I've always loved reading, and I've always been happy to share my books with others. But borrowing from me comes with a set of rules:
I've been this way since I was about ten (if not younger). No, I'm not kidding. Yes, I was serious about the sanctity of paperback spines even as a kid. It happened after I looked closely at an uncle's bookshelf and noticed that the books were in mint condition even though he'd read them all.
Now there are some people who have this idea that "books should look like they've been read/ used". On the surface, this seems fine to me, since a book I've picked up looks the same after I've read it. I mean, all these books look read to me:
Needed an excuse to put up a photo of the loveliest library I've ever been in.
But what these monsters mean is that books need to look like they've been mutilated and have gone through some kind of hell. What a ridiculous notion!
One of the best things about Jess from Gilmore Girls (besides the fact that he's played by Milo Ventimiglia) is that he reads. Unfortunately, he seems to be on Team "Used"Books. He rolls up books to carry in his pocket. He creases the spines. He even writes in other people's books.
Come on, that's not how you're supposed to hold a book!!
Get a notebook! I didn't even make notes in my nicer textbooks in school. Sure, I drew all over my Little Miss Plump, but I was a wee kid and any blank space was a canvas.
I wonder if this ridiculous notion applies to other things they use. I always get a few kicks out of imagining these people mishandling their preciousss cellphones.
Does this look used enough? Why don't you chip the edges a little more and throw it into a bucket of water so it looks more used?
Please handle books with some respect, people. Don't scribble, tear, stretch, fold, add saliva, and so on. And please, PLEASE don't do this:
You don't even need a bookmark; just use any smallish object with a flat surface, like a cellphone.
You can have your book (in a decent state) and read it too. It's really not that hard.
Over the years, the general level of animosity towards espresso seems to have greatly diminished. It's still very much present, but I don't have these (previously very common) exchanges in cafes any more:
I've really downplayed the average conversation length and waiter's confusion.
And after all that, this is how it was served:
I always drank the milk separately. I mean, you may not want it in your coffee, but if they're giving you milk, you might as well drink it.
Maybe one of the reasons I don't have to deal with all that now is because I don't order coffee at a cafe/restaurant any more. I just buy ground beans and make it at home, as strong as I like. None of that milk, sugar, and whipped cream nonsense.
Why I love Gilmore Girls Reason #2: They really get coffee.
Contrary to what some of my friends may think, there's more than just one reason why I love GG.
They seem to be making something close enough in coffee shops. One of my friends showed me this new coffee that sounds delicious and apparently isn't sold in a large cup because it's so strong. Look!
Now I do know a couple of people who make good strong coffee, but I've come to accept that when most people say "strong", it's usually what I'd categorize as weaker than average.
So when I have coffee made by someone else, it's pretty awkward when they ask me how it is. Sometimes I get away with a cheerful "it's coffee!" and a huge smile (before gulping it down so I don't have to suffer through it too long). But there are some who just have to keep asking.
*People must either think I'm bluffing or not understand how strong decoction can be
Then I watch their eyes grow wider in horror as I keep saying "maybe just a little more" until I stop because I don't want them to have a heart attack. And of course my coffee is still only almost-average strength.
Here's a relatively recent instance when I was particularly frustrated but couldn't say anything because this lady was so sweet:
She then added the decoction with a tiny coffee spoon, so after a few spoons, I had to say
when what I really wanted to say was:
And lastly, here are some words of wisdom from a 7-year-old student of mine: "If you drink coffee, then your brain goes mad". She's not entirely wrong.
Tea is for calm. Coffee is for crazy.
P.S. - Why I love Gilmore Girls: Reason #1, in case you're wondering:
"Really? You seriously thought you could write about Gilmore Girls without mentioning me?"
"I dare you to try again."
Fine, whatever. Milo Ventimiglia is awesome. I've not even watched any of the GG episodes he isn't in. And yes, he's a lot older now and looks different, but he's still hot. In fact, I'm about to go watch him on Ellen's show in a few minutes, so bye!
