Boy, did I wish I’d stayed home today, at least six times…but then I wouldn’t have some neat stuff!
We had to do some grocery shopping. (we got the dog a pillow, too. Hey, it’s Christmas.) That wasn’t too bad. Busier than I expected that early, but not too bad. Then we went to Office Depot, because I wanted new office supplies to help inspire me in this editing thing I’ve vowed to do. (Whee!! Office supplies!)
I figured that wouldn’t be too bad. After all, who shops for office supplies the Saturday before Christmas?
Umm…lots of people. Â But still, not too bad.
Then I had the brilliant idea of going to the local used bookstore. The one just on the other side of the mall. BAD. People are INSANE. Hey, gang, can we remember we’re supposed to be celebrating the Prince of PEACE? Or is that too much to ask?
I did crack up a bell-ringer. Hope and I were in the crosswalk in front of the store and I guess somebody was in a hurry, this guy in a truck blasted his horn. I wished him a Merry Christmas too.
And I got STUFF!! Yay, stuff! I got Hope a couple books, a puzzle, a game, and a CD (shh, those are Santa’s presents). I was stressed because I’d planned to leave her at the Boys and Girls Club while I did a final bit of shopping, but the Club was closed. So I had to take her with. But it was so easy! I got a cart (yes, MY bookstore has carts, I’m not the only one who needs one there) and told her to go have fun in the kids section. Within ten minutes she’d tossed her coat in the cart. So I just stuck stuff under the coat when she wasn’t looking, took it all and checked out and ran it to the car without her missing me, and then went back in for me.
We spent three hours there. That’s about par for the course, with the two of us.
Have I mentioned she’s eight and reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Yes, this one . 870 pages, but she’s not daunted. (and I’m not bursting with pride. oh no. 😉
So I got her stuff, and then I got ME stuff. Hey, didn’t you ever hear the saying if Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy? I deserve presents too!
Let’s see if I can remember. Umm, books by David Weber and John Ringo, two authors I’ve been meaning to try. An old, OLD, favorite Andre Norton, Forerunner Foray. One DVD, Cutthroat Island. A great swash-your-buckle adventure, if you’re wondering. A Holly Lisle book, because I think I’ll really enjoy it, and because I want to see if she can write, since she’s so full of advice. 😉
And, umm…Â *goes and gets stack*
Reason to Believe, A Practical Guide to Psychic Phenomena
These Good Men: A Chronicle of the Enduring Bonds Forged in the Fires of Vietnam–and the Years After
Human Evolution and Prehistory (textbook)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King because I’ve heard several times I should read it. Imagine my delight to actually find it there…
When I spend three hours in a bookstore, I’m not sitting down reading a few books before I choose the ones that come home with me. That’s when I spend SIX hours in a bookstore. No, three hours is just–I’ve got some money, and I can’t remember everything I want. Wandering from the kids section (the BEST explain-it-in-layman’s-terms research is to be found there) to the writing section to SF, maybe a pass or two through Art, Anthropology, Psychology, Biography, History–it’s hard work, being a writer! And everytime I get lazy, something or someone comes along to give me a kick in the complacency.
This time it was Holly Lisle. The office supplies are for my culture-building project, following her directions because it seems a grand idea. Only starting on it let me see just how sadly I’ve neglected the store of knowledge lately.  GIGO is a computer saying, but it applies–Garbage In, Garbage Out. I need to put some good stuff in my head.
Lucky for me, reading is second only to writing on my list of things I love to do.
So. Tomorrow. (yes, Christmas Eve! I know!) Tomorrow I get back to the editing, and I have a ton of good books to read when I can’t focus anymore. And when I’m rested enough, I’ll get to worldbuilding.
Charge!
(oh, and I got yet another new mouse. Optical, but NOT wireless. Fits my hand, moves like a dream, and hopefully won’t die on me because it can’t talk to its little flashy light thingy like the last one.)
Onward!