Vacation Part Two, Utah

This is a continuation of yesterday's post about my vacation in the US.

So Utah was an interesting place to be after such a long time. I visited last year, before leaving for Korea, and coming back was almost like coming home. The first day, however, I experienced one of the most frustrating thing I think I've ever been through.

We were staying at my Aunt's house, in one valley, and I wanted to spend time with my friends in another valley, which meant I would have to have transportation. So, I went to the nearest Enterprise Rent-A-Car that morning. To my surprise, they didn't have any cars available until the next day, after the times I needed it. So I walked back to my Aunt's in the heat (it was gross) and talked with my Dad about it. We made a reservation for a car at the airport, then Dad and Mom drove and dropped me off there.

So I started going through the process of getting this car, when the woman at the counter discovered that I had a debit card, not a credit card. She then proceeded to tell me that because I was under 25 and didn't have a credit card, she couldn't rent me the car. I was dumbstruck, because I have been renting cars with a debit card since I was 22 (with my military ID), without any problem. I thanked her for her time and walked around to another rental desk. The next two rentals didn't have cars available at all, because apparently weekdays are busy for rents. I never would have guessed. One place had an SUV, but that required I actually be 25, with or without my military ID. I went to every single desk, and was stunned at how rude some of the places were when they told me they had no cars.

Finally, I found a place that had a car and was willing to run my debit card. I stood at the desk for a good fifteen minutes while the woman went through the process of getting everything set up, and she was super nice, and the two women working at that desk tried to set me up with the other guy getting a car. Then, alas, the woman ran a credit check (apparently required with a debit card) and since I have zero credit because I don't do things to get credit, then it was declined. Le sigh. At this point I had been trying to get a car for an hour.

The woman at this last desk must have felt bad, because she called another, off-site company that would take my debit card without a credit check, and I got picked up by one of their drivers and taken to their office. I then proceeded to spend way too much on a way old car with mileage limitations (which I didn't know was still a thing). But I had a car! I could drive places! I could be an adult!

That evening I drove down to the other valley to visit my high school best friend, Cheez. She's an awesome person, and I had such a good time seeing her again. I only get to see her about once a year now, and it's more than a little sad, because I would love to spend more time with her. She's like my little sister.

The next morning I drove back down to the valley to meet up with my other best friend, Balgram. I've known her for more than ten years now (hard to believe it's been that long) and if I'm being honest with myself, she's the starting point for everything great in my life. It was through her I discovered Japanese stuff, and it was through Japanese stuff that I found K-Pop, so when I talk about K-Pop too much, just blame here. (Love you!) I wish we could spend more time together. She's like my big sister. (I see a pattern here...)

That afternoon my new Marine brother, PWT, said his goodbyes and left for Idaho to pick up his truck before heading back to California for more training. After saying goodbye, I went and returned the rental car (I will never ever buy a Grand Prix. I did not like that car.)

That same day was my youngest brother, DHT's birthday. He turned 16 (!) and to celebrate we went and saw X-Men: Days of Future Past as a family. It was a great movie, and immediately after watching it I wanted to see it again. That's always a good sign.

We were going to leave the next day, but instead we decided to stay one more day to rest up before the main road trip started. It was a nice relaxing day, hanging out with my Aunt and Mom, just us girls. We went to a big outdoor mall in downtown Salt Lake City, I spent too much on a phone case for my US phone, then we went and visited an elderly relative and a cousin living nearby. It was great to see them, and it was great to just be together, and do things together. I miss doing things with people...

Then, we packed everything back up, including all the stuff the family had left in Utah before going to California, and we were off on our Magical Family Roadtrip Adventure. Which will be another post.

Thanks for reading!

Vacation, Part One - Seattle, California

So you might have noticed, I've been a little absent on here. This is mainly because I was on vacation and had an annoying lack of internet access. But I'm back now, and I think it's about time I spill all my exploits from vacation. This is going to be cut up into several parts, because it was a long vacation and a lot of things happened.

My leave started May 26th, but because of paperwork issues (and I thought of this in advance) I didn't leave until the 27th (Tuesday). So I just had an extra day off, which I used to pack and relax. Then, Tuesday morning I ran around at a frantic pace calmly getting a bunch of things done that had to be finished before I could leave. Breakfast with a good friend was had, shots in the arm were received, and paperwork was printed off (I had to have approved Leave paperwork before I could leave the country.)

I eventually got a later start leaving base than I liked. But after a bus ride, then a subway ride, and an express train ride (that was super comfortable, quiet, empty, and wonderful) I made it to the airport with time to spare. Then there was a 10 hour flight from Seoul to San Francisco. I unfortunately didn't have a window seat. I normally try to get window seats, because I like being able to look out the window and I would much rather only be sitting by one stranger, rather than between two. But, alas, I was in the middle, between an older Korean woman (who smelled) and a young Korean man (who was adorable, and really tall, and a bit forgetful when we went through security to get to connecting flights.)

After that flight it was just a quick hop from San Fran to Seattle, and then I got a nice rental car before driving to my nice hotel. I felt yucky from all the travel, I was tired from all the lack of sleep, (I normally stay up 24h to eliminate jetlag)  but I was super excited to be back in the States, and particularly in Seattle, which I'd never really been in before. So I showered, then drove around in Seattle for a while, just taking in the sights and reveling in all the English I could see. It was great.

I then passed out early, and woke up early, but felt too lazy to get out of bed so I watched Law & Order SVU for a few hours until I had to get ready for the day, pack up, and check out. Then I drove around Seattle again, because my next flight wasn't until late. I saw the Space Needle, almost drove into the bay, parked the car and wandered around on foot a little bit, stopped at a Barnes and Noble to pick up a few books (it's an addiction. I can't go anywhere without picking up a few books at a bookstore) and even drove through Chinatown and little.

After dropping off my rental car I got on the plane to San Diego, my last flight for a few weeks. It was another quick flight, and I had a window seat, and I read practically the whole way there. Then, my family picked me up from the airport in their packed-to-the-gills SUV and we drove to Grandpa's house. It was late, but everyone was excited to see me, I was excited to see them, and it felt great to be back with my family after so long.

We arrived at Grandpa's house, everyone helped unload the car, and there was another great reunion before I passed out in bed, well past my bedtime.

In the morning we all got up early and went back to the airport to pick up my second brother, JET, who was flying in from Nebraska, then we drove to MCRD San Diego for Family Day. I got to watch my first brother, PWT, run in Marine green, then got to see him in uniform before finally reuniting after four long years. It had been a very long time, and I was so super excited to finally get to be with him in person again.

We spent most of the day with him on base there with him, talking and listening to his stories of Marine Boot, and meeting his fellow recruits and his DIs and just having a good time. Then, too soon, it was time to return him to his barracks, and we went back to Grandpa's house.

Because there was an extra person I got kicked off the bed and onto the living room couch, but I didn't mind. That's where I had stayed when I was 11 and staying with my grandparents for a month, and it was so refreshingly cool in the living room that I got some of the best sleep I've had in a long time. My dorm room is almost constantly too hot to sleep properly, and so sleeping somewhere it's cool is amazing.

The next day we went back to MCRD for the official graduation day, and it was such a wonderful ceremony, albeit kind of long in the hot sun, and then PWT was done and he was ours again. We got his stuff and left MCRD to go have lunch at a really nice Mexican restaurant near the Mormon Battalion Museum, then we got family pictures taken (by my first cousin Jessie) before going through the Museum. After that, we rushed back to the airport to drop JET off, because he had to get back to Nebraska for work, then we went to Grandpa's house from there we just spent the rest of the weekend catching up and being together and doing fun things in San Diego.

Two important things (in my opinion) happened while we were in San Diego. Because we always do touristy things as a family, we went first to Cabrillo to see the lighthouse (again.) While there a scene popped into my head. I took a lot of pictures and video of Cabrillo, thinking about this scene that took over my brain, and later I started writing it because dang it, it was a good scene. Then, the next day we went to Balboa park, and while wandering around there we stopped at the Botanical Garden, and another scene appeared, related to the first one, and when we got back home I wrote that one too. And with these two scenes, and a character that had been in my mind for a couple weeks without a story, I began putting together a story.

We also went to the beach and rode a roller coaster, and did shopping, and went to church, and other fun things, but after that, my all-consuming everything was this story, nicknamed SD Story because I had no other name for it.

Finally, we packed everything back up and left San Diego, traveling up to Utah. It was a long drive, I got some writing and reading done, and we arrived really late before staying at my Aunt's house. And that is for another post.

Thanks for reading!

At A Loss

Note: If you are not interested in K-Pop this might not be the most interesting post to read. I apologize, but it's something important to me.

I'm at such a loss for words right now. I think I've stared at the computer screen for ten minutes trying to think of what to say. I've yelled angrily, I've throwing things, I've stomped my feet, I've even cried. I've flashed back to when a hauntingly similar even happened. I went on to Twitter today and discovered it was flooded with the news that Kris, a Chinese member of the SM Entertainment group EXO is filing a lawsuit to terminate his contract with the company. The topic has been a worldwide trend for the past two hour. (edit: still worldwide trend after twelve hours) It makes me think back on when Han Geng left Super Junior and all the mess that was, and how devastating it was.

There's honestly not a lot of information out there. There are a lot of rumors, but the only facts known are this is a real thing, and Kris won't be performing with the rest of the group while they promote for their latest single, Overdose.

The outpouring of love from EXO fans all over the world is just amazing, and not only that, other fandoms have added their voices and support. But no matter how many fans beg and plead for him not to leave, it's up to him. If there is something going on in SME that he can't endure anymore, then he needs to get out while he can. That was what happened with Super Junior and Han Geng. And with DBSK and JYJ. Both from SME. I'm seeing a horrifying trend, that really REALLY needs to change, and soon before more singers have to resort to such an extreme action.

The thing is, line-up changes are more common that you think in K-Pop. My former favorite group, U-Kiss, is going through their third lineup change right now. But still, it is always heartbreaking to see something like this happen, especially when I've become so attached to the group as a whole.

I just hope this gets resolved quickly and cleanly, whatever Kris ends up doing. Because I don't think the fans, EXO as a group, and Kris as a person would be able to get through a long drawn out mess, like what Han Geng and JYJ had to go through.

Just some thoughts I had. I can't really thinking properly enough to write something that makes sense. And I keep getting distracted by staring into space or tearing up. Such is the life of a fan...

Thanks for reading.

Future Writing Problems

I hope to someday publish fiction in the urban fantasy and young adult fantasy genres. Mainly because those are my favorite genres, but also because I feel like my writing style fits those the best. However, I realized recently that I might run into some problems trying to publish in these genres. Let me explain a little, and I'm generalizing a lot to make this point.

In most, if not all urban fantasy stories, the main male character, whether the point of view character or the love interest of the point of view character, has a certain look, a certain personality, a certain feeling; strong, protective, slightly overbearing, manly.  The UF male, sometimes called the Alpha male, usually has scruff, fills out whatever clothes he's wearing, and can take care of himself in a physical fight. A lot of times his eyes 'smolder' and he makes the UF female feel both irritated at his overbearing-ness and unable to control her lust for him.

In most, if not all young adult novels, the main male character, usually the romantic interest in what I read, also has a certain look and a certain distinction that sets him apart from all the rest; he's the teen who doesn't look like a teen, he is sometimes a bad boy, and he always falls for the main girl in a way that is totally different than any of the other many girls he's been with before. His eyes also smolder. What is with eyes smoldering?

So, now that that explanation is out of the way, here's why this is a problem. While yes, some of those things are attractive -- I'll admit, if someone looked at me with smoldering eyes I would probably melt right there -- that's not what I'm most attracted too. Sure, I get a little giddy when I'm reading, because what red-blooded woman doesn't? But over the past three years my taste in men has changed, and in corresponding with that, the male characters I write about has changed as well. And unfortunately I realized today that it has changed in such a way that I'm  not sure I'd be able to get them published. Because my taste in men is so wildly different than the majority of everyone else.

Let me illustrate: I haven't come up with a story for him yet, but I've had a male character in mind for the past few days. He doesn't have a name yet, other than the nickname Deer. He's a senior in high school, he's not short but he's not too tall either, he has thick brown hair that he usually doesn't bother too much with so it does it's own little wavy thing, he's pretty athletic, so he's lean without being gangly, and he has a bright smile and quick laugh that always lightens moods and cheers people up. But here's where it gets different than what you'd find in most fiction nowadays. He may be athletic, but he doesn't actually look it, instead he looks delicate, with small hands, a thin frame, and if people didn't know any better they would assume he was younger. And he has these wide dark brown eyes that look like doe eyes. He wouldn't ever be called gorgeous. He wouldn't ever be called hot, or even handsome. Maybe adorable, cute even, but not anything else.

And a character like that would never cut it in the cut-throat world of publishing among all the tall, dark, and handsome ones out there. Which is unfortunate, because there are men out there just like him, don't they deserve to be the hero too?

I'm probably going to keep writing characters like him and others that I have, because maybe by the time I'm ready to publish the market will have changed enough to allow him a fighting chance. I hope so.

Do you like reading about characters that are different than normal? There's a lot of minority out there that rarely, if ever, gets represented. Is there some minority that you would like to read about more?

Thanks for reading!

I Might Have Too Much Stuff

So I spent most of yesterday tidying up my room, vacuuming, dusting, etc. I always feel uneasy when my room is a mess, and since I have a dust allergy then I have to dust and vacuum pretty regularly. And I really wanted to get some writing done, but when my room is a mess then I can't get anything to come out. So yesterday I cleaned and it all looked great.

I woke up this morning and my room was a mess again. I swear, there's a goblin that haunts my room and as soon as I clean up, it comes out while I sleep and messes everything up again. It's a nightmare.

But honestly, it's because I have too much stuff and not enough places to put things. It's been like this forever. Since before I can remember. The biggest problem is I get attached to things. This picture has a memory, I will read this book someday, I'll need this thing-a-ma-jig in the future, etc. And with the limited amount of space I have right now, I just can't keep everything.

So today (Sunday) before and after church I'm going to be working on getting rid of stuff. Because until I have a tidy room, I'm not going to be able to get anything productive done. And that's the truth.

As always, thanks for reading!

My Favorite Topic

I'm going to take a quick moment to talk about my favorite topic: K-Pop. It's been a little over three years since I first discovered this wonderful music genre, and I haven't looked back one. It's become my longest running obsession, and sometimes feels like an addiction, but it's a good addiction. Like being addicted to laughing, or the sound of your lover's voice.

And there is such a wide variety in K-Pop, there's practically a song for everything. Like country music, but without the twang. I've had songs leave me crying, songs make me smile, leave me breathless, inspire stories, make me mad, and everything in between.

Today, I'm going to share with you a list of songs and artists and music videos that mean things to me. Some of them will be funny, some of them will be not so funny. But they have all become a part of who I am, and I wanted to share that with you. They are all linked to Youtube videos for your viewing and listening pleasure. Some of them have music videos, but not all of them.

The first K-Pop song I ever heard: Run Devil Run, by Girl's Generations (소녀시대)

The K-Pop song that made me fall in love with K-Pop: Ring Ding Dong, by SHINee

The K-Pop song that made me cry it was so beautiful: 내게만 일어나는 일 (Things Happen Only To Me), by 이승환 (Lee Seung Hwan) (I found this song because of a commercial. Awesome.)

The K-Pop song that always makes me grin from the first notes: B.A.B.Y, by B.A.P

The K-Pop song I bought for the feature artist: Good Boy, by 백지영 (Baek Ji Young) Featuring Junhyung from Beast

The K-Pop song that I liked better than the album single: Black Pearl, by EXO (Korean version)

The K-Pop song that I wanted to listen to the most while I was at military basic training: ManManHaNi (만만하니), by U-KISS  (Still one of my top favorites of all time)

The K-Pop song I love from an artist I don't really like: Metronome, by Jay Park (I'm torn between loving and hating the music video for this one. It borders on very inappropriate, but has some pretty cool pendulum stuff. Watch it with care.)

The K-Pop song whose singer's gorgeous deep voice doesn't match his baby face: 병이에요 (Spotless Mind), by 정준영 (Jung Joon Young) (Serious, where does that voice come from?)

The K-Pop song I love running to: Hip Song, by Rain (비)

The K-Pop song that I prefer the remix to the original: Shout Out (Synth Rock Ver.), by Royal Pirates

The K-Pop song that I always dance to: Body to Body, by ZE:A

The K-Pop song from a favorite group that because the reason they aren't my favorite anymore: 내 여자야 (She's Mine), by U-KISS (I really dislike this song... I love the group, but this song just doesn't fit with all their other music. It's too much a rap song.)

The K-Pop song that is currently my most played K-Pop song: Ringa Linga, by Taeyang of Big Bang (at number 6) (this was a surprise to me, not because it's not worth being the most played, but because I didn't realize I had listened to it that much.)

The K-Pop song that I bought because it's by a favorite actor: The Scent of Flower, by 최진혁 (Choi Jinhyuk)

The K-Pop music video that made me cry it was so heart-wrenching: Baby I'm Sorry, by MyName (Warning: A little bit violent and will make you cry)

The three K-Pop music video that have inspired the most story ideas: Rising Sun, by TVXQ, Tell Me Goodbye, by Big Bang (admittedly it's in Japanese, but it's by a Korean group so it totally counts), No. 1, by F.Cuz (pronounced Focus)

The K-Pop group that used to be my favorite: U-KISS

The K-Pop group that is my current favorite: B.A.P (for favorites, there are specific qualifiers that I look at. I'll talk about that in a different post.)

