Nerdy Thoughts

The end of September was swallowed by a sinus infection that knocked me on my ass for all of the last week and the first few days of October. ‘Tis the season it seems, as the folks around the library have been in and out due to different bugs. I masked, slept a lot, and took sick time which helped, John didn’t get sick thankfully and I’m pretty much back to normal now. Well, as normal as I ever was.

While I was resting, I blew through a stack of Christopher Pike books I bought from a used book sale a while ago. One book, Witch, was an old favourite I used to have and stupidly purged back in the mistake-filled book purge of 2018-2019. Witch was fun to revisit and review through adult eyes.

Most of the other books were ones I had not read before and boy, what a trip it was. I still like Pike for his weird twists, bizarre spiritualism, and the fact he wasn’t afraid to have the young adults & teens in his books behave “badly” but boy, some of it is pretty dated.

A bit late but here's my September book summary:



( More book talk, video games, and television chatter )


Catching up & comments coming soon!

I decided to get into the holiday spirit at work yesterday and decorated the office after my computer started randomly shutting itself on and off. Poor thing must be feeling some burnout and honestly? Same here, computer, same here. My computer has so far been right as rain since a reboot but I was glad to get a kick in the ass via a forced computer shut down. I'm the one who usually decorates our office for Halloween every year but this year I was feeling unmotivated & blue so I wasn't going to do it. Since I did though, most everyone in the office has made a lot of positive comments so that's been pleasant. Here are a few close up shots:



( More office pictures )

Currently reading...
+ Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection by Haemin Sunim with Deborah Smith (Translator) - My night time read, I've been going slowly with this one and it's a mix of philosophy, mindfulness, Buddhism, personal experience, and self-help. It's lovely, reflective, and relaxing which is great because it was a completely random purchase from my local witchy store. I was having a bad day a while back and went over to browse on my break when I found this title. Bought it on a whim after flipping through and feeling better after reading a few pages.

+ The Queen of Distraction: How Women with ADHD Can Conquer Chaos, Find Focus, and Get More Done by Terry Matlen - One of the topics I've been talking about in therapy lately is the possibility I may have ADHD or am neurodivergent in some way. There are some areas I'm still struggling in that are affecting my mental health and the more I started reading up on those issues online, the more I kept getting directed to resources for women with ADHD. All of this is a whole other topic and potential future post but I picked up this book after reading some parts at Chapters. It's been resonating though a lot chapters are like a organization book just geared more directly to ADHD.

+ Samhain Secrets: A Wiccan Wheel Mystery #4 by Jennifer David Hesse - A seasonally themed cozy mystery that I got from our library donations. I work at a academic university library so a lot of pleasure reading donations to us aren't suitable for the stacks and end getting re-donated elsewhere. Usually Better World Books tbh. Since I'm a book hoarder though, I usually grab anything that catches my eye before it gets sent off. This one is okay, it's a bit of fluff and I was curious because a Wiccan theme is not something you usually see for a cozy mystery.

+ I'll Be There (But I'll Be Wearing Sweatpants): Finding Unfiltered, Real-Life Friendships in This Crazy, Chaotic World by Amy Weatherly, Jess Johnston - Just started this one and it's a little love/hate. There are parts I love and then there are parts are more Christian focused than I expected or particularly like. I'm going to give it another few chapters to see how it progresses.

I joined my first book club! I've always wanted to join a book club but was hesitant because deadlines & social groups can stir up anxious feelings for me. This club is for graphic novels though, which I usually devour in my normal reading goals so I figured the deadline wouldn't be an issue. Also, there's the option to join meetings via zoom. I went in person and I'm going to try to continue going in person but it's nice to know I have the option to do online if I feel unwell or have a hectic day.


Our first read was Earthling by Aisha Franz which I felt 'meh' about (I'm not a fan of ambiguous endings in general) but talking about it with the others, digging into the structure, and possible symbolism added a layer of enjoyment to the book.

Overall, it was just nice to be in a geek space again. It was a small group and most folks were on their own like me so everyone was open to talking to each other. Very curious to see what the June meeting will be like.

