Category — Friday Blog Roundup

Remember last summer when I wrote about the librarian refusing to renew my book?  This week, I had to speak to her about a book I was trying to return that wasn’t on my account.  When we originally checked out the book, the system didn’t scan it into our account.  The computer said we only had 5 books out, but we were clearly holding 6 books to return.

She fixed the barcode on the book while she looked at my account.  “You have one more book out that is due in a few days,” she informed me.

“I know,” I told her.  “I’ll be back later this week.”

“Want me to renew it?” she asked.  What the hell?  Last summer she wouldn’t renew a book I wanted renewed, and now she was offering to renew a book that I said I would be returning on time.

“I don’t think you can.  It has holds on it.”

“I can,” she said.  And she renewed the book.

I brought back the book on its original due date because the book had holds.  Meaning, someone else was waiting for the book.  But really, she couldn’t renew a book when I desperately needed someone to be kind, but she could renew it when I didn’t need it renewed?

I love my library.  I love the librarians in my library.  But sometimes they just don’t make sense.

*******

Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “A Memorial to Whom You Used to Be” (Stirrup Queens) — thank you, St. E and Torthúil

Okay, now my choices this week.

Not a Wasted Word weaves a metaphor between herself as a parent and an operating system.  It’s a post about feeling over-burdened and recognizing the role she has played in finding herself in that space, but also feeling that it’s a space she was led to.  She writes, “I know I created this dynamic, or at the very least enabled it. I made conscious choices to take on all of this because the alternative was worse.”  It’s a thought-provoking read.

The Empress and the Fool has a post about finding a connection with the book Goldfinch.  I haven’t read the book yet, but this post made me want to run to my library to pick up a copy.  She writes so gorgeously: “With my hand on an empty womb and skin electrified with both hope and terror, my feet shuffle in the general direction of forward.”  Click over to read the whole post.

My Lady of the Lantern has a moving post about losing her aunt.  She writes, “There is a difference between the dying and the dead. The dead are dead and the dying are dying, and hence still alive.”  It is a post about not knowing someone’s last day.  My heart went out to her reading it.

Anabegins has an interesting post about finding the key that fits in your lock; in other words, finding which type of personality you have and using it to your advantage.  A cool idea.  And yes, she does find the answer to her personality conundrum.

Lastly, Torthúil has a post about the pictures she has taken with her phone.  She doesn’t have a phone with a fantastic camera, therefore, she takes very few pictures with it.  And the pictures she takes tell a story.  The stories are wonderful even if the photos are grainy.  It’s their graininess that makes them all the more poignant that the moment was captured.

The roundup to the Roundup: Uh, thanks for the renewal?  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between July 3rd and 10th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July in the US.  We’re going to two firework displays this weekend.  That feels incredibly indulgent: two firework displays?  What can I say?  Washingtonians love their fireworks.  What are you doing this weekend?

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Truman took his last dose of medication about a week ago.  He seemed mostly better.  He (mostly) wasn’t wheezing, and he (mostly) stopped sneezing.  But not entirely.  So I decided to change his bedding after an exhaustive Google search informed me that guinea pigs can grow allergic to their bedding.

I went to the organic pet store because I figured they would have the most all-natural, allergen-free bedding.  And I was correct; they had all-natural, dye-free bedding.  I had to commit to an enormous bag which technically cost less than his normal bedding when you looked at it handful for handful.  I mean, once you got over the fact that you had to purchase a difficult-to-store, expensive truckload of bedding.

I filled his cage and put him back inside.  He gingerly walked over it as if he wasn’t quite sure the surface would hold his weight.  And then he promptly began EATING THE BEDDING.  Like shoving his face down into the bedding and pulling up mouthfuls of it with delight.

I quickly Googled “guinea pig eats bedding help” while he chomp chomp chomped behind me, and I learned that (1) this was a common situation, (2) bedding was delicious to guinea pigs, and (3) that it wouldn’t kill him as long as he didn’t eat too much.  Too much?  What was “too much?”  No one would say.

He has mostly calmed down about the sea of delicious bedding and now only nibbles it from time to time.

Oh, and he’s still sneezing.  So much for allergies.  Back to square one.

