Suburb of Heaven

Got to go to a book signing by Connie Willis at the local adorable used book store (complete with a staff of two leggy kitty brothers who are always on patrol). I had my copy of Lincoln's Dreams signed because it's a book that is tiny and potent and makes me sob uncontrollably and may have the most perfect/heartbreaking/punch in the gut ending I've ever come across. I MAY be a little verklempt sitting here just thinking about it.

Anyway, Connie was lovely and spoke a bit about her current project (she'll be doing a reading at the local con, but I probably won't be able to go on account of poorness) which is going to be a more lighthearted work in the vein of Bellwether, set probably in Denver, about telepathy and relationships and communication. She also talked a bit about her process (handwriting drafts, eavesdropping shamelessly on strangers and their conversations, having a great idea and launching happily into a book only to discover how much you'll have to wrestle with the great idea) and was overall quite a charming lady.

I have a strange relationship with her works (I've probably talked about this before? Oh, well). There are some authorial quirks that she has that drive me up a tree. I can talk for days about how the whole "missed message" trope that she loves so much makes me want to rip my hair out. Sometimes her characters just aren't strongly individuated and they can all sound the same, and while she can write a great horrible child, sometimes I just want to put the book down to get away from them for a little while. Her books can be exhausting. And yet her stories worm their way under my skin, they can inhabit me, I've dreamed about her books after reading them - not her characters, but the moods she sets. She has a knack of packing an emotional wallop that is like a sledgehammer between the eyes. She can make me laugh hysterically, she can make me cry like it's the end of Old Yeller. I can't reread her heavier books often because they wring me out like wet cheesecloth. I will probably never be able to reread Passage. She has a something that is really freaking special, and I'm really thrilled I got to interact with her, even a tiny bit.

Just finished a reread of the Lord of the Rings. And of course, I end up sobbing helplessly through most of The Return of the King. But only in the best way possible.

I got a sweet Fast Women story for Yuletide - the very cute Three Weddings and a Funyun. My own gift seems to have been well received, which makes me happy - I was floundering a bit in the fic because it had a lot of world-building to be done and I wasn't sure I was up to the task, and there were moments that I pondered defaulting because I kept deleting big chunks of text, but I think it all worked out nicely in the end. It won't get read much, I don't think, but I like the idea of the few people who want something in this fandom finding at least one story when they go looking.

In other news, I am coughing an unproductive, harsh cough, and my head hurts in that "sinuses filled with cement" way. Also, my chest hurts a bit. I've drunk two big mugs of hot chai tea and taken some Robitussin, but I have a feeling I've fallen to the holiday blargh, which will make it fun to travel in...omg, just a few days. Woe. Also, we went trail riding on Christmas Eve day, and while it was a great deal of fun and I may have not completely lost all knowledge about how to steer a horse, my thigh muscles were Not Pleased with the whole thing and I've sort of been lurching around like a drunken sailor since.

I don't really want to go home. I do, but I don't, and I want to keep hanging out with my sister under no time pressure. I want to keep being crafty and continue making things with her and also cooking. I'm not ready to go back to work. I'm glad I built in a few days to decompress from the trip before I do go back, but I'm still not ready to face it. January is always kind of a bitch of a month, because our deductible resets and so all the prescriptions cost more, plus it's when the cold really sets in and you sort of end up feeling like it's just a long, dreary sludge till spring.

ANYWAY. This is all probably just because I'm feeling like I'm made of wet cement. I should go to bed and stop whining.

Korra finale in the morning, and a stretch of swimming and sitting in the sun at a local lake for the afternoon.

Korra verdict: very satisfying despite a sadly rushed pace that marred most of the season, plus some characters got short shrift while other were so satisfyingly rounded. Wished the whole bender/non-bender trope had been given more examination, because you were left without a really good idea of whether there was legitimate wide-spread bender resentment or if it was mostly something Amon stirred up. Got a little misty at certain points. Can't believe they went with a certain plot development given that the show's nominally for kids - really moving and surprising and sad.

It was a gorgeous day to swim in an almost-too-cold-but-not-quite lake, and eat banana bread and bask in the sunshine. We went with a friend and coworker, and plan to go next week. I may have to invest in a floaty thing of some kind. The day was sunny and warm, but not achingly hot, and all in all it was really nice. Not exactly a substitute for a real beach, but really nice.

Busy weekend, in a very nice way. On Saturday, we headed over to the kitchen of the people who used to operate my favorite coffee house and cupcakery, and picked up a quart of their absolutely awesome Hungarian Mushroom soup, plus four cupcakes (Bemo picked mocha and coffee, because he's a doofus, and I went with red velvet and chocolate ganache). I would have gotten some macaroons, but they were gone, alas. I then toddled over to my eye doctor to have a check of my new contact lenses. The right one is sitting beautifully, but the left one turns a bit, so he gave me a new one and I'll have to have it looked at in another week. I think not wearing my glasses makes my face a bit more potato-like, but oh, well. I also got to sigh over the nice pair of Ray Ban glasses I almost got, which looked great and would have fit a trifle better, but were fifty bucks pricier than the ones I went with.

