I can't help it. And I know I must stop, if only to give me a chance to enjoy those which I already have. But I looooovvvvveee them soooooo much. The feel of them. The differing weights of them. The smell of them. The appearance of them. How they take up those specific areas on the shelves. Damn those evil books!
I can't stop buying them. And seeing as how I have managed to pass the book thing on to Principessa, I give myself an excuse to buy books by buying them for her. Addicted, I am.
I have so many books that I have bought in the last few months I need to read. I have books I bought years ago that I haven't got around to reading because I bought other books that took priority. I am running out of space to put new books, but I can't stop myself from buying another one here or there. And Amazon have a lot to answer for... Buy more than £15 of stuff and get free delivery. The delivery charge on one or two books is usually enough to buy another book, so I can bear the extra few days wait to buy that extra book and qualify for the free delivery. Talk about circles with teeth.
When I get a new book, I can't help myself but take a dip in the new words on those new pages. This usually results in putting down the book I am reading at that time, and most of the time it means that the book that is being read gets put down and never picked up again, losing out to the new, shiny words.
So today I received 'The Ode Less Travelled' by Stephen Fry, 'Plato And A Platypus Walk Into A Bar' by Cathcart and Klein, a rhyming dictionary for me, and a rhyming dictionary for Principessa. (Not that she's taken much notice of it yet, she is far too busy watching Over The Hedge for the umpteenth time. The only thing she has wanted to read today is my t-shirt. It says 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' on it. It's a start, I suppose!)
I have flicked through the rhyming dictionary to see how to use it. For the moment I have ignored 'Plato And A Platypus...', but I couldn't help but delve into 'Ode...'. I still haven't finished 'Jane Eyre', and I am nowhere close to getting started on 'Wide Sargasso Sea' - and I have to read that for my course. Why can't I stay concentrated?
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LOL, Ally, don't go on eBay! That's been our book addiction -- from my Sci-Fi and horror to Nancy's bodice rippers and mystries, we order them by the boxful.
When we moved here, we cleaned out over half our inventory and still had more boxes of books than we had clothes.
I was just making sure I could post to your blog before commenting on your email
Ah, yes, long letters - the curse of the writer! J. David says the hardest thing for him to do is write simply enough for the average member of Culture Splash to understand and short enough to keep their attention.
So far short stories are the only thing I managed to get published, and that was all local presses. My dream is to get one of my novels published, and J. David has promised to try to find me an agent. You have a difficult time getting published without one in the good US of A.
As far as poetry, my poet friends start waving pointed stakes and crucifixes at me when I mention my favorite poet – Robert Service. Don't know if you've every heard of him, but he's been called the best of the bad poets. Most of his work was written in doggerel – which I didn't know was an actual style until I discovered Service. Most of his works deal with Alaska and the Gold Rush – which he lived through. Some very serious and somber like “Don't Quit” but others are hilarious, like “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”
I'd be happy to take a look at anything you'd like comments on. If you want suggestions for plot ideas or holes, I'll be more than happy to do so. However, even you ask my opinion on a specific piece of work then you will get an honest – and possibly brutal. -- reply. If I do mention something I don't like, I will explain clearly why it didn't work for me and offer suggestions for improvement. Feel free to take the advice or ignore it.
I write mostly sci-fi and fantasy, with a dash of horror thrown in via short stories. The book most people like is “Dead to Rights”, an action/thriller about an long-retired CIA type who suddenly has half the world chasing him. I also have a comedy/young adult novel called “Brother's Keeper” about an overweight cop who thinks he's Dirty Harry's meaner brother, his dim-wit friend, and a monastery full of assorted oddball-monks.
>You said you didn't know where Jack Hawkins came from - did you mean Jack Harkness?
Oops! My bad! The first season is available on-line at Studio-6, but I've only managed to catch the first three episodes. Howsomever, we just got notified that our local CTV has been bought out and they're adding some new channels – including BBCA. Yahoo!
I agree. Micky worked better as a wimp or a hood. Jack is a mix of James Bond and Captain Blood. And I'm not sure Rose could have carried a show by herself. I'm mildly surprised they used Sarah Jane for a series (although it was great to see her and K-9 again in School Reunion)
I agree that it is difficult to be an accomplished writer without a background in humanities, and certainly language doesn't hurt. But a word of caution here. In school I was a basketball standout and I passed every class whether the teacher passed me or not, so I just ignored the classes that bored me. As a result I barely knew a verb from a noun.
I hesitated to become a writer because my English background was very weak. It wasn't until I got out of the Army that I decided to go to college. I took an English major with a focus on Creative Writing.
Guess what? I knew more from instinct than anything most of my professors could teach me. A few were okay, even few were actually good, but most were no better than the teachers who couldn't be bothered in high school.
But then we are talking about the US. I certainly hope this does not happen when you go back to school!
Again, my bad! I got pinched between two army tanks. Dinged up my hip and back. I was able to get around for years, but took crutches and braces and the whole lot. In 1995 something shifted and I was an instant paraplegic. A piece of one of the wires at the L4 vertebra that they patched me up with broke off and I was numb from the waist down (of course Nancy says I've been numb from the neck up since she's known me).
Veteran's Affairs said in was inoperable, and that the nerve was irreparably damaged and surgery wouldn't do any good. Three years ago I got fed up with VA's crap with my psych problems and switched to a civilian. With the new pshrinks came a new set of civilian docs. They said there was a possibility that the damage wasn't permanent, but if they operated it COULD become permanent. I told 'em what the hell? I wouldn't be any worse. They took the steel out but it took over six months for any results
The first indication was pain. Lots of it. The movement came early last year. The mylein sheath surrounding several of the nerves, particularly the sciatic nerve had been damaged. That means movement or pressure on them is painful, making walking difficult. I take 100 mg of morphine twice a day.
I can relate to the chair, but I can imagine a progressive disorder. You are my new hero.
Ally;
Didn't know what would reach you faster so there's also an email. Ignore it if you read this first.
I need to contact my cousin DavidB1956. You're not on his culture splash friends list, but I know he talks to you some times. If you hear from him, PLEASE tell him to contact Deacon
Thank you very much
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