A few years ago, I'd put up a post about how much I disliked Twitter. For those of you who won't read it, which I'm assuming is most of you, especially now that I'm giving you this shortcut, these were my main reasons for the anti-Twitter rampage:
It was difficult to use and also sort of pointless.
It showed me lots of random posts by people doing mundane stuff.
It didn't allow for adequate expression due to the character limit, which in turn resulted in people tweeting multiple times an hour, which again leads to my previous point.
Every time I replied to someone, it showed up as a new tweet.
After trying it out for a while, I decided it wasn't for me and simply stopped using it.
Then, over these summer holidays, I watched Heroes for the first time (yes, I'm many years behind on lots of TV shows. I only just started watching Buffy recently, after finishing Heroes). I loved the show and wanted to find out where else I could see Milo Ventimiglia and Zachary Quinto. I figured I could also follow them on facebook, but Milo doesn't seem to have a facebook page (although there is a fan page with at least a couple of creepily obsessive fans).
After a few moments of perplexity over what to do next, I remembered this little thing called Twitter, and it turned out that he was on it. So I decided to give the site another chance, and I'm glad I did.
Ventimiglia tweets often enough to keep things interesting but not so much that it gets annoying.
Also, get this: he actually replies! Especially when he's on a flight, apparently. There was this one time he was my entire news feed because he was replying to tweets for about 5 hours straight. Not that any of his followers were complaining, I'm sure. I mean, seriously, replying to so many people instead of taking a nap or something - how very nice of him!
Stephen Amell and Neil Gaiman also use Twitter
We all know Neil Gaiman's got a wonderful way with words. His tweets are funny and entertaining, and since he's Gaiman, even when you see promotional tweets, you're not thinking "Oh god, stop!" Instead, you're probably thanking him for gracing you with information like where you can get signed copies of his books and so on.
Stephen Amell is someone I started following on facebook after watching Arrow, and while I didn't expect him to be exactly like the character he plays, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how funny he is. Recently, I saw that he posts more often on Twitter. One more reason for me to not give up on this site.
The 140 character limit is actually rather fun
Of all the annoying traits Twitter possesses, this one was initially at the top of my list. However, with all the precis writing in school and flash fiction in college, I decided I was more than capable of turning it into a sort of challenge.
Oh wait, to Barney, the challenge would have been to use more than 140 characters. Hmm, I really didn't think that one through. Ah, whatever. Those pictures are staying right there.
This reminds me of how funny NPH's first few tweets were. Before he understood the character limit, sentences would just stop abruptly, often mid-word, if I remember right. I'd like to put up screenshots, but there's no way I'm scrolling to the very beginning of his page (especially with my aggravatingly slow internet).
Coming back to what I was saying before the NPH distraction, I swore to always use exactly 140 characters to make the most of every post. Even if I really didn't need to. I discovered it was fun and not so hard to do. Also, when I'd done it the first few times, no one seemed to care, and for a while I'd slipped into using fewer characters than I could (gasp!)
But then I reminded myself that no one really cares what you do on twitter most of the time unless you're famous, and that there was one person who cared about sticking it to the character limit: me.
I've learnt that a 140 character tweet is called a twoosh. And that's the last time I'm using that word because it sounds incredibly stupid. Way stupider than "tweet".
Quick scrolling
Since there's a character limit, even though people tweet often, posts are really short. This means you can quickly scroll down without wasting time on uninteresting things. I don't follow too many people, so a few seconds of scrolling shows me the entire day's new tweets.
#Hashtags
Some hashtags are pretty crazy, and it's a lot of fun to see the different wacky things people have to say about them. #foodafilm and #dressamovie were a couple I really liked. Okay, they were the only ones I bothered to look at, but the point is, they were fun.
That being said, some people really need to stop using hashtags with every other word. Unless it's in a parody like the one with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake:
#funnyvideo #LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
So, those are all the reasons why, although my problems with Twitter haven't disappeared and are still quite valid, I've reversed my general opinion of the site. I rather like it now.
Also, did I mention that Milo Ventimiglia uses Twitter and replies to lots of messages?
