Not really. I enjoy the activity. It's the way the whole year should be.
Today is the start of the Christmas shopping season. Or at least, it should be.
It's a beautiful day out, white crisp snow and blue skies.
My beard is long enough and white enough, that I could be kind of a Santa Claus. ("You don't fool me! There is no Sanity Clause!") A very grumpy looking Santa Claus. ("You don't look grumpy!" Linda says.)
We're having guests this Christmas, so we may actually have to do the Christmasy thing at home. One thing about retail, it really does drain the spirit of the seasons out a bit -- at least until Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Eve, as I close the store and select a few last minute gifts out of what's left over, I feel the tension drop away, and I look forward to a whole day of relaxation.
But that moment is still ten working days away, and until then -- I can't help it -- I get excited by the possibilities. I try to keep my expectations down, but ...it's Christmas season.
Christmas falling on a Saturday is kind of an odd occurrence. Just about any other day of the week, it would've made buying any inventory for the store on the last week pretty hard to do. Two days ships and holiday and weather delays and the weekend interval, make the timing a little iffy, so I generally skip the last week for orders and go with what I have.
This time, I can easily make an order on Monday or even Tuesday and have a very good chance of having material by the day before Christmas....
It's an extra temptation.
Just what I need -- opportunity and an excuse to buy stuff....
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I'm in the middle of reading my 52nd book of the year, so I've accomplished my one book a week goal.
I'm upping the ante for next year. I want to read 6 books a month. I'm hoping the goal itself will pull me away from sitting in front of the T.V. and computer quite so much.
I'm also setting a goal of reading a couple of graphic novels at the store per week. Which will mean starting over with a whole bunch of series in which I read the first one or two books, and then didn't finish. Y- the Last Man, Walking Dead, Fables....etc.
I loved what I read of these stories, but always seem to get waylaid to a new story before the old stories are finished -- I've never quite gotten used to the sequential nature of comics. It's not my natural inclination. On the other hand, if I wait until the series is finished, it can be intimidating to look at 10 or 15 books to read. (Unlike what non-comic readers might think, I don't believe reading graphic novel reading is 'easier'. It just requires a slightly different approach, and a different part of the brain.)
It's like when I go see a sub-titled movie -- at first I'm conscious of reading, but if the movie is any good, by the end I'm not even aware of it. Comics are the same way for me. Possibly because I was in my 30's before I started reading them again, it's not completely natural.
Yet, when I'm finished, it's exhilarating to read a great graphic novel.
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4 comments:
It's rare that I get a clear indication whether or not I should make another order.
But I can see what I do for the next five days, and if they boom, I'll order, and if they don't, I won't.
I have in mind a clear figure I need to reach to make a last order. If I don't reach that, I'll just have to live with a few spot shortages.
"I'm upping the ante for next year. I want to read 6 books a month."
Ever think of going for quality instead of quantity? I would never set a reading quota for myself -- makes it too much like work, or some kind of contest.
I know what you mean. But I read what I want, big or small, dense or easy....
For some reason, setting a goal just means I read more, which is what I want to do.
Not sure why it works for me but it does.
Dunc: I think you just like your life to be much more structured than I do. And that's cool.
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