael Pollan
  
• The Victorian internet : the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century's on-line pioneers, Tom Standage
  
• Reduce, reuse, recycle : an easy household guide, Nicky Scott
  
• Anticraft : knitting, beading, and stitching for the slightly sinister, Renée Rigdon
  
• Biting the wax tadpole : confessions of a language fanatic, Elizabeth Little
  
• The bone key : [the necromantic mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth], Sarah Monette
  
• Notes from Nethers, Sandra Lee Eugster
  
• The knitter's book of yarn : the ultimate guide to choosing, using, and enjoying yarn, Clara Parkes
  
• Steward of song, Adam Stemple
  
• Smotherhood : wickedly funny confessions from the early years, Amanda Lamb
  

FILMS:

• Elizabeth: the Golden Age
  

May: 9 books, 1 film

BOOKS:

• To cork or not to cork : tradition, romance, science, and the battle for the wine bottle, George M. Taber
  
• The baby void : my quest for motherhood , Judith Uyterlinde
  
• Pretty is what changes : impossible choices, the breast cancer gene, and how I defied my destiny, Jessica Queller
  
• The meaning of sunglasses : and a guide to almost all things fashionable, Hadley Freeman
  
• The taste of sweet : our complicated love affair with our favorite treats, Joanne Chen
  
• The fortune cookie chronicles : adventures in the world of Chinese food, Jennifer 8. Lee
  
• Chalked up : inside elite gymnastics' merciless coaching, overzealous parents, eating disorders, and elusive Olympic dreams, Jennifer Sey
  
• Choosing you : deciding to have a baby on my own , Alexandra Soiseth
  
• How to sleep alone in a king-size bed : a memoir, Theo Pauline Nestor
  

FILMS:

• 28 Weeks Later
  

June: 2 books, 1 film

BOOKS:

• If I were an evil overlord
  
• The film club, David Gilmour
  

FILMS:

• Happy Accidents
  

July: 3 books, 1 film

BOOKS:

• American chestnut : the life, death, and rebirth of a perfect tree, Susan Freinkel
  
• M.Y.T.H. Inc. in action; [An army of two], Robert Asprin
  
• Snow queen, Mercedes Lackey
  

FILMS:

• Elf
  

August: 3 books, 0 films

BOOKS:

• Crap cars, Richard Porter
  
• World War I, Simon Adams
  
• re-read: Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
  

FILMS:
[Again, no new films, WTF?]


September: 2 books, 0 films

BOOKS:

• The plague of the Spanish lady : the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, Richard Collier
  
• Ill met in the arena, Dave Duncan
  

FILMS:
[Totally slacking off on the Netflix subscription...]


October: 1 book, 0 films

BOOKS:

• The great influenza : the epic story of the deadliest plague in history, John M. Barry
  

FILMS:

November: 3 books, 2 films

BOOKS:

• Ha'penny, Jo Walton
  
• Half a crown, Jo Walton
  
• The absolute Sandman. Volume two, Neil Gaiman
  

FILMS:

• Iron Man
  
• WALL-E
  

December: 4 books, 3 films

BOOKS:

• How the states got their shapes , Mark Stein
  
• Bonk : the curious coupling of science and sex, Mary Roach
  
• Do gentlemen really prefer blondes? : bodies, behavior and brains--the science behind sex, love, and attraction, Jena Pincott
  
• The Darwin awards next evolution : chlorinating the gene pool, Wendy Northcutt
  

FILMS:

• Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
  
• Lord of War
  
• Juno
  

Otherwise, obviously feeling singularly unmotivated in general about my life. Is it spring yet...?