Christmas Presents!

Christmas Eve Eve

I'm going home tomorrow!  I'm...um...almost ready.

I can't wait!

Also, working retail the week before Christmas is insane.

Also, we've never had so much space on the shelves.  We're sold out of everything.




"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."
                       -Maya Angelou


Almost Christmas!

Goodnight Moon

...does not actually contain the phrase "goodnight moon"

Unbroken

A good book which, from the midpoint on, was pretty much impossible to put down.  And my sense of humor loves that Hillenbrand found a quote from someone comparing Louie to Seabiscuit, as underdog racers.

The ending was a bit drawn out... but then again, life's never neat and tidy.  Having things a bit drawn out and occasionally unsatisfying is the price paid for tying up lose ends in a work on nonfiction - something Hillenbrand does do surprisingly well.  She is thorough.

Interestingly, the next book I checked out after this one was The Hunger Games, which could quite easily have used the title Unbroken.   Certainly there are similar themes.  I'll post that review later.

Relaxing Evening

Me too! :-)

Random Acts of Kindness

You know, people keep asking me, "You're not from Boston, are you?" and when I say no, they say they thought so because I'm "too nice" and then they guess I'm from the Midwest.


I'm not, just in case anyone stumbles through here who doesn't already know this.


But I think Boston's selling itself short with this attitude.  Bostonians are not nearly so grouchy as they make themselves out to be.

I've seen strangers hold doors for each other, smiling and making eye contact while doing so.

I've seen people signing up at donation drives on the street.

I've seen people jump up on the subway and insist someone older/very young/obviously tired/pregnant/carrying too much take their seats.

I've seen entire subway cars full of people rearrange themselves to keep a family seated together.

I've seen half the people in an over-packed subway car rearrange themselves to help prevent a two-year-old boy from losing his balance.

I regularly see Borders customers stopping to help give each other directions, just because they overheard a conversation where someone sounded confused.

And tonight, the driver carefully stopped the T with the door directly in front of me, where I stood waiting under a roof, instead of somewhere down along the stretch where he was supposed to stop, just because it was raining and he saw I didn't have an umbrella.


So anyway, I say Boston's not really mean.  They just want you to think they are.

Why am I awake?

You know what?  I already showed Steph, but I'll put this here anyway...


Emerson College is awesome

Applications Class

I can't believe we're done!  That happened so fast!  It was a great class, and everybody's final projects looked great during today's presentations.  We finished class early and went out to have dinner and toast the end of the semester with martinis.  We brought Joe along with us and treated him (which turned out to be easy to do, since he only ordered a beer and there were 8 or 10 of us).

A good end of the semester.  I'm going to miss this class.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Is this seriously not coming out until the end of June?

I know it's aimed at kids, not me, but...

...I think I kinda love this book.

But maybe I should wait until June.

I have discovered a new cold symptom

When the cold moves into your head, not only does it become harder to think, but when you close your eyes you can't tell up from down.

Did I mention I left work early today?

Excited

So just as I was starting to worry I would get no responses to my requests for interviews... just as I was drafting an email in my head asking my professor what I should do... I get two responses!  And I can't wait to talk to both of them!  This will be a great paper!

Then I started freaking out with "wait, what do I ask?" and then I stopped and thought about it and realized these are amazingly cool people and they're willing to talk to me and I have so much I want to ask and who cares about the paper!  Approached that way, I soon had a list of questions, and... well, as I said, I'm sure this will be a great paper.  A little tight time-wise, but hey, deadlines make it daring, right?

Sarah's Key

A very powerful book.  It is not a fun read, and I even hesitate to say good read... but it is a heavy read, and in that context, very, very good.

I like the juxtaposition of Sarah and Julia's stories, leaving the parallels very present but unstated.  Comparing them directly would have cheapened both; as it is, they are unforgettable.

The semi-happy ending, despite the fact I saw it coming miles away (or maybe because of this), does seem a bit contrived, but I like it so much I find it hard to be annoyed by this.  So I think I'll just let it slide and conclude with the opinion that this was an all-around great book, if a bit inappropriate for the Christmas season mood-wise.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

...because everyone else seems to have snow by now. :-P

Anyway, the Christmas season is on!  Got my Christmas clothes, music, tree, and recipes... got my Advent wreath and calendars... got my new coat... Christmas shopping almost done...

I practiced for my Illustrator test by making a picture of a Christmas tin.

Classes are almost over - the semester went by really fast.

Also: Laundry's done, room's cleaned, dishes washed... I'm actually almost caught up!  I even have time finally to update my blog! It will have to be short though, because I want to leave a little early for class so I can stop for groceries.  Coming up: review of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Black Friday

So normally I wouldn't do 2 posts on one day, but Thanksgiving & Christmas aren't allowed to mix.

I did indeed survive working black Friday - honestly, it wasn't that bad; they had enough staff on hand that we were pretty on top of things.  The end-of-day reshelves were a bit daunting, though.
Since I was in a major store on black Friday anyway, I bought myself some goodies and did a little Christmas shopping.

I put the tree up last night just before bed, and decorated it tonight.  Time to start the Christmas count down!

Thanksgiving

So much fun!

Thanksgiving was at a friend's house.  Carrying everything on the subway wasn't that bad... and I was probably grinning like an idiot the whole way.  There weren't too many people out and about Wednesday night, but I did get a few smiles & nods from people, and a comment of "Hey, there goes a beef stew!" (Actually, it was a jug of cider, in a giant soup pot, but close enough.)

We ran to the store for a few last ingredients, made the meatballs for the wedding soup, and watched Howl's Moving Castle.  My friend has a giant tv, and the movie was just beautiful on there.

I slept on the couch, and the next morning got up and immediately started the soup.  Two more friends joined us, and we kept cooking - it was really fun.  We mostly knew what we were doing, and when we didn't we just made it up... or called various mothers.  (By the way, to my mother - THANK YOU, you saved our turkey.  None of us thought to cover it up, and since the timer never popped it would have been really dry if we hadn't put that foil over the top as soon as you suggested it.)

