My Photo

Yesterday and Today

Books I've Read Recently

  • Chris Cleave: Little Bee
    Little Bee
    My rating: 4 of 5 stars

    Little Bee is not a happy book, but it does have joys. It's beautifully written, and I enjoyed discovering the gifts the author had left me on its pages. The book will leave you angry at a system that does not recognize individuals and their situations, and it will leave you loving the character that is Little Bee. Most of all, it is a book about choices, and it will leave you examining the choices you make.

    View all my reviews
  • Will North: Water, Stone, Heart
    Water, Stone, Heart: A Novel
    My rating: 4 of 5 stars

    I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I certainly wasn't disappointed. I didn't want it to end because I'd grown so fond of the characters. Although you know a crisis is coming, much of the book is like a visit with friends in the countryside of Cornwall. That fact alone made the book very attractive to me. It reminds me a bit of Rosamunde Pilcher's books, some of my favorites. When the crisis comes, the characters deliver. The characters are believable and broken, just like real people. If you don't fall in love with Lee, the young girl in the novel, then there's something wrong with you. She is pure magic. The cover compares Will North's writing to James Patterson. I find North's writing more real, his characters more believable. This is one book I'll be keeping because I know I will want to read it again.

    View all my reviews
  • Cinda Williams Chima: The Demon King
    The Demon King (Seven Realms, #1)
    My rating: 3 of 5 stars

    It took me a while to get into this book, but I ended up liking it. I'd really liked Chima's Heir series, and I had high expectations for this book. It was a bit slow to start for me, but the plot ended up as engrossing as I was expecting. It's a fantasy book intended for a teen audience, but adults will find much to like. Although it takes place in an imaginary land, I found it much like old England which probably added to my enjoyment. I didn't love this book because of the slow start, but I'm looking forward to reading the second book in the series. The author did a good job of developing the characters as the book progressed, and you will have a difficult time not getting engrossed with the two main protagonists. If you liked the Heir series, give The Demon King a try.

    View all my reviews
  • Gina Showalter: Unraveled
    Unraveled (Intertwined, #2)
    My rating: 2 of 5 stars

    Not as good as the first book, Intertwined, by a long shot. The voice of this book changed, almost as if the author were told to pander to teen girls only. The vampires and werewolves become vamps and weres, there are sparkly fairies, and there's way too much titillation and tongue-flicking. The sad thing is that Intertwined was full of promise and could have been a genre-busting novel with wide appeal from teens through adults. Instead, it failed to fulfill its promise, and this second book continues the downhill slide. There are moments when the promise peeks through, but for the most part this book is, as my teen son says with disgust, "only for girls."

    View all my reviews

Scrap Space

  • Second Table
    Welcome to my updated scrap space. I hope my storage solutions will help you make better use of the space you have. Updated September 2007 - there have been a number of changes since I originally posted pictures of my scrap haven. I've replaced the old photos with new ones. And about the CD player mentioned below, it's still there because it's integrated with the clock. BUT I rock out to tunes on my iPod now. :-) You won't see my CD player - but there's one there. You also don't see my sewing machine and lots of other cool stuff like fabric - they are in the opposite corner of the room. This is a sewing/scrapping/have fun room, so there's lots of stuff packed into a VERY small space. Enjoy.
Blog powered by TypePad

« Happy New Year! | Main | I Finished Something! »

January 13, 2011

I'm A Starter

But I'm not a finisher. I've known this about myself for a long time, and you'd think I'd use that knowledge to help keep me from starting new things. I don't. It doesn't help that I love to learn, so I'm forever taking classes. Many of those classes involve a project but not enough time to finish said project. For some reason, I feel guilt if I don't finish the project, even if I don't particularly like it. I'm really a process person, not a project person. But I'm a process person with guilt. This past weekend, I realized those unfinished projects have taken over my small sewing/scrapbooking/crafting space. I need to do something about them, but neither of the options is appealing to me. The obvious choice would be to just throw them out. I know firsthand the amazing lightness that can come from getting rid of things you don't want, don't like, don't need. But the guilt wins - I paid good money for that class or the materials, so how can I just throw it away? I feel too guilty to throw it away, but I don't like it enough to finish it. So the unfinished projects, my dislike and my guilt are in a three-way stalemate. My craft space is the victim.

I have managed to locate the floor, and I've cleaned off my scrapping table. The rest of the room? It's shrouded in a mist of stuff. Unfinished stuff. Perfectly good stuff I might need but can't put away because there's unfinished stuff where I'd like to put it.

Over time, I get more and more frustrated with the stuff everywhere and the lack of space. One day, the frustration becomes overwhelming and I start throwing things out, sometimes things I want later, just to create some room in my space. I'm almost there. All it's going to take is one more unfinished project to push me over the edge . . . . . .

03:09 PM in General, Musings |

Comments

Thinkie

:-) I sO get this!

Posted by: Thinkie | February 28, 2011 at 01:15 PM

Cindy Dyer

Egads----I think you just described me! I think we must be "sisters from another mother!" Is there any hope for us?

Posted by: Cindy Dyer | March 17, 2011 at 12:41 AM

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by:  | 

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment