Last night, as I was walking from the store to my car, I passed someone outside with his laptop sitting on the cigarette tray playing WoW. It had snowed two days ago and was still frigid outside, but there he was, sucking on a cig, presumably for warmth, and pecking at his keyboard with gloved fingers.
We have a couple of guys who take advantage of our free wi-fi and sit in the store for hours on end playing WoW, but this is the first time I've seen someone willing to stand outside in the cold to play. I'm not sure if he's impressively dedicated, or impressively addicted.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Feb Update
Happy February. February is one of the hardest months to spell. It's Feb-you-air-ee. Where the hell did that R come from?
Anyhow, my job has been excellent, though lacking hours enough to provide more than gas and bill money at the moment. At least it's something, and there are the added perks of human interaction (with interesting and nice humans, no less) and a reason to get off my ass and do something. It is in no way a permanent solution to my career woes however. I'm growing more certain that a library science degree will be for me. We actually had a library science student come into the store yesterday doing research on the differences in costs/risks/services of libraries and commercial bookstores, and it's a shame that I will probably not get a chance to read the resulting paper.
The major hurdle to a masters at the moment is the GRE. Taking it will not be an issue, but I've been trying to get the UH financial aid office to contact me about a fee voucher and they have been dead silent. If I get nothing from them by march I suppose I will just shrug and pay the 160 dollars. The price tag isn't too awful for me, but it was still a surprise. For people who have not been able to rely on the support of parents an entry fee that steep on a test that important has got to suck.
I am almost done with Les Mis. It will be almost certainly finished by the end of this month, and then I will be reading Infinite Jest. The amount of reading I have been doing this year has been pretty steady, but I have failed ten times over to write with any consistency. I find myself again wondering if abstinence from the computer might fix that, but I don't think I have that sort of will power.
I have however developed a semi successful method for getting things done. I've set up a few school-like periods where the 'class' is something like 'clean' or 'write' or 'study language'. So far, only the 'clean' period has gotten me to do any work. The other too are too early in the day or something, or I'm just too lazy, and artificial deadlines or schedules have never worked for me.
The first project successfully completed during 'clean' class has been a sorting of 10+ boxes that came with us when we moved 8 years go, and have not been touched since. Half of it was children's books, and the other half was a combination of trash and yarn.
This mess was reduced to 4 or so boxes, 3 of which are books that I'm going to sell off to make room. The living room there is now completely clean and there is actually some walking space in the dining room now. My room remains a disaster area, but that's next on the hitlist.
It snowed a decent amount today, and I got my first exercise in a good while by helping shovel the sidewalk. We live in a corner house with a good deal of sidewalk, so the work lasted most of the day. It felt nice to exert some energy though. I really need to do that more often...
Afterwards we had hot tea and nabe, which is basically a pot of boiling water plus whatever you care to throw in. Mine was full of greens, fishballs, and delicious mushrooms.
This huge thing is cut up into slices and and cooked until chewy. It's slightly sweet, and extremely delicious.
This post doesn't begin to cover what's been going on for the past month (a good thing; this means that things have actually been going on) but it's an update none the less.
Observation of the day: One of the most commonly stolen items in BnN is the Bible or its accessories.
Music of the day: Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home. I can't figure out if I like these guys or not. Epic voice, but I can't hear any of the lyrics, and there's not much to the instrumentals at all. It verges on pop.
Anyhow, my job has been excellent, though lacking hours enough to provide more than gas and bill money at the moment. At least it's something, and there are the added perks of human interaction (with interesting and nice humans, no less) and a reason to get off my ass and do something. It is in no way a permanent solution to my career woes however. I'm growing more certain that a library science degree will be for me. We actually had a library science student come into the store yesterday doing research on the differences in costs/risks/services of libraries and commercial bookstores, and it's a shame that I will probably not get a chance to read the resulting paper.
The major hurdle to a masters at the moment is the GRE. Taking it will not be an issue, but I've been trying to get the UH financial aid office to contact me about a fee voucher and they have been dead silent. If I get nothing from them by march I suppose I will just shrug and pay the 160 dollars. The price tag isn't too awful for me, but it was still a surprise. For people who have not been able to rely on the support of parents an entry fee that steep on a test that important has got to suck.
I am almost done with Les Mis. It will be almost certainly finished by the end of this month, and then I will be reading Infinite Jest. The amount of reading I have been doing this year has been pretty steady, but I have failed ten times over to write with any consistency. I find myself again wondering if abstinence from the computer might fix that, but I don't think I have that sort of will power.
I have however developed a semi successful method for getting things done. I've set up a few school-like periods where the 'class' is something like 'clean' or 'write' or 'study language'. So far, only the 'clean' period has gotten me to do any work. The other too are too early in the day or something, or I'm just too lazy, and artificial deadlines or schedules have never worked for me.
The first project successfully completed during 'clean' class has been a sorting of 10+ boxes that came with us when we moved 8 years go, and have not been touched since. Half of it was children's books, and the other half was a combination of trash and yarn.
This mess was reduced to 4 or so boxes, 3 of which are books that I'm going to sell off to make room. The living room there is now completely clean and there is actually some walking space in the dining room now. My room remains a disaster area, but that's next on the hitlist.
