Excitement for The Wise Man's Fear

I am really excited, because in less than two weeks I will be headed to San Francisco for an evening to go to the reading and signing with Patrick Rothfuss for the release of The Wise Man's Fear! It's the second book in The Kingkiller Chronicles, which begins with one of my favorite books EVER, The Name of the Wind. It's a fresh, original fantasy novel that has a lot of 'classic' fantasy elements, but a lot of unique stuff too. And it's all done in a way that none of it reads as cliché or overdone. Just superb. Rothfuss spent a long time writing this book, and as such, it's very well developed and well written. Be it a word or a plot element, everything reads as if it's there because it must be.

I've been fervently re-reading The Name of the Wind lately in anticipation for The Wise Man's Fear release in March. I'd forgotten how easily it draws the reader in - I'll pick it up with the intent to read a few pages and go through two chapters without thinking anything of it. It's so hard to put down once I get going!

I'm counting down the days in my head right now until the reading in SF. I'll be meeting a friend there, which adds an extra level of awesome, even though the reading is so popular that the seats are RSVP only and they filled up in a day! (The actual signing part is open to everyone, however.) I sent mine in the day they announced the RSVP email and only got into the lobby seating, where I get to watch the reading on-screen instead of live! (Well, it's live in that I'll be watching it in real-time, just on a screen instead of the real deal.) I'm not complaining, though - I know I should be grateful I managed to get in at all.

Just wanted to share my excitement and a little book love with you - if you're a fantasy fan at all and haven't read NoTW, I highly recommend it. Also, no photos today, but I hope to get some cool ones at the reading/signing themselves to share with you!

Nom Time - Waffles and Brownies!

I'm not the best cook in the world. Honestly, for someone who considers herself a fairly creative, artsy person, I have next to zero creativity in the kitchen. (Oh, what's that one thing I made with someone that one time? I will make that now forever all the time.) But I'm a decent baker and can follow a recipe, things I'm trying to use to my advantage in my desire to break out of my kitchen comfort zone.

My latest foodstuffs:

Waffles from scratch! I got a waffle maker for Christmas (awesome present, BTW), and have been eating my fair share of waffles ever since. But until now they were all from box mixes. I never realized how sad and flat the waffles from a mix were until I made these and they were so fluffy they threatened to overflow from the waffle iron entirely. Soooo good.

Pre-wrapped little chocolate squares are so cute! I love them, but I love them even more for what I made with them..

Brownies! This is the most amazing ooey-gooey goodness ever. If it wasn't for the fact that it would mean no brownies, I would be tempted to eat all of this straight from the bowl.

I hope you can appreciate the delicious even with the low-quality phone photos!

As it was, I didn't, but I made sure not to let the batter stuck to the sides of the bowl go to waste. ;) A spoon and a glass of milk took care of that in no time.

And of course the finished product! I guess they turned out pretty well, as they were nearly gone by the time I got around to taking a picture!

I'm considering issuing some sort of food/cooking challenge to myself to help me break out of my culinary box a little more, but I haven't quite worked it out yet. If I do, I'll keep you posted, of course! And if you have any ideas you'd like to share, I'm all for hearing them. :)

Lovely, Rainy Weather

I know, I'm talking about the weather. But the reason I'm telling you about how much it's been raining the past few days (and looks to continue for the next few) is not because it was warm enough to wear a skirt the other day (a skirt with thick tall socks, but a skirt nonetheless, you tricksome weather!), but because I love the rain. I hate biking in it, but I don't mind walking, and though I'm not entirely sure why, I enjoy driving in the rain a lot. Plus, I actually really like dressing for cold weather. In addition to plenty of scarves and fluffy sweaters, this is what's been keeping me warm and cozy recently:

Om nom.

I'm a sucker for this style of jacket. And in red! It is my dearest love. And the hat may be completely ridiculous, but it is oh so warm.

Glove mittens are awesome. And I can hardly leave the house without a trusty mug of steaming tea. I am something of a tea addict, I'm afraid!

Oh yeah, sexy winterwear.

These may not be cute, but they keep my feet dry, which is more than I can say for any other shoes I own! Plus they're sturdier and more comfortable than the rubber rainboots I had that had cracked all over after a pathetically short time.

Hat: (borrowed) Hot Topic

Jacket: Forever 21

Gloves: No idea

Boots: Rocky (Haha, I just looked them up and they're totally kid's western boots. Awesome.)

Monday Love

Valentine's Day or not, Mondays can be stressful. Going from a leisurely weekend (during which you may or may not have gotten everything done which you needed to..) back into the fast-paced weekday world can hit a bit hard, and even the little things can start to pile up and get you down. I know my Monday was long and tiring, at least! But Monday doesn't have to be bad, so start your week off by reminding yourself of all the things that make your day/week/life awesome, and make the bad stuff worth it. Positive thoughts from the get-go can make the whole week better.

Even kitties can get a case of the Mondays.

My Monday Love:

• My sweet boyfriend who brings me food and a caffeinated beverage when I'm hungry and tired.
• Playing music. Such a fabulous stress release.
• Making waffles from scratch for breakfast! Yum!
• The fact that rainy weather means getting to wear pretty coats/hats/gloves/scarves.
• Adorable cats. (See above.)
• Tea. I love tea. Tea cures all ails, seriously.

What's making your Monday?

Pie Hole Box

I am a pretty big Pushing Daisies fan. I own the series, of which I have seen every episode multiple times, I often wish I could pull off Chuck's wardrobe in my day-to-day life, and I think I would quote it on a regular basis if I thought anyone I knew would get the reference.

So of course the little wooden box that I use to hold my pins/buttons has been telling me for ages that it is just waiting to become a miniature Pie Hole box. (The box came to me as a teacup box from Tea Forte.) At first I thought that I would just get a picture of it to print out and glue it on, but my printer has been out of ink for months and doesn't look to be refilled anytime soon. And then in the middle of a crafty mood the other day, it suddenly occurred to me that I should just paint the thing. So I did, and here it is! (You should be able to click on any of the pictures to enlarge them a bit.)

Starting out - note my high-tech tape roll circle stencil.

Season 1 DVD = very handy reference picture. 

The finished product! (If the background looks funny, this was taken outside after the coats of acrylic sealant I sprayed on.)

It's primarily acrylic paint, except for the outline, which was done with a black drawing pen. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out (even with the not-quite even circle..) - yay for things that are both cute and functional!

Hello, hello!

This is the first post of the reborn Susurrous Notions!

I started this blog originally for a design class I was taking. After taking a break from blogging for a while, I kind of missed it and started thinking about returning to it. I was drawn back to this blog instead of starting a new one - after all the time I spent picking out the name, I loved it and didn't want to give it up for something else.

On the other hand, I didn't want to keep my old school-assignment posts. A lot of them were awkwardly written, and not really in line with the type of posts I plan to be writing for this blog, so I saved them and cleared them, ready to start over.

So what should you expect to see on this blog?

Arts and crafts,

Cute cat photos,

book love, fun links, linguistic nerdery, daily life adventures, and whatever else floats my boat.

I hold the hope that future posts are a bit more eloquent, but blank pages are hard. Now that I've got this little introduction out of the way, it can only get easier, right?