Miscellaneous stuff

[estepheia]

• Countdown for the final Friendship Ficathon Masterlist: four stories! Whohooo.


• My garden looks fabulous! *gives evil neighboring landlady the two-fingered salute*


• Finished another book: Lois McMaster's Paladin of Souls. Have to say that I like her Barrayar books waaaay better.


• Can't decide what to read next.


• I think reading is good for me. Since I was ten I read every day. In my heydays (sp?) I read up to one paperback per day. And then, a few years ago, it just stopped, petered out (after the pregnancies, I think). Fanfic filled that void for a while, but even that petered out. Feeling lackluster about reading actually had me worried. It was as though part of me was missing. I hope that my current interest in reading is a sign that I'm slowly leaving my depression behind.


• Could have strangled my children yesterday. Went into a toy store with them. Recon mission. It's Toyah's b-day at the end of next month. She has no sense of time. She's been asking since Christmas: "how many days till my birthday?" Grrrr. Toyah is also dreadfully materialistic. She wants EVERYTHING. Have I mentioned that her 5 my little pony thingies got stolen at kindergarten? Grrrrr. And she'd bought them with her own pocket money. That sucks so much!!!


• I think I mentioned that we are semi-friends with a local shamanistic pop band called Osiris Taurus (they have little demo-clips on their site, btw). I translated some lyrics for them and translated texts for their website. Well, they sent me the peek versions of their new songs. And now they want to discuss them. Shriek! I totally lack the knowledge (and vocabulary) needed to intelligently discuss music. I'm pretty sure "I like it" isn't enough.


• I need a massage. My neck hurts.


• Usually, I have about one headache per month. Why do I have two headaches a week now?


• The weather sucks.


• Will write tomorrow.


• I love my new Spock icon...

Comments

[shapinglight]

Yes, that's always difficult. I can remember having problems with another sequence of books like that but can't for the life of me remember what it was now.

I haven't read the SPQR series. I suppose I like the Falco books because they're very light and easy to read. I think my brain is broken for serious fiction.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

The SPQR ones are also very light reading, but I like the hero a lot. I love the way his family frowns at his particular talents, but quickly recruit him when a problem arises. I also like his sarcastic take on people like Caesar. Very amusing books. :-)
I read them in German translation so I don't know if they are any good in the original. I once read a fantasy novel by Maddox Roberts and hated it. *shrug*

And serious fiction? Is no longer for me. I tried Gormenghast last night. Ick. Too wordy.
I tried Possession. Was bored to tears.

Will probably read an Alan Dean Foster novel instead. :-)

[shapinglight]

Do you mean 'Possession' by A S Byatt? I do remember enjoying that when I read it, but then, when I tried to read one of her earlier novels I couldn't stand it.

So-called literary fiction does often seem to be an excuse to use as many words as possible as obscurely as possible, doesn't it?

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's the one. I found it ghastly. Mind-bogglingly boring. The satire was astute, but it was so so so wordy.
I studied literature for years, and I really enjoyed reading the curricular lit, but these days? Not so much. *shrug*

I think I'll read the second half of the Eyre-Affair next. That has a nifty concept. :-)

[shapinglight]

Well, in classic lit - although there are still lots of words (heh!) as in, say, Dickins, somehow or other, none of them seem wasted.

Probably, we should just blame James Joyce and leave it at that.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*
I never managed to read Ulysses, but I've been to Bloomsday readings... I've decided that the book is completely unreadable but that it's pretty entertaining when you just listen to it or read it out loud.

And yeah, the olden authors were more economical with their words.

:-)

[shapinglight]

I have read Ulysses and can remember being very impatient with it.

Give me a good story any day.