one of our heads is destined for tinfoil

Was in Indianapolis yesterday and today. I meant to take a look at the new library, but I started reading An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and between that and Twittering all evening I sort of lost track. Seriously, why does anyone read mystery novels that aren't written by P.D. James? I sort of worship her and stuff.

violetisblue had an early doctor's appointment, so I'm up. Lucky you!

Reading
Not too much as of late. I finished Fingersmith by Sarah Waters right before vacation a couple of weeks ago and it popped the top off my little peanut head quite nicely. Seriously, it's an amazing book, one of those where you think you're reading one thing, and it's nothing like that at all, and the reversals and deviousness keep piling up and piling up and oh man. I incoherently loved it.

Have been slogging through The Museum of Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates and cannot get into these ten short stories. Saturday I started one called "Feral" and just lost it ala Tom Servo in the Gamera films: you take everything good and you rip my heart out! *glub glub* Will take it back unfinished.

And I picked up a copy of "Westcountry Mysteries" off Ebay last week. The first true thrilling tale is called "The Beast of Exmoor." It couldn't *possibly* be a wild cat who was killing sheep because the wildlife pickings were particularly thin one year, oh noes! It were a mysterious raging hellbeast! Good times.


Watching
The Sarah Jane Adventures. Couple of things: 1. I love it, 2. When did Sarah Jane get hot? I always thought she was pretty before but never rang any bells and now it's all NOM NOM NOM all the time, and 3. Crotchwoot wishes it had a tenth of the dignity these kids get to have. We watched Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane last night. violetisblue thinks it's a good cross between It's a Wonderful Life and Hellraiser, which is just about perfect.

Last week's Doctor Who wasn't as bad as the trailer made it look, but that would've been pretty hard to do as it made me feel like an un-MSTed Hobgoblins episode. It ultimately get a thumbs-down from me because the civilization that has been screwing up for umpteen berdillion centuries before the Doctor and his gang come along and solve everything in 13 minutes? How many of these episodes does a gal need exactly? But has little bits in it that were fantastic, and most of them had to do with Doctor-Donna. Doctor-Donna makes me squee. It makes me want to put on the tinfoil hat and basically never take it off. It's not anything they did specifically in this ep that did it, it's more of an overall feeling of "See that Donna over thar? She are Teh Boss of Me." Oh merciful heavens yes. She tells him to jump and he says how high. NOM NOM NOM NNNOOMRRRRGHHHHHH.

Please let me change the subject before I lose the remaining shreds of my dignity.

Gardening
I planted some asparagus crowns this weekend. The instructions said they don't like cold damp soils, so naturally the day after I planted them we had 30 mph winds and about an inch of rain. Still, here's hoping. The garden is amazing, actually-- mostly what I'm doing is weeding, composting, and trying to stay out of the way while it does its thing. Yesterday when I Freecycling one of my young maple trees my neighbor runs out and says, "I hope you don't mind, I have a lilac bush that's under a tree and it doesn't get enough shade. Would you mind taking it off my hands? And I was like, um, well, see the thing is OF COURSE I'LL TAKE IT OMG. She's such a nice lady. This weekend am going to stimulate the economy by getting a couple more bleeding heart plants for the front bed.


Fan Stuff
A lot of that lately. I finished all my crafty stuff for Mediawest: Flying Spaghetti Monsters and some Harry Potter themed knitted stuff. The latter I'm going to try and sell at the art auction. Considering no one has more than two nickels to rub together I *probably* could've picked a better year to start doing this, but fuck it.

Am finished choosing pictures for a Hot Fuzz moodtheme and am only waiting on someone who promised me a .gif of Nicholas Angel jumping over fences for "bouncy" and "hyper". Anyone else know how to make an animated .gif? *paces paces*

Am also almost but not quite finished as well with the first draft of a Hot Fuzz story written with annlarimer. It's about swans. Last night I cracked the 7000 word mark, 'crack' being the action word in this sentence.

Pepsi Points
65, w00t! Am thinking either the 2GB thumb drive, but I think I should be good and get Mom a digital keychain for when I go visit.

Pepsi Loot so far
Meerkat Manor Vol. 2
The French Chef Box Set Vol. 1
Casino Royale
Noise Cancellation Headphones
Witch Hunter Robin anime box set

Yes, I am a pig.

