Stuff, some things maybe

It's Sunday night, I have a Lily-scarf across my neck, so of course it's the perfect time for a vague sort of life-update post.

I say "vague" because not a lot has been happening, really. Patrick turned seven(!!!) last month, I turned 43(!!!) a couple of weeks ago, and life shuffles along as it is wont to do.

Patrick asked me a few weeks ago if scientists were real, because he wanted to know if he could learn to make potions. After assuring him that yes, scientists are real, he now wants to be  a chemist. It's an advance on a ninja or Spider-man anyway.

All valid career choices, obviously.

Work remains work-ish. There's not a lot to say when you literally, actually work in an office from 9-5.

The period of doom hasn't returned *fingers crossed*, and now I'm just waiting to hear about a scan.

I saw What We Do in the Shadows - a Kiwi-made vampire comedy - yesterday, and it's hilarious. Very, very Kiwi in its sensibilities and sense of humour, and very unapologetic about it.

Great fun.

Uh ...... I also slayed a dragon and discovered life on a distant planet.

Look it's a post!

Ahhhhhhhh I’m on holiday for two weeks. Hooray.

Next week is the second week of the school holidays and then when Patrick is back at kindy/school I have another week off.

I have no plans at all for next week because I imagine that my time will largely be taken up with entertaining a certain nearly five year old. Hence the week off after he goes back to kindy/school – lol.

For THAT week I have plans. Nothing extravagant – they mostly revolve around reading, getting some stitching done and catching up on some shows. My poor MySky harddrive is nearly full and Game of Thrones Season 2 starts here on Monday.

I have a feeling something may have to give before then.

We took Patrick out to the beach last Sunday, for an outing. The beach here has no shelter but it’s only about 10 minutes’ drive from town so it’s handy.

He got all up in the sand dunes and had a great time.

It was so windy, though, that sand got everywhere. There were so many seabirds on the shore – gulls mostly but some … oystercatchers I think? The wind had obviously blown in some delicious treats. :D

I got a few photos but no good ones of Patrick because he was so busy running here, there and everywhere.

I’ve been reading but slowly, because I’m mired in A Clash of Kings. Not mired in a bad way but it’s LONG and the print is teeny-tiny.

The last book I finished was Iron Council and Jodie of http://bookgazing.dreamwidth.org/ and I will be doing another co-review. We’re still word-vomiting our feelings  at the moment so the review itself is a little while away.

What else. Oh! Book Depository!  My last Book Depository order finally came and I am now the proud owner of The World of Jeeves which is basically an omnibus of short stories. I’ve read it many, many times because I used to get it out of the library all the time but I don’t think my library has a copy any more and so I decided I needed one of my very own.

It’s good for in-between reading. And a joy to behold. J

I finished season 2 of Luther this week and much like Sherlock, now I’m hanging out and waiting for season 3. There HAS to be a season 3, right? My only complaint is I wish the season was a bit longer. Season 2 was four hour-long episodes and it really just wasn’t enough.

My library has a very eclectic range of movies and TV shows on DVD, so I’m poking at those. I rented Captain America (the only pre-Avengers movie I haven’t seen) and season 3 of Supernatural  this week. See how I go – lol.

H’m I should do some book reviews or something or I’m going to have to change the name of this blog to just add …. Anything.

But I’m not feeling the review mojo at the moment, so you’re stuck with me rambling. Sorry about that.

And readathon is next weekend! That’s come around so fast!

Who’s in?

My fails ...

*Sigh*

At the moment there’s just one fail, but I feel awful about it. I’ve basically bailed on the 1Q84 readalong with Care.

I tried. I mean, I only got to page 150 in the book but I kind of felt like I was reading in Groundhog Day every time I picked it up and now I’ve quietly shelved it. I feel  pretty awful about it, I hate bailing on readalongs because they’re fun and involving and engaging and Care is awesome.

Urgh.

Anyway, now I’m reading 11-22-63 by Stephen King and – not surprisingly I guess – that’s going much better.

