Suespace

To all NYC Kinksters!

suespace74@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:29:55 GMT

As many of you know, August and I are the Co-Facilitators of the Relationships SIG (Special Interest Group) at TES. We hold one meeting each quarter, and we're aiming to bring in some great presenters to talk about the wide, diverse range of Relationships topics.

So, I hope you'll come out this WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 to see:

“Because some things never change … and some things do” with Soulhuntre and Tatsumi
That quote sums up the complex interplay of some relationships well. For many of us our relationships with those we are close to cannot always be summed up in a single dynamic and changes over time. How do you decide what is being flexible, and what is compromising the core values you hold dear? Join Soulhuntre and his house for a wide open look / discussion at how messy, complex and ultimately simple it can get.

If you've ever seen Soulhuntre and/or Tatsumi present, you know they're both fascinating, engaging presenters. You won't want to miss this. So come on out to TES on Wednesday! It's at 260 West 36th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues), 3rd Floor. Doors open at 7:30 pm, class begins at 8:00 pm. It's $4 for members/students/members of other SM organizations, and $8 for anyone else.

See you there!

Three years! (And a day)

suespace74@gmail.com — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:27:28 GMT

Yesterday, Jason and I celebrated our third anniversary. Three years ago (yesterday), we dressed up real nice, stood under the chuppah, and said our vows in front of family and dear friends. It was a beautiful, sunny, early October day, and it makes me happy to recall it every year on this day. It might also interest some of you to know that the third anniversary is the Leather Anniversary. :) We skipped getting each other anniversary presents (although Jason sent lovely flowers - my favorite, calla lillies - to me at work), but we plan to buy Jason some boots, which he definitely needs and wants, as a present for us.

It was very nice of TES to cancel their Board meeting last night so that Jason and I could spend the evening together with a very nice dinner at a place we hadn't tried yet in Sunnyside, followed by some very fun bedroom time involving rope, followed by a viewing of Project Runway. All in all, a wonderful evening.

Research help

suespace74@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:29:02 GMT

Who out there is really good with online research, or even old-fashioned, go-through-the-archives research? There's something I've been dying to find out for years, and just cannot get anywhere through internet searches. I'm looking for an obituary (or any information) on someone who died in 1995, and just can't get anywhere. I suppose I could take the extra step and sign up for one of those paid services, but I don't trust them. I've used google, bing, newspaper archives, etc. Any advice on where - or how - to look? I know the person's name, birthdate and death date, burial location, and last known city of residence.

suespace74@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:19:14 GMT

I have about a million things to post about. Things have been good, great, busy, crazy. We went on vacation (Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Syracuse, Long Island), celebrated Jason's bit 40th birthday in a bunch of ways (I owe him a post about Spa Castle), etc. But I'm planning yet another party this weekend (friend's baby shower at my place), my best friend is in town from L.A., work is insane, I have two pieces I want to write and submit for an anthology, and I've gotten to the gym once in the last month. So... things have not calmed down enough to write the posts that I'd like to write. (Or read the ones that I'd like to read. I'm way behind.)

So for now, if you're mourning John Hughes like I am, here's an awesome blog post you should read:

http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html

Bid! Bid! Bid!

suespace74@gmail.com — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:52:44 GMT

Hi all,
I haven't been around much, here or in person, and I'm going to continue to be a ghost for the next couple of weeks. I got really sick this week (sore throat, fever), so I need to recover from that, but the main reason is that our annual gala at work is on Monday, April 27, and I'm going to be working a lot in preparation for that. (And then I'll need to recover from THAT. So April is pretty much a wash at this point.)

