Of Hobbits, Books, and Fix-its

Thursday evening, Dad came home with this—

Much squeeing and bouncing and hugging ensued on my part.

 

Also on Thursday, I joined GoodReads.

Now, most of you probably know what it is, but I’m going to blog about it anyway. *wicked grin*

Ahem. Mainly I’m blogging about it because it seems to have taken over my life and is my new favorite thing. I’ve known about this magical place called GoodReads for about a year now and I’ve been meaning to join it for…about a year now. But, me being my silly self, I never got to it. Then the other day my brother mentioned it and I remembered I wanted to join it, so this time I actually did. Yay!

…Then I may have spent the entirety of Thursday and Friday obsessing over. *COUGH*

It’s kind of like a haven for readers. You go in and rate all the books you love, hate, sorta like, wish it was human so you could marry it, whatever and then from that it recommends similar books based on your preferences. You have “bookshelves” where you can put lists of all sorts of different books—your favorites, different genres, the books you own, etc. And, let me tell you, this site has basically every book in existence listed, obscure or not. You can also follow and befriend people so you can see what they’re reading and rating. You can read other’s reviews of books or make your own. It will even give you links of where you can obtain a book if you want to buy it. It’s just…wonderful.

I have this thing about making lists, and books are my favorite things, so getting to make organized lists of all my books and everything I’ve read, and be able to have all these nice digital lists is just spectacular. I love this site!

Lauriloth's bookshelf: favorites

So, if you love to read, you need a GoodReads account. I’m making a mess of explaining it (it’s all really simple, honest), but I promise you won’t regret it.

 

And lastly, I’ve been planning for a while now to do some changes and fix-its here and there to me ol’ blog. I’m not changing the template or anything, but I will be doing quite a few adjustments to things. Thought I’d throw a warning out there in case I accidentally exploded my blog during the process or something (hopefully not though). Anywhoozle, if you start seeing some changes and whatnot going on here in my small part of the internet, that’s why.

(I’ll do my very best to not blow anything up though, I promise.)

Have a blessed day, everyone!

Whimsical Grey

Do you ever have those days where you feel whimsically grey?

It’s those days where you feel melancholy, but in a good way. The days where you want to be alone to just bask in the quiet beauty of life.

Creativity flows within you on these days. If you’re a writer, you might find yourself spending all day in a quiet corner tapping peacefully on your keyboard. An artist could be spotted with pencil in hand, looking out their window and copying the scenery before them. A photographer may discover themselves leisurely wandering in the woods, snapping pictures of nature. It’s those days where you want to get a good book and go lean against your favorite tree and read the afternoon away. Or you want to just relax and listen to calming music while you ponder over your thoughts.

On these days, you might even want to do something new. An artist may attempt their hand at a story and a writer might find themselves using the pencil to make pictures instead of words.

These are the days where you feel peaceful and comfortable and creative. Where the world looks a little bit more beautiful. Where you’re somehow feeling both whimsical and melancholy.

On occasion, I have these day. It’s on these days that I might find myself creating a new story or journaling or just seeking out a quiet place to read. I’m not an artist in the least and yet on these days I have the sudden desire to try my hand at it. I feel the need to be alone but I also have this deep urge to create something beautiful, enjoy the simple whimsies of life.

It’s these days that I realize how beautiful God’s creations really are.

I think for me it’s the coming of spring that really brings on the whimsical grey days. There’s something about the change of the temperature and nature blooming and the breeze bringing me a whiff of the fresh new spring air.

Life is beautiful and whimsical and creative.

And even grey can be lovely.

20 Random Things About Me

You may or may not know…

1. I somehow manage to be both a loner and a social butterfly.

2. I would say I’m far closer to being an extrovert than an introvert though.

3. Owl City and Chris Tomlin are my favorite singers/bands of all time.

4. I love heights.

5. Due to number 4 it’s my dream to one day fly in a hot air balloon.

6. My biggest fear is drowning.

7. The ocean kind of terrifies me.

8. I love to sing but don’t think I actually have a good singing voice (at all) and will only sing when I’m alone or along with a large group.

9. I really dislike Daylight Saving Time and having to readjust my schedule due to it.

10. I have an obsession with names, to the point that my best friend got me a baby name book many years ago for Christmas just so I can look through it for fun (which I do on a constant basis).

11. It’s my dream to go to New Zealand and Ireland someday and I have every intention of doing so at some point…hopefully.

12. The only other country I’ve ever actually been to is Canada (I’m American by the way…but that’s probably obvious).

13. I think the fact that today’s date is 3/13/2013 is really cool.

14. Numbers are fun.

15. I’ve been playing the piano since I was 4 years old and adore it (it’s my favorite instrument).

16. I like to say dragons is my favorite animal (because they are of course.)

17. Sailing by Celtic Woman is currently playing while I’m typing this point.

18. Celtic Woman music is gorgeous.

19. I love making lists. (You couldn’t tell, could you?)

20. I genuinely hope each and every one of you has a most spectacular, beautiful Wednesday.

The Woes of Larry -Take 2

All the way back in June, I made a post called The Woes of Larry. Larry is the name of my laptop, you see, and during that time his power cord messed up, making it where I could not plug Larry in. Poor Larry, 6 years old this very month, much loved and so very much used, is getting old and broken down. His battery just barely works (it usually only lasts about 20 minutes now), making it where I have to keep the power cord plugged into him whenever I’m using him. So back in June when his power cord broke, I had no laptop until the new one I ordered came through the mail.

That was a very dark time for me.

But, eventually, the new power cord did come and I had my Larry back and all was well again.

Two weeks ago, I came into my room to find Larry was not on, when I distinctly remember he was on the last time I was in my room. Frowning and confused, I pushed the power button. Nothing. Now hyperventilating a little, I tried it again. Nothing. “My best friend has died!” thought the silly, dramatic Lauri.

Larry is old and overly used, I thought the possibilities were very high that he had decided he, in fact, had enough of being overly used and slipped away peacefully and quietly. He was tired, the poor laptop. I knew it was going to happen eventually. Sad and inconvenient though it was, I took a deep breath and realized life is not centered around a laptop. It was all going to be okay.

Then something occurred to me.

A couple of times recently whilst plugging in Larry it acted as if he was not plugged in. Could it be that his power cord had died and his battery was just not charged making it so he wouldn’t come on? Besides, it would be very typical that another power cord died. Because that’s just how things go for me.

So, taking a chance, we ordered yet another power cord. There was still the huge possibility that it was not the cord at all but really was that Larry was old and didn’t work anymore, but it was certainly worth a shot.

For two weeks I went without my Larry. It was so strange…seeing an actual…world outside the computer screen. Who knew there was such a thing? ;P

Then, finally, last night I received my new power cord. My heart racing (not even kidding, I’m so silly), I plugged it into the wall and Larry, then shakily pushed Larry’s on switch.

Fwoosh!

On came the lights and screen, as if Larry was grinning at me saying, “I’m baaaack!” (He is very cocky after all.)

It was the power cord and not the laptop at all!

Much squeeing and bouncing up and down (quite literally I fear) ensued.

I officially have my laptop back and what a relief it is! I mean, he is old and it’s only a matter of time…but I’m just grateful to have him now.

Also, on a side note, my darling Navi has turned 6 years old today. (Yes, indeed, she and my laptop are both six and share the same birthday month.)

Happy Birthday, my Little Monster!

It Seems Time Went Into Hyperdrive

Did I go into some sort of time jump or is my calendar just lying to me?

March?

MARCH?!

Didn’t we just have New Year’s? And now we’re already into the third month of the year?

What happened?

Obviously Time did not listen to me when I requested more of it. It slipped away again when I wasn’t looking. So  very rude.

Regardless of this missing time (because I firmly believe I misplaced it somewhere; still trying to find it), I’m pretty excited that it’s March because that is my favorite month of the year. I’ve always loved Spring, and March is usually when it shows up ‘round here. Often we do not have much of a Spring. Our weather seems to like to jump straight from Winter to Summer with not much in between. So, naturally, it is just my luck that my favorite season would be the one we barely have.

Spring is so pleasant because the weather is not quite warm but not cold anymore either. All the plant life is beginning to sprout up and show itself again. Everything is fresh and new and lovely. What a pleasant season it is!

Although currently it is a bit unseasonably chilly out there for it to be March already. (I think even the season lost time and still thinks it should be nestled into Winter.) But this is something you will not find me complaining about. Like I said, our weather usually jumps to Summer pretty quickly, and much too early for my liking. We have very long Summers and not enough Winter in the least. I’m not fond of Summer…at all. I really, really hate hot weather. So if the cold wishes to stick around for a while I’ll welcome it with opened arms (and gloves).

……..But seriously, it really is March already???

Well, if it really is March, and my calendar and Time have not teamed up together to play some sort of trick on me, then I hope you all have a beautifully, fantastic March!

P.S. Why yes, this is a random post about weather. You know I’ve run out of blog post ideas when I’m literally making small talk about weather.

P.P.S. If anyone spots some missing time lying around, could you tell it Lauri is looking for it and would very much like it back?