Monday, February 26, 2007
Be My Valentine
9:14 p.m. / 21:14
Why yes, I am a procrastinator, why do you ask?
Anyway, before February gets away entirely, I must share with you my Valentine playing cards.
The first deck I found in the dollar section at Target. I was very excited about them, especially after I opened them up at home and discovered how nice and colorful they really are.
The second deck was a gift from my dad, which was pretty cool since he probably thought I already had enough decks of cards. I think he was disappointed to learn I already had a heart-shaped deck; I shouldn't have told him.
This year Target had a different set of heart-shaped cards, but I exercised restraint and passed them up. I did, however, purchase these monkeys with heart-shaped faces. My collection lacked primates up to this point.
Why yes, I am a procrastinator, why do you ask?
Anyway, before February gets away entirely, I must share with you my Valentine playing cards.
The first deck I found in the dollar section at Target. I was very excited about them, especially after I opened them up at home and discovered how nice and colorful they really are.
The second deck was a gift from my dad, which was pretty cool since he probably thought I already had enough decks of cards. I think he was disappointed to learn I already had a heart-shaped deck; I shouldn't have told him.
This year Target had a different set of heart-shaped cards, but I exercised restraint and passed them up. I did, however, purchase these monkeys with heart-shaped faces. My collection lacked primates up to this point.
Labels: playing cards
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Too Much Non-Fiction
10:44 p.m. / 22:44
I have somehow accumulated a four non-fiction books that I am sort of (but not really) reading all at once. I rarely have the attention span to read one of these books at a time, let alone four, but it always seems that interesting non-fiction books come to my attention in groups, and then I try to read them all at once and it never works. Anyway, here's what I've got lined up currently:
Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You!: An Activist's Guide by Laurie David. This one is pretty little, so I'll feel extra-lame if I end up never finishing it.
Fit & Female: The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan For Your Unique Body Type by Geralyn B. Coopersmith, MA, CSCS. I've read enough of this one to think it has promise, but we'll see.
My Reality Check Bounced! The Twentysomething's Guide to Cashing In on Your Real-World Dreams by Jason Ryan Dorsey. I've hit a bit of a road block with this one, actually. I'm not totally clear on what my real-world dreams are.
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman. This one I'm pretty excited about, but it none the less keeps getting shoved aside for novel after novel.
I have somehow accumulated a four non-fiction books that I am sort of (but not really) reading all at once. I rarely have the attention span to read one of these books at a time, let alone four, but it always seems that interesting non-fiction books come to my attention in groups, and then I try to read them all at once and it never works. Anyway, here's what I've got lined up currently:
Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You!: An Activist's Guide by Laurie David. This one is pretty little, so I'll feel extra-lame if I end up never finishing it.
Fit & Female: The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan For Your Unique Body Type by Geralyn B. Coopersmith, MA, CSCS. I've read enough of this one to think it has promise, but we'll see.
My Reality Check Bounced! The Twentysomething's Guide to Cashing In on Your Real-World Dreams by Jason Ryan Dorsey. I've hit a bit of a road block with this one, actually. I'm not totally clear on what my real-world dreams are.
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman. This one I'm pretty excited about, but it none the less keeps getting shoved aside for novel after novel.
Labels: books
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Dodgers
6:55 p.m. / 18:55
Is it weird that I usually think of Brooklyn when people talk about the Dodgers, even though they moved to Los Angeles decades before I was born?
Is it weird that I usually think of Brooklyn when people talk about the Dodgers, even though they moved to Los Angeles decades before I was born?
Monday, February 19, 2007
Giddy Again
12:50 a.m. / 00:50
I just finished re-reading Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore about an hour ago. I still love it. Sammy is so awesome. There are notable differences between Sammy and myself (I'm much less motivated and I don't share her hypochondria), but I really identify with her in a lot of ways. She's extremely intelligent and capable, but she makes oddball mistakes sometimes, like showing up to work with a sandal on one foot and a red sneaker on the other foot. A lot of times this happens because her mind has wandered off to think about something only Sammy would be thinking about, like turning Pluto into a ski resort.
