a cool thing.

I bet you all are loving the fact that I've had three days off in a row, and can't seem to stay away from blogger.  Ha.

So, remember how I was going to read all those books?  And then I was afraid that I wouldn't?  Well, surprisingly, I still read six books in February.  Six!  And I've already read (that is, finished) one for March.  And all this reading has really had me itching to write, which is a good thing.  But the funny part is that my draft is taking all the punches.  I've been reading the Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld (awesome), which is in third person omniscient, and even though what I'm writing has always been third person limited (I mean, always), I recently can't help but to hop from brain to brain.  And it's FUN.  But, just like when I wrote in some completely unrelated tumult after reading the Gregor books, I'll probably end up changing it back before I move on.

But should I?  Because the new viewpoints actually seem to work.  It's coming a LOT more naturally to me.  So maybe I shouldn't change it back quite yet.  Has this happened to anyone else?

In other news, here's the cool thing I wanted to share with you:  me without makeup!  [Oh, wait, that's me every day.]  Along with the treat of seeing my face (and sweet headphones), check out this cool mug for sale at the Blount County Library (my favorite place, you know):

[**Note the orange.  Note that I am not actually a huge Tennessee fan.  Note that orange was one of my favorite colors long before I lived in this state.  Note that in Delirium, liking orange was considered "freakish."  Yee-haw!**]

Of course, why take actual pictures when I could use Photobooth (as always)?  So, um... you can't read it.  It says: "Read Grow Learn Imagine [drawings of: dude reading a book, guy playing guitar, Shakespeare's face, a gardening tool (meh?), black bear, lily, and the front of the building] at the Blount County Public Library."  Happy dance!  And it came with a free cup of tea, so yeah.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Thursday!  And don't forget to support your local library.  :)

movies and home and family and a cat.

Well, it's a good thing I read nine books last month, because I don't think I'm even going to make it to five this month.  I, um, got burnt out?  Ha!  That didn't last long.  Another part of it, I think, is that I was reading a lot of fast-paced, addictive stuff, and now I'm rummaging around in that dreaded to-read list.  I'm not used to adult fiction.  Or, for that matter, Christian fiction.  Or non-fiction.  And I really want to get back into reading plays, but does that count as a book?  [My vote says yes.]  Plus, I've been working more, and not sick, and spending time with friends.  Amazing, right?

And I've been watching movies.  Books were starting to overwhelm me, I guess?  Who am I, all of a sudden?  I'm sure I'll get back into it soon enough.  Anyway, Joshua and I watched Ramona and Beezus the other night, as well as Despicable Me (a veritable marathon of feel-goodery, there), and it was delightful.  I loved the Ramona books as a kid.  And the movie was just wonderful.  And, oh, how I cried.  Not that that means much.  I cry at everything.

how cool is this frame? [found here] i need to learn how make these.

I'm home in Louisville right now, by the way.  It's great.  Other than being away from Joshua, that is.  But I get to see my parents and grandmother and friends and some extended family, too, this week.  Oh.  It will be so good for my soul.  Living away from my hometown is both liberating and frustrating.  I like having my own life, being totally independent (at least, of my parents), and working and making my own friends, etc.  But I miss my family.  Gah!  It's not like I'm college anymore, where you sort of prove who you are to yourself by being away from home.  That's how it was for me, and it was the right move to go out-of-state, but I'm past that now, you know?  I have proof of my maturity.  Or whatever.  I just want to be able to have lunch with my mom every once in a while.

Thus, a three-and-a-half-day trip to Louisville.  Go Cards!

I brought Oliver, too, which is kind of hilarious.  How often do you see cats chilling in a passing car, like you would a dog?  We travel with our cats a lot, and I like to think that others get a kick out of it.  Of course, it's a lot easier to let cats roam free in the car when there are two of us.  Since it was only me today, poor Olly Bear had to stay in the carrier.

I think he's over it now, though.  :)

a weekend, a book sale, and what to read next.

Hello and happy Tuesday evening.  It's the 25th, and I'm sorry (but honestly not surprised) to say that I've only read one book since my last post.  Out of context, that makes me sound like a bit of a maniac.  Ha.  I'm not too worried, though (and here comes something that will make me sound even worse), because I should be finishing my current read tonight, and then I'll cram in one more before February (more on that in a bit).

Maybe it was the snow last Friday, or the fact that the words "book," "sale," and "Blount County Library" were all together on one poster, but I could not stay away, and Joshua was gracious enough to give up a ski day and accompany me.  And it was magnificent.  And I've been wanting to blog about it every day since.

We all know how much I love that library, not to mention how much time I spend there, but I had no idea there was an entire warehouse of old books underneath it.  Yeah.  It's there.  They may only bring out the books for the sales, but it was still impressive.  And. So. Much. Fun.

We walked away with 40 books for just over $35.  Most of them came from a Surprise Box of Assorted Fiction that only cost $2.  Yeah.  Two bucks for 26 books.  Granted, pretty obscure books (the exception being a copy of Bridges of Madison County-- whoo-hoo), but still.

Here are a few of my favorite finds (not from the Surprise Box):

[Note:  I was feeling too lazy to charge my camera/upload pictures today, so I opted for the quicker Photo Booth approach.  Of course, I wanted to counteract the backwards-ness, so you could see the real covers.  Thus the double image.  Just... look at the one on the right.]

A copy of the 1950 edition of Jane Eyre, with dust jacket!... *swoon!*

Isn't it just gorgeous?!

This copy of Grimm's:

Yay illustrations!

Proof of pictures:

It's the frog prince!  I like this version.

The Wreckers, which I vaguely remember existing way-back-when, and always wanted to read.  It sounds really interesting, and makes me think of the Shipwreck Historeum I loved visiting in Key West as a kid.

Yay yay land pirates yay!

And, most excitingly, and possibly not legally, they had a whole section of young adult ARCs.  Very cool, right?  Granted, they were almost entirely of books already released, but I did find this:

I like this cover better than the official one, I think.

...which doesn't come out until February 1st!  So... I've got, like, 5 days to read it and claim an advanced-copy-reader-status that will actually count.  [Hence the cramming mentioned earlier.]  I'm actually pretty excited about this one.  I hear good things about it, and I like Lauren Oliver's blog, and I have a cat named Oliver, so there you go.  Meant to be.

In closing: this is me having fun reading books:

Happy slumbers!