i need to take a day off more often
happy solstice, o my flist! sadly after today the days get shorter.
today i had a doctor's appointment at one (which was ridiculous) so i just took the whole day off. :D and it was niiiiice. i had time to take my car to the shop because the rubber sealing around the back door windows was peeling off - it's stuck on with double-sided tape, which was apparently un-taping - and i still had all this free time to sit around and do nothing. and by "do nothing" i mean "read one of the submissions for writing group tomorrow" (urban fantasy and not quite my thing, and definitely a first draft, but not totally terrible) and "read more of lord john and the brotherhood of the blade" (definitely still my thing, but angsty, and lord john's nice young man did something really stupid). weather was good, leisure time was had, carrot cake muffin and crepe with mushrooms, spinach, and mozzarella were et.
i randomly got a call from one of the admins at work asking what the password was for the label maker, which was silly because the label maker doesn't have a password, and the password for the computer it's attached to is written on the monitor. which i told her. she apologized for calling me on my day off, at least.
yesterday i got to ship a tax return to vietnam via ups, which isn't a whole lot different from shipping a tax return to another state via ups, except for the part where the ups web site needs a postal code for hanoi and you can't find one. >.< rather, you can find a lot of them but can't tell which one is the right one. (neither the transmittal letter nor the firm's web site had a postal code. do people not use them inside the country? do they just assume you'll know the postal code for hanoi?) it was the second-most interesting discovery i made, the first being one of the tax associates left for another firm (two weeks ago! which i didn't know, which might tell you how often i had to work with him) and left behind... a pair of shoes. which, whut? that was definitely the weirdest thing i've ever found cleaning out someone's cube. well, that and the assorted handfuls of spare change that another tax associate left in his desk.
but shoes, how weird.
and monday i saw some tall ships! i could only get to three on my lunch break, but that was ok. three is better than none.
because i'm still reading my book and can't do the wednesday reading meme, have another book meme that i stole from amberdreams.
Hardback or paperback:
paperbacks are easier to carry around, but if my only option is hardback, that's fine.
Borrow or buy:
i'm an acquisitive creature, so buy. when i was a wee thing my mom would occasionally take me to the library and i'd load up on books, but that was before i could buy my own. if i couldn't buy my own now i'd be getting them from the library.
Fantasy or Sci-Fi:
both! altho i'm not that well-read in scifi.
Love-Triangle or love at first sight:
why the love triangle? why never the threesome? :D i think love triangles are boring and overused for dramatic tension. will the girl pick boy a or boy b? or girl c or girl d? will the boy pick boy e or boy f? who cares? i don't totally mind love at first sight, tho, as long as the characters' first impression of each other isn't "i'm going to act like i hate this person on contact because i'm really five and don't know how to act like an adult". i don't have any patience for the "instalove/instalust expressed as anger and hatred and needling and condescension" trope.
Wall shelves or bookcases:
i rent so i don't want to drill into the walls, so bookcases.
Bad plot with good characters or good plot with bad characters:
ideally neither, but i'd rather have a bad plot with good characters. bad characters, or characters i don't care about, usually mean i won't finish the book, and then what's the point of reading it?
Harry Potter or Percy Jackson:
i've only read harry potter, so him.
Booklr or Bookstagram:
never heard of either.
Contemporaries or Fantasy:
both! occasionally even contemporary fantasy. :D (have you read g willow wilson's alif the unseen? contemporary fantasy without being urban fantasy.)
English books or books in your native language:
english is my native language. :D
Buy in a bookshop or buy online:
support your local bookshops! unless it's something my local bookshop doesn't carry - usually
apiphile's books, which i get from lulu.com - in which case i don't really have a choice.
Amazon or Book Depository:
i've never heard of book depository, so amazon.
Buy because of the cover or because of the description:
both. i have bought books solely for the cover, tho, and i can still tell a tom canty or a michael whelan at twenty paces.
Alphabetical shelves or color coordinated:
neither? i stick books where they fit, altho i do try to arrange them to look nice.