When I read Sammy's Hill I dream of working on Capitol Hill, helping to bring about change. Then again, reading John Grisham novels always makes me want to be a lawyer (which is kind of odd when you consider the scrapes his lawyer-characters get into) and I know that me a a lawyer is very unrealistic, so maybe me working on Capitol Hill, even in a low position is unrealistic too. I wonder, does the Library of Congress need clerks, or better yet, some variety of paraprofessional? At least then I'd be near the action. But now I'm way off subject!
So, Sammy's Hill is a kick-ass combination of politics and romance with many laugh-out-loud moments. I really, truly hope that Kristin Gore will write another novel someday. I know she does some writing for television and I think I heard that she worked on An Inconvenient Truth with her father, so she's probably a pretty busy person, but I am none the less waiting impatiently for her next book (please let there be one!).
I just finished re-reading Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore about an hour ago. I still love it. Sammy is so awesome. There are notable differences between Sammy and myself (I'm much less motivated and I don't share her hypochondria), but I really identify with her in a lot of ways. She's extremely intelligent and capable, but she makes oddball mistakes sometimes, like showing up to work with a sandal on one foot and a red sneaker on the other foot. A lot of times this happens because her mind has wandered off to think about something only Sammy would be thinking about, like turning Pluto into a ski resort.
When I read Sammy's Hill I dream of working on Capitol Hill, helping to bring about change. Then again, reading John Grisham novels always makes me want to be a lawyer (which is kind of odd when you consider the scrapes his lawyer-characters get into) and I know that me a a lawyer is very unrealistic, so maybe me working on Capitol Hill, even in a low position is unrealistic too. I wonder, does the Library of Congress need clerks, or better yet, some variety of paraprofessional? At least then I'd be near the action. But now I'm way off subject!
So, Sammy's Hill is a kick-ass combination of politics and romance with many laugh-out-loud moments. I really, truly hope that Kristin Gore will write another novel someday. I know she does some writing for television and I think I heard that she worked on An Inconvenient Truth with her father, so she's probably a pretty busy person, but I am none the less waiting impatiently for her next book (please let there be one!).
Labels: books
Two Years Old
12:30 a.m. / 00:30
February 16th A Work in Progress turned two. For the second year in a row, I spent months pondering various ideas for marking the special day, only to end up missing it entirely. Drat. I still feel like an amateur blogger in spite of having begun two years ago. I've felt a little more legit since having successfully finished NaBloPoMo, but only a little.
In order to belatedly semi-celebrate, while I write I am eating the Pop Rocks norahs1213 sent me in the mail as part of a valentine card. They're not as tasty as I'd remembered, but they feel good popping in my mouth.
February 16th A Work in Progress turned two. For the second year in a row, I spent months pondering various ideas for marking the special day, only to end up missing it entirely. Drat. I still feel like an amateur blogger in spite of having begun two years ago. I've felt a little more legit since having successfully finished NaBloPoMo, but only a little.
In order to belatedly semi-celebrate, while I write I am eating the Pop Rocks norahs1213 sent me in the mail as part of a valentine card. They're not as tasty as I'd remembered, but they feel good popping in my mouth.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Addled
1:00 a.m. / 01:00 a.m.
For some reason I'm having a lot of trouble organizing my thoughts lately. My mind has just been jumping all around. Maybe it means I need to start taking Adderall again. In any case, it really doesn't bode well for blogging, let alone my more important offline life. I can think of a half-dozen things to write about tonight, but my brain won't slow down and stick to one topic long enough to really write about any one thing. So, um... I really can't make any guarantees about the quality of what's below... or above, even.
For some reason I keep staring at the tiny deck of cards my friend BTP delivered to me at work yesterday. He rescued them from the floor at a restaurant / arcade, and now they're mine. Probably I'm staring at it because it's the newest item on my wildly disorganized desk... most of this stuff I've been looking at for months, maybe more than a year. Last week I uncovered valentine cards I got a work last year.
