Oh, Literature. How I’ve Missed You!

For some reason, it didn’t quite register when my husband pointed the camera at me as I opened my birthday gift a week and a half ago, that there was something truly special secreted under the purple flowered wrapping paper I’d bought during a school fundraising drive several years ago. It turns out that he wanted to capture the look on my face as I opened the package to find my biggest (current) materialistic dream had been fulfilled.

He bought me a Kindle. And I am in love. Um, with him. Yeah, that’s what I meant.

Here’s the not-so-flattering picture he got, by the way:

As someone who gave up the love of reading as life got more and more hectic and then a baby was thrown into the equation, I fondled my new electronic device with mixed emotions. Of course, I was elated by the gadget…and the fact that my darling husband had actually heard something I’d said in the past six months. But, there was the fear that I wouldn’t use it enough. That it would be a waste of money.

Fortunately, I’m already about 90% done with my first novel (Alice Sebold’s Almost Moon) and already have a wish list in mind. Next will be The Timetraveler’s Wife, and then is Wicked. (I’m telling you, I am really far behind in pop culture reading.)

But, I’m not content with my piddly little list of “must reads.” I am insatiable at the moment. That’s why I’m asking you to offer suggestions for my wish list. What should I read, and why? Tell me about your favorite fiction. What classics make the world a better place by their mere existence? Fill me in on industry books I should be reading. What authors will blow my mind? What’s the best nonfiction book I’ve been missing out on for these last several years?

Go crazy, people. I’m hoping to have a list of 100 “must-read” books that lets me know my husband will get his money’s worth out of this purchase.

We All Want It That Way

Yesterday I talked a bit about why it’s so great not to have an office job.  Then I saw this video, and I’m thinking it wouldn’t be all bad.  This totally made me smile, even if I do have this song stuck in my head now.

Why I Can Be Smug, A Blog Action Day Post

So, in case you’re living under a rock, or like me, you’ve been attending to a sick baby for days and haven’t poked around the Internet, I’ll let you know that today is Blog Action Day. It’s something that’s been going on for a few years now where thousands of bloggers all write about one specific topic on one specific day in the hopes that some actual change will come about and the world will be all copasetic and stuff.

This year’s topic is Global Warming. No, wait. Scratch that. It’s on Climate Change. Despite having gotten half a dozen emails in the last week reminding me that Blog Action Day was coming up and what I was supposed to write about, I still had to go look it up and am writing my post at the last minute. Oh well. I’m guessing the person sending out those emails has been puked on two less times than I have in the last 24 hours or so.

So, in an effort to be a part of something bigger than myself, as well as to fulfill my contractual obligation to FWJ (just kidding, Deb), I thought it might be nice to take a look at why being a freelance writer is so good for the environment.

1. No daily commute means less fuel consumed, less emissions, and less of me giving the finger to other drivers in traffic.
2. Eating at home means that I consume more organic and local food leading to lest pesticides in the ecosystem, less transportation needs for the food, and less worry over whether I’m going to develop a second set of breasts due to all the added hormones in fast food.
3. Despite the fact that my job is all about creating documents, the only ones that ever actually end up on paper are my to-do lists. Freelancing means no inter-officer memos, no coworkers Xeroxing their butts on the copy machine, and no need to print out the latest “TPS Report.”
4. Having complete control over your working environment means you don’t have to sit by as someone else wastes electricity setting the heat to 75 degrees while opening a window to “get some fresh air.”
5. Barely leaving one’s home makes for a lot less consumerism overall. I don’t find myself tempted to buy things I don’t need only to have them end up in the landfill once I’ve really proven to myself that I was a moron for buying them in the first place.

I’m sure I’ve missed plenty of reasons that we freelancers can be smug about how great our jobs are for the environment, so I invite you to add to the list in the comments section.

