The Scribbles of GirltaristHan

So this is going to sound crazy – as mad as this is I like the idea – so what if I got rid of all my reading books. I know, I know how crazy am I given that I’ve spent a bunch of my wages on books or DVDs. I make a list of all the physical books and sell them or give them away. I can then get a Kindle and collect the books in that realm. Okay so I’ve always been for the paper books as there is something about holding the book and turning the pages – but what if I cleared the book cases.

How many of my DVDs do I actually watch? How many on the shelf haven’t I watched since I bought them – what if I took them in and traded them in at the second hand store – okay I might just get 50p or so per film but given the price of downloads via iTunes and other media platforms – do I need the actual DVDs? Is there a legal way of copying them to a hard drive rather than having the physical disc? There are films I miss at the cinema but what about just downloading them – I can store them on a hard drive and then play from there (DVD nights might have to change but who knows people I know might adopt my DVDs)

So let’s start with the books – I can solve that one easier.

1. Let’s make a list of my books.
2. I sell them or given them away. I can post a list here on my blog and you cover the shipping (and maybe some towards the book), or I sell outright on eBay or swap them somewhere like BookMooch. If that doesn’t work I give them away – there are plenty of charity shops in Bedford. The money from selling the books will in the long run cover the cost of the Kindle (other eReaders are available lol)
3. I then have two empty book cases – I can Freecycle them, advertise in the church newssheet or put them in at the local auctions.

Yeah it would be crazy and some things would be easier than others but what about it? I acquire bits, I can only just close the cupboard in my bedroom because it looks like a bomb blew up in it. In a way I started this a week ago by offering some unused fabric on FB and Twitter (it was taken by a FB friend).

Over to You

• Am I crazy or is it a case of “One’s junk is another’s treasure”?
• Can you imagine doing it?

More information can be found at Life. Edited.

Things To Do

Since Christmas I feel like I’ve been treading water both at home and at work. I think it’s finally reached the point that it’s winding me up and stressing me out. I stood in the kitchen this evening, had a cry and basically said “I didn’t want to be at work and I didn’t want to be here, I just wanted to be somewhere else”. I’ve never been that good at chores – my room would get to the point where I was essentially “grounded” until I tidied it – I’d have piles of books here there and everywhere or clean clothes stacked up along my sofa bed and dirty clothes across the floor.

Anyway, I figured this week would be dedicated to things to do. (And at the rate I’m going next weeks might be things to do to escape the chores!)

1. Unload the dishwasher
2. Reload the dishwasher
3. Hand wash Chris’s posh knives
4. Wash Our Sidekick’s school uniform (tomorrow is mufti so I have a head start!)
5. Washing my work clothes
6. Vacuum the living room
7. Tidy our bedroom
8. Vacuum the bedroom
9. Sort out my clothes
10. Store clothes somewhere until the Swishing Party on the 11th Feb

Listening to 
Allsorts really, I have an audiobook of Pride and Prejudice so I’ve been listening to that while driving home from work so that I can make time to fit in “reading” it.

Watching
Lots of TV. It’s not that good lol. I realised that I watch more American TV that British TV (if you didn’t get that already!). I was given Season 1 of Being Erica for Christmas and then bought Season 2 and 3 (in English but they had Dutch subtitles as default so learnt some Dutch at the same time). Want to see Season 4 but I’m not sure if it’ll make it to the UK. I’ve also been watching Covert Affairs. House and Bones (the second two are thanks to my Mum recording them for me because I don’t get Sky). On the other hand I’ve been really loving Call The Midwife, Sherlock and Great Expectations which have been on the BBC recently (Great Expectations was actually on over Christmas but I’ve only just finished it – I decided the Miss Haversham bit at the end was the last thing we needed while eating dinner!).

I also watched 127 Hours this week which probably wouldn’t have been my first choice but actually it’s not as bloody as people made it out to be – okay it’s not pretty but at the same time it’s no more bloody than ER or Grey’s can sometimes be.

Reading
I’m half reading Pride and Prejudice – although I’m doing most of it by audiobook I am reading some of the chapters by book. I realised that I have 3 copies of it but have never read it completely. (One of those is in an anthology like Grigg in Jane Austen Book Club but it’s kind of heavy so I only read that one when I’m at home and can prop it up rather than hold it!). I have like 6 books to read before my Birthday to complete more tasks on my 25 before I’m 26 list. They are: Love Wins by Rob Bell, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, two more Austen (Probably including Northanger Abbey so that I can read The Mysteries of Udolpho)

Eating
Probably too much pizza this week but the first meal of pizza was meeting up with my old school friend who I haven’t seen in ages (we sat in the pizza restaurant for 3.5 hours! We sat down at 12:30 and were almost there when the dinner run started lol). We then went out for tea for family night and had pizza but we had a large pizza between three of us which was plenty enough for me lol.

