Exciting News!

As a warning I will be posting this on both Life of a Book Addict and Writing is Life for those of you who meander between both of my blogs.  I have some very exciting news though!  Starting the 21st and possibly for a few days after, I shall be moving!  Not cities or anything big like that.  Just apartments, but I am very excited for it.  It'll be a better living condition, a better neighborhood, more space.  And honestly, it's the little things I'm excited for.

• Having a in-complex laundry mat.
• Having a swimming pool (alright, not so little, especially in this drought)
• Having more than one set of house keys.
• Having an oven I don't think will short-circuit and burn my living space down.
• Having a fire alarm that works.

See, the little things boys and girls that make life worth living.  And the fact it is a lot closer to my job, also makes things really awesome.  Speaking of, I have to buy a bike.  Anyone know of any cheap ones that function?  I'm going to be looking around, of course, but i I figure, it never hurts to ask around.  Especially since I've been told that getting a steady ride to work means promotion opportunities.  Exciting and terrifying at the same time!

Oops

I am so terribly sorry boys and girls.  I have not done an update in a little while now.  What?  Two weeks?  I think, I'm not really sure, I lost count so it might have been that long or it might have been less.  Who's to say.  Anyway, I will try not to take up too much of your time.  I was just thinking about how proud of myself I am.  I know, I'm sitting here with an update to toot my own horn.  Shame, shame woman.

But, that's not the point.  I have trouble sticking to things.  Sometimes I forget.  Or I put them off.  Or I get busy.  Whatever the excuse, it's very easy for me to get distracted and simply let things slide.  But in this case, I am proud to say that I have been doing at least one review a week for the past six weeks.  It's progress.  A start.  One that I am very much hoping that I can continue and build on.  Sure, most people probably don't really take the time to look at this or read what I'm writing, but that's okay.

In a way, I'm not doing any of this for you guys.  Which really isn't nice to say, I'm sorry guys, but let's face it, I'm not.  If anyone even reads this blog, they never comment.  I have had one comment since starting it and I'd like to think I have some very solid things I've written and some legitimate questions that I have posed.  But it is okay.  I know not everyone will want to take the time.  I'm thrilled anyone even vitryws my blog.

But it's kind of clear that I'm not doing this for the attention.  I'm doing this for myself.  I'm doing this to focus my mind.  To try and create something.  And I think that I'm managing it very nice.  Let's just hope that I can keep it up.

And so no one can say that I forgot!

Suppose Supposing

I admit, I though that I was going to have the review done earlier this week.  Given that said reviewed book was only about 250 pages and I was already a good hundred pages in, I really meant to have it done earlier in the week.  But c'est la vie.  Life has never really decided it wanted to cooperate that much.  That would be more of the wishful thinking aspect of life I believe.  That and I honestly was slacking a little in my reading because I knew that I could so easily finish it.  Oh well, there is really nothing to be done about the matter now and I can very proudly say that I have finished it and the that the review on Raising the Curve is up and ready to read for any of you who might find yourselves to be interested in it.

But my life is more than just reading.  Or it should be, though sometimes I think it would be nice if I could just focus on my reading.  It would be a lot more relaxing I can guarantee you that.  But that isn't what it's supposed to be about.  There are other aspects of my life.  Like my depression.  It isn't something that I like to talk about a lot.  I'm too afraid people will think that I'm trying to get attention because of it or that I'm lying or something else like that.  Whatever the case is, its something that I generally try very hard to hide.

It's probably also the reason I like candy so much.

Now that might seem like a leap in logic to some of you.  But really, there is a logic there.  You see, sweets release endorphins.  They make you happy.  That's why people usually enjoy eating them.  I use that to self-medicate especially when things are getting bad or I'm afraid that they might.  It's really not the best way to go about things, but going to the doctor isn't always an option and I really have this bad habit of not liking to spend money on taking care of myself.  I don't like buying shoes.  I don't like paying for medicine.  It's a really bad pattern, a worse habit.  Of course if my friends were to try and do the same thing I'd probably yell at them and when they realize what I'm doing they get on me.

Turnabout is fair play I suppose.

But that's why I love my friends.  They are there for me and I am there for them.  We've created our own little family of sorts.  We're all a little broken, but its okay because it helps us to understand the others.  We can see past the flaws that trip them up and they can show us that some things are worth living for if things get too dark.  It's a very real kind of therapy and a very real kind of family unit.  Some people say that family is the most important thing and I agree.  But I also think that sometimes we can't only count the family that we are born with.

