misc blather
Oct. 9th, 2017 03:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyTaking a few minutes to look around and figure out where the holes are in my Halloween lighting. The door's wreath needs a strand there (which would explain why I thought I had an extra strand and was so confused), the bar area definitely needs my little bat strand at least as a trial... and I wish I could find a place to utilize the green witchy lights. *muse* Otherwise I think I actually kind of nailed it so far. The lights I snagged on clearance from work at the end of the summer (... I say like it doesn't feel like summer outside right now.) are actually pretty good. They flicker pretty realistically and they're warm, not cool, which I feel works better for Halloween.
Today I need to clean off the bar which means I will spend the day reading magazines. Too bad I ate my popcorn already or I'd just loaf around doing that.
Instead I loafed around yesterday (Sunday) and read Tenney's new book. I will say that as a whole, her series consistently managed to read my mind and head me off at the pass. I started the Christmas book and nearly rolled my eyes out of my head at the thought of little Tenney out on a music tour and the book then went, "No, no, we know. She's like really young and can't miss school so we'll schedule it during her Christmas break and we'll make everything that could go wrong... go wrong."
In fact, my only real issue with the book is that Tenney basically keeps making the same mistake. Over. And over. AND OVER. Things go well in the band and then Logan isn't on the exact same page as she is (hell, this time she even got warning about WHY he wouldn't be) and things go sideways. Tenney alternates between blowing things up and icing him out, because she feels he's done the same to her and, well... drama ensues.
This is book four. We've pretty much done this dance in every single book. This book starts off with the knowledge that a lot of Logan's issues are tied to his father having been on tour for pretty much, what, a year at this point? So the idea of going on a mini tour and leaving his little brother, just like their dad already left them, bothers Logan. You can really tell when they're leaving and his little brother does not react well. And not once does Tenney connect the dots... even though her goal at the start of the book is to do something really nice for Logan since Christmas won't necessarily be a super jolly time for him or his family. Head, desk, I believe you are well acquainted at this point.
On the flipside, Logan basically never seems to get off his phone the entire damn tour. At the end you find out that most of that is because his little brother is freaking out with him gone but still, it's a bit much and does explain a little bit of Tenney's huff and puff about him.
Points are awarded for not having Tenney be more than wistful about missing out on her usual Jaya holiday traditions being co-opted by Holliday (is that her name? I'm still not fully awake) and extra bonus points are handed out for having Logan's biggest problem with the tour being the realization that his Dad has likely had really crappy tours just like theirs and still he stays away. And Logan is thrown by this because before they went on tour, he was sure that at least his Dad was out having the best time ever and that's why he had to stay away. Nope.
I enjoyed it, but the breakdown in communication between Logan and Tenney is pretty much a given at this point and while realistic given their ages, it's still vexing to read for the fourth go round.
Mums ordered pizza for dinner last night. I gather hers was delicious. Mine was, at best, meh. :/ The cheesesticks were excellent, however. Alas, the pizza did not improve much with reheating. Sometimes they do.
Haven't been able to sleep for more than two hours at a time, which is weird. Mebbe I shall try a nap again.
Today I need to clean off the bar which means I will spend the day reading magazines. Too bad I ate my popcorn already or I'd just loaf around doing that.
Instead I loafed around yesterday (Sunday) and read Tenney's new book. I will say that as a whole, her series consistently managed to read my mind and head me off at the pass. I started the Christmas book and nearly rolled my eyes out of my head at the thought of little Tenney out on a music tour and the book then went, "No, no, we know. She's like really young and can't miss school so we'll schedule it during her Christmas break and we'll make everything that could go wrong... go wrong."
In fact, my only real issue with the book is that Tenney basically keeps making the same mistake. Over. And over. AND OVER. Things go well in the band and then Logan isn't on the exact same page as she is (hell, this time she even got warning about WHY he wouldn't be) and things go sideways. Tenney alternates between blowing things up and icing him out, because she feels he's done the same to her and, well... drama ensues.
This is book four. We've pretty much done this dance in every single book. This book starts off with the knowledge that a lot of Logan's issues are tied to his father having been on tour for pretty much, what, a year at this point? So the idea of going on a mini tour and leaving his little brother, just like their dad already left them, bothers Logan. You can really tell when they're leaving and his little brother does not react well. And not once does Tenney connect the dots... even though her goal at the start of the book is to do something really nice for Logan since Christmas won't necessarily be a super jolly time for him or his family. Head, desk, I believe you are well acquainted at this point.
On the flipside, Logan basically never seems to get off his phone the entire damn tour. At the end you find out that most of that is because his little brother is freaking out with him gone but still, it's a bit much and does explain a little bit of Tenney's huff and puff about him.
Points are awarded for not having Tenney be more than wistful about missing out on her usual Jaya holiday traditions being co-opted by Holliday (is that her name? I'm still not fully awake) and extra bonus points are handed out for having Logan's biggest problem with the tour being the realization that his Dad has likely had really crappy tours just like theirs and still he stays away. And Logan is thrown by this because before they went on tour, he was sure that at least his Dad was out having the best time ever and that's why he had to stay away. Nope.
I enjoyed it, but the breakdown in communication between Logan and Tenney is pretty much a given at this point and while realistic given their ages, it's still vexing to read for the fourth go round.
Mums ordered pizza for dinner last night. I gather hers was delicious. Mine was, at best, meh. :/ The cheesesticks were excellent, however. Alas, the pizza did not improve much with reheating. Sometimes they do.
Haven't been able to sleep for more than two hours at a time, which is weird. Mebbe I shall try a nap again.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-10-16 02:15 am (UTC)These Tenney stories sound like they'd work better with a slightly older cast, because who believes a 12-year-old really goes on tour, even if it is during Christmas holidays? (And wow, that is really shitty - holidays are supposed to be fun and family, not work!)
Re: pizza - I've been having good (reheating) luck with DiGiorno. I got a cheese stuffed crust pizza one week when it was on sale, and wow! It really does reheat well, provided you get it hot enough for the cheese to re-melt. I got one yesterday as a reward to myself for running all around creation on my day off, LOL.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-10-16 02:33 am (UTC)Hrmm. I might have to try that pizza. I do like their small pizzas though I haven't really loved their larger ones, but I've never tried the stuffed crust one.
And yes, apparently it is too much to ask on the boring predictable books. Far too much to ask. Or, if it's not predictable, it's because something comes out of left field and never makes any sort of sense no matter how you tilt your head and try to figure it out.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-10-16 02:40 am (UTC)I'm reading an anthology of short stories as a palate cleanser from that awful book, and wow, is the contrast sharp between good writing and bad when it's right up against each other. I've read 3 of the 4 stories, and two of them have been really really good and one has been absolutely awful. Granted, I already like the two authors whose stories were good, and I'd never tried anything by he one who's story sucked, so maybe there was some bias there, I dunno. I'm looking forward to the last one because it's another new-to-me author, and I need a "new" romance writer I can trust (this anthology was published in 2004, LOL, so all of the authors have plenty of backlists to peruse!).
(no subject)
Date: 2017-10-16 02:50 am (UTC)I hope the last story in your book is awesome so you have a new writer to hunt down and read. :D