Double Ds

Below you will find several sets of letters. If you add the same letter to both the beginning and the end of the group, you will have formed a real word. For example, _REA_ would become “DREAD” when a D is placed at the beginning and the end. Put your answers in the comments without peeking at what other people have written.

1. _ubia_
2. _hrea_
3. _he_
4. _are_

Double Ds

Below you will find several sets of letters. If you add the same letter to both the beginning and the end of the group, you will have formed a real word. For example, _REA_ would become “DREAD” when a D is placed at the beginning and the end. Put your answer in the comments without looking at what other people have said.

1. _quat_
2. _ero_
3. _inimalis_
4. _ro_

Stars!

Each phrase is a clue about a particular person. You will find that two (sometimes more) letters have been replaced in the clue by stars. The missing letters will be used to begin each word of the answer. For example, if the clue was “Talksho* H*st,” you would figure out that it is a talkshow host with the initials “O.W.” (Oprah Winfrey)

1. *urrealistic *rawer: __________
2. low*r cas* poetry s*ribe: _________
3. Comman*er, Freela*ce Writing Jobs: __________
4. Jeop*rdy! Know-I*-All: __________

Leave your answers in the comments. How many can you get without looking them up?

Stars!

So, I have a new game for us to try out here at the Other Stuff blog today. I call it stars because it uses asterisks, and because it usually deals with famous people. Here’s how it works:

Each phrase is a clue about a particular person. You will find that two (sometimes more) letters have been replaced in the clue by stars. The missing letters will be used to begin each word of the answer. For example, if the clue was “Talksho* H*st,” you would figure out that it is a talkshow host with the initials “O.W.” (Oprah Winfrey)

As always, leave your answers in the comments, and don’t peek at the others before you post your own. Honor system and all that…

1. Nineteen Ei*hty F*ur: __________
2. *aVinci Code *estseller: __________
3. The Hand*aid’s T*le: __________
4. Cre*tor of The Lovely Bone*: __________

Double Ds 2

It seems like you’re enjoying the idea of word games here on the Other Stuff blog. Sweet! Let’s try another round of Double Ds.

Below you will find several sets of letters. If you add the same letter to both the beginning and the end of the group, you will have formed a real word. For example, _REA_ would become “DREAD” when a D is placed at the beginning and the end.

1. _eve_
2. _ar_
3. _atc_
4. _atastrophi_

Double Ds (or Ys or Qs or Whatever)

Below you will find several sets of letters. If you add the same letter to both the beginning and the end of the group, you will have formed a real word. For example, _REA_ would become “DREAD” when a D is placed at the beginning and the end.

How many of the following can you get? Go ahead and post your answers without looking at what other people have left in the comments. We’re using an honor code here, by the way.

1. _RIM_
2. _EDIU_
3. _OADSTE_
4. _ISBAN_

“Would You Like to Play a Game?”

First of all, I’ll give a big shoutout to whomever can answer the question in the title by telling me the name of the game it alludes to.

My plan since taking over has been to play some word games here on the Other Stuff blog. Theoretically, those of us reading it are writers, after all, and who likes a good word game more than we snobs? Plus, there’s the added incentive of competition, excitement, and possible recognition as a smarty-pants. What’s not to love?

I promise that this is something I planned to do long before Deb announced that she was trying to build community by holding a comments contest. Really. Truly. I even had planned to start it on October first…no joke. But, now of course, I just look like I had to come up with some hair-brained scheme to try and get people to like me enough to comment on my blog. Oh well.

Some of the games will allow for more than one correct answer, and others will require one answer to build upon others left in the comments section, so you may want to subscribe to comments to keep up, if you’re really serious about playing. For now, there won’t be any prizes other than the adulation of your peers, but we’ll see if we can’t rig something up for later if it goes well.

I’ll get this posted, and then I’ll start us off with our first game.

(Ooh, and I’d like to add that if anyone has suggestions for word games that will work well in this format, I am ALL EARS – lornadoone at berrybrewer dot com.)

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