I’m trying to think what else I’ve been doing lately that’s not failing to read … hrm. Work, obviously. Last week was The Week from Pants but that’s all we’ll say about that.

Oh! I’m thinking of getting an eReader. I’ve been wittering on it for ages but I was thinking today that it might be …. Nice. I mean, in the same way having an iPod is nice, if that makes sense. Something I can cart around with me and read on the bus and in the car and things.

So I’m considering getting a Sony. What I really want is a red one but I don’t seem to be able to get one here.

I also went on a school visit last Friday – to my old primary school, actually; for Patrick. He’ll be five in May and no matter how deeply in denial I am and how much I procrastinate, he’s still going to start school this year.

I had one other visit a couple of weeks ago but I like the feel of this one much better, and not just because it’s where I went to school when the dinosaurs roamed. It’s small – the roll is about 90 kids – and it’s relatively close to my work; about a 10 minute walk, which is also a selling-point. Plus I liked the feel of the place. So once I have the enrolment details sorted out, Patrick will start having school visits.

Please excuse me while I go and breathe into a paper  bag in the corner – lol.

What else, what else while I’m word-vomiting … oh!

Hairy Maclary! The stitching project. I gave up on it because I really hated the fabric and the way the pattern was laid out. My friend was so horrified that she’s finishing it for me – and getting through it a lot faster than I’d be able to.

So now I’m stitching Patrick this steam train (to your left) 

I’m a little further on than that, but haven’t taken a pic for a while. Plus I’m using Anchor rather than DMC  and so I don’t have all the cottons I need for it yet.

I’m also working on a picture for a present for a friend, so my rotation has temporarily expanded to five projects rather  than three, but it doesn’t feel like it’s out of hand or too much.

Uhm … also ALL OF THE PROGRAMMES on TV came back at once. I have A LOT of watching to do - lol

Nano and things

I'm nano-ing this year. For those of you going ... what? All is explained at the website: http://www.nanowrimo.org/


I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm there. Or something - lol.

I was reading The Honourable Schoolboy but started to get a bit bogged down and it was slow going, so I've abandoned it for now. I'm still picking at the Iliad, though.

So now I'm reading Kraken by China Mieville. It's another co-read with Jodie from http://bookgazing.dreamwidth.org/127713.html - we read Mieville's The City & The City (BREACH) together last year and had fun. Kraken is about a giant squid that goes missing, which - you can't really go wrong can you with a book like that. PLUS it has an awesome purple cover, and ... I haven't had enough sleep, clearly.

Anyways. Readathon was fun, yes? I'm thinking of maybe being a reader for the next one but then I get conflicted because Readathon is always short of cheerleaders but I'd love to do one where I just ... read, and eat. I shall ponder.

A post about nothing

Have some penguins. I have no idea where that pictures is from, by the way. I just like it. :-)

I was mentally going over my week, but nothing outstanding or extraordinary happened. I went to work, I came home. Went to see Crazy Stupid Love on Thursday, which was a bit 'eh' for me. Too much Steve Carrell and not enough Emma Stone. Also Ryan Gosling is kind of funny-looking.

Other than that, it was business as usual. Except I seem to have caught Patrick's cold, which is fun times.

I finished a book this week, which I always celebrate as a major achievement - lol. Anyway, I read The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino - a thriller set in Japan. It was an interesting read, but I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending - whether I liked it or not.

So now I'm in that strange gray area, where I don't know what I want to read next ...

