RP: Books, books and more books

[lainekohler]

Date: January 15, 2011
Characters: Laine Kohler, Nellie O’Neill
Location: Barnes & Noble, Sundance Square
Status: Public-ish
Summary: Laine uses one of her days off to browse and shop
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[nellie_oneill]

Now that she had a place to live and was actively looking for a place to work--with several interviews lined up, at that, yay her--Nellie was starting to feel a little more secure in having chosen pretty much randomly to more hundreds of miles across the country. This meant, of course, that she had a bit of spare time on her hands, now that she didn't spend every moment worrying about everything. She'd always been bad about worrying about every single thing, usually leaving that up to Declan and Elliot

[lainekohler]

Laine smiled and closed the book she was holding when the other woman browsing spoke up. “Don’t reckon too many of these are accurate,” She replied, “Or not any I’ve read lately. I do usually enjoy Philippa Gregory books though, or at least they don’t make me want to hurl them across a room.” She’d read most of them, save for the newest, “Haven’t read The Other Boleyn Girl in a few years, but I did like it the first time through.”

She placed the book she’d been browsing back on the shelf, “The film was terrible though,” She bent to continue her search of the shelves, “Are you looking for anything in particular?” She asked and glanced at the other woman again, "Or just browsing also?"

[nellie_oneill]

“Parts of them, but not the hwole. But I guess that’s part of the fun. Plus I can enjoy the story and nitpick the details, all in one go,” Nellie half-joked. It was, after all, something she regularly did. “Well, except for some of those Regency romances. Those stretch things even for me, most of the time.” Though she wasn’t as much for romances these days. They made her ache, still, sometimes. “I liked it when I read it, evne if her kids weren’t actually his kids, like the book makes us want to believe.” Though things like that did happen.

“I never actually caught the film, believe it or not. I do watch The Tudors sometimes on TV, though, but not enough to actually give an opinion of it.” It was interesting, at least. “Not really anything in particular, just looking for something interesting to read since my library hasn’t been trucked over here yet.” And she wasn’t sure when it would be, if at all. “So just browsing, I guess. You?”

[lainekohler]

Laine nodded. “Oh, absolutely. It’s much more fun than reading historical non-fiction,” and considering she never had long stretches of time to read, she preferred to read the things she really enjoyed. “Romance isn’t usually my top choice, I prefer a little intrigue and scandal in my reading.” She liked happy endings well enough, but sometimes it seemed like the authors were all writing from the same formula; it got to be repetitive. “And I prefer Victorian over Regency, or as silly as it seems, the American West.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that once or twice, their Charles Brandon is lovely,” Laine said, “It was a bit difficult to keep up on without premium cable and I don’t have the extra funds to purchase the discs.” She pulled another book off the shelf and turned it over to read the back cover, “The same. I like to keep a new book on hand, and I’ve read through everything I own.” She answered, “So, you just moved to the area?”

[nellie_oneill]

"I'll do it for research and for classes and work and all, but for fun I want something not dryly written," Nellie agreed. "Something with a plot. And some characterization." Make it fun and entertaining and not by rote or opinion. "Victorian can be good. Though yes, the American West. I'm partial to those and from the Revolution to the Civil War--though I admit I nitpick those worse than anything too." They were her chosen specificity, on the whole, though she was well rounded in a few other things.

"I just haven't been steady on it. I've been thinking of doing Netflix for it though." And she might, at some point. She just hadn't gotten into it enough yet. Nellie browsed, plucking a book here or there as she chatted. "Yeah, I usually do the same, but yeah, i just moved, rather impromptuly, to be honest, so I didn't plan to bring the books with me just yet. Just a handful to keep me sane."

[lainekohler]

“Work?” Laine asked and wondered how it related to what this stranger did for a living that might involve history; there was a fairly broad spectrum of what you could apply for if you held a history degree. “And I don’t nitpick those too much, but then, I’m not as well versed in American History as some.” She shrugged, she knew the events and could tell you facts and details, but she’d never be an expert.

“One of the joys of moving,” She commented and made a face, “Took months for all my things to make it over when I first moved.” That was after at least a month of culling all the things she could live without; there were still boxes of books and things living in storage at her parents, “Where’d you move from?” After nearly a decade in the states Laine still wasn’t great with placing regional accents.

[nellie_oneill]

"Mm, well, I don't have a set job right now, but I used to work as a colonial re-enactor," she admitted. "So I always studied for that, as well as the little auction house I helped authenticate things every now and then. I just got my degree last year, so it's been interesting." She hadn't gotten a set job yet, anything yet, but she was lookin hard. She'd find somethign, even if it wasn't technically in her field. "I specified in American History, more than anything else, anyway." Given the area she'd grown up in, it wasn't terribly surprising, really.

"Yes, one of the many," Nellie agreed dryly. "I moved from Williamsburg, Virginia," she replied. "So it's not that far away, but I did it almost on a whim, so I have to get everything settled and in order." Most people wouldn't like how she'd gone about it, but already she did feel it was a good decision on her part.

[lainekohler]

“Seriously?” Laine asked, “I’ve always wondered what a job like that would be like.” She always wondered if it was like play-acting on a daily basis or if the hoards of school children that came through ever got to be unbearable. “European History,” She replied, “It’s been a handful of years since I’ve done anything seriously with the knowledge though.” She didn’t necessarily feel badly about that, but sometimes she thought she should do more to utilize her degree. She enjoyed where she was at though, and thought she was quite lucky to be doing something she loved.

