![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
WitherFir of Celeste
Jan. 8th, 2022 09:41 pmI've been trying to go to bed early and catch up on sleep, but it hasn't always worked out that way. Yesterday, I woke up too early again, and thought I'd try to do something productive instead of noodling around on my laptop. The Sparrowhawk got me a copy of John M. Ford's "The Dragon Waiting" from the library, and I've been looking forward to reading that, so I gave it a try. I'm sorry to say that its vaunted charm eluded me. Blood, excrement, vile magics, plots, betrayals, torture, vampires: this may sound like a wish-list to some, but it wasn't what I had in mind as a diversion. I just couldn't like any of the characters, in the end. Once a character murders a child, I can never warm up to them, no matter how well plotted and justified this murder may be. I pitied these people, but I wanted to be out of their company. I know a lot of people love this book. Perhaps I was just not in the mood. This was the Tor reprint, and I was disappointed to see that p. 259/260 was transposed with p. 261/262. This is the kind of egregious and inexcusable error that you'd think someone might have noticed.
As of today, my father has been dead for eight years. Yesterday, Mr. Science let the sibs know that his mother in law finally left this life, after some weeks in hospice, so Ms. Science has now lost her mother too. I have some happy memories of spending time with her at family parties and Christmas, where she was in her element, sparkling and spirited. She was tenacious in her life and death, but now she's gone. I was not really in a good state of mind yesterday.
My friend Master J from Kansas called yesterday while I was on the phone with Queenie, mutually venting about stuff, and I was in no mood to talk to any more people after that, so I called Master J back this morning and we had a nice catch-up. The Sparrowhawk went to the farmers market while I was on the phone. I was sorry not to go with him, but he said it was pitiful--a small huddle of vendors, and the farm ladies were out of kielbasa. He bought some pasties for dinner, and I made some carrots and cabbage with lemon butter and dill to go with them. I spent some time reading a list of Barsoomian names provided to me by my helpful and linguistically talented friend, the Nonesuch, and thinking about appropriate names for my characters. A book cannot proceed until the characters have names! I ordered a set of three skirts on sale from Darn Good Yarn. They are wraparounds, made from recycled sari silk. It's catch as catch can--they pick for you--so I wasn't sure if I'd like them, but they're gorgeous! Voluminous drapings in a riot of prints and colors! I'm quite happy with what I got.
As of today, my father has been dead for eight years. Yesterday, Mr. Science let the sibs know that his mother in law finally left this life, after some weeks in hospice, so Ms. Science has now lost her mother too. I have some happy memories of spending time with her at family parties and Christmas, where she was in her element, sparkling and spirited. She was tenacious in her life and death, but now she's gone. I was not really in a good state of mind yesterday.
My friend Master J from Kansas called yesterday while I was on the phone with Queenie, mutually venting about stuff, and I was in no mood to talk to any more people after that, so I called Master J back this morning and we had a nice catch-up. The Sparrowhawk went to the farmers market while I was on the phone. I was sorry not to go with him, but he said it was pitiful--a small huddle of vendors, and the farm ladies were out of kielbasa. He bought some pasties for dinner, and I made some carrots and cabbage with lemon butter and dill to go with them. I spent some time reading a list of Barsoomian names provided to me by my helpful and linguistically talented friend, the Nonesuch, and thinking about appropriate names for my characters. A book cannot proceed until the characters have names! I ordered a set of three skirts on sale from Darn Good Yarn. They are wraparounds, made from recycled sari silk. It's catch as catch can--they pick for you--so I wasn't sure if I'd like them, but they're gorgeous! Voluminous drapings in a riot of prints and colors! I'm quite happy with what I got.