Speaking of the gala... part of the way we fundraise for my theater in association with the gala is by holding an online auction. I know people aren't feeling that wealthy right now, but there's lots of fantastic items, and some of them haven't even been bid on yet, so they're a steal. So check it out - there's theater tickets with backstage meetings with actors, sports events, drinks and dinners with celebrities, trips, museum tours, some great baked goods, consultations with designers, even a photo session for your pet. (I personally think that taking a trapeze lesson with Jonathan Groff, star of Spring Awakening and last summer's version of Hair, and a truly nice guy, is one of our best items. And I can vouch that all of the baked goods - from the winners of the annual PH Bakeoff - are excellent and so worth it.) There's several items not limited to NYC, so you can bid from anyhere. There's even two nights at a fancy Boston hotel and two round-trip tickets on the Limoliner bus between NYC to Boston on for all of you who often go between those cities.

There are still lots of items going for under $100. So while I rarely push personal causes here, since this is something where everyone can benefit - check it out!

Bidding ends April 23. Bidding for about half the items will end online that day; the other half will continue bidding in the room at our gala on April 27, but you can enter an absentee bid to keep competing.

Here's a link to the auction:
www.playwrightshorizons.cmarket.com

And here's a link to a Time Out article about the auction that summarizes some of the best items:
http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/upstaged/2009/04/jonathan-groff-is-a-swinger-and-other-misleading-promises/

Questions #2 and #3

suespace74@gmail.com — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:21:30 GMT

It's still Question Month!

Do you think anyone else from HS turned out to be "one of us?"
Oh, I totally do, but I don't think I could point out one or two specific people. We hung out with people who prided themselves on being different in some way, and I'd bet that a few (more) of those radio station and/or theater people have at least dabbled in bdsm in private, if not become a part of the public scene. However, I tend to be a bit naive about these things, and probably would be shocked - the way I was the day I ran into you at a TES meeting on Bond Street! - if I ever ran into any of them in a scene setting. (I admit, I wondered briefly if this question was less of an innocent question and more of a "Do you know what I know?" question. You'd know more about it than I would, I'm sure!)

When did you first realize how badly you want me?
Well I did say to ask me anything.... Let's just say it was longer ago than you probably think. :)

March is still question month! So ask me anything, either here or <url=http://redhead-sue.livejournal.com/159214.html>here</url>(where I think I've now screened comments, but feel free to ask anonymously if you want).

Question month!

suespace74@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:29:16 GMT

Question #1: If you were a shoe...what type of shoe would you be and why? Bonus question...what outfit would be worn with you?

The perfect question coming from you, and I barely know you!

I think I would be a black mary-jane pump. Comfortable and practical, but also cute and a little sexy.

The outfit (while I know the logical choice is the classic schoolgirl outfit, that's not really who I am) would go along the same lines - casual skirt (denim maybe?), nice short-sleeved top that hugs my curves just a bit. Again - comfortable, but cute and sexy.

March is question month! (But you knew that already)

suespace74@gmail.com — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:30:24 GMT

I know I've been pretty quiet about posting lately, and that I'm also behind on finishing the "say five things and I'll comment on them" meme I asked people to do for me, but... so it is. I've been busy, at work and elsewhere, and while that's mostly good (I got to spend two fantastic days last weekend catching up with friends I hadn't seen in a while and just talking and having great conversations), it has me behind on my LJ-ing. I skimmed a few days back, and I'm glad I did as I read some great news from friends, but I might have missed a few things.

Anyway...

March is question month! (Not to mention my birthday month!) So - ask me anything here, and I'll answer it in a post. I hope people will ask things, although I'm a bit behind on my own asking as well. It'll get me posting. And - I like to talk about myself. Who doesn't?

So, ask away. Personal things, things you've been curious about, random questions you're asking anyone else. Whatever.

Oscar meme

suespace74@gmail.com — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:03:17 GMT

Behind the cut.

How many of these best-picture Oscar nominated movies have you seen? Bold the ones you've seen, regardless of whether you saw them in the cinema, on TV/video, or on a plane years after they came out.

