Update. My new car is FIONA. Greg doesn't like it; he insists on calling her Flanders. But we know whose car this is, right? Right. Fiona. Purr.
So I'm cleaning the house and getting angrier by the minute. I'm hardly in this house anymore and it's a frigging sty. Now that I work all the time and I wish that were an exaggeration, I really do not want to spend my only free hours of the week cleaning up dog hair. I know. Poor me, having a house and a job and having to clean, like a regular human being. But there it is. My sense of entitlement has ratcheted right up, my friends. I'd rather be working on my book, end of story.
So while the kitchen and back porch floors dry, here I am, and I have such a girly question for you. Who knows of a good purse-buying website where you can select criteria other than fabric and color. I don't necessarily think fabric/color is the highest criteria. You know what I want to select for? Size: big enough to fit a file folder. Interior: light color so I can find my whatever-I'm-looking-for when I need it. Ugh. The black interior purse I've been carrying (since the one I bought for the new job starting snagging all my good sweaters and had to go back from whence it came) is driving me batshit. It's too deep to how wide it is, and I couldn't find my phone inside it the other night, even though I knew it was in there and the purse only has three pockets. Seriously? Such a first-world problem here and I know that. But pretty please I would like to have another bag to carry to work that doesn't swallow my keys.
So. Websites?
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
My new ride
She needs a name. Still taking suggestions in the comments.
The only thing that bothered me about this car-buying process is that we met some pretty great people who just happened to be salespeople...and then the car we actually decided on was being sold by a douchebag. Seriously, I didn't like that guy. I liked him the least of all the people we met, but he just happened to be the guy selling Fords. So we bought a Ford despite that dude, not because of him. And the customer service guy at the end? Oh, God, it was like a scene out of a mob movie. If I'd met him early in the process, I seriously would have gone Nissan just to make sure that dude didn't have my address.
If you're in the market for a Nissan, I would recommend Arianna at Mid-City Nissan in Chicago. She was very nice, very low-pressure. She offered us a good deal. We just didn't end up going with a Nissan.
You should find your own Ford dealer, though. I can't wholeheartedly send you to ours.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Watch out, second post of the day
In the reading front, I finished my friend's book manuscript last week. I should be able to count that book in my reading list, especially since it's more than 500 pages. That. Counts. But I guess I'll skip it for now.
65. Morality for Beautiful Girls- Alexander McCall Smith
These things are like the easiest little books. I'm guessing that's why they're so popular. I get it now, now that I have no time and no brain for complex critical thought. I should be sad about that and I am, but for now I'm fighting back by reading the fluffiest marshmallow cream I can find. Here's one. I can hardly remember what was in it and I finished it two days ago. Also? I'm going to read the fifth in the series next. More fluff! Bring me fluff! I should add that these books are also pretty charming and interesting. There's fluff and then there's crap, and I'm not sinking that low. Not yet.
65. Morality for Beautiful Girls- Alexander McCall Smith
These things are like the easiest little books. I'm guessing that's why they're so popular. I get it now, now that I have no time and no brain for complex critical thought. I should be sad about that and I am, but for now I'm fighting back by reading the fluffiest marshmallow cream I can find. Here's one. I can hardly remember what was in it and I finished it two days ago. Also? I'm going to read the fifth in the series next. More fluff! Bring me fluff! I should add that these books are also pretty charming and interesting. There's fluff and then there's crap, and I'm not sinking that low. Not yet.
Suggestions so far: Harrison, Maddox Ford, Flanders
Lame! I know. I hate it when the blogs I read don't update, and now I'm one of them. I throw myself at your mercy. Here's what's been going on:
-Work.
-More work.
-Working over the weekend, for a change of pace.
-Car shopping.
Since only one of these things is interesting in the least...
Husband and I got a new car. This is kind of a big deal for us, since we've been sharing a car since we moved in together in 2001—my Volkswagen Jetta, which is now 12 years old. The Jetta, which I named Pedro a long time ago, is still a fine little vehicle. He's just a little rough around the edges and has a couple of major brokenesses that make driving him any distance a little annoying. Like the cruise control, for instance, which Pedro threw off a long time ago. Or the radio, which has a short in it, so that when you'd like to turn up the volume NOTSOFAST, the volume doesn't go, or it goes too loud in a split second. The tape player (Pedro is just that old) is also broken and believes that every time the ignition starts what you really want is for the tape that isn't inside the player to fast forward forever. Also, there's the gas smell. Which isn't there, according to my mechanic. But if it's not there, I have a really vivid imagination.
I didn't drive the car much for three years until I got the new job, so now that I drive to work everyday, these problems stacked up to the point that it made sense to look for a new car.
