google-site-verification: google935433b691795853.html KRISTY BERRIDGE: 2012-06-24

Saturday 30 June 2012

Shopping Nightmares

Well, I was at work today, finishing off a few things that needed to get done before I went home for the weekend. Naturally the fearful Saturday blog started looming in my mind.
What was I going to write about this week?
Thankfully, inspiration came from my mother who stopped by work for a quick hello and to check the internet for some recipes before heading off to the shops for some groceries. And then it hit me. Grocery shopping is packed full of lurking danger and inevitable mishaps.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that this is a snooze-fest subject, but I dare you to comment that you haven't at least been mugged by a four year old, felt up by a fruit and vegetable packer, mowed over by a pallet jack, or suffered an eye roll from a teenage register operator?
I have. Well, at the very least I know I now have a solid fear of shopping trolleys - big, solid steel constructions made with a front end bull bar designed specifically for pesky kids to ram up your ankles when you least expect it. Oh yes, I am a three time victim of shopping trolley abuse - I now look over my shoulder every five minutes while perusing the aisles! And, if I see a kid behind the wheel of one of these bad boys, I give them the death stare - a warning to keep their sticky fingers pointing that cart in the opposite direction.
My hubby freaks out at the check out. He used to work in a grocery store, so he leans back, folds his arms over his chest and silently stews while previously mentioned bored teen, throws eggs underneath canned goods, or washing powder in with meat. His eyes narrow and his forehead beads with anger driven moisture before he finally relents and packs the bags himself.
On the other hand, my mother is an addict (sorry mum, you know it). She feels at home at the mini mart, the market, or the grocery store. She even has a 'nanna' trolley she likes to push around and fill with useless crap she already has three of back home in the cupboard. She zips through the aisles with confidence, kicking small children and old age pensioners to the side as she madly dashes to the first available check out she finds. She snubs the bored teenager - the shoe on the other foot, and then heads home, eager to repeat the process again the very next day.
So what have we learned about shopping? Number one, shopping trolleys are for carting food, not doing wheelies. Two, slap the bored teenager in the face so they pay attention and pack your damn groceries properly. And three, limit your visits to once or twice a week, you don't want to run into a die-hard with her nanna bag in aisle three ...

Kristy :)

Friday 29 June 2012

Follow Friday #35


Happy Friday everyone!
Yes, it’s that time of week again where bloggers unite to participate in the Follow Friday venture. The idea behind #FF is to promote traffic to your own blog, make new friends with other like-minded bloggers and discuss new and interesting topics each week.
Participating is simple. First you need to follow my blog because I’m totally awesome, then you can follow me on Twitter @kristyberridge (actually you don’t have to do this, it’s wishful thinking), but do follow my blog or assassins will get you …
Then you must follow our illustrious hosts Rachel of http://www.parajunkee.com/ and Alison of http://www.alisoncanread.com/ If you want more details on how to enter your own blog in the follow and hop, all directions are on their webpages
Now, once you’ve followed, check out my answer to this week’s questions and don’t forget to leave a comment so I can do the right thing and follow you back!


This week's question: Birthday Wishes - Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your cake .. who is it, and what book are they from?


My answer: (Beware of the goo factor) ... is Asher from Laurell. K .Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. I'd like to say he would come bearing world peace in one hand and more chocolate frosting for my birthday cake in the other. Alas, I am shallow and craving more than cocoa and philanthropy. 
I want me a few century old, sexy, French vampire who is an absolute pro between the sheets. (cover your eyes parentals) I say, yes please to a non stop ... shall we say ... happy moment teamed with zero chance of procreation.
Anyway, my Friday just got a hell of a lot better. Now where's my damn cake?


Kristy :)

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Book Review: "Dead Radiance" A Valkyrie Novel by TG Ayer

Thanks to a generous author, I downloaded Dead Radiance via a Kindle freebie day. I'd never read a book based on Norse Mythology before, and I was curious but also reluctant. There was something about the cover of the novel that gave me pause and I'm still unsure why.
Regardless, I thought, try something new.
Dead radiance centers around an orphan girl by the name of Bryn Halbrook. Passed around from foster home to foster home, Bryn finally settles into a semi-ordinary life in the town of Craven. An understanding foster mother, loving foster siblings, and friend to now ease the all consuming feelings of neglect deep down, Bryn still can't find happiness.
The past and the present haunt her.
A strange glow is emitted from the people she cares about and it soon becomes clear that Bryn is far from ordinary, the glow not some essence of gleaming goodness, but a foretelling of certain death.
Losing people starts to become familiar for Bryn. A heart already rocked by the death of her father and a childhood of broken homes, foreseeing death adds to the pile of questions surrounding her unnatural gift. Finding Aidan never came at a better time. Handsome, intriguing, and downright distracting, Bryn is soon desperately in love with the biker boy filled with the promise of hope but also burdened with a twisted agenda. He knows the truth of her origins, the truth of her abilities, and now also holds the key to her heart. The crazy thing is - it's only the beginning. An unfolding of a whole other realm and backlog of historical information is soon thrown at you. Wings, swords, Asgard and the food of the Gods. How did such an  ordinary story about girl meets boy soon become the epic telling of the Valkyries?
You'll have to read Dead Radiance to find out.
What I truly appreciated the most in this novel was that the author had a real sense of appreciation for words. The imagery was beautiful, each sentence hand-crafted to paint an explicit picture of detail. I always had a sense of what I was looking at in my mind's eye - a clear image of character detail and surrounding scenes. Yes, there were some spelling and punctuation errors, but aren't there always some in a novel? And it certainly wasn't enough to be distracting.
The characters themselves were well written and easy to relate. There were no major deviations in character growth or portrayal which was greatly appreciated given the course of ultimate change that the novel takes on. There was nothing about the story that I didn't especially like but again, just like the cover image, there was something about it that didn't quite speak to me. However, I can happily give the book three out of five well deserved fangs.

Synopsis:
Bryn Halbrook had always seen the glow. But it is only when her best friend dies that she discovers the meaning of those beautiful golden auras - death. Alone, lost in the foster system, she struggles to understand who she is and why she was cursed with the ability to see the soon-to-be-dead.
The foster kid, Aidan, isn't helping any. Mr Perfect seems to fit in no matter what, making her feel even more pathetic. But when his affections turn to her, Bryn finds him hard to resist. Impossible actually. A mystery himself, Aidan disappears, leaving behind a broken heart and a mysterious book that suggests Bryn might not be entirely human.
Bryn stands at the threshold of a journey of discovery. Will destiny help her find herself, find her purpose and her place in a world in which she'd never belonged?

Kristy :)