It snowed a decent amount today, and I got my first exercise in a good while by helping shovel the sidewalk. We live in a corner house with a good deal of sidewalk, so the work lasted most of the day. It felt nice to exert some energy though. I really need to do that more often...
Afterwards we had hot tea and nabe, which is basically a pot of boiling water plus whatever you care to throw in. Mine was full of greens, fishballs, and delicious mushrooms.
This huge thing is cut up into slices and and cooked until chewy. It's slightly sweet, and extremely delicious.
This post doesn't begin to cover what's been going on for the past month (a good thing; this means that things have actually been going on) but it's an update none the less.
Observation of the day: One of the most commonly stolen items in BnN is the Bible or its accessories.
Music of the day: Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home. I can't figure out if I like these guys or not. Epic voice, but I can't hear any of the lyrics, and there's not much to the instrumentals at all. It verges on pop.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Work work.
It's been a while since I updated, huh? My bad. Seems once or twice a month is all I can manage. At least my constant griping about unemployment will be coming to an end. I have a job.
Early last month I broke down and got a car. The next day I drove up to Princeton and put in an application to Barnes and Noble (something like my fifth), and the day after I was in for an interview. I was hired along with a small army of seasonal temps, but put my best foot forward and made gentle reminders to my managers that I was looking for a permanent position, and so now I'm full time part-time. About 25 hours a week. Not enough to move out of home with, really, but enough to whittle away the debt and keep me from being a total leech on my family. And, most importantly, I'm finally getting book selling experience and a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
The commute is 30 minutes, so either I develop a tolerance for the radio or get a mp3 adapter for the car asap.
In a bout of ambition, I also wrote a list of 'resolutions', which looks almost exactly like the sorts of resolutions I always write at various times throughout the year when I suddenly have an urge to get off my but and do something. A book a week, 100 words a day, 3 meals a day (which is now a lot easier, what with having a schedule and all), draw once a month (I guess I haven't failed that one yet. Soon) Etc...
The book a week is going to be a minor challenge because I'm stuck in the middle of Les Mis, which is not the sort of thing to be consumed in a week. I figure it will take the rest of the month to finish. As far as writing is concerned, I figured 100 words is small enough to not feel daunting, but may spur me into more writing. However, this is the most I've written since the new year, and as of this sentence I'm at over 300... I guess I'll refine it all as the year goes on. No reason to give up in January.
Early last month I broke down and got a car. The next day I drove up to Princeton and put in an application to Barnes and Noble (something like my fifth), and the day after I was in for an interview. I was hired along with a small army of seasonal temps, but put my best foot forward and made gentle reminders to my managers that I was looking for a permanent position, and so now I'm full time part-time. About 25 hours a week. Not enough to move out of home with, really, but enough to whittle away the debt and keep me from being a total leech on my family. And, most importantly, I'm finally getting book selling experience and a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
The commute is 30 minutes, so either I develop a tolerance for the radio or get a mp3 adapter for the car asap.
In a bout of ambition, I also wrote a list of 'resolutions', which looks almost exactly like the sorts of resolutions I always write at various times throughout the year when I suddenly have an urge to get off my but and do something. A book a week, 100 words a day, 3 meals a day (which is now a lot easier, what with having a schedule and all), draw once a month (I guess I haven't failed that one yet. Soon) Etc...
The book a week is going to be a minor challenge because I'm stuck in the middle of Les Mis, which is not the sort of thing to be consumed in a week. I figure it will take the rest of the month to finish. As far as writing is concerned, I figured 100 words is small enough to not feel daunting, but may spur me into more writing. However, this is the most I've written since the new year, and as of this sentence I'm at over 300... I guess I'll refine it all as the year goes on. No reason to give up in January.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Cool Links
Hitting gear cap in WoW has been a good thing. Suddenly I'm spending time doing something else, like trolling the internet.
Some cool stuff:
http://birdbook.org/
The site is awful but the birds are amazing.
http://v1kram.posterous.com/liu-bolinthe-invisible-man
Illusionist+Artist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3wmWT-sb8&feature=related
Lipizzaner Stallions. We went to see them a few weekends back.
On the job front I FINALLY got a call back from Barnes and Noble. The position is seasonal so there's a chance I'll be done with it by January, but I can use the money, and an excuse to get out of the house.
NaNo was a bit of a bust, but not entirely. I neglected it for the entire month of November, and on the 30th decided to make a go for it. I ended at 18k words, not nearly enough for me to win, but impressive considering that they were all written in about two days. The story itself started picking up too, so I may actually have something.
Some cool stuff:
http://birdbook.org/
The site is awful but the birds are amazing.
http://v1kram.posterous.com/liu-bolinthe-invisible-man
Illusionist+Artist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3wmWT-sb8&feature=related
Lipizzaner Stallions. We went to see them a few weekends back.
On the job front I FINALLY got a call back from Barnes and Noble. The position is seasonal so there's a chance I'll be done with it by January, but I can use the money, and an excuse to get out of the house.