Still, the check I wrote on Saturday was the largest check I've ever written. It was a little unnerving, but we are now happily thinking up names for our brand new sterling gray Ford Fusion.
Suggestions welcome in the comments. I think she might be a girl.
-Work.
-More work.
-Working over the weekend, for a change of pace.
-Car shopping.
Since only one of these things is interesting in the least...
Husband and I got a new car. This is kind of a big deal for us, since we've been sharing a car since we moved in together in 2001—my Volkswagen Jetta, which is now 12 years old. The Jetta, which I named Pedro a long time ago, is still a fine little vehicle. He's just a little rough around the edges and has a couple of major brokenesses that make driving him any distance a little annoying. Like the cruise control, for instance, which Pedro threw off a long time ago. Or the radio, which has a short in it, so that when you'd like to turn up the volume NOTSOFAST, the volume doesn't go, or it goes too loud in a split second. The tape player (Pedro is just that old) is also broken and believes that every time the ignition starts what you really want is for the tape that isn't inside the player to fast forward forever. Also, there's the gas smell. Which isn't there, according to my mechanic. But if it's not there, I have a really vivid imagination.
I didn't drive the car much for three years until I got the new job, so now that I drive to work everyday, these problems stacked up to the point that it made sense to look for a new car.
Still, the check I wrote on Saturday was the largest check I've ever written. It was a little unnerving, but we are now happily thinking up names for our brand new sterling gray Ford Fusion.
Suggestions welcome in the comments. I think she might be a girl.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Should title this something profound. Got nothing.
Yep, still a little low on energy. I spent the weekend shopping for a new car (not as fun as you'd think, hearing the phrase "new car") and reading my friend's book draft. His book is really good and as soon as I can tell you about it, I will. What I'm learning most from reading someone else's book draft is that, hey, I could be making the time to read my own. Hey. Look at that.
But not for a while. I have to finish his first, and then I have to work this weekend. Oh, yeah. Major U needs me this weekend. All weekend, not an overstatement of the facts. Not looking forward to that at all. Only looking forward to it being over and being able to return to the normal level of exhaustion.
And yet I'm still finding time to read books. How am I doing that? you ask. I have no idea. I think I read most of this one on my lunch hours. Which I used to take, but haven't lately.
64. Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It- Maile Meloy
If you like short stories, you should probably read this woman. She was on the Granta Best New American Novelists (with my friend Chris) (whose book I was talking about earlier). I like some of these stories better than others, but there's one that is quite stuck in my mind. Look it up: "Lovely Rita."
But not for a while. I have to finish his first, and then I have to work this weekend. Oh, yeah. Major U needs me this weekend. All weekend, not an overstatement of the facts. Not looking forward to that at all. Only looking forward to it being over and being able to return to the normal level of exhaustion.
And yet I'm still finding time to read books. How am I doing that? you ask. I have no idea. I think I read most of this one on my lunch hours. Which I used to take, but haven't lately.
64. Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It- Maile Meloy
If you like short stories, you should probably read this woman. She was on the Granta Best New American Novelists (with my friend Chris) (whose book I was talking about earlier). I like some of these stories better than others, but there's one that is quite stuck in my mind. Look it up: "Lovely Rita."
Monday, October 12, 2009
All I'm capable of
1. Hi.
2. Tired.
3. "Notorious" by Duran Duran playing on iTunes.
4. Cold. Need sweaters.
5. Also need: grocery store, library, Claritan. Birthday present to friend.
6. Need to make a better list.
7. Read a book.
62. The Tears of the Giraffe- Alexander McCall Smith. Not bad. Will continue series. Fun to read and does not require full brain.
8. My brain is not full.
9. Read another book.
63. 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might- Pat Walsh. Good. Lovely lunchtime reading in the middle of a day in which I do no writing at all.
10. Pat Walsh is a man.
11. Glenn Mercer on iTunes now. Not as fun at Duran Duran.
12. Remember when I used to write stories?
13. Am getting a story published.
14. Online.
15. Which is good.
2. Tired.
3. "Notorious" by Duran Duran playing on iTunes.
4. Cold. Need sweaters.
5. Also need: grocery store, library, Claritan. Birthday present to friend.
6. Need to make a better list.
7. Read a book.
62. The Tears of the Giraffe- Alexander McCall Smith. Not bad. Will continue series. Fun to read and does not require full brain.
8. My brain is not full.
9. Read another book.
63. 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might- Pat Walsh. Good. Lovely lunchtime reading in the middle of a day in which I do no writing at all.
10. Pat Walsh is a man.
11. Glenn Mercer on iTunes now. Not as fun at Duran Duran.
12. Remember when I used to write stories?
13. Am getting a story published.
14. Online.
15. Which is good.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Your eyes do not deceive you
I'm posting two days in a row. Like I'm writing a blog or something.
Did my civic duty today and THANKTHESUNABOVE I didn't get called into a jury. Nobody did, actually. It was a tough traffic day to get there and I was stuck inside with a lot of people I would have preferred never having met, but I did what I was Constitutionally required to do. Done and done.
If I hadn't been stuck in a room, though, I probably would not have finished this book.
61. The Girl in the Glass- Jeffrey Ford
This is a favorite writer of a friend of mine, so I'm sorry to report that I sorta hated this book. I finished it, so it had narrative pull. But oh my is the characterization and dialogue BAD. BAD. Not so awful that I couldn't get through it, so there's a distinction here. There are worse books, to be sure. Sometimes I just have to put them down. For instance, the award-winning piece of total crap I tried to read last week. (The name of the author and of the book will not be mentioned here, since I have a connection to this person—but, lady, you know you are an impostor, don't you? Your sentence structures! Holy shit! Give the comma a break, will you? And hello? 90 pages in and nothing happens? NOTHING? Was the prize jury smoking the crack?) OK, I'm back. I didn't finish that book, so there was no post on it. First chance to rant. Rant over.
This book was not on the same impostor level, but I definitely got the feeling that I was being played around with. Where was your editor, Jeffrey Ford? Was there no one to tell you that quite a lot of your dialogue was unbelievable? That your Spanish was either too simple to merit using it or too far over the heads of non-speakers? Did no one mention to you that no one would believe why the characters take off on the adventure they do? Your little "And that ain't all, folks" at the end made it all more interesting, actually, but it was too late by then. And I never got a good sense that the characters loved each other (father/son, buddy/younger buddy, con man/apprentice con man) the way they said they did. I didn't believe a damn line of it, in short.
But you didn't win a prize for it as far as I know, so I won't go into a rant. Won't bring out the exclamation points. My Jeffrey Ford-fan friend can have this book if he wants it.
EDITED TO ADD: Holy, crap. The Ford book DID win an award. The Edgar for best paperback original. Not that long ago. I am completely speechless. I know I shouldn't be throwing other writers under the bus on this site (hi, I'll need blurbs someday, I hope, and oh, right, I'm still kind of not published, so who am I?)---but what the hell? How shallow is the pool in these award selections?
Did my civic duty today and THANKTHESUNABOVE I didn't get called into a jury. Nobody did, actually. It was a tough traffic day to get there and I was stuck inside with a lot of people I would have preferred never having met, but I did what I was Constitutionally required to do. Done and done.
If I hadn't been stuck in a room, though, I probably would not have finished this book.
61. The Girl in the Glass- Jeffrey Ford
This is a favorite writer of a friend of mine, so I'm sorry to report that I sorta hated this book. I finished it, so it had narrative pull. But oh my is the characterization and dialogue BAD. BAD. Not so awful that I couldn't get through it, so there's a distinction here. There are worse books, to be sure. Sometimes I just have to put them down. For instance, the award-winning piece of total crap I tried to read last week. (The name of the author and of the book will not be mentioned here, since I have a connection to this person—but, lady, you know you are an impostor, don't you? Your sentence structures! Holy shit! Give the comma a break, will you? And hello? 90 pages in and nothing happens? NOTHING? Was the prize jury smoking the crack?) OK, I'm back. I didn't finish that book, so there was no post on it. First chance to rant. Rant over.
This book was not on the same impostor level, but I definitely got the feeling that I was being played around with. Where was your editor, Jeffrey Ford? Was there no one to tell you that quite a lot of your dialogue was unbelievable? That your Spanish was either too simple to merit using it or too far over the heads of non-speakers? Did no one mention to you that no one would believe why the characters take off on the adventure they do? Your little "And that ain't all, folks" at the end made it all more interesting, actually, but it was too late by then. And I never got a good sense that the characters loved each other (father/son, buddy/younger buddy, con man/apprentice con man) the way they said they did. I didn't believe a damn line of it, in short.
But you didn't win a prize for it as far as I know, so I won't go into a rant. Won't bring out the exclamation points. My Jeffrey Ford-fan friend can have this book if he wants it.
EDITED TO ADD: Holy, crap. The Ford book DID win an award. The Edgar for best paperback original. Not that long ago. I am completely speechless. I know I shouldn't be throwing other writers under the bus on this site (hi, I'll need blurbs someday, I hope, and oh, right, I'm still kind of not published, so who am I?)---but what the hell? How shallow is the pool in these award selections?
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