After dinner/between courses/during dessert we watched Firefly.

No one wanted to leave at the end of the day, but eventually it was time to go or we'd miss the last train out.  So off we went, carrying more weight than we'd brought.  Leftovers are so exciting.

My stomach loves Chinatown; my purse doesn't

Long day... but so much fun!

It's a Tuesday - so that meant laydowns & display changes at Borders.  I worked 8-5, which means I got to put a lot more time into ipt than I usually do.  And my boss was telling her boss about how good all her employees are, and she says he put my name in his blackberry!

...So does this mean I can demand a Christmas break now?

Then I got dinner in Chinatown, and went to class (Thursday's class was today, since we obviously didn't want to hold it on Thanksgiving).  Today's topic was contracts, and we had another guest speaker - it was really interesting!  But then again, I'm starting to suspect I'd find almost any aspect of publishing interesting... which means I'm in the right place, I suppose.  We also talked a bit about our final projects - more on that later - and our resumes.  We'll be going over resumes next class.

Afterwards, I went back to Chinatown with a friend and had bubble tea & sesame eggrolls (they were like cookies...yum).  I also bought dumplings for lunch/dinner tomorrow.  We wandered around for a bit & talked about Thanksgiving.  I can't wait for tomorrow!  And the next day!

...and the next, for that matter.  My plans for Black Friday:
1. Eat leftovers
2. Put up Christmas tree
3. Work closing shift at Borders.  I'm a brave, brave woman. ;-)

Harry Potter Day

So the greeting around town today was not "hi! how are you?" but "did you see Harry Potter yet? how was it?"

I am so excited to see this movie.

I spent the entire 40 minute train ride home talking about Harry Potter with the guy sitting next to me, named James.  He was pretty cool.

Also, got a bonus today - a penny more than my dinner cost, so go me!

And Mom's buying me a new coat.  Thanks Mom!

Slightly carried away

Oooo, look! 

Michele has learned Illustrator...

BAR (n)

a place where people go to talk to other people, who cannot be seen due to the lighting, and cannot be heard due to the music.  Often modifies SHOPPING (v) in such a way that a shopping list of "paprika and peas" can result in bringing home paprika, peas, and gingerbread.

Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here.

So, it's a new week - that means a new collection of cds to play!  We have 3 this time!  So we put them on shuffle...

We have:
1. Neil Diamond covering his favorite rock songs (?)
2. some sort of accidentally-opera Christmas cd (on consideration, Susie Snowflake is an excellent Christmas song)
and
3. a country cd we already listened to for weeks this summer (It's baaack)


Neal Diamond's never going to win any speed-singing contests.


ND: Then.... I saw....

(me: Are you a Borders member?  Would you like to be?  Are you Santa?)

ND: her face....
...

(me: Next!  Are you a Borders member?  Can I look it up? Can you spell that for me again?)

ND: Now... I'mmm....
...
...

(me:  You want to upgrade?  Great!  Fill this out... and let me tell you about this... and this... here, let me explain the receipt....)

ND: ...a beeee.....

(me: Next!  Are you a member?  Santa?  Have a good day!  Next! Are you a member? Santa? Have a good day! Next!)

ND: ...lieeeever...

(me: *takes lunch break*)

ND: Not... a trace....

And don't get me started on what his "Ain't No Sunshine" sounds like :-)

Addictions I Gave Into Today

1. Chocolate (that is, a chocolate crunch coffee slushy)
2. Reading Fox in Socks out loud (right at the register, for no reason at all)
3. French Onion Dip (but it's been calling me for months!)
4. Gum (it was on sale...)

Yeah.  It was a fun day.

Christmas Already?

I've been putting weird hours in at work, because we're trying to get everything rearranged and ready for:
1.The newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid release
2. The Deathly Hollows premiere
3. Christmas

...and at the same time, dealing with one of the biggest shipments ever.  I'm telling you, there's no room to move in the back room.

Meanwhile, I've been having plenty of fun elsewhere.
Two of my friends read at the last GRS, and we went to the Sweetwater afterwards.  I love the atmosphere there.
I went ahead and read How to Wash a Cat, the mystery novel I bought a while ago.  I'm still a bit disappointed, but it was fun.
Apparently Mercedes Lackey's major books are available at the BPL in-library only, and have to be requested a half-hour in advance at the desk.  I find this very, very strange, but as I had some time to kill, I requested one just to see what would happen.  The librarian was just as confused as I was, but she hunted it down and gave it to me.  I hung out in the window seat by the desk to read it, and got yelled at by a guard for not sitting up.  Go figure.
Two of my roommates had friends over to visit, which turned evenings into almost-parties.  Conversation topics ranged from Norse mythology to pop singers to serial killers.
Oh, and I don't think I'll ever manage an entire cannoli from Mike's again... but it was worth it...


Also: Check this out!

Ender's Game

OH WOW WHY HAVE I NEVER READ THIS BEFORE?

I may say something more coherent later... or maybe this is sufficient...

Oogy

No offense - it's about a good cause and all - but I was really surprised this made it to bestseller.  The advance copy I saw wasn't very good; though admittedly I didn't finish it.  It was just... I read the first few pages, skimmed the next chapter or so, and decided that it just wasn't interesting.  It had too much of the "and then I ate dinner, and it was steak, and then I opened a window..." feel.

Although I suppose this doesn't count as a real review, since I didn't finish it.

October 31st 2010: Part 2

Went to Salem!

We started off with the ghost tour, which focused mainly on those involved in the witch trials (naturally), but also referenced a few other bits of history.  We got dinner and then walked through the graveyard and checked out some of the shops.  I got a sweatshirt, because it was a lot colder at Salem in the afternoon than it was in Boston in the morning.  So now I have a souvenir.

Next we saw a reenactment of the arrest and examination of Bridget Bishop.  The audience was the jury, and my friend got picked to be a temporary constable.

Then there was the 3D haunted house.  It was amazing.  I loved the art of it, as well as the haunted-house bit.

