Archive
HOARDING EVERYTHING (AND I MEAN EVERYTHING!)
There are many of you out there who have seen or experienced my selective hoarding and failed OCD behaviors. The one I am most comfortable admitting to is my book hoarding. There is also the tchotchkes that litter my home and show my eclectic interest in pigs, elephants, religious icons, kitchen “stuff” and the never to be forgotten dust.
This morning Kim and I were using his day off to kick back and spend some relaxing time bopping around the internet. At one point, I said I wish they would invent something like a pair of glasses that could be used to manipulate the cursor on the computer screen eliminating the need for the physical manipulation through the mouse or keyboard. I know that something like that exists for the differently-abled population, but my needs would not require that degree of sophistication. Something like the soon to be discontinued Google glasses that would be cost-effective and allow me control the computer without wireless keyboard and wireless mouse.
And here is where the hoarding raises its ugly head. The truth is that at this point in time I have 31 tabs up and running for the current session. I also have 27 file folders on the bookmark bar that allow me to over 200+ additional sites that I may have a need for immediate access at any given point in time. These folders include “BOOKS” with its four sub-folders and 24 sites, or “NEW” with one sub-folder and 34 sites and the one titled “ok” meaning I need to get to these sites before logging off and leaving them just hanging in cyberspace purgatory.
Many have mocked me for this behavior (you know who you are.) Even I admit it’s ridiculous. I even found a kindred soul out there in webland with many of the same symptoms. waka waka waka knows of which I speak. He describes it thusly, “It’s the result of skittering about the Web reading items that contain links, opening the links for a moment in a new tab, and going back to what you were reading before or on to something else.” which hits the nail on the proverbial head.
Now, for the desired wish of those “special” glasses. All of this “tab hoarding” would be unnecessary if, with the blink of an eye, pages could be read and closed without the wasted time of keyboard strokes or mouse clicking. Plus, as an added bonus, the prevention of carpal tunnel syndrome.
So, get on with it you inventor friends of mine. I need to conserve energy and time so that I can use it for more meaningful activities. Like, not being forced into a sleep state because of energy wasted when a nod of the head would suffice or rearranging the hoarded books that I have glossed over so far.
(By the way, faithful readers, be sure and bookmark my blog so you can keep up with any and all additions. Thank you very much.)
I NEVER WANT TO BE IN THE HOSPITAL AGAIN! HERE’S WHY!
The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Spending as many hours in the hospital as I did this past year, this was a strange choice to read. The book is well written and documents the killings of a psychopath nurse who never really understands how his actions wreak havoc. Or, did he?
READING AGAIN?
The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a quick read and it could have been because the author has an amazing way of describing everyday things. Like a voice that “sounded exactly like spearmint bubble gum…her voice was…clean and cool, but the laugh was a gum bubble popping.”
The main character is characterized as being on the autism spectrum. She is able to deal with most daily habits and seems to show it when she feels threatened or in dealing with other people. There are some wonderful insights into the behavior of persons who are functional in daily life but still have some of the behaviors that reflect her condition.
A couple of recipes lead her into experiencing the presence of those who have died. They exist when she cooks their dishes and throw information at her that only fits into her reality a little later. It is done in such a fashion that my cynicism simply said “Accept it and move on.”
THE GREATEST NAME FOR A BOOK SO FAR
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Enjoyable, but a little simplistic at times. All of the characters were predictable in their actions and the saving grace was the development of the autistic child’s thought processes.
THE PROPERTY
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The story of a Jewish grandmother returning to Warsaw with her granddaughter to look for the property her family owned prior to World War II. Presented as a graphic novel the simple drawings manage to portray the tragedy and recovery of a story kept secret for many years.
THE COOKED SEED: A MEMOIR
The Cooked Seed: A Memoir by Anchee Min
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I will admit that I am hopelessly drawn to memoirs and doubly trapped when written by a person from a different culture. Anchee Min has written many historical novels about Chinese history and culture. This is her story, well told and brutally honest.
