Making it Up As I Go

It’s 10:30 am.

It’s sunny but 39 degrees outside, and my toes are frozen. Possibly close to literally. I have two pairs of socks on, and they’re still little ice cubes that are almost numb.  Earlier today the owner of the house came to check on the washing machine because it’s been acting up, and I rigged the load specifically so that it would manifest the problem that we’d been having. (I’ve gotten pretty good at finagling it so that it doesn’t happen, and I wanted him to see what was actually going wrong) But that meant that I ended up with a load of soaking laundry that I had to wring out by hand. I don’t know that my fingers have ever been so cold. I ran them under water to warm them up, and even the cold water felt warm.  But now they are much recovered. I don’t know why my toes are so cold, I didn’t wring out anything with them.

The girls are playing Academy. I don’t think it’s a witch academy, but you can never be sure. We haven’t done school yet because of the washing machine visit, and because they’re just playing so nicely together. We’ll do school after lunch. Today is more Vikings, which they are becoming passionate about. It’s evidence that the more things kids are exposed to, the better. I never cared about Vikings when I was younger, it was all about the Greek gods for me. My girls couldn’t care less about the Greek gods, they’re embracing Thor and Loki and Odin, and that is absolutely wonderful.

I’ve been thinking over the last couple days about all of the little things that go together to make us who we each are, individually. I’ve been noticing reoccurring themes, or not even themes, smaller elements, in certain authors’ books, which are pointers to things that must resonate with them. In almost every novel I’ve written (and I’ve written a few) there has been a character (a waiter, a librarian) that can pinpoint exactly what a person wants or needs. There also tends to be at least one chair that has been moved/stolen from somewhere else. I’m not sure what that’s all about. I mean, I know where it originated, but I’m not sure why it’s stuck with me.

But I’m thinking of other things too. Which gods you like best. What kind of stories you like. What patterns speak to you. What kind of trees you like. If you are drawn to or repelled by squid. (I think that really says something about a person.) I love Pinterest for this reason, that when people aren’t busy hoarding boards full of other people’s houses or random clothes, you can catch a glimpse of the specific, individual, weird things that they like- the things that make them who they are.

Someone made a comment a while back (not on this blog) about how they utterly disliked a book that I love, and I realized that I don’t think that we would be friends. Not from any vindictive place, and I’m not saying that everyone has to like the same books I like, but if you can’t wrap your head around why someone might like a book that I love, then I don’t know that we would understand each other. (Does that make sense?)

Anyway, I’ve just been thinking more specifically about things that I like, and why. And what element I like. For example, what is it about the moment at 4:14 in this song that makes my heart want to explode? (Does it do the same for you? Just curious.)

Then there are things that I know precisely why I love, like the episode of Sherlock we watched last night (His Last Vow – season 3 episode 3). I seriously felt like I’d been kicked repeatedly in the head by the end (oddly, that’s a good thing), it was just so well done. Every piece was just intricately placed and executed. So many perfect moments. It’s a rare show that has me laughing, holding my hands over my eyes while saying “OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO”, giggling, and tearing up.  I’m not going to spoil anything, but there is a moment where Mycroft is looking at Sherlock and it just about killed me.  I think  the 90 minute format is Steven Moffat’s sweet spot. Spread over a season, like he has been with Doctor Who, he gets a little dangley, plot wise. But oh, this was glorious. Beat only by Scandal in Bulgravia, which he also wrote, and is possibly the most perfect thing ever to be on television. I vote that Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat head up a Bond film.  Gatiss has already proven he can do secret agents with his Lucifer Box series, and I think the two of them would KILL it.

Elsewhere in life, I have a quilt top to place (all the pieces are cut out, but I have to figure out which pieces go where) and sew, and the new Flavia de Luce novel will be on the Haunted Kindle at 5 pm (it comes out at midnight on Jan. 14 in the US), which I am super excited about. Yay for pre-orders! I am predicting that by 9 pm (I probably won’t start reading it until the girls are in bed)  I will be finished with my binge reading and very sad that there won’t be another one for a whole year.

We are figuring out our plans for the summer, and there are some very exciting things afoot.

I’m trying to decide whether or not buying the The Wes Anderson Collection in hardcover breaks my resolution not to buy new books. I’m leaning toward it not actually breaking it. Or toward not caring.   A random tangent, inspired by that thought- everytime I want to order something from Amazon (a physical item, not an e-book) I have to compare between  Amazon US and Amazon Japan. Amazon JP is usually more expensive, but the shipping is free, so oftentimes the total price comes out to be similar, since I’d have to pay shipping costs from the US. But sometimes the item isn’t actually in stock at Amazon JP, so it would take up to 3 weeks for the item to ship anyway. And it’s at that point, when I realize that I’d be paying double the price to get a book in any kind of timely fashion, that I decide I don’t really need it anyway. And I save money.

That, however, is not the case today. I just figured out that the book is only slightly more on Amazon JP, and that they will deliver it, for free, to my house later today. Free same day shipping is a beautiful thing. Woo hoo! Wes Anderson loveliness for me!

Alright, it’s lunchtime. Off I go.

What’s going on with you at this moment? What’s one little, random thing that you LOVE, that is part of what makes you you?