1980. Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess
1981. Chariots of Fire, Reds, Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982. Gandhi, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict
1983. Terms of Endearment, The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies
1984. Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier's Story
1985. Out of Africa, The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi's Honor, Witness
1986. Platoon, Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, A Room with a View
1987. The Last Emperor, Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck
1988. Rain Man, The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl
1989. Driving Miss Daisy, Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot
1990. Dances with Wolves, Awakenings, Ghost, The Godfather Part III, Goodfellas
1991. The Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides
1992. Unforgiven, The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howards End, Scent of a Woman
1993. Schindler's List, The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day
1994. Forrest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption
1995. Braveheart, Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino (The Postman), Sense and Sensibility
1996. The English Patient, Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets & Lies, Shine
1997. Titanic, As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential
1998. Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella), Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line
1999. American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense
2000. Gladiator, Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic
2001. A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge!
2002. Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist
2003. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit
2004. Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways
2005. Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich
2006. The Departed, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen
2007. No Country for Old Men, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood
2008. Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader

I see a bunch of movies I should really catch sometime in here. Also some surprises - Four Weddings and a Funeral was up for Best Picture? I don't remember that at all. And a few movies in the 80s I haven't even heard of, like The Dresser. I'm also surprised that I seem to have an aversion to foreign films, even British/Irish/Scottish, which makes up a lot of the ones I missed in the last 10 years. Also of note - in the last ten years, I've only missed four Oscar movies. I think that makes me a little crazy, but whatever. :)

Tonight at TES!

suespace74@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:57:42 GMT

If you're in the area, come on out to TES tonight! It's my and August's first meeting as the new Co-Facilitators of the Relationships SIG, and we're really excited about it. The topic is "The Intersection of Love, Sex and SM" with panelists Lolita Wolf, Soulhuntre, Lexi and Jason. With this fantastic group, we're sure to get a great discussion going on the topic.

'Tis the Season

suespace74@gmail.com — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:57:40 GMT

I don’t have a lot of money for donations right now, although there are many groups I would like to support. I was feeling bad that I was cutting back on my usual year-end donations, but then I realized that I’m actually giving in a few ways this season, all of which cost nothing or near-nothing. I thought I’d post them here in case anyone else was looking for ideas of how to give without spending:

For the sixth year, I’m organizing the annual food drive at work. All of the food goes to City Harvest, which distributes it to 600 food banks and community organizations throughout the city. Last year, our staff donated 150 pounds of food. I’m aiming to equal or beat that goal this year, but donations have been slow. (I’m good at nagging, though. :) Since people can bring in food right from their pantries, it doesn't have to cost anything, although just $10 at a grocery store can bring in a lot of food.
http://www.cityharvest.org/home.aspx?catid=1&pg=18

I donated two old coats to the New York Cares Coat Drive this morning. It was really easy, there was a box in front of the Jamba Juice in Port Authority on my way to work.
http://www.nycares.org/volunteer/annual_events/coat_drive/index.php

I saw a piece on one of the network morning shows the other day about a little boy whose life was saved with a bone marrow transplant from a donor who was a stranger – she had added her information to the national registry years before. I realized how many people must be ill and desperately waiting for a match, and how relatively easy it could be to help save a life. So I signed up for the registry. Okay, this one cost a little – it costs $52 to order the testing kit they send you in the mail. (You swab the inside of your cheek and send it back.)
http://www.marrow.org/index.html>National Bone Marrow Registry

I’m planning to give blood as part of the Big Apple Blood Drive next week, if I can. (I often get turned away for slightly low iron levels.)
https://drm.nybloodcenter.org/publicscheduler/Welcome.aspx

just a little note

suespace74@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:20:09 GMT

At the end of movie reviews in the New York Times, the article always lists the rating of the movie, usually with some notes about why the movie received that rating (i.e. "some nudity," or "profanity" or something.) Every now and then, the writer uses that space to make a little commentary on the rating or the film itself. I particularly enjoyed this one today:

“Wendy and Lucy” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has some swearing, a little drug use and a brief implication of violence, but no nudity, sex or murder. The rating seems to reflect, above all, an impulse to protect children from learning that people are lonely and that life can be hard.

