Showing posts with label ramblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ramblings. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

{Ramblings} - A Vintage Home Library


Every year when Spring arrives, I look around my living space and have an uncontrollable urge to declutter everything. Even though I donated nearly twenty boxes full of books to a Salvation Army earlier in the year, it seems like I still don't have enough space. It's not that I have tons of books sitting around collecting dust. They're either on bookcases or stacked up in closets.

Friday, February 25, 2022

{Ramblings} - Coffee, Frenzy, and Soho


Caffeinated Delight At Night 

For me, there's nothing better way to cap off of the end of the week than drinking a smooth cup of coffee. More specifically, I'm referring to Verena Street's Cow Tipper, a bag of ground coffee that's been sitting on the coffee bar since the tail end of 2021. I grabbed a bag while shopping at Price Chopper in a nearby county, and if my memory serves me correctly, it was on sale. I don't know why I was saving the Cow Tipper back. Tonight was a good of a night than any to try it out. 

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

{Random Rambling} - Dating, Digital Movies, and Snow



There's nothing more pleasant than watching it snow on a late April morning. Seriously! What's up, Mother Nature? Or should I be blaming Punxsutawney Phil? The beaver did predict six more weeks of winter after seeing his shadow. Nevertheless, the temperatures have increased into the 40s, and most of the snow has melted. Luckily, my allergies haven't gone wacky with the sudden weather change.

Monday, February 22, 2021

{Monday Morning Madness} - Book Blogger Hop and Midnight Horror Reviews


Good Morning, Everyone!


I cannot believe it's been nearly five months since my last Monday Morning Madness post. If you've followed any of my Sunday Posts, then you would know I have had many ups and downs over the past year that are not related to the pandemic. I'm not going to go into details here, as I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing me talk about it. However, I want to say that I'm doing well and trying my best to deal with things.

 

For those who participate in the weekly Book Blogger Hop every Friday, you would've noticed a new look for the logo and prompt image. While I love the previous logo, the cream colors didn't blend well with my blog's design. Therefore, I had to make a change, and hopefully, everyone will like it. If not, feel free to use one of the previous logos or your own.  


Speaking of the Book Blogger Hop, I would like to apologize for not posting the prompt questions in our Facebook group. I'm not a big fan of social media, and if I didn't have this blog, I probably wouldn't be on Facebook or Twitter. It's just too time-consuming, and at times it can be a bit stressful.
 

I'll be bringing back The Midnight Horror Review posts sometime soon. I'm trying to figure out a different way to write the reviews, so they'll sound independent from my regular DVD/Blu-ray reviews. They might be more of a respective than a review, though I haven't made my final decision on it. The one thing I do know is I want to make those posts stand out more.

There will be a few other changes to this blog. It's just small things, such as changing past posts titles and spelling and grammar checking on old posts. The changes are nothing major, and I doubt anyone will be able to notice anything. These things have been bugging me for a while, and I need to fix them to save my sanity.





Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Random Ramblings - Finding Love During A Pandemic

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

The last few weeks have been very hectic and stressful for me, and I'm assuming it's been the same for just about everyone else due to the worldwide pandemic that we're currently going through. Jobs have been lost, MLB has been postponed, summer movies have had their release dates changed, many stores are closed, and even The Walking Dead finale has been delayed. Add in the toilet paper madness, things are pretty crazy in the world. If you weren't already suffering from anxiety, then you're most likely are now.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Random Ramblings - Sending Gifts During A Pandemic?

* This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

Unless you've been living under a rock, then you already know about the world's pandemic that has made the shelves at Walmart, Target, and grocery stores bare. Literally, everything has been canceled — television shows, movies, sporting events, etc. Many people are now out of work thanks to the many business closing and the falling stock market. Times are definitely tough and extremely stressful for us all.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

5 Home Library Wants!

*This is sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.  

The # 1 fear for any book lover!


Being a book lover myself, I would have to say my #1 fear is running out of space for keeping my books. And I'm referring to printed books! I don't have have a problem with eBooks as they're way too easy to store.

Last year, I went through my library (a.k.a. - bookshelves and closets), boxed up many books that I no longer wanted and donated them to a local Salvation Army. At the time, I felt pretty good as I finally gotten rid of books that no longer intrigued me and uncluttered two closets. Fast forward to the present, where I have replaced most of the books with new ones. My tastes in books have changed in the last two years, so I have started collection different genres. Well, not exactly new ones as most of them are used books. While my reading collection might seem small to some readers, for me it seems quite large due to limited storage space.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Sunday Post: Orson Scott Card, Star Trek, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Morning, Everyone!



What Am I Currently Reading?


