remember how I said I was going to SAVE UP for Comic-Con?

Yeah, well I totally FAIL at saving. But the purchases today were NECESSARY purchases...

I mean, AD got his new computer put together this past week. It's a BEAST! I mean, it really has to be with Starcraft II coming out in a month, he wanted to have the best video card to handle the graphics heavy awesomeness. And after I saw how smoothly Sims 3 ran on it...well, of course I NEEDED to upgrade. Placed my order with NewEgg this morning - thank goodness their credit card has no interest for 12 months on orders of $500 or more (which mine was...). So soon, I will be on a machine that can run Sims 3 with no problems and will be ready for Starcraft II next month, plus Civ V in September and eventually Diablo III, whenever the heck Blizzard launches that thing.

And then we went to the mall because AD was looking for a shirt to wear on "casual Fridays" at his job and we went into Hot Topic. AD found me some really RED hair dye and...well, I NEEDED it! I want to have CrAzY hair when I go to Comic-Con and I think bright red will be pretty durn crazy. Plus, having AD dye my hair for me with this $13 hair dye is a lot cheaper than going to a real salon. Plus, I won't get the LOOK from the stylist when I'm about to go for it (they always look worried, like half-way through the process I'm going to start screaming and I'm going to rip the brush from their hands and run out of the store - note to stylist: if I'm in there asking for RED HAIR - I WANT RED HAIR! It grows back, I know it does, it always does, so just dye it *kicks soapbox back under desk*)

And while we were at Hot Topic, I saw this little Yoda doll and when I examined him more closely I saw that he TALKED! And then I realized it was the same Yoda doll I've had on my Amazon wishlist for over a year so I HAD TO BUY HIM DIDN'T I????

And then I wandered back into the Clearance isle and there was a Supergirl t-shirt for 50% off in my size...so...yeah, I bought that too. I love Supergirl. When I was a little kid, I had Supergirl pajamas (and, to be honest, I'm in my pajamas right now which partially consist of a tank-top with the "S" logo on it...)

SEE - ALL OF THESE PURCHASES WERE JUSTIFIED! ;-P

Then AD was nice enough to take me to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and...OF COURSE I HAD TO HAVE CHEESECAKE! But he paid for that so it's not as bad hehe.

It's been a very busy Saturday, to say the least. Tomorrow I've got to be all presentable because we're going to company picnic for AD's work. Hopefully we will not melt. Our nephew will be there, so at least I know there will be SOMEONE I can talk to about important things (Buzz Lightyear vs. Ironman).

On Vox: book thoughts: The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye by Nancy Springer (2010)

The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye: An Enola Holmes Mystery

Nancy Springer

If you're not familiar with the WONDERFUL Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer, let me give you the low-down:

Enola is the younger sister of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.  On Enola's 14th birthday, her mother ran away, leaving Enola a note telling her she should do the same if she wished to remain free.  After overhearing her eldest brother, Mycroft, speak of finishing school, Enola hopped on her bicycle and pedaled away from her childhood home and eventually found herself in London.  Knowing that a young girl alone stood very little chance in the big city, she disguised herself as a lady (shoving helpful things like daggers and notepads into her corset to give herself a few more curves) and create a fake male employer.  From the safety of this secret identity, she started a career as a finder of missing persons, all the while trying to avoid her brother.

The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye is the sixth novel in the Enola Holmes series.  If you went to a library or a bookstore, you might find these books tucked away in children's fiction, but Enola's stories can be read by many ages.  Young girls around Enola's age (13-14) will enjoy the spunky heroines attitude as she solves the mysteries around London.  Older "girls" (like myself) will enjoy the interesting feminist tidbits floating around.  And I think everyone in-between will enjoy watching her encounters with her brothers and sending encoded messages to her mother. 

Springer mentions in her author bio that she read all of the Sherlock Holmes books as  a child.  I think when she sat down to write the Enola series, she did a great job of channeling Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's style - the language and vocabulary in these books are meant to appeal to avid readers.  Enola speaks as a girl of her time would to it might be a challenge for non-readers to pick up. 

I don't want to give anything away about the story, but I will say that I really enjoyed 'Gypsy Goodbye' and think it is a worthy entry into the series.  I'm only upset that I am all caught up and have to wait until book 7 to see Enola again, whenever that might be.  A fantastic series that just keeps getting better.

Originally posted on orangerful.vox.com