20.52
~Among Others, Jo Walton

Which, by the way, is an excellent book.  I very much enjoyed it.  A beautiful homage to all the truly great scifi and fantasy out there.

Reading Gone Girl at the moment.  I called part of it.  We’ll see how it ends.  I don’t know.  None of these people are likable.  I’m never sure how I feel about books like that.  Vaguely angry at the author, I suppose.

The bigger dilemma, book-wise, is where to put all these books in the new compound.  I need to weed.  I need to prune.  I need to part with most of them.  Because honestly, when will I ever re-read most of them?  Keep the special ones, of course, but the rest …

Ah, I’ll start mailing them to people, randomly.  You get what you get.  It may be perfectly nonsensical.  It may be perfectly perfect.  It should definitely be interesting.  Anyone want in?

19.52
~Shades of Grey, Jasper Fforde

Not to be confused with that other Shades of Grey rubbish.  Have you ever read any Fforde? The Thursday Next novels are fun reads.

I don’t know.

Miss W is down with the flu.  Poor thing.  Neither the Mister nor I have caught it, so here’s hoping.

I completely forgot I had Knits for Nerds.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

Must need more tea.  Or less.  No, definitely more.  Off I go.

18.52
~The cold earth slept below, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Making my way through Cold Days.  Poor Harry.  Trying to stay warm.  Trying not to think about heading back to the office in a few days.  Drinking entirely too much tea.  No really.  Way too much tea.

17.52

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

 

16.52
~Changes, Jim Butcher
I’ve used that quote before, somewhere.  Seems to fit again though.

I tend to try to keep my mouth firmly closed when a demon goes on a shooting spree, ending the lives of innocents.  My belief is that the country’s focus should be on the tragedy.  But for the last 3 days I have seen liberal friend after liberal friend post knee jerk screed after knee jerk demand to BAN ALL THE GUNS.  Enough.  Responsible, licensed gun owners who carry for personal protection and the protection of their families do not do these horrific things.  Criminals do these horrific things.  And they do them in places where they know that the people will not be able to defend themselves.  The answer now, as always, is NOT to restrict our rights and freedoms even further.  I am sorely disappointed in people that I call friends who would lump all gun owners into the same category as murderers, and then throw factual untruths in the air right and left hoping something will stick.  Gun bans don’t work. But, you know. Try some other voices of reason. Go ahead.  (I still love you, liberal friends.  I’m just kind of upset with you right now)

And that is all I’m going to say about it.

Today was the return of the annual Christmas Brunch hosted by one of the Mister’s clients.  It had been on hiatus for a few years.  We won some whisky in the white elephant.  Nothing wrong with that.  I am not normally a fan of the white elephant game.  My extended family went through a stretch of playing it at Christmas and there was always a huge fight.  Which seems awful silly, but then I think about my extended family and maybe it’s not so surprising.  They’re a highly emotional and volatile bunch.

We managed to get the Christmas card done.  Apparently calling it the “Infamous Townsend Christmas Card” doesn’t actually make it as cool as I decided in my head it does.  Whatever.  We have a fan base.

Only one more week to make it through.  One week full of new carpet install in the office and moving the entire contents of the office back and forth and to and fro.  And then I am on Christmas vacation.  Or whatever the PC term is that they call it these days.  I can’t even keep that nonsense straight.  Mostly because I don’t care.

I’m finally reading Ghost Story.  (Are you happy, Red??)  I don’t want to read it, because then I have to read Cold Days, and then there will be no more Dresden for at the very least a year.  I like to hoard them, so I have something to look forward to.  Shut up.

15.52
~The Art of Mending, Elizabeth Berg
The end of the semester is nigh! I couldn’t be happier.  One last final exam tomorrow night and I am free.  I am 100% for sure taking next semester off.  I must.  Else I will snap.  Whatever will I do with all that time??

I’ll tell you.  Finish cleaning out the old house to get it on the market and SOLD.  Catch up the list of 30 or so books I’ve been wanting to read.  Mark a few items off the to knit list.  Get some more community service done.  And so on.