Then off to the coffeehouse for some warmth (it was frigid out) and to the local cool used bookstore (they have a handsome pair of cats patrolling, or, more likely, asleep in the shop window) for the owner's annual 29th birthday sale, although I didn't end up buying anything. Which is probably for the best, because I have a big backlog that I'm not getting to.

That night, we went off to a show I had gotten some discounted tickets for a ways back. It's a one-man show the comedian Larry Miller is doing, Cocktails with Larry Miller. It was a fun, low-key, charming show with a lot of laughs. I used to listen to him on the Adam Carolla podcast, but gave it up a while back and haven't missed it, so it was nice to see him even if he wasn't playing Imaginary Road Trip. I would bet the bulk of the audience there doesn't know him from the Carolla podcast - we were among the younger attendees there - but they might be like my mom-in-law, who remembers his slightly older bits like "The Five Stages of Drinking." Actually, she would have enjoyed the show a great deal as well.

Then on Sunday, we went to Omaha to attend a concert of German Baroque lute music, which was lovely, lovely. And after we got home, I made a giant pot of turkey chili which came out really well, so we can fend off the continuing cold weather. What's this with the winter, all of a sudden? I have been spoiled by the unseasonable warmth and feel like I deserve to grumble about it actually being, you know, cold in February. We got more snow today, too.

Next weekend will be equally busy, and it's nice to look forward to fun things on the weekends.

It's always lovely when the morning brings unexpected family drama, and it's even lovelier when you're the one who inadvertently triggers it. The Facebook "share" button can be a tricksy thing. Thankfully, it's mostly died down, but I suppose it's useful information to know that you're never too old to feel like a hurt little kid. Blast my father and his overwhelming cowardice anyhow.

In other news, I have a three-day weekend to look forward to, which is pretty awesome. And today we had tres leches cake to celebrate a birthday. And I got to see some proofs for an upcoming catalogue that I had some participation in, and it looks pretty darn cool. And my sister and I hashed out a food plan to start getting our respective crazypants eating under some sort of control. And I earned a little money by doing some ad hoc photo research for a London publishing house, very unexpectedly.

Since I had a bowl of the competition this afternoon, have an 1930 ad for Heinz spaghetti inna can.

In honor of the release of a new album by one of my favorite bands, I thought I'd put up the music post that I've been pondering. Although music post sounds so formal - what I wanted to share were the albums that have been on heavy rotation on Sherman, my iPod Touch. Also, these are entire albums that just hold together perfectly - I don't listen to them as a random assortment of singles, but as one unit that I'm experiencing.

HoneyHoney is a band I've recommended to a bunch of people at this point. I got hooked on them thanks to the tv show Life, which used this song:



(Life got me hooked on so much good music, guys. It's too bad the DVDs had to use different music.)

Anyway, Honey Honey's newest album is out. It's called Billy Jack, and I've just downloaded it without even pre-listening (although I've heard "Ohio" as an early release to their mailing list) and I think I'm going to love it as much as their first album, "First Rodeo." They're alt-country, I suppose...in whatever corner of alt-country that people like Neko Case, Jenny Lewis, and the Watson Twins fall into. The female lead is soulful, expressive, and great fun, their lyrics are strong, and I just love their musicality - simple, straightforward, and frequently heartbreaking.

I've also been spending a lot of time with Guster's album Easy Wonderful. It's not brand-new (actually, it's just about exactly a year old) but I only picked it up about two months ago because I am terminally Out Of The Loop. Guster has evolved from a band where tight harmonies soared over really strong drumming - at the time, their drummer used a lot of hand percussion, bongos, etc. He's since switched over to a traditional drum kit, and Guster's sound has changed a bit over the years, but it's changed into something I like just as much (and in some cases, like more). They're one of those rare bands that seems to be growing, not just trying to replicate the sound of their first big single, but actually being thoughtful and playful and keeping their core while still trying new things. I'm a long-time fan (they're great in concert) and I really have been enjoying this particular album.

( old Guster - Fa Fa )

( more recent Guster - Satellite )

( Architects and Engineers, off the most recent album )

And finally, an old friend that just keeps delivering. I've loved Paul Simon since my dad presented me with what was probably my very second CD, a copy of "Negotiations and Love Songs." His most recent album is called "So Beautiful or So What," and I just...it's so beautiful. It pokes at a lot of issues about spirituality and religion and life without being heavy-handed in the least. At times, it's delicate, at times it's rollicking and full of a rock and roll bounce.

( Here's a live version of The Afterlife )

( The title song, So Beautiful or So What> <iframe width= )

Two days, two dogs! Not my dogs, alas, although now is now the time for us to own one.

Yesterday, a visiting gallery owner and art dealer brought her Sheltie with her, a very self-possessed puppy named Chloe who was interested in everything:



And today I met one of the two therapy dogs that Bemo's therapist owns. Holly the Bernese Mountain Dog was not there, but the newest, in-training Walter the St. Bernard was:



Walter was a formerly emaciated rescue dog who is very happy to lie on your feet and let you scratch his belly. It was a pleasure to meet him.

Bemo comes home tomorrow. He had his first session this morning and came out of it with no memory loss but a headache and some physical soreness. He's eager to get home and I'm eager to have him back. All the rest of it can be sorted out then. I'm just happy right now.