Giving thanks

suespace74@gmail.com — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:34:22 GMT

Most years at this time, I do a post about what I'm thankful for. This usually involves a mushy listing which includes: Jason, my family, my great job, my great friends, my freedom, my fantastic scene community, my health, my ability to live in the best city in the world. And this year I just want to say: I am grateful and so thankful to be so boringly happy that the list hasn't really changed from year to year much lately. I remain in love and loving my committed-yet-open relationship, I have kept so many good friends in my life in so many different ways, I continue to enjoy the scene in different ways each year and to explore new things and parts of myself, I continue to have an amazing, fun and supportive family, I am still in relatively excellent health, I still love my sometimes-frustrating-but-nearly-always-rewarding job, and I will always find this city endlessly fascinating and open to adventure. Two people I know who were/are sick with cancer are doing very well, I've gotten to see two long-distance friends recently, I've seen good movies and good theater, I've enjoyed great meals and laughed a lot. Things are good, really good. I've had dark times in my past, and I'm just so glad to be in the midst of this happy, thriving period. I know it won't always be like this - I know I'll have to deal with loss again, and there will be other bad times - so I really want to take a moment to be thankful for the simple fact that my list hasn't changed much in recent years.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

Duh

suespace74@gmail.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:00:22 GMT

My workplace just put a stricter/more extensive firewall onto our system. (And to the computer experts on my list: if those words don't all sound right, that's because I have no idea about these things like technology. So basically they put something onto our computers that restricts what websites we can visit.) So I can't get to things like the TES website anymore from work, but that's okay - I really shouldn't have been doing that from work, anyway. But they've gone a little too far - a coworker of mine tried to go to the website for a bar and grill to make reservations, and was blocked by the "alcohol/tobacco" prohibition. So we did a little checking, and we can't get to any sites that have anything to do with wine - including, say, the websites of the vineyard that donates wine to us. Seeing as how we often do special events and both order wine and research potential donors/sponsors (like Brooklyn Brewery, for example), this is pretty ridiculous. Time to email the IT folks and get them to lift some of the restrictions.

Election Day

suespace74@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:56:04 GMT

Last Saturday, Bravo was running a season 1 West Wing marathon. It totally got me fired up to vote. :)

I was thinking about a mini-rant about how I hate when everyone posts/emails/tells me to vote, but I looked back at my Election Day 2004 post, and it had a similar rant, so you're all spared. (It also had a complaint about how I don't have to show ID to vote, which I was also complaining about this morning. Man, am I predictable.)

Voting was fairly easy. The old women running the place were a bit confused, but we were in and out in 30 minutes. It helped that we knew our election district, sparing us an additional line to wait on to find out. And it helped that both of our last names started with A - L; in our district, the M-Z line was out the door, but A-L was pretty short.

Whenever I vote, I can't help but think of the fact that women in this country have had the right to vote for less than 100 years. That I'm able to vote because people fought for that right. That it even took a fight for my voice to be recognized as equal infuriates me; but that people took up that fight and won it inspires me.

Today I voted for someone whose ancestors also had to fight to be recognized as equal, not to mention free. I am full of hope. I feel similar to when I voted at age 18 in my first election in 1992, for Bill Clinton. And now that I'm older and wiser, my hope is tempered with trepidation. I don't want to be disappointed. Not just in the election results, but in the next administration. But I'm still full of hope.

To run or not to run

suespace74@gmail.com — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:14:01 GMT

Tonight is Meet the Candidates night at TES. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I think it’s important to go and hear the people who are running for the board speak, hear their plans and opinions and thoughts. On the other hand, I am disappointed with the choices we have. And for that, I have no one to complain to but myself.

