lighterthanair: Rupert Giles in a magic hat (mine is a magic hat)
I'd love to be snuggled under a blanket right now, hiding from the chilly rainy weather that doesn't seem to want to go away this month, and the only thing stopping me is that my Kindle still needs to charge a bit more. I have 2 books to read by the end of the week, 1 of which I'm halfway through already (Betsy Dornbusch's Exile, also a reread) and 1 which I haven't started yet (Craig Cormick's The Shadow Master) but that I've promised a review by... Oh, for some reason I thought it was June 1, but it's actually June 4, so I have longer to read it than I thought. I'll be able to get it done by the 1st, though, really, since Exile won't take me too much longer (I'll probably be able to finish it by the end of tomorrow), and I don't have much planned for my days off work on Thursday and Friday except for some cleaning and cooking, and I highly doubt I'll be doing enough of either to take up 2 days of time. So I'll get to enjoy some relaxing time with new books then.

I expect I'll get a lot of reading done next week, too. I switched shifts around with a coworker, so instead of having a 4-day weekend, I work Saturday to Tuesday, have Wednesday off (for reading), work Thursday, then have Friday to Sunday off. Roommate's coming back for my birthday (which is June 7) and will arrive in the evening on Friday, so I'll have most of that day to read, and leaving early on Sunday, so I'll have most of that day too. And on Saturday we can go out for a delicious meal and possibly some book shopping and maybe taking a nice walk if the weather's good! Then I'll only work 3 more days before I'll have my usual Thursday and Friday 'weekend' off work again and can catch up on more reading.

I say 'catch up' because I have fallen behind somewhat, and review copies are piling up faster than I can read them. They already have, really, and always will, but it's getting particularly bad, so I want to has a massive reading fest or something so that I can whittle down the pile a little and get more reviews written.

It's an addiction, reading and reviewing all these books. It's hard to believe I've been doing it for almost 4 and a half years now. There have been times where I've thought that maybe I should stop, that I don't really want to keep up the responsibility of having to review when what I'd rather be doing is just more reading, but I keep going back to it, and I do enjoy talking about what I think about the things I read. And I like knowing that I'm doing a little bit to help publicity for good books, too.

I shaved my head last weekend. Not for the first time, but I liked it a lot before and it was getting long enough to be annoying, but too short to just tie back out of the way. So out came the clippers and away went the hair. I like it best this way, I think. It makes me look more boyish. Not manly, but boyish, and that's closer to what I actually want for myself, so I'll take it! Even if everyone else who looks at me sees only the outward signs of being female (boobs, me wearing a long skirt because it's comfortable and nobody can see my legs), I know I can look in the mirror and see a face that's a little more like how I think I ought to be. And that makes me happy.

I've been making more use of my camera, too, and getting more pictures while I'm out. I'm not bad, really, but I'm not that great either, and I think it wouldn't hurt me to read a couple of photography books so that I can get some tips on improving. For every picture I get that I like, there are about a dozen that are mediocre, and about 3 dozen that I just reject out of hand because they're not focused properly, a bad angle, looked great on the digital camera screen but aren't so great on the computer screen... I know that much of it is trial and error, and a bit of editing too, but I think my skill has hit a plateau and I need something new to get me improving again.

Aaand I just discovered that a cheque finally cleared my bank account, so I have enough money to get cat food and stamps without having to use credit! Possibly some cat litter, too, but I think I can make what I currently have stretch until I get my next paycheque if I'm careful, so I may not need to. But the other things are definitely needed; cats need to eat, and I have an important letter to send! So now I can depart the online world happy. My Kindle isn't fully charged yet, but I don't want to wait any longer, since time's running out and I don't have long before it'll be time to go to sleep so I can get some good rest for work tomorrow.
lighterthanair: Rupert Giles in a magic hat (mine is a magic hat)
Today is going to be stupidly busy. First, half a shift of work, which is okay except that of course it's the half of my shift that contains the largest section of unbroken work. But it's only half a day, so I can manage.

Then I'll be waiting around uptown (and probably catching up on some reading and/or Animal Crossing) while I wait for the reading by Patrick Rothfuss, which is going to be awesome and I'm excited for this because I've never been to an author event before. I'm hoping I can get a book signed by him, but even if I just enjoy the reading itself, that'll still be cool.