The K-Pop group that is my favorite male/female duo: Akdong Musician (Warning: this music video will make you cry. And if it doesn't, that means I'm a big baby.)

The K-Pop group that get better with each single: VIXX (seriously, I didn't particularly like their debut - I thought it was too generic - but it got so much better after that) (Aren't they just adorable? Assuming you watched the video...)

The K-Pop group that is the most expensive because I buy both versions: EXO (EXO-K and EXO-M)

The K-Pop sub-unit that I like better than the main group: Speed, male sub-unit of Co Ed School (I'm not saying I don't like Co Ed School, I just like Speed better)

 I could go on for so much longer, but that would get boring to read and it will take too long to watch everything as it is. :)

Thanks for reading!

Pirating Books and the Great Tumblr Debate

I was going to post something awesome about Star Wars since it's May the Fourth, but instead I've been thinking of something else the last couple of days that I felt I needed to add my two cents to.

I follow a lot of my favorite authors on Twitter and Tumblr. They always have something fun or inspiring to say, talk a lot about writing, and are generally fun people. And then, a couple days ago my Twitter and Tumblr blew up with tweets and posts asking people to not pirate books. And then a huge debate took over going back and forth between authors and people. And some of the things the people were saying were just horrible. And right now, I'm part of the 'people' group, but some day I'm going to be part of the 'author' group, so this one kind of hit me, and really made me think. Also, pirating books? That's a thing? Whut?

So, for this, I'm going to do something a little different, and use quotes and try to write like I know what I'm talking about, or at least sound intelligent. Because some of the things these people were saying just blew me away at how... I don't even have a word for it. Wrong? Out there? Upsetting? Entitled? I could probably go on. But anyway, here I go.

It started with a few posts by YA author Erin Bowman, who wrote Taken and it's sequel Frozen, which I admit, I haven't read either yet. They're on my to be read list, but it's kind of a long list, so it might take me a while to get there. She wrote:

I'm so tired of seeing my books  (or any book) pirated. It doesn't even get me in a rage anymore. I'm just sad, defeated, and depressed.

and

Go to the library. Request they buy a copy. DL the sample if you're "not sure you'll like it." Borrow from a friend. Ask for it for you[r] bday

and

I could go on, but in short: you are not entitled to free entertainment. You are not entitled to steal my next paycheck. STOP PIRATING BOOKS

Those make sense, right? Pirating is stealing, stealing is wrong, correct? When this and others like it starting flooding my Twitter, it really took me aback. I knew music and movies were pirated (everyone in the military seems to do it... it's really quite shameful) but I had no idea that books were pirated too. The thought of someone pirating books horrified me, because as a hopeful writer, I can understand how that would really cut into someone getting paid.

So on Tumblr you can post something, and people can repost it with their added comments. After these three Tweets were compiled and put on Tumblr, everyone started reposting and adding their thoughts. The  first couple were nice. But then someone said something that started it all.

Whoever it was, wrote some excuses for reading a pirated copy; own the book but can't find it, don't want to support the author (and proceeded to name Orson Scott Card who apparently is hated on the internet for bigotry against homosexuals. Huh?) but still want to read the book, etc. The next person rebutted that with a post about not being entitled to steal something, even if you have the aforementioned reasons. That person talked about how reading pirated books supports piracy. And then they talked about how it's okay to not support an author of you don't like them, but pirating is not the way to not support someone.

Next up, someone brought up the issue of the economy and how the average (young) reader doesn't have the money to buy books or the time to go to the library [which I call bullcrap on]. Then they said something about it isn't a good idea to spend $10-$20 on a book that you MIGHT like, because if you hate it your are stuck with it. [What? Since when? Have you never heard of donating to a library? Or a thrift store?] They continued on with more examples and 'factors' that could lead a person to pirate a book, and ended their little thing with 'we can't always support you financially, so we'll just support you with social media.'

Then someone put her short bit in, by taking "issue with the excuse that young readers don't have TIME to go to the library." And I agree with her, because it's not that pre-teens and teens don't have time to go to the library, it's that they chose to use their time for other things. She then asked if everyone could stop excusing the pirating behavior by removing personal responsibility.

Then someone else came in and started ranting about "how telling somebody to just go get the book from the library is a laughable joke," and went on to list a whole bunch of reasons libraries are not a good way to get books. [This is the sound of me staring dumbly at that statement. Duuuuuuuh.] There were a whole bunch of reasons, and they all were all very stupid interesting to read.

