Finished the first book!

The Princess Diaries 9: Princess Mia by Meg Cabot

4 of 5 stars

My then-13ish cousin recommended Meg Cabot‘s The Princess Diaries to me when I was in year 12. My friends Sarah, Laura and I have been sillily addicted because they are cute as heck and Hilarious (with a capital H!).

The 9th instalment was an easy read chosen to help ease me back into the reading groove, and reading about Mia’s neurotic teenage angsts was a nice change from thinking about my own (although I hope my own angsts are slightly more mature).

*My first book completed for the PTO One-Book-A-Week Challenge!

View all my reviews.

TWAT TWAT TWAT TWAT TWAT

I wonder if the title will increase my hit count at all?

Anyhoo, Frank pointed out that Team TWOP were continuing their amusing chat on the WAToday post in regards to “Sooky la la Sattler”.

For those fair readers who don’t have time to read all the comments there, it is with pleasure that I summarize the story thus far…

Yesterday Howard Sattler posted yet another outdated diatribe, this time bemoaning the fact the Government are holding police and nurses at ransom over pay because Carps et al know they won’t strike:

Were they to do the unthinkable, society as we know it would collapse.
Crime would proliferate and hospital patients would die in their thousands.

Leaving aside those amazingly statistically-accurate predictions for now, it was essentially laughable that the post was entitled “Government takes advantage of honest coppers“. (No, I won’t link to it, you poor readers suffer enough reading this blog, I do not wish any further harm upon your intellect.)

A TWOP regular, Sir Skink, as I now like to call him, posted a comment asking Mr Sattler why he only referred to the “honest” boys in blue and failed to mention the ratty ones who stuffed up the Mallard, Mickelburg and such cases and are stuffing up the Rayney investigation (as previously noted on this blog).

Surprisingly, Howard responded:

Skink,

or should I call you skank?

Oh, ouch, what a clever witty comeback. This guy is not to messed with, children. Also, don’t be mean to him on the “honest copper” comment. Because it was all the sub-editor’s fault — Howard Sattler would never have deigned to draft his own title, unlike the rest of us plebs.

The above quote has been taken from memory — specifically, my memory — and it may not be completely accurate, because Skink’s comment and Howard’s response have since been deleted by Roy Fleming, the Managing Editor of WAToday.  Skink reproduces correspondence with Mr Fleming in a comment on TWOP.

I too have had corresponded with Mr Fleming in previous weeks (I wanted to know if they happened to have plans for their site to actually be any good), but sadly, all he did was invite me out to coffee. I wish I was important enough to be banned.

Apparently Sir Skink only ever intends to be “malicious in tone and content”, unlike Howard Sattler, a prominent and respected citizen of this bright State who has never racially vilified indigenous people and breached the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) or anything. Not.

So until he’s sacked, I am just going to keep an eye on the happenings at http://howardsattlerisanidiot.wordpress.com/

the Other Side lives NICE

So someone I know just bought a new Beemer, and they got a one-month gym membership at Next Generation Kings Park in their welcome pack — because BMW sponsors the place, or whatever — and gave me the voucher. Apparently everyone thinks I need to get off my skinny butt once in a while.

Since it’s totally on the way to/from work and stuff, Matt said I should just use it for the month, even if it’s just to see how the Other Side lives.  I went to join up after work last night (the voucher expires on the 30th, and yes, I know I like to leave everything to the last minute) and ooooooooh, it’s so FANCY!!!

Amusingly, this is on their membership info page:

How much is membership to a Next Generation Club?
We like all of our prospective members to come along to the club and see the fantastic facilities available, allow us to meet you in person and give you a chance to experience Next Generation Clubs first-hand before making a decision. In addition, due to the various membership categories that we offer, we feel it best to discuss which category will be best suited to your needs.

Translation: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

But that shouldn’t be surprising: they are sponsored by BMW… although that doesn’t really seem to be a very effective marketing choice on Auto Classic‘s part — there were more Porches that Beemers in the parking lot.

***

Book Challenge Update: only 59 pages to go before I finish PD9 — sweet.

Taking the PTO Book Challenge

One of my fave blogs to read when I am procrastinating is called Put Things Off.  It’s written by a funny Pommy chap called Nick (but all people from England are funny, aren’t they?) and it’s fabulous because it’s called “Put Things Off” but it’s really about productivity — and I enjoy the irony and also that I can justify not doing work because I’m actually learning something.  Plus the blog’s mascot is a fricking cute kitten with a ball of wool, and I fricking love kittens.

As previously mentioned, I am totally struggling with the book-reading thing at the moment, but even though I joined Goodreads and stuff a while ago (there’s a link on the right there if you care to have a look), I have just not been able to get on track with plowing though my Books To Read Pile. Actually, now I have two piles, neatly separated in to Fiction and Non-Fiction (although I’m sure you will all be glad to know that unlike the Fiction and Non-Fiction shevles in my book case, the piles are not alphabetized. Sheesh, I’m not THAT much of a geek). But now that I’m looking at my To Read list on Goodreads, I see that none of these books are even in my To Read Pile, so this is troubling.

However, PTO Nick has set up a reading challenge, and while I’m not game enough to take up the City to Surf challenge with Jules and everyone, because hello, I don’t do exercise, unless it involves shopping, this challenge looks like it will suit my not-so-active lifestyle much better.

I would really like to be able to get though my To Read Pile(s) because I have actually set myself a little rule that I am not allowed to buy any more books until I read the ones I already have. Granted, I won’t (and have not) let that rule get in the way of exercising ye olde Marstercard Debit, as demonstrated by my excursion to Borders at lunch today which resulted in the purchase of two shiny new magazines. But still. There are some books I wanted to buy, too. So I was good.

There are no pressing commitments this week so I plan to actually get right on top of this challenge by at least finishing Princess Diaries #9, which I have STILL not read even though I bought it two days after we got back from holidays.

Oh no wait. Get Smart comes out tomorrow and there’s that End Of Financial Year do on Friday. Gah, that means I need to finish PD9 tonight. Better snap to it!!!!!!!!