What a beautiful collection of beads! Congratulations on acknowledging to yourself that in fact you are not going to use all that extra time you now have to create wonderful things with them. The nearest I've come to that is to accept that I am never going to read several weighty works of literature which I had always said I would read when I retired. I've accepted that the reality is that I don't actually want to read them, and it doesn't matter if I don't.
I know what game is coming up, but I don't know the holiday. OK, from looking at the balloons I've just worked it out (because I didn't think pink and red were the colours of the teams at the game).
Are there any spring bulbs coming up in those gardens?
You know, I hadn't thought about the unread books as part of this process, but you're absolutely right. There are so many "shoulds" in life! I don't need to volunteer for them. What are some of the titles or ranges of literature that you've let go?
Me, I've had some defiance to overcome in that regard. I'm still not quite comfortable disliking literary fiction without being defiant and snarky about it. My self-image (and my image in the eyes of other people) as a smart, literate, cosmopolitan person is terribly at odds with the reality of some of my plebeian tastes and preferences. It's internalized snobbery and classism of the most insidious sort, and it's a real relief to let it go. I like what I like, I get to spend my time the way I want to spend it, and little by little I'm getting to where I don't feel the need to apologize for any of it, or to judge anyone else's preferences.
And yes! There are little bright-green swordpoints poking up out of the beds everywhere. And the daphne is about to bloom.
"The classics I haven't read yet" and "modern literary fiction" are, yes, the two main categories of surrender for me, too. I love what you say here about reading romances and crime fiction. I think the big turning point in my adult reading life came when ebooks and fanfiction entered my life--together, literally in the same weekend in 1999. Marriage made in heaven.
I've never been without some form of e-reader from that day to this, and the freedom from book-cover-judgment on the bus (not to mention all the other advantages of ebooks) has played no small part in my deep dive into reading for sheer, unexamined pleasure and fun.
Mind you, that's how I read as a kid. Not hot slash fic, of course, but fantasies and mysteries and adventures. I enjoyed the "serious reading" I did as a young adult and a student, too, but any classic or modern literary masterpiece that I didn't manage to read by the time I'd recovered from college is unlikely to make it onto my Kindle app in the future. It is really good to have decided that!
I have shelves and shelves of gardening books that I really should let go. The odds of me hopping back out there are practically nil.
I'm alone today because of football. Thank god, a superbowl part missed! I hope Mr. R enjoys himself because I plan on sandwiches for dinner and snugging up on the couch with my kindle.
Re: Hello!!!emeraldsedaiFebruary 2 2015, 01:38:20 UTC
Hello!!
I am so glad I mentioned this subject, because helenajust above pointed out the similarities between me giving away my beads and her admitting she's never gonna read those literary classics on the Great Books Guilt list, and I was all, wow, that's so true! I could let that go too!
And now here's you saying, yup, gardening's the same way--and it is for me, too! That's so cool! Something else I can surrender. It was a lovely pastime of my younger days, but I lost interest, and that interest isn't coming back. (And if it does? Well, the garden's still out there, at least for now--and all that gardening info in those books of yours is online.)
Those balloons will definitely not still be inflated by the 14th. Plus, there's a helium shortage and we should probably be conserving it for MRI machines (it is used as a coolant), geez.
That's a lot of beads, wow. How many Manhattans did your niece give you for them?
LOL! It took about three seconds for the cocktail to disappear from my mind and the historical reference-coin to drop.
I didn't know that about a helium shortage. Isn't there a lot of helium in the sun? Could we start a pipeline? I'm sure Mercury and Venus wouldn't mind it running through their backyards.
As much as I still love Scandal ( and I totally ship Olitz ), I have to say that it's now not as good as the first two seasons. Still good, mind you, just not as good. Cyrus' storyline is still worth continuing with the show ( if you don't ship the President with Olivia that is ). And Lisa Kudrow appeared as a guest in a number of episodes in, if I'm not mistaken, season 3 and her character is TOTALLY awesome. You should see her going against the President with Olivia as her campaign manager. That was really, really brilliant. So yeah, do continue watching it!
Comments 18
I know what game is coming up, but I don't know the holiday. OK, from looking at the balloons I've just worked it out (because I didn't think pink and red were the colours of the teams at the game).
Are there any spring bulbs coming up in those gardens?
Reply
Me, I've had some defiance to overcome in that regard. I'm still not quite comfortable disliking literary fiction without being defiant and snarky about it. My self-image (and my image in the eyes of other people) as a smart, literate, cosmopolitan person is terribly at odds with the reality of some of my plebeian tastes and preferences. It's internalized snobbery and classism of the most insidious sort, and it's a real relief to let it go. I like what I like, I get to spend my time the way I want to spend it, and little by little I'm getting to where I don't feel the need to apologize for any of it, or to judge anyone else's preferences.
And yes! There are little bright-green swordpoints poking up out of the beds everywhere. And the daphne is about to bloom.
Reply
Reply
I've never been without some form of e-reader from that day to this, and the freedom from book-cover-judgment on the bus (not to mention all the other advantages of ebooks) has played no small part in my deep dive into reading for sheer, unexamined pleasure and fun.
Mind you, that's how I read as a kid. Not hot slash fic, of course, but fantasies and mysteries and adventures. I enjoyed the "serious reading" I did as a young adult and a student, too, but any classic or modern literary masterpiece that I didn't manage to read by the time I'd recovered from college is unlikely to make it onto my Kindle app in the future. It is really good to have decided that!
Reply
I'm alone today because of football. Thank god, a superbowl part missed! I hope Mr. R enjoys himself because I plan on sandwiches for dinner and snugging up on the couch with my kindle.
Reply
I am so glad I mentioned this subject, because helenajust above pointed out the similarities between me giving away my beads and her admitting she's never gonna read those literary classics on the Great Books Guilt list, and I was all, wow, that's so true! I could let that go too!
And now here's you saying, yup, gardening's the same way--and it is for me, too! That's so cool! Something else I can surrender. It was a lovely pastime of my younger days, but I lost interest, and that interest isn't coming back. (And if it does? Well, the garden's still out there, at least for now--and all that gardening info in those books of yours is online.)
Have you enjoyed your Superbowl Sunday Solitude?
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That's a lot of beads, wow. How many Manhattans did your niece give you for them?
Reply
I didn't know that about a helium shortage. Isn't there a lot of helium in the sun? Could we start a pipeline? I'm sure Mercury and Venus wouldn't mind it running through their backyards.
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