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Also on the agenda: Must call back the termite place to schedule a re-treatment/renewal of our insurance contract. (Stupid termites. (g)) Also need to look into Trixie's next shots and contact the insurance company to change the frequency of our billing. After the recent rearranging of their policies, they put us on the monthly billing cycle. No thanks! I don't need another thing to remember every month (or the additional service charges). I'd much rather pay up in advance.
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Trixie is addicted to Milkbones (the puppy-size version), and all we have to do to get her back in her room is rattle the box temptingly. (g) She also likes ice cubes, but they're not quite as exciting as the treats. (Incidentally, I wonder what's in those things to make them so much better than regular dry dog food. They don't look or smell very special. . . I suppose I could look at the ingredients, but apparently I don't care enough to take the time.)
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I still have to force myself to put a period after "I wonder" statements, instead of a question mark. I know the period's correct, but the question mark often feels more appropriate.
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I listened to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight (in audiobook form) last week, and now I'm listening to New Moon. I had thought I might not be capable of listening to books on tape, because the last time I tried, I had a hard time focusing. However, I was also irritated by the story itself, and I now think that was the problem.
These books certainly aren't great works of literature, but they don't really try to be, which makes it less obvious. As for their being "YA" (young adult), I think I may actually prefer that. So many of the contemporary novels I've read have left me disappointed. At least with YA novels there's less likelihood of encountering some of my pet peeves (excessive foul language, needless details about blood and gore, etc.). I don't know why some authors think that adults require cursing, raunch, and gore in their reading. Maybe I'm not adult enough to "appreciate" those things. ;o)
Anyway, there are a few annoying things about listening to the someone else read the story. I'm not crazy about the way the dialogue is tinted with the reader's personal interpretation. (Well, the whole story is, really, but it's most noticeable in dialogue, I think.) Also, she occasionally uses intonation that just feels wrong to me, and I can't help thinking, "No, you should've read that this way." (g) (She raises her pitch too frequently for my tastes-- like she's constantly asking questions in the middle of sentences.) There's also the way she pronounces certain names-- "Bella" and "Jacob", especially. (It's "Jay-cub", not "Jay-cup"!) But I can deal with it-- and it's nice to be able to work while I listen, so I don't have to feel quite as guilty for indulging in a frivolous novel in the middle of the day. ;o)
These books certainly aren't great works of literature, but they don't really try to be, which makes it less obvious. As for their being "YA" (young adult), I think I may actually prefer that. So many of the contemporary novels I've read have left me disappointed. At least with YA novels there's less likelihood of encountering some of my pet peeves (excessive foul language, needless details about blood and gore, etc.). I don't know why some authors think that adults require cursing, raunch, and gore in their reading. Maybe I'm not adult enough to "appreciate" those things. ;o)
Anyway, there are a few annoying things about listening to the someone else read the story. I'm not crazy about the way the dialogue is tinted with the reader's personal interpretation. (Well, the whole story is, really, but it's most noticeable in dialogue, I think.) Also, she occasionally uses intonation that just feels wrong to me, and I can't help thinking, "No, you should've read that this way." (g) (She raises her pitch too frequently for my tastes-- like she's constantly asking questions in the middle of sentences.) There's also the way she pronounces certain names-- "Bella" and "Jacob", especially. (It's "Jay-cub", not "Jay-cup"!) But I can deal with it-- and it's nice to be able to work while I listen, so I don't have to feel quite as guilty for indulging in a frivolous novel in the middle of the day. ;o)
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We're keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Gustav. At this point, of course, it's impossible to know exactly where it'll go, but we're well within the range of possible "destinations". Still, no need to panic yet. (g)
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I know I'm forgetting things I wanted to mention. . . Oh well! Must not have been very important things, at least.
