So let’s try this again – since I don’t see a regular Wednesday weekly, I’ll try and fill that gap by posting something writer-ish, be it about an author, about my or your writing, or about words and structure and all that good stuff. Maybe I’ll turn it into an “official” weekly by creating a button and posing a specific goal, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, hm?

Yesterday, Brandon Sanderson posted on his blog that he’s accepted an invitation to run a workshop at a writing conference in Pasadena in March. I was thinking, “Hey cool, I should check that out, I’ve got friends down there, it’d be a nice little getaway.” ….. To the “early bird special” tune of $599. Hmm, not so accessible for this kid, with all the travel plans I’ve got for the next few months.

So, that got me to thinking – what would I pay six hundred bucks for, in terms of a writing workshop? Who would I want to be there presenting, what would I want to take away from it, what sort of networking would I hope to do? Further, forget the price tag – what would my dream writers’ conference consist of in terms of the above?

After some thought, I’ve decided that while I’d love to meet a writer whose work I admire greatly and whose style and voice bears similarities to my own, I don’t want my writing to mimic theirs – I’d sooner learn from someone who writes very differently from how I do, so I’m adding to my skill set rather than simply being validated in my own style.

As far as networking, I don’t see myself collaborating on a fiction work, but I’d love to meet others who might have an interest in the same sorts of anthologies, histories, and multi-media collections as I have. I’d also hope to connect with down-to-earth people from the publishing world who could provide realistic and effective advice for pitching my work. Finally, I’d hope to connect with someone with similar writing goals to my own – frequency, time dedicated, etc. – so we could be accountable to one another and encourage each other when we hit stumbling blocks.

Finally, I’d really like to take away a new perspective of some kind, be it about style, content, or end goal, as well as a rejuvenated love for the craft.

How about you? What do you think a writing conference should be able to offer, or what have you gained from attending them in the past?

Okay, maybe “genius” is stretching it a bit. Errrr, more than a bit. But I digress. Tonight, I am sharing with you my utter ridiculousness, paired with my unfailing resourcefulness – allow me to present Exhibit A:

Part of me is cringing at the idea of using the books  (and shelves, which haven’t yet been re-mounted) to support and weigh down the kitty tower as the wood glue dries, but another part finds it hilarious and perfectly fitting. I really don’t own anything else heavy and versatile enough, and clamps wouldn’t work anyway because of the carving. So, I consider it justifiable.

‘Fess up, my friends – what alternate uses have your books been put to around the house? Tippy table fixes, pressed flower receptacles, doorstops?

Yes folks, I dropped the ball again – and again it was due to a series of huge changes in my life. I’ve kind of come to the point where I’ve thrown it out to the universe and said, “I get it, you’re bigger than me, you win!” and am letting things happen instead of trying to make things happen… And it’s actually working quite nicely so far.

I’ve recently moved *back* into the apartment I lived in until October – 34 boxes of books alone! – and am attempting, once again, to settle into a “new” environment. Thankfully, I have two lovely new roommates, and have had the support of my best friends and my incredible girlfriend throughout it all.

I missed my 75 book goal by five books in 2009. I also had probably four months where I was barely reading at all, so I’m not too disappointed, really. I participated in my first readathon, which will definitely be a regular event, read some books that were completely outside of my typical genres, and maintained my 4.0 (though I did get an Incomplete for one class, which thankfully doesn’t appear to have affected my cumulative/overall GPA; I’d have taken the class anyway, so I guess no harm done but the cost).

My goal for the start of 2010, as it relates to books and reading, is not to sweat it. I felt guilty every time I looked at the bookmark for this page, every time I received a notification that another spam comment had been left, every time I didn’t unpack a box of books. I don’t need to feel guilty – this is supposed to be FUN! It’s a HOBBY! It makes me HAPPY! So being miserable about it is simply out of the question.

I’m going to get back to work on the unpacking and LibraryThing tagging/collectioning my books, separating the titles I still own from the titles my ex now has and asking the LT staff to divide our accounts, and cleaning up my library, both physical and online, in general. In the meantime, I’m re-reading Sarah Waters’s Tipping the Velvet, which I loaned to my butch and she returned to me when I saw her at the beginning of December. I’ve not read Waters in some time (or maybe it just feels that way – did I read Fingersmith in 2009??? I may have), and I wanted something comforting, but am not ready for my HP series read yet – primarily because I no longer own the entire series. Le sigh.