I came thisclose to running for the board this year. I’ve thought about it in past years, but never as seriously as I did this year. I have spent some time over the past few months discussing TES with a couple of friends – what’s wrong with TES, what’s right with TES, what could be improved with a little work, and what could be improved with a lot of work. I love TES, and I think it does a great job in so many ways. But I also see it faltering in some areas. I have ideas to help. Some are easy, some would be difficult to implement or would face opposition. But they’re good ideas, and they have the best interests of TES in mind.

So I submitted my name at the very last instant of the midnight deadline. And then I withdrew my submission two days later, after a weekend of agonizing over that decision. Why? A lot of reasons:

- For one, I didn’t feel ready to jump into that kind of commitment without truly knowing what I was getting into. (One of my ideas is to have current and past board members hold a meeting about running for the board next spring, taking interested people through the running process and then what it truly entails to be a board member.) In the last year, I’ve been to one board meeting and one membership meeting. I didn’t think this reflected any kind of commitment to TES. If I couldn’t find it in myself to attend more board meetings as a member, what made me think I would suddenly want to attend ALL of them as a board member?

- Fear. Definitely fear. I freak out when facing something new, and this was the unknown. And a potential two years of it. And if I had run and if I had received a two year term, there’s no way I would back out. I would be committed. And I was scared of getting into something I didn’t like and being miserable for two years, with no way out except to deny my responsibilities, which I refuse to do.

- I’ve watched friends serve on the board in the past. I’ve seen the time it eats out of their lives. Not to mention the frustration, anger, annoyance. To tell the truth, I haven’t gotten a really positive image of board service from the people I’ve seen participate in it and from the few board meetings I’ve attended. Running almost felt like an obligation rather than something I truly wanted. And I’ve been enjoying my life. I’ve been enjoying the time I have for friends and social life and downtime and I didn’t want to lose that. I just took on a promotion at work, and I feared that taking on a large commitment at TES would keep me from doing the best job I can at work.

- I was exhausted after TES Fest (the deadline to submit your name to run was four days after the end of the event), and honestly, a bit sick of thinking of TES and working for TES at the time. It was not a good time for me to be objective about the organization or my place in it.

- Running in order to prevent other people from getting on the board is not a good reason to run.

So I decided not to run. Perhaps I did the smart, right thing for me and my mental well-being and happiness, or perhaps I took the coward’s way out. I’m not sure. I just know that I wasn’t ready to take the step. But I decided that I would spend the next year trying to be a better, more involved TES member. I will try to get my ideas and opinions heard through the channels members have available to us – board meetings, membership meetings, interacting with board members. If I find that I can’t get my opinions heard or considered this way, I’ll think about running next year. And if I find that I continue to skip board meetings and not live up to my “more involved member” plan, I’ll know that running for the board next year isn’t right for me. I’d also like to find a committee I can serve that fits my interests, skills and schedule as well. But a part of me has been pulling away from TES in the last year – attending fewer meetings and parties, for example. So we’ll see where all of this goes.

In the meantime, I’ll go to Meet the Candidates tonight and listen to what the candidates have to say. I always try to keep my mind open until I’ve read the statements and hear the candidates speak. I admit, this is hard to do. There are a few people running who I just cannot ever see myself voting for, and I doubt that tonight will change my mind. But for the others, especially those who I don’t know well and haven’t seen very often, I’m very curious to see what they have to say. I take my vote – and TES – seriously. I admire the people who chose to step up and offer themselves for the commitment that I wasn’t ready or willing to make. But I also don’t intend to let what’s wrong with TES continue to be wrong, or to let Board members go unchallenged. There are lots of ways to participate in making this a great organization.

Happy Birthday!

suespace74@gmail.com — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:10:32 GMT

Happy Birthday to my husband, friend, partner, top, dominant, love of my live, and all around good and fun guy, Jason. :)

Jason, you've made my life so happy and wonderful that I've run out of words to tell you so. In the next year, may your hard work pay off, and may you be as happy as you've made me. I love you and I'm so proud of you.

decisions, decisions, part II

suespace74@gmail.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:59:18 GMT

I think I decided what I'm going to do about the Chicago trip. The result is complicated, but the simple answer is that I'm going to go, and combine it with some days off (which I wanted to take sometime in August, anyway) before and after, so it doesn't feel so much like go-go-go-norest.