Sometime today, I'll be finishing up the zombie novel Weeks by Jasyn T. Turley, as my review needs to be posted tomorrow for a book tour. I've read a few pages of Good Omens  by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett and my goal is to have it finished by Wednesday night. Then I'm finally going to begin reading The Chill by Scott Carson.

Additionally, on my Kindle I'm reading the 007 novel Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming.

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Sunday Post - Bloodborn, Doctor Sleep, & Alexey Pehov

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Morning, Everyone!



What Am I Currently Reading?


Instead of reading of Perfect Little Children by Sophie Hannah last week, I ended up taking a break from reading entirely. Today, I'll be reading Bloodborn by Sydney Windward, which isn't very long at all. I just received an eBook copy a few days ago for a book tour and my review is scheduled for tomorrow!

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Sunday Post - Congo, Doctor Who, and Spider Bites

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Evening, Everyone!

Once again, I'm posting my Sunday Post a little later than what I originally planned. Early yesterday morning, I woke up with a sore behind an ear and a bigger sore on my left check, which I'm guessing they're spider bites. I went along with my morning, went to the thrift store (more on that later in this post), and that's when I started to feel a bit queasy. I went back home and later felt a little bit better. I had errands to run so I got back out but I still felt a little sick. Today, I attempted to get a few things done but I was too weak to do anything. I took some aspirin and slept most of the day. Now, I almost feel like my normal self again.

While I was setting up this post, I had the newest episode of Doctor Who playing in the background. I haven't cared much for the previous two seasons so I wasn't paying much attention to the episode until John Barrowman (a.k.a. - Captain Jack Harkness). I had to wait until the episode ended before writing my Sunday Post.

Friday, January 24, 2020

Random Ramblings - Goals for 2020!

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

The first month of 2020 is nearly over, and I, for one, can hardly believe it. Where has the time gone?

January has been a stressful month for me, especially with this blog, which got a bit of a redesign. And when I say "redesign," I actually mean an entire "overhaul." Because I was focused on other things, it completely slipped my mind about posting my New Year's Resolutions. To be completely honest, originally I wasn't going to make any resolutions this year because for the past few years I have failed every one all of them. However, I need to make a few changes in my life so instead of having resolutions, I have set a several personal goals to accomplish.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Monday Morning Madness - A Blog Redesign, Exercising, and Cell Phones

*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

Everyone needs to forgive me for taking 20 days to post my first Monday Morning Madness of the year. It's already been a busy year for me so far, which has included snow/ice storms, the flu bug, a blog redesign (more on that later in this post), unwanted weight gain, a broken dryer. On the plus side, the KC Chiefs won the AFC Championship yesterday!

Monday, December 16, 2019

2020 Home Trends for Book Nerds!


*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.


2019 is nearly over and it's time for us "book nerds" to start thinking about what we are going to do with all of our books in 2020!

My dream is to one day own a big house just so I can have one room to be my personal library. Honestly, I'm getting sick and tired of searching through closets to find a specific book. It would be nice to have all of my books in one giant room!

Below I've put together my 5 favorite "Home Trends for Book Nerds"for 2020.



Steel Bookcases


Most book nerds have their books stored on the cheap laminated bookcases that you have either purchased at Walmart or Target. While these types of bookcases are an affordable option, they're poorly constructed and over time time the shelves will become warped due to the weight of the books. Steel bookcases are a better option. They're built to last longer and can withstand 90lbs of books per shelf! The only downside is the price for a 36" W x 12" D x 60" H  bookcase with 5 shelves can set you back over $200.


Comfy Reading Chairs


A library should be the quietest place in your home, a place where you can read peacefully, preferably with a cup of coffee handy. However, you need a really comfortable reading chair, but don't get one too comfy as you don't want to fall asleep while reading. So don't pick a chair that reclines!

Traditional libraries either have wooden or leather chairs, which the latter is the most comfortable but can be a bit pricey depending on the quality and brand. Nevertheless, leather chairs will look great in your library.


Lantern Roofs


Every home library needs solid lighting in order for you to read. Almost everyone uses some sort of lamp, mostly likely a floor one, but with bookshelves covering most of the library's walls, there's probably not enough room for too many electrical outlets. Putting LED lights in ceiling can work but the option can make the room dark in areas. Natural light is the best route to go, which can be achieved by adding a lantern roof. There are variety of lantern roofs styles so you need to pick the best one that suits your library.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Does Dating Sites Cure the Holiday Blues?


*This is sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

Once again, Christmas is nearly here and once again I'm finding myself being single. Now I'm not saying being single is necessarily a bad thing but it does get a little depressing around the holidays, which has resulted in my many sleepless nights for me. When I cannot sleep, I either watch television or read a book. Unfortunately, there's not much on late night cable except for the low-budget romantic Christmas movies and the majority of my book collection is in the romantic genre so instead of reading or watching a film, I'm writing this rambling in the hopes of clearing my mind.