NaNo was a bit of a bust, but not entirely. I neglected it for the entire month of November, and on the 30th decided to make a go for it. I ended at 18k words, not nearly enough for me to win, but impressive considering that they were all written in about two days. The story itself started picking up too, so I may actually have something.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I can't run a business because subtraction gives me hives.
Last Sunday I finally managed to drag myself out of bed and scrounge the area garage sales for books. I figured while I was looking for a job I might as well occupy myself by seeing if reselling for fun and profit is a possibility. So far it's been fun (found a number of fantasy titles, including some obscure Tolkien paperbacks) but there's no telling whether or not it will be profitable. Thanks to the internet I have a better chance of selling, but no thanks to the internet everything is cheaper now that it is all more available.
None the less I received my first order via Amazon for a near new copy of Green Eggs and Ham, have packed it up, and am all set to ship it tomorrow. I bought the book for 75c, charged one dollar (There were 50 some listings for the same book, the uncontested mean of which was 1 buck) and am hoping that Amazon's packing credit will help me break even. In other words I don't think I'm making any money out of this book at all. But I'm not surprised. I figure I'll test the waters, get a feel for what moves and what doesn't, and if I think I can make a profit of any sort out of it I'll keep going. The used book business is a business of high volume and spotty return if my research is correct, so having only 5 or 6 titles available means that the likeliness of my seeing any real activity is very low indeed. I could buy up the tons of romance crap that seems to litter flea markets, but I don't know the market, don't care to, and have a feeling that most of those books are worthless simply due to the fact that they have over saturated the market.
Ideally I'd like to work at (or own!) a store something like Between Books in Delaware, where there is a focus on Fantasy and Sci-Fi titles. That is, if I end up in the bulk used book business and not in antiquarian books or archival etc...
And while all this is going on I'm still waiting to hear back from the office job, and still hemming and hawing about whether or not I want to forgo a very good salary and a decent position to pursue a much less lucrative but much more fun profession... or just go to graduate school.
Decisions decisions.
None the less I received my first order via Amazon for a near new copy of Green Eggs and Ham, have packed it up, and am all set to ship it tomorrow. I bought the book for 75c, charged one dollar (There were 50 some listings for the same book, the uncontested mean of which was 1 buck) and am hoping that Amazon's packing credit will help me break even. In other words I don't think I'm making any money out of this book at all. But I'm not surprised. I figure I'll test the waters, get a feel for what moves and what doesn't, and if I think I can make a profit of any sort out of it I'll keep going. The used book business is a business of high volume and spotty return if my research is correct, so having only 5 or 6 titles available means that the likeliness of my seeing any real activity is very low indeed. I could buy up the tons of romance crap that seems to litter flea markets, but I don't know the market, don't care to, and have a feeling that most of those books are worthless simply due to the fact that they have over saturated the market.
Ideally I'd like to work at (or own!) a store something like Between Books in Delaware, where there is a focus on Fantasy and Sci-Fi titles. That is, if I end up in the bulk used book business and not in antiquarian books or archival etc...
And while all this is going on I'm still waiting to hear back from the office job, and still hemming and hawing about whether or not I want to forgo a very good salary and a decent position to pursue a much less lucrative but much more fun profession... or just go to graduate school.
Decisions decisions.
Friday, November 13, 2009
@#%@$!@$
Turns out the graduate open house I had signed up for was yesterday and not tomorrow as I had thought.
Fuck.
Whatever. I think I am going to just go for the graduate degree. I had an interview for one job that paid a decent salary but it's office work turning over applications for ESL students and I'd be a dick if I took a job that required training and left six months later to go to school.
So I guess it's time to take the GRE and send in some applications.
Of course I don't know if I'd get in to the schools I'd apply to either so this may just be a huge effort for no return.
Basically what I'm saying is that I'm ROYALLY PISSED at missing that open house, particularly since I've been thinking about it since the month started, and I am currently in 'oh god I'm so worthless I have no redeeming qualities and will live the rest of my life on minimum wage and in complete defeat' mode.
I'm also doing horribly at NaNo.
I need a tub of ice cream.
Fuck.
Whatever. I think I am going to just go for the graduate degree. I had an interview for one job that paid a decent salary but it's office work turning over applications for ESL students and I'd be a dick if I took a job that required training and left six months later to go to school.
So I guess it's time to take the GRE and send in some applications.
Of course I don't know if I'd get in to the schools I'd apply to either so this may just be a huge effort for no return.
Basically what I'm saying is that I'm ROYALLY PISSED at missing that open house, particularly since I've been thinking about it since the month started, and I am currently in 'oh god I'm so worthless I have no redeeming qualities and will live the rest of my life on minimum wage and in complete defeat' mode.
I'm also doing horribly at NaNo.
I need a tub of ice cream.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Moving
Today so far has been a productive day. I woke up around 8, had my clothes hemmed for the big interview tomorrow, tore up a ton of paper that's been piling up for months, and now am going to make yet another attempt at cleaning my room. For motivation I'm taking a picture of it every half hour to see if there are any changes.
I think the only reason I'm being productive is because I'm avoiding my Nano, but I figure I'll run with it.
Here's a before picture, let's see if there's any difference in a few hours.
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