highrise living for a joke like me

Plugging along. Not much going on (job hunt = depressing; family life = ridiculous; that's basically all you need to know), so have a meme:

The book I am reading: Just started The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon, which was suggested to me by allandaros ages ago. I've only just started it, but female main character? What's not to like? :D

The book I am writing: Well, am actually actively working on the SPACE PIRATES for stargate_summer. But if we're talking about book-that-could-one-day-be-published, that would be Danse Macabre, which currently lives in pieces in dns_macabre. Yes, I'm finally trying to finish that series of short stories, dress them up, and take them out dancing. Comm is flocked, but if you want to read the existing stories, the new-to-the-internet stories, and the reedits, ask for an invite, and I'll add you.

The book I love most: Oh, gosh, too many. The book I love most that I've reread recently is Good Omens, which is one of my happy-place books, and one of my favorites. So funny! If I were to actually become a pro writer, I would love to write a book half as good as this one.

The last book I received as a gift: pigsflew bought me The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley when he visited last month, but I have not gotten a chance to read it yet.

The last book I gave as a gift: A used copy of Earthman's Burden to Dad, to replace his copy, which is too brittle to be read. Before that, a preorder of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, for Mom.

The nearest book on my desk: Well, kitchen table/desk, though they're actually on the chair next to it: The Green Fairy Book and Jewish Family and Life, both of which I need to put in the mail on Monday. Hooray, PaperBackSwap.

Today we were discussing political culture, and I said a couple insightful--or at least eloquent--things in the discussion. I'm not being immodest; people applauded.

Anyway, and the prof took credit for my intelligence! I'd started this class last spring, but had to drop after only a few sessions because my mood took a swan dive, but the damn-fool idiot said, when someone asked the room where I'd learned this stuff, "she's taken one of my classes before." Arg.

I'm sure anyone with a brain could tell he wasn't being serious, but I'm still aggrieved. I mean, 23 years living with an historian, some 14 years of school--including four in the IB--and a lifetime of reading and analyzing, and this hack thinks he had anything to teach me in four sessions of an Intro to Poli Sci course at a community college? As if, asshole.

*breathes*

Here, help me decide what to read once I finish rereading American Gods for my mythology project:

[Poll #1623264]

( summaries )

Trying to function on no sleep doesn't get any easier (thank you, brain, you finally start working and then you go into overdrive). Met up with A and Sarah to switch over some of the banking stuff; with any luck (heh), the majority of the Monologues stuff will be tied up with a pretty bow and ready for me to pass to Sarah by the end of the week. I suspect the actual handover will take a little longer--and that Sarah will have a lot of questions for a while--but it's not like I really have anything more important to do, right?

I'm really looking forward to actually having a work scheduled, though. I'm getting really tired of playing the "Can you work this shift...this afternoon?" "Ye-ah..." game. Really, really tired. But it's money, or it will be eventually, so that's some small comfort.

While I wasn't sleeping last night, I started and finished Robin McKinley's Dragonhaven. It's an interesting story (it's certainly different, which is something), but it's got the worst narrative style ever. Imagine a memoir being written by someone who doesn't quite understand the importance of sentence structure. And didn't take notes while things were happening (ok, that at least makes sense), but the author decided that the person would a) remind us of the fact all the time and b) use that as an excuse to include almost no dialogue.

(A few weeks ago, I finished Gordon Livingston's Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart, at Mom's urging, which pretty much encapsulated why I dislike self-help books: there was maybe one true, useful thing in the 40-odd pages, and the rest was a blend of "let's state the obvious" and pop-psych masturbation. Gross.)

I also finally got around to reading theemdash's A Loose Bolt in a Complete Machine, copperbadge's Sing Morning Out of Night, and paian's Safe as Houses. The first two were amazing, the third was equally so though not really my speed content-wise.

Hopefully I can do my own writing soon...

Finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union last night, and I rather enjoyed it. I have to say, though, I don't know how non-Jews can really appreciate that book; yeah, the Yiddish is pretty much understandable from context, but part of why the book is so funny comes from an understanding of Jewish culture and identity that I'm not sure one can understand without living it. *shrugs*

Also, finished my first of the Friendship Stimulus gifts and gave it to the recipient on Wednesday. It was a hemp necklace for triannamaxwell, in square knot with green glass beads:

Singularly unproductive day, but I think I'm allowed them every once in a while. Spent a few hours trawling I Can Has Cheezburger, hence the earlier lolcat spam.

Started (and finished) Bitter Thorns, the lesbo retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" written by the same woman who wrote the pair of sci fi lesbian adventure/romance novels I might have mentioned (Shadows of Aggar and Fires of Aggar). I kind of think I could write better with my eyes closed (well, less typos, and 'twere I her, I'd shoot my editors). Maybe someday I will.

Also, signed up for lgbtfest, because I clearly have a death wish. It's a great fest, at least for those of us who like real-world implications of things. And this year I'm not writing all about children, so that's nice. (See what I did there?)

We're also not rehearsing today, due to a collection of circumstances I don't feel like recreating at the mo. Basically, I'm a little peeved at A, because I'm getting stuck dealing with everything, and she's not picking up the slack when I get fed up.

