Study Reading Strategies

Oh geez--it's nearly June. Time to consider my summer study reading. 

My usual process- I grab likely titles from the books I've purchased but haven't read, and a book or two that I need to reread.

A stack of aspirations is one thing. Actually reading the books is quite another.

So, strategies--

Narrow down that pile. Thirty-seven books WILL NOT be read, and that's just a lot of hauling and getting daunted. Start with ten or less. A dozen if you absolutely cannot help yourself.

One book at a time. I'm easily distracted and often read several books in the same stretch of time. My brain doesn't appreciate this when it comes to professional reading.

Notes of some sort. If it's on my Kindle, I highlight and export the notes later. On paper, I have a notebook for my reading, with a page for each book-- I jot down a quick insight and the page number so I can come back to it as needed.

Small chunks. Most often I set a 10% goal. If it's a 300 page book, that's 30 pages until I take a break. (This is even easier when technology puts the percentage read right there on the screen.)

Rewards. Not just a burgeoning Goodreads number. Getting to read fiction, hang out in a hammock, find a frosty beverage, go for a swim.

This is the song that never ends...

It's raining again. We'll probably get another two to three inches tonight, putting us around a foot for the week*. The backyard is a lake, but not currently threatening to annex the living room. Our street is not flooded, and we're hoping it stays that way.

Perhaps I can see it as a bonus that we're getting a test of our new windows even before hurricane season. Looks like the installers will need to come back soon to fix this one, and hopefully it doesn't short out the contacts for the alarm system.

Grand scheme of things, in a week where at least two dozen Texans have died in the floods and thousands have lost cars or houses, this a tiny issue.

*Average annual rainfall for Houston is just under 50 inches. We've gotten about half that since March 1. And hypothetically June is our wettest month...

Drafts

Once in a while I have thoughts for a blog post and I start writing, only to realize that it is not ready. Perhaps it's an idea I'm still processing, intellectually or emotionally. Sometimes the post is bigger than I can tackle in the time (or laptop charge) I have available that day.

So I click the Save button and start something new, figuring that I will get back to the draft sooner or later. Or not, if the topic proves ephemeral. The good news is, draft blog entries, even if they accumulate, are tiny digital files--they take up very little space. 

As opposed to the piles of various projects partitioned out on my dining room table, forcing me to review papers on the floor when I run out of space up top. The work of possibility is rarely tidy.

Binges

In trying weeks a bit of distraction can be a blessing. This week it's Call the Midwife. Thank goodness for Netflix.

The Last Place You Look

That time when an important binder goes missing only to show up in a box of craft supplies... including the stash of empty tequila bottles for bath salts.

A Dry(ish) Night

The floodwaters at my house receded by morning. Parts of metro Houston are still underwater, and a number of people died in the storms. So it's very much on my mind again tonight.

They say that 162 BILLION GALLONS of rain fell on my county last night.
That's over a trillion pounds of water.

Tonight, if we have any rain, it will be a quick sprinkle.
At least, that's what we're hoping.

Rain, rain, go away.
Go to Cali-for-nye-ay.

Heads Above Water...

Rain coming down from the overhang

Here in Texas we've had rather a lot of rain this month.

And now we've had six inches this evening, with plenty of thunder and lightning and a few hailstorms to keep things interesting.

Water gushing over the
side of the gutter

Houston is a series of swamps, affectionately named bayous. They drain the city as they can.

Right now my street is its own bayou. The water is only halfway up my driveway and there's not much of a current, but there is still more than you would expect on a street.

A camera in the dark- it's a mystery
where it will focus.

Power's been out since the storms started, so I am writing on my phone. Picture captions and proper formatting will wait.

Power lost just as I scooped ice cream.
Alas, a candlelit treat