One thing resolved.

And of course, another, bigger, decision just came along.

Not sure yet what I'm going to do. Let the process begin.

book meme

suespace74@gmail.com — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:18:05 GMT

This book meme is going around. I've seen it before, but I don't think I've done it. The original heading (starting with "Someone") is below, but I find it a little confusing. (Like what is "The Big Read"?) As I originally heard it, some national book organization (i.e. "someone") put together a list of the top 100 books that people own, but have not read. But I could be off on that, or that could be a different list. Anyway, since I just finished lunch and don't really want to go work on my corporate proposal just yet, here's my book meme.

"Someone" reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed. It's not the Big Read though -- they don't publish books, and they've only featured these books so far. In any event...
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you started but did not finish.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own blog

1. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
3. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
4. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
5. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
6. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
7. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
8. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
9. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
10. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
11. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
12. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
13. His Dark Materials (trilogy) - Philip Pullman
14. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
15. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
18. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
19. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
20. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
21. Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
22. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
23. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
24. Animal Farm - George Orwell
25. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
26. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
27. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
28. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
29. Charlotte's Web - E.B. White
30. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
31. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
32. Complete Works of Shakespeare (Have I read every single one? Not sure. But between my theater and english majors in college, I bet I came close.)
33. Ulysses - James Joyce
34. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
35. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
36. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
37. The Bible
38. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
39. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
40. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
41. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
42. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
45. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
46. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
47. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
48. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
49. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
50. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
51. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
52. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
53. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
54. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
55. Middlemarch - George Eliot
56. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
57. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
58. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
59. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
60. Emma - Jane Austen
61. Persuasion - Jane Austen
62. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
63. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
64. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
65. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
66. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
67. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
68. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
69. Atonement - Ian McEwan
70. Dune - Frank Herbert
71. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
72. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
73. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
74. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
75. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
76. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
77. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
78. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
79. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
80. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
81. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
82. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
83. Dracula - Bram Stoker
84. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
85. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
86. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
87. Germinal - Emile Zola
88. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
89. Possession - A.S. Byatt
90. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
91. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
92. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
93. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
94. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
95. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
96. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
97. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
98. Watership Down – Richard Adams
99. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
100. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

commencement

suespace74@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:45:32 GMT

The guy from Xerox who spoke at my college graduation left nearly no impression on me, except that he tried to appeal to us by putting part of his speech into the format of a Top Ten list.

This, on the other hand, is a brilliant graduation speech. Well worth reading - JK Rowling speaking to the 2008 Harvard graduating class:

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2008/06.05/99-rowlingspeech.html

I will not go to school today, said little Peggy Ann McKay...

suespace74@gmail.com — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:09:23 GMT

Bonus points to anyone who recognize where the title of this post comes from.

Anyway, I'm sick. I tried to ignore it in good ol "If you ignore it, it will go away" fashion, but alas, that didnt' work. The little cough that started on Friday afternoon whenever I tried to laugh turned into a cough that made my throat sore on Saturday and a cough that made my voice go away on Sunday. Today it's a sniffle/sore throat/cough that has me home from work. And high on Robitussin. Good stuff, but it definitely creates that "medicine head" feeling. But anything that stops me from choking repeatedly is a good thing.

I suppose it's an okay time to get sick. The only after-work plan I had to cancel was my trainer appointment tonight. (Didn't have his email, so I had to call him - poor guy could barely hear me, that's how little voice I have.) I have two family events next weekend - nephew's birthday party and stepbrother's fiance's wedding shower - and I'd like to go to both. So unlike many of my past colds, I would like this one to go away quickly, please. Thank you.