As I sit here toasty in my flannel pajammies, I'm reflecting on how nice it was of another friend (one who comments here as evilducky77) and her husband to let me crash on their sofa last night since the streets became sheets of ice while I was visiting with them. This leads to further reflecting on how totally freakin' awesome it is to have a job with lots of paid sick, personal business and vacation time. I knew it'd be dead at la biblioteca this morning, so after I called to alert them to the fact that I would be late... okay, later than usual, I took my time getting there and actually sort of enjoyed the morning. It was a gloriously sunny morning, even if it was still bitter cold.
One of the cats has cabin fever. Maybe they both do, but Gizmo is always kind of restless, so it's hard to say with her. Merlin, though, is definitely getting anxious for warmer weather so he can get back to going outside to meditate in the ivy patch, the occastional scuffle with Oreo from across the street, etc. Nothing, the always-outside cat, hasn't been seen since I brought him inside for a bath last Wednesday. I'm worried he wasn't as dry as I thought he was when I put him back out, or that maybe all that dirt was helping him stay insulated, and I should have waited until spring to help the poor old man with his grooming.
I'm doing something I rarely do; I'm re-reading a book I've already read. It's one I really, really, very, very much loved the first time I read it. So far, so good for the second time around, but I'm not going to say which book, because somehow I feel like that will jinx my finishing it. On Sunday and Monday I started and finished Kavita Daswani's third novel, Salaam, Paris. I definitely enjoyed it, but For Matrimonial Purposes is still my favorite of her three novels.
Before Salaam, Paris, I finally finished up Charmed Thirds, the most recent book in the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty, which I started reading while I was sick at the New Year. I read Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings without hardly stopping during the first week of January, and then moved on to Charmed Thirds. It really dragged at first, so I spent a lot more time on it. It ended satisfactorily, though, so I'm looking forward to the fourth book, whenever that may be.
I'm starting to realize that I'm almost not looking forward to the seventh Harry Potter book. It just seems so unlikely that it will end in a way that will satisfy me.
For some reason I'm having a lot of trouble organizing my thoughts lately. My mind has just been jumping all around. Maybe it means I need to start taking Adderall again. In any case, it really doesn't bode well for blogging, let alone my more important offline life. I can think of a half-dozen things to write about tonight, but my brain won't slow down and stick to one topic long enough to really write about any one thing. So, um... I really can't make any guarantees about the quality of what's below... or above, even.
For some reason I keep staring at the tiny deck of cards my friend BTP delivered to me at work yesterday. He rescued them from the floor at a restaurant / arcade, and now they're mine. Probably I'm staring at it because it's the newest item on my wildly disorganized desk... most of this stuff I've been looking at for months, maybe more than a year. Last week I uncovered valentine cards I got a work last year.
As I sit here toasty in my flannel pajammies, I'm reflecting on how nice it was of another friend (one who comments here as evilducky77) and her husband to let me crash on their sofa last night since the streets became sheets of ice while I was visiting with them. This leads to further reflecting on how totally freakin' awesome it is to have a job with lots of paid sick, personal business and vacation time. I knew it'd be dead at la biblioteca this morning, so after I called to alert them to the fact that I would be late... okay, later than usual, I took my time getting there and actually sort of enjoyed the morning. It was a gloriously sunny morning, even if it was still bitter cold.
One of the cats has cabin fever. Maybe they both do, but Gizmo is always kind of restless, so it's hard to say with her. Merlin, though, is definitely getting anxious for warmer weather so he can get back to going outside to meditate in the ivy patch, the occastional scuffle with Oreo from across the street, etc. Nothing, the always-outside cat, hasn't been seen since I brought him inside for a bath last Wednesday. I'm worried he wasn't as dry as I thought he was when I put him back out, or that maybe all that dirt was helping him stay insulated, and I should have waited until spring to help the poor old man with his grooming.
I'm doing something I rarely do; I'm re-reading a book I've already read. It's one I really, really, very, very much loved the first time I read it. So far, so good for the second time around, but I'm not going to say which book, because somehow I feel like that will jinx my finishing it. On Sunday and Monday I started and finished Kavita Daswani's third novel, Salaam, Paris. I definitely enjoyed it, but For Matrimonial Purposes is still my favorite of her three novels.
