Randomness
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 01:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterWent on a friending spree and then realized my reading list was getting really rather large, and trimmed it down a bit.
Have recently been watching BBC's Top Gear with the boy, which is an absolutely hilarious... car show. Yeah. It's a TV show about cars, and I like it (yes, I'm amazed too). Not only do I like it, I think it's absolutely hilarious (although I do have a tendency to wander off when they start getting a bit too technical for me). But honestly. The people say things like, "The only way you would ever pick this car is if you were clinically insane. And by that, I mean if you wake up in the morning and think you are an onion." And they have weird segments -- the one we watched today was "Let's get a nun to drive a monster truck!" And they did, and she did, and did so successfully, and it was the coolest and funniest thing ever. Past favorites include the segment in which they drive cars past the jet engine of a 747 and see how fast the cars get blown away. And I even listen to their car reviews, because the guys on the show are so incredibly snarky (see above onion comment).
"What can we say? Where do we start? The lacklustre nature of Vauxhall's 1995 Vectra is not simply down to the name, its design or even its quality: it's absolutely intrinsic to every sinew and screwhead in the car's entire being. It's just not a car for anyone who likes cars and, maybe the biggest betrayal of all for the target drivers, there are so many better ways to simply drone along the motorway - like hitch-hiking naked in the rain for a start. "
More here.
You know, I never thought I would be posting car reviews in my LJ.
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Rethinking career options in light of a) no one hiring. The boy made me feel a little better by saying they (who is this unknown entity anyway?) estimated that some 300,000 new jobs would be created, except only 50,000 were. b) my eyes glazing over reading job descriptions and listening to people talk about their companies. c) continually coming back to books.
Also, this is probably influenced by the current giddy euphoria over being able to buy books for the store, so I shall wait a bit and see if I get tired of it. Or, er, if my feet give out from under me, which is also a possibility.
One of the problems is that my mom is a great advocate of not doing what you want to do and instead doing what is Good For You. One of the largest points of contentions between us through the years has been my tendency to just do what I want to do without thinking of long-term consequences (i.e. majoring in EAS, not taking more econ/science/technology courses in favor of said EAS and various literature courses). Hong Kong and ibanking rather hammered my mom's perspective quite well, and I've been doubting my own instincts ever since.
Then I talk to people at all the big companies around here that are shiny and respectable and would probably make my parents very, very happy if I worked there. And it would make me feel better, because I am extremely materialistic and enjoy a more-luxurious-than-necessary lifestyle, not to mention the ability to buy as many books as I want. Plus, the importance of good benefits is not to be underestimated. And I am vain, and I would like for people to sort of ooh and aah when I tell them my job, instead of feeling vaguely embarrassed.
However, there's this giant counterweight to all of that on LJ and the store. I swear, every other person on my reading list is involved with books in some way.. there are the writers, and editors, and obviously, the multitude of intelligent readers. It's obviously indicative of something that I read all these people and find these posts incredibly interesting and fulfilling, and another really big part of me is constantly wibbling, thinking, wow, having connections in the book industry! Being able to be surrounded by books for a living! And I like most of the people who work in the store, which is pretty rare for me. I went out with the boy for lunch with a few of his friends from work -- he works at this place that makes software for gamers -- and they talk about video games. And anime. And weird assorted stuff like that, and he gets to play games at work, and go to gaming conventions, and meet people and talk to people and it is seriously the coolest thing ever. I want to do something like that (but with books, obviously).
Except I'm not sure if I will burn myself out on books, or if I am not up to it, or what. But then, I realize that I wander around bookstores in a happy daze, thinking, oh, yeah, this one is going really fast at the store now. I would price this at such-and-such there. And it is the most fascinating thing in the world talking shop with my boss.
Also, I know I'm not a writer. I've always sort of floated around that and written down a few stories here and there, but I don't think I've ever felt the burning drive to tell a story that so many people have. Plus, my stories are incredibly bad ;). I would so much rather do something like edit, or review, or something.
Can one review in their spare time? How in the world does someone get into that anyway? Also, is the thought of me being a reviewer or something entirely presumptuous, because really, I just diddle around LJ and spout stuff off the top of my head.
Have recently been watching BBC's Top Gear with the boy, which is an absolutely hilarious... car show. Yeah. It's a TV show about cars, and I like it (yes, I'm amazed too). Not only do I like it, I think it's absolutely hilarious (although I do have a tendency to wander off when they start getting a bit too technical for me). But honestly. The people say things like, "The only way you would ever pick this car is if you were clinically insane. And by that, I mean if you wake up in the morning and think you are an onion." And they have weird segments -- the one we watched today was "Let's get a nun to drive a monster truck!" And they did, and she did, and did so successfully, and it was the coolest and funniest thing ever. Past favorites include the segment in which they drive cars past the jet engine of a 747 and see how fast the cars get blown away. And I even listen to their car reviews, because the guys on the show are so incredibly snarky (see above onion comment).
"What can we say? Where do we start? The lacklustre nature of Vauxhall's 1995 Vectra is not simply down to the name, its design or even its quality: it's absolutely intrinsic to every sinew and screwhead in the car's entire being. It's just not a car for anyone who likes cars and, maybe the biggest betrayal of all for the target drivers, there are so many better ways to simply drone along the motorway - like hitch-hiking naked in the rain for a start. "
More here.
You know, I never thought I would be posting car reviews in my LJ.
---
Rethinking career options in light of a) no one hiring. The boy made me feel a little better by saying they (who is this unknown entity anyway?) estimated that some 300,000 new jobs would be created, except only 50,000 were. b) my eyes glazing over reading job descriptions and listening to people talk about their companies. c) continually coming back to books.
