imagine_that

This morning (before some crazy family news), I was reminded of the power my words can have. It was good power this time, and brought a smile to my face.

I have many complex and interesting dreams, and I do not usually share them, as often one of the most boring things to hear are another person's dreams. But every now and then, one compels me to share.

Last week, I had a dream, and I woke up with a certainty that a particular friend of mine should hear about this dream. I believe my thought was, "It will make him smile."

In a nutshell, the dream involved me being asked to sing a song onstage at concert for a band where I know some of the members. I tried to demure (love the song, but my voice is for crap these days, plus I've only heard the song twice), but got talked into it anyway. Found myself onstage with a lyrics sheet, with my mike not working, but went for it anyway. And then I kept being handed lyrics sheets to songs I'd never heard, and just went with it the best I could.

(There was more to it, but that's the basics.)

This sounds like an anxiety dream, but really I was laughing the whole time because it was a hilarious situation. I was having a blast. And I woke up humming.

So I emailed my friend, who is a former member of that band IRL. Got back a text today:

"Thank you. I'm in a particularly stressful bit right now, and you helped remind me that the things I/we fear don't need to be so bad."

And it made me smile. I didn't know why I should tell him about that dream, only that I *should,* very powerfully.

Sometimes the universe moves in mysterious ways. :)

I was updating an online profile on a website, and realized that it had been a few years since I updated the books section. So I went through and linked to my yearly best lists putting the absolute "best" next to the link.

Looking at the list, something struck me. Here's the list:

2005: Kindred by Octavia Butler
2006: Time and Again by Jack Finney and Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
2007: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
2008: The History Of Love by Nicole Krauss and With The Light by Keiko Tobe
2009: Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
2010: The Night Counter by Alia Yunis
2011: (Small list, no "best")

While my overall lists of books are rather varied in content, how many of my "best-bests" are love stories at their core? When you strip away the genre constraints or what have you?

I hadn't really noticed that until now.

Huh.

(Can you tell I'm home vegging on the couch as I recover?)

mytheria showed me a silly site called Fiverr where people post what they would be willing to do for $5.

A lot of it is voiceover work or celebrity impersonations. Some is crafty, and one person was selling herself as a "cute Facebook girlfriend" for 15 days.

So now I'm wondering, what silly thing would *you* do for $5?

It's that time again, folks. Here are my best "new" reads (as in new to me - rereads don't count) of 2011.

I will say the parenting an infant/young toddler does not leave one much time to read (other than the same book 20 times in a row to the toddler yelling "kitty train" at the top of her lungs!), and my total for this year is only 26. (And 4.5 of those were rereads, and one was a parenting book.) The full list, as usual, can be found here on Goodreads.

Since the total is so low (and I did a few series this year), I'm just going to do a Top 5 list (and try to be pickier about my reading choices in 2012!). I'm going to forgo choosing the absolute best of the year, as nothing really stands out to me. The best list can be found here.

Best "New" Reads of 2011

Beggars In Spain by Nancy Kress
Taran Wandererby Lloyd Alexander
Mazel by Rebecca Goldstein
Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn, vol 1 and vol 2
Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente

Sometimes lately I feel like I'm stuck in Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth when I'm playing with Raya...

Block!

Block!

Green block!

Blue Block...

Anyone want women's dress shoes in size 8 (flats and low heels)? I've got a closet full to give away! (Pics available if anyone is interested.)

Also, 2 pairs of character shoes (one black, one white).

My post-pregnancy feet don't fit any of them.

On another note, anyone want to go shoe shopping? ;)

Baby in a carrier screaming for a bottle as you walk in the front door.

Make the bottle with the baby screaming.

Go into the livingroom with bottle and baby, and sit down to take baby out of the carrier.

Baby is asleep.

Go to computer with sleeping baby.

Baby wakes up screaming for bottle ten minutes later.

Bottle is conveniently in the livingroom.

Go to livingroom with screaming baby.

Baby is asleep.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

This has been an odd reading year for me, but I think that's only to be expected. This year I was pregnant, quit my job, living out of a suitcase and bouncing from place to place for several weeks, in the hospital twice and had a baby. Right.

This year I read 43 books (possibly more depending on how you want to count reading large chunks of What to Expect... and similar titles). Of these, 3 were rereads, and do not get included in this list (despite being some of the best things I've read this year). The list in its entirety can be found on goodreads.

The overall best book of the year was The Night Counter by Alia Yunis.

Onto the best of the new (to me that is):

Best "New" Reads 2010

Fiction - Adult

The Night Counter - Alia Yunis
A Fine And Private Place - Peter S. Beagle
The Illuminator - Brenda Vantrease
The Persistence of Vision -John Varley

Nonfiction - Adult

The Doula Guide to Birth: Secrets Every Pregnant Woman Should Know - Ananda Lowe

Graphic Novels

Invincible Vol 6.: A Different World - Robert Kirkman
Tiny Tyrant Vol 1.: The Ethelbertosaurus - Lewis Trondheim

I'm working on putting music on Dan's iPod for labor. As I have no idea what mood I'll be in at any point I've got a wide (and strange) mix of albums and playlists going.

One playlist (intentionally short) is meant to be motivation/morale booster. A shot in the arm, as it were. Is it really weird that the two songs I've got in there so far are "On The Right Track" from Pippin and "It Takes Two" from Into The Woods?

In continuing the great purge of stuff from our home, Dan has come across a box of random silly stuff. Among the silliness was a magic 8 ball. So before we get rid of it, we had to ask it some questions.

One question was "Do you want to go to [the local thrift store]?"
"Yes."

And when Dan asked about the gender of the baby it said:

"Cannot predict now." ;)

We figured that sent it out on a high note, and put it in the latest bag to go to the thrift store.