Well, it took me just about long enough to get to this, didn’t it? I’m going to use Mari’s version as my base, ’cause she based hers off of Lil’s rendition, and the idea is to keep adding on, so… yeah.

Oddly enough, I was able to add on, to the tune of two Stephen King books (I know, I’m as shocked as you are), one Russian literary work (by Solzhenitsyn, who I placed right after Dostoyevsky), and one other additional author because dammit, his stuff is among my favorite reading material of all time (Raymond E. Feist). That way whoever lifts my list will have just that much more material to work with. Cue maniacal laughter, here.

That said, I chose not to add Anne McCaffrey. That’s more work than I really want to go to at this point. Sorry. Anyway, let’s get on with the meme itself, shall we?
(more…)

I think the journey to get this widget was more interesting than what I get out of it in the end. Still, I went to the trouble so here you go:

Cute, eh?

Via everywhere on the Internet, but specifically average bear, comes this “amusing” excuse to exercise my newly-created rock-and-roll playlist…

Instructions: Use your media player set to random to answer the questions with random song titles.

What does next year have in store for me?
Candle (“just take this candle / it’s the one you gave to me / it has enough light / just enough to torture me” … Oh, goody.)
What does my love life look like?
Airhead (I’m sorry, what? Apparently this meme hasn’t met my girlfriends.)
What do I say when life gets hard?
Concrete (“Concrete you don’t free my soul” … I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean.)
What do I think of when I get up in the morning?
Get Down Make Love (Er. Ahem. Never you mind, you sickos.)
What song will I dance to at my wedding?
Behind The Wheel (Wedding? Hah!)
What do I want for my career?
Army Of Me (“you’re on your own now / we won’t save you / your rescue squad / is too exhausted” … This meme isn’t exactly batting cleanup, is it?)
Favorite saying?
Diamonds Aren’t So Hard (It’s one of my favorite tracks on Tony Banks’ “Bankstatement” album, but as a saying? Not so much. “So come with me / where dragons rule the air / and diamonds aren’t so hard to find…”)
Favorite place?
Whoah (“whoah oh / don’t wanna see you back here again / whoah oh” … Well, I’m bewildered. How about you?)
What do I think of my parents?
You May Not Be Released (One last Oils song for the list. So much for Winamp’s randomizer. Note my lack of comment on the actual song selection…)
Where would I go on a first date?
Heat (“better run while you can / better set the tall sail / better make deep cover / before the boys have you nailed” … What any given Jethro Tull song has to do with dating is anyone’s guess, let alone this one from the spy-movie-themed “Under Wraps” album.)
Drug of Choice?
Flames (“when I am with you / there’s no reason to pretend that / when I am with you / I feel flames again” … No additional comment should be necessary, especially if you know the rest of the lyrics. Ahem.)
How do I describe myself?
Going Under (Last summer, maybe. Since last fall I’ve been trying to come back up again…)
What is the thing I like doing the most?
King Nothing (“wish I may, wish I might / have this wish, I wish tonight / I want that star, I want it now / I want it all and I don’t care how” … Look, I don’t know. I just like that snippet of lyric.)
What is my state of mind like at the moment?
Anybody Listening (“is there anybody listening? / is there anyone that sees what’s going on? / read between the lines / criticize the words they’re selling” … Maybe “at the moment” isn’t accurate, but… sure.)
How will I die?
I Don’t Care Anymore (“I won’t be there anymore / get out of my way / let me by / I got better things to do with my time / I don’t care anymore” … Er, huh?)
Song they’ll play at my funeral?
Metropolis (“there’ll never be another quite like you / I’m so involved with everything you do / don’t say nothing good will ever come of this / don’t say the damage is worse than it is” … Well, it could’ve been worse. Hmm.)
What song will I put as the subject?
San Jacinto (“we will walk – on the land / we will breathe – of the air / we will drink – from the stream / we will live – hold the line”)

Via your average bear:

Bold the ones you’ve read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (No, but I have read Time Enough For Love as well as Job.)
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson (I’m sorry, folks. As a card carrying techie I’m supposed to love this one, but I just couldn’t get into it. Gibson’s style annoyed me.)
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley (I tried, Lil’. I really, really tried.)
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey * (Pern books are my anti-drug. Well, at least up through Skies. After that, fuggeddaboutit.)
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (Donaldson’s only enjoyable work is the Mordant’s Need set, and maybe the Gap series if you like really grim Sci-Fi.)
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams *
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice (Oddly enough, I read Queen of the Damned first. Take pity on my soul.)
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny (No, but I’ve read the Amber series. Ugh.)
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke *
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven (It’s on my list.)
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien (I own an old, old copy… thanks Dad!)
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (At least, I vaguely recall having started it once. Maybe I even finished it. Hmm.)
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer