Home again, home again ... or, The post wherein Our Heroine reveals her book-nerdy side

Well, my pretties, after a long and exhausting trip home (turbulence at Calgary, diversion to Toronto from London, hours and hours of waiting to go to a hotel), I am safely ensconced in my parents' house in Woodstock. Yes, I find myself occasionally muttering, "Why did I want to leave the Yukon?" but that's just because the winter in Ontario sucks hardcore.

But there have been some pretty awesome things, too. I had pizza from a non-grocery-store/non-hotel place, Red Lobster for lunch yesterday, and the potential for sushi and Thai food in the near future. (I know, Kara, I know - but I can't help myself. I just can't.)

I've also been reading a lot. When I was at the airport in Vancouver, I was browsing through the fiction section...and not a single book appealed to me. No titles that made me laugh (like Michele Bardsley's stuff), or plots that seemed interesting enough to overlook the headless male torso that was the cover (like Hot to the Finish [which is not to say that I don't adore many of Erin McCarthy's books, just not the ones with covers like this]).

I've been reading a lot of the reviews over at Forever Young Adult lately (I came for the Sweet Valley High Drinking Game, and stayed for the witty banter and all-around-awesomeness). I decided to move away from the fiction section, over into the Teen/Young Adult section.

I picked up the eponymous first book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. I have to tell you, I wasn't expecting too much. For starters, reading on a plane affects me much the same way as reading in a car - I get nauseated. But it didn't matter. I couldn't stop reading.

I read all the way to Calgary, pausing only during the crazy turbulence to clutch at my armrest and pray that I would survive so I could keep reading. I was finished the book before we got to Toronto (the first time, when we passed over it).

So the next morning, I went to the airport early (because I love going through security multiple times on one trip!), and once I cleared security I rushed into the bookstore to buy Catching Fire...only they didn't have any copies! They had Hunger Games and Mockingjay, but not the one I needed! I was frustrated! And crabby! Those are never a good combination for yours truly.

Luckily, before I could start smashing things around me, Hulk-style, my glare happened upon the eponymous first book in Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy, which had also received reviews over at FYA. So, book crisis averted, I snatched that puppy up and flew in to London with no problems.

Well, I was finished Leviathan by Thursday at lunch (taking into account the thirteen hours I was asleep), and I was facing the same crisis - what was I going to do?


Long story short, I bought Catching Fire and Behemoth at Chapters yesterday, and I finished Behemoth this morning. I am saving Catching Fire until tomorrow, and I know the opportunity to purchase Mockingjay will arise in the next couple of weeks (I might try to delay it until my return trip, so I can be occupied on the plane). But I am going to be sad and mopey for a while, because Goliath, the third Leviathan book, won't be out until next October! Bloohoohoo!


If you've stuck with me this far, thanks for reading! I haven't let me inner book-nerd out in a really long time ^_^

Tongue-tied

The presence of an attractive man approximately my age (possibly much younger, I can't tell) has had a negative impact on my ability to concentrate on work this morning.

Thank goodness Jim is showing him around the buildings this afternoon - I wouldn't be much use...too busy salivating and trying to suck my stomach in ^_^

Thing I deleted.

Yesterday I wrote a post about my crush on Dr. Spencer Reid/Matthew Gray Gubler, but I deleted it before it ever got posted.

The post, I mean - not my crush. That's still going strong.

I have a thing for tall, skinny, geeky geniuses. What can I say?

Deliciously Dorky

I have an idea...an idea that melds my love of quilting and my newfound love of Supernatural into a glorious, harmonious whole.

I get the giggles every time I think about it.


And I'm not saying anything more at this time ^_^

Storytime

I'm back again. I took a little time off from blogging...mostly because I was approaching my 100th post, and I wanted it to be something meaningful. But it's hard to squeeze meaning out of hot dog lunches and looking after a friend's cats.

This past week was kind of rough, work-wise and personally. I can't talk about the work stuff (more's the pity, although I really don't need to keep hashing it over, so I guess it's more of a blessing), but the personal stuff...Yeesh.

Here goes...

Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be an actress. She studied drama all through high school, and refused to even consider any other career. After high school, she auditioned for a couple of theatrical courses at a variety of colleges, and ended up in the Nation's Capital.

When she was there, she met a guy. He was older than she by a year, and he was the most interesting guy she had ever met. He lived one floor down in the same apartment building, and they hung out a lot. She was really, really into him. And although she longed to tell him, she was shy and hoped he would figure it out.

Unfortunately, he was really, really into a girl he had known for years, and so nothing really came of the infatuation. Our heroine, though, had suffered a tragedy - she now compared every man she met to the guy from college.

This had a negative impact on her relationship life. A few years later, she dated a guy for a few months, but after they broke up (because he was in love with a girl he had known for years) she never dated again. Not that she didn't want to, but circumstances just didn't work in her favour.

Flash forward to Monday, July 5th.

Our heroine was watching a great Canadian comedy show, and who should she spot as an extra in most of the scenes but the guy from college. In addition to all her "oh, why didn't I tell him how I felt" angst, there was a great big dollop of "why was I such a coward that I let people talk me out of following my dream?" woe. That was enough to cue a low-level funk.

Work interefered with her attempts to feel better. And then, on Facebook, she saw photos of the guy from college with his girlfriend...and her pregnant belly. They, naturally, were thrilled about their soon-to-be-born progeny. And our heroine felt sad, because she was alone and had two incredibly noisy cats instead of babies. She felt bad because her first reaction to their happy news had been to be miserable. She was happy for them - she was just a lot more unhappy for herself, because it felt like her life was going downhill.

So, Friday, after a shitty week, she went to a neighbour's house for coffee, and after that she came home to drink vodka coolers and eat shrimp noodles. And she feels a bit better for having shared her tale with the Internet. Where anyone and everyone can read it. Because, honestly, her life isn't over just because she isn't doing what she originally planned. It's just different.

In the words of Marcus Aurelius, "Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so." You just have to get over the feeling sad part.

Happy 100th Post!

Judgemental

I was looking at a dating site (trying to recover from the humiliation of my last look at a dating site), and all I could think of was how bad the spelling was in many of the ads. I thought, "I could never get involved with you - you obviously didn't think to run that through a spellcheck program before you posted it."

Then I felt bad, like I was judging people unfairly. It's not like I haven't spelled a word or two wrong in my day. Maybe eHarmony was right - I will be alone forever.


On the plus side, it's the weekend! Huzzah!