I keep tripping over contests or donation schemes this week that require you to comment or follow or friend people. It's really bugging me. "If 500 people comment on my blog, I'll donate $500 to XYZ charity!" And then everyone in the world puts in on Twitter, and it ends up all over my Twitter stream. The blogger ends up looking like a good person, when all they're really doing is paying $500 for a huge number of comments and publicity. If you want to donate $500 to charity so bad, go do it privately. I don't need to hear about it.
Cynical. It goes with the cranky.
Last night a blogger announced that a book give away was just about to close. It was for a book I've been wanting, so I popped on over. All you had to do was comment, and you're entered in the drawing. Cool. But follow the blogger on Twitter you get x number of extra entries. And if you follow the author, too, you get x more entries. And if you friend them on Facebook you get this, and if you add them as a friend on Goodreads you get that, and by the time you're done, everyone who entered the contest had about 20 or 30 entries, and the blogger and the author's stats are through the roof. Annoying. This morning I checked my Twitter stream, and it's been totally overwhelmed by youtube videos and other worthless crap from the blogger and author. Super annoying.
And there are a couple people in my Twitter stream who I otherwise like and respect. They have interesting things to say, and I want to read them. But they keep sending out the same tweets over and over, flogging their blogs. Not, "I have a new post, come read it!" But identical tweets, about the same post or contest, over and over and OVER again.
I realize I am one hand, clapping in the darkness. I'm not an expert or anyone of any great importance. But really, people. Social networking-- ur doin it rong.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Cranky
I can't help it. It's been coming for days, and I've been trying to suppress it, but it's just not working. I'm cranky. I hurt. I'm tired of trying to keep up with my parents' schedule and routine and of trying to be a helpful little monkey. I'm sick of being around people. I'm sick of shouting all the time because a) everyone is always trying to talk to each other from three rooms away, and b) my mother is going deaf. I am sick of being blasted out of my seat by the TV. I can be in my bedroom-- upstairs and on the opposite side of the house-- and hear the TV as clearly as if I was in the room. I've developed tinnitus, y'all. Seriously. My ears are ringing.
What I really, truly, desperately want is to close the door, pull the covers over my head, and not see another human until Tuesday.
What I must do soon is pull on a sweatshirt and a pair of shoes and go downstairs and greet people at this damn garage sale my parents are having. Every time they sell something they come in the house and holler up the stairs with the new sales total. We're up to $4.75. Yee haw.
Like I said. Cranky.
What I really, truly, desperately want is to close the door, pull the covers over my head, and not see another human until Tuesday.
What I must do soon is pull on a sweatshirt and a pair of shoes and go downstairs and greet people at this damn garage sale my parents are having. Every time they sell something they come in the house and holler up the stairs with the new sales total. We're up to $4.75. Yee haw.
Like I said. Cranky.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Great Googly Moogly
I spent part of the day today calling pharmacies and pricing my most urgent prescriptions now that I don't have insurance or prescription drug coverage. Never do this. It's too depressing for words.
I only priced the four that need to be refilled in the next two weeks. No point in going through the hassle if it doesn't need to be refilled yet, because the prices might be different in Indiana. One of my prescriptions-- just one prescription, for one month-- is $1011.49. And that's the cheapest price I could find for that one. It's a steroid, and I've been weening myself off of it anyway, so I may just take my last nine pills and hope for the best. I have a bottle of Prednisone for emergencies. It plays merry hell with the body, but it's cheap. If I start to crash and burn without the other steroid I'll just start up on the Pred. I could buy a couple of years' worth of Pred for the price of one month of the other stuff.
I will say one thing for my thousand dollar steroids. They make my $130/month Savella look mighty cheap in comparison. And the Savella, at least in the short term, would be much more miserable to go off.
I only priced the four that need to be refilled in the next two weeks. No point in going through the hassle if it doesn't need to be refilled yet, because the prices might be different in Indiana. One of my prescriptions-- just one prescription, for one month-- is $1011.49. And that's the cheapest price I could find for that one. It's a steroid, and I've been weening myself off of it anyway, so I may just take my last nine pills and hope for the best. I have a bottle of Prednisone for emergencies. It plays merry hell with the body, but it's cheap. If I start to crash and burn without the other steroid I'll just start up on the Pred. I could buy a couple of years' worth of Pred for the price of one month of the other stuff.
I will say one thing for my thousand dollar steroids. They make my $130/month Savella look mighty cheap in comparison. And the Savella, at least in the short term, would be much more miserable to go off.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Collage!
Check it out! I made a collage!
This was homework for the Discovery class I've been taking. My computer has been in the shop for most of the last week and a half, and I was feeling pretty frustrated. But I got my baby back today, and I was able to spend a couple of hours finding just the right images (I'd already picked out some) and putting them together. This probably isn't the end of the collaging for this project. There's still a boat load of stuff I need to figure out. But this feels like a good start.
