My new layout

For the new year, I updated my blog layout, and I have to say, I love it. It kind of looks like someone downloaded the inside of my brain!

What I've been reading lately

I become so immersed in academic and technical (work) reading that books for escape and fun have become an afterthought. I feel guilty sometimes for picking up a book that's not in some way related to a) academic pursuits or b) required reading for my job. So when I am able to read for pleasure, I find it, well, very pleasurable. My latest pursuits were Persepolis and The Key of Gold: 23 Czech Folk Tales.

Persepolis was very good; I can see why it is so often compared with one of my favorite books, Maus, by Art Speigelman. It is, like Maus, a comic book depicting horrendous real-life events. However, it is told in a very different format. The writer is giving what is basically an autobiography of her life from ages 10-25, whereas Maus is told secondhand, through the son of a survivor. It was very difficult to begin, but as I became involved in the story, I found it difficult to stop.

The Czech folk tales collection was another story. I so wanted to like these, but perhaps I'm just too old and jaded for fairy tales, at least badly fleshed out short stories rather than actual tellings with details and magic. I didn't finish the last two stories.

Next for the reading queue (since it's Spring Break, woohoo!): Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman!

So excited!

So the cupcake scarf from my shop was featured on one of my favorite blogs, Cupcakes Take the Cake! This blog showcases bakeries, and features amazing photographs of scrumptious-looking cupcakes. These women certainly know their cupcakes, but it's a refreshingly non-technical blog. They are interested in the basics, cute factor and taste.



Check them out!!