Different sized books or matching sizes:
if it's a series i want them to look the same. sometimes it can't be helped - i bought lloyd alexander's prydain books at three different periods of my life, so they're three different sizes with three different styles of spine, and three of my harry potter books are paperback and three are hardcover - but i want every book in a series to look the same if at all possible. otherwise i don't care.
Wait to marathon a series or read as they’re released:
if i start reading after the series has started i'll probably marathon as much of it as has been written already - i did it with the wheel of time books, which meant i read nothing else for about six months - but i'm not going to wait until all the books are out. i mean, i could be waiting for YEARS. to quote amber, "george rr martin, i'm looking at you, you ridiculous tortoise". and up until robert jordan actually died, i was never sure the wheel of time would ever end.
Movie or TV adaptations:
i guess tv adaptations give you more time to do it properly, but i'm not sure i've seen any tv adaptations of books that i've liked. (adaptations of comics, sure. constantine and preacher come to mind.) (preacher comes back on sunday and i am VERY EXCITED.) whereas i thought the movie versions of lotr and gone with the wind were very successful, as both movies and adaptations. (the hobbit, not so much.)
Reading indoors or outdoors:
wherever the weather's better and the seating is more comfortable.
Coffee or Tea:
tea!
Bookmarks or random objects to mark your page:
bookmarks. occasionally receipts from the bookstore.
Be your favourite character or be their best friend:
neither, usually.
Physical or e-book:
physical! i don't have an e-reader and yes i know you can get apps for your phone or laptop, but i read during lunch at work and my phone already has a weak battery. besides, i like being able to physically turn the pages.
Read in bed or on a chair:
the little lamp on my nightstand is busted, so chair.
Audio book or e-book:
neither. see above re: ebooks vs physical books, and i can't concentrate as well if someone is reading to me, compared to me reading for myself. i love reading out loud, tho.
Series or stand-alones:
both!
Reading in the winter or reading in the summer:
uh... reading in all seasons.
Is there any room in your house that doesn't have at least one book in it?
the bathroom. :D the bookcase in the kitchen is full of cookbooks and old phonebooks, but all the other bookcases have a nice random assortment. altho to be fair, i don't have a very big apartment.
today i had a doctor's appointment at one (which was ridiculous) so i just took the whole day off. :D and it was niiiiice. i had time to take my car to the shop because the rubber sealing around the back door windows was peeling off - it's stuck on with double-sided tape, which was apparently un-taping - and i still had all this free time to sit around and do nothing. and by "do nothing" i mean "read one of the submissions for writing group tomorrow" (urban fantasy and not quite my thing, and definitely a first draft, but not totally terrible) and "read more of lord john and the brotherhood of the blade" (definitely still my thing, but angsty, and lord john's nice young man did something really stupid). weather was good, leisure time was had, carrot cake muffin and crepe with mushrooms, spinach, and mozzarella were et.
i randomly got a call from one of the admins at work asking what the password was for the label maker, which was silly because the label maker doesn't have a password, and the password for the computer it's attached to is written on the monitor. which i told her. she apologized for calling me on my day off, at least.
yesterday i got to ship a tax return to vietnam via ups, which isn't a whole lot different from shipping a tax return to another state via ups, except for the part where the ups web site needs a postal code for hanoi and you can't find one. >.< rather, you can find a lot of them but can't tell which one is the right one. (neither the transmittal letter nor the firm's web site had a postal code. do people not use them inside the country? do they just assume you'll know the postal code for hanoi?) it was the second-most interesting discovery i made, the first being one of the tax associates left for another firm (two weeks ago! which i didn't know, which might tell you how often i had to work with him) and left behind... a pair of shoes. which, whut? that was definitely the weirdest thing i've ever found cleaning out someone's cube. well, that and the assorted handfuls of spare change that another tax associate left in his desk.
but shoes, how weird.
and monday i saw some tall ships! i could only get to three on my lunch break, but that was ok. three is better than none.
because i'm still reading my book and can't do the wednesday reading meme, have another book meme that i stole from amberdreams.
Hardback or paperback:
paperbacks are easier to carry around, but if my only option is hardback, that's fine.
