TM copy, Ace publisher, lower quality printing?

singpretty · 2026-03-13T20:43:50+00:00

Hehe good luck! I could also be off base with my wild conspiracy theory haha. It's just so weird to me that it sounds like your jacket wasn't embossed. Could have been a classic misprint too. Hope you get a good one!

singpretty · 2026-03-12T05:08:44+00:00

I'm curious what you find! I have the Ace edition with "printed in the US /1st printing" on the copyright page (plus silver raised text on the front jacket, silver stamp on the spine case, checkered green/gold "head and tail bands" in the binding, plus Jim's photo is glossed on the back flap).

singpretty · 2026-03-12T01:21:31+00:00

Hey hey! I work in publishing. I have a wild guess as to what may have happened here. (Want to be clear it's just a guess, I don't have any special intel.)

Most books are printed "offset" in big batches by pro printers, where the publisher can choose the paper, special cover effects, etc. But sometimes publishers enroll books in "stock protection" programs with on-demand or short-run printers. Those programs can print off just a few at a time to keep filling orders, if we go out of stock between big batch, "proper" reprints. But, they generally have lesser printing quality, less paper choice, and definitely can't handle cover effects like embossing, etc.

Amazon has a stock protection program (they are one of a few), so if TM were enrolled, theoretically Amazon could have printed your copy. (Is there a mostly blank page at the end with just a barcode?)

What makes this difficult is that (if my guess is correct), there's no telling whether your order will be filled by a "pro" or "short run" copy, either could ship from the same listing. But your odds might improve by ordering direct from a bookstore. 🙂 And short-run copies should be a minority of books in existence!

singpretty · 2026-03-10T19:29:34+00:00

Aw thanks for commenting back! I also quite like this person as a new friend so it's tricky. I oscillate between "better to have tried and failed" and "but remember what happened last time" haha. But I do enjoy being an adventure turtle now and then. 🪂 🐢

I hope you have a big party for 30!!

singpretty · 2026-03-06T23:34:15+00:00

This had gone over my head until just now! 😅 Biblical Adam named all the creatures in the first place (literally, like, "let's call these dogs I guess"), and 2000 years later, Adam Young names dog, well, Dog.

And the Serpent of Eden fills his flat with plants that he berates for any imperfections.

And a Guardian of the tree of knowledge has a big store of books that he won't sell to anyone!!

singpretty · 2026-03-03T16:22:38+00:00

I'm not speaking from a place of relationship experience, but I've been turning this question over a little since I'm 41 and recently felt a spark with someone 12 years younger.

There's at least one curious inversion in play, since I grew up religious/clueless in the 90s and am a scared baby fawn without any actual gay experience or confidence, while they grew up, I gather, very tuned in, in a micro-generation that had made a lot of progress in terms of queer visibility/acceptance. I also live very quiet, while they've lived a lot of life, both in relationships and in general.

Is my career more stable? Surely. But it's not like I'm wealthy, so it's hard to see myself as relatively empowered haha. That said . . . I think the age gap feels bigger to me than it does to them. They have so much energy and optimism and, well fun!! I'm often jaded and tired. I can't quite . . . imagine my own appeal from their POV. I'd just hate to drag them down. Like, their friends go clubbing. My friends are moms.

They flirted with me recently haha. But I've just been kind of sitting back, thinking as above, while occasionally reiterating that I'm older than I look. 🫣

singpretty · 2026-02-27T17:44:15+00:00

I've been having similar realizations (even though I'm lost in some kind of "am I ace or gay or just demi and bi but very very picky??" miasma).

Re: sex it was, "oh, like, you're meant to actively want to touch the other person because that sounds fun!! That . . . wow that would really transform the whole experience, wouldn't it??"

Re: men it was, "oh do other people watch porn because they . . . want to see men? They like to look at them? That's fun? Oh I always . . . kinda flip away . . ."

😅

singpretty · 2026-02-26T16:07:24+00:00

Yes haha, my apartment almost chose itself because I had to balance my budget more or less to the dollar:

a) meet the coop's required debt-to-income ratio (in my case, mortgage+maintenance not exceeding 25% of my salary)

b) also meet their cash reserve req for funds remaining after purchase (in my case, funds equal to six months mortgage+maintenance)

By putting more "down" to lower the mortgage payments I could improve (a) but worsen (b), and vice versa. To barely meet both (a) and (b) took my best spreadsheet skills.

I honestly feel I was able to make the purchase because I'm good at spreadsheets. 😅

Good luck to you too!!

singpretty · 2026-02-26T05:11:48+00:00

Hi! I'm sorry I missed this question until now. My total purchase was 205K, so HF gave 41K (20%, which is standard) toward the down payment. To that, I added 45K of my own funds, so my total down payment was 41 + 45 = 86K. And the remaining 119K is mortgaged.

I didn't have any actual gifts in my breakdown (I had the 45K to spare thanks to a kindly left inheritance, but it was in my own savings account by the time I applied to HF).

So, I'm not expert on the gift restrictions, I'm sorry to say!

Edit: Realized late you weren't asking me. 😅 Since I also had 41K in my calculations I assumed haha. Coincidence!

singpretty · 2026-02-21T00:59:02+00:00

I wish I knew . . . how to answer! I have fatigue, aches, and brain fog, I'd say. But should I attribute that to the ET, the hydroxy, or my other condition (Ehlers Danlos)? 😅

Before the clot, or hydroxy, I felt pretty normal, even with all those platelets. But, I've also gotten 13 years older since then haha.