Wearing
Clothes – I bought a brown t-shirt from the charity shop which is a Size 14 which is awesome that it fits without making me look really silly lol.My Size 16 black trousers that I wear for work are getting a bit big now but I’m still not quite small enough to fit back in my Size 14s that I bought a few weeks ago. I really need a Size 15 as I’m not quite one or the other at the moment! Also sticking to layers – can never tell whether it will be cold or hot in our office.

Enjoying
Sleeping – well when it happens as I seem to have hand some insomnia in the last two nights – 2:30am on a work night isn’t fun – I tried reading but even on the lowest brightness on my phone it was still lighting up the room!

Loving
MY BED! I wasn’t very well last week and spent most of the weekend curled up on the sofa or in bed just trying to get rid of the cold.

Thinking About
Friday, our team are going to London for our Christmas Do but because of how busy Christmas gets it was postponed to the New Year. I think I’ve been appointed Tour Guide to make sure we’re heading the right way when we get off the tube at Covent Garden – then again it’s one of my favourite areas of London so we should be fine – I think I just need to wear a really bright hat or take my stripey umbrella so I’m not missed!

We’re off to see The Lion King at The Lyceum which is really exciting – I have already seen it but I love musicals so just going to London to the Theatre makes me excited. I loved the elephant the most last time I went to see it but I can’t find a picture of it – then again all the animals were pretty amazing – the giraffes and the leopard were my next favourites. Bring it on!!

 

(Source)

Starter points adopted from:

(Source)

Special Post

Julia Nunes

So today should technically be the letter D but I figure – my posts, my rules. Today is the 24th January and one of the people I follow on YouTube is doing something amazing and crazy today. This is Julia Nunes (aka Jaaaaaaa) and she plays ukulele and guitar (amongst many other accompanying instruments if you watch her channel). Due to the time difference and lack of access I can’t watch myself but if you are in the US and you get the right channel please watch. Julia is going to be on Conan O’Brien’s show tonight. It’s super exciting and awesome for Julia.

If you want suggestions of songs/videos to watch try Build Me Up Buttercup, Baby and
Maybe I Will (I love the video for this one! Stop Motion! woot!)

Dear Monday, I didn’t want you to start. I spent most of Saturday curled up on the sofa and then most of Sunday curled up in bed in the hope that my cold would go away. Well it did work and I did feel better but by the end of work today my head was starting to ache and I wanted to curl up and doze. I came home to make dinner for me and Our Sidekick but I just wanted to chill.

Dear @kingfamily, you made me cookies – well I think Mum and Dad were confused about it because it came in a box that said cupcakes on it, they arrived at Mum’s house yesterday and I collected them today on the way home from work. Having felt ill for most of the week/weekend, the cookies made me feel so loved. Thank you for taking the time to make them for me, packing them all lovely and the time delivering them to Mum and Dad’s.

Dear Work Challenges, so I had a shorter to do list than Friday which was good but I feel like I’m not getting any further –  since we came back after Christmas it feels like I’m treading water rather than getting any where. Maybe it’s just busy and it’ll be fine again in a few weeks. I brought home my notes for my training presentation so that I can work on it outside of work hours. Once a colleague described my job as being 9 to 5:30 – I can leave at 5:30 and not think about anything else however I don’t think it’s that any more. Our Sidekick called me on my way home today to find out where I was because I was running later – made me feel very bad lol. Good job I was on tea duty this evening.

Dear Lasagne, I’d forgotten how easy it is how to make you. Then again I think this was the second time I’d made it on my own – I think before that I used to do it with Mum’s assistance – I have however decided that we do need a bigger lasagne dish as the current one isn’t deep enough but is too wide.

(Here)

Back in April when I turned 25 I wrote my 25 Before I’m 26 list. It’s now about 9 months through the year – I managed to complete another goal today so wanted to update you all.