Finally, as we were wandering around, listening to music, admiring costumes, eating kettle corn and cider, and occasionally wandering into shops, we were offered free tickets to a psychic show that would normally be $100.  So we went to that too, and it was fun.

All in all, a great Halloween.

October 31st 2010: Part 1

Person 1: "Yeah, so... what is going on, is there a convention or something?"
Person 2: "..."
Person 3: "..."
Person 4: "..."
Person 5: "..."
Person 6: "..."
Person 7: "Um... Halloween?"
Person 1: "Ooooh... is that today?"
Person 2: "Dude, what rock have you been under, and is there any room for me?"

_________________________________

Voltaire.  This guy is so awesome.

Also, we carved our pumpkin.

'Night

Overheard on the Subway

"Yeah, I kinda got in trouble for touching the art."

"Dude, you don't touch the art."

"Well I didn't realize it was art!"

"What do you mean you didn't realize, it was in a museum."

"Yeah, but it was, like, a glass box around a little red ball.  I thought it was just a glass box to protect it and that the ball was the art.  Apparently it was the whole thing."

Intrigues

Mercedes Lackey's most recent book, and the second in the Collegium Chronicles, expected to be a trilogy.

I was unsure coming into this book, because the first in the series, Foundations, was actually pretty boring. It was a nice set-up, and hinted at greater things, but not much actually happened. I was hoping the next two books would pay off those hints.

Well. Let's just say the third book HAD BETTER BE GOOD. Otherwise, I don't know what this crap is. Yes, I said it. And I say this despite Mercedes Lackey being one of my favorite authors... perhaps she's just more focused on the Secret World Chronicle podcasts/books, because those are pretty fun, but this series, so far, is just not worth buying.

Intrigues went nowhere, only hinted again at the same things hinted before, and I still can't believe the climax was in its final draft. The characters all suddenly do and say things completely against their established personalities, and then later apologize to the wrong people and/or apparently develop amnesia and... poof! everything's back where it started. The end.

Halloween

And it has, yet again, been quite a while. That's what I get for having a life... or rather, that's what you get. Oh well.

Busy day today. Ran all over the place, getting lots done, including practicing for the Photoshop test. Practice consisted of creating this:

This was originally your basic, yellow rubber-ducky. Isn't he so much cuter now?

After practicing our practical skills together (because, come on, what's more practical than being able to dress your digital rubber duck for Halloween?) we went out to get dinner and study for the written part of the test. Then we had the test. I think I did pretty well.

I came home to Halloween cookies. Yum!
And Sunday, I'm off to Salem.

I think I like this holiday.

Good Earplugs Make Good Neighbors

Drums, drums in the Deep.
no...
drums, drums all around,
while I'm trying to sleep.
I'd like to smash that drum,
melt that horn,
snap those strings -
no...
it would not do
to do any of those things
it just would not be fair
to the drum, horn, and guitar,
and as for the band -
it'd be too good for them by far.

written 10/16/10 @ 2am

I still prefer wine

As I write this my laundry hangs next to me drying so slowly that I hope it finishes before I run out of things to wear. It's going to be a close one. Luckily I got a box of sweaters in the mail today, so at least I don't have to worry about running out of shirts (Thanks Mom!).

Wednesday's class was good - we watched Helvetica and talked about the designers we'd researched. We finished early, too, because the professor was sick & wanted to go home to bed. I'm glad I got a chance to talk to him before class - he was more awake then. I think I understand better now what I'm supposed to be concentrating on for the final project. Our next bit of homework is idea sketches for the postcard & poster we'll make - should be fun.

Today's class was cool too. Our professor brought a guest lecturer - the associate manager of domestic rights for the publisher she works at. Our topic for today was, needless to say, domestic rights. Cool, right? And the two of them told us they're looking for interns, and will be represented at next week's internship fair. After class, I asked for advice on how to juggle work & an internship, and she seemed impressed I was thinking that far ahead - she said they'd had interns quit after a couple weeks because they were broke (and that those interns could expect to never get a job there again). I am so going to the internship fair, with updated resume, and looking for a summer internship. She said I should start now if I want to get an edge.

At the Tam afterward, I had my first full beer. I've discovered that the carbonation doesn't bother me as much in dark beers, so that's what I had, and I was able to finish it. And, even better, I was able to enjoy it. I also discovered that a friend and I read a lot of the same stuff online. He gave me a hug for recognizing the name of a fanfic writer and being able to name what she wrote. We also started quoting webcomics. Moral of the story? Even the world wide web is a small, small world.

Tomorrow's a reading at the Brookline Booksmith, which I may or may not go to. The timing's not the best, and I don't know what the reading's about, but I have been wanting to find the Booksmith for a while now. It's one of Boston's bigger independent bookstores.

Saturday's the bookfest. I can't wait! It's practically across the street from Borders, which means I can go on my lunch break. One of my friends is working at it, the rest will probably be there, and directly after work at one of the tables I have my interview for fiction reader for the Redivider! They didn't forget me!
Plus, apparently there's an old costume sale Saturday, which some of us might be going to, and... Obama will be in town? However, if we can make it back home through the presidential security, we might have some friends over for a literary party!

Fwoosh

Naked Heat

Heat partners "Malcolm and Reynolds"... I love Castle's ghostwriter.

I wonder... was editor "Mitchell Perkins" intentional as well? Maybe not, but I was happy.

Queen Jillian

So unfortunately, I did not save the fish picture. Here's a new one though, that's not quite as cool-looking but took a lot more time. I figure this is the American equivalent of looking at the king and sitting on his throne. Which Jilly would so do.

Friday I went ahead & used the store credit & personal shopping day on top of my employee discount... which worked exactly as I am sure was intended; that is, it tempted me into buying stuff I didn't need, but made me very happy. Then I met a friend at the library, for a homework party - but we were distracted by the books I had just bought, and then by the food in the cafe, and then by the library closing. So we had our homework party at the graduate student lounge (and were proud of ourselves for finding it). I got a lot done, and it was fun too :-)

Reading: I haven't read any bestsellers recently, because I've been distracted by shiny things. Specifically, an anthology of dragon stories which included one by Tamora Pierce, the newest Castle book, and a new Valdemar novel from Mercedes Lackey... book reviews will resume in a bit.