ANYWAY – there’s my story, what’s yours? Whatcha got good going on in your bloggish world, your readerish world, your bookish world?

So I’ve been absent for a bit while I’ve worked toward getting situated in my new digs… Last weekend was very productive, but I’ve been putting off – not because of dread, but because of sheer size – the Great Book Reorganization. Which commenced tonight.

I know some of you from LibraryThing, so I can safely assume that you’ve at least cataloged some or all of your collection; outside of that, do you use tags, collections, both, neither? Do these resources inform how your books are physically placed? For those of you not on LibraryThing or another cataloging site (perish the thought!), how are your books organized throughout your home?

My former strategy was very basic – reference together, non-fiction together, adult fiction together, YA/children’s fiction together, all arranged alphabetically by author and then either alphabetically or, in the case of series, chronologically. Now, I’ll probably employ a similar strategy, but the big task is adding tags and collections for my own use, and private comments so I can note which books I no longer own due to the division of the books with my ex. I’ve been rather slack with my cataloging and virtual organizing for some time, so this is a very time-consuming, but very soothing, project, and one which will truly transform my house into a home when it’s complete.

This mini-challenge was practically custom-made for me; between its similarity to High Fidelity style top five lists and my love of children’s books, definitely right up my alley. I’m trucking along with my reading, though, so I’ll make this brief and link to the books at a later date.

1. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Everyone knows what they’re like, and sometimes it just feels good to be cranky about them, darnit!

2. Eloise. My best friend and I both love Eloise’s quirky randomness and mischievous antics; we’ve plans for Eloise tattoos someday. No joke.

3. Matilda. Being a precocious kid and the quiet, readerly nerd in my youth, Matilda was an easy character for me to relate to, and that hasn’t changed in twenty-odd years. Go figure.

4. The Poky Little Puppy. My favorite golden book, it always makes me happy inside to see or read it.

5. The Giving Tree. I love all of Shel Silverstein’s work, but this book will always strike a chord in me.

As for the reading, I’m in part three of The Hunger Games and hoping to finish it before the midway point of the next hour. I’m probably going to go back to The Time Travelers for another hundred pages or so, then pick up a re-read from the children’s/YA books here; James and the Giant Peach and The Lightning Thief are options, though I may go for Susan Cooper to read something new instead.

Keep up the great work, readers and cheerleaders; we’re in the home stretch!

The readathon has been on the Twitter trending topics all morning from what I can see; so much fun! I think I’m spending more time refreshing my Echofon view than reading… Oops. At any rate, for this hour’s mini challenge, we’ve been asked to provide a Twitter screenshot of #readathon trending; here’s one from my iPhone app for my contribution.

The image links to my Twitter page; come watch if you wanna see what’s going on with my day of reading. Whew, this took longer than I had anticipated – must get back to a book already!

So for those of you who know me in person or on other forums, you’re aware of the series of changes in my personal world that have kept me away from the blog, as well as most social networks. For the rest of you, the short of it is that I chose to end my relationship of three years, had to decide whether to stay in SF or return to the East Coast, and moved across town once I elected to stay here. It has been a really difficult few months, but I’m working to embrace the opportunities and to recenter myself, part of which is posting here regularly again. I’d like to apologize for the absence, and thank anyone who comes back around to witness my rather sheepish return :)

To get back into the swing of things, I’ll be skimming through your posts in my Google reader, sharing a little about my reading since my last update, and most importantly, revising my discussion calendar to bring about the changes I’d discussed shortly before my brilliant disappearing act.

I’ve missed this forum, regardless of how short-lived its first run was, and am really looking forward to throwing myself into it with a renewed spirit and strengthened focus. Thank you all for being a big part of the reason I write here; I can’t wait to reconnect.

Oh my goodness, what a trip! It was so lovely to see everyone, but so heartbreaking to have to return. I love San Francisco, I really do, and I’ve made some really amazing friends here. That doesn’t stop me from feeling like Portland is home, especially when I’m surrounded by people who clearly care about me and who make no secret of the fact that they’d love to have me around again.

So I’m back at work, trying to get back into the swing of things, trudging through e-mail, and dreading opening my Google Reader. I will truly read the blog of anyone who has commented here, and will likely skim the rest in an effort to control the amount of time spent on catching up.

In the meantime, I absolutely failed at reading on this trip, though I did start Philippa Gregory’s The Queen’s Fool and am really enjoying it so far. What author have you abandoned for a long stretch and realized, “Oh right, I really like his/her work,” when you got reacquainted?