Be forewarned: in the following space there is a great lusting-after of material goods. Ink inquiries & feed feedback to my gmail, aoede.contact.
Eatables
I generally like: Dark, dark chocolate. Fresh fruit (in manageable quantities). Smoked salmon. Bacon. Watercress. Iced tea. Roasted seaweed.
Assam Black Iced Tea
A bottle of lightly sweetened Assam Black iced tea from Honest Tea.
Price: $1.50-2.50 USD from local retailers
Added 27 December 2010
Usables
I generally like: Durability, daily usefulness, and efficiency over stylishness -- but simple, adaptable elegance in the design is definitely a bonus.
Trader Joe's Castile Soap
A bottle of biodegradable liquid castile soap from Trader Joe's, usable as body wash, shampoo, pro- duce rinse, or dish detergent.
Price: Unbuyable. It's been
discontinued, alas. But if you have any bottles lying around...
Added 28 December 2010
Biore Pore Strips
A package of Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips, containing eight strips in total.
Price: $6.82 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 22 May 2011
"The Fir Tree" perfume
2ml vial of "The Fir Tree" perfume from CB I Hate Perfume, described as "Fir trees in the forest with a touch of frozen earth".
Price: $19.86 USD from CB I Hate Perfume
Added 24 September 2011
"M2 Black March" perfume
2ml vial of "M2 Black March" perfume from CB I Hate Perfume, described as "fresh clean scent composed of Rain Drops, Leaf Buds, Wet Twigs, Tree Sap, Bark, Mossy Earth and the faintest hint of Spring."
Price: $22.86 USD from CB I Hate Perfume
Added 24 September 2011
"Winter 1972" perfume
2ml vial of "Winter 1972" perfume from CB I Hate Perfume, described as "A field of untouched new fallen snow, hand knit woolen mittens covered with frost, a hint of frozen forest & sleeping earth".
Price: $20.86 USD from CB I Hate Perfume
Added 24 September 2011
Sibelius First
Sibelius First, the home edition of the musical com- position software.
Price: $129 USD from Avid
Added 27 December 2010
Pimsleur Comprehensive Turkish Program
A 30-lesson audio-only Turkish learning program. I have the basic -- the first ten lessons -- and I think you're supposed to be able to get a discount on the comprehensive if you have the basic, but I don't know if I still have the packaging...
Price: $230.02 USD with shipping from Amazon
Added 27 December 2010
Adobe Illustrator 5
The latest version of Adobe's vector-based graphic design software.
Price: $599 USD from Adobe
Added 27 December 2010
Adobe Photoshop 5
The latest version of Adobe's raster-based photo-editing software.
Price: $699 USD from Adobe
Added 27 December 2010
Readables
I generally like: Speculative fiction. Background stereotype-busting. Surreality, in measured doses. Internal consistency. Short fiction.
Heir Apparent
A paperback edition of "Heir Apparent", Vivian Vande Velde's novel about a kid stuck in a virtual reality game.
Price: $6.95 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Companions of the Night
A paperback edition of Vivian Vande Velde's novel "Companions of the Night", featuring a different take on the "vampire romance".
Price: $6.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Shadow Puppets
The mass-market paperback edition of "Shadow Pup- pets", the third book in Orson Scott Card's "Shadow" quartet, to complete my set.
Price: $7.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Thief of Time
The mass-market paperback edition of "Thief of Time", Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" novel featuring Susan Sto Helit and Lobsang Ludd.
Price: $7.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Oryx and Crake
A paperback edition of Margaret Atwood's post- apocalyptic science fiction novel, "Oryx and Crake". (Not that I'd object to a hardback.)
Price: $8.60 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Feed
A paperback edition of "Feed", the first novel in Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy about new media in a post-postapocalyptic world.
Price: $9.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 22 May 2011
Littl Brother
A paperback edition of "Little Brother", Cory Doc- torow's novel about the intersections of technology, privacy, and safety.
Price: $9.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Days of Magic, Nights of War
The fully illustrated paperback edition of "Days of Magic, Nights of War", second in the "Abarat" series.
Price: $10.18 USD & up without shipping from Amazon Marketplace
Added 28 December 2010
For the Win
A hardback edition of "For the Win", Cory Doctorow's novel about the intersection of gaming, economics, and worker's rights. (I wouldn't object to a paper- back, either, were one available.)
Price: $12.23 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Sandman: The Doll's House
A paperback edition of the graphic novel "The Doll's House", the second volume of Neil Gaiman's "Sand- man" series.
Price: $13.59 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
A Canticle for Liebowitz
A paperback edition of "A Canticle for Liebowitz", a science fiction novel by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (Not that I'd object to hardback.)
Price: $14.16 USD with shipping from Amazon
Added 27 December 2010
Steam-Powered
An anthology of steampunk short stories, now with 40% more lesbian. I am told that besides smashing of heteronormativity, there's also smashing of coloni- alism and other such fun de(con??)struction.
Price: $20.40 USD with shipping from Torquere Press
Added 6 January 2010
Digger
The first five volumes of the print edition of Ursula Vernon's "Digger", an award-winning webcomic featuring talking wombats, dead gods, and continual thought-provocation on culture, belief, and morality.
Price: $94.75 USD without shipping from Sofawolf Press
Added 22 May 2011
Watchables
I generally like: The same as in reading, and: Distinctive artistic style. Detailed visual worldbuilding. Character-appropriate languages and pronunciation.
Battle Royale: Director's Cut
The director's cut of the Japanese movie "Battle Royale" (with English subtitles).
Price: $15.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
My Neighbor Totoro
The English release of the Studio Ghibli movie "My Neighbor Totoro", dubbed and subbed.
Price: $18.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Castle in the Sky (2010)
The 2010 English release of my favorite Studio Ghibli movie ever, "Laputa: Castle in the Sky". I mainly specified this release because despite the "dubtitle", it has the original musical scoring.
Price: $18.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 27 December 2010
Spirited Away
The English release of the Studio Ghibli movie "Spir- ited Away", dubbed and subbed.
Price: $19.99 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 28 December 2010
Wearables
I generally like: Dark colors. Simple designs. Comfortable fabrics. Conservative cuts. Loose fits. Pockets (like on those black cargo pants I've been wanting...)
Typewriter Key Pin
A butterfly-clutch pin mounted with a vintage black typewriter key ("F" in the photo, but I'd really like an "O") on a simple filigree setting. Assembled in the United States of America.
Price: $10.25 USD with shipping from Etsy
Added 27 December 2010
Greek Fisherman Cap
A lined, flattish gray wool cap with a front brim, trimmed at the base of the front with a chain of the same color (and presumably the same material). Made in Greece.
Price: $26 USD without shipping from Amazon
Added 29 December 2010
Linen Drawstring Skirt
A long, dark blue "peasant"-style drawstring skirt. Handmade in Hong Kong.
Price: $32.80 USD with shipping from Etsy
Added 27 December 2010
Miscellaneous
Odds, ends, and even odder ends.
LiveJournal Paid Account
A paid account for LiveJournal, mainly for the purpose of track threads and editing comments.
Price: US$5/2 months, $15/6 months, or $25/12 months.
Added 24 September 2011