Oh well, let's try to catch up on the productivity front.

- call
-- shrink
-- Aetna re: switching coverage
-- SGA finance re: why I can't make the money transfer
- e-mail
-- Marvelous Mayhem re: returning corset
- complete line item transfer and ISR to pay for AV
- dishes
- shower
- vacuum
- assemble external hard drive
- Otzma reference for A
- writing
-- picfor1000
-- imaginarybeasts
-- stargate_summer
-- extra Question(s) for fandom_grammar
-- that "Old Friends/Bookends" flopsy tejas inspired
- harass MMRP cast members who haven't given me their schedule yet I think we have everyone, and I'm waiting to work out the rehearsal space, anyway

So, all my clothes got unpacked yesterday, and today I'm moving on to the fun stuff: the six black plastic milk crates that made up my bookshelf (stacked with the openings out and tied with twine, an old sleepaway camp trick). For your amusement, I shall list off the contents of each crate, working my way down through the layers. I'll keep a running list and update this post after each crate is unpacked.

( Crate One: So You Want to Be a Theatre Geek )

( Crate Two: Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Didn't Learn in English Class )

( Crate Three: Stage Managers Do It by the Book )

( Crate Four: I Enjoy Being a Girl )

( Crate Five: Silly Boy, Power Tools are for Girls )

( Crate Six: Purple Feathers, Twigs, and Shells )

Finally read Good Omens; oh, I am in love with Neil Gaiman. That's all I really have to say about that. (Corrugated iron and fish! Gay as a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide! Flaming Bentley! Ok, done now.)

Also watch both Mrs. Henderson Presents and Dirty Dancing simultaneously with the 'rents (don't ask...). The former is hilarious, plus it has naked people, so that's always fun. The latter I still haven't seen straight through, but I'm closer. It must also be noted that I'm rather pathetic, since Dirty Dancing makes me whimpery. Yes, I'm very silly.

There were other things I was going to say, but I've forgotten. Ah, well.

( Another Music Meme! )

The fuck, iTunes?

Ok, it's time for bed.

Dude, I used to type with one finger. How is it that I can only type with all fingers now?

from allandaros

Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
I respond by asking you three five questions.

You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions. Or not, as is your choice. I don't believe in forcing memes on others. Peaceful propagation! :D

You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them three five questions.

1. What got you so interested in Stargate?
The interplay between science fiction and mythology. The fact that it takes place now, so one doesn't have to wrap one's brain around a far-into-the-future utopia (Trek, Firefly (the Alliance is an evil United Federation of Planets, in my mind). The team interplay. The fact that the show has strong female characters who are useful because they're smart rather than just sexy. Daniel Jackson is a great character and really, really hot. The politics, believe it or not. Plus, Jack and Daniel are so doing it. Part of why I'm so pissed off about s9 and s10 is because more than half of the above have been lost, and Atlantis doesn't pick up the slack.

2. Is there anything interesting, at all, that you've managed to pick out of CLAS170 so far? (For me, it was the "Bride of Death" category of stock characters, which we totally skipped over in the IB curriculum, and I feel was actually a useful division).
That would be a no. I know the majority of what we've learned so far, the textbooks are crap, the translations of the plays and poems are pretty awful. This class is really a waste.

That being said, we might do something more interesting before the end of the semester, but I am not optimistic.

3. Is there any issue you can think of in which you take the "conservative" side?
Um...I don't think so, no. The thing is, there are certain things I don't have an opinion on, and the rest I'm pretty liberal to ridiculously liberal. I honestly can't think of anything.

4. What was your favorite pre-1998 computer game, if any?
Dude, I don't even remember back that far.

Ah, yes, Gizmos & Gadgets came out in 1993 and The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain in 1995. Puzzle games, both of them. I'm such a dork.

5. Recommend unto everyone a must-read author.
Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles and the book of short stories (Book of Enchantments); dunno about her other stuff

Garth Nix's Abhorsen series

everything by Amelia Atwater Rhodes; she's kind of like a mini-Anne Rice, but not insane

Advising yesterday went well, even though the power was out on campus before I arrived, so systems were still down until almost 3p. Didn't wind up having lunch with allandaros because the bus was late, and then the two of us missed the bus off campus, and so had to wait around until 4:20 for the next one. Boo, the buses suck.

I can't register until Monday (staggered registration), but the plan is to take two theatre courses (performance and history, but "fundamentals of" courses), intro to archeology, and Greek and Roman mythology, plus the tech credit David Kriebs (aka God) is letting me take so I can get credit for doing Crucible last spring. I've got a schedule worked out, too, and with luck I'll get it. We'll have to wait until Monday.

Another exciting thing going down next week, but not going to say anything for fear of jinxing it.

Anyone in town want to hang out on Saturday after noon or so? We could go ice skating and maybe hang out at my place afterwards (would have to clear it with 'rents).

Also, my NaNo is officially dead and abandoned. Maybe I'll try to do it in June, or something; I have no luck with November.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

EXTENDED PERFORMANCE
Saving the Republic of Aburiria.
by JOHN UPDIKE
Issue of 2006-07-31
Posted 2006-07-24

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