One big step closer

Since early January I've been trying to sell my car - and haven't had much luck. In fact I got no calls or inquiries about it until early March or so. I finally sold it last week though, for quite a bit less than it was worth - but I was just happy to see it gone.

Waiting to sell my car has meant waiting for many other things, too. Such as:

1. Getting a haircut! (no really... I haven't gone to the hairdresser since March, 2012)
2. Getting a decent camera - move on up from the point & shoot!
3. Buying my ticket to the US/Canada for September this year (my bro invited me to the Foo Fighters show in Washington, "the gig of a lifetime" he said - how could I resist that?)
4. Renewing my passport(s) - yes, both are lapsed!

The main thing I really want to do, though, is get my little 'corner of the room' office area sorted in my room. I need to get a corner desk, and the long-term goal is to buy an iMac to put on that desk.

For now, I will settle for the desk ... and maybe some nice stationery. ;)

P.S. I just did some editing. That's a rarity right now in my life. And now it's bedtime.

April's book review: THIS IS A CALL

Because I swore I would post at least one book review per month this year, I'm using my spare Sunday during the A-Z to keep my promise to myself! The book I'm going to review was a present from my brother and his wife for Christmas (which Christmas? Yes, it was the most recent Chrismas...). I'm not much of a non-fiction reader, though I do believe in that saying, "Truth can be stranger than fiction", and I paraphrase. Anyway, I still start out by stating that, in my opinion, this book is not the kind you should read if you're not interested in music. Maybe you're interested in Dave Grohl, maybe you've got a little crush on the purported "nicest man in rock" (though the man himself disputes he's this ALL of the time)...but if you're wanting to read 400 pages all about Dave, this isn't the book for you. If, however, you love rock music and are interested in the history of certain genres in America (and elsewhere, for that matter), then you'll enjoy it.

The book has a great focus on the punk/hardcore scene of Washington D.C., since that's what Dave Grohl "grew" up on. It also touches on other areas like, naturally, grunge, and also the underground (or overground in the case of Metallica) metal scene. It does tell Dave's story, from humble beginnings to the monumental heights he's reached today. It also tells the Foo Fighters' story, and it was news to me that they've had such dramatic moments in that history. Back in the day, I would have known it all - as a teenager utterly obsessed with music, I knew every detail of my favourite rock stars' lives. Basically because I wanted to be part of their lives! Nowadays, I know a lot more about their music than their personal lives. I suppose that's healthier, right? Anyway...from this read I have gathered that, in spite of all he's gone through with his various bands, there's one thing Dave Grohl hasn't lost: his utter enthusiasm for life, for music, etc. This guy's gotta be just a little bit ADD, surely? ;)

I loved how the book ended, with that scene with Dave, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic revisiting some "mouldy oldies". Oh, what I would have given to be in or near that room while that particular jam session was going on! Anyway, in conclusion this is a great read for anyone who's enthusiastic about music in general. Not just Dave Grohl. But it does help if you're interested in his story! And yes, Kurt is mentioned a lot. For other people, apparently this was a problem, but for me, who hasn't read any Nirvana or Kurt biographies (or hardly any biographies at all, really), it wasn't a bother at all. Even if it did remind me how sad the whole damn thing was.

R.I.P. Kurt, and long live Dave Grohl!

Weekly goals update, and some music

Some dot points, to start:

• With my goals this week, I've focused largely on revision, in order to try and catch up with NaNoEdMo. As a result, I've pulled really far ahead with my WIP revision, as you can see on my "task chart".
• My current WIP word count is 130,132, down from a ludicrous starting figure of about 146k. I'm finding it easy to cut out words (and by "words" I tend to mean "fluff I don't need in the least"), which this novel desperately needs. So I'm content with that.
• Many people would see this particular WIP revision as a bit of a time waster, since I'm not even sure I will ever try getting this thing published. But I'm not really doing it for that purpose; rather I'm doing it to tick an item off my very long creative to-do list.
• In just under a week's time, I leave for Paris and the U.K. and I'll be gone about a month. I will be updating during that time, mostly for the A-Z Challenge which is being pre-written and scheduled. But I'm not sure how much impromptu blog posting I'll get done.
• I haven't kept up very well with commenting on your blogs lately, but I fully intend to get better at that...starting tomorrow! Thank you for all your comments lately.
• I'm going to go and watch a bit of a movie after posting this. I will also enjoy an icy cold bottle of water (we're in the midst of a heat wave here at present, and I've never been a fan of those).

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In other news, since it's Sunday (Session #9) I'm going to share with you the music I've listened to most in the past week. The songs on the list this week are:

• Foo Fighters, "Headwires"- one of my all-time favourite Foo songs and definitely a favourite from the There Is Nothing Left To Lose album.
• Boston, "More Than A Feeling" - timeless classic, what more need a girl say?
• Goo Goo Dolls, "Lazy Eye" - I'm not familiar with many Goo Goo Dolls songs, but I really love this one! I believe it's from a Batman soundtrack or something. I could find out more but I'm too lazy right now.
• The Cult, "Fire Woman" - yet more Cult, but I'm not sure one can ever have enough! This is a song that grew slowly on me. I now love it to bits.
• Roxy Music, "All I Want Is You" - this isn't a particular favourite out of all the songs I could've chosen by these guys, but oh well, it turned up!
• Zwan, "Glorious (Live)" - love this song, despite the fact that there's only a live version released so far!