Went to the therapist today. I need to remember to do the simple little exercises she gave me. I did feel better (and worse) after I left therapy. The worse was my back, where she'd pressed it. The better was the leg/hip/foot pains. They're not gone, but they did feel better for a while. She confirmed my PC's diagnosis of both a back and a separate (but related) muscle problem. The back problem causes the muscle problem, but it's the muscle problem that is the more painful of the two.

So, today, after I got home, I have been sort of catching up with my Google reader. I say 'sort of' because 1) I still have over 200 posts listed and 2) several of the blogs in the Google reader are not ones I mean to read every time. With those, I just skim through to find the particular entries I'm interested in. But I also just sign up to read too many blogs!

I was good, today. I didn't add any more, although I did follow some interesting links. The thing is that the last few I read have been craft/fiber/art blogs. Now I want to get creative and it's just plain too late to start anything. Hopefully, the "itch" will carry over until tomorrow, when I might have an hour to spend with it. More if I'm lucky. In part depends on the chair in my sewing area. That's the way I'm leaning, but I could also do something with graphics here at the computer. As far as that goes, I have two short stories in my head that I could do a first draft of. If I try to start any of this now, I will be up until sunrise.

Although I don't mind staying up until three or four am, I hate to be getting up later than noon. (If I feel really good, I tend to linger even after noon, lately, because I know I'll hurt once I'm up, but that's a different problem.) The thing is, I'm still going to be up for an hour or so and my mind is thinking about doing something, not just thinking about doing something. So I'll read a bit.

The book that I started Sunday, My Sister, My Love by Joyce Carol Oates, is going much faster than I had expected. It's also not as depressing as I had thought. It could be. The topic certainly is, but something about the writing makes it not. I also like that Oates is playing a bit with her reader with this one. More about that when I do the review.

My cable cut off twice since I started this, so I'll finish up, now.

It's Springtime!

Mom has been bugging me to take her to a local used book store. This one is across the river and has street parking on a busy road. I wasn't keen on it. This week they are having a sale, so I gave in. Used books stores do well when we go into them.

A few weeks ago we ate at Marco Polo's and, at their new (and nicer) place, they are right next to The Book Habit. It makes for great after dinner perusing and I came away with an armload of books. I came away with more from the Readers Guide to Recycled Literature. (Don't you love the names of used bookstores?) Fortunately, because of their sale, I actually spent less. My focus today was poetry (6 books), although I also came away with some fiction and biography (5 more books).

I was going to work on my website some more this evening, but I think I will read instead. I'm almost finished with Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town (available April 21) and want to get the review written quickly. Goblin Quest is also waiting for me to get back to it. I had started it when Outcasts United arrived and found it delightful. I stopped only because I wanted to get the review done in timely fashion.

I also want to see if I can start some poetry today. It's nagging me. A different kind of nagging. Usually the poem is already starting in my head when it nags. Now I simply feel the urge to write with paper and pen. I'm not sure what to write, but the word 'butterfly' keeps coming to me. And then I thought 'chickadee,' though that may simply be because I have a plush chickadee here on my monitor. I'm off to see what's in my head that wants to come out. (and that made me think of something creepy or even gruesome a la Alien).

I'm compiling a list of authors and links to their blogs (and will be doing websites, too). I'm pretty sure I don't have every published author who's on my friends list on this list yet. Take a look at the author list. If you're not there, please comment here with your blog title/link and website title/link and your real/pen name. If you know other authors who would like the publicity (OK, it's minimal now, but I'm hoping, and I bought your book(s) because someone led me to your blog), leave their name/website/blog info. Keep it public blogs and websites. (And if I've inadvertently included a private website on my list, let me know and I'll remove it.) Blogs don't have to be LJ based and if you have a different blog that you'd prefer I use, let me know that, too. Although, (seraphina-marie & reannon) while your Blogger/Blogspot blogs are interesting, your LJ's are a lot more fun. :^D (I could list both.)