Today is the first day…

Today is the first day in weeks where I haven't woken up feeling like I already was behind on a dozen things. Of course, I actually *am* behind -- I haven't responded to any non-critical e-mail in forever, for example. But I no longer feel like I'm racing deadlines. I can breathe. Yay.

Kevin leaves around dinnertime for a week-long conference in the Bay Area. I've spent the morning so far watering plants, cleaning up, making tea, changing my mind about what should go in which kitchen drawer... I plan to keep the rest of the day similarly mellow. We'll buy groceries, unpack some more of the upstairs, hang up some clothes, put away some toiletries. Maybe we'll find some missing items in the process. Maybe not. It's all good. :-)

Tomorrow I do go back to real work; I have detailed revision notes from my editor on the novel now, which I haven't even looked at yet. So I'll look at those, I'll do some revisions. I might try to write a new story for the next AE anthology too this week. I'm probably feeling too much of a homebody to go work in a cafe, but maybe I'll invite some of my friends who join me with their laptops in cafes to come work at my place instead this week. That sounds good.

Also, catch up on seriously behind SLF (membership renewals) and DesiLit (writing up meeting minutes, inviting authors) stuff. Sigh. I guess I am still pretty behind after all. It's just that none of these have really imminent deadlines.

One quick q -- any suggestions for bookshelves that are a step up from IKEA, but not too expensive? Simple styling, cherry or other dark-ish wood preferred. Not pine.

5 thoughts on “Today is the first day…”

  1. There are some wonderful bookshelves at Staples which come in dark or light and fold down so that they are easy to transport and very sturdy. Some dealers use them at cons to display stuff. They cost about $40; thirty on sale. They stack two high; it might be safe to stack them three high, if you have a high enough ceiling, although I think the manufacturer recommends against it. I cannot recall the brand name. I have seen them other places besides Staples, but that seems to be the place that pretty much always has them.

  2. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    David, I think we’d prefer to avoid particle board; it just seems flimsy; I’ve had it break easily before in transit, and over time, the shelves tend to bend under the weight of the books. It looks like most of what Staples carries is essentially particle board, yes? As opposed to something like what 57th Street does, which is plywood — more substantial, I think. Solid hardwood would be ideal, of course, but I suspect that’s out of our price range…

  3. Mary Anne, the ones I am talking about are NOT particle board. They are real wood, not plywood. I quit using particle board shelves long ago for exactly the reasons you mention. I looked at mine, and there is no brand name on them, and I no longer have the boxes they came in, so I am not sure of the brand. They look like maple or beech wood; not pine. The dark colored ones are the same kind of wood, nicely stained.

  4. After posting the previous comment, I realized I needed a printer cartrige, so I went to Staples. The store near me has the shelves I mentioned in stock; the stock number (they call it the SKU#) is 502507. The model number is 31734-US. They have a couple of larger sizes made of the same kind of wood, which appear to cost about the same for the same shelf space, but the larger ones are not a folding design, and they require significant assembly time. (I have some of both types myself.)

  5. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Hmm…I didn’t find them on their website, but maybe they don’t have everything up there. I’ll take a look when I go out bookshelf shopping then — thanks!

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