(no subject)
I'm starting to think I should cancel my cable, or throw my computer out a window, or possibly just go hide out in the woods, until November. Among other things, the amount of sexism floating around lately has me depressed. It's bad enough in the actual articles and blog posts, but why can't I remember to just *never* read the comments?
There have been a few events and topics I've meant to sit down and write something about, but I've been terrible at finishing anything lately. My list of things I have to deal with keeps getting longer; hopefully, I'll do a chunk of it this afternoon. I keep starting books and not finishing them, too. Since at least some of them must now be overdue at the library, I have to decide if I want to give up, or start reading like crazy to minimize the fines!
I've been getting bogged down in Quicksilver. I think I want to like that book more than I do... there are great parts of it, I like the characters, the physics and philosophy... but I don't like skimming while reading novels, and perhaps parts of Neal Stephenson's writing are simply meant to be skimmed? I would have thought I'd like all the detail, so I may just have less patience than usual. I also have checked out a bunch of children's books, including some old ones that I've been wanting to reread. And I'm (finally) reading The End of A Series of Unfortunate Events! It's been awhile since I've read the first 12 books, but I think the vocabulary words have been getting harder (I had to look one up!)
I spent labor day morning cleaning since Owen invited a couple we know over for brunch. He did the cooking (and the washing up; I have a great husband! Of course, it's not like he has much choice on the cooking when he wants meat.) It was exciting to see our friends with their baby boy for the first time since he was born. Right after they left, we had a last minute invitation to drive to a beach with another couple. To me, one beach is more or less like another, but people around here seem to take choosing which one to go to seriously. Owen was excited about checking out this particular beach, so I quickly started applying the layers of sunscreen. California is wasted on me -- on a beach where every other woman wouldn't even dream of wearing a one piece suit, I sat under an umbrella, wearing long black jeans, a black shirt, another large shirt as a coverup, sunglasses, and a black hat. Once I'm planted in the sand, I just read, watch everyone else in the ocean, and wait until I'm told it's time to go. It was nice and warm, and I actually got somewhere in Quicksilver, so I had a good time, despite the weird looks :)
Orchestra practices have started up again. In one, I'm going to try and play first violin (otherwise, I think I'd quit it). I'm also playing with a better group, but the drive is longer, and I'm feeling somewhat apathetic about it. I think I'll also play in a chamber music class (I still have to successfully register, but I've showed up to it.) Now that I finally have the time, I don't know how to motivate myself to practice properly... scales, exercises, etc. are just so boring sometimes... I could barely make myself do that when I had a teacher who would yell at me if I didn't (or, if not yell, at least look disappointed :)
I'm going to go try to be productive now, at least for some definition of productive. Hopefully, this will improve my mood.
There have been a few events and topics I've meant to sit down and write something about, but I've been terrible at finishing anything lately. My list of things I have to deal with keeps getting longer; hopefully, I'll do a chunk of it this afternoon. I keep starting books and not finishing them, too. Since at least some of them must now be overdue at the library, I have to decide if I want to give up, or start reading like crazy to minimize the fines!
I've been getting bogged down in Quicksilver. I think I want to like that book more than I do... there are great parts of it, I like the characters, the physics and philosophy... but I don't like skimming while reading novels, and perhaps parts of Neal Stephenson's writing are simply meant to be skimmed? I would have thought I'd like all the detail, so I may just have less patience than usual. I also have checked out a bunch of children's books, including some old ones that I've been wanting to reread. And I'm (finally) reading The End of A Series of Unfortunate Events! It's been awhile since I've read the first 12 books, but I think the vocabulary words have been getting harder (I had to look one up!)
I spent labor day morning cleaning since Owen invited a couple we know over for brunch. He did the cooking (and the washing up; I have a great husband! Of course, it's not like he has much choice on the cooking when he wants meat.) It was exciting to see our friends with their baby boy for the first time since he was born. Right after they left, we had a last minute invitation to drive to a beach with another couple. To me, one beach is more or less like another, but people around here seem to take choosing which one to go to seriously. Owen was excited about checking out this particular beach, so I quickly started applying the layers of sunscreen. California is wasted on me -- on a beach where every other woman wouldn't even dream of wearing a one piece suit, I sat under an umbrella, wearing long black jeans, a black shirt, another large shirt as a coverup, sunglasses, and a black hat. Once I'm planted in the sand, I just read, watch everyone else in the ocean, and wait until I'm told it's time to go. It was nice and warm, and I actually got somewhere in Quicksilver, so I had a good time, despite the weird looks :)
Orchestra practices have started up again. In one, I'm going to try and play first violin (otherwise, I think I'd quit it). I'm also playing with a better group, but the drive is longer, and I'm feeling somewhat apathetic about it. I think I'll also play in a chamber music class (I still have to successfully register, but I've showed up to it.) Now that I finally have the time, I don't know how to motivate myself to practice properly... scales, exercises, etc. are just so boring sometimes... I could barely make myself do that when I had a teacher who would yell at me if I didn't (or, if not yell, at least look disappointed :)
I'm going to go try to be productive now, at least for some definition of productive. Hopefully, this will improve my mood.