Friday Five/BBAW

• Freebie! How many of you out there have not read The Uglies (I haven't!). Weeeellllll, through Bookblips, I found out that Scott Westerfield has a pdf file of The Uglies up for the month of September.
  
  
• I got my copy of EW in the mail a couple of days ago and for you Vampire Lovers out there, you'll be thrilled to know it's devoted to these dark creatures. As a bonus? The gorgeous Neil Gaiman gives his two cents. Check it out here. You know you wanna. Oh, and I know it's more for the zombie lovers than the vampire lovers, but check out these brain cupcakes! Sweet!
  
  
• I know that I should not even begin to play around with my blog layout, but am getting that itch. I swear, if it was easier to move furniture around in the house, I would come up with new looks once a month. I'm hml ignorant so will definitely be looking around on the 'net for pre-made layouts. Do you guys have any favorite spots?
  
  
• And how many others are devastated that John Hughes died? I heard it on the radio this morning while running errands. At first I thought I misheard. The man was young, a mere 59, to have a heart attach. Oh how I have fond memories of the Brat Pack and his teeny bopper movies form the 80's.
  
  
• Swine Flu? Really? OK. I admit, when Swine Flu hit the media, I rolled my eyes. I thought back to all of the other freak outs we've had (Bird Flu, Mad Cow Disease, etc.) I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but a part of me does mistrust media and their ulterior goals. (Gee, Brain. What do you want to do tonight? Same thing we did today, Pinky. Take over the world). Needless to say, Swine Flu did not really cause me to reach for my hand sanitizer. And now, although I'm still not terribly freaked out about it, I am rather shocked that due to the the Swine Flu cases found at UCF, during graduation this summer there will be no hand shaking. Can you imagine? I know it's not book related, and not to be a downer, but these statistics look kind of scary.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week! I hope everyone has marked it on their calendars. With how quickly July went by, I know it'll be a blink and September 14th will be here. For those of you who still haven't registered, pop over here. This is my first year and I'm super stoked. It looks like so much fun. And from what I've read by other book bloggers last year was a huge success. Now, onto the meme!

1) What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you?

I remember when I first stumbled upon book blogs toward the end of last year. I couldn't believe there were so many cool people out there reading as much as I do. I was a bit nervous starting my own blog. My personality leads me to start projects, go totally OCD with them, and then burn out. I didn't really want to do that here. I delayed my blog until the beginning of the year ( I know, how original) with the goal of reading one hundred books in 09. I'm well nearing 80 and don't think that I would have made it without the community of bloggers I've found here. You guys are like my crazy support system that nurtures (and feeds) my book obsession. I mean, hell, here I'm not weird because I get all giddy receiving books in the mail.

2) What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you?

I've stumbled upon some really cool people while here in the book blogging world. I don't really think it's fair to highlight just a couple because so many of you have inspired me, assisted me, encouraged me, and added to my TBR pile.

3) What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer?

Haha, what to expect? Seriously. I don't know if I have anyone specific questions. I've been reading through the answers of the first meme - for those who participated last year. Yay for fun memes.

Finally, thanks again to Amy over at My Friend Amy for putting this all together.