Archive for the ‘Dear Diary’ Category

Much Ado About Nothing

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

I’m really not the type to boycott things, or take much of a stance. I’m a little conflicted over something though, and haven’t really decided if I’m going to boycott it or not. See, in the e-book world, there is an elephant in the room called the Agency Model. Essentially, that means that publishers that choose to use the agency model set their own prices in the e-book marketplace. That typically means book prices are higher. So when I went to purchase a new book this morning by one of my favorite authors, I saw the message “this price has been set by the publisher” on its info page. This stopped me from purchasing the book, not only because of that message, but also because it was $3 more expensive then I was willing to pay. Is $3 really such a big deal?

I’m not sure that in itself, having a 12.99 purchase price is all that different from a 9.99 price. But when it wasn’t what I was anticipating when I looked at the Kindle store this morning, it stopped me short and I carefully considered whether or not it was worth making the purchase. Then I started to think that the last book this particular author wrote wasn’t up to par compared to her others. And then I thought that I could get this book from the library or borrow the hardcover from work.

That measly three dollars just cost Macmillan a sale.

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Back from the deeeeead: Or, why blogging is hard.

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

So I haven’t blogged in so long that I had to reset my password for Wordpress, since it had been THAT long since I have logged in. I do miss ranting in text form as I used to do, although I have to say, I’ve gotten in a lot less trouble lately. Sometimes it’s good to take a break from talking and to be the one listening, although I can’t say I’ve been doing more than my usual amount of that, either.

The real reason that I ended up on here was because I was curious about the state of my 2009 Reads sub-pages. Then I realized that I hadn’t updated for a really long time. I’ve read a whole bunch of books since then. I was starting to wonder if I’d even posted since I got my Kindle, which was almost a year ago, but I posted “Mansfield Park” on there, which I think was my inaugural read. But then I felt sad, nostalgic and wistful over this blog, and decided to peek my head in and brush away some cobwebs.

Blogging regularly is hard work. You have to stay fresh and timely, and always have either amusing or introspective (or both) anecdotes to share. I’m either not that dedicated, or not that creative (or both). When reading something like “Julie and Julia” I always think to myself – Hey, I could do that! – but then I get all bored and on to the next hobby. Of course, cooking my way through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” would be a bad choice, because, let’s face it, it’s been done (and it sounds like a horrible idea anyway). I suppose I tried to do that with my reading “200 books in 2008″ but that fizzled out around May and it wasn’t much of a human-interest type project anyways, since my reading a lot didn’t impact the people around me all that much, and THAT is what makes these life-becomes-blog stories interesting.

So, blogging for a living is out.

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Comeback of Un-epic Proportions

Monday, August 17th, 2009

By now, I assume that most people have removed me from their feed readers, so I’m probably talking to air. That’s ok. I’m not all that interesting, but I feel like I should blog, so I am. Occasionally, I have stuff to say.

Today I took my doggie, Suzi, to the vet. It was supposed to be a check up and booster shot appointment, but it ended up almost reaching $300. And to add to it, another $300 on the 26th when we bring her in for a dental cleaning. I really didn’t want to do it, but she has an abscess tooth! And worms! That explains my Twitter: No such thing as a free dog. Although she was given to us, we’ve still had to pay our share of vet bills. It’s times like this that I wonder if pet health insurance is worth it. Probably not.

I just got a new job! I have no idea when my start date will be. I’m just kind of waiting and seeing how things go. But now I have two jobs, since I am keeping my job with Barnes & Noble. I hope that it doesn’t get too stressful, but it’s it’s bad, I can always drop a class or something. A full time job in a library would be optimal, but it doesn’t seem to be working out for me. So I will take what I can get for the meantime. I feel like just giving up on the job hunt for awhile. It’s exhausting. I may even stick with this set up until I finish my degree. I’m just tired of it all.

Another exciting thing that I’m doing is editing my mom’s novel. Yes, my mom wrote a novel! She finished it many years ago, when I was a kid. I read it through once, but it’s been so long I barely remember the story. So I’m going through it one chapter at a time. So far, I have to admit, I’m very intrigued in the plot. Who knows, there may be a free download in the future… At the very least, I can hook up people with an autographed copy!

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How I Feel, but Said Succinctly

Monday, May 25th, 2009

A note from Nancy Leigh DeMoss about Carrie Prejean (contender for Miss USA).

Prejean’s Story Points to Deeper Issues in Evangelical World

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Ignored.

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

I bet if blogs had feelings, that’s how mine would feel. It’s been many months since my last post. And it’s definitely not that I don’t have lots swimming in my head, it’s just that the time to formulate a post is not there. For example, I’d love to discuss that whole Miss California debacle. But really, in order to write out a well-written post, I’d have to read some articles, think about it, and then carefully craft a post. Who has the time for that? Certainly not me. I haven’t even been reading all that much lately. It’s all been about staying afloat. Today I am finishing up the semester and after that I’m FREE for a month. Then it’s back to classes. I’m hoping to revive this blog someday, but for now, it just doesn’t look like it’s happening.

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I Woof You

Monday, January 26th, 2009

I promise that I won’t bring this up any more.

But I love this book. Most of the time, I’ll warrant, those tiny gift books that are 200 pages or less (this one is 160) are usually a waste of money and time. But I guarantee if you purchase this one or even just sit for 30 minutes in a book store and read it cover to cover, it will enhappy you. As cheesy and corny as it is, I think it truly has some valid points to make on being happy. Enjoy the things you have. Treasure your friends. Take time to rest. Eat cookies. What else do you need?

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Well Said.

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Read: I Have Seen the Enemy, and She is FABULOUS: How to Read Women’s Magazines Without Feeling Awful About Yourself

Sometimes I think I’m immune to self-loathing, and I have conquered a fair bit of it due to my awesome husband who constantly reminds me that he thinks I’m a babe. I do notice that when I start picking up the fashion magazines or watching beautiful people on TV I start thinking that I’m not good enough. There are so many better things to focus on rather than looks. At the same time, I want to be well-dressed and not sloppy when I go out into the world.

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Ramblings

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

This morning I was putting cream and sugar in my coffee, and I looked at the fat-free label on the cream bottle. Then I wondered, how can cream be fat free? It’s CREAM for crying out loud.

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The Novemberist

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

2nd to last month!

  1. PBS Son of A Witch – Gregory Maguire
  2. STR Can’t Fail Color Schemes – Amy Wax
  3. PBS The Lights of Tenth Street – Shaunti Feldhahn

The color schemes book totally doesn’t count because it hardly has any words in it, but at this point I don’t care. I enjoyed both of the novels that I read this month. I’m still working on Pillars of the Earth, but I’m probably going to finish it this week. I’m excited to read the 3rd and final novel in the Wicked cycle, and since I work at a bookstore I can get it for free for two weeks. Hurray!

Anyways, I’m just finishing up my classes so hopefully I’ll have more books read this month. I have 20 left to reach 100. I’m taking bets: who wants to guess what number I’m going to finish on?

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Post #458

Friday, October 17th, 2008

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.

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