All in all a good day.
I should probably write something pithy about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and about freedom of speech and brotherly love and how far Americans have come along with how far we still need to go. Sure, I think, like most people, I really do wish for world peace. I don't believe that people should have to suffer so many of the apalling and horrifying things that go on every day, not just all over the world, but in our own country. People everywhere are so good at pretending that Nothing is Wrong in circumstances that are far from ideal. In a world abundant with resources, we find it hard to share. Sometimes, though, there are people that overcome those natural urges that drive us to amass wealth and more of everything that we need and look towards others and say "I can help him (or her) and today, I'm going to." I do feel like I want to do that most of the time.
The irony, of course, is that one of my aunts asked me to create a wishlist for her at Barnes and Noble's website so she could get me some stuff for my birthday, with the implication that this wishlist will be shared with other family members who also desire to get me stuff. (I'd just ask for a Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Membership, but I know my family well enough to know that they would not understand that and I'm a little frightened that the requet to buy me a manatee (as in a Save the Manatees sponsorship) or a Polar Bear or a Humpbacked Whale or Killer Whale would result in a collection of stuffed animals, knick knacks, and bric a brac because my family will decide that I like those now and buy me a bunch of them.) It's not that I don't appreciate the gifts, because I do and I recognize that it means that they were thinking of me or something they saw reminded them of me, but-really, I like dragons and I'm good with that collection and it's easier to point them somewhere and say "I'd like this" because then I don't have to worry about a huge influx of stuff. Ideally, they'll go in together on something big, which they have done in the past (my beanbag chair when I turned 25 was pretty darned exciting and remains pretty darned awesome-except I need to recharge the beans in it, becuase they're a little squashed now). I really hope that they'll get me "Absolute Sandman vol 3" because that would be awesome (and leave me only volume 4 to get for myself), either that or the "Ultimate Pink Panther Collection". Though if they opt for the smaller gift route, there's a variety of stuff for them to choose from and there are a whole bunch of Jonathan Letham and Jonathan Carroll books that are on clearance for less that $4 that I'd be more than happy to have because they're reprints of books that I've been looking for for a long time.
The Hellacious Book List has been alive, growing, and fed regularly since I got my first computer in college. Before then, it was restricted to a couple of folded pieces of paper that I carried every where with me. There are accompanying CD and DVD lists as well and I keep them because I am going to get the resources to get all of them, and in the process probably single handedly revive the flagging economy. There are several volumes that I salivate over regularly from Easton Press. Those are some beautiful books and for some of those volumes aren't available anywhere else, except as antique/rare editions that make them more than a little pricey.
I would just use those resources for amassing my dracoian hoarde though, I'd be sponsoring manatees, polar bears, whales, artists that I liked, and causes that I believe in because it's really important to give back. Library Associations are pretty high on my list as well. I wouldn't be the person that I am now without libraries.
I did get to visit with a friend that I haven't seen in a while. I didn't get her Christmas present sewn quite yet, but she gave me a bottle of barbecue sauce for Christmas. We sat and talked for quite a while.
The irony, of course, is that one of my aunts asked me to create a wishlist for her at Barnes and Noble's website so she could get me some stuff for my birthday, with the implication that this wishlist will be shared with other family members who also desire to get me stuff. (I'd just ask for a Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Membership, but I know my family well enough to know that they would not understand that and I'm a little frightened that the requet to buy me a manatee (as in a Save the Manatees sponsorship) or a Polar Bear or a Humpbacked Whale or Killer Whale would result in a collection of stuffed animals, knick knacks, and bric a brac because my family will decide that I like those now and buy me a bunch of them.) It's not that I don't appreciate the gifts, because I do and I recognize that it means that they were thinking of me or something they saw reminded them of me, but-really, I like dragons and I'm good with that collection and it's easier to point them somewhere and say "I'd like this" because then I don't have to worry about a huge influx of stuff. Ideally, they'll go in together on something big, which they have done in the past (my beanbag chair when I turned 25 was pretty darned exciting and remains pretty darned awesome-except I need to recharge the beans in it, becuase they're a little squashed now). I really hope that they'll get me "Absolute Sandman vol 3" because that would be awesome (and leave me only volume 4 to get for myself), either that or the "Ultimate Pink Panther Collection". Though if they opt for the smaller gift route, there's a variety of stuff for them to choose from and there are a whole bunch of Jonathan Letham and Jonathan Carroll books that are on clearance for less that $4 that I'd be more than happy to have because they're reprints of books that I've been looking for for a long time.
The Hellacious Book List has been alive, growing, and fed regularly since I got my first computer in college. Before then, it was restricted to a couple of folded pieces of paper that I carried every where with me. There are accompanying CD and DVD lists as well and I keep them because I am going to get the resources to get all of them, and in the process probably single handedly revive the flagging economy. There are several volumes that I salivate over regularly from Easton Press. Those are some beautiful books and for some of those volumes aren't available anywhere else, except as antique/rare editions that make them more than a little pricey.
I would just use those resources for amassing my dracoian hoarde though, I'd be sponsoring manatees, polar bears, whales, artists that I liked, and causes that I believe in because it's really important to give back. Library Associations are pretty high on my list as well. I wouldn't be the person that I am now without libraries.
I did get to visit with a friend that I haven't seen in a while. I didn't get her Christmas present sewn quite yet, but she gave me a bottle of barbecue sauce for Christmas. We sat and talked for quite a while.