After that, thankfully the debate went back to someone with sense. This time, they talked about waiting, and how the society of instant gratification has made waiting a foreign concept. And that they have no patience for the impatience argument. [I'm cheering now. Someone with sense! This is the truth!]

The good sense didn't last long, however, as the very next person said something about how "having your books pirated makes the authors more money." [Jaw drop, because whut? What planet do you live on?] And then they talked about how they don't read books by selfish authors, i.e. authors who complain about their books being stolen, authors who don't like fanfiction, authors who cause trouble, etc. And then they tried to remind authors that "your reputation matters. If you aren't grateful for what you have, no one is going to want to give you more." [I can't even...] In conclusion, they finished up with the argument that authors are paid in advance, and so even if the book bombs or people steal it it doesn't matter, because it's already been paid for.

Next up someone took the time to correct the 'paid in advance' misconception, and said that yes, we get paid in advance, but not very much and we have to pay it back in royalties before we see anymore money. Which makes sense, because it's an 'advance.'

Then someone went on this really long tirade about how you chose your job, you shouldn't quit your day job if you aren't making enough money writing, don't blame the readers, etc. Then compared writing to a bunch of different jobs, and different amounts of words for different 'levels' of writers. e.g. 1k every day is part time. 3-5k every day is full time. Which I call BS on, because I know for a fact that 3-5k is really hard for novel writers to write on a consistent basis. My all-time favorite writer, Brandon Sanderson, has said he averages about 2.5k every day. And he's most definitely a professional, full time writer with more than a few hefty books under his belt. Of course, every writer is different, but to arbitrarily put daily word requirements for whether you are part time or full time is not correct, and not being fair to all the professional writers out there who do write full time and don't write that many words in a day. It's not how many words you produce, it's the quality of words you produce, and the amount of time spent. You don't see cashiers being paid according to how many customers they helped in a day. Yes, there are commission-based jobs, but writing novels is not really one of them.

Anyway, that wasn't the end of their really long post. they went on to talk about how it's really the poor people who can't afford your books who are pirating them, because otherwise they wouldn't get to read them. The person really talked about how the original author, Erin Bowman, was saying " 'Don't read my books unless you have money or your community has money!' " And since I'm trying to be nice in this post, I can't say what I want to say about this.

Then the original poster, Erin Bowman comes in and corrects the person [as she should have, the person was putting nasty words in her mouth.] She said "no one is entitled to STEAL entertainment," and called books a luxury, not a necessity. Which is absolutely true. She then went on to set the record straight even more about how advances and royalties work, and to be honest it was very eyeopening. She also said she was "getting so tired of feeling like the bad guy in this conversation," and I really feel for her.

The last person on the very long list of reposts was another author who talked about the sense of entitlement and how the argument that 'poor people need to resort to piracy in order to read anything' was appalling, in poor taste (pun not intended) and needed to stop. She then went on to talk more about advances and royalties, [wow, that's an awful small amount to live off of for three years... good thing I'm not doing it for the money...] and finished with another thing about how there are other ways to get books and that "paying for things and waiting for things never hurt anyone." [Well said.]

Now let me put in a quick little thing before I finish. I did not grow up with money. Sure, we had what we needed, my dad made at least that much for the first half of my life, but we were always in so much debt that when my dad was in school and we were just living off his military pension things were really tight. I had to earn my own money if I wanted anything extra, and I don't think I ever bought a brand new book until I was sixteen or seventeen and had a job of my own. But before that, I earned money through baby sitting, and it wasn't very much.

But I loved reading, and wanted to have books, so I had to get creative. I went to the library as often as I could. Before I was thirteen that meant waiting until the family trip to the library, but after that we lived close enough to walk to a library in all the houses we lived in. And I put my legs to good use, walking to the library and hauling home backpacks full of books to read. I shopped at thrift stores and always made a beeline for the book section (I still do.) I bought books at yard sales where they were ten cents a piece, or at books fairs where they were under five dollars.

So a lot of trash-talking went down, and I learned a lot of interesting facts. Readers apparently pirate books. Writers don't make a lot of money [I knew that already, I just didn't know to what extent.] And a lot of people on the internet and in this fast paced society of instant gratification don't have any common sense or sense of guilt for breaking not only civil laws against piracy, but also laws of decency towards fellow humans and the laws of God, which are very clear and ultimate.

Sorry this was a long one.

Thanks for read.