Families argue.  They bicker.  Sometimes they know each other well enough to not really know each other at all.  When it comes to biological family there are certain expectations and for someone like me, it feels like I have never and will never meet them.  Whether that is true or not is yet to be seen.  When it comes a family unit of friends, however, the expectations become different.  It is not about pleasing everyone else or trying to find a way to see that you matter in their eyes because you already know you do.  When you pick friends for your family...you pick and you choose and in doing so, you show someone just how much they are really worth.

Doing Without

Another month, another set of paychecks.  I've discovered that when it comes to my job, I do not work full time.  I am perfectly alright with that.  As it is I work about thirty hours a week when all is sad and done with early clock-ins and having to stay over to get this or that done or to cover whoever needs help at the register.  And that works out well for me.  Of course it still leaves me very poor, but I'm used to living as a poor person so that isn't really the matter.

However, it does make things interesting living from paycheck to paycheck.  You see, it presents me with this little problem.  That problem revolves around my phone.  My phone is one that is sans contract which is nice for these months when I somehow manage to forget the phone or simply have to put other things before it.  Of course it also means that I have to make due without my phone for the time being.  I find that to be both highly stressful and strangely liberating at the same time.  There is something utterly relieving about not having to worry about calling so-and-so or texting a person back by a particular time.

Of course it also makes you wonder if something is going to happen in the interim.  Will the world fll apart while people are essentially unable to reach me?  I do wonder this one some level, but that just seems silly.  They can still reach me.  I'm obviously still getting online so there are ways.  But we have this conception with phones that that is the only acceptable way to truly communicate with people.  Now not everyone suffers from this particular belief, but unfortunately I do know people who do and I find it limiting.  Yes, I think it's important to have a phone.  To be able to call and text and communicate in that most direct of manners, but at the same time, it shouldn't be what we depend upon.  We have the ability to write for a reason.

Alright, I just had to get that out.  I was thinking about it yesterday after work since I couldn't actually text anyone to pick me up from work.  I had to wait for someone at the store to get off so I could get a ride home.  Which wasn't bad.  I only had to wait for about two hours so it wasn't so bad.

So! Update for the week!  I am still working on Cloud Atlas.  I am about half way through at this point, but given I have the next two days off I should (hopefully) be able to finish it or the other book that I have started working on Raising the Curve.  Not a bad read so far, I'm still very early on, but it is definitely not my usual kind of read.  It's not often that I read non-fiction, but this one is turning out to be very well-written and gives a very interesting insight that I am enjoying.  I'll keep you updated as much as I can!  And for anyone interested in the writing aspect of my life, I am trying to resurrect my writing blog Writing is Life.  I hope that you all have a wonderful day and I'll see you later this week!

Girl's Gotta Do

So I have decided that I want to try and work on writing some book reviews.  As anyone who has read this blog has seen, there is one already up on the very popular book The Fault in our Stars by John Greene that I wrote after I finished reading the book last week.  At the moment, I am slowly (slowly because I keep slacking off and getting distracted) reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell as well as an Advanced Reader Copy (that is no longer advanced as the book did come out in April) The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer.  I am hoping to have at least one of them done by the end of the week so that I can write up a review for it.  Regardless of if I do or not, I am hoping to get into the habit of writing at least one post a week with updates as well as any new little tidbits that come to mind.

In this case, I can actually give an update about my own writing.  I am very proud to say that one of my story ideas, an old series actually, has decided to start cooperating with me giving me a project that I can actively work on.  In this case, it's actually series that emerged from the very first year that I was a part of NaNoWriMo.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it stands for National Novel Writing Month.  It takes place every year in November.  Through the month, those taking part make a pledge to attempt to write 50,000 words.  It adds up to about 1,667 words a day.  It can be a lot of fun pulling together people from all over the world.  I am very proud to say that I have been taking part in since 2009.  And if I'll be honest, I love telling people about NaNoWriMo.  I talk about it, probably every chance I get.

We all have our passions.

I guess you could definitely say that books are my passion.  It doesn't matter if I am reading them or writing them.  I have loved books from the moment I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone all on my own.  It was the proudest moment of my life.  Or, at least, it was certainly one of them.  From that moment on, I could even fancy that I have a touch of an addiction.  That might be considered a bad thing by some people, but my way of figuring is that it is far healthier than something like alcohol or drugs though I've no doubt there are some who would disagree with me in that matter.  I accept that as a simple fact of life and that we should all agree to disagree.  I don't plan to change my opinion and I think it would be rude of me to try to force my opinion on any other person.  Debating them respectfully is another matter entirely however.  That kind of thing, now that is fun.

But for now, I think I have babbled quite enough for the night.  For now, I shall bid you all adieu and I hope to have a book review for you all by the end of the week.  Until then, I wish you all very well!