Fun Classes

So... having a test does, in fact, wake one up to the fact that grad school is supposed to be hard. Sort of.

But moving on. Learning various tricks in Photoshop is so much more fun than InDesign was! I made a cool swirly whirlpool of fish following a stream of water out of a photo that was originally just a lot of fish swimming under water, with a swirly bubble pattern.

Today's class will start with the mock sales conference presentations. I picked Carrie Vaughn's Kitty and the Midnight Hour. We'll see how it goes... I don't really know what average numbers are for a mm scifi/fantasy. I tried to look up an average first print run for fiction online, but all I found was bragging/astonishment at print runs of hundreds of thousands of copies, and complaints/disappointment at print runs of a couple thousand. I don't know what the normal is - presumably somewhere in-between.

On a side note, apparently the first print run of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was 1,000. Funny how that worked out.

Some Random Questions

Well, it's been a while. So let's see...

Does the fact that I found the comment "That's why we can't have nice things" especially entertaining to hear in real life (in a bar, following the sound of breaking glass) rather than reading it online make me a nerd?

Does buying a beer without getting carded make me old?

Does being able to tell a customer the exact shelf placement of a book (oh, it's section x, the first bay, middle of the bottom shelf...) without even looking mean I've been working too much?

Does the fact that the entire window shade (mounting and all) fell off the wall when I tried to close it mean we need a new one?

Does the first quiz in grad school actually wake you up to the fact that you're supposed to be studying, not going "Oh my gosh, so fun, I'm in grad school!"? (...check back in a few days for the answer to this one)

The Secret

A truly beautiful book - physically.

The content was something like this:
If you expect to be happy, you will be. If you expect to be miserable, you will be.

Just that - and it's a sentiment I more or less agree with. But it was expressed in mystic mumbo jumbo and repeated ad nauseam.

Still, if you don't bother reading it... a truly beautiful book. I loved the design.

Overlook Press

So our last homework assignment was to research a publisher. It was hard deciding which one I wanted to do; I had quite a list even just looking through one bookshelf. So I looked at all of them a little.

I couldn't really find enough info on Tor, Roc, or Harper Torch, had already read about Baen, and Orb turned out to be mainly interested in reprints. Random House and Scholastic were too big to deal with, Sandpiper (which publishes Bill Peet, according to Amazon) had too many cheesy baby books, and Washington Square Press had been bought out by Atria and sued (apparently in that order too, which is odd).

Of course I could still look at Atria, and did, a bit. I like their facebook page. I was still put off by all the news stories about the lawsuit, despite the fact they published my favorite book ever: The Thirteenth Tale.

So I ended up doing my presentation on Overlook Press, publisher of The City of Dreaming Books. Overlook has offices in both Woodstock and NYC, and gets its name from both the mountain it's located on and its mission: to be "a home for distinguished books that had been overlooked by larger houses." Most of the books and authors they listed on their site were ones I didn't recognize, but they still seemed to have sold pretty well. One had been made into a PBS documentary.

Overlook is an independent publisher founded in 1971 that puts out 100 books/year. They are apparently well known for their artistic reprints of P. G. Wodehouse, of which they have an entire line, bigger even than their childrens' books section. I had to look up who P. G. Wodehouse was. Does this mean that I fail as an English major, or is it a generational thing?

I'm on the Redivider's proofreading team!

Just had to share that. I'll post more in a day or two.

Lots of Rambling

So, it's definitely been a while. I don't even know where to start...

Classes. Yeah.
Classes have started and I am really, really excited. I'm taking Applications for Print Publishing - we're working with InDesign at the moment - and Book Publishing Overview, which is really, really cool (yeah, I know, I'm in writing/publishing and should be able to express myself better than "really, really cool" but I'm TOO EXCITED... oops, sorry, carried away. Anyway, it's a similar effect to my reaction to the news that ALEX AND WALTER ARE ENGAGED! ...okay, carried away again). To get back on topic, today's class is going to be about the editorial department, which I'm really looking forward to. The homework was to research a publisher and be ready to present on it - perhaps I'll do a post on that too. After classes, we generally all head over to the Tam to hang out & talk.

Work.
Not too much news - work is still fun, with great benefits like cheap/free books and being able to borrow bestsellers. We have even more ereader options to memorize. I'm loving working in the kids' section. Oh, and I got to do the kids' story time once!

Books.
The system for borrowing is being re-worked, so reading the bestseller list is on hold for a while. The last book I checked out was actually the first 3 Guardians of G'Hoole, so I figure now I'm allowed to see the movie. I'm more excited about the Harry Potter movie, though. I've started listening to Mugglecast again (love their chapter-by-chapter).

Boston in general
The weather's cooled down. I've scheduled an appointment to become a lector at church. I still want to go to the beach and the aquarium.

Apartment
I love my roommates. I also love how adult the apartment's furnishings feel. I'm even taking care of a plant! I remembered to water it! This is an achievement for me! One annoyance, though: as I write this blog, I am waiting for Comcast's repair people because we still don't have working cable. Oh well.

Writing
Some progress. Most of it in figuring out just what's been going wrong in a couple stories... which may not have resulted in visible progress (yet), but is definitely a big help. Also, I now have all my Tamora Pierce books, so I might go back to the parody I was writing...

Three Cups of Tea

This was a very interesting book, both entertaining and educational, but it has one major flaw. The writer is so enthusiastic about his topic that he wants to tell you everything, relevant or not, and his editor failed to correct this. It's not that the extra details are not interesting, even well-written in their own way, it's that they don't belong where they are. Occasionally, this would get the reader slightly lost as to who the relevant characters were and just what was going on. Some flashbacks are not clearly defined.

The Help

A good book. I really liked the language, and found it hard to put down.

Most of the book is written in dialect, but it's not full of apostrophes and obvious abbreviations. Instead, whatever word is actually said is written ("a" instead of "of" or " o' " being the simplest example). The effect is to cut down on distractions. The words are very natural. I could hear Aibileen's voice in my head when reading her sections, and Skeeter and Minny's voices were fainter but there. Most books - even most books in first person - can't evoke the sound of a voice for me, just the personality of the character. This one did.

My Horizontal Life

A "popular" book in both the positive and negative senses of the word.

Not funny at all - just a chronicle of stupidity. Then again, that does seem to be what passes for humor on tv. Which is exactly why I watch so little tv, but also probably why it sells so well.

Kudos, however, for the ending line. I appreciate the irony.

Little Bee

A good book.

The ending was... interesting. There's a lot of different emotional threads in it, and they're tangled when they should be woven. Or maybe just untangled. Depending on the mood you're in when you read it, it could be moving or disappointing or fulfilling or a letdown... it could be beautiful, or leave you wondering where the rest is. Although admittedly, the future Little Bee sees is one we all want.

Oops

I set myself some writing goals for this summer. Now that I only have two weeks before my classes start I realize that I have, so far, been an utter failure at all of them. I have not focused enough, and have put all my moments of concentration into this blog. So, with the exception of continuing my book reviews, I will be avoiding this blog until I start school.

Perhaps I'll actually get something done.

There's nothing like a close deadline, after all.

The Girl who Played with Fire

Impressively, all three of Stieg Larsson's books are at or near the top of bestseller lists. I enjoyed the first book, and was looking forward to continuing the series. Unfortunately, the second book's plot involved a pet peeve of mine - detective stories where the detective is framed. I have never liked this kind of story, because watching the investigation unfold when it is obvious to me that they are going in completely the wrong direction just makes me want to scream.

That said, The Girl Who Played with Fire was still well-written, intricate, and with enjoyable characters. I look forward to seeing how it all works out in the third book.

Continuing Adventures of Trixie

So, a lot has happened since my last post, but I never seem to get around to posting any of the bits and pieces of blogs I compose in my head during the day... which means by now, you just get a summary.

I worked Sunday, and kept forgetting what day it was because having Saturday off and going to church always makes Saturday feel like Sunday and Sunday like Monday... though I usually have it straightened out again by the real Monday. As of this week, Tuesday's the only early day at Borders, so even though I was opening shift Monday, I started at 8. It was nice not getting up so early, though it felt weird to have so many people out and about. I finally got to work a Tuesday opening shift - and it was so cool! Tuesday's laydown day. New books come out, the bestseller shelf's updated, displays are rearranged... And now it's Wednesday, and I have the day off.

On Sunday, Uncle Dave and Paula met me after work. I was excited all day waiting (which kept me awake, even behind the register) and asked to be able to leave as soon as the clock said 8 instead of waiting until the hour was called (it's often called 5 to 20 minutes late). We went to Kelly's, and then I showed them the apartment. It was nice to be able to just hang out and talk.

On Monday, I met the cutest little puppy on the way to work. It made my day.

On Tuesday, I recognized a woman from Sassoon's when I was at the register. She has a very distinctive haircut. I remember when I got my haircut, she was telling the woman whose hair she was cutting all about her new puppy, Trixie. At Borders, she was difficult to ring up because I couldn't get a word in edgewise; she was too busy telling her friend all about how difficult Trixie was and how she blamed the breeder.
I stopped at the farmer's market on the way home and got scallions, corn, and peaches.

Today, I ran a few errands, cleaned a little, and bought myself that eggplant pasta meal I've been eyeing at the little Italian place I pass going to & from church. It was really good, and now I have leftovers to take to work for lunch. I meant to do more cleaning, or go out to the beach, or the library, or the museum, but the heat got the best of me. I lay down to rest for an hour and didn't wake up until 5 or 6 hours later. Trust my day off to be the hottest of the week... Oh well. Perhaps Saturday will be better, since I have TWO days off now.

A Good Day Off

I slept in today and loved it. The weather was wonderful - mid 70s all day - so I wasn't woken by the heat. I did laundry, went to church, tried the Emerson B&N but it was closed, called Uncle Dave about his visit, went grocery shopping, bought milk, changed the sheets, made a good start on The Girl Who Played with Fire, and plan on doing a little cleaning before bed.

When I put that all in one sentence, I feel like I have had a productive day. I even made rice.


Some random thoughts:

There's a major bus stop I pass on the way to church, that's occasionally graffitied. Today, in huge, bright lettering covering most of the cement wall at the back of the shelter, it said: WE DON'T NEED This left me wondering. We don't need what? Were they interrupted? Or was that all they meant? It seemed very defiant, but also...painful.

It seems to be Boston's law of public transit that whichever direction you plan on going, the train going the opposite direction will invariably show up first. I amused myself for quite a while imaging just how Terry Pratchett would explain this.

I bought spices when I was at the grocery store and plan on buying onions/corn/fruit the next time I'm at the farmers' market. I'm tired of canned stuff.

I still want to get to the aquarium sometime. And the beach. And buy that wine.

No idea which meal I'm eating

Mary called me yesterday afternoon to ask me to come in early - 6pm - if I could, because someone was out sick. So, I did. I stopped at the farmers' market along the way and bought myself a nectarine, which I promptly ate. It was really good. Then I started work - I was on cash registers until closing, though it was more interesting than normal as several people actually came up to the register for help finding a book. At one point we had the whole store looking for The Color of Water for a customer, but had to give up. As luck would have it, I found it during clean-up after closing - it was on the magazine rack.

I now know where the media closet is, and how to refill the drinks. I spent most of the night unpacking and shelving magazines. It was just Meredith and I after midnight, waiting for the workmen to finish polishing the door handles. Her boyfriend picked her up and agreed to drive me home too - when his battery promptly died. So we had to flag someone down to help, but probably 90% of the traffic at 4:30 in the morning is taxis, and they won't stop for you unless you're looking for a ride. So it was a bit of an adventure.

Anyway, I didn't get to sleep until around 6, and the only reason I got up before 5pm (barely) was because I know I need to be at work at 9 tomorrow morning. Being nocturnal's easy, but constantly shifting my sleep schedule around like this? A bit more difficult.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I was looking forward to this book on my list - and I was not disappointed. Sure, it starts slow, but once it gets going it's hard to put down.

There are multiple mysteries woven skillfully together in this story, and the first introduced actually becomes the least important - at least to the reader. It is a framework. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a violence-awareness tale, wearing a financial intrigue like a thin disguise. This does not detract from it at all; in fact, in my opinion, it makes it more interesting. The focus becomes the characters themselves, rather than just their bank accounts, as they attempt to navigate both financial and physical dangers, searching for truth.

I am looking forward to the rest of this trilogy.

Eat, Pray, Love

I started with a nonfiction book more because it was the most readily available than anything else. I wasn't sure that I'd like it at first - not because I don't like nonfiction, because I do, but because I'm not generally impressed by my-life's-journey stories, nor do I trust "popular" to be the same as "good."

But this book was so good.

It's divided into 3 parts - Italy, where the narrator learns to enjoy life, India, where the narrator learns to appreciate life, and Indonesia, where the narrator learns to live her life. Her philosophy is interesting and convincing - and, I'll admit, I really enjoyed the short section in which she describes a weekend in Florence. Every other line, I was thinking "I did that! And I did that!"
But really, the whole book had a similar feel. Even though I haven't physically been anywhere else she went, the narration of her emotional/spiritual journey is so well done that it's hard not to identify. Eat, Pray, Love is an exploration of... if you'll excuse the reference... the answer (or perhaps the question) to life, the universe, and everything.

The ending caught me by surprise. I want to say it was abrupt, but I'm not sure I can. Just as I was thinking "wait, that's it?" I was also thinking, "of course that's it; there's nothing more to say." I like that there's no where-do-I-go-from-here summary. The whole book was about finding balance so that she doesn't need to know or worry about that, so it's fitting to just stop there, with thanks to the people who helped her along the way.

Sweet

Guess what? Today, I got paid for sleeping on books. The only way it would have been better was if they paid me to read them.

I worked until a little after 8:00 last night and was back at 6:30 this morning. I worked on shelving and unshelving, took a break to sleep on books, then, for a change, did some REshelving.

Perhaps I should explain.

We got a delivery today, and once the truck unloads, someone has to stay with the boxes to make sure they're not stolen before they all get moved into the store room. I was lucky enough to get guard duty - and then the manager who was moving them (because no one else was available) got sidetracked onto managerly things. So I relaxed on the boxes and waited, and the 11:00 call went something like this:
"It's 11:00 and Michelle is now on this, Ash you're on this, Nick's still there, Bibi's starting there, so-and-so finish that, etc... oh, and Michele's in the basement, I have to go get her."
"The basement?"
"With a shipment."
"Oh, I thought that's where we kept people who didn't sign up enough Borders Rewards or something."

I ended the day by making a good start on a project Kelly had: the graphic novels are currently in order by sub-category, then alphabetically by author, but need to be rearranged to alphabetically by title, with no sub-categories. All 6 bays of them. It was actually kind of fun... yeah, I know: I'm weird.

Bestsellers

My reading list, generated by the NY Times Bestseller list:
1-3. Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy
4. Nora Roberts' The Search
5. Chris Cleave's Little Bee
6. Linda Lael Miller's Austin
7. James Patterson and Maxine Paetro's Private
8. Justin Halpern's Sh*t My Dad Says
9. Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw
10. Drew Brees' Coming Back Stronger
11. Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love
12. Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin's Three Cups of Tea
13. Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life
14. Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton's The Very Fairy Princess
15. Simon Beecroft's Lego Star Wars
16. Jane O'Connor's Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day

Yes, the last three are kids' books. No, I will not be reading the best selling advice books, mainly because at least one of them is about being pregnant, and that would just be odd. I wasn't sure about the advice books to begin with, and with that added incentive not to read them... well, my list's long enough, right?

So. I'm starting with Eat, Pray, Love, which I've borrowed from Borders. It's due back in 2 weeks, but I'll probably have it done long before that.

I like this job

Worked on the cash registers today - the training turned into covering the noon rush because John didn't have enough people to replace us, and we were already there, so...

There's a lot going on, but it's fun. I think I'll get the hang of it after a week or so - it's just trying to answer all the questions. I'm not that familiar with the store yet. Or the neighborhood. Or what book won what award last year...

I get to work again tomorrow - I'm going in early to help with inventory & stuff. I've got a locker, but no time card yet.

Went grocery shopping after work today. I bought myself some hamburger to put in the spaghetti, and now I'm excited for dinner, so I better stop typing and go cook.

Books! Books! And... no books?

I started at Borders today - I was so excited, I was an hour early getting off the T, but I hung out at the library a little.

Then I headed towards Borders - still early - and realized the farmer's market was there! So I went around the square and checked out all the stands, and the peaches looked good but the plums looked really good so when I passed them again on my way home I bought some.

Then Borders - it's going to be a really cool job. It sounds like so much fun! And books! Books everywhere, all day... and air conditioning too. Their ereader program is really good. They even have a book lending policy for employees... and an employee discount... So many books, so little time.

After Borders, and the plums, I stopped at the library again - intending to start on my goal of reading the entire NY Times bestseller list. Sadly, none of the books on the list were available. BPL, you disappoint me.


snicker

Saturday

I had lunch in the food court of the mall today - and got dessert at Truffles. I decided I was allowed, since I got a job.

I also decided I should start reading the books on the NY Times bestseller list - seems like a good idea, since I'm interested in publishing. I'll have to go back to the library again sometime after checking the list here, since you have to wait in line to get on a computer with internet access there. It didn't seem worth it, for something that would only take a minute to check.