Why do humans have the need to be in a relationship, besides for reproducing?

Honestly, I don't have a clue to the answer. Maybe it's because we just want someone to love us for being ourselves, if that makes absolutely any sense to anyone besides me! Or maybe it's just the need for companionship; you know, someone to spend grow old with and all that jazz.

My loneliness could be easily solved if I just put myself out there and start dating. However, dating isn't as easy for me as it is for everyone else due to my anxiety and shyness issues, which is something I've talked about a few times on this blog over the years. I've tried and failed at online dating in the past, which was more or less my own fault for not making first contact with potential matches, as I've already mentioned – I'm shy, even when typing a message. Anyway, I ended up deleting my profile within a few days with the thought that there isn't anyone out there for me.

However, I've been told by a few people “not to give up” so I might have to give the online dating thing another try. And I keep hearing about couples who met online so maybe there's a chance for me after all. There question is where or not I should put a profile on the same website, Plenty of Fish, or try a different one. Trust me, there's plenty of dating sites out there in just about any and every niche you can imagine. There's free dating sites and then there's paid sites. There's international ones, such as Buckinghamshire Dating Site and Elite Singles; though I'll probably stick to somewhere closer to my location as long-distant relationships never work out, at least in my personal experiences they don't.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

In the GYM!: New Exercise Routine & Ketogenic Dieting


*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my 100% mine. 


I started 2019 with a goal to eat healthier and exercise daily but, unfortunately, that didn't come to function. At one point in time, I was lifting weights several times a week and I had lost a few pounds. However, everything came to a halt when my grandmother had to placed into a nursing home. Thanks to my an aunt, an uncle, and tons of cousins who refused to help, the task of boxing up my grandmother's belongings from her apartment and moving them to a storage unit came down to my mother and me. During that time, I was exerting myself a bit too much, so I put exercising on pause. It was meant to be a temporary thing but as of today I haven't started up my exercise routine again.

What's holding me back?

Well, thanks to allergies, really bad migraines, depression, and so on and so forth, I've haven't had the desire to diet or exercise. However, I need to start doing something. I've gotten to a point to either I buy bigger clothes or lose weight!

Tomorrow morning, I'll be kicking off a new exercise routine. As of right now, I'm not exactly sure what that routine is going to include. Probably 30 minutes on a stationary bike and some sort of cardio exercise, such as Tae Bo or Core De Fore.

As for eating, I thinking of starting a high-protein ketogenic diet. Over the summer, I watched dozens Youtube videos on ketogenic dieting so I'm wanting to try it out. A ketogenic diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet. Lowering carbs will put your body in a metabolic state called ketosis. It will make your body turn fat into ketones which supplies energy to the brain. So, basically, it means your body will burn body fat into energy faster.

I normally take at least a multi-vitamin when I'm on a a dieting and exercising program. And that's exactly what I'll be doing when I'm on the ketogenic diet. However, I might have to look into buying a Bhb salts supplement, such as Ketond BioMax.

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

My State of the Union 2019


I don't know if this is going to be annual thing, but I thought it would be a bit of fun if I did my own State of the Union post for all my fellow readers.

As may of you already know, I no long participate in blog tours posts, such as book spotlights and cover reveals. I was assigned too many of these kinds of posts in 2018, which resulted in my reviews being shoved off of the homepage. Plus, setting up and reformatting all those spotlights was pain in the neck for me. I say, "Good Riddance!" However, don't worry, I'm still going to be signing up for the occasional book blog review tour.

Since I don't have to spend time every day working on "spotlights," I'll now have free time to start reading the books in my personal to-be-read pile. I'm finally going to finish reading Outlander by Dina Gabaldon. I had started reading it a few years ago, but I got sidetracked by other books that needed to reviewed and I never got around to finishing it. While my bookmark is still in place, I'll probably start at the very beginning. Then I'm going to read Dragonfly in Amber, Drums of Autumn, Voyager, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ash, An Echo in the Bone, and Written in My own Heart's Blood. My goal is to read all the books before the fifth season of the television series begins.


Thursday, January 31, 2019

In the GYM! - Body Beast Update


It's been a few weeks since I've updated everyone on my "In the Gym!" goals for 2019. I'm currently on week 5 of the Body Beast program, which is technically week 2 of Block 2: Bulk. There are three blocks in the program: Build, Bulk, and Beast. In Block 2, I'm doing Chest on Mondays, Legs on Tuesdays, Arms on Wednesdays, Cardio & Abs on Thursdays, Back on Fridays, and Shoulders on Saturdays. However, this week I had to switch my "rest day",which would be this Sunday, to Tuesday, as I was a bit under the weather that day. So, basically, I just moved days 2 - 6 forward a day.


