brainofck

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin



Blurb:

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.

When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life.

But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.

This was the April read for bookclub_dw; my answers to the discussion post can be found here: discussion post answers

I really liked this book - I've enjoyed the fantasy novels that feature East Asian mythology and tropes that I've read in the past year. This one focuses on brewing tea as a method of magic. There's also political intrigue and a hint of forbidden romance. I would probably call it YA. It is the first of a duology so I may pick the next one up if my library has it.

I hit up a bunch of local thrift and antique shops yesterday, looking for some specific items, but also just sort of browsing.

I have accumulated several prints from various artists - some from art shows, some from online purchases. I want to frame them all with different frames and lean then on an empty wall shelf that's been sitting there since I moved here. The last time I had a batch of prints like this, I went to Michael's and got identical frames. This time, I'm trying some a little different - and a lot less expensive! I had an inventory of what sizes I needed and pics of each print on my phone so I could see if the frames would work with them. It took going to three different stores, but I eventually found what I needed.

Another treasure I found is a Fine Young Cannibals CD for $2, which I'm currently burning to my computer.

One of my projects for this spring is wallpapering a bathroom - I took the wallpaper sample with me in case I found some art that would work with it. I found one piece, although the frame is black and it might look better against the wallpaper with a gold frame. I'll have to see once the wallpaper is up. Might paint it gold. I also found a small mirror that might work. If not, I have another spot for it.

Lastly, I found some painted glass birds Christmas ornaments. And I've got stock stuffers for my children for next Christmas and it's only April!

A very successful and rewarding raid!

This fest runs from April 25 to May 15 to celebrate the anniversary of Dreamwidth. There is RSS feed with entries tagged 'threeweeks' so you can follow along with all the entries

In celebration of Dreamwidth, I am offering a custom Dreamsheep icon, like the one I'm using on this post. Some examples I've made in previous years belonging to other people below the cut:
( icons made in previous years )

Please comment to this post with your requests - include things like colors, items, or fandoms you would like me to try to include. Although it may take me a while, I promise that anyone who makes a request will get a Dreamsheep.

1. What decade did you attend/are you attending high school or college?
The 80s!

2. What clothing fashion from that time are you glad/do you wish went out of style?
Puffed up curly perms - Nancy and Karen Wheeler make me cringe.

3. Do you still listen to the music from your high school/college years on a regular basis?
Oh, yeah, I found punk rock and never looked back. Social Distortion, Ramones, Black Flag, Bad Religion, Bad Brains, XTC. I loved New Wave also. I also love the newer post-punk/pop-punk bands like Green Day.

4. What hairstyle/hair color did/do you wear during high school/college?
Surprisingly similar to the wolf cut I currently have, but way more spiked up on top.

5. What was/is "the cool thing to do" while in high school/college?
In high school, we had an open campus and a mod schedule, so none of the teachers or administrators knew when anyone was supposed to be anywhere. We all left campus for lunch as soon as one of us could drive. Sometimes we came back for afternoon classes, sometimes we didn't.

My college was huge so I couldn't really say what the overall 'cool' thing to do was. My group tended to have pig roasts and camp outs in the nearby national forest, so that was pretty cool (sometimes literally - it got cold in those mountains!).