Various Random Thoughts About Trivial Stuff In My Life

Numbered for no particular reason and presented in no particular order:

1. I have bought no books this month. None. This is a spectacular achievement for me, you know, an unprecedented triumph of self-control. And even so I've still acquired more than I've read, or will read before the month is out, mainly because I went so far off the rails with my book quota last month that I apparently decided, "Screw it, I might as well order a bunch more!" All of which, of course, showed up this month, along with a couple of others that got back-ordered a while ago. Still, it's not too bad, right? At least I'm doing something to counter the excesses of last month, rather than adding to the problem. At least the book pile isn't going to get any worse, right? Well, yes, I was thinking that. And then, while I was leaving work on Friday morning, current book in hand, I ran into a guy I know having a pre-work cigarette break outside. "Hey," he said, "you like books?" Um... yes? Turns out his sister is moving and left behind "a huge box of books" she told him to give away, and did I want it? Or want to pick through it? Come on, how could I say no?! I could not stop laughing all the way home. Where I then received a visit from an old friend who was passing through town. (Hello, Captain C!) And, as a belated birthday present... he brought books. I'm telling you, it's almost enough to make me believe in a cosmic power. A cosmic power that wants me to die with 500 volumes on the To-Read Pile.

2. I'm in the middle of two weeks of night shifts. I was actually quite happy about this prospect. Hey, two weeks without having to shift my schedule! Yay, brief period of regular sleeping patterns! Except that, as often happens when I'm on night shifts, I've had a couple of days when I woke up way, way too early, could not get back to sleep, and had a hell of a bad time trying to stay awake at work all night. You know what unexpectedly helped? I was reading astronaut Michael Collins' Carrying the Fire on one of those bad days, specifically the part in which he talks about his first night in a Gemini capsule, when he slept like crap. I cannot say how much this sort of thing cheers me up. I may have gotten way, way too little sleep, but at least I didn't then have to get up and navigate a spacecraft. (See? There are so many reasons why books are good!)

3. Aforementioned friend -- howdy again, Captain! -- mentioned the fact that I seldom seem to talk about what I'm watching on TV or DVD here anymore, so I figured I'd rectify that. Current DVD watching is Fullmetal Alchemist, which, like many other things, I added to the Netflix queue so long ago that by the time it reached the top, I honestly could not remember why I put it there or who recommended it to me. It's... interesting. Part silly, part really messed-up and dark, and part just plain WTFish. Or, in other words, it's anime. I am 12 episodes in now, and I'm a little alarmed by how much it's growing on me.

4. I bought a computer Scrabble game. Now I cannot stop playing computer Scrabble. Send help.