06-03-07 @ 2:10 pm EDT

Update on the last entry: The thread in question has yet to be locked, and the original poster (the one who rebuked me) has also been back and posting in it, yet not in response to me, so I have just one thing to say: INCORRECT MUCH? Ass.

Plus somebody who I wanted to befriend but who proved to be a big whiny self-centered spoiled brat posted a journal entry lamenting how "it's come to her attention" that people don't like that she's branching out in her art and not doing as much fan art as she used to, and she bitched at the other popular art on the site, which is rather silly seeing as she regularly gets hundreds of faves within HOURS of posting and has probably the most pageviews on the site. Cripes, I only FOUND her because she has scads of artworks in the most popular section. "It's come to her attention"? How? By the fact that her latest artworks haven't topped 1000 faves like they usually do? I saved the entry because yes, it amused me, and I had a gut feeling (more like, based on experience) it'd be gone soon. And wouldn't you know it, after she'd gotten her fill of affirmations from her hundreds of fans, she deleted it. She always does that when she throws a fit in her journal, deletes it to cover up the evidence that she's so insecure despite the fact that she has THOUSANDS OF FANS (no exaggeration). Yeah, I'm an affirmation-whore myself, and I whine in my journal, but I don't go deleting my entries just because I find them embarrassing later on. And I'd certainly not start wailing just because my latest piece of art got only 300 faves, boo-hoo. *roll eyes*

/end bitchy-pissy part

Anyway...yesterday was Saturday. o_o Obviously... I didn't sleep. I almost did but plans changed. Ma was supposed to get out of work around two PM and we'd get shopping over with and I'd get home and go to bed. So early yesterday afternoon while waiting for her I pulled out the phone book and got the number for the local bookstore and called them.

"Log Mark Bookstore, how can I help you?"

"Hi, can you tell me if you have a certain book in stock?"

"I can try!"

"Okay, the book is the Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman?"

"Hmmm..." Pause. "Might have to look by author name..."

*just realizing my mistake* "It's actually His Dark Materials trilogy, sorry."

"Ah, okay...um...we do have an omnibus edition."

"So that's in stock right now?"

"Yes, it is."

"Could you please hold on to that and I can stop by later on today to pick it up?"

"Of course, what's your name?"

"Rachel H."

"All right, I'll set that aside for you."

"Thank you."

Then I hung up and paced around the house and fidgeted for a good five minutes or so, shaking like a leaf and mentally slapping myself for getting the name of the trilogy wrong. >_<;;;

Then Ma calls and says she's busy and won't be getting out of work at two after all, I may as well just go to bed and we'll go shopping later that night. >_< I hung up and turned to Dad and said, "Could you drive me to the bookstore?"

Once there, I slip inside, trying not to be too conspicuous, as I don't want the clerk asking if I'm Rachel H. just yet because I want to browse a bit. Nothing interesting in the Michigan section. Do they have that other book by Michael Scott Rohan, that goes along with his Winter Of The World trilogy which I already own and plan to read someday? Nope, I see nothing anywhere by a Rohan. Too bad. I do see the single editions of the books in the His Dark Materials trilogy. Long ago I bought The Golden Compass, unaware that it was part of a series, and it's long miffed me that I didn't have the others; I looked for them on eBay stores but thought I may as well try the local bookstore before dealing with that hassle, some sellers are just so irritating. Lately I've just felt like reading a lot, and even though it's not like I have tons of time, or am short on things to read, still, I want to read more original fantasies that are really good. I just don't care for Tolkien or Rowling. :/ And I don't really care for those modern comedic fantasies like Gaiman writes. But last time I was in Traverse City I bought Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on a whim--mainly because it wasn't in a series like 95% of other fantasy books--and finally started reading it, and it's REALLY GOOD. ! Color me surprised. The dry humor in it is just really funny. Anyway, I realized that I do like fantasy set in relatively modern times, and ordinary places, I just like it when it's really ORIGINAL or does something in an unusual way. I did read the blurbs for The Golden Compass and it looked really unusual for a fantasy, so I decided to get that trilogy.

I briefly browsed the fantasy section and saw the other books, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, in various editions of different sizes; why do things like that bug me so much? I recently bought Inkheart and Inkspell (yeah...ANOTHER unfinished trilogy), even though I didn't really care for that writer's book about the dragon (can't recall the title right now :/ ), and one is softcover and one is hard...that really bugs me. I guess I like all my books in a series looking alike. Lots of other nice-looking fantasy books but like I said, 95% are in series and there's no guarantee I could ever get each one, plus there's no telling if it'll be a good story or if it'll be some Harry Potter or LOTR ripoff. (I swear, once the Harry Potter books came out, and Artemis Fowl and the Lemony Snicket stuff, on the shelves I started seeing SLEWS of books by nobodies about boy wizards and people with weird names...disgusting. Rowling's coattails must need a really good washing by now, they're dirtied with scads of footprints.)

Yes, I do own all the HP books--in softcover because it's cheaper--so far, AND the LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit, and the omnibus edition of the Narnia books. But aside from reading the first of each series, I haven't been bored enough to read the rest. I just don't get the hype. *shrug*

So anyway...I don't find any other intriguing fantasy books, but in the magazines I do find Traverse, and in the bargain books section I find The Oxford Book Of Dreams or something like that, and while it doesn't look as terribly interesting as other such books I thought, why not, it's a bargain book and it's not like I come here all the time. That was it since Dad was still waiting. I went to the counter, told the clerk my name, and she pulled out this honking big softcover with a girl and a polar bear on the front, I paid for my purchases, we thanked each other, the end.

Then as soon as I got into bed, Ma came home, so I got back up and we went shopping and I didn't bother sleeping. _-_

Oh yeah. I also ordered my own food at Arby's, mostly because it's irritating having to whisper to Ma ten times, "NO special sauce, NO onion bun"...yuck.

So that was my grand accomplishment yesterday, the end.

I started typing up an entry about my writing yesterday too but didn't finish, typical, maybe I'll get to that another time. Just thought I'd brag about the grandiosity that is me ordering a book to be put on hold and then paying for it in person, har har.

In this omnibus edition there are these little out-of-place scenes that Pullman calls "lantern slides"--just little scenes that didn't fit into the stories. What a cool idea.

In personal news I've just gotten started on Dragon 6 out of 9 (see my DA journal), have finished the rewrite of Lucifer, Chapter 3, and have finished proofing EFMI:60. I think maybe I'll put the list of these projects in progress on my LJ or something too, makes me feel like I'm actually doing something when I update it, even if it's just silly little things like drawing a series of dragons or proofreading a chapter. *shrug*

Okay, THE END.

(Recommendations of good fantasy books are always welcome BTW. THE END!!)