This was homework for the Discovery class I've been taking. My computer has been in the shop for most of the last week and a half, and I was feeling pretty frustrated. But I got my baby back today, and I was able to spend a couple of hours finding just the right images (I'd already picked out some) and putting them together. This probably isn't the end of the collaging for this project. There's still a boat load of stuff I need to figure out. But this feels like a good start.
Friday, October 1, 2010
A review home of my own
I'm really digging this whole book reviewing thing. It's fun to take all those little conversations with myself as I read a book and put them out there for others to consider, too. It's fun to spend more time after I finish a novel really analyzing what worked and what didn't and why.
But from the first one it felt like this isn't the right place for them. This blog is only tangentially about books. It's called It's All About Me for a reason. I considered starting a second blog just for reviews, but since I've only managed, what, 3 reviews in the last six or eight weeks? Yeah, that'd go nowhere fast.
So here's what I'm thinking. A group review blog. The details can be worked out when it's more than just me babbling about it. But generally I'd like to find at least 4 bloggers willing to commit to one book review every other week. That should work out (assuming my math is correct-- something no one should ever assume) to two book reviews per week on the blog. If we find more than 4 bloggers we could either go with more reviews posted every week or back off the commitment by each blogger to one every 3 or even 4 weeks.
I'd like to be pretty broad about the genres. I read romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and YA. It would be nice if we all connected in some way with our reading tastes, so that there is some continuity. But I'd love to have co-bloggers who read in different genres, too, and review things I would never have discovered on my own.
What do you think? Sound good? Crazy rambling of a woman who really needs to get some sleep? If it's something you think you'd like to do, let me know and we can start talking details.
But from the first one it felt like this isn't the right place for them. This blog is only tangentially about books. It's called It's All About Me for a reason. I considered starting a second blog just for reviews, but since I've only managed, what, 3 reviews in the last six or eight weeks? Yeah, that'd go nowhere fast.
So here's what I'm thinking. A group review blog. The details can be worked out when it's more than just me babbling about it. But generally I'd like to find at least 4 bloggers willing to commit to one book review every other week. That should work out (assuming my math is correct-- something no one should ever assume) to two book reviews per week on the blog. If we find more than 4 bloggers we could either go with more reviews posted every week or back off the commitment by each blogger to one every 3 or even 4 weeks.
I'd like to be pretty broad about the genres. I read romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and YA. It would be nice if we all connected in some way with our reading tastes, so that there is some continuity. But I'd love to have co-bloggers who read in different genres, too, and review things I would never have discovered on my own.
What do you think? Sound good? Crazy rambling of a woman who really needs to get some sleep? If it's something you think you'd like to do, let me know and we can start talking details.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Review: Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick
"The things I draw: They tend to die."Wow. This was a fantastic read. Mysterious and intense and creepy, this YA novel is definitely not for younger readers.
There are things the people of Winter, Wisconsin, would rather forget. The year the Nazis came to town, for one. That fire, for another. But what they'd really like to forget is Christian Cage.
Seventeen-year-old Christian's parents disappeared when he was a little boy. Ever since, he's drawn obsessively: his mother's face...her eyes...and what he calls "the sideways place," where he says his parents are trapped. Christian figures if he can just see through his mother's eyes, maybe he can get there somehow and save them.
But Christian also draws other things. Ugly things. Evil things. Dark things. Things like other people's fears and nightmares. Their pasts. Their destiny.
There's one more thing the people of Winter would like to forget: murder.
But Winter won't be able to forget the truth, no matter how hard it tries. Not as long as Christian draws the dark...
Christian is a boy who is troubled and isolated, ostracised by many in town. But unlike many YA stories, he has the benefit of a loving and very present parental figure in his Uncle Hank. Hank may not always understand what Christian is going through-- it would take a leap of faith that a logical, law and order type like Hank has trouble making. But he always loves Christian and struggles with letting go and allowing him to fight his own battles, like many parents do.
There was a little bit of bait-and-switch in the mystery, however. The cover copy references Christian's parents, who disappeared separately when he was little. But most of the book focuses on an unsolved murder from 1945 and other strange events that occurred at that time, and Christian's frightening, unexplained abilities. The murder and other events are wrapped up through a combination of Christian's talent and the work of a forensics team. The issue of his parents is raised again at the end of the book as Christian steps out into the unknown. It's a satisfying resolution overall, and the mysteries that take up most of the book are very involving. They just aren't the mysteries that the first few chapters suggest.
While not a religious book, religious identity plays a part. How could it not when the history of a Nazi PW camp is discovered, and a whole Jewish community has disappeared? Also, Christian's only friend is a PK. (Preacher's Kid) It was refreshing to see that both faiths are treated respectfully in the story, with no one coming off as a caricature and no one viewpoint presented as The Truth.
