Cremes

Nothing much has changed lately on the Melgares homefront. Still waiting for Grandma’s situation to change. Still working at the bookseller. Still spending the bulk of my time a) studying or b) procrastinating from studying. I submitted my degree plan yesterday so at least now I know which courses I’m taking next semester.

My birthday was pretty uneventful this year. Mike and I exchanged presents early “just in case” we ended up in Michigan during the actual days. So far that hasn’t happened, but I got a nifty wacom tablet (like a drawing peripheral) and I’ve been using that almost exclusively instead of a mouse. I’m getting pretty good at it, actually. I spent most of Monday studying or doing school-related things. I interviewed a librarian for an assignment due this Monday (eep!) and then I went to Panera Bread and studied for about 3 hours. That evening we went out for pizza at a restaurant called Tilli’s. The food was pretty good, but the place was completely dead. I think we were the only paying customers there - the other dude sitting at a table was the owner, I’m pretty certain. I don’t think they’ll last, which is too bad because the food was decent.

I’m working tonight but I have tomorrow off. I’ll probably spend it studying and cleaning, since the apartment is a little messy and we have a crapload of laundry to do. It’s also nice to spend the morning at home doing homey things. I get my schedule tonight for next week, so until then I have no idea what next week will be like, and of course who knows what’s going to happen with Grandma. I hate everything being so up in the air like this, but it’s a good lesson in learning to “go with the flow”. Anyways, I should get some reading done for school, so I’m off for now.

It’s unbelievable the craziness that has been happening since the hurricane, that never seems to end. I’m at Starbucks, using my father-in-law’s internet account (Starbucks seriously needs to get on board with the free wi-fi) to do my school work. Luckily I was able to get pretty much everything done that needed getting done until about Tuesday. I have a quiz that rolls out tomorrow so I need to come back sometimes before Tuesday regardless. You may be wondering, why not just use the internet at home? Because we don’t currently have internet, and it may be awhile coming. I guess the “fence guys” that put up our new fence (yay for a fence!) cut our cable so that means no TV, no internet, and, since we have Vonage, no phone. I’m suffering.

In less crappy news, I got a job! You’re looking at the blog of the newest bookseller for a national chain bookstore. I’m not specifying just in case I have bad things to say later on. I’m actually a little conflicted about the whole deal anyways. I just finished reading “Buy, Buy Baby” by Susan Gregory Thomas and I’m thinking that the world is out to turn little kids into materialistic consumers, with the whole “cradle to grave” marketing. It’s definitely changed how I feel about cartoon characters and kids’ programming. I recommend anyone with small children or planning to have children to read it. Anyways, the section on reading and children’s books was shocking. I can’t believe how many kids’ books are pretty much 10 page commercials.

There’s a possibility that I may be in Michigan for a few days next week. It all depends on things here, and how Grandma is. She’s not doing so well, and it seems like it will be just a matter of time. Anyways, my battery life is getting low and my computer is being a pain in the butt anyways, so I’m going to sign off and head home.

Only 3 more months left and that mean only three more recaps until my year is over. I’ve pretty much dropped the ball and I’m only doing these recaps out of habit now. I think for next year I’ll just have a page on the side bar that links to what I’m reading and maybe I’ll have an occasional post on my thoughts on a book. For now, I’ll keep the tradition going, even though it seems to be for naught.

1. PBS Love The One You’re With - Emily Giffin
2. SPT Unauthorized Biography of Tom Cruise - Andrew Morton
3. PBS Inside my Heart - Robin McGraw [audio]

I actually thought I was going to get a lot more reading done this month, but Hurricane Ike threw a wrench into my plans. I am halfway through three library school texts books, so if you count that I’ve been reading like a fool. I also started more books than I could finish this month.

You’ll probably notice that I put the Giffin book up there again this month, since I actually finished it in September, not August. I figured the two other selections would be lonely. I’m up to #73. I could still make it to 100 if I pick up the pace. And I’m actually quite caught up in school related things, so I may even have some extra time for fun reading.

As for this month’s finished books, the Giffin book was subpar as I mentioned. The Tom Cruise book was pretty much a scathing report on his religion. I actually didn’t find it that great. There was lots of dirt, yes, but first you have to wonder if any of it is true because he doesn’t cite any sources (or very few) and only provides a ’selected’ bibliography in the back (what’s up with that?). The Robin McGraw book was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I’m actually considering keeping it instead of trading it back. It was pretty inspirational, and I love her accent. I might even pick up her newer one.

I’ve been thinking that now that I have more time to devote to blogging and reading I might make some website tweaks. It’s not really fleshed out yet, but I would like to spend more time being creative on the web. I’ve been meaning to make some changes for awhile, mostly to the main page of the site, but I just haven’t gotten off my tushy yet.

This month’s recommendations:

• Inside My Heart