...a ginormous brunch sometime around 2PM, followed by a solid afternoon of Do Whatever The Hell You Want. Ahhhh.

Yesterday Vali made chili sin carne al mole from Vegan with a Vengeance. She let the sofrito simmer longer than when she made this last time, and it produced the loveliest slow burn sensation in the mouth, yum. That and some garlicky kale with tahini dressing and brussels sprouts, and the memory of tinned dog food haggis is far, far away.

Vali's reading experiences have been more satisfying to her than mine have been of late. I'm reading The Game by Laurie King. It's not awful, it's just that I don't buy the central premise of the tale: that Sherlock Holmes would not just marry a woman, but marry a woman several million years younger than himself. But have no fear! She's tough! Smart! Beautiful but not too Beautiful! Resourceful! She's Mary Russell!: the wonder somethin'-or-other. (eyeroll)

I'd've ditched it ages ago, but I have to read it because it's for the book group I run and I don't remember things quite as well if I listen to them on tape. So mentally I've been searching and replacing Mary Russell with Watson. So far it's working, even when Watson has to wear a sari to the fancy dress ball on the slow boat to India.

There is one May-December couple that I totally buy, and that's Eight/Lucie Miller. Am listening to Blood of the Daleks and they are just yowsa, and it's made all the better by the fact that Lucie really doesn't care for Eight all that much. HOWEVER, i will be extremely grateful when we can get past this cultural moment of The Big All-Encompassing War That Will Change Everything garbage. It's not like I can blame Americans for this one either, as it's an English production. Here it's more of a case of "Lord of the Ring/later book Harry Potter"itis. Also, Daleks are lame and they suck and they will never be interesting no matter how much stirring music you put behind their screaming. I like the little moments better, of which there are many.

Am keeping happy by reading Vali's Life on Mars fanfic recs. I love how Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt bring out every retro impulse and every slash cliche ever, and do it in such a completely hot way. Moar, said the fangirl!

The Jobs & Justice dinner was nice, the president of our union gave a great speech against consolidating the libraries and we got to pass out flyers, so that was groovy. The food was sad and what they did to innocent green beans was downright criminal. You know, people might actually like vegetables if you didn't drown the poor dears in mysterious red sauce and load them up with wiggly bacon bits. Trust the vegetable, don't fear it!

But that's all in the past, for tonight I made chocolate sex cake and Vali made falafel and now we're watching Sapphire and Steel and I have a cat on my lap and a fine time is being had by all. Sapphire and Steel is really creeping me out but the feeling is not unpleasant.

Also? I finished reading The Book of Doom, aka Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh. It's taken me two weeks, and EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS, but by god I finished it. (I had to, it was for the book club.) Two turkeys in a row. But I feel my powers of concentration are gradually getting better-- they've been absolute crap for at least a month now. Northanger Abbey, I'm talking to you.

Never pick a mystery for your book club that was written by a diet doctor. No, rly. Clearly more research is needed on my part.

In any mystery, I always feel bad for the character whose sole purpose on this Earth is to die so that we can has our story. You know the signs: loving wife, adoring children who've just graduated from college, about to retire and enjoy the good life, award-winning academic who's accidentally stumbled on a curious little problem, etc etc etc. But this poor bastard, he gets a completely gratuitous chapter of him running futilely through the woods trying to escape his inevitable gory fate. I mean, that's just sadistic.

So I do what I almost never ever do (ask Vali)-- I skipped to the end and read what happened. Whodunit? Native American environmentalists who are killing blackbirds with magical untraceable avicide because the blackbirds were eating the sunflower seeds that were growing on the Indian Reservation and the dead guy was the only person who noticed that gazillions of blackbirds were being killinated because they were eating sunflower seeds were going to make the Native American guys and the president of Dartmouth College all filthy rich because the sunflower oil will be used to run in car engines someday, ya rly. Actually, New Hampshire college presidents probably think about killing their faculty members two, three times a week. And the dead guy's widow was involved too, because he'd had an affair. When the wimmens cannae has the NobelPrizeWinnin'Cock? THEY GO MAD.

But you know, the lady who showed up for the book talk actually liked it, so I can put a check next to that ol' success box. Or not. Avoid avoid avoid.