She begins with her birthplace in Shanghai and continues until her daughter prompts her to write this memoir. She details her difficulty getting to America, adjusting to a new culture and learning a new language to her overpowering desire to have a child and the predicament she finds herself in achieving this.
A strong woman who overcomes her own demons, she is willing to admit her errors and bares them with brutal honesty. Her love of her daughter, her second husband and her connection to her family still in China shows the depth of her commitment to living honestly and achieving the best that one can.
ADHD HOUSEKEEPING (OR MECCA LECCA HI, MECCA HINEY HO)
Can this be true? Of course it can:
Re-pot new plants- Clean mess from potting plants
- Dry table from potting plants
- Dishes
- Laundry
- Clean Oven(Actually cleaning itself after I accidentally used furniture polish on it.)
- Fold yesterday’s Laundry
- Iron (I don’t believe it, either.)
- Throw rubber chicken for dog
- Try and find camera to take picture of dog with chicken in mouth
- Check internet
- Decide to write blog entry….WAIT–BACK TO WORK, YOU SLACKER!
I have no middle ground. For some reason I seem to think that I can do one week’s worth of chores in one day. I am currently undergoing READING WITHDRAWAL and must return to it for rejuvenation.
Oh, wait, there is dinner or there is cookies for dinner. The nice thing about cookies for dinner is that it leaves a free hand for reading!
Is It Spring Yet?
It has started. It, of course, meaning winter. With my Native intelligence I predicted that this would be a “snow” winter and to this point in time it seems as if I am right on. The greatest thing about a snowy winter is the early announcement of an upcoming blizzard. Ready set prepare:
- Food–check
- Diet Coke–check
- Food–check again
- Movies–check
- Books–check (cover quite well by the acquisition of a nookcolor)
- Food–recheck
- Pet food-check
- Blankets–check
Wait a minute. This is beginning to look like too much work. I guess the most important item is “Will the Mall be closed?” This rates up there because I work retail and going to work in a blizzard sucks on, oh, so many levels! Luckily most people are smart enough to stay inside on these days enjoying the aforementioned list, many diehard shoppers feel it necessary to get their Mall Fix come hell or high snow! After at work, the only thing keeping me alive is the fact that there is a caffeine fix right there in the store and with it I can deal with anything.
Of course, we are now in the throes of “Holiday Madness.” No, not yet, that really comes just a couple of days before the “Holiday.” That is the point where anything not nailed down will be purchased with a gift receipt so that the day after the “Holiday” I can hear crabby people say, “I don’t know why my (son, daughter, husband) got me a (Mario Chess Set, The Joy of Sex, Cooking for Dummies) but, I don’t want it. What? I have to get store credit? I am (illiterate, only interested in Victoria’s Secret, don’t care–just give me the money.)”
The days of spring will be here soon, in about six months, until then I have a great excuse to pack on the pounds, complain about work and read until my eyes are crossed. Life doesn’t get much better than this, does it?
I Shall Live and Die by the Love of Books
The end of the year brings lists of books from every print publication around. “The Best Books of 2009, Books You Should Have Read in 2009, You Are an Idiot if You Didn’t Read These Books in 2009”Ok, I made the last one up. My problem is that the list of books I want to read is far exceeding the number of waking hours I believe I have left in my life. Do I feel a resolution for 2010 coming on? I hereby swear that I will commit 2 to 3 (or more) hours a day reading. This will cut into my Stumble Upon, Bejeweled Blitz and Reality TV addictions, but it is something that I believe will make my life a bit more relative and will help me eliminate books from my collection faster than I collect them. (Yeah, sure.)
Anyway, this started out because of my addiction to Stumble Upon. One of the interests that I listed was, of course, books. So I came across this article from the Guardian . What luck, book lists of what to read and now, a list of books that I have never heard of that I should have read over the past decade.
I suppose I should start searching for them. And them add them to the tilting tower next to the bed. And hopefully complete them before the end of the next decade.
WHATEVER WAS I THINKING? 