Because I'm not done wasting time during my workday

suespace74@gmail.com — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:53:21 GMT

1. Go to google. Type in "Find Chuck Norris." Hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.

2. Link to the "Stuff White People Like" Blog:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

Things we're leaving behind

suespace74@gmail.com — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:18:44 GMT

I thought this article, in the Washington Post, was really interesting - about things that used to be common, but which are becoming obsolete:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/12/AR2008031202907.html

And here's the list that accompanied the article (it's long - cut to save your friends list). It's amazing how many of these brought back sense memories for me - the clack of my mom's manual typewriter, the smell of mimeograph paper, the clean line of dots on the side of the old green-and-white striped printer paper, the joy of a mix tape crafted just for me (each song in a very carefully selected order), my cute first mini-boom box (it was a teal color) with a dual tape deck, the smooth flow the dial of our old, heavy rotary phone in the den of the house I grew up in, my first wooden tennis racket, my mom folding down the corners of pages in catalogues to remind herself of the items she wants (she still does this, actually), my dad meeting us at the gate when we returned from a spring break trip to Florida to see the grandparents, paper sharpener shavings falling on the classroom floor...

WORKPLACE

Carbon paper

Wite-Out

Word processors

Electric typewriters

Press type

Wax paste-up

Address books

Yellow Pages

Floppy disks

Secretaries

Shorthand

Rolodexes

Lickable stamps

Bike messengers

White type on black screens

PalmPilot Graffiti alphabet

Phone trees

CRT monitors

Typing pools

Dot-matrix printers

Fax paper on rolls

Printer paper with holes on the sides

MUSIC

Tape decks

Walkmans

Portable CD players

Eight-tracks

MiniDiscs

Record stores

Boomboxes

Napster

Flicking lighters at a concert's end

Standing in line for tickets

BEAUTY & FASHION

Shoehorns

Tie tacks

Teased hair

Catalogue shopping

Illuminated mirrors that simulate different environments

Stonewashed jeans

Sun-in

Men with one earring

Crow's-feet or laugh lines

Press-on nails

Bolo ties

Suspenders

Full slips

Polyester

Flattop haircuts (except in military)