1. Read Love Wins by Rob Bell
2. Take part in the “Messiah From Scratch” (Christmas 2o11) (Done – November 2011)
3. Watch Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (July 2011) (Done – July 2011)
4. Re-read Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Done – July 2011)
5. Go on an adventure within the UK on my own (Done – April 2011)
6. Read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (In Progress)
7. Make 10 items to open an Etsy Store
8. Fix my Bike
9. Go on a road trip (Done – 28th April 2011)
10. Watch 100 films (100/100)
11. Read 5 biographies
12. Learn and Memorise 10 scales on the Bass Guitar
13. Read 3 of the 6 Jane Austen novels (In Progress)
14. Watch the 3 Lord of The Ring Films (again) (1/3)
15. Read the 3 Lord of The Ring Books.
16. Meet @Ellefie in person (If you don’t read it go read her blog – she’s my birthday buddy).
17. Watch all 17 Studio Ghibli feature films (no 18 is being released in July 2011 – 7/17 as of 1st May).
18. Watch Breakfast At Tiffany’s. (Done – 1st May 2011)
19. Finish His Image My Image by Josh McDowell. (Done)
20. Finish One Day by David Nicholls (Done – 1st May 2011)
21. Go to a concert.(Done – 8th May 2011)
22. Cook a Roast Dinner
23. Home make at least one Christmas Present (Done)
24. Read My Life in France by Julia Childs and Alex Prud’Homme. (Done)
25. Cycle to Sandy and back

1st May 2011 – Completed 3
8th May 2011 – Completed: 4
23rd May 2011 – Completed: 4
8th July 2011 – Completed: 9
22nd October 2011 – Completed: 10
12th December 2011 – Completed: 12 In Progress: 2
15th January 2012 – Completed 14 In Progress: 2

So I have 14 goals completed and 11 to go – some are easier than others, some might have to wait until April (It’s far too cold to cycle to Sandy and back at the moment!) I want to write a new list for next year but I’m not sure what to do – I want the challenges to be actual challenges rather than “do this” or “do that” goals as some of mine were too easy this year.

Have you written a list of goals for this year? Or between birthdays?

I read quite a few blogs and a few lists have appeared this week as people celebrate their birthdays. Becca D wrote one this week after being inspired by Elise Blaha Cripe back in December when she celebrated her birthday, Becca S and Mandy‘s have both appeared this week as they celebrate their birthdays (either last week or this week). So Happy Birthday ladies!!

This evening, while I was curled up on the sofa watching TV and waiting out my cold (and feeling a bit sorry for myself!), I tweaked the font on my blog (let me know what you think I’m not 100% convinced although I really like the change). Also I got a tweet from Julia telling me I’d won this award.

We “met” via Twitter during NaNoWriMo and ended up encouraging each other along (I think she got closer to the end than I did this year!)

So here are the rules:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
2. In the same post, Add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

As per the rules, 7 facts you may or may not know about me:

1. I have one brother and six cousins, if you include Chris’s side, then it’s one brother, one sister and nine cousins.
2. I’m a movie geek – I saw Mamma Mia 3 times and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows twice at the cinema.
3. I’m knowledgeable but not clever. I’m good for pub quiz teams but I suck in exams.
4. I genuinely don’t like roller coasters but they are one of Chris’s favourite things so I attempt to suck it up and go on them for him.
5. I am attempting to read 25 books in 2012. At present I am 5 days behind target.
6. If I’d have known about Anthropology before I did my A Levels, I would have studied that instead of Performing Arts. Instead I am reading bits of course materials via ITunes U.
7. One day I will meet Ruby in person. We’ll drink tea, watch movies and go thrifting.

And the 15 bloggers I am nominating for the Versatile Blogger Award …

Ellefie @ Pipe Dream and Professions. Ellefie is fab plain and simply! She’s an aspiring writer (when she gets published I will be preordering her book and making sure that I read it when it arrives!) and this year is challenging herself to cook more – it’s good seeing her pictures ping up in Google Reader.

Ruby @ Sew, Cook, Create!. Ruby is one of my best friends. Me and Ruby haven’t met in person but we will one day. She’s married to Brandroid and I’m blessed to have watched their wedding via web stream and had a letter read out as part of the Best Man’s speech.

Becca S @ Just Looking…. Becca is a UK Blogger and another one of my best friends. But it was serendipity and our mutual friend Daren who introduced us to one another (and a particular song about Onions!)