Before Salaam, Paris, I finally finished up Charmed Thirds, the most recent book in the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty, which I started reading while I was sick at the New Year. I read Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings without hardly stopping during the first week of January, and then moved on to Charmed Thirds. It really dragged at first, so I spent a lot more time on it. It ended satisfactorily, though, so I'm looking forward to the fourth book, whenever that may be.
I'm starting to realize that I'm almost not looking forward to the seventh Harry Potter book. It just seems so unlikely that it will end in a way that will satisfy me.
Labels: books
Sunday, February 11, 2007
My Expensive Habit
11:45 p.m. / 23:45
Back in August, I took an inventory of my novel collection (to see exactly how many of them I have and how many of them I've actually read) and posted the results here. Today I repeated this project. Here are the results:
August 2006
226 total novels
120 read novels (53% read)
February 2007
245 total novels
138 read novels (56% read)
Back in August, I took an inventory of my novel collection (to see exactly how many of them I have and how many of them I've actually read) and posted the results here. Today I repeated this project. Here are the results:
August 2006
226 total novels
120 read novels (53% read)
February 2007
245 total novels
138 read novels (56% read)
Labels: books
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Aardvark
3:10 p.m. / 15:10
It's times like this that I have no idea how I managed to post thirty straight days in a row. I've had a lot on my mind this past week, but somehow none of it ever formed itself into post. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write today, because I need to get ready for the 8th Annual Groundhog Day Party (co-hosted with velocibadgergirl). So, I am going to encourage you to read the following, if you haven't already.
Cupid is Coming... Hide Your Valuables
It's times like this that I have no idea how I managed to post thirty straight days in a row. I've had a lot on my mind this past week, but somehow none of it ever formed itself into post. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write today, because I need to get ready for the 8th Annual Groundhog Day Party (co-hosted with velocibadgergirl). So, I am going to encourage you to read the following, if you haven't already.
Cupid is Coming... Hide Your Valuables
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Five Facts About Me
11:00 p.m. / 23:00
Yeah, I've been tagged by velocibadgergirl. So...
Yeah, I've been tagged by velocibadgergirl. So...
- I like snail mail. I still write actual pen-and-paper letters to people, and I love it when I get them from people, which doesn't happen very often. When I don't have a lot to say, I send postcards. Right now on my desk I have a letter addressed to a friend stationed in Iraq, a postcard addressed to friends in Chicago and another postcard addressed to a cousin going to college in SoCal.
- I have always loved playing games. Last night these two friends came over to play Chez Dork and Parcheesi.
- Sometime in the past five years my ability to ride carnival / amusement park rides without feeling nauseous began to diminish. This really pisses me off, even though I know that there are much worse things to lose.
- Like sight, for example. I do not wear glasses or contacts and I can see just fine, unlike most people I know. It's been awhile since I've actually had my vision checked, so I can't really say if my vision is 20/20 or what, but any which way, I don't need glasses.
- I am really, really bad at math. When I was in high school, I took honors English and history classes, but I was behind in math. As a freshmen, I took pre-algebra, while most other freshmen took Algebra and most of the other honors freshmen took Geometry. Additionally, I cannot spell. Spell check is really a life-saver for me.
I'm tagging YOU. Have a good day!
Things I've Read And Not Written About
10:05 p.m. / 22:05
This is the second Heather Wells mystery. It's better than the first one Size 12 is Not Fat, but Heather Wells is still no match for Stephanie Plum.
The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield
This is a very addictive book. Once you get into it, it's really hard to put it down. I really, really enjoyed reading it, but I'm having a very hard time coming up with an explanation for why, or how. I suppose that's why I haven't written about it before now, even though I finished it back before Christmas. I have seen it described in reviews as a book-lover's book, and I'd say that is accurate.
Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich
This is a short book in the Stephanie Plum series that falls in between the number books (One for the Money and so on). It's about Valentine's Day. It's pretty good, but much like Visions of Sugar Plums (the Stephanie Plum Christmas book from a few years ago), it just isn't as good as the full-length number novels.
Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot
This is the second Heather Wells mystery. It's better than the first one Size 12 is Not Fat, but Heather Wells is still no match for Stephanie Plum.
Labels: books
