Our top 5 most popular posts of all time

This is it. This is the end of the road, ladies and jellybeans. Three years, two girls, and a blog. (And plenty of opinions and feels about books, libraries, people, and life). It has been - forever and always - my pleasure to have entertained you (and, let's face it, myself) for the last three years, and eight months. I hope you've enjoyed our offerings as much as we've enjoyed rambling on. I'm off to figure out what one does when one leaves libraries, starting with picking up an old hobby I used to be good at. I leave you with our top 5 most popular posts of all time.

Happy New Year. Be well. Be safe. Be awesome.

1. Top 5 NZ reggae bands by Tosca, May 2010 - 5132 hits

"My music will go on forever. Maybe it's a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever."

- Bob Marley

[New Zealand has some great reggae bands and this list serves as nothing more than my pick of groups who have gone some way toward reaffirming or recapturing my love of reggae on a wider scale, and my love of Bob Marley in particular...]

2. Your top 5 most downloaded Freegal Music tracks by Tosca, May 2012 - 1174 hits

"Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."

- Dean as played by Jensen Ackles in Supernatural

[I don't know about anybody else but Dean's saying above (which I like to use with my sisters but gets me absolutely nowhere) is totally the case in our household. Whichever person is driving is the one who gets to decide what music the rest of us listen to. My sisters and I took a road trip a couple of years ago to visit my grandfather's home town in the far north; I was banned from driving the car during our vacation. My love of country music, classic rock and the 80s will get me relegated to the backseat every time. It probably doesn't help that I have this unfortunate habit of driving like whatever music happens to be playing at the time. And it's made worse, I would think, by the fact that I adore angry girl music. The louder the better, as far as I'm concerned...]

3. 5 geeky Star Trek-related Etsy links by Tosca, April 2013 - 985 hits

“Five card stud, nothing wild. And the sky’s the limit."

- Captain Jean Luc Picard, uttering the last line of the series, Star Trek: The Next Generation “All Good Things…”

[...I'm waiting - rather impatiently, I might add - for the Star Trek film to come out. Every few days or so I pop into Etsy and look up Star Trek related THINGS and STUFF. Weirdly(?), not to buy anything. I like to look at the items. Some of them are totally LOL-worthy. Others are a major case of WTF-ery. And just as many are ones I want to make myself (only I never do), or buy (yet another thing I never do). That means, folks, that today's list has absolutely nothing to do with our collections or libraries, and everything to do with indulging my forever fangirlness/geekiness. I'm wholly unrepentant about that. If this isn't your thing, feel free to skip this post. If it is, YAY. And if you need more Star Trek-related Etsy goodness, check out this link for ALL OF THE THINGS. Live long and prosper, people! (Sorry, couldn't resist - I'll be honest, I really didn't try to).]

4. Top 5 highest-grossing Bollywood films by Tosca, July 2011 - 981 hits

[I adore Bollywood movies. They're so full of life, colour, drama, music, romance, action, emotion and, let's face it, sometimes cheesey humour. The women are always beautiful and graceful and the men extremely goodlooking. My first tentative foray into Bollywood films wasn't a success at all, though. I had no clue about anything. I didn't know what actors or actresses I liked, I wasn't too sure if I would prefer the comedies over the dramas and I was totally unaware that some of the films are about three hours long. Three hours! I have the attention span of a goldfish so I felt my heart sink right then and there. It was about that time that a colleague at Manurewa Library, Sunita, decided to step in and help. Brilliant for me, probably not so much for her :) Thanks to Sunita I was hooked from her very first recommendation - Baghban starring Amitabh Bachchan - and have never looked back...]

5. My top 5 recipes from Alison & Simon Holst's "The New Zealand Bread Book" by Annie, December 2011 - 634 hits

"A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou."

- Omar Khayyam

[I grew up in a house where my mum made bread. And, because I was a kid and most kids’ mums didn’t make bread, sometimes this was embarrassing. But I do have fond memories of a group of my classmates around our house, all making bread with my mum.

Because I’m a fan of Alison Holst’s recipes, the bread book caught my eye. I’m getting into baking in a big way – so seeing it for sale really cheaply persuaded me to give it a go.

Now, a year on, I can offer my fav go-to recipes out of this book. In another year, I’ll probably have some more! Where available, I’ve added my notes from my copy of the book. I’m so addicted, my family bought me a food mixer for my 40th, one with a sturdy dough hook.

If you’re looking for something a little bit different to contribute to those ‘bring-a-plate’ functions this season, try these out.