Becca D @ Life in Technicolor (she’s American hence the spelling!). She’s mummy to the super cute Selah. She’s super talented when it comes to the graphics for her blog and one day if I’m over her way I hope to meet her. P.s. she loves Pez dispensers!

Kate @ Katie Blair Designs. When I first started reading Kate’s blog she was doing her design stuff but it was on the side lines whiles working a day job. In the last year or so she went self employed! Go girl! I love her notebooks and greetings cards – I swear I’d probably spend most of my pay cheque in her Etsy store if I was allowed!

Koree @ Unveiled. Koree is a student at College of The Ozarks in Missouri. She’s been away from the blogging scene for a little while but she’s back now. (and she’s Becca D’s Sister In Law!)

Kaleigh @ Rewriting Life. Kaleigh has an amazing way with words. She’s such an encourager. She has a huge heart for college students who might feel like they don’t quite fit in or that they are lonely. She’s recently set up HUGStronger (Helping Undergrads Grow Stronger) and I am so please to be part of it.

Lydia @ La Petite Lydia. Lydia is so cool – she loves reading and is attempting to read 25 books this year – including Les Miserables.

Crystal @ The House of Hearts. Crystal is from Montreal and lives with her boyfriend. She is amazing at design and her most recent blog design was by herself! Woot woot! Any sponsorship money from her blog goes to help support K-Miga who Crystal sponsors through Compassion Canada (My Mum sponsors a little boy through Compassion UK)

Lacy @ Lacylike. This girl exudes confidence. She’s pretty and has the most amazing curly hair. She’s the kind of friend that would pull faces at you to make you smile when your down after listening to what’s up. She’s fab and so caring.

Amy M @ Amyschmamey. Amy is super lady! She gave birth to her third child – the gorgeous Avery about a month ago – not only that she’s gone back to school this week to study Anatomy and Physiology (or something like that!). I think she’s a bit overwhelmed by all the crazy but I know she’s going to be awesome at it!

Chantilly @ Chantilly Songs. Chantilly lives in Brooklyn, NY and is a fabulous singer/songwriter. You can find her videos on YouTube. I love her songs – they are a bit like KT Tunstall, Birdy, or She and Him. (That’s what it reminds me of anyway!)

Amy S @ Lemon and Raspberry. Amy is fab! She shares lots of tips and inspiration with lots of other bloggers out there. She creates fab art work too!

Cardiogirl @ Cardiogirl. Well CG is so top secret that very few people know her real name – she’s like The Stig in a way lol. She has a hilarious sense of humour and regularly blogs about crazy situations from her life. Take a read.

Nathan aka Wez @ Wez Wanders. Nathan is one of those people that you get introduced to by their nickname and you then never (or rarely) remember their real name. On the other hand Nathan is good friends with Brandroid and Ruby, therefore he is cool by association! He has serious wanderlust and loves to travel. He recently went to Cambodia but has been all the way over here to the UK.

Films I’d Like To See…

Today, I’m seriously glad for a preformed post rather than something I need to think about a lot! I’ve had a sore throat since Tuesday but today it stepped up a gear and I feel lethargic and generally bleurgh!

Anyway! So today is loving lists day – I’ve been looking into GTD to see if it’s my kind of organisation system but I think it’s going to take a lot of work to get it started in my Filofax properly but we’ll come back to that another day.

Today’s theme is Films To See. I love watching all the trailers before the film (they are a bit annoying now as they keep playing the same trailer for Man on A Ledge and the film still doesn’t interest me – I might watch it on DVD if Rich or Mum get it but I doubt I’ll make the effort to see it at the cinema)

1. Young Adult (Trailer)
2. Our Idiot Brother (Trailer – it came out last year but I think I missed it at the cinema)
3. Crazy Stupid Love (Trailer – wanted to see when it was out at the cinema but again missed it – Bedford had like 3 showings of it or something stupid)
4. The Hunger Games (Trailer)
5. The Help (Trailer)
6. The Hobbit (Trailer – okay so not until later this year!)
7. In Time (Trailer)
8. 50/50 (Trailer)
9. The Dark Knight Rises (Trailer - Probably see it with my brother)
10. Love, Wedding, Marriage (Trailer - Then again it might not release here)

I had a post to post from my phone but the formatting looks lame and looks like I don’t care about the post when I do. So your reader might say one thing and my post says another but it’ll be back and it’ll look miles better.

Today has been a day of ups and downs. Seems more downs than ups but tomorrow is a new day.

Source: google.com via Hannah on Pinterest