Is It Just Us?

My friend showed me YouTube videos of a guy who is a terrible flirt and about texting a girl. In the first verse of the texting song, the guy agonizes about if the girl likes him and it’s been 20 minutes, why hasn’t she replied?

That ties into a party I was at last weekend. There was a guy there I’d met before and thought he was cute and could be interested/interesting. He was kind of shy and reserved and said he thought I was hot when he met me last week but had to work up the nerve to do something about it. We had fun and exchanged numbers.

I texted him that I met Rod Langway at Saturday’s hockey game. He texted me back that it should be a good game. Nothing else to report.

Dating etiquette dictates he should have called me Monday. I broke the unofficial rule by texting him within 24 hours (Rod Langway allows for some rule bending). I know not everyone got the same rule book but sometimes fun at a party is just fun. He did just enough for me to assume he was interested but now, I’m not so sure.

If he knows I’m interested and available so why not do something if the feeling is mutual? My friend made the argument that he made the last text so he’s might be waiting on me and he might not want to come on too strong. This is backed up by the fact that I can be a bit intimidating.

My friend even said maybe he’s going through the exact same anxiety and musings as I am.

That brings me to my big question. Do guys actually go this crap? I know no man parses for subtext, analyzes motives, and over thinks things like a woman but do they actually go through any of this? 

Do guys have an internal debate over what’s too soon versus too long to call? Do you have to figure out the balance between coming on too strong and just strong enough? I have a hard time believing even nerd guys go through all this insanity.

Thursday Update: If you were wondering, we’re going out on Saturday. He’s still not overly chatty but he did the asking. Not sure what it means or what will happen but there's only one way to find out..

Music: Rolling in the Deep by Otherwise

The Trouble with Books Are

The trouble I’m facing with my book challenge is that I have my hands in several books at once.

I’m working on Steampunk but it’s an anthology instead of a full length novel. It seemed like a good idea but each story involves very intricate world building. It’s become a small dose book so I’m not constantly adjusting to different rules and details. Some have cyborgs while others have aliens and some have both. Some have just people but focus more heavily on the steampunk science. With the level of detail these writers are using, I need a break to recalibrate between worlds.

I’m debating adding in Theme Anthology or Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic to cleanse my palate. I’ve started on Media but it’s far more cerebral than I anticipated. Much like Steampunk, I may have to do those essays one at a time.

I was doing sports for a while but reading about the Caps while watching the Caps got dizzying so I’m saving the rest for after the Stanley Cup. It’ll help get me through the hockey-free summer.

Music: Save Rock and Roll by Fall Out Boy with Elton John

Home Sweet Own Challenge Book 13

For Teen I read What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen. She’s a really good teen writer. I saw her speak at the National Book Festival last year. I’ve always liked her stuff. She handles issues you don’t see enough of in teen fiction: abusive relationships, sexual assault, and death of a parent.

This book dealt with a spectacularly messy divorce and the impact on Mclean, the teenage daughter. She opted to travel with her father instead of move into her mother’s new perfect life. In the four towns in two years, Mclean has been someone else. Anyone but herself. In her latest hometown, her past is catching up with her and Mclean’s not sure how to feel about it.

Since it’s teen fiction, the metaphors are always overt and obvious. Dessen is a good writer but as an adult, you get tired of having it spelled out for you. This story was interesting and likeable but it wasn’t her best. I think because Mclean was fractured, the story felt a little fractured.

I liked it, I didn’t love it. If you like Dessen’s other stuff, you’ll enjoy this. If you haven’t read her at all, start with one of her other books and come back to Goodbye.

1) Fiction 

2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi

4) Fantasy 

5) Mystery 

6) Horror 

7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb

8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

9) Feminist 

10) Teen – What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

11) Holiday 

12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman

13) Short Stories 

14) Library 

15) Animal 

16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto

17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin

18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod

19) Pop Science 

20) Near 

21) Far 

22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler

23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

24) Wild Card 

25) Otherworldly Creature 

26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin

27) Noteworthy 

28) Bestseller 

29) Themed Anthology 

30) Steampunk 

31) Movie-Book 

32) Media  

33) Travel 

34) Food 

35) Classic 

36) Humor 

37) Poetry 

38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder

39) Future 

40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 

41) Zombie 

42) Sports

Music: Something I Need by OneRepublic

Hell Took Notes

Verizon is a perfectly lovely mobile company until you have a problem. They then go from fine to worst customer support in the universe. I’ve never met any aliens but I’d take that bet.

It stared when I got apple picked last weekend. It’s such a sweet term for ‘soberly sitting on the metro when some asshole rips my phone from my hand, cuts my finger in the process, and thanks me as he runs away.’ There were a couple of witnesses who were really nice to me and I finally had a positive experience with cops. Still kind of traumatic.

I had phone insurance so I go to the Verizon store right when it opens and tell the guy I was robbed 12 hours ago. He gives me a booklet and a shrug because there’s nothing he can do for me in store. Apparently that includes canceling the stolen phone.

I take my booklet home and call the 800 number. It’s the standard machine annoyance that I hate dealing with. I got bumped up the line to a real person. She made me miss the machine. She was robotic, unhelpful, and mispronounced my last name with letters that weren’t even in it. 

The ‘customer service rep’ then called me by the wrong first name. When I corrected her, she said that no, she had been speaking with the other person. I think I know who I am bitch. I said my full name for you when you picked up.

I now must complete a form and scan/fax it back before anything else can be done which pushes the resolution back another day. I am so upset about BS policies and bad service I write one of my notorious strongly worded customer service letters. I had to Google where to email it since that was no longer available on the website.