There was one other big thing I loved in this novel-- the descriptions of Christian when he is drawing. As a writer I really related to how Bick described that all-consuming place you go when you create. I'm sure that anyone who has a passion, whether it's art or music or writing code or running or a million other things, will recognize it and relate to Christian in those scenes.
I definitely recommend this book. Engrossing and well written, the author pulls a lot of different ideas into a cohesive, entertaining story. A-.
And just to keep everything on the up and up, I received this book as a free digital ARC through NetGalley. No money or other goodies were offered or exchanged for this review.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Temper Tantrum
I'd like to think this isn't a temper tantrum. More like a frustration flail. Even if I'm not stomping my feet and generally acting like a 12 year old, I *want* to, which makes me feel just as bad.
Last night Mom and Dad came back from their house hunting trip. They've put in an offer and everything seems to be going smoothly so far. They showed me pictures that they took on a second walk through, and a sketch of the layout that my brother did, including dimensions on all the rooms.
Here's where the problem comes in. I hadn't said much about what I wanted this house to be. Even though both Mom and Dad keep saying "this is your house, too. You have a say," I don't feel that way. It's their money, they're the ones who picked it out, it's their house. Mom called from the house hunt in a moment of frustration. Everything they'd looked at was either too small, too expensive, or for some other very practical reason wouldn't work for us. I told her not to worry about me. The only thing I really wants was some living space of my own. A great room, a den, an extra bedroom, whatever. I just wanted some space other than my bedroom that I could relax in. Some place I can watch the TV shows that I love and they aren't interested in. Somewhere I can read or knit or play my Wii. Some place I can have guests when/if I meet new people and would like to invite them over.
The new house seemed to fit the bill. There's a living room in the center of the house and a smaller bonus room off the kitchen. The bonus room has the added benefit of being on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms, so I won't keep anyone up watching a movie or whatever. Perfect, right? Yeah, except they've already decided to put my couch in the living room with their comfy chairs and the new TV. Mom has been referring to my bonus room as "the keeping room" and is making plans to set it up as some sort of library/sitting room extension of the kitchen. So that means that my portion of "my" house is a 10x12 corner bedroom. And by the way, that room will be furnished with all the crap they don't have any other room for, but can't bear to part with. Yeah. My room.
I know I need to stop fuming like a teenager and sit down and talk to them about all this. And I know this move is hard for them. Between two floors of living space, an attic, and the basement, they have approximately 4,000 square feet of junk. The new house is 1,800 square feet with no attic or basement. Everyone acknowledges that they need to let go of a ton of stuff, but no one is doing anything about it yet. I just went through this myself. I had to be brutal. And believe me, at this moment I'm glad I was, because there really is no room for me in this house they're buying for all of us.
Last night Mom and Dad came back from their house hunting trip. They've put in an offer and everything seems to be going smoothly so far. They showed me pictures that they took on a second walk through, and a sketch of the layout that my brother did, including dimensions on all the rooms.
Here's where the problem comes in. I hadn't said much about what I wanted this house to be. Even though both Mom and Dad keep saying "this is your house, too. You have a say," I don't feel that way. It's their money, they're the ones who picked it out, it's their house. Mom called from the house hunt in a moment of frustration. Everything they'd looked at was either too small, too expensive, or for some other very practical reason wouldn't work for us. I told her not to worry about me. The only thing I really wants was some living space of my own. A great room, a den, an extra bedroom, whatever. I just wanted some space other than my bedroom that I could relax in. Some place I can watch the TV shows that I love and they aren't interested in. Somewhere I can read or knit or play my Wii. Some place I can have guests when/if I meet new people and would like to invite them over.
The new house seemed to fit the bill. There's a living room in the center of the house and a smaller bonus room off the kitchen. The bonus room has the added benefit of being on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms, so I won't keep anyone up watching a movie or whatever. Perfect, right? Yeah, except they've already decided to put my couch in the living room with their comfy chairs and the new TV. Mom has been referring to my bonus room as "the keeping room" and is making plans to set it up as some sort of library/sitting room extension of the kitchen. So that means that my portion of "my" house is a 10x12 corner bedroom. And by the way, that room will be furnished with all the crap they don't have any other room for, but can't bear to part with. Yeah. My room.
I know I need to stop fuming like a teenager and sit down and talk to them about all this. And I know this move is hard for them. Between two floors of living space, an attic, and the basement, they have approximately 4,000 square feet of junk. The new house is 1,800 square feet with no attic or basement. Everyone acknowledges that they need to let go of a ton of stuff, but no one is doing anything about it yet. I just went through this myself. I had to be brutal. And believe me, at this moment I'm glad I was, because there really is no room for me in this house they're buying for all of us.
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