Then I'm coming home so I can be part of a podcast that's getting recorded tonight. This will be my first podcast, so I'm nervous and excited about it, but I hope it'll go well. I'll post a link when it airs, so anyone can listen to my voice if they so desire.

So from getting up at 7:45 this morning to whenever the podcast recording ends (recording starts at 10 PM AST, which is pretty late), I'm busy. Worth it, though. Totally worth it. Being a part of SF Signal has opened up so many doors for me already, and I've only technically done one review and been part of one Mind Meld!

Speaking of SF Signal, their Top 3 posts of September list went live yesterday, and my review of Kim Stanley Robinson's Shaman made the list. Impressive, I think, for a first post there! Hopefully some of my future posts will go over just as well.

(Just got a message from another guy at SF Signal who said that reviews rarely make the list, which makes me have a "whoa, seriously?!" moment as I try to process that... O_O)

Also did a September in Retrospect post over at Bibliotropic, so if anyone's curious about what I accomplished there this past month, please drop by. #shamelessplug

Hope it's dead at work. It'd be nice to spend some of that time off the phones, working on the database project for a while instead of taking calls...
Next week at work sounds like it could actually be fun. Two barbeques, for one thing. The first is because our centre raised the most money for local disaster relief, and the second one is because the class I was in collected the most food for the local food bank. The second barbeque is one that's limited only to our class, rather than the whole centre. So that means that out of the four days I'll be at work next week, I only need to bring lunch on two of them.

Also, on Friday the class is being taken to tour a nearby hotel, as a sort of field trip. I'm quite interested in this, not only because it will get me off the phones for a little while, but also because I admit that I only know some of the inner workings of hotels and hotel management, and I'm hoping to learn something new while I'm there. Either about the hotel, the hotel chain, or just how things are run behind the scenes.

I spent most of this evening turning the numerous strips of paper that I'd cut over the past few days into beads. I didn't get them all done, mostly because of sore muscles in my neck making it hard to sit forward in my chair, but I probably got about a third of them made. They're from strips of red and black paper, and some of the beads will be black outside with a red centre, and some red outside with a black centre. I think they'll make rather nice bracelets.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to make the rest of the strips into beads, as well as string them all on elastic so that they're proper bracelets. I think I should be able to make five bracelets. Possibly six. I wonder if I'll be able to entice anyone into buying one.

Also tomorrow, I'm planning a blog makeover. Not this one, but my book review blog. I think I mentioned last time that there are a ton of dead links that need fixing, lists that need to be redone and updated, and reviews that need to be written. I know I'm going to have a few spare hours tomorrow, so I'm going to try and get as much of that done as I can in that time.

I was struck today by the strange urge to reread all of Erin Hunter's Warriors books. I have most of them, and I enjoy them a lot. I'd call them light reading, because they're about cats and written for a mid-grade/young adult audience, but really, the tone of those books can get pretty dark. Lots of characters die, sometimes in very nasty ways. I felt a little queasy more than once while reading the series. But still, the books are very quick to get through, I'm really behind on my reading goals, and I was thinking of doing a "Warriors Wednesday" feature on my book review blog too.

There are a few features I started there and never finished. I should add that to the list of things I need to do in an overhaul.

Sadly, at this point, I think I do actually need to make a list. Let's see...

~ Fix all dead links on the review listing
~ Create a new list that organizes the reviews by title
~ Create a new list that organizes the reviews by the book's publication date
~ Update the list of books I've received for review
~ Make a list of the features that have been started, and that I want to start
~ Type up backlogged reviews

See? Not exactly a small task. But fortunately, I actually like taking care of things like this. The problem is often just finding the time to do so, and making sure that I don't get distracted by other things too. Sometimes that can be tough, but tomorrow, by damn, I'm going to sit down and just do it!

No matter how many things need sewing or how many bracelets need stringing.

Adopt one today!Adopt one today!Adopt one today!Adopt one today!Adopt one today!Adopt one today!Adopt one today!Adopt one today!

September 2015

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