float_on_alright | Even less edited than usual, sorry. I can’t see my screen properly at the moment. (Reply)

I brought my ipad down to the pool area that over looks the beach and the water in order to write for a bit in the sunshine and the breeze. It’s gorgeous weather. Not fully spring and definitely not summer, but still beautiful. It may get rainy this weekend, but today it’s supposed to stay really nice which is why I want to soak up as. Much of the sunshine as I possible can. The only problem with things at the moment is that the sun shine is a little too instense for me to be able to see my iPad screen, even when it’s at it’s brightest level which I’m sure is also going to drain the battery pretty quickly. I’m wondering if maybe I turned my chair,or picked one that was facing in a slightly different direction if I would have more luck. It might work, but that also means getting up and moving, which I’m not particularly motivated to do at the moment, I also have my Kindle with me as well as my phone and ear buds which means I could be reading or listening to a book instead of trying to write anything. I really do want to get some writing done. I want to reach my goal for the year and I can’t do that if I’m slacking as early as the third month of the year.

I shouldn’t say that I’ve been slacking though, really. I should stop beating myself up about things like this. I’ve been working hard at work, learning a lot of new things and trying out new programs, I’ve been exercising regularly and getting up early or staying up late in order to get it in between working and attempting to do the occasional fun thing like going to the Harry Potter Club while still writing regularly. So I really haven’t been “slacking,” even if I haven’t gotten quite where I wanted to be writing goal wise. I am behind on getting to an average of 600 words a day for the month, but I think I’m still averaging a little over 500 words a day and that’s pretty good considering.

I told myself I wouldn’t set a reading goal this year, that I wouldn’t make reading into some sort of chore by making it so that I have to read as much as some of the other people in the world that read more than me on average. I don’t know why I feel like I can’t say I’m someone who reads a lot if I have a couple of people in my life who read more pages a year than me. I read a lot. Period. Full stop. I don’t need to add, “well, not as much as Maeve or Jeff, but still a lot.” I’m averaging close to 200 pages a day, but even if I am averaging 50 pages a day, I can still say I read a lot.

I know part of it is also that I feel like I’ll never get to read all the books I want to read and I feel like I’m supposed to read the books that everyone else is saying are amazing to feel like I’m a proper librarian or whatever, but that’s bullshit too. I get to read whatever I want to read and no one else gets to shame me for not reading all the current, outrageously popular books. I don’t begrudge any book it’s popularity or the fervor with which some people talk about their obsession with those books. I love it. Any time a book is celebrated and obsessed over by our culture, I consider it a win. Books have to fight too hard to be popular over television, movies, music, and video games for me to ever be upset about people being excited to read something.

I need to take a quick aside to say that there is a lady talking really loudly on on her cellphone just a couple of seats from me and I shouldn’t care, but it’s pissing me off. I came out here to enjoy the breeze and the sound of the ocean, why do you have to sit near me when there are 100 other empty chairs out here and talk on your cell phone? Ugh. It’s annoying and distracting me. Not like I’m Hemingway or creating the next great American novel, but honestly, can you go somewhere else where people aren’t trying to enjoy the pool and the beach to have your cellphone conversation? It’s just rude.

Oh good, I think she’s off now.

Well, that completely derailed my concentration and my brain. Maybe I’ll pick up the rest of this later. I think I’ll read for a bit.