~ Annie, Central]

5 bookish bits of Etsy love

"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without."
- Cecil B. DeMille

Etsy. It keeps me sane when I need it most because oohh, lookit the pretty. In other words, it provides distraction by the plenty. And it drives me nuts when I don't need it most because it's a huge crushing reminder that I am not the least bit craftsy. Craftery? Crafty? BUT IT'S OKAY PEOPLE, because there is still huge enjoyment to be gotten out of others' endeavours. Truly. As this post shows you. Which is proof positive that I have naught else to do on a weekend but play in Etsy and OOH and AAHH over scrabble tile pendants and scarves. Don't hate the player. Hate the game. Here are 5 bookish bits of Etsy love. And love them I do.

5 Etsy shades of Fifty Shades

“Don't get your panties in such a twist... and give me back mine.”
- Anastasia in Fifty Shades of Grey

Oh, Etsy! Oh, Etsy, Etsy, Etsy. You beautiful, exciting beast. You terrible, awful monster. You give me everything I want and then, at the click of a mouse, offer up all I never wanted. You think I'm kidding. Look at the title of this post. I'M. SO. NOT. KIDDING. One minute I'm looking at Supernatural inspired pillow cases (remember: don't judge me for my fangirlness) and then I'm blinded by all of the things crafty people want to do with Christian Grey. You're all perverted, and you've made me a part of this terrible cycle because I have to share it with you.

And so, for my sins, I give thee: 5 Etsy shades of Fifty Shades. "What does that MEAN?" you ask me. "THINGS inspired by the BOOK," I reply. You don't have to thank me. (You probably won't want to and, really, I think I'm okay with that).

(Seriously, I'm conflicted. I hated this book, but I lovelovelove that it got people talking about READING and BOOKS and SEX (even badly written sex with inaccurate lifestyle depictions and all), and I heart times a bajillion that ppl want to get all craftsy up in here. I just wish the book was...better. You know?).

5 bookish pairs of shoes on Etsy

Sometimes, when I need a break/breather/time out, I jump on Etsy and look at bookish related THINGS and STUFF. Today? It was for shoes. Of any sort. In any colour. And all bookish in theme. I find it soothing. And, besides, Etsy, right? Where the heck else can I find a pair of Van Gogh exploding TARDIS Doctor Who flats, or Star Wars hand painted shoes, or a Twilight inspired high  heel shoe gift box? (Admittedly, this last one isn't something I would ever buy - I list it because HORRIFYING and SHAREABLE BECAUSE). And, man, don't even get me started on these Sterek shoes *flails* I look, but I never buy. For me, the enjoyment is in admiring what other people have created. Yes, even the strange/oddball/nonsensical stuff. I have perpetual artistic envy. Don't judge me. Believe you me, I judge me enough for the both of us. And here's a link to everything in Etsy you need in the way of shoes inspired by books. I know, right? You want to thank me *shifty look*

5 geeky Star Trek-related Etsy links (because geeky links = geeky love)

Image from Etsy.com

“Five card stud, nothing wild. And the sky’s the limit."
- Captain Jean Luc Picard, uttering the last line of the series, Star Trek: The Next Generation “All Good Things…”

Star Trek Matryoshka dolls. Let me say that again: Star. Trek. Matryoshka. Dolls. I have this weird thing for matryoshka dolls. Every time I see them I feel this crazy compulsion to buy them, touch them, pull them apart, and ooh/aah over them. I blame it on Sesame Street. In particular, THIS CLIP RIGHT HERE. In New Orleans last year I succumbed and bought a set of the dolls from the French Markets on Decatur Street. Ostensibly for my niece, but really so I could give in to the compulsion mostly free of guilt. They were a hit with her. (And with me, too, heh). I'm waiting - rather impatiently, I might add - for the Star Trek film to come out. Every few days or so I pop into Etsy and look up Star Trek related THINGS and STUFF. Weirdly(?), not to buy anything. I like to look at the items. Some of them are totally LOL-worthy. Others are a major case of WTF-ery. And just as many are ones I want to make myself (only I never do), or buy (yet another thing I never do). That means, folks, that today's list has absolutely nothing to do with our collections or libraries, and everything to do with indulging my forever fangirlness/geekiness. I'm wholly unrepentant about that. If this isn't your thing, feel free to skip this post. If it is, YAY. And if you need more Star Trek-related Etsy goodness, check out this link for ALL OF THE THINGS. Live long and prosper, people! (Sorry, couldn't resist - I'll be honest, I really didn't try to).