Friday, June 18, 2010

Ponderings


How Much does your mood affect your reading??

I was in a bad mood today - a very bad mood. Most people don't notice when I'm in one 'cause I try not to take it out on others and I'm still friendly on the outside, but I'm real snarly on the inside. And when I am in a bad mood, I tend to get quieter. Of course when shyness strikes, the same thing happens so sometimes one can't tell the difference. Anyway - the point of this pondering. I'm reading a book that's just not thrilling me, but it's not a DNF so that's a good thing. But I started reading at lunch, and combined with my bad mood, I began really disliking the book. Both the hero and heroine started driving me barmy. This didn't really start bothering me until today. But I realized my mood had a lot to do with my sudden real dislike for the book.


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Traffic

One of the things responsible for my bad mood is the stupid city I live in and many of it's drivers. Summer is the time for roadwork. I think we all understand this. There are two ways I can get to work. One is a bit shorter distance, but there are a lot of lights and things. The other way is a bit longer, but the speed limit is higher and there are less lights. The city, in it's infamous wisdom, decided to do major road work on BOTH routes. These are both major roads. So no matter which way I go, I'm going to run into traffic jams. Plus, this means I have to leave earlier for work for probably the next two months. Why did they have to do them BOTH at the same time???? Couldn't they have finished one before starting the other?

And along with this - the fastest route goes from two lanes both ways down to one lane each way. And that causes major problems when traffic in one lane has to merge. There is a sign long before you get there announcing this. I get into the open lane long before they merge, but there are a lot of drivers who travel down the lane that is closed. I sit and wait my turn, but these other drivers go zooming down, expecting to be let in at the last minute. Normally when there is a lot of traffic and someone is trying to turn into the lane, I will stop and let them. But not in this case! I travel as close as I can to the car ahead of me so no last minute cars can get in ahead of me. Let them wait just like I do!


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World Cup Soccer

The World Cup is here and it's kind of odd being Canadian. You see - Canada sucks at soccer at the world level and didn't qualify.
It's amazing to me how wide spread the appeal of soccer is, it truly is a world game and we don't have any stake in it at all. I see teams like North Korea for Pete's sake and no Canadian team. There are teams from Africa, South America, North America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Asia but no Canadian team. Yet you drive by any park in the summer and there are A LOT of kids playing in soccer leagues.

I'm keeping track of who is winning and who is losing - I'm excited for example for Rosario that Uruguay is doing so well. And I was surprised to see the US and England tie. And Switzerland beat France - that was a real shock. I've tried watching it though and well, at the expense of offending so many around the world, I find it 'um' kind of boring. The scores are generally very low, and the fields are so large that most shots are from quite a distance. There are so many hot soccer (or football) players and we don't get to see that many close up shots. And there sure is a lot of running. Maybe I'm just too used to hockey where it's fast paced and the cameras are much closer to the action. But, it's still fun to follow - even if I don't watch the games.


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The Battle of Wills

If I never see plywood again I'll be a happy camper. My oldest son has moved in. He has a cat. I have 2 cats. But he refuses to let my cats meet his cat. He thinks his cat might pick up some of Destructo Cat's bad habits, but his cat is 10 years old and I don't think that's going to happen. So in order to keep my cats from interacting with his cats, he's putting up plywood all over the house. His room is downstairs and he built a plywood door at the bottom of the stairs. Then he keeps putting plywood at the top of the back stairs where the stairs to the basement. I have a 'pocket' door between the kitchen and the living room and he closes it and then puts plywood across it - all this in an attempt to keep Destructo from 'bothering' his cat. Although most annoying to step over all this plywood, I am amused. You see - nothing can stop Destructo!! She's figured out to open the 'pocket' door with her little paws. She's figured out how to knock down the plywood and she heads down the stairs to sit at the bottom of the stairs where she is stumped by his plywood door. But his cat knows she's there and starts hissing. I was watching TV the other night and it was quite amusing. I know from experience it's useless trying to stop Destructo from doing what she wants to do. I call her that for a reason! Brent hasn't quite realized this yet. Every 5 minutes she got through the door, knocked over the plywood and made herself downstairs whereupon Brent picked her up, gently threw her back in the living room and closed the door, put up the plywood and huffed downstairs. Five minutes later the same thing happened again. The two of them kept this up all night long and I was very hard pressed not to burst out laughing. Now that put me in a good mood!

Destructo - 15, Brent 0

14 comments:

Marianne McA said...

And already I'm more interested in the Destructo v. Brent match than the entire World cup!

Keep us posted. In my experience, cats always win. Our - supposedly outdoor - cat has decided in her old age that it's too much trouble to walk round the house to the backdoor to get fed, so lurks at the front door till it's opened, shoots through, and then waits with thinly veiled impatience for the back door to be opened so she can get to her dish.

