Sunday, March 08, 2015

i'm trying hard to take it back

I continued to be hermity today, but that was in the interest of getting over my jetlag and also getting stuff done. I slept nine hours last night, which went a long way toward restoring my sanity - I may still be operating ~5% slower than usual mentally, but that's ridiculously better than I was on Thursday, when I think I mostly came across as a crazy person to everyone I hung out with.

So I slept late, showered, made myself some eggs, and spent most of the late morning/early afternoon sorting through my bookshelves and ruthlessly culling books so that I can move fewer of them to my new place (and also feel less wracked with guilt when I look at my shelves and see books I'll never read, books I never finished, books I loved but no longer wish to read again, books I want to write but can't, etc.). Quite a few of them were picked up for free at conferences, or for almost-free when I went mad during the Borders bankruptcy and bought them by the bushel. And I'm going to want space on my shelves for other things.

So I cleared out what will probably amount to six or seven shopping bags full of books. That still leaves hundreds, but I feel good about what I cut. Most of what I kept involves research for the various time periods I write in / want to write in, as well as some favorite romances / fantasies / books from childhood that I want to preserve in paper form in case the apocalypse comes and I somehow survive while the internet and all ereaders die. But I also kept some books I hadn't read yet (although I told myself this couldn't be more than fifty - I think I achieved that), and now that I've thinned the herd, I'm actually kind of excited about the ones that are left.

After all that deep, deep concentration and decision-making, I was mildly dead and in need of a break. So I walked down Union Street, had a tuna and white bean salad (yum), checked out paint colors for the new place (I think I'm narrowing it down, but I need to go back, get samples, and test them), grabbed an iced latte, and walked to Marina Green, where I was going to read but instead relaxed in the sunshine and contemplated the water for awhile. And then I came home and read most or all of three books for a contest I'm judging - scores were due tonight, and while I'd read two books on the plane to India, I didn't do any reading on the way back as I'd planned. But given my reading speed and the shortness of two of the books, I was able to accomplish the task (and I even really liked one of the books, and mostly liked a second one, so that was an unexpected benefit).

And now I must sleep so that my body can get confused again by another time change...and I hope it wakes up in time for my writing date with Kathia, since Rafe and Octavia need some love. Goodnight!

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