My year in books

I love prepping the presentations for a class! I get to run around the house like a crazy person - and take pictures - well, first, I might have to sew something. Then, I take what I think are clear and understood pictures. 

The next step is to email them to me so I can add them to the presentation. After adding pictures to the presentation, I reviewed the slides and put them in order. Some pictures get rejected -- what seemed like a good picture at the time says absolutely NOTHING. Why did I even take it? 

And just like writing a book, the process of proofing comes next. Does the flow work? I don't usually put many words into my presentation, so I don't have to worry about proofreading it. But if the flow is off or a slide is out of order, it can throw things out of whack. 

I reviewed one of the presentations this morning. Oops -- I added in a couple of homework pictures that came in late last night. Oops -- I added a picture I took but forgot to send it to myself. 

So one of them is done. The second one is pretty much done as well, but it required a few more pictures, and I added some text. I have ZERO qualms about "stealing" pictures off the internet. It's for illustration purposes and is usually a PRODUCT, so I don't think anyone will mind. 

And so, several hours later, a presentation is born! Not counting any of the sewing time. I know that many people appreciate the time that goes into these presentation, but I'm also surprised by the people that "complain" about the cost of a workshop! WAIT -- to be fair -- that rarely happens. 

Like all teachers, prep time is HUGE; it happens behind the scenes and takes oodles of time. All people see is the presentation or lesson time. That is the absolutely easiest part of it all! 

But I enjoy it, so I'm happy to do it. Plus it helps to solidify all this in my head! 

I walked to Diane's and got more quilt tops, but I had no time to take pictures. And except for finishing another book, the second of the year, I didn't do much else besides prepping those presentations. 

Have you noticed, at the end of the year, that everyone (all the programs or things you subscribe to, start to send you stats for the year?)

According to Goodreads (yes - I know who they are owned by), I read 60 books in 2023, with the average book length being 388 pages. 

My year in books - according to Goodreads

I see that MANY people are still reading the Harry Potter series. How can that be? What made the Harry Potter series take off like crazy, while other similar books didn't go anywhere? And NO ONE else read that book (A Certain Justice) by John Lescroart! That's because it was one of his first books published in 1995. Well, it wasn't one of his first books (9th), but it's been out for a while. I happened to have a copy of it, so I read it and then donated it. 

The most and least popular book that I read

I love this next chart. It's the published date of the books I've read since I started tracking them on Goodreads in 2019. It's interesting how most of the books were published in the last 20 years, but some go way back! 

I love stats, and I love all these tracking systems. Yes -- I know that if I track stuff online (books I read, places I go, etc), someone out there knows that information. I'm one of MILLIONS of people that get tracked. Honestly, if someone out there finds something interesting about my life, I say go for it! 

What they are tracking are TRENDS, not individuals. Where did I shop? How did I get there? What did I buy? All that information is available -- yep -- even if you turn off your location services on your phone, every purchase you make (particularly with a loyalty card) is tracked. They know who you are and what you are doing! Unless you pay cash -- you are visible! And even cash sales become trackable as far as trends go!

And let's face it, data mining is a BIG business. I've mentioned this before, but my "favorite" online store -- well, it's not just a store. As a matter of fact, their online store is small compared to their TERRABYTES of data storage. Yep -- their web services are huge, and many companies, whether you know it or not, are hosted by AWS (Amazon Web Services). 

The scary part is that this exists, and many people aren't even aware of it. Not that we need to be terrified -- it's part of our lives today. Just know that EVERYTHING you do is recorded, tracked, or somehow becomes part of those vast databases that can be mined for information and trends. 

My data is so probably skewed that my information falls off -- I don't usually fall into the mainstream. 

It's the same as Missouri Star Quilt Co. --- their online business is MANY times larger than the sales in Hamilton, Missouri! They have MANY other businesses that generate a LOT of money. They are the Amazon of the quilt world. 

WAIT -- I just remembered one of my dreams. I must have been doing some mad shopping (quilt-related), which rarely happens. Then I went somewhere else and fell in love with SOMETHING at that shop. I was ready to buy but was leery because I'd overspent at the previous place. Now to remember what it was that I wanted!! I don't think that even came into the dream - it was just that I was going to splurge. 

Somehow, I don't think that dream was related to quilting, although in the dream, it was. I think it was associated with SUGAR since I had a bit too much yesterday! I NEED to stop that. 

Here are a couple of pictures of Little Bear. He's hanging out in the office and was tucked in his bed until he got hot and plunked down on the floor. 

Grandma -- turn down the heat! 

Just so you know-- we do NOT keep our house overheated! M complains about it every time she comes!

Then he came downstairs (OK -- I helped him on the stairs) so he could be with me while I took pictures for the presentation. 

Grandma -- I'm a helper!!

And he and Murphy have a thing. Murphy likes to go out on the deck, so Bear has to go with her. They look out into the forest, sniffing for something interesting. He's happy to go alone but ecstatic to go with her! He will go out by himself and then turn around, waiting for her to join him! So cute!!

MOM -- there's something out there!

Well, that's it for today. I have two Zooms this morning, and hopefully, everyone got the new Zoom code. Administering those distribution lists is a bit of a pain, especially considering what happened, but I believe all is good, and I just need to get the UFO distribution lists out, which I hope to do today. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!