Kristie (J) said...

Marianne: ROTFL!!! Cats really are intriguing animals aren't they? And yours sounds like a hoot.
When Brent first moved in, I told him and told him - just let them meet, hiss some, maybe a couple of fights and then they would be pals - that's what happened when I brought in Destructo and now she and Zina are best buds at times. But he's such an over protective papa bear he refuses. Now I just laugh at him while walking around plywood.

Hilcia said...

KristieJ, my mood definitely affects my reading! I sometimes have to re-read certain books to find out if I really, really disliked it/loved it, or if it was just the way I was feeling ATM. Most of the time that first feeling stays with me though. Hmmm...

RE: World Cup. I'm watching it!! Go Uruguay!! My sister-in-law is from Uruguay and I'm rooting for them. *Whisper* Even though I usually root for Brazil... sshhhhh....

It's interesting, the US didn't qualify for so long that I chose other teams as favorites since I do love my "football." The US is doing better than expected this time and that's exciting, so at this point I have a few teams to root for. ;P

Kara said...

My mood definitely affects my reading. I have been so upset and mad about my cell phone number taking days and days to transfer to a new carrier that I haven't been able to concentrate on a book. They said it would take 24 hours and we are on day 6 now. Grrrrrr!!!!

Love the cat story and look forward to an update as to who is winning!!!

azteclady said...

My pet ownership theory, taken from someone else's (can't remember whose, for the life of me) statement: Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

And yes, when a cat is determined to do something or get somewhere, no obstacle will deter or stop it from the goal--it may take hours or months, but you can bet the house they'll succeed.

On another topic: Mexico has done well for itself in the World Cup! (no, I don't follow soccer, but my beloved and my brothers do, so I'm up to date whether I want to or not)







Kristie, you are coming down here for RWA, right? 'cause... *huge squeeeeeee* My beloved came through again, and I'm attending! *happy dancing* and would just love to see you again!

Mary G said...

OMG ROTFLMAO!
Hi Kristie
I'm with Marianne McA.
Destructo - 15, Brent 0 is the only score I care about right now.
I'll wait till the playoffs to care about any soccer scores.

Yes mood makes a difference to me.
Sometimes I want a contemp & sometimes I want suspense. If I'm not in the mood to finish a book, I'll put it away & get back to it later. Then I'll appreciate it.

BTW - sent you an email about a book you won.

Kristie (J) said...

AL!!!!! Yes!! Happy dance, happy dance - yep, I'm going. Wendy and I will be roomies again this year - it's becoming tradition. I am SO glad you will be there too and can't wait to see you! July is a big month since I'm going to RomCon too.

Kara: I almost think the book is ruined now. I'll try again later but it just stopped working altogether *sigh* and I think my mood had a lot to do with it.
And I think it's a forgone conclusion that the cat will win. It's just seeing how stubborn Brent is that's funny.

Hilcia: I think the book was headed downward anyway, but my mood sure sped it up! And yes - the US did hold their own against England. True it was a bad goal - a very bad one - but they didn't let any in and that's very good against a powerhouse like England.

Kristie (J) said...

Mary - Brent worked today and hasn't been home that long - but so far just today it's Destructo 4 - Brent 0 - heh heh heh!

azteclady said...

Yay!!!!! *happy dancing some more*







pls to email me?

Wendy said...

I feel like such a fuddy-duddy, but the World Cup just does not interest me. At all. When it's perfectly acceptable for a game to end in a 0-0 tie the sport tends to lose me. But to keep it in perspective, I just remind myself that, other than the Japanese, everybody else in the world thinks American baseball is stupid, boring and pointless :)

Woot! I was hoping AztecLady was going to make it to RWA. Rosie and Lisabea will be there as well.

azteclady said...

Just saw this.... *squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*



*ahem*



*squee*

nath said...

I think mood definitively plays a factor when reading the books. Especially bad moods. When I'm in a bad mood, I feel like I don't care or don't like anything ^_^; Luckily, they don't happen often :)

Poor Brent. It's a losing battle... but a fun one for you to witness :P

orannia said...

Destructo vs. Brent. I can't even begin to imagine how entertaining it is :)

NZ drew with Italy! YAH!

Oh, and my mood VERY much affects my reading. I have a saying - right book, right time :)

Taja said...

Reading a "good" novel often improves my crappy mood. The problem is, I don't know that going in and if I'm in a blah or grumpy kind of mood to begin with, I'm much more likely to nit-pick a novel to death after I thought huh? once. Then there are moods that affect the kind of story I want to read (contemporary, historical,...). So my mood definitely plays a role in my reading.

I have not much interest in soccer but I love the match Destructo vs Brent! Go Destructo!