Also, this is probably influenced by the current giddy euphoria over being able to buy books for the store, so I shall wait a bit and see if I get tired of it. Or, er, if my feet give out from under me, which is also a possibility.
One of the problems is that my mom is a great advocate of not doing what you want to do and instead doing what is Good For You. One of the largest points of contentions between us through the years has been my tendency to just do what I want to do without thinking of long-term consequences (i.e. majoring in EAS, not taking more econ/science/technology courses in favor of said EAS and various literature courses). Hong Kong and ibanking rather hammered my mom's perspective quite well, and I've been doubting my own instincts ever since.
Then I talk to people at all the big companies around here that are shiny and respectable and would probably make my parents very, very happy if I worked there. And it would make me feel better, because I am extremely materialistic and enjoy a more-luxurious-than-necessary lifestyle, not to mention the ability to buy as many books as I want. Plus, the importance of good benefits is not to be underestimated. And I am vain, and I would like for people to sort of ooh and aah when I tell them my job, instead of feeling vaguely embarrassed.
However, there's this giant counterweight to all of that on LJ and the store. I swear, every other person on my reading list is involved with books in some way.. there are the writers, and editors, and obviously, the multitude of intelligent readers. It's obviously indicative of something that I read all these people and find these posts incredibly interesting and fulfilling, and another really big part of me is constantly wibbling, thinking, wow, having connections in the book industry! Being able to be surrounded by books for a living! And I like most of the people who work in the store, which is pretty rare for me. I went out with the boy for lunch with a few of his friends from work -- he works at this place that makes software for gamers -- and they talk about video games. And anime. And weird assorted stuff like that, and he gets to play games at work, and go to gaming conventions, and meet people and talk to people and it is seriously the coolest thing ever. I want to do something like that (but with books, obviously).
Except I'm not sure if I will burn myself out on books, or if I am not up to it, or what. But then, I realize that I wander around bookstores in a happy daze, thinking, oh, yeah, this one is going really fast at the store now. I would price this at such-and-such there. And it is the most fascinating thing in the world talking shop with my boss.
Also, I know I'm not a writer. I've always sort of floated around that and written down a few stories here and there, but I don't think I've ever felt the burning drive to tell a story that so many people have. Plus, my stories are incredibly bad ;). I would so much rather do something like edit, or review, or something.
Can one review in their spare time? How in the world does someone get into that anyway? Also, is the thought of me being a reviewer or something entirely presumptuous, because really, I just diddle around LJ and spout stuff off the top of my head.
Tags:
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 01:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 02:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 05:19 am (UTC)One can easily review in one's spare time--the trick is to find someone to pay you for it. Some markets do. STRANGE HORIZONS, for example, pays $20 for reviews:
http://www.strangehorizons.com/SubmissionGuide_Reviews.shtml
Unpaid reviewing is fairly easy to come by, if you browse through publications, find their guidelines, and email a query and a sample of your reviewing skills. I do unpaid reviews sometimes, and the advantages are 1) free books; 2) practice in writing reviews; 3) pimping books I like. But I don't do it often any more, it takes a lot of time for no money.
(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 02:50 pm (UTC)I'm pondering doing it just for free books, given (eep) how much money I spend on books -_-;;.
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 05:27 am (UTC)Also, how about a book store job?
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 09:19 am (UTC)Hi! I started Outside of a Dog for my own benefit, so I am always surprised and pleased when someone says nice things about it. I have never really bothered to try and get my comments placed elsewhere--mostly because I rarely read new things timely, so I'll be no help there. I started booklogging before LJ-ing; you'll find a few LJ-like posts buried way at the start of the book log, but all the same, I think the just-books form helped gain it a wider or at least more bookish audience. I still allow myself a range of formality when logging, because sometimes I just don't have that much to say, or don't want to rehash the plot of _Order of the Phoenix_ for the gazillionth time, or whatever--but always lurking at the back of my mind is the thought that the author might come by and see it (which is how I first met
Ummm. I'm feeling rather scattered today, so I have no idea if this is helpful, but if you want to talk some more about this, just reply and I'll see it.
(Oh, and apropos of Dunnett, on Usenet we went on a spree of finding Lymond in sf novels: google link.)
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 10:20 am (UTC)That's how a reviewer builds readership, which (it seems to me) would be a practical first step in earning money at it.
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 11:31 am (UTC)And thanks again!
(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 09:56 pm (UTC)Thanks for the thoughts (and the Dunnett link)! And, ooo, another book review journal! Yay!
Wow, I don't think I've even thought about an author dropping by and seeing a review. Half of that's probably because I took my LJ off Google, but given the number of authors on LJ... Hee, I think I just sort of figured my reviews (if they are reviews) are small and dinky and mostly just for me.
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 10th, 2004 07:07 am (UTC)And yeah, figuring out what you need to put in a review that _isn't_ just for you is the tricky part. =>
(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 11th, 2004 11:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 02:52 pm (UTC)I'm actually working at a used bookstore right now! Learning how to buy the books and price them, which is pretty cool.
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 05:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 02:56 pm (UTC)(er, embarrassingly, I have not yet mailed the book... will soon though, really!)
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 09:07 am (UTC)And really, being fascinated by talking shop with your boss is probably a pretty good sign. :-)
(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 02:57 pm (UTC)Talking shop with my boss is awesome... there are really weird specialty areas for used books. Like, I never knew before that books on quilting history could go for tons of money online!
(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 09:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 02:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 8th, 2004 12:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 9th, 2004 09:59 pm (UTC)Is he a big famous person? Embarrassingly, I can't tell at all.
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 10th, 2004 02:34 am (UTC)