books 2015

print
miss peregrine's home for peculiar children [ransom riggs]
bones of the lost [kathy reichs]
digital disruption [james mcquivey]
fyre [angie sage]
darke [angie sage]
bones are forever [kathy reichs]
bones never lie [kathy reichs]
learning to see: value stream mapping workbook
swamp bones [kathy reichs]
bones in her pocket [kathy reichs]
the name of the wind [patrick rothfuss]
the wise man's fear [patrick rothfuss]
the slow regard of silent things [patrick rothfuss]
the iron daughter [julie kagawa]
unenchanted [chanda hahn]
one for the money [janet evanovich]
bones on ice [kathy reichs]
charlie & whiskey [annabel smith]
invasion of the tearling [erika johansen]
one of our thursday's is missing [jasper fforde]
brutal youth [anthony breznican]

audio
hunger games [suzanne collins]
golden compass [philip pullman]
subtle knife [philip pullman]
amber spyglass [philip pullman]
harry potter and the sorcerer's stone [jk rowling]
the slow regard of silent things [patrick rothfuss]
tragedy paper [elizabeth laban]

following up on perfection

as a follow up, i went on a trip with that suitcase i described on my calpak day and OH MY GOD IT IS PERFECT. i mean like, spacious and hard-sided and twirly-wheeled. i had to unexpectedly gate check it twice and guess what? it was a-okay fine because it's got a shell like a freaking turtle. throw it in the hold, my man the baggage handler, it can take whatever you can dish out.

i also got a caselogic backpack. it was only like 20 bucks from amazon. and OH MY GOD IT IS PERFECT. i ordered it like 3 days before i was leaving and it arrived like THE day before i was leaving. i was worried it wouldn't get here, or that it'd get here and it'd be wrong. but, it got here. and, it was right!

looking for a case to carry my computer plus nook plus all my random shit, i had at first selected a jessica simpson tote and as a general rule, jessica does not let me down. this time... well, ol' jess just didn't get it. what i needed was more space. MORE, JESSICA! damn.

so, the jessica simpson didn't work. this was like a week before my trip. i was sort of in a panic, and then i remembered, backpacks. DUH. there's a genre. backpacks. and so i was like, i guess i can shop for a backpack but i need it here in a freaking hurry so i guess i will shop on amazon.

i had actually had my eye on this amazon basics backpack, so it's not like the backpack genre was completely out of the blue. see, okay. see, i had gotten an amazon basics neoprene sleeve for my new work computer because i have an android phone.

well.

okay, it was like this.

amazon noticed i was shopping them with an android device, my new samsung s5. or, maybe my nook, but probably my samsung. ANYHOO. amazon noticed and therefore offered me a $10 credit to get android apps from their playstore. so, i checked it out and looked at all their apps, and (sorry, big A) their apps are total crap. so, i wrote them an email and i was all like, thanks but no thanks - your apps are crap. and, being a behemoth of customer service, amazon immediately apologized for my dissatisfaction and transfered my app credit to an amazon credit. i had to spend it on something shipped and fulfilled by amazon, so, being in need of a neoprene sleeve, i searched and found the amazon basics brand. i ended up getting a great sleeve for like $8. whoop whoop! whilst shopping, i saw this amazon basics backpack.

that's what it was like.

so as you can see (read: read), i did have some history with considering the backpack genre. i returned to amazon specifically to get the amazon basics backpack, buuuuut, why just go and get and not even look around, hmm what eh little boobly? so, i started in on the "people who looked at this crap you are looking at right now also looked at this way better crap over here and in the end they purchased that totally excellent crap over there." in the end, i purchased some totally excellent crap, just like those people!

in conclusion, it all worked out PERFECT.

night googlies

it's easy to face your demons in the sunshine,
when you can see them
for their stupid, small, wankish, albino selves.
it's in the dark, when their night-vision googly eyes kick in,
that's when it's hard to face them.
primarily because you cannot see their faces, per se,
but plusly-wise, you know that they can see you.
see?
in the daytime, the demons are manageable.
at night, they might sneak up on you,
with the aforementioned night vision googly eyes.

ammophila breviligulata

he comes in wearing a tuxedo.
what's the occasion, i wonder, but keep it to myself.
"you'll like the orange," i say instead.
"thanks."
on my advice, he takes the orange
and also a small coffee.
"what are you reading?"
took me a minute to realize he is talking to me.
"the biography of ron burgundy," i say.
adding gratuitously, "it's fiction."
then kicking myself like a spastic kangaroo.
it's fiction.
really, captain obvious?
"it's not much of a book," i prattle on apologetically.
he looks up from his mini-computer, offers me the ghost of a smile, looks away,
clearly not wanting to engage.
too embarrassed to look anywhere but my book,
terribly embarrassed by my stupid book,
i gaze blindly at the paper.
anger sprouts from my embarrassment
like beach grass, green from beige sand.
how could i be so stupid.
i know that books are a staple of his existence,
and i am caught reading this drivel.
as quickly as it fired, my anger dissipates.
i sigh, wrap up the remains of my granola crunch yogurt, prepare to go.
"let me know how you like it," he says.
"what?"
"the book. let me know how you like the book."
he gestures at the cover, smiles again lightly,
and that's when i realize where he's going in that tux:
the academy awards.






with help from:
http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts/word-box

books 2015

print
miss peregrine's home for peculiar children [ransom riggs]
bones of the lost [kathy reichs]
digital disruption [james mcquivey]
fyre [angie sage]
darke [angie sage]
bones are forever [kathy reichs]
bones never lie [kathy reichs]
learning to see: value stream mapping workbook
swamp bones [kathy reichs]
bones in her pocket [kathy reichs]
the name of the wind [patrick rothfuss]
the wise man's fear [patrick rothfuss]
the slow regard of silent things [patrick rothfuss]
the iron daughter [julie kagawa]
unenchanted [chanda hahn]
one for the money [janet evanovich]
bones on ice [kathy reichs]
charlie & whiskey [annabel smith]
invasion of the tearling [erika johansen]
one of our thursday's is missing [jasper fforde]

audio
hunger games [suzanne collins]
golden compass [philip pullman]
subtle knife [philip pullman]
amber spyglass [philip pullman]
harry potter and the sorcerer's stone [jk rowling]