Opinions of a Wolf

Reading other people’s blogs (most notably The Story Siren and Medieval Bookworm) made me decide my blog needs a bit of a consistent humanizing element to it.  Non-opinion posts that just give you a general sense of who the hell this person is who’s yacking to you about books, movies, and general opinions.  To that end I’ve decided to start this new (hopefully consistent) feature–Friday Fun!–in which I will ramble about general Amanda-stuff.  I hope you enjoy.

This week I became the proud owner of both a menorah and a 3 foot tall fake Christmas tree.  I can hear my family now.  “Whaaat?!  You bought a fake tree?!”  But you see, a fake tree is easier and cheaper, so I’m happy.  I’ll also need to skip the tinsel for the first year ever due to the presence of the kitty.  She totally would eat the tinsel and we’d get to spend a lovely night in the MSPCA ER.  As for the menorah, it’s the first time I’ll be the one in charge of lighting it.  For the last five years, it was always a roommate or hallmate who did, so I’ve taken it upon myself to learn the Hanukkah prayers.  My friend Nina helped me get the basics, but I found this website last night to help me practice when she’s not around.

I am a major online holiday shopper, and a lot of the presents I’ve been buying arrived this week.  I have quite the stash in my closet, and I need to acquire wrapping paper so they can wind up under the tree.  Seeing all the wrapped presents is one of my favorite things.  I’ve looked for wrapping paper twice so far, but finding non-holiday-specific ones for my Chrismukkah celebrations hasn’t been going too well.  And no, I don’t like snowman paper.

On the sour note, last night my downstairs neighbors complained about me walking around my apartment.  Yes, walking.  Personally my first reaction is that they should suck it up and deal because they knew what they were getting into when they chose an apartment that’s not on the top floor.  It’s not like I was dancing or running circles or something.  Upon reflection after she left, however, I realized that the new kitty addition does have a tendency to run circles (and bounce off walls and randomly do dances) in the evening, and perhaps this is what the neighbors have been hearing.  I can sort of sympathize with this, but it doesn’t seem to me there’s much I can do about it.  It’s not my fault the landlord has wood floors on the top floor of the apartment building.  I’m thinking of stopping by and letting them know it’s probably the cat they’re hearing, so they at least know (unless that’s unnecessary?), but in the meantime, any suggestions on how to deal with the neighbors?

This weekend my plans are a bit up-in-the-air, but I do plan on decorating the tree, maybe hanging out with some friends, and reading more.  It’d been a long time since I’ve read a series, and I’m really enjoying the cozy familiarity I’m starting to feel with the main characters in both The Dark Tower and Sookie Stackhouse.  Of course I also have a couple of movies on my radar to watch.  You’ll just have to wait til next week to find out what they are!

Peace!