I have a cleaning problem. Once I start, I just can't stop. [The key words in the statement are "Once I start"] For some reason, cleaning is a huge stress reliever for me. There's something really invigorating about the actual process of cleaning, and the reward at the end is soooo nice. I love being exhausted and collapsing on to the couch or the bed or whatever, and looking around and seeing everything in it's place, with everything smelling so fresh and so cleanclean.
The issue comes in when I get really obsessive about it and don't know when to stop. I regularly spend my entire day off on Friday cleaning for 7+ hours straight. And I'm starting to realize that as good as that may feel sometimes, I also need some down time to just relax.
My solution for this past week was to clean as usual BUT to set a timer for each room, and to stick to the timer. Now I'm new at this, so I didn't do an awesome job at following the timed guidelines, but I think I did pretty good, and it worked much better than my usual routine.
I know you're all [who reads this anyways?!?!?] wondering why I'm telling you this, so here it is. So many people are really good at prioritizing, but I think most of those same people really underestimate how bad they are at time-management. This is far outside time-management in terms of getting as much stuff done as you can in a certain amount of time.
This is making sure that you're managing your time well enough to take care of your mental self. I think what happens often is that people think they're doing themselves good by doing things that they love - and that's the idea, to a point. But if you're doing something you love, you're probably not thinking about how that same thing can probably give you some added stress. Somewhere down the road it's going to catch up with you.
I got to the point where I was just feeling exhausted, like I never got a day off. I felt like every day was just rushing to get to the next, and I realized that I was doing that to myself. Here I thought taking my off day to clean for the entire was relieving my stress, but, especially in this case, it was adding to it. I'd be exhausted because I never got a day to just relax, and as soon as I finished cleaning, a new mess was already being made so I was constantly feeling behind. [For the record, I'm still struggling with going from living on my own to having a roommate.]
It's a super simple idea, but seriously, TRY IT. I felt so much better partially because I felt like I had more structure to my cleaning routine, but also because when I got to the end of the total amount of time I allotted, I didn't look around and say "There's so much more to do"; instead, I looked around and said, "Wow, look how much I've done!"
Monday, March 18, 2013
2013 Book 4: Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman
Remember how I read the last book in 2 sittings?? This was the complete opposite. This was a relatively short book. This took me forever to read. I happen to love Chuck Klosterman. Marley got me hooked on him a couple of years ago, and I've enjoyed pretty much everything of his I've read. This was a little different.
However, I'm not saying I didn't like it, but it was definitely the hardest for me to get into, and the lowest ranking of all his books (that I've read). I think my biggest issue with this book was my expectations of it. Fargo Rock City is a book about metal music. (For those of you who don't know, Chuck is both a music and sports journalist, which is what I find so interesting about him - he is very knowledgable on both ends, and I enjoy his perspectives on both.) I think I wanted a history of metal out of this, and there was definitely a bit of that. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is semi-interested or semi-informed on metal music to begin with.
Being a child of the 80s (specifically a child of parents who were teenagers in the 80s and therefore raised on the 80s) I was pretty familiar with a lot - probably most - of the bands mentioned. However, Klosterman is always name dropping (which once in awhile gets obnoxiously pretentious) so there were a lot of mentions about obscure metal bands, which I would have loved to know more about, but Klosterman just never went there. I'm guessing that I was not Klosterman's target demographic in writing this, and I think now that I'm finished with the book, I'm feeling okay with that.
One of my favorite things about reading Chuck Klosterman is his anecdotes - they almost always seem perfectly placed, perfectly relatable, but perfectly individual all at once. And that quality definitely saved my impression of this book. I was most impressed with the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book (which is a perfect example of why I always finish a book I've started.)* It's in the end that Klosterman kind of brings everything back together and ties it in to his life.
And to end, my chosen quote has nothing to do with metal music at all, but I thought it was funny and true.
However, I'm not saying I didn't like it, but it was definitely the hardest for me to get into, and the lowest ranking of all his books (that I've read). I think my biggest issue with this book was my expectations of it. Fargo Rock City is a book about metal music. (For those of you who don't know, Chuck is both a music and sports journalist, which is what I find so interesting about him - he is very knowledgable on both ends, and I enjoy his perspectives on both.) I think I wanted a history of metal out of this, and there was definitely a bit of that. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is semi-interested or semi-informed on metal music to begin with.
Being a child of the 80s (specifically a child of parents who were teenagers in the 80s and therefore raised on the 80s) I was pretty familiar with a lot - probably most - of the bands mentioned. However, Klosterman is always name dropping (which once in awhile gets obnoxiously pretentious) so there were a lot of mentions about obscure metal bands, which I would have loved to know more about, but Klosterman just never went there. I'm guessing that I was not Klosterman's target demographic in writing this, and I think now that I'm finished with the book, I'm feeling okay with that.
One of my favorite things about reading Chuck Klosterman is his anecdotes - they almost always seem perfectly placed, perfectly relatable, but perfectly individual all at once. And that quality definitely saved my impression of this book. I was most impressed with the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book (which is a perfect example of why I always finish a book I've started.)* It's in the end that Klosterman kind of brings everything back together and ties it in to his life.
And to end, my chosen quote has nothing to do with metal music at all, but I thought it was funny and true.
"Booze is the greatest of all equalizers. Rich drunks and poor drunks both pass out the same way."*There is one book that I started reading that I haven't (yet) finished. (For some reason I feel an obligation to tell you all.) I started reading We Were the Mulvaney's probably 7 or 8 years ago, and I just couldn't get into it and I still haven't finished and I feel inexplicably awful about it to this day. Which means I'll probably get around to finishing, or rather re-starting, it eventually.
Friday, March 1, 2013
2013 Book 3: Bossypants - Tina Fey
I read this book in two sittings, because it was so fucking funny. I know I was incredibly obnoxious while reading it, because I could not stop laughing out loud. After reading the first chapter, I knew I would not be able to read it in public, because I looked like a fool laughing hysterically. I absolutely love Tina's humor. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything that she has done that I haven't liked in some respect. (I'm sure there are things I'd dislike, but I'm either a) not aware of them or b) not aware that she was behind something I didn't like.)
So, this book sparked some interesting conversation in our house. The book is Alyssa's, and she lent it to me, and I read the first half of it all at once, and Zach heard me laughing non-stop, and Zach read it, and we discussed it.
Alyssa loved it. She read several sections to me while she was reading it, because she thought it was so good.
I LOVED the first half. Especially coming off of a rewatch of the first 6 seasons of 30 Rock, I could not get enough it. (Hence reading the first 130 pages all at once.)
Zach liked it, and then got really angry about it.
Zach's complaint was basically that Tina gets kind of preachy and makes a couple of outright comments and a lot of allusions discrediting her male audience. When Zach first brought it up, I hadn't read it through, so I couldn't really speak to it. Alyssa was not shy about saying that she didn't notice it at all. I don't know if it was because I was sort of looking for it, but I definitely noticed what Zach read into it - and I was also kind of offended. There was one particular quote, where I had to put the book down because I could barely believe that she included something that was so clearly alienating a HUGE part of her audience.
Overall, it was an excellent book, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes her style of humor, and I will probably re-read it again someday.
It's hard to narrow down a quote, because there were sooooo many funny things in this book that I want to share, but to list them all would basically just be a reprint of the book. (READ IT ALL!) But, I will begrudgingly narrow it down to just one:
Yeah, I definitely cannot recommend this book enough.
So, this book sparked some interesting conversation in our house. The book is Alyssa's, and she lent it to me, and I read the first half of it all at once, and Zach heard me laughing non-stop, and Zach read it, and we discussed it.
Alyssa loved it. She read several sections to me while she was reading it, because she thought it was so good.
I LOVED the first half. Especially coming off of a rewatch of the first 6 seasons of 30 Rock, I could not get enough it. (Hence reading the first 130 pages all at once.)
Zach liked it, and then got really angry about it.
Zach's complaint was basically that Tina gets kind of preachy and makes a couple of outright comments and a lot of allusions discrediting her male audience. When Zach first brought it up, I hadn't read it through, so I couldn't really speak to it. Alyssa was not shy about saying that she didn't notice it at all. I don't know if it was because I was sort of looking for it, but I definitely noticed what Zach read into it - and I was also kind of offended. There was one particular quote, where I had to put the book down because I could barely believe that she included something that was so clearly alienating a HUGE part of her audience.
Overall, it was an excellent book, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes her style of humor, and I will probably re-read it again someday.
It's hard to narrow down a quote, because there were sooooo many funny things in this book that I want to share, but to list them all would basically just be a reprint of the book. (READ IT ALL!) But, I will begrudgingly narrow it down to just one:
"I was a little excited but mostly just blorft. "Blorft" is an adjective I just amde up that means "Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum." I have been blorft every day for the past seven years."I'm choosing this one because I 10000% relate to this feeling, and because Alyssa came into my office at work to read this quote to me out loud because she thought of me right away when she read it, so I think it means something. =]
Yeah, I definitely cannot recommend this book enough.
2013 Book 2: A Feast for Crows - George R.R. Martin
Book two is complete!
Again, this is a re-read, and I'm finding it really hard to write a good "report" without spoiling anything, because there is SO MUCH GOOD STUFF in these books! The first time I read this one, it took me quite awhile. The plot seemed a lot slower, I think mostly because there wasn't as much super intense action as the first three books. It was definitely a slow build, and the first time around, I was kind of taken aback by that in comparison with the others.
The second time around, I was almost shocked by how exciting it was! Partially, I think its because I'm picking up so many of the small details this time around. And I already know what happens in the next book after this, so all of those tiny details which didn't seem important the first time around are suddenly vastly important. Ultimately, this book was so much better than I remember.
Here's a short section from the book that I particularly liked. The quote is from a really great character, who is incredibly wise in so many ways - even in the simplest comments.
Again, this is a re-read, and I'm finding it really hard to write a good "report" without spoiling anything, because there is SO MUCH GOOD STUFF in these books! The first time I read this one, it took me quite awhile. The plot seemed a lot slower, I think mostly because there wasn't as much super intense action as the first three books. It was definitely a slow build, and the first time around, I was kind of taken aback by that in comparison with the others.
The second time around, I was almost shocked by how exciting it was! Partially, I think its because I'm picking up so many of the small details this time around. And I already know what happens in the next book after this, so all of those tiny details which didn't seem important the first time around are suddenly vastly important. Ultimately, this book was so much better than I remember.
Here's a short section from the book that I particularly liked. The quote is from a really great character, who is incredibly wise in so many ways - even in the simplest comments.
"'[...] we tremble on the cusp of half-remembered prophecies, of wonders and terrors that no man now living could hope to comprehend...or...'There is one more book currently out in the Game of Thrones series, and I do plan on re-reading it, but I'm going to take a break for a little while and read some other things. I've already got a pretty large list of things to read, but if you've got any suggestions, let me know!
'Or?' said Sam.
'...or not.'"
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