Wednesday 21 March 2001

I am a contradiction in terms, and this worries me. On the one hand, I am a fine example of the Pink Sparkly Princess (tm Jen), loving girly stuff like clothes, skin care and make up items, beauty tips (but not fashion. Fashion is Evil). On the other hand … I’m a geek. My bookshelf will tell you this if nothing else, and let's not even get into how terribly excited I am about getting involved in Web CT, that Sam is building me a beast of a puter, and that we will eventually have a laptop in our bedroom.

For a start, I'm a seriously addicted skin-care and make-up junkie (which is explored elsewhere - check out my ramble in Miscellany). Secondly, may I say how much I love online shopping? It saves so much time and energy and sanity, especially on weekends when one is usually racing around in ever-widening circles like a guinea pig on crack. Its so simple to type in an order and have it delivered, instead of having to go into town, walk miles in unproductive searches for minor items, battle with traffic and crowds (I hate crowds, have I mentioned that before?) and shitty up-their-ass salespeople, when one could be engaged in constructive activities such as cleaning the house, catching up on overdue paperwork, lunching with the ladies, playing with the kitten, writing, reading, exercising, napping ...

I do wish, like several times a week, that companies like drugstore.com and sephora.com shipped internationally - hell, I would pay for such yummy stuff even with the crippling currency conversion and shipping costs. Anyone know of similar cosmetic and skincare junkie sites that do ship internationally? I know iBeauty.com does, but it doesn't have the brands I love.

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Having said all that, I really haven’t been that girly lately, though the urge has been strong. I did buy a new mascara but that was because my old one had dried up. There was the slight matter of the divine black RL jeans, but hey. And we will not discuss the truckloads of lacy black underwear I bought a couple of months back …

No, the current high level of geekdom has to do with books. I’ve lashed out something dreadful. I should be ashamed but I’m not. I adore books. New books, the smell of them, with their crisp pages, the promise of new worlds and perspectives, yummy words to gulp down avidly … I love owning books; if I was totally content with ordering books from the library I’d be better off, and I do frequent the library and cart home armfuls of books and magazines. But if I know I will love a book and desire it in my library, then there’s no stopping me. And when I come upon a new favourite author, there is no holding back. So, here's the latest damage. 

(NB: Many of these have been ordered from Amazon.com [sorry Jessie – but (a) half of these were on your recommendation; (b) none are available in bookshops here and (c) even with the currency exchange and shipping costs it is still cheaper for me to get books from Amazon. Go figure]. And I want no comments on the first two items. Yes, I do know how, I just figure there’s always something new to learn, and more fun to be had. And Sam will be here in 6 weeks 3 days ...)

1. Lou Paget. How to Be a Great Lover : Girlfriend to Girlfriend Totally Explicit Techniques That Will Blow His Mind

2. Anne Hooper. Anne Hooper's Kama Sutra

3. Paul Johnson. A History of the Jews

4. Thomas Cahill. How the Irish Saved Civilization : The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe

5. Leo Marks. Between Silk and Cyanide

6. Robert Harris. Enigma

7. Neal Stephenson. Cryptonomicon

8. Robin McKinley. Beauty : A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast

9. Connie Willis. The Doomsday Book

10. Sherri Tepper. Grass

11. Anita Diamant. The Red Tent

12. Monica McIntyre. A Taste For It

Am I bad, or am I bad? But ooooh I love it.

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I had a really boring day, so was desperate to go the gym and work out some bottled up energy, only to discover when I went to get changed that I had forgotten my sports pants. ARGH. I may get all proud & strutty about my visible triceps but there was no way I was gonna go pantless. Though really, considering some girls in the gym wear even less than that, it was kinda false modesty in a way ... Anyway I went home and did 45 minutes on the floor. Oh hush up you, I know that sounds nasty but its not. I mean, 45 minutes of stretching, yoga stuff, sit ups, some hand weights, various isometric exercises blah di blah. I usually do a home routine (there, is that better?) a few times a week as well as going to the gym. It felt gooooood.