Laine raised her eyebrows and just barely managed to not make a comment; she’d been working on not putting her foot in her mouth as often. “I’ve only ever moved for work, don’t know if I’d have the nerve to otherwise,” She shrugged, “It’s a bit difficult to trust the ability to find something new, at least with what I do.” But then, that was also why she’d went to university; to make sure if she was ever in that type of situation she wouldn’t be completely in a bind.

[nellie_oneill]

"It was seriously cool," Nellie said with a grin. "Actually the funnest job I've had, except perhaps in the middle of the summer at times." It was one of her few regrets about coming down here. It had been very different, but being someone different for a few hours had been what she'd needed at the time. "No harm in that. Lots of History people end up doing random other jobs," she said, wondering if it would be rude to ask her what she did do.

Nellie smiled somewhat ruefully. "I know it sounds impulsive, and it was, but I needed to get away. I got used to moving with my husband, so it wasn't as traumatic as it is for some people." She automatically touched the tags that hung around her neck, tangled in her scarf. "My best friend lives here, though, so I'm not totally on my own." Which gave her courage, yes. "What do you do, if you don't mind me asking?" she said.

[lainekohler]

Laine smiled at the enthusiasm the other woman seemed to have about her re-enactor job. "Summers seem liked they'd be absolutely mad with the people," She said, "Are you looking for the same type of thing down here? Do they even have re-enactment things in Texas?" She hadn't heard of too many, but maybe there was something. "Mmm. and when you take the job market in general into consideration, need to be lucky just to have a job." especially right now working the arts; she thought the ballet was fairly stable, but it might not always remain that way

[nellie_oneill]

"Oh yeah, it could get mad busy, but it takes the brain off other things." Which was a massive understatement, but it had been exactly what she'd needed at the time, a way to Get Away from the grief she felt constantly. "I don't think so. Right now I'm looking for wahtever I can get, to be honest. I've done a bunch of things over the years." There were always scut jobs, if you were willing to work hard.

"I think it will be. I've missed him, so it's nice to see him on more than Skype, y'know?" she said. "Oh, ballet! How fun. Can't say I've ever met a ballerina," she said with a grin. "That's really neat. I hadn't even known that they had a ballet down here." Or much of anywhere, she rarely went to that sort of thing, mostly because no one she knew did that sort of thing. "I'm Nellie, nice to meet you," she said, holding her hand out. She identified as Nellie these days, that was who she wanted to be, not Penny or Penelope; not that it kept her family from calling her the more familiar Penny.

[lainekohler]

“The best jobs are always the ones that can make you turn your brain off for a little while.” Laine said. She didn’t know why the other woman would need to, and she didn’t need to know why, but she could appreciate the statement. “Well, if you’ve done a little of everything you should be able to find something. Diversity in skills and all that

[nellie_oneill]

"Yeah. Just so long as I make enough to support myself, and all that." But she didn't really doubt that. The years of moving around with Declan and learning new things, well, it had given her a certain measure of self confidence in the unknown; dealing with his death had given her a different kind of strength--if she could survive it, she could survive anything.

"A little class and culture as well as the rough 'n ready," she said with a grin, liking how that sounded. "Glad to hear it does well enough. I'll have to look into it sometime." It would be something different to try. "So you've lived here a bit, then? Do you have any recs of places to go and things to see and do and places to avoid and all that?" she asked curiously.

[lainekohler]

“At the risk of sounding like one of those bothersome people that are all, ‘support the arts’, yes you should.” Laine said with a small self-deprecating laugh. It felt like she encouraged everyone she met to come out to the ballet, she like to think she held back if they didn’t seem at all interested though.

She nodded. “Three years, or roundabout that.” She replied then smiled, “If you like art museums both the Kimbell here in Fort Worth and the Museum of Art in Dallas are nice.” She offered up, “As for places to avoid, South Fort Worth seemed sketchy when I moved down. It might have improved though, I haven’t been brave enough to check.” She might take a few risks now and then, but that wasn’t a type of risk she liked to take. “If you like to shop I have a whole lists of thrift store and vintage recommendations.”

[nellie_oneill]

“No worries, you’re not bothersome,” Nellie assured the other woman. It was good to promote one’s livelihood, if one was able. Nellie had always promoted colonial Williamsburg when she worked there; hell, she still did so, even though she didn’t work there. It was a good trip to take, especially with family, she thought. And there was always the hope that people would learn a little from it as well.

“I like museums in general,” she said. “History or art or science.” She nodded at the mention of South Fort Worth. “Good to know. I’m not into sketchy places, to be honest.” Some people were; she, however, liked to be safe when she could be. She could take care of herself but she wasn’t into putting herself at risk needlessly. “Vintage is always good. I’m a sucker for some of that,” she admitted.

[lainekohler]

Laine smiled at the reassurance. “Oh, that’s good, I usually only try to irritate one stranger a week, and I’ve irritated my one for this week already.” She joked, though it was partially true. She’d been a little short with a barista the morning before; in her defense it had been 6 AM on a Saturday, she really couldn’t be expected to stomach overly cheery barista at that hour.

“The area has quite a few good ones, you won’t be disappointed.” Laine didn’t make it to many of them as much as she liked, but something had to give in the juggling of free time activities, and museum going was the one thing that usually didn’t happen. “I’m a sucker for all of it,” She replied, “At least a quarter of my wardrobe is vintage or thrifted. There’s a few shops downtown that are good and another couple in Dallas that I can usually find something good in also.” She smiled a little crookedly, “I have a little clothing obsession.”