It was -40 today. (Fehrenheit or Celsius, they're both the same at that point.) I did not know this when I set out to do some errands. After the first ten minutes of walking, I regretted leaving the house. After an hour?



Now I must go through life tailless, and you just know the other cats will make fun of me.

Ever been so cold you actually have to warm up before you can start shivering again? Yeah.

Somehow, while I was out there, I managed to get minor frostbite on my hips and lower back instead of my extremities like a normal person. Usually it's fingers, toes, ears, and noses that get hit first, followed by hands, feet, and cheeks. But I have a special talent and managed to skip all that and get my core frozen instead. Go me?

I was pretty well bundled, but I guess my jeans said "screw this, I'm not dealing with -40!" Which I can sort of sympathize with.

For the worriers, yes, I'm fine. It was minor frostbite, and I was fine once I managed to warm up again. Cuddly, purry kitties make the best heaters ever. The skin's a little sensitive, but even that should be gone by tomorrow as long as I keep out of the snow until then.

The other cats are still going to laugh at me, though.

So... I'm sure some of you remember my shameless pimping of Book Blog Appreciation Week. And because you guys are pretty much awesome, we wound up as finalists in six different categories.

-Best Romance Blog
-Most Chatty
-Most Concise
-Most Eclectic Taste
-Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror/Spec Fic Blog
-Best Commenter/Commentator

I'm a little boggled. (Also, somewhat amused we made the shortlist for both chatty and concise.)

Voting has begun, so feel free to trek over to the voting booth and put in your two cents' worth. As an added incentive, everyone who votes for five categories or more (doesn't have to be one of the categories we're nominated for, and you absolutely do not have to vote for us) is eligible to enter this contest over here

What's better than a walk-a-thon raising funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation? Reading for cystic fibrosis! Unleash Your Story is a read/write-a-thon with a goal to raise $10,000 for cystic fibrosis. Anyone who wants to can register for the event and set a goal. Writers can commit to writing a certain number of words per day, gathering sponsors for their goals, and those of us more comfortable on the reading side of the book can commit to a certain number of pages per day. As a bonus incentive, there are prizes available for participants to win.

Also, because it's awesome, I went in to participate. Reading for charity? BOOYA. Anyone who feels like it can click the banner below and donate to the cause. Best part? You choose your own dollar amount, so you can make your donation as big or little as you can afford.




(As a completely unrelated aside, it's starting to really annoy me that I can't change my mood. Haven't been able to since dA did its big "upgrade." Grr.)

Know what has the power of awesome? Book blogs. (Not that I'm at all biased on that front by any means... )

Because of the fierce awesomeness of book blogs, the people who run them, and the insane effect these blogs have on our TBR lists, Amy of My Friend Amy has organized Book Blogger Appreciation Week from September 15-19th. Everyone go mark it down on your calendars. I'll wait.

Done? Alright. Here's the lowdown: nominations are going down for book blog awards. And, uh, I happen to co-run a book blog. Are we all seeing the connection here? Genre Reviews specializes in, well, genre fiction, specifically fantasy, science fiction, romance, and horror. Aside from reviews, we keep up on book news, run literary discussions, and occasionally do random rants on things that annoy us.

Soooo... if you want to help us out and get us nominated, clicky on the BBAW banner below for the list of award categories and the e-mail address to send your nominations to.



As a side note, they are adding Most Altruistic Blog, Funniest/Most Humorous Blog, Best Sci-fi/fantasy/horror/spec-fic blog, and Best Commenter/commentator as categories, so you know there's at least one that fits us, right?

Oh... and on an unrelated note, if anyone has recommendations for science fiction written for the teen or pre-teen set, let me know. I like to keep up on YA as well as adult fiction, but haven't had much luck in finding sci fi. It's all vampires, zombies, and faeries right now.

Edit: Fixed the link because I'm a moron who can't code properly.

Overheard on Yahoo!Messenger:

*ocelott: I lost my word
~lilias: which one?
*ocelott: It starts with a g
*ocelott: I think
~lilias: gnome!
~lilias: gas!
~lilias: gnat!
~lilias: grasshopper!
~lilias: georgia!
*ocelott: Like... when other peoples' opinions justify my own
~lilias: uh...
*ocelott: HEHE
*ocelott: Look, it got harder!
~lilias: HEHE
~lilias: gratify...?
*ocelott: That's the one that keeps popping in my head, but it's not QUITE the right one
*ocelott: I think
~lilias: HEHE

[later]

*ocelott: ...hey, look, the word I was looking for was validate, which doesn't start with a g at all
~lilias: ROFL
*ocelott: I... wow
~lilias: wha?
*ocelott: g turned into a v
*ocelott: SO FAR OFF
~lilias: how funny, because i originally thought validate, then you remembered it started with a g... >.>
*ocelott: HEHE
*ocelott: yeah... I suck
~lilias: HEHE
~lilias: *pets*