The reading week

I finished Space, finally _ the day before A Moveable Feast arrived in the mail. Serendipity! Although I haven't started A Moveable Feast yet _ probably tomorrow.
I also got Smoke & Mirrors by Neil Gaiman in the mail yesterday and I keep drifting towards it and sneaking glimpses at the introduction. Pretty soon, I think, I'm going to have to bow to the inevitable and just read it (oh, the hardship!).
We also went to the library yesterday, which is always an exercise with a 15-month-old. There is a toy section in the adult library, but I'm overprotective. I'll let Patrick play in it if there aren't any other kids _ it's not particularly big, and he'd be overwhelmed in seconds. Also, it's right next to the library exit, so I won't leave him alone in there (although parents do ... don't get me started on that). So it's either whiz around and find a couple of books so I can read while he plays, or meander around and dig Jeremy out of the computer or science fiction sections when it's time to go.
I take Patrick with me in the library because he prefers to be moving and I'm a mobile browser whereas hubby is a static one. He'll find one section, then be there for ages.
Um. Anyway ... that wasn't my point.
My point was, I added three books to the *mumble* books I already had out. I got House, by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti (I haven't read Peretti before but I really enjoyed Dekker's Circle Trilogy), A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park and Hide & Seek by Ian Rankin _ a Rebus novel.
I read the first one some time ago and thought ''eh'' but a friend told me I should read them, so I'm giving it another go.
These are, of course, added to the library books I already have out.
Er ... I tripped.
So! This week I'll be reading Artists in Crime, by Ngaio Marsh, A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway and ... Something Else, by Someone Else.
Peace.

Nobody wins a war

So I kept my job. But I just feel sad, and sick at the same time. There's nothing ''happy'' about a giant company letting go 5 percent of its workforce _ and they're not done yet.

I suppose I'm grateful. I can still feed, clothe and house my family, which is a good thing. I just won't be putting on any party hats any time soon.

Reading ... I haven't been reading much. I'm reading Sail, by James Patterson, because his books are relatively easy to get through. And we're off to the library today. I was going to try and finish Space this weekend, but I don't know whether I will. I completely stalled on The Once and Future King partway through The Ill-made Knight. I just ... couldn't read anymore for some reason, so I'm taking a break from it.

Patrick is now standing, and pulling himself up on things _ like my computer desk, which is in the living room. My mouse with its shiny red bottom is just toooooooo tempting.

Meh.

Clearing the decks

First, the Once Upon a Time II challenge. I’m not going to finish it; since it’s the 20th tomorrow and I still had three books to read! I am, however, going to read The Tempest, which I substituted for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as it’s winter here.
It was the first challenge I joined, and I learned that I need to be a tiny bit more organised with them. I’m still in with the Arthurian challenge, the Orbis Terrarum challenge and the Southern Reading challenge. So, you know, I’m not doing too badly.

I have three books on the go at the moment and I’m going to finish them before I start anything else; Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (Book 2 in the Dresden Files), The Once and Future King, and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Weekly Geeks … I totally bailed on the scavenger hunt. I’ve only just surfaced to write these two blog posts; I just ran out of time for it. But I’m sure it was fun!

Reader adrift

I've been going through a non-finishing stage lately. I'm reading, but I'm not getting anything finished. And I threw The Monsters of Templeton at the wall today. I got halfway through it and it just ... stalled for me. I'm hoping to pick it up again, but I don't know.
Has anyone (if there's anyone out there) read it? What'd you think?

I'm beetling through 1984, although I've struck a bit where Winston is reading The Book _ the literary work of the revolutionaries and it's a little hard to read. There's an awful lot of it, too. Otherwise, I'm quite enjoying it. Mr Orwell certainly had some forward-thinking ideas, and even now, the novel hasn't dated.

I started The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, then joined the Southern Reading Challenge, and then I haven't picked the book up again. For nearly two weeks. The only book I have finished lately is Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie. Which I have read before, and I do remember the ending but it was still fun. I'm now reading Death in the Clouds and I'll probably finish that soon.

I go through these stages sometimes and I find, if nothing else, I always finish an Agatha Christie. I also have far too many books out of the library, so I need to go through those and decide what to read next.

Challenge-wise, I have Someplace to be Flying, Anansi Boys and The Once and Future King for the Once Upon a Time II challenge, and the latter for the Arthurian Challenge. I was reading The Monsters of Templeton for the Orbus Terrarum challenge, but .... and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for the Southern reading challenge, but I'll just have to see how I go. I think though, if I'm stalled, it's time for some new books.

Maybe.