*******

Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “This is My House” (The Bloggess)
• “If We are Childless, What is Our Legacy?” (No Kidding in NZ)
• “The Spoon Theory” (But You Don’t Look Sick)
• “The One About How We Try Not to Fudge Up Our Children” (TheBlessedBarrenness)
• “Forward Momentum” (An Unwanted Path)
• “…This One Word…” (Business Insider)
• “Identity” (Serenity in Chaos)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Mali put it for last week, but I had bookmarked it for this week because it was a Friday post.  Serenity in Chaos has a post about being on the fringe of society and yet still always finding like-situationed people.  It’s a really interesting post about fitting in or not fitting in, being the same as the majority or being different.  I love the new label she finds for herself by the end.

Pages, Stages, and Rages writes about ideas that stick in our head (whether we want them to or not) after a trauma.  She discusses her own work flinches and then segues into her daughter’s ongoing relationship to separation stemming from her adoption.  I love the weaving of the Princess Bride through the post.

Lastly, the Road Less Travelled has a post about watching other people’s children age while her daughter, Katie, does not.   I think people mostly think about this in terms of babyhood, but she writes about next year’s graduation class.  How her daughter should be walking across the stage.  It’s a moving post about how the heart never lets go.

The roundup to the Roundup: 4th of July.  Truman’s delicious bedding.  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between June 26th and July 3rd) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.

Thank you for the blogoversary wishes as well as proving me wrong with the 14 comments statement.

It is an accomplishment to write in the same space almost daily for 9 years. And sort of bizarre to think about.  When I started this space, I had no clue that it would continue like this.  But it’s hard to stop when it feels part of your very being.  Like an organ that floats around outside the body.

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I didn’t say anything about Father’s Day last week, but I really loved Chris Hardwick’s post about the holiday.  Especially this part:

Honestly, this day is a little weird for me. Sure, it’s a greeting card holiday, but now one that carries more weight with me than when I was young, ignorantly blissful and had a wealth of dads—a wonderful father (Billy), and equally amazing stepfather (Jim), two grandfathers (Jim & Hugh) and even one 96 year old Italian great-grandfather (Alfonso). Now they’re all gone and yes, I’m sad. I’m not trying to whine about it or bum you out. I simply want you to be cognizant of the people you have and appreciate them while you are able.

The piece is well-written because it so clearly comes from his heart.  And I love his advice to be a person that you would be proud of — as in, not focusing on what others think about you, but instead focus on what you think about you.

*******

Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “My Daughter Is Infertile: A Father’s Perspective” (Waiting for Baby Bird)
• “Self Identity and Perception” (Persnickety Chickadee)
• “MicroblogMondays: First Kiss” (Searching for a Silver Lining)

Okay, now my choices this week.

There’s a post on BlogHer about things the author would tell her younger self about IVF.  I highlighted it in the Health section because I liked how it showed how we can shed our long-held beliefs when faced with different facts.  It’s a testament to the fact that we have that ability: to have our opinions evolve.  It gives me hope.  And I love that she told her younger self to ignore the stories coming out of Hollywood.

Finding My New Normal has a post about why she can’t befriend people who have children who are the age her child should have been.  She writes: “I’m sure you are a lovely person, but you have a child who will turn 5 this summer so we can’t be friends.  After all this time you would think I could look past it, but I can’t.”  It’s a moving piece.

Lastly, in honour of Father’s Day, Middle Girl recounts the best day she had with her father.  It’s a beautiful moment in a difficult relationship, a small island she can mentally go to that is part of the larger story.  I was grateful that she shared it with us.

The roundup to the Roundup: Thank you for the blogoversary wishes.  A thought-provoking Father’s Day piece.  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between June 19th and June 26th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.

I may have been sucked into the hype about Fallout Shelter and downloaded it to the iPad.

I’ll admit that I don’t totally get what to do.  This game hasn’t clicked with me like other games where I instantly get it and want to keep playing.  I followed all the steps and set up my underground lair, but now I’m sort of looking around and thinking, “and…”  It took me a while to figure out how to see a player’s stats, but I still don’t know if I’m using a player well.

It’s sort of like post-Apocalyptic Hay Day, only more complicated and less straightforward.

Anyone else playing?

*******

Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Imagining the Lives of Others” (New York Times)
• “Microblog Monday: Easy, and Six Minute (Vegan) Chocolate Cake” (A Half-Baked Life)
• “Can a Picture Really Change the World? It Can, and I Will Tell You How” (Giovanni’s Journey)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Torthúil is returning to work in the fall.  She writes about trying to make the decision: “I’d turn things over in my head one hour, and think I’d made up my mind, only to feel completely the opposite about the matter the next hour. Wake up at 1am with one idea of what I could live with, wake up at 5am with a different one.”  This is my process, too, with huge decisions, so the post felt familiar and comforting.  I know I’ll return to it the next time I have to make a decision and feel less alone.