Tonight, I'll be doing the "Arms" workout, which is a blend of progressive and single sets using either dumbbells or an EZ Curl Bar. The runtime for the workout is around 35 minutes and it's pretty easy to accomplish, though I'll mostly likely be a bit sore tomorrow.

During week 3, I did add 30-minutes of cycling on an exercise bike, but it was a little too much on my legs, so I had to take it off of the schedule. With all the squats and lunges I've been doing, I've been really sore. However, if I have some extra energy during week 6, I might attempt to some cycling again or some other form of cardio.

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

In the GYM! - New Year's Resolutions & Body Beast


Happy New Year!


I hope everyone is doing well in 2019!

Like many people, I have many New Year's Resolutions this year, which includes writing a new post series called "In the GYM!", which I will be chronicling my workouts to help me stay on track. I might even review a few fitness products on here as well.

One of my resolutions is to get into shape this year. 2018 was a horrible year for me and I ended up gaining around 20 pounds from lack of exercising, a bad diet (including Diet Coke), and a lot of stress. (FYI: I currently weigh 218.4 lbs.) After eating lots of candy around Christmas, I made the decision to change the way I eat. No, I'm not on a diet, as diets never work for me. I'm just making a lifestyle change, which began on Dec. 31st.

In addition to my diet, I started the weight lifting program called Body Beast from Beachbody, which I have owned on DVD for several years. I'm doing the "lean" version of the program as my two main goals are to gain strength and lose body fat.

Monday's workout was "Build: Chest/Tris." It's a 49-minute workout using dumbbells and a bench. I don't have very many dumbbells. I own pairs of 10 lbs, 15 lbs, 20 lbs, and 25 lbs. I know these weights might not seem very heavy, but it's been awhile since I've exercised, so these light weights were perfect for  me. Well, at least for the time being. I would love to purchase heavier dumbbells or adjustable dumbbells, but they can be quite expensive and money is a little tight for me right now. (Hey, if a company wants to be to review a pair of dumbbells, please send me an email!)

Thursday, October 4, 2018

A Thursday Rambling: Harlequin Books & Adult Dating



*This is sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.
 
Many people will probably find it a bit weird for a man to like reading Harlequin-type novels, as romance novels are targeted towards women and not men. Personally, I do like reading romance novels, which was a habit I picked up during my teenage years. Growing up in a small town with very tiny library/city hall with 30+ year-old reject books, I didn't have much to read unless I went to the next town's library. I had already read most of the books in my school's library, so I eventually started reading the romance books (Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey, etc.) that my mother owned. Yes, some of those books were a little erotic, but to me a book was a book.

Anyhow, I was around 19 or 20 years-old when I stumbled upon a thrift store, where I found $.10 Harlequin paperbacks and, of course, I purchased many of them. The those type of books are fast-paced, guilty pleasure reads. Some of them are written really well, while others aren't very good. Nevertheless, I was crazy about them at that point in my life.

Over the years, I have continued to read a few Harlequin novels here and there, though not as many as I did when I was younger. My reading tastes have expanded, so I now read other genres, such as Amish fiction, crime novels, supernatural romances, mysteries, etc..

Honestly, I don't know why romances appeal to me. Maybe it's because I like the thought of romance in general. Well, at least in the last year or so romance has been on my thoughts. Being single at 37 is not a fun thing. If you are a follower of this blog, then you would already know about my thoughts on online dating. I still haven't actually gotten the nerve to join a dating site yet due to my fear of being rejected.

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Should I Find A Date For Halloween?



The first day of October is almost here, which means the Halloween season will official begin. Well, at least for me it will be the beginning. For others, the season started many weeks ago, which would explain why I've been seeing Halloween decorations in people's yards in September. For me, the All Hollows' Eve season starts on October 1st and ends at 11:59 PM on October 31st!

While Halloween is my #1 favorite holiday, it has become a very depressing event for me for the past few years. Since I was a teenager back in the mid-90s, I have always went all out, with me decorating the porch or yards (I've moved over the years.) with frightening decorations. Then I would put together little bags of candy for the trick-or-treaters. Lastly, I would carve a pumpkin and roast the the seeds, so I could eat them late that night while I watch my favorite movie - Halloween (1978).

This year I'm planning on making a few changes. I'm not going to put out the Halloween decorations, which included three inflatables, orange lights, hanging ghosts & goblins, and a huge graveyard scene full of tombstones, skeletons, zombies, and a fog machine, and I'm not putting together the trick-or-treat bags. Actually, I'm not even going to give out candy this year. Instead, I'm going to turn off lights and hope nobody bothers me.

Why the change of heart this year?