2001-01-08 - 14:36:08
Speeding, reading, and musing about careers

The answer to Friday's $1000 question: D. Motorcycle. Scroll to the bottom for the next two questions.

I spent another $10 or so on eBay this weekend (bad girl, Shell) and put $478 on my brand-spankin'-new credit card to pay for move-in rent at the new apartment. I was SUPPOSED to write a $77 check to my brother, and he would deposit it and then write a check for the full amount, since *I* was the one who paid the $325 security deposit earlier this month ... but he didn't get the bonus he was expecting at work, so ... *sigh*

I hate money troubles. They may get even worse if I have to pay the $109 speeding ticket I got this weekend. What's that? you say? The meek, perfect-record Shell got a speeding ticket? Yup. I got up to 62 on a back road that *should* have been at 55 but was posted 45. Usually I pay better attention to how fast I'm going, but it was a straightaway and my mind a wee distracted, worrying about -- you guessed it -- money troubles. Of course, there happened to be a sherriff camping the road ... and I would have seen that, too, if I'd been paying attention. *smacking self upside the head*

On a lighter note, I think Jocasta and I might start attending one of the branches of the SCA in our area. We live in the Rivers Region of the Kingdom of An Tir, so there are plenty of local shires and baronies to choose from. (For those who don't know, the SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism). We're going to start attending meetings and see which one we like best. It sounds like it'll be a fun hobby, given how interested we both are in the Middle Ages.

Ahhh, and I got to watch Pride and Prejudice again this weekend ... my favorite Jane Austen novel, made into a spectacular 5-hour presentation by A&E. If I were to be locked in a cell for 25 years and allowed only ten books to take with me, Pride and Prejudice would be one of them. The Bible would be another, but the other eight would be a lot harder to pick out. I have so many favorite sci-fi/fantasy authors ... J.R.R. Tolkein, David Eddings, Melanie Rawn, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Jordan, Katherine Kurtz, Ru Emerson, George R.R. Martin ...

... and those are just the ones with several books I love. There are several more with just one or two I've read and loved ... Elizabeth Moon, Steven Gould, Peg Kerr, Parke Godwin, Patricia Wrede, and several others I can't remember off the top of my head.

And then there's my silly love of Regency romances. Lords, Ladies, and lots of maneuvering of wit instead of flesh. They make good entertainment on a rainy afternoon!

I really ought to make a list somewhere of all the books I own (the total is something over 500) with stars by the ones I love. One day, when I get an actual house in my own name, I will need room specifically dedicated as a library in order to hold the books I have and the ones I intend to collect ... medieval history texts, first editions of various fairy tale collections, and most of the "classics", besides my paperback fiction shelves.

All right. Enough expouding on my love of the (well-) written word. I'm sure it's gotten boring by now. *grin*

I need to do something about my job, quick; my happiness, punctuality, and productivity here decrease daily. It's not the fault of the job, really, or my superiors; it's my fault for taking it in the first place. I know damn well that I'm not suited for a desk job, but silly Shell did not educate herself to make good money at anything else. Honestly, what did I expect when I went into computer science?

Ah, but I had more patience and staying power when I was younger. (Ick, that makes me sound old, instead of merely weary at 22). I had not yet discovered that I have much more fun and satisfaction doing active busywork like janitorial, than I did all the summers I spent interning at a small business-programming firm, where I never seemed to get anywhere much, no matter how much code I turned out.

By the time I DID figure that out, it was too late to jettison my CS degree and go for anything else. (Half way through one's fourth year of college is a lousy time for a major-change). So I just tacked on Writing/Lit, and went from there.

I've probably expounded on all of this before, but it was worrying me again today. I'm worried that I will get noticed and reprimanded before I can either (a) slap myself into shape or (b) find another source of $$. I've been told by my family that I need to realize that the Real World is all about doing things one doesn't want to do, and doing them well, but for me it's not as easy as just determining to do better, knuckling down, and paying better attention to my job. Lord knows I try to reform. Repeatedly. With good intentions. But it never works for very long. I guess it's just a personality fault.

I wish I didn't have to support myself financially. With that burden off my back, there are MANY jobs or careers I would love to pursue, the kind that would leave me without adequate income for awhile.

Anyway. Enough pointless rambling. Here's the WWTBM question from the weekend:

[For $2000] Which of the following Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors is named after a music group?

A. Chunky Monkey
B. Wavy Gravy
C. Phish Food
D. Rainforest Crunch

And there's the WWTBM question for today:

[For $4000] What movie critic wrote the screenplay for Russ Meyer's classic cult movie Beyond the Valley of the Dolls?

A. Roger Ebert
B. Gene Siskel
C. Rex Reed
D. Gene Shalit

Final answers tomorrow.