Hope Floats Among the Cherry Blossoms has a post about life shifting like a kaleidoscope.  It’s a wonderful philosophy about following your heart, making plans with the information you have on hand, and knowing “that plans are just plans, and they will bend, evolve and change.”  Something I needed to read (and take to heart) this week.

Infertile Girl in a Fertile World has a post about returning to the pharmacy where she always got her fertility drugs, only this time she is visibly pregnant and going for prenatal vitamins.  A post about noticing life changes and reflecting on where you’ve come from.

The making and breaking of plans is a theme this week in my feed reader.  No Kidding in NZ talks about coming to a place of acceptance with life plans changing.  She finally gets to leave the unknown of family building, but when she arrives at a place of knowledge, it isn’t where she expected to be.  She writes, “But finally the certainty that I had craved had arrived. But it wasn’t the certainty I wanted. Getting that certainty in the knowledge that we would never have children – well, it was very difficult.”  It’s a great post about letting go of control and embracing the fact that plans change.

Lastly, Edenland has an emotional, raw post about a very difficult time in life.  She so eloquently writes, “It’s my blog and there will be tumbleweeds blowing through here if I want to. Some days everything is wrong and I want to punch inspirational quotes in the face, rage at the state of the world out there and the world in my heart. I don’t even want to be happy – just ok. I just want to be ok. I fight to be ok.”  It is the perfect post to read if you need to howl.  And yes, at some point Life takes all of us down to our knees and we just need to howl.

The roundup to the Roundup: Anyone else playing Fallout Shelter?  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between June 12th and June 19th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.

I have transformed my book purchasing problem into a library problem.

In the old days, I bought more books than I had time to read.  I would buy a book, super excited to read it, and then before I could start it, I’d find another book I wanted so I bought that, too.  Maybe the second book seemed more time-sensitive, so I would start with that one and leave the first book in a to-read pile next to my bed.  Midway through the second book, I would purchase two more books and drop them in the pile.  So now there were three books in the to-read pile and another in my purse.

The pile grew unmanageable, so I would move some of the books to the bookcase, telling myself that this was a good thing.  When the zombie apocalypse started, and you all know that it’s one day going to be here, I would have plenty to read while we’re hunkered down in a windowless room.

The bookcases filled.

We were short of space, so a few years ago, I started to check out books from the library that I didn’t think I’d read a second time.  I reasoned that if I loved it, I could always go buy a copy.  But in the meantime, I would save myself bookcase space.

This is how the library thing usually goes down.  It may look a little familiar if you read the first half of this post.

I’ll go to the library and take out two books.  I’ll start reading one, reasoning that it’s a good thing that I have the other because once the first book is done, I’ll move onto the second book.  But in the meantime, even though I don’t need another book, I will go to the library and take out another book the next day.  I will add that book to my to-read library book pile, sometimes dropping the book I’m currently reading to read the new book because it’s a new release and I can only have it for a short period of time.

Now, you would think that someone who is currently holding three library books (not to mention owning thousands of books) would not need to go back to the library for a few weeks.  BUT I DO.  I go back.  Daily.  Most of the time, I check out another book.

I’ve realized that part of my enjoyment of books is the acquiring of books.  I don’t even need to permanently own them; checking them out from the library is enough to give me that high.

I have a book problem.

Thankfully it’s summer, which means reading by the pool.

*******

Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Playing the Hitler Card” (NewStatesman) — nonIF but really interesting read about empathy so it relates

Okay, now my choices this week.

Still Waters has a post comparing her haircut experience to the changes you make because you think you should make them. (The example relates to blogging.)  It’s something I often ask myself: am I doing something because I think it’s something I should do or something I want to do?  Am I doing it because every magazine cover or advice column is telling me that if I don’t do X that it will be the reason I fail fail fail at life?  It’s a really good reminder to follow your own heart.

Constant in the Darkness has a post about how she feels she needs to remain tense in order to believe that they will one day be able to adopt again.  That having confidence will jinx the process.  In the end, she also recognizes the importance in letting go, in trusting that what will happen will happen and remaining anxious about it will not change the outcome.  Again, a good reminder.

Lastly, The Polka-Dot Umbrella has a post about trying to plan for a future when you’re infertile.  Her cousin questions the choices she is making in regards to her career, and she points out that those choices are the only place where she has control of the situation.  It’s a post about not putting your life on hold while you build your family.

The roundup to the Roundup: I have a book problem.  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between June 5th and June 12th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.