Borrow or buy:
i'm an acquisitive creature, so buy. when i was a wee thing my mom would occasionally take me to the library and i'd load up on books, but that was before i could buy my own. if i couldn't buy my own now i'd be getting them from the library.
Fantasy or Sci-Fi:
both! altho i'm not that well-read in scifi.
Love-Triangle or love at first sight:
why the love triangle? why never the threesome? :D i think love triangles are boring and overused for dramatic tension. will the girl pick boy a or boy b? or girl c or girl d? will the boy pick boy e or boy f? who cares? i don't totally mind love at first sight, tho, as long as the characters' first impression of each other isn't "i'm going to act like i hate this person on contact because i'm really five and don't know how to act like an adult". i don't have any patience for the "instalove/instalust expressed as anger and hatred and needling and condescension" trope.
Wall shelves or bookcases:
i rent so i don't want to drill into the walls, so bookcases.
Bad plot with good characters or good plot with bad characters:
ideally neither, but i'd rather have a bad plot with good characters. bad characters, or characters i don't care about, usually mean i won't finish the book, and then what's the point of reading it?
Harry Potter or Percy Jackson:
i've only read harry potter, so him.
Booklr or Bookstagram:
never heard of either.
Contemporaries or Fantasy:
both! occasionally even contemporary fantasy. :D (have you read g willow wilson's alif the unseen? contemporary fantasy without being urban fantasy.)
English books or books in your native language:
english is my native language. :D
Buy in a bookshop or buy online:
support your local bookshops! unless it's something my local bookshop doesn't carry - usually
apiphile's books, which i get from lulu.com - in which case i don't really have a choice.
Amazon or Book Depository:
i've never heard of book depository, so amazon.
Buy because of the cover or because of the description:
both. i have bought books solely for the cover, tho, and i can still tell a tom canty or a michael whelan at twenty paces.
Alphabetical shelves or color coordinated:
neither? i stick books where they fit, altho i do try to arrange them to look nice.
Different sized books or matching sizes:
if it's a series i want them to look the same. sometimes it can't be helped - i bought lloyd alexander's prydain books at three different periods of my life, so they're three different sizes with three different styles of spine, and three of my harry potter books are paperback and three are hardcover - but i want every book in a series to look the same if at all possible. otherwise i don't care.
Wait to marathon a series or read as they’re released:
if i start reading after the series has started i'll probably marathon as much of it as has been written already - i did it with the wheel of time books, which meant i read nothing else for about six months - but i'm not going to wait until all the books are out. i mean, i could be waiting for YEARS. to quote amber, "george rr martin, i'm looking at you, you ridiculous tortoise". and up until robert jordan actually died, i was never sure the wheel of time would ever end.
Movie or TV adaptations:
i guess tv adaptations give you more time to do it properly, but i'm not sure i've seen any tv adaptations of books that i've liked. (adaptations of comics, sure. constantine and preacher come to mind.) (preacher comes back on sunday and i am VERY EXCITED.) whereas i thought the movie versions of lotr and gone with the wind were very successful, as both movies and adaptations. (the hobbit, not so much.)
Reading indoors or outdoors:
wherever the weather's better and the seating is more comfortable.
Coffee or Tea:
tea!
Bookmarks or random objects to mark your page:
bookmarks. occasionally receipts from the bookstore.
Be your favourite character or be their best friend:
neither, usually.
Physical or e-book:
physical! i don't have an e-reader and yes i know you can get apps for your phone or laptop, but i read during lunch at work and my phone already has a weak battery. besides, i like being able to physically turn the pages.
Read in bed or on a chair:
the little lamp on my nightstand is busted, so chair.
Audio book or e-book:
neither. see above re: ebooks vs physical books, and i can't concentrate as well if someone is reading to me, compared to me reading for myself. i love reading out loud, tho.
Series or stand-alones:
both!
Reading in the winter or reading in the summer:
uh... reading in all seasons.
Is there any room in your house that doesn't have at least one book in it?
the bathroom. :D the bookcase in the kitchen is full of cookbooks and old phonebooks, but all the other bookcases have a nice random assortment. altho to be fair, i don't have a very big apartment.