The 4:00 Saturday mass was downstairs, where it was cooler, and there was music, though it was just the organ and one singer. Afterward I talked to a woman who graduated from Emerson's writing program.

Job Hunt part 3

I've got a job!

I'vegotajobI'vegotajob...

$8.50/hr @ Borders as a bookseller... and she remembered me!

It's not necessarily enough to cover rent... but it's a start!

Feeling Accomplished

I actually was able to get through half my to-do list today.

I'm uneasily reminded of this

Chores

So it's not quite as cool as I'd hoped, but still cooler - at least until tomorrow. I've gotten myself a bit more organized and plan on doing some cleaning later. Tomorrow I need to go grocery shopping.

I've also been researching recycling in Boston - I'm hoping to find a recycling drop-off, or something, but I can't get any definite information on the internet, so I'll have to call during business hours.

You know, my room looks like a disaster area. Why does cleaning always do that?

Thunderstorm

It was really hot again today - at least at first. I went back to Border's to get a signed book for Steph, and while I was there one of the employees came over to tell everyone that there was a huge storm and many places were flooding.

He wasn't kidding - when I went back downstairs they were directing people to the other side of the store as they tried to mop up all the water covering the floor between the door and the escalators. I hung out for a while - after all, being stuck in a bookstore of all places is hardly a problem - and found a new Andrew Clements book: Lost and Found. It was pretty good.

When the rain slowed down, I headed home. It was so much cooler! I actually had the energy & the desire to do something besides sleep, so I made a casserole for my next couple dinners and put a couple more hours into cleaning the windows.

I hope it stays this cool. I might actually get a lot done this weekend.

Yikes

Yesterday Steph and I went to see Last Airbender - fun movie, by the way, though it didn't make as much use of the 3D as I'd hoped - and had both lunch and dinner out. Lunch was at Panera's on the way to the movie; dinner was at the mall afterward.

Also, on the way to the movie we stopped at the Apple Store.

We stopped at the Apple Store because my computer was...in a coma. Because, see, after the library Wednesday we came home to watch DVDs and it was hot and I'm clumsy and.... I spilled a glass of water on top of the keyboard.

Woops.

Luckily, my computer booted this morning (to much rejoicing) and so now I can write this blog to tell you how clumsy I am, and that Steph's on her way home and my interview went well.

*loading... this will be a link in a few hours days*

I have a job interview!

...and now Steph and I are going to the library.

Indoor Village

Steph & I went to the mall today - lot of fun.

Now I'm going to go hang out with Steph some more...

Mmm Carrot Cake for Dinner

Yesterday afternoon I applied to Commonwealth Wine & Spirits, which is opening a store next to Kelly's. The interview was rather simplistic: What's your name? How long can you work? What kind of alcohol do you like? Next!

Oh well. The cool thing was that the quick interview allowed me to be home early enough that I actually had a long, friendly conversation with my roommate when she got back from work, before she locked herself in her room again to study.

The museum had a free showing of Dirt (with refreshments!), so I attempted the bus system to get there & back, based on the info I was mailed. It worked... but I still much prefer the subway. Because the subway actually announces stops before it's passed them. Remarkable concept, no?

Dirt was good, though it made me a bit homesick, so I'm glad I'm headed to the farm this weekend. The lack of open nature is going to be my biggest challenge living in a city, no matter how friendly the birds are.

Of course, that brings me to this morning and challenge 2: I was woken by a jackhammer rather too early, and that jackhammer continued running for hours. Talk about starting the day with a headache! Perhaps I should seriously consider earplugs...

Anyway, today is going to be dedicated to getting ready for the farm! Cherries, here I come!

Labeling Fail

I'm easily amused.

Job Hunt part 2

Brookline Liquor (across the street) smells wonderfully like a winery and has excellent air conditioning... but is on a hiring freeze for the summer. Payless seems to be closed. The pet store is not hiring. Although Sammy is a very friendly dog.

This afternoon I need to ask at Staples if I should apply for other jobs, call CVS (or maybe wait until tomorrow on that one; now that I think about it they may have said Wednesday...), check Symposium Books and the Emerson Barnes & Noble, and somewhere in all that buy bread, because I'm out. I'd really like to get more since it's still too hot for much besides sandwiches, even though the air is finally thin enough to breathe again.

Also on the subject of jobs, I got my notice of termination from the census, along with the paperwork for applying for unemployment, though I don't know if I'm actually eligible. And I called the jurors' office, and apparently they don't care if I just hold on to the paperwork and wait until September to send proof of residence. So... cool... I guess.

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. ~ igoogle's Einstein quote of the day

Hibernating

I woke up to this message from Weatherbug:

"A Heat Advisory Remains In Effect For The Greater Boston
Area...Where The Combination Of Hot Temperatures And High Humidity
Will Bring Heat Indices To Between 100 And 104 Degrees This Afternoon.
The Heat Advisory Is In Effect Until 6 PM.

Precautionary/Preparedness Actions...

A Heat Advisory Is Issued When High Humidities Are Expected To
Combine With Hot Temperatures Resulting In Heat Indices Of
100 Degrees Or Greater. Avoid Prolonged Work In The Sun Or In
Poorly Ventilated Areas. Also...Drink Plenty Of Water And Try To
Stay In An Air Conditioned Environment."

Well, no kidding. The air's so thick it's like trying to breathe in a sauna.

Due to extreme sloth induced by said air, I am NOT going outside today. Not even to ride the air-conditioned subway cars back & forth, though I was considering it. However, I did go online and came up with a number of places to apply to, tomorrow.

Thunderstorm now? Please?

Learning the Neighborhood

So yesterday afternoon was one can't-get-there-from-here after another. The end result, however, is that I now know how and where I can buy T passes and groceries. Even if the subway did make me wait in the hot sun with my milk... trust that to be the longest wait yet for a train to come.

Today, I went to the museum. It was a bit of a walk, but not nearly as bad as it could have been because I took the T two stops down (saving myself a few blocks) on the way there, and was offered a ride back by one of the women giving the tour. The whole thing was a lot of fun, and I now know a lot more about Brighton's history. I also saw a couple pictures of Commonwealth - at least one of which was taken right about where my apartment is now - from a long time ago. In the first picture, it's just a dirt road! But it's in the process of being expanded... and presumably paved.