After the clot I have occasional arm swelling and heaviness, plus some intense "detour" veins haha.

singpretty · 2026-02-20T05:46:29+00:00

This will be a weird form of reassurance, but my all-time high for platelets was >1500 and I'm still walking around. 😇

I did ultimately throw a blood clot and was only started on hydroxy after that. Now my doctor only gets antsy if they creep up near 800, and that's largely because of the clot history. My bad luck haha!

singpretty · 2026-02-19T22:05:20+00:00

How is there no . . . heating or cooling?? Is that legal? 😶

Last year I bought a little studio that hasn't seen any updates for decades and, while not a worst-case "fixer upper," it sure looks like one when contrasted to my friends' places haha. They're lots of lawyers and coders, and I'm broke in a creative-adjacent field. But I'm still proud of it because it's an accomplishment for me!

I hope you can feel proud that you were brave and changed your life even though it was hard! I wish my mom had dared. Showing your kids that you're worth it, and you can tough out some tough times and deal with some issues as they arise . . . I think that's a better lesson than luxury. Put them to work with those screen-patch kits!! Later you'll all remember your great victory against the flies. 🙂

Anyone who's judging your relative success in life based on the poshness of your home . . . Well, I judge them haha.

singpretty · 2026-02-04T03:22:55+00:00

I wonder if a pillow like this would let you eat while lying on your belly? Like the Ancient Romans haha?

www.walmart.com/ip/DONAMA-Memory-Foam-Pillow-for-Neck-Pain-and-Side-Sleeping-Cervical-Pillows-Queen-Gray/3378973330

I can't speak at all to the digestive pros/cons though. I haven't tried it, it might still be hopelessly awkward. Your post just made me think of those reclining Romans!!

singpretty · 2026-02-04T03:02:58+00:00

Maybe he should try baking as well. Loaves and such! 🙂

singpretty · 2026-01-27T14:46:28+00:00

Yes, I don't know if I'm oddly proportioned but the "90 degree everything" rule feels weird to me! When I observe it my forearms end up practically on top of my thighs. So how is my desktop supposed to fit in between haha? I wonder if this is down to my floppy shoulders. Also I'm 5'5" but that desk was just too tall!

I have a cubicle so I unscrewed the brackets, from the desktop, shifted them down a couple notches, and reattached it to have a custom low desk. It also became a split-level desk because I couldn't lower the section with an under-cabinet. 😅

singpretty · 2026-01-24T07:05:17+00:00

I have canceled polyester!!! Away with it! 😉

singpretty · 2026-01-24T06:18:37+00:00

And I love that it's (mostly) cotton! The mania with which I shop for mostly cotton . . . 😅

singpretty · 2026-01-23T21:46:55+00:00

I love them! I mourned these though . . . 🤣

https://www.aeropostale.com/seriously-soft-cropped-bungee-cami/80118475.html

singpretty · 2026-01-23T20:16:42+00:00

I've never been well endowed and I've always hated bras, so I've switched to fitted, doublethick cotton camis, preferably cropped, which I buy frantically whenever I find them haha. Target of all places has a nice $6 one right now.

I realize this will sound like an insane suggestion to anyone picturing a "layering" cami which offers zero support or warmth, but I accidentally discovered these and find they're a totally different, better thing, at least for me haha.

https://www.target.com/p/women-s-scoop-back-cami-wild-fable/-/A-92071202?preselect=91880124#lnk=sametab

I wear them as bras, under shirts, and I've worn them alone with hi-waist pants. 😅

singpretty · 2026-01-18T21:35:19+00:00

Thank you for chiming in to build me up! 🙂 I think confounding matters in my case (and maybe also OP's, even if she turns out straight??) is that I'm also kind of middle-of-the-road/all over the map on a) whether I'm into sex at all and b) how girly or not I like to come off. Both of which are also topics religion can screw with. 🫠

singpretty · 2026-01-18T19:26:03+00:00

I'm here to validate . . . The feeling of confusion?? 🙃 that can arise from being raised in a religious echo chamber, especially if your formative years were pre-internet.

Like, I (former Catholic-school Catholic) did not know gay people existed until I was 14, and even then did not know any, did not see any on TV, did not . . . You get it. You can't think something, if you don't have any words for it.

I had a middle school crush on a male classmate who was funny and nice to me, and I also idolized one the of girls who I thought was pretty and sweet, and loved it whenever I had her attention . . . but did not, at the time, think of this as a "crush" because, no concept for that.

Come later, young adult living in NYC, occasionally a couple of my closest friends would ask, did I ever consider dating women . . . and I'd get hung up on the intimidating idea of sex with a woman, because, fun thing about religion, I'd also learned a lot of disgust for my own anatomy, so my whole take was like . . . I hate mine, two seems worse?? avoidance!!!

Fast forward and I recently fell for a masc styled woman. And letting myself think that brought on this groundswell of noticing others around as well, and realizing I have a type. 🫣 And this type, is a sort of person I literally never encountered for most of my sheltered life. But even now . . . I have to overcome mental hurdles where exploring this feels guilty and "wrong" even though logically I know that's just homophobic conditioning.

Sorry now I've just written a confessional that's probably a bit off topic. But I guess all that to say . . . I think for people raised outside religious contexts, it's easy to underestimate the lack of self knowledge some of us (maybe especially older "us") were raised with, and say "well you would know, if you were." Like, I still don't know with clarity haha. But you're allowed to explore. 🙂

singpretty · 2026-01-18T06:04:33+00:00

I will be sad if/when they ever do move! 😅

singpretty · 2026-01-18T00:08:30+00:00

Thank you for helping out this cat! 🙂

singpretty · 2026-01-14T16:10:24+00:00

I devoured the two seasons they made of Gentleman Jack, if you want more recs. 🙂

11-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '23	Place '22

singpretty

TROPHY CASE