Thursday 13

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂    

 

Some things from my world recently (in no particular order):

1. In addition to my writing class at work, I began another class in May on Trivia. My first topic was Fast Food. And at the end of June, I did some July 4th trivia, a week early since we're closed for the holiday. My next one is on the 18th and I'm still deciding on a topic.
2. Speaking of my writing class, I got a new writing kit. I'd been deciding for some time whether to get this one. I first saw it on Amazon several years ago, but I also saw it at a local cafe which also carries books. The cafe is only open on certain days of the week. I'd debated whether or not to get this one, having read some of the reviews on Amazon. But the kit remained at the cafe each time I went to look, and when I took some cans and bottles to be recycled last month, I decided to go and buy the kit with the money received. I have used it once for my class so far (No writing class this month because of the holiday last week). This is the kit.
3. And on the subject of Amazon, I have not bought a single thing on there this year so far. I was told to boycott the site as well as Target, but these are the only places I've been able to buy my printer ink without going out of town. I needed the ink so I got some at Target. The shelf where they keep printer ink was virtually empty, with only one of the kind for my printer. (I don't have Amazon Prime, BTW).
4. Our group at work is going on a beach trip next Wednesday. This should be fun. I'll let you know how it goes.
5. I stayed away from the Motorcycle Rally last weekend in my hometown. It returned after nearly a decade. I'd walked down to some of these in the past, but they always seem the same to me. 
6. No fireworks for me, but plenty of people on my street set them off. And in my town, people are often setting off fireworks before and after the holiday. That gets annoying!
7. The weather in my area hasn't been particularly hot, compared to a year ago around this time.  Though that's expected to change in a day or so.
8. It's been a year since I attempted writing something. I have not finished it or even gotten back. I really need to try or even begin something new.
9. As I posted out last Monday, we had a decades prom party at work on the last day of June. Out first such party in a while.
10. As I pointed out, I attend the "No Kings" protest held last month in front of our Safeway. I uploaded the video I took to Youtube and have received one comment so far.
11. Still trying to complete some of the reading challenges I'm doing this year. Some only have one or two books left, and I have already decided what to read for some of those categories. I just don't know when I'll get to them. And there is one I have not decided on.
12. The Rite Aid in my town closed last month. A day after the protest, I went in to see what was available and found a jar of Noxzema for half-off. On one of the days that followed, everything was 90% off, but the remaining merchandise was slim pickings, as things tend to be when a store like this closes. This was so the case when Kmart closed five years ago, just before the pandemic shutdown.
13. And on the subject of Kmart, the building is still empty, save for the Halloween store that was housed there last fall. I'm now hoping the store will return this year, now that there are two possible locations, two blocks apart. 

Happy July 4th!

Some old and new ones. 

July Bookish Bingo

The annual emoji-themed card for July is here.  

 

 

My Books:

1. Summer Island--Kristin Hannah (6 squares): Started Last Month But Did Not Finish (started on June 28 and finished on July 1), Library Book, Forbidden Love, Airplane, Shock/Fright, Book Club
2. Sonnets From the Portuguese--Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 square): Audiobook
3. Before I Let Go--Marieke Nijkamp (3 squares): E-Book, Not in a Series, Eyeroll
4. Don't Read the Comments--Eric Smith (4 squares): Physical Book, Free Space, Red/White/Blue on Cover, LOL
5. Sinister Sprinkles--Jessica Beck (3 squares): Shelf Love, Food on the Cover, In a Series
6. Ninth House--Leigh Bardugo (2 squares): Action/Thriller, Time Travel
7. Whiskers in the Dark--Rita Mae Brown ( square): Pet/Animal

Decades Prom Party

This was today at work. Each of us dressed as a different decade. I chose the 1950s. Here are some of the photos.

Mid-Year Reading Progress

 

Around this time of the year, I make a mid-year post on my reading progress so far. While reviewing my progress, I noticed something different this year. In past years, I found myself having read more than 100 books by this point. This year, however, I have yet to reach 100 books as of yet. I don't know how it happened, but I guess things slow down sometimes. This despite reading some picture books, short e-books and audiobooks, as well as a play recently completed in one day. I need two more to reach 100. I was considering postponing this post until I reached that many. But since I usually do this post at the end of June, habit forced me to do so again. 

And as for my year-long reading challenges, I have only completed two so far, both during this month:

Alphabet Soup Authors

Finding authors beginning U and X proved the hardest. For X, I chose one who has X as a middle initial, since the letter can be in any part of the author's name (first, middle or last). I usually go by last names. The one I chose for U was taking me a while to get from the library, as it is on the bookmobile. 

RAD

This only has nine categories, and I completed the last one I needed just last week. I struggled to find a work of fan fiction. 

Aad there are some challenges for which I am one or two books short of completing. I have one left on the Color Coded challenge, for which I have something in mind. "Other color" is often hard to decide on.  And only one left for What's in a Name? Still uncertain what to pick for the "Crime" category. Two left on Unabridged. Deciding what to re-read is often difficult, Speaking of which, I got the prompt "Re-read a childhood favorite" twice this year. As each year goes by, I struggle to remember what I read at that age, and many that come to mind I had read many times already during that time. For this one, I tweaked the rules bit by reading a book from a series I liked reading then. I was unsure if I'd read this one when it came out,  but since it was from a favorite series of that time, I felt it should count.  And as for as the Alphabet Soup Titles, U and X were also hard. I just completed a title for U and have only X left, though I do have something planned, with the X in the title. As always, X is tricky for any sort of challenge (like the A to Z Blogging). I almost always have to find something that has an X somewhere in the name or title. 

Thursday 13: More Stuff From Around the Internet

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂    

Thursday 13

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂    

Here are some things I found on the Internet this past week, some from others' blogs.