Another woman who volunteers there works for the T, and she's going to send me bus maps & schedules. I need all the help I can get with those - the subway's so much easier to understand.

Custom Library Cards

So apparently my window shades are white, not off-white. I'm very glad I decided to clean them and will be putting more time into that sometime soon.

This morning, I found the train station and the outbound Copley T stop - both of which I'll need to know for the trip to/from the farm. Then I went to the library, and I now not only have a card, I have a blue library card - you could actually pick what color you wanted!

Plans for this afternoon - buy another T pass, check out the grocery store, and figure out how to get to the museum tomorrow

Car Alarms Should Die

So where's all these thunderstorms everyone's been predicting? It's too hot to really go out much, but it looks sunny.

I slept in this morning, mainly because somebody's car alarm was going off in the distance from about midnight to...let's see... 3am or so? It kept echoing in my skull even after it finally turned off. I suppose they make them that obnoxious so that potential car thieves will think "forget this, I'd rather go steal ear plugs."

So basically, plans for today are various emails, cleaning up my itunes, and possibly washing the window shades. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit cooler.

Job Hunt part 1

I have now applied to both Staples and CVS, found a Borders I want to apply to and a mall I don't (though I can't wait to show Steph), and stopped by Trident Booksellers & Cafe which I definitely plan to apply to.

I will not be applying to the library until such time as I can find my way from the kid's books to the nonfiction without getting lost. This may require several month's time, along with the use of a map and a compass. Beautiful place to explore, though.

Because people keep asking.

This haircut comes with coffee!

After my siesta yesterday, I went back out in search of an Apple store and an AT&T. Emerson's off-campus student services sent me to the Hynes Convention Center stop. I was a little lost when I got there, but that's okay - starting off in the wrong direction took me past Allison, who stopped me to ask if I'd be willing to get my hair cut by her as part of her apprenticeship at Sassoon's. We scheduled it for this morning (it looks really cool, by the way), then I continued on.

I found the apple store first, and it was impressive! Three floors, with a clear glass spiral staircase going up the center... the genius bar was on top, and I was offered the elevator, but that wouldn't have been any fun. I went straight up.

There, I was introduced to Michael, who listened to the history of my quirky computer with a puzzled expression before attempting to fix its latest little hiccup, that of not being able to run time machine and the internet at the same time.

This is not supposed to happen. They are not supposed to be connected. He was especially puzzled by the fact that something that was supposed to be a hardware issue was acting like a software issue... or was it the other way around? Anyway, Michele's technologically challenging luck strikes again. While he was working on that, I continued down the street to AT&T and had my voicemail fixed. Then I went back to the Apple store and played with all their fun toys, waiting to be called back to the genius bar.

He fixed it by giving me Snow Leopard. Cool, right?

To celebrate, I went to a free wine tasting. Then I got back on the T, and got grinned at by a baby. Finally, I grinned back, which made her giggle and drop her pacifier. After that, she watched me suspiciously all the way home. Never trust a pacifier thief.

Siesta

I mentioned before that Boston reminded me of Spain, and it's certainly hot enough. Therefore I have decided that until a job or class forces me to change my schedule, I will plan on observing a siesta. I'll run errands in the morning, be back to the apartment for lunch, and then stay there until around 2. Perhaps this way I'll be able to stay cool.

This morning's errands taught me all about the many buildings Emerson has, mainly because each office I went to referenced another for some of my questions, and none were in the same building. All were helpful though - and I got a new Writer's Chronicle to read on the way home.

This afternoon - after 2 - I plan to get both my phone and computer fixed. I've got directions to a street with both stores near each other. Then depending on how much energy I have I'll either explore more or come back to hang posters and hook up my printer.

And now, time for my siesta. ¡Hasta mañana!

"Song and story, that's what we love. What did you do today? Tell me what happened. How did it go last night? Then what happened? What did he say then? That's what we ask each other every day, right? What happened? Well, after that, what happened? Well, then what'd you do? We love to know this. We want to know. Action and time with consequence, and then, consequently, what happened? We love stories. It will never go away. Humans, we were built on stories. We need stories."

- Marie Howe, in interview in Summer 2010 Writer's Chronicle

Boston

I'm finally here, and my family's on the way home.

Of course, it wasn't until they were almost ready to go that I realized I'd forgotten a somewhat important box at home... but that's kind of required for a move, isn't it? You always have to forget something. At least it wasn't my socks.

One roommate's here, but studying. The other two are away for the weekend but should be back today, to prove they aren't ghosts. I've been starting to wonder.

Packing

Well, unpacking's almost done now, and a lot of it's been re-packed. Essentially we moved my box mountain in from the garage and back out again, but I feel very accomplished because of this.

Quilt's here

Silverware - excuse me, flatware - is here

I have a bread knife, steak knives, and pans

I seem to have inherited various kitchen things from previous roommates. Including, for some odd reason, a cheese slicer.

Dishes are in the mail

Sheets are in the mail

Key should be in the mail

I'm actually doing this!

Starting Out

"What does 'toil and snares' mean?"

"Okay, picture this: Book report. Mrs. Kelly. Due tomorrow. Haven't even read The Book."

Now picture this:

Moving. To Boston. In two weeks. Haven't even unpacked from college...

I'm still not truly believing I'm in Emerson's publishing program, and I probably won't believe it until I'm actually in class. I can't wait. This is it - this is as far as my planning ever went, but it's taking me somewhere, and I can't wait to find out where!

You might wonder why I'm attempting blogging, since up until now I've insisted I only do fiction. Call it sibling rivalry :-)

I'm taking my title from Tolkien:

The road goes ever on and on,

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the road has gone,

And I must follow if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet.

And wither then? I cannot say.

So this will be my record of Boston - and maybe further.

But first, I need to make breakfast.