I get a call from a guy from HQ. He was polite and appropriately contrite however he made no offers of compensation or said much of anything that made me feel better. I was still out too much damn money and all the bad employees were still employed. 

FedEx delivered my new phone to my house but no one was home to sign for it so I had to pick it up. I call the number to ask them to hold it and the insurance people won’t do that. It’s their policy. I make sure no one signs for it so I can get it from FedEx on my way home from work the next day. A nice chick at Target offered to put the new screen protector which I took her up on. She was awesome.

I attempt to start using the phone when alerts kept popping up saying it was not activated and call this 800 number. I call the number, answer the asinine questions, and am told to replace the SIM card. Turns out the insurance people forgot to include the thing that makes my iPhone act like a phone. Cue strongly worded customer service letter #2.

I got to spend a good bit of my lunch break today on the phone with the first Verizon guy and one of the insurance people. She called this ‘a little mistake.’ If the guy changing your oil accidentally cuts your brake lines, is that ‘a little mistake?’ Well, it rendered your technical thing useless so don’t play down someone else’s stupidity. It’s insulting and infuriating.

The first lady said that I could get the SIM card any time between Friday and Monday. Are you fucking with me? I have a convention this weekend. Unless I wanna be chaperoned or fly solo, I need my phone to be a damn phone! I was given the option of buying the stuff myself and get reimbursed. I’ll have the ‘No’ with a side of ‘Hell No!’

Verizon guy and I are sent to another person who says she’ll do what she can to get it overnighted. At this point I am offered a car charger, ear piece, and $40 off my next phone bill. As far as pain and suffering go, I feel I’m being lowballed. 

Verizon guy then promises to do everything in his power to make sure it goes out next day. He called my house again at 6 to tell me so. I’m glad he was making an effort because no one else was. He was the only Verizon person who, IMHO, was worth a damn in all this.

I needed to get a log of the activity for the police investigation and I don’t want to spend another bit of my personal life signing up for the Verizon website. I go into the store on my way home from work. I tell the clerk why I’m there. He walks over to the computer, gets my info, and then gives me a visual as to why he can’t give me what I need. I don’t need a visual. If you can’t help me, I’ll take you at your word. He ‘tried to tell me that’ which is complete bullshit.

That was the point where I crossed into crazy bitch territory, knew it, and really didn’t care. I lost it a bit and did a smidgen of ranting. I thank him for wasting my time. He thanked me for wasting his. Excuse me?

I didn’t insult you personally or start swearing at you although you leading me to believe you were good for something merits some ire. You don’t get to talk to me like that, especially not when I have the ear of corporate. Cue strongly worded customer service letter #3.

I know I was being a difficult customer and a bit of a crazy bitch. I even acknowledge it in letter #3. Having said that everything detailed above is vastly abridged and omitting as many details as possible for space. Combine this with 0 good nights of sleep since the robbery and my experience has been so torturous Hell took notes.

If anyone gets to be a crazy bitch right now, it’s me. 

If you need me, I’ll be reachable via email and FB. Don’t call me, I’ll call you, eventually.

Home Sweet Own Book 12

For Book about Books, I read Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto. This review will be kind of long as I have a few bones to pick with Miss Leto.

I loved the sound of this book. As a bibliophile, it seemed like a really fun read. I expected someone who loved books in all incarnations. Instead I got someone who either ignored or bashed most of what I like to read.

I strongly suspect Leto is a genre snob. Classic and contemporary literature are ubiquitous but everything else gets a quick nod or is skipped entirely. She mentions romances to mock them, mysteries never, and only classic sci-fi (Clarke, Heinlein, Asimov, etc). If there was any mention of contemporary genre or speculative fiction, I missed it.

Leto claims to love memoirs by celebrity relatives but you wouldn’t know it from the way she talks about them. Most of what she said about memoirs and essays lead me to believe she’s annoyed by their existence. If she hadn’t outright said she loved them, I’d have never known.

The how-to-fake-it section was interesting, helpful, and introduced me to some books I want to read. It started fun then dragged then stopped being compelling and just something to get through.

It either needed to be broken up or some authors should have been cut. I have never had to fake having read Zadie Smith among many others. And for all the authors included, Jane Austen was omitted.

I know Leto hates chick lit but most women and some men have had to fake having read something by Austen at some point. I’ve read a lot of articles touting the reasons why Jane Austen should be considered classic literature instead of highbrow chick lit. I suspect Leto omitted Austen because it’s not literati cannon and is therefore beneath her.

I wasn’t nuts about the narrative structure either. The book was split between Leto’s life and bits from her blog. If it had been all of one or the other or divided so it was read that way, it would have better flow. This just felt disjointed and cobbled together.

Leto had plenty of interesting things to say, especially in the final chapter. She has talent and I would love to see it somewhere else. Parts were fun but as a whole? I give it an unenthused meh.

1) Fiction 

2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi

4) Fantasy 

5) Mystery 

6) Horror 

7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb

8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

9) Feminist 

10) Teen 

11) Holiday 

12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman

13) Short Stories 

14) Library 

15) Animal 

16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto

17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin

18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod

19) Pop Science 

20) Near 

21) Far 

22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler

23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

24) Wild Card 

25) Otherworldly Creature 

26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin

27) Noteworthy 

28) Bestseller 

29) Themed Anthology 

30) Steampunk 

31) Movie-Book 

32) Media  

33) Travel 

34) Food 

35) Classic 

36) Humor 

37) Poetry 

38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder

39) Future 

40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 

41) Zombie 

42) Sports

Music: She Don’t Like Firefly by Mikey Mason