The wife bought a new printer over the weekend. It's supposed to do something like 20 text pages per minute. I asked if she ever printed 20 pages of anything at a time, she said no. Then I asked why she would need to not print 20 pages in a minute.
-Food -Manga pens -Sonic Mania for Switch (waited too long to obtain the special edition as they sold out, so I got the game alone) -Christmas ornaments including a Mario Tree Ornament -Spice jar with cork and spoon -Sewing needles -Jeans
In particular because most printers need a ramp-up time for the first page of a new job (in particular laser printers), so the whole max print speed is moot for almost everything private. Unless you print your whole novel... Does one still need to do that anymore?
Specific pens made for drawing comics, really. I know any old pen will do, but I like the ones that come in a pack that are 30MM, 1.0MM....etc. I don't know, I just find it easier to use a specific pack.
Semi-realistic computer animated humans, such as those in the Disney version of A Christmas Carol with Jim Carey or The Polar Express.
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I thought I should read these books because they're on TV these days and people also say they're good. Besides, I haven't read any fantasy for a while. I also bought a couple of the mechanical pencils someone here (@Martin Beerbom?) was recommending. They're good - I like them because they're lovingly overengineered (do they really need a lead-twirling mechanism to maintain a consistent line width? Who cares? But yes, they kinda do). Now I have the urge to do a bunch of math problems, because that's what I generally use mechanical pencils for. I suppose I should take up drawing, even though I have zero talent for visual art.
Why didn't anyone tell me that Faber-Castell makes eraser pencils? A wooden pencil with a rubber eraser instead of a lead... These things are AWESOME. I wish I had had them already in school and uni.
Speaking of math problems: There's a German undergrad-level textbook on physics titled "Physik mit Bleistift" – Physics with (a) pencil. And speaking of lead-twirling mechanisms: I find myself being forced to obsess with that mechanism to the point of distraction. I'm constantly reminded of not doing any twirling on my own (with which I grew up), and constantly checking the mechanism still works. Drives me nuts! I should probably tape over those window of theirs with the wandering twirl logo. I still love these things, and they work well, but... YMMV, of course. For general writing with mechanical pencils, I'm currently in love with the auto-advancers (Faber-Castell Poly Matic [cheap and simple] and Pentel orenz [at least 3 bucks more, but fancier]). They have the sleeve/tube completely obscuring and protecting the lead, but when you write, the sleeve slides back (imperceptibly), exposes the lead, and advances it by itself at some point. And as much as I obsess with the twirling, I know people who obsess with the non-visibility of the lead, and claim the pencil broke. To each their own, I guess.
Just because I was sloppy: The cheap Pentel orenz do NOT auto-advance. They cheat in their descriptions by saying "automatic slide back sleeve" or similar. Only their top of the line orenz Nero auto-advances the lead – like the Faber-Castell, when you lift the pencil.
Not surprisingly, I got another pencil. From Japan. From a JAPANESE STORE. It came with a GERMAN language packing slip. Which (almost) was more interesting than the pencil.
I went to a Japanese outlet store, in Japan, and got a tempered glass (like pyrex) cooking pan from Pasabace, which is one of the most famous cookware companies in Turkey. That was odd.
Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. My quarterly chocolate haj is done. I have journeyed far and seen much. I have returned with, dark chocolate doves (feathers and all), dark chocolate covered blueberries, Belgian dark chocolate, dark chocolate covered cherries...
Also snagged: Cabela's outdoor adventures ( a slow paced hunting game) Borderlands GOTY (just from the reviews) Rayman Origins (apparently the best 2D platformer on the PS) Would've liked to grab a copy of Flashback as I have fond memories of this game on the Megadrive, but the remake for PS3, according to reviews is far from the original design and disappointing.
One of the shooter games, maybe GTA? had a mod where you could change yourself or your enemies into various animals. Horse gangs vs camel gangsters... Wonder if Cabela's supports the same functionality; a thirty-nine point Drop Bear in a tree with a Mobius-recurve compound bow (is my experience hanging out showing yet?) waiting in a Cinnabon stand at the Mall for a soccer mom to wander by?
I am ridiculously happy because I found the prequel to the Abhorsen series at the store today and now my set is complete and I did a lot of shopping for gifts for people today. I also got myself some more stuff that's not necessarily (Jesus wept, that took me too long to spell. My words fail me today) Christmas presents, but ... stuff I wanted. Got some bamboo straws because my metal ones are too thin for my smoothies. I know that's such a bougie thing to say, but hey... I don't care. I also got myself a better lunch bag so I can probably carry all of my lunch stuff plus my breakfast better to work. It's good. It was a good, long day of shopping. God, that feels like bragging, but I promise I'm not trying to. It's been a really long time since I could buy myself stuff I wanted without worrying about the consequences of it, so I'm not going to let myself feel guilty about it.
Could be. It features a similar screw-out, large, eraser as Faber-Castell does. For a moment I even thought the refills are exchangeable. All the other Japanese pencils I know have these tiny little blink-and-you-lose erasers that are only good for holding the leads in, but not for erasing.
Well, I was shopping at WH Smith the other day, and screeched to a halt in front of a magazine called ....wait for it ...Writers' Forum. Of course I bought it. And hey, it's not bad at all. In fact I like it. It contains lots of articles touching on subjects that are popular here on OUR Writer's Forum—on writing subjects and marketing subjects. Motivation. Inspiration. The Business. Kickstarters. Fiction Workshop. Novel Markets. Poetry Competition. Writer's Directory. The Mentor. Writing Know-How. Where I Write. Rights Fight (about copyright issues.) Freelance Markets. Fiction Markets. Flash Fiction competition. How I Write. Planning Your Pitch. And etc. I found the articles were really useful, comprehensive, and the provenance of each writer and each reference was clear. If you live in the UK, I'd recommend it. It's not strong on genre or hard sell, but so much of what it discussed reminded me of discussions we've had here. I like it.
Not strictly OT, but I'm a half-click away from buying a pocket camera as a gift. Trouble is, the best bang for the $300 buck has both raving and ranting reviews. Anybody out there have an under $301 suggestion? Needs: pocket size, eyepiece viewfinder, clear faces at distance outdoors. It doesn't have to be latest model, just new in sealed box. Amazon thinks that's too much to ask, I guess.