My problem is I borrow more books from the library than I can possible read at once. I currently have 16 books borrowed from the university library I work at and 13 books borrowed from the public library that's a 5 minute walk from my workplace. So, in total that is 29 books which is a lot but my justifications are:

1) Borrowing books helps library usage stats and higher amounts of borrowing can help libraries when they seek funding.
2) If anyone else wants one of the books I've taken out they can always place a hold. This also helps stats and I'm very quick to return books that have holds.
3) I usually read most of the books I borrow.
4) Borrowing from the library helps me resist the urge to buy books. This helps lower the number of unread new books on my book shelves....a little but still, a little counts.

I know I am one of those stereotypical people that makes their love of books a big part of their personality and you know what? I whole heartedly embrace it. Books help me feel joyful and after the last few years I happily embrace it. There are worse obsessions.

( Anyway, the books I'm currently reading are... )

My reading goal for this year is 60 books, a lower than the 100 I usually strive for because I wanted to make an effort to read some longer books and give myself more time to enjoy what I was reading. So far my read list is:

1. Bridgeton Collection Volume 1 (Includes The Duke and I, The Viscount Who Loved Me, and An Offer From a Gentleman.)
2. Romancing Mister Bridgeton (Book #4 in the series)

Why yes, I did watch the Netflix series. How did you ever guess? 😜

3. Buy yourself the F*cking Lilies.

The latter I finished late last night, in a little bit of a rush because it was due back at the library. I enjoyed it despite being absolutely horrified by the actions of the authors' parents, especially the Mom who I hope has read the book and felt terrible when she realized what a complete psycho she was to her child. Sadly, I doubt that would happen even if she did read the book. Psychotic narcissistic people are hardly known for self-reflection and awareness.

Anyway, I've been contemplating this book all morning and ...(  cue rambling )

Me: Okay, I’m just going to return this book and not look around. I already 6 books out I need to read.
Me: *Checks out 3 more books*

It never fails, rarely can I enter a library without borrowing something. Oh well, even if I don’t get to read them all at least I am helping with the libraries circulation numbers. In other reading news, I added another completed book to my Goodreads 2019 challenge, The Dead Mom’s Club by Kate Spencer. 3 guesses what that’s about, right?

Seriously though, it’s a good non-fiction book that I found helpful and I would recommend it. I will warn you the earlier chapters are gut-punchers. I had to stop and start a few times while reading it because I had similar experiences as the author.

A few people told me they lost the urge to read while grieving and I was worried I’d feel the same. I’m happy to say I still have the urge but I’ve noticed it does take longer for me to finish books. For that reason, I’m glad I kept my 2019 reading goal this year.

I always enjoy taking part in the Goodreads yearly reading challenges and typically try for 50-100 books but I think that would be too difficult this year. Instead, I stuck to a goal of 24 books, which I might increase it if I reach it by the summer but I have to admit I enjoy the low stress of this goal.

According to my email from Bootlegger. I don't know why find spam/advertising email subject lines amusing but I do. When you think about it, it is kind of weird to get emails from companies, especially ones that use your name as if you're old friends...but I didn't come here to talk about ads so enough about that.

Things have been good but busy. Work is still struggling with Alma and I've been mostly working on ordering and editing code for our work wiki. Nothing too exciting happened on the work front. John and I have been going to the gym almost every night this week and we've been trying out different equipment. It's been fun although I do find the weights section a little intimidating because it's always full of muscular people who look so intense and I'm here like "I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm going back to cardio". I haven't lost any weight but I've already noticed a slight change already. My belly's not poking out as much and I have more energy in the evenings now.

I also found out there's a bowling legaue at MUN which I signed up for. It's every week on Thursday and not too expensive, only 16 bucks a week for three games. I love bowling though and don't get enough opportunities to play so I'm excited. I just hope I don't feel too awkward in the crowd because I'm sure it will be a bunch of people from the campus that I've never met before. But hey, it's a bit more exercise.

The craft/flea market sale is tomorrow and I so do not have enough craft stuff to sell. I'm going to try and fix that this afternoon and tonight but at least I have a bunch of books to sell. Besides, who knows? Maybe the less I'll have to sell the more likely I'll sell what I have? I've never sold at a flea market before and I really just signed up to see if I could sell any second hand books there. I have a lot of books I need though not necessary want to get rid of and I figure if I can sell them that might motivate me to clear out my book collection a little. Second hand books I have no trouble giving away but I've a hard time just handing over books I bought new.

So that's been my week, I hope everyone else has been well.