Evaluation of ze weekend

I've been to Stockholm over the weekend. That was fairly nice.
Yeah. That's probably the understatement of the year. ^^ It was wonderful. Marvellous.
I love both Rome and Josefine so much, it makes my heart soar to visit them. David was there too, at first, but I stayed a little while longer than him. Which of course means that I had our hosts all to myself, mwahaha. Eh. Yeah. Something like that. ^^
We had many adventures during my stay. Apart from the wonderful hourlong chats enjoying each others company, we barbequed in a pitch black forest, we ate foreign food with fruits in a scary restaurant and ice-cream with cloudberryjam and whipped cream with the tourists, frolicked around on the medieval tavern, met up with a wonderful woman that blaze your eyes with her beauty, harassed a poor defenseless boy who lives in the north, went bookshopping and, of course, I ate the most orgasmic piece of apple pie I ever had in my entire life. Those of you who know me knows about my general obsession with apple pie therefore you must know how much that means coming from me, and for those of you who don't... why are you reading this at all? ^^

Needless to say, I had a wonderful time.
We also managed to watch a movie called "Arthur and the Invisibles" (which director is none other than Luc Besson), a family movie I probably never would have seen on my own accord. It's about a boy called Arthur (obviously) who lives with his grandmother who is about to be evicted. Arthur hears a tale about the Minimoys and is determined to find them as well as the treasure his now missing grandfather left with them before the deadline of the eviction runs out.
It's a very charming movie. I liked it a lot. Arthur was kind of hot as an animated Minimoy. ;D
No, but seriously, the animations was really good and the fighting scene in the bar, or whatever, was hilarious. I loved it! It had so many of those subtle comments or parodies that it was not just any family movie, it was a family movie endurable for adults as well, often even worth the while of watching it. The real surprising part though was the credits. I had no idea so many stars were actually in it, doing the voices of the Minimoys. But all in all, it was a well worth waste of time and a little more. ^^
"I'm just a mini-Minimoy!"

I also bought books, as I mentioned, but only one of them was not a recommendation, but more of an impulse. It's a collection of short stories called "Furry Fantastic" by authors I never heard of before. It's about animals with fur. Yeah, I know. I'm such a sucker for weird topics. ^^
I bought mostly because it seemed so cute, but I was very amazed to find that it was actually really good. On the first page there is an exertion from "Wan Sui Ye" by Elizabeth A. Vaughan. I spent the next 167 pages waiting for that one to come up. I'm not saying that those in between were bad, on the contrary. One of the best was on p. 62, "In Between the Dark and the Light" by Diana Francis, about a dog who turned guardian angel. Not only were my eyes stuck to the pages, clinging on to every written word, but I actually read it twice, enchanted like that both times. I sat in Stockholm's train station waiting for my train to come, really fighting the tears back, -both- times. First time I cried despite my efforts, second time I only cried a little. ^^ So if we put my maudlinity aside, it is still a really, really, well-written story that I would recommend to everyone I see. Even strangers on the street.
There was also one called "Superstition" by Jody Lynn Nye, that caught my attention, especially near the end. It's about a stray cat, Stish, who's known by everyone in his little town, doing his daily routines with different people. In the beginning it was simply sweet, but near the end came a scene of dancing, so well described I actually laughed out loud, still at the train station. By now, people were moving away from me, I had a whole bench to myself with twenty people carrying heavy luggage standing around me rather than sit next to me.
However. When I finally came to "Wan Sui Ye" I wasn't disappointed at all. It's easily the best of them all. "Ninja rats? What the fu-"
All of the others are great short stories and should stay that way (I can't imagine "In Between the Dark and the Light" as anything else), but this one I could read a whole book of. And it could extend to a whole book with ease, especially with that intruiging ending. In fact, the only disappointment was that it ended at all.
"Who knew a rat could scream like a girl?"
Though I myself found nearly all of the stories were well readable, I do realize that I might be biased because of my special liking of alternative theories or twists of things. Most of these are written from the animals perspective and I am particularly fond of stories that takes something well known and put it in a new light. Here, I would much like to mention "Freedom's Toll" by Marc Tassin, which was written from a gerbil's point of view. It was brilliant. No, I did not cry, even though I very well could have. Instead, this one simply touched me. It was... simply brilliant.
Only two of these were actually written in those alternative worlds fantasy is so well-known for. Both I enjoyed a lot, but I think I enjoyed it more that they were the exceptions rather than the standard.
Anyways, I liked it a lot. And yes, I would recommend it. I think there is a story in it for anyone. Kind of like a book for all tastes that might stand reading an anthology dedicated only to furry animals. ^^