(no subject)

The thing I like about fall and winter is that I am able to regulate my temperature by changing my clothing and do so be wearing clothing that I'm comfortable in. In the summer, if I want to dress so as to be cool, I have to wear short skimpy things which make me feel self-conscious and exposed. (I joke about not liking for people to see my ankles but, honestly, it's kinda true.)

Whereas today, it is cool out and I am still sick and thus feel colder than I normally would. So I am wearing an ankle-length wool skirt with sweater-tights under it, a shirt, a cardigan, and arm warmers. I feel fully dressed and toasty-warm. And if I get too hot later, I can take off the cardigan.

Fall and winter are the perfect part of the year.

(no subject)

So, here is an awesome thing!

The Seattle Public Library has a form on their website where you plug in your name and email address and some info about the kind of books you like or don't like, and their librarians will make you a personalized 5-book recommendation list.

I filled out the form a few days ago, saying that I was particularly looking for horror recommendations and listing some of my favorite horror novels as well as some details about what kinds of horror I like best. (Cosmic horror, body horror, low on sexual violence.) It took about five days, but the list I got is awesome. And the librarian wrote me a nice chatty email, describing the recommended books and why he thought I might like them. The email actually recommended more than five books, since he included a lot of "if you like this one, you might also try this," and "our library doesn't have this right now, but we should be getting it soon." The books he recommended that I've already read were ones that I'd quite liked, which makes me pretty confident about the ones I haven't.

They are, of course, mostly books that they have in the Seattle Public system, but you don't have to have a card there to try out the form, and there's no reason you can't take the recs to your own system or to amazon.

It is pretty great. You should try it.