Monday, February 27, 2012

A Note on Audiobooks

Last weekend Joe and I took advantage of President's day (and it's 4-day weekend) by driving out to Arizona to visit my best friend and her family. We usually fly whenever we go anywhere, so I was concerned before our trip about how we would pass the 14+ hours in the car. We do enjoy some of the same music, but not enough to fill that many hours, so I knew I couldn't look forward to the Mamma Mia sing-along party I have when I make the same trip with my mom...


The solution we came up with was to pick an audiobook that we both wanted to read/listen to and that we could talk about. Joe suggested The Selfish Gene. I suggested 1Q84. Joe suggested The Moral Landscape. I suggested we listen to the entire, multi-season soundtrack from Glee. :) I think you can see where I'm going with this...


We finally agreed on the unabridged recording of The Lord of the Rings. The entire trilogy is almost two days worth of recording, so we would definitely be covered. And I'll say this: we are both totally loving it. We managed to get through about 9 hours of the recording during our trip and have since been listening separately - me on my commute to work and Joe before he goes to bed.
lotr.wikia.com


So here is my dilemma: The audiobook makes complete sense for me in the car, but listening when I don't have something to focus on with my eyes feels awkward. This weekend I had a chunk of time that I would usually devote to reading, but picking up something new while I'm still in the middle of Fellowship of the Ring felt unsatisfactory. I didn't want to start something new. I wanted to keep going in the world I had already entered. So I tried to listen to my audiobook at home. I didn't know what to do with my eyes in the meantime, so I closed them. When I opened them again, over an hour had passed and I had no idea what was going on in the book.... I tried to follow along with the printed book next, but that was weird, too. The actor who recorded the books is fantastic - he does interesting voices, emphasizes all the right stuff and has clear diction - but he's slow. When I found out that the track for "The Council of Elrond" was an hour and forty-five minutes long, I was SURE it would be at least 100 pages in the print edition. It's 31. Let's just say I wouldn't take almost 2 hours to read 31 pages. So I tried to just read the book myself. But then I missed the voices. Catch 22.


Because of my career, it is not at all unusual for me to read two or even three books at the same time (one for each grade I am teaching and one for book club or personal entertainment). But normally there's a reason why I'm reading more than one book at a time - two entertainment books seems ridiculous for some reason. So how do I deal with having an audiobook that I can't sit down and read, but not wanting to delve into a new world while I'm still in this one? Dilemma!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

On Budgeting

Probably the part of this crazy let's-move-to-London-on-student-visas plan that gives me the most anxiety is just how we're going to pay for it. London is widely acknowledged as one of the most expensive cities in the world. (Even if it did slip from #17 to #18 between 2010 and 2011.) A cursory search of tiny, poorly-appointed flats online has lead me to believe we'll be lucky to get out for under $2000 in rent per month for a shoebox. And while my new job is better-paying than any teaching job I've ever had, I've had to amp up my commuting costs (despite my Prius) and have struggled to meet my savings goals each month. Joe and I both need to get realistic about this one, as it really could be the final say in whether or not we get to have this big adventure: how could we be saving more??

photo from www.dailymoneysaving.com

We cut out some of the obvious expenses from last year - no flights or big trips are planned. But we still eat out more than we should, both separately and together. I still buy clothes and have my eye on not one, but two pairs of $80+ flats at Nordstroms. I fear that we aren't being serious enough about stepping up our frugality, challenging ourselves to save not the minimum to meet our modest savings goals, but instead daring ourselves to put away every possible penny we can. It's something we have to dedicate ourselves to. If we don't, we'll still be living in SoCal next fall, wondering if that extra drink out with friends was really worth it...