M.A. Kropp: Writer, Blogger, GeekGirl. My Life. My Words. My Way.
Burning Girls by Veronica Schanoes My rating: 3 of 5 stars This dark fantasy short is set partly in Poland and partly in the United States. Deborah is born to a Jewish family in late nineteenth century Poland. Her sister is a talented seamstress and is following their mother in garment making. Deborah has the … Continue reading Friday Review: Burning Girls by Veronica Schanoes
Fairest by Marissa Meyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Narrated by Rebecca Soler This short novel fills in the background of Queen Levana, the evil stepmother in this fairy tales retold series. We meet Levana as a child, the second daughter of haughty Queen Jannali and younger sister of Channary. Levana is quite adept … Continue reading Friday Review: Fairest: Levana’s Story (Lunar Chronicles #3.5) by Marissa Meyer (Audiobook)
American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories by Neil Philip My rating: 4 of 5 stars Twelve stories penned by American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Washington Irving, Carl Sandburg, and others. The stories are all uniquely American in some way, and many depart from the familiar European … Continue reading Friday Review: American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to The Rootabaga Stories (Compiled) by Neil Philip
Is this the reason we haven't been able to contact any alien races? Aliens 500 new fairytales have been found in Germany: Fairy Tales Oceanographers are set to study part of the 40,000 mile long mid-ocean ridges: Mid-Ocean Ridges Is there a ninth planet in our solar system? Astronomers think there may be: Ninth Planet … Continue reading Wednesday Wanderings: No Aliens to Contact?, New Fairytales, Our Ninth Planet (Maybe), and Studying the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Volcanos
The Ink Readers of Doi Saket: A Tor.Com Original by Thomas Olde Heuvelt My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is another short piece that was nominated for a Hugo award in 2014. It is a fairy tale fable type of story rather than strict science fiction. The story takes place in Thailand, primarily in … Continue reading Friday Review: The Ink Readers of Doi Saket by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
A few interesting tidbits from film and TV: Film and TV Facts And you thought Buffy was just a cult TV show: Buffy's Influences on Modern Culture Yoga is great for flexibility and strength, it can also help with chronic back pain. These poses can help relieve some of that pain (and a few of … Continue reading Wednesday Wanderings: Film and TV Facts, Buffy’s Influence, Yoga for Back Pain, and Modern Fairy Tales
I love "Into the Woods." I've seen the movie, but still prefer the original stage play. Wrapped up in the fairy tales and music are some good life lessons. This post lists many of them. (Yes, there are errors, but the writer is a teenager. It's quite good despite those.): Into the Woods Lighthouses have … Continue reading Wednesday Wanderings: Lessons from Into the Woods, Lighthouse v. Waves, Owning a PitBull Changes You, & Poster Fails
Want to go Into the Woods for real? Here are five real forests that look like they could have come out of a fairytale: Fairytale Forests We all know movies take liberties with what is real. Here are ten movie myths that simply aren't so: Movie Myths Why does the bad guy always lose? Here … Continue reading Wednesday Wanderings: Fairytale Forests, Movie Myths, Evil Wizard Blunders, and Motivational (?) Posters
Early in this century, the designer of a really lovely typeface dumped into the Thames by its designer to save it from industrialization. Now, this man has found some of the original type and designed a typeface based on it: Doves Type This man went into a bookstore and rearranged and relabeled some sections into … Continue reading Wednesday Wanderings: Diving the Thames to Save a Font, Labeling Bookstore Sections, HD TimeLapse Earth from ISS, and Mardi Gras
And So On... 