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Traveling

When I travel these days, it is often alone. Maybe I’m meeting someone at my destination, but the actual act of traveling is done alone. I don’t resent this at all, in fact I think it helps me enjoy the journey more. I have so much more freedom to go at my own pace, visit shops and restaurants as I see fit, or linger in a place just to people-watch. My introverted nature can be at peace.

Something comes over me when I travel alone. No one I know is around me to judge, so I occasionally do things out …

Ignorance Is… Strength?

I’ve fallen behind on my book reviews, and I don’t intend on catching up. I feel it would be more appropriate if I just blogged about books that really meant a lot to me, positively or negativley. So, here I am.

I don’t often read dystopian fiction, and I don’t often read classics, but quotes and ideas from this book have started to feel so ubiquitous to me that I thought it was about time I read it myself. I think I appreciated it more because it wasn’t something I had to read for a class, I could take my …

A Sunny Seattle Morning

Every single day on my way to work, I am reminded of how glad I am to be in Seattle. To be working downtown, especially. There is a small bridge my bus goes over that has a fantastic view of the city skyline, be there rain or fog or sun. Once we get downtown, there are cafes open along every street–not all of them Starbucks–serving coffee or pastries or other goodies. Particularly on days like today, when it’s sunny, the city is out in all its glory in the morning. It’s true, the dreariness of the usual clouds are so …

Deck the Hall Ball

I went to Deck the Hall Ball this year, alone. And I am so glad I did. It was the most incredible concert I’ve ever been to–I haven’t been to many, but I don’t expect to go to anything nearly as good anytime soon. I wanted to share a bit about what I thought of each band, and suggest a few good songs. I wished I could have done it via Twitter during the show, but any kind of phone service in a stadium full of people is impossible. The event was put on by my local radio station, 107.7

New Digs

After a long time in limbo, my new life is (almost) finally started. I’ve got a car, an apartment, and a job, I just have to wait a couple more days to start work. The far corner of my living room is filled with boxes of old stuff that I finally have time and room to go through. I’m starting to walk and drive around the neighborhood and not just get used to where everything is, but actually enjoy the location and get used to being here (and of course it helps that it’s finally not raining). Went to the …

Dog Walking

Almost every morning now, I walk my dad’s Sheltie, Sara. I’ve always been a morning person, and these walks help me get outside and enjoy the world when it’s quiet. When I take the time to notice things around me–foggy roads, morning dew, squirrels, sun on rare occasions–it feels like they exist just for me. I’ve been enjoying seeing leaves on the trees turn red and fall to the ground over the course of a few weeks.

Since Sara is getting older, and doesn’t get to spend a lot of time outside, whenever she stops to smell something I …

Book Review #16: The Fault in Our Stars

Book 16: The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

I finally got around to reading something of John Green’s. I’d heard so many good things about his work, and this book in particular. I knew that even though it was about someone with cancer, it was going to be a meaningful, enjoyable read, not something simply depressing. I wasn’t disappointed, and I’d say it exceeded my expectations.

Hazel is a 16-year-old with thyroid cancer. Her cancer is being kept at bay by a new miracle drug, but she doesn’t know how long she has left. At her cancer support …

Book Review #15: “…and then what happened?”

Book 15: Stories: All-New Tales, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio

It took me a long time to finish this book. I’ve read it bit by bit between other books, when I had nothing else I was reading. By no means was it bad–it was excellent, masterpiece after masterpiece. Some stories were creepy, some were heartwarming, some were strange, and some were all of the above. Even the introduction was amazing, which I quoted in my recent blog post about why I like to read.

I find it difficult to read short stories. Every one of them took …

Book Review #14: The Doors to Elsewhere

Book 14: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor

I picked this book up recently at Waterstone’s along with The Hundred-Year-Old Man on a whim. I was not disappointed by either choice. The cover of this book grabbed my interest immediately, and I remembered seeing a review of it on a blog that I follow, which made it look promising. Not to mention a favorite author of mine, Patrick Rothfuss, gave the review, “Wow. I wish I had written this book.”

Karou has two lives. In one, she is an art student in Prague. In the other, she …

Homeward Bound

Earlier today I got a response from the last job in the UK I’ve been waiting to hear from, which was a “no.” I didn’t have enough specific knowledge/experience for the position. My student visa expires on the 1st of October, so this means that I have to leave Scotland. I’ve already started to make plans to, since they’ve taken so long to get back to me. I would have barely had time to apply for a work visa if they’d offered me a job.

Truthfully, I’m glad I don’t have to make the choice between Aberdeen and the US. …