In New England we had little black crickets that didn’t even make me—notorious bug wimp that I am—nervous. In Maryland we don’t have crickets, we have Dire Crickets, a reference that any D&D geek will understand in a heartbeat. They’re about five times the size of the things in New England, and way weirder looking. They look like those old crickets after a radioactivity “incident” out of a horror movie about mutants. Worse, they can survive being played with, hunted, and even chomped on by my cat for more than an hour. They’ll repeatedly play dead until he loses interest, then go on the move again. I had to trap one under an empty tea tin the other morning until my husband woke up (I’m enough of a wimp under normal circumstances when it comes to bugs; it’s worse when I have insomnia and bare feet).

Latest book review: John Levitt’s New Tricks. Coming soon: a review of Patricia Potter’s Behind the Shadows.

The holiday shopping has begun! We’re seeing sales jump of our long-time faves the level 70 designs, as well as of our new level 80 designs. Grab ‘em now!

Speaking of holiday shopping, don’t forget the etsy store (errantdreams.etsy.com), filled with hand-made jewelry, bookmarks, etc. in a wide variety of price ranges and styles! More going up every day, and more than 100 items already up; we’ve recently started adding the newest bookmarks we’ve been making. Here are a few example photos:

Ice Queen Jewels by *ErrantDreams on deviantART

Tribal Hunt Bookmark by *ErrantDreams on deviantART

Sea Treasure Bookmark by *ErrantDreams on deviantART

Old World Style Bookmark by *ErrantDreams on deviantART

Jaipuri by *ErrantDreams on deviantART

I almost always avoid talking politics here, because that just isn’t what I want from this blog or this site. Talking politics nearly always devolves into nastiness, and I want this to be a comfortable, enjoyable site to visit. I do have to post this one video, however, not because of its politics, but simply because while the production value is quite low, the humor factor is quite high. Enjoy it for a laugh thanks to the amusing lyrics and hilarious facial expressions, and don’t worry about the politics of it:

Meanwhile, I’ve reviewed Mercedes Lackey’s Foundation and Candace Havens’s The Demon King and I. Coming up: reviews of some Cuisipro cookie cutters, measuring spoons, and a pastry blender; reviews of two cookbooks.

If you’re thinking of buying any of our beaded bookmarks [link] from our etsy shop—now’s the perfect time! I just got a shipment of new bookmark making supplies in after using up my original stash, and in celebration I’ve marked ALL of the previous bookmarks down by 20-30%! They make great stocking-stuffers.

Although I’ve seemed relatively quiet these last few weeks, I haven’t been idle. Today’s book review is of Deidre Knight’s Red Fire, a paranormal romance involving Georgia and immortal Spartans. Really.

I’ve been taking a ton of photos while out and about, mostly of plants and flowers; here’s a sample:

Many of those photos are available as prints.

I’ve also been putting together (and posting at our etsy store) plenty of jewelry and beaded bookmarks. Of course what with the economic crisis this was exactly the wrong time to start such an endeavor—I hear even the long-time sellers at Etsy with large followings have made few sales in the past weeks—but I have patience. I can wait until things get better, and in the meantime I’ll build up our stock of lovely things. I’m getting much better at taking photos of items, thanks to a light box and lots of practice:

If you want to buy any of them, the photos at DeviantArt have links below them to their listings at Etsy, or you can go directly to our etsy store (errantdreams.etsy.com). There are a few items that are more expensive—usually jewelry sets—but there are also plenty of items that are under $10.

Plenty more things to come soon! I have some cookware to review, as well as a ton of books. I’m in the middle of reading Ad Hudler’s Man of the House, and we’re making recipes out of some cookbooks I haven’t reviewed yet. So stick around!

A while ago I spotted a church named “Christ Our Anchor” and ever since then I’ve found myself pronouncing it with certain… other… punctuation: “Christ! Our anchor!”

What can I say. I enjoy language humor.

New book reviews since the last time I posted them: Dr. Davis Liu’s Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely, on the US healthcare system and navigating it safely. Nalini Singh’s Hostage to Pleasure, which established for me exactly why so many people think so highly of her! And Laurel Anne Hill’s Heroes Arise, a fantasy novel that focuses on world-building. I’ve had a friend visiting all last week so I haven’t gotten as much done as usual, particularly in the realm of reading; it’s fun, though, because we’ve known each other since early college, which means I’ve now known her for literally half of my life.

In awesome news, we now have more than 40 items posted at our etsy store (errantdreams.etsy.com). That includes a great handful of beaded bookmarks—each one unique—as well as jewelry and a few trinket bags. Consider buying a beaded bookmark for a friend this holiday season! This weekend I also made some fun things like a garnet and silver filigree bracelet, so expect to see some of those soon.

We’ve also started posting our level 80 designs at cafepress! More to come soon!