Anyway.  I’ve been busy busy busy in the meantime.  I got another good chunk of my honors thesis tucked away this weekend at my grandmother’s house.  I spent a lovely couple of hours with the above ladies and discovered a new little lady is on the way in a few months!  I can’t wait to meet her.

We shot the Infamous Townsend Christmas Card today!  Boy are you in for some awesome.  This might just be our best one yet.

I’ve started reading In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin since I don’t have any more reading to do for school.  It’s ok.  Not my favorite book ever, but worth a read.  Particularly since it shows very clearly how reluctant Americans and the rest of the world were to believe that there was anything “bad” happening in Germany.  The war hasn’t started yet.  Much of the detail was taken from the journals and letters of the American Ambassador at the time, and his daughter.  But I’ve only just this minute learned that there is a NEW Jodi Picoult – out in February!!!  I love her.  I really really do.

Miss W has now played Kirsty MacColl 7 times in a row on the stereo.  It’s time for an intervention.

14.52
~Dead Beat, Jim Butcher
Yesterday Miss W and I went on the first ever great big Honors College Chicago Field Trip.  We had a fantastic day.  We spent the morning at the Field Museum where Miss W finally got to see Sue, a lifelong dream for her.  She picked out the perfect Sue-venir, a cuddly version of the great T-Rex.  In the afternoon we walked next door to the Shedd and awwwed over the otters.  Everybody knows otters are the cutest animal ever invented.  Ever.  Miss W had a blast and completely loved hanging out with the college crowd.  She impressed them with her wit and smarts, of course, and was a big hit.  She even got to play a small but pivotal roll in a student film!  (And she was hi-larious.)  I have such a great job.  W said more than once that she was so lucky to get to tag along.  She said it was the best day ever.  It was pretty great for me too.

13.52
~My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult
I hosted Thanksgiving.

I moved more of the things but not enough of the things.  We have too many things.  The new compound is hard to get used to.  We’re so spread out now.  We used to be always right there.  It’s good and bad. We’re adjusting.

I did a family session for my cousin today.  She is a wonderful human being.  She has a lovely family.  And she always tells everyone that I am the best photographer ever, which is just the nicest thing.

I am reading Among Others, this year’s Hugo winner for best book.  I am loving it.  I don’t have time for it, but I’ve reached a fork in my semester called “I just don’t care.”  It is physically impossible to get through Blood and Soil.  It just is.  I’m dozing off within 3 sentences.  But I really need to finish my map.  Really.

I don’t suppose you really need these words.  They’re not terribly compelling.  At least they’re not angsty.  I do try to avoid the angst.  You’re welcome.

12.52
~Dead Beat, Jim Butcher
I will never move again.  Unless it’s to someplace like New Hampshire or something after being offered a really great job.  Are there really great jobs?  I am unconvinced.  New Dresden out next week!!!  If you haven’t read the series yet, I don’t even want to know what’s wrong with you.  I’ve been saving Ghost Story for ages.  I’m going to dive in at the end of the semester.  I’ll likely finish it in two days.  Then I’ll have to save Cold Days for ages.  I actually started re-reading Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series even though I have so much reading to do for class. I just couldn’t take one more paragraph about genocide the other day, so I pulled up A Cold Day for Murder on the tablet that still needs a name.  I highly recommend that series as well.  They’re set in Alaska.  Good stuff.  But for the moment, it’s back to A Problem From Hell, and baking for Thanksgiving dinner.  gobble gobble

11.52
~Blow It All Away, Eilen Jewell
It’s Veterans Day, and I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all those who serve and who have served in our armed forces.  This country would not exist, were it not for you.  It’s also moving day!  Moving weekend, really.  I’m sore and exhausted.  But we’re happy.  It’s a much bigger space, which we very much needed.  I get to have my own space in the new house too!  A room with all my knitting gear and my computer and a fancy fainting couch that I adore.  It’s been a long time since I had a space like that all to myself.  In other happy news, the semester is almost over, which means I get to take a big break.   A big break is also something that I very much need.  I’ve finally reached the point where I am officially over loaded.  I’m tired all the time.  I’d like to not be tired for a while.  But.  It’s good.  My life?  It’s a pretty good life.