Fur

Girdles

Wristwatches

Dingy teeth

Earmuffs

Pompomed socks

COMPUTERS & THE INTERNET

Friendster

Metacrawler

E-mails written with the formality of letters

Dial-up

Sound of the modem starting up

Non-wireless Internet

AOL CDs in the mail

Kozmo delivery

Prodigy

Video games without avatars

BABIES

Doctor-administered pregnancy tests

Diaper pins

Diaper delivery services

Hard plastic shoes

Johnny-Jump-Ups

Cesareans only for emergencies

Rocking chairs

Smoking while pregnant

Unflattering maternity clothes

Glass baby bottles

KIDS & SCHOOL

Paper routes

Wall-mounted pencil sharpeners

Calculator watches

Having to learn to touch-type

Trapper Keepers

1600 high scores on the SATs

College acceptance letters via mail

Choose Your Own Adventure books

Slide rules

Film projectors in classrooms

Good penmanship

Mimeograph machines

Pocket protectors

Learning BASIC

Silver dollars given for special occasions

UNICEF boxes for Halloween

Home economics class

CARS

Manual windows

Getting out to open the garage door

Full-service gas stations

DVD-less road trips

Cigarette lighters

Cabs with jump seats in the back

Non-jumbo cup holders

Kicking the tires of a new car

Old-school Volkswagen Bugs

Optional seat belts

Optional child car seats

Optional car insurance

Nonstandard air bags

Gas less than $3 a gallon

TripTiks

FOOD & DINING

Stovetop popcorn poppers

TV dinners

Cyclamate sweetener

Electric frying pans

Everyone at the table ordering dessert

Thinking of sushi as exotic

Tab in soda machines

TRAVEL

Film

Flash cubes

Getting dressed up for the airplane

Travel agents

Plane tickets sent in the mail

Hotel room keys

Smoking on planes

Stewardesses in wigs

Affordable train travel

Polaroids

Hitchhiking

Postcards

In-flight meals

Traveler's checks

Money belts

Elevator operators

Saying goodbye at the airport gate

Being out of touch

HEALTH & SANITATION

Mercurochrome

Doctors making house calls

Oat bran as a cholesterol reducer

Toxic shock syndrome

Orthodontic headgear

Plaster casts

Appendicitis scars

Tonsillectomies

Routine overnight hospital stays

Sanitary napkin belts

Having to ask a store clerk for condoms

HOME

Water beds

Dustbusters

Non-digital TV

Photo albums

Handwritten letters

Fuzzy TV reception

Toilets with pulls

Stereo systems

Analog clocks

SPORTS & RECREATION

Wooden tennis rackets

Ignoring the World Cup

Thinking Europeans can't play basketball

The set shot

Star athletes who swear they've never used drugs, and mean it

High diving boards

Biking without helmets

GOING OUT

Walk/Don't Walk text signs

Cigarette machines

Renting movies on Friday nights

Affordable theater tickets

"Cocktail table" Ms. Pac-Man

Finding dates in bars

Hair crimpers

Fashion models weighing more than 110 pounds

Vanities

Hey, at least I'll always have my appendix scar to remind myself of the good ol' days...

Question #6!

suespace74@gmail.com — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:04:00 GMT

What do you like most about...your place of employment...What makes them a good organization?

This is a fun question to answer, because I really like my job (most of the time). I think what I like most is the environment. Everyone here is committed to what we do. Everyone here is a theater lover, in one form or another. The people are nice, fun, and passionate, and that's what makes for a really great work environment. And because the management and board realize that we’re not working for much (although we get decent salaries for non-profit and good benefits), they make it so it’s a fun place to work with lots of social occasions throughout the year. For example, we have an annual bakeoff, which we invite one of our season actors to come help judge, and which is hosted by our Marketing Director and Casting Director, who put on little skits as the judging goes on. Opening nights here aren't really glitzy affairs - they're almost more for the staff, cast and production team than anyone else. Each summer, one of our board members hosts the entire staff (plus actors, writers, etc.) at her home for a day – a weekday, meaning they close the office for this. It’s the kind of place where you can say, “I need to leave an hour early” and it’s no big deal, no questions asked – we’re trusted and respected.

As for what makes it a good organization, the first thing that came to my mind is commitment to our mission. A lot of theaters get a little iffy about their missions, especially after being around for 30 years or so. (Like one NYC theater that talks about being committed to new work, but often does revivals, or another that is supposed to do revivals of work that didn’t get a lot of attention the first time around, but does a lot of new work premieres.) We are committed to contemporary writers and their new work. Period. We've never produced a revival or done Shakespeare. We produce new work by American writers, both emerging and established. And that sounds like grant proposal-speak, but working here day in and day out, I get to see it in action. I see it in the way we have a dramaturg (as opposed to a theatrical director) as our Artistic Director, in the way our Literary staff works with the writers on readings that REALLY serve the writer's development process, and in the way our season gets planned. It’s really inspiring, and I think most of our writers absolutely love their experience here. (One of our season writers, who we’re producing next, has pretty much been hanging around here all season. He just seems to like it here.) Also, I think this theater is willing to take a risk now and then. Our work can be a bit stodgy – we’ve had our share of seasons full of old, male writers – but this season we’re doing four female writers and ALL emerging writers. And it’s paying off. That’s really cool.

I give up

suespace74@gmail.com — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:24:48 GMT

Okay, I need LJ help. Jason tells me that my journal is not set to allow anonymous comments. However, I looked at "manage comments" and I didn't find anywhere where I could change this setting. My journal is set to allow comments from "everybody" (regardless of whether they have an LJ name), so that should take care of it, right? Or am I missing something?