Just say YES!

In case you missed the good news, we are ENGAGED!  Woooooooot.  Justin proposed when we were visiting my parents in NY.  I said, "Are you serious?!" then I said yes.

My ring is a black diamond - SO cool.  They're from outer space.  For sci-fi fans and Discovery Channel nerds like us.  Read about black diamonds here.

We're very happy and excited.  No plans are made yet, but we're thinking somewhere back east in the spring/summer when we can count on the weather.  For now, we're just both looking at my left hand a lot and wondering if I'm supposed to wear it at the gym and in the shower and stuff.  Apparently I am, but it feels weird to sweat on something so pretty!

Smarter than You - FOOL

Fool: A Novel by Christopher Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bawdy and brilliant, Christopher Moore is just plain funny.  This whole book is tongue-and-cheek almost to the point of The Princess Bride.  And I love The Princess Bride.  Moore never disappoints and I hope he'll try more random genre stuff in the future.

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As the Moulin Rouge says - FLAWLESS

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fascinating story, albeit based on multiple sources with a lot of the most interesting details still missing (because the police don't even know).  I'd be interested in a follow-up in ten years tracking how the guys who made the heist are living the life, but still keeping their stolen riches in hiding.

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Climb In - TAKE ME WITH YOU

Take Me with You by Brad Newsham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Enjoyable travelogue, and the person Newsham selects to bring back to the US is the one I was rooting for.  But he chooses at the very end, and there's no follow-up.  In fact, Newsham spoke to my book club last week and admitted that he couldn't find a publisher to back the writing of the rest of the story.

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End of an Era: ARE THESE MY...

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Georgia, don't leave us! I will miss Angus, Pantalizer Doll, Mr. Fish and even ADM. These books are ridiculously funny and completely mad. I will read the entire series over again someday, on vacation, and laugh like crazy all over again. If you're an anglophile or a 14-year old girl at heart, please check out Louise Rennison. Dave the Laugh never disappoints.

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Books: UNDRESS ME IN THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Crazy and honest, but mostly crazy. If this happened to me I might never leave home again! Gilman highlights the wonders of the 80s without beating the theme to death, and she does not sugar-coat the hardships of traveling in Asia, under communism or in the days before cell phones and computers. I wonder if her remarkable self-deprication comes because hindsight is 20-20, and she's had 20 years to think about her adventures. I'd like to read about the rest of her travels, but I bet they don't hold the crazy candle next to these.

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Attention: We Have a Tomato!

Breaking news: The first tomato of the season has hatched!  Our balcony is now officially a "garden".  Justin also has some basil and thyme going, which he used last night to make sauce for couscous.  It doesn't get much fresher than that! 

We need some trellising or something now, as my plant is about 1.5 feet tall!  Visit Justin's blog for more photos and to see how we rig this thing up with zero supplies and less money: Tomato Season Race