Friday

I had a long week yesterday.

Miss Vicki was supposed to be out on her first day of a week-long vacation, but ended up feeling like she had to come in to complete some tasks before she left. Her plan was to leave by 11:30am. She didn't leave until after 1:30.

Vicki going on vacation means that I have extra work. Which is ok -- but she was vibrating at such a high level of urgency that it the day was unusually stressful for me. I ended up staying late because of all the silly stuff going on.

When I left the office, my usually low-stress commuting route was backed up all the way down the very long entrance ramp. I turned on the radio and found out that between a couple of sports events and a Presidential visit traffic was about as ugly as it ever gets.

So I detoured to a small community mall about fifteen minutes away via surface streets, and spent more than an hour in Half Price Books. The afternoon's loot consisted of:

The Avaryan Rising trilogy by Judith Tarr in one volume. I opened it to several different places and always found something interesting, which was a good sign. I've enjoyed several of her books, especially her fantasies set during the Crusades.
Tea and Spices by Nina Roy, an erotic novel about a relationship between a British woman and an Indian man set during the British Raj. The author has written for the Black Lace series under the name Natasha Rostova, and I enjoyed those books.
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. (I haven't seen the movie.) It's set in a community under occupation, which is something it has in common with the novel I've been working on for years. It has always seemed an ideal crucible in which to examine issues of power, loyalty, honor, peace/violence, and love.
Walking with Garbo: Conversations and Recollections, memories and transcriptions of tape recordings made after conversations with Greta Garbo, illustrated with some wonderful black and white photos.

These in addition to The Blue Sword and The Master and Margarita ought to keep me busy for a while. Especially since on Thursday evening I pulled The Mirror of Her Dreams off my shelf to re-read for the first time in a long time and it has been rewarding the new attention.

I had dinner at Denny's, dipping into all four of my new books while I ate, and got home at about 7:30pm. I might have made it to the gym on time if I had put my workout clothes in the car, as I should have done in the morning, but as it was, I didn't have time to get home, get my gear, and then drive back downtown through the still-horrible southbound traffic.

The Child was very happy to see me, and immediately came downstairs, where we watched the middle third of The Two Towers (extended edition). She was willing to stay up later, but I was too tired, so she went back upstairs, and I dipped into a couple of LJ entries, trying to get caught up, and then went to bed.

Today she, my mom and I are going school clothes shopping for her. Which should be both fun and stressful. My mom thinks primarily of style and of pleasing The Child. I think of clothes that The Child won't ruin in a matter of weeks from her hard play style, and on maintaining some kind of reasonable limits on her desires. My mom will buy just about anything her granddaughter wants, but that's a whole different issue and one I don't want to spend time on this morning!

She is outside with her father and step-sisters washing her Australian Shepherd right now. I'm going to close LJ, make some breakfast for myself, and then get back to answering a few very personal questions that are part of a fascinating email exchange. . .

Sandman Quiz

via raptures_shadow.
I haven't read Sandman, although I've been aware of it for years, so others of you will probably appreciate this more than I do.



You Are: Death of the Endless


You are Death, the second oldest of the Endless, the seven great incarnations.
She is, in outward appearance, a goth with wild unkempt hair and slightly punkish clothes. But she is far beyond that mere description. Her function is much like the "Reaper," to collect the souls of mortals as they die.

She is perky, optimistic, and bright, but she also has a serious side, which shows when she is angry or upset. She can become quite frustrated with her brother, when he is being singularly foolish.

People fear her because of what she is, and this can get her down sometimes. But they also love her, without ever truly knowing why.


What Sandman Character Are You?
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The 5 Question Meme Comes Around Again

This time, it's via mtl.

The rules - in case anyone has forgotten - are as follows:

1 -- Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
2 -- I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3 -- You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 -- You'll include this explanation.
5 -- You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

MTL's five questions to me:

1. What did you most want to be or become when you were a small child?

You may choose any age.

I wanted to be a horse rancher.


2. If I gave you 10,000.00 how would you spend this money?

I'd be torn between putting it into the bank to gather interest while I withdrew smaller amounts each month to pay my part of the mortgage on the house I share with my Ex -- OR using it to get new floors and my kitchen re-done.


3. If you could change one certain aspect of your nature, what would you change and why?

I would like to be more courageous. I have a fear of failure and a timidity about going new places. If I had more courage, I could experience and accomplish so much more than I do, and my life would be richer for the new experiences and the risks and challenges I accepted.

4. If you had to choose, would you rather give up books or music?

I would miss music, but I would have a terrible time living without the entertainment and education of books!

5. If you had to learn a new language, which language would it be?

I have taken French, Spanish, German and Attic Greek, and forgotten virtually everything about each of them. If I knew I would learn and retain the language, I'd be strongly tempted to renew my ancient Greek, so I could read the literature and fully enjoy it. But then I would feel guilty for not choosing a language that would enable me to communicate with people in the modern world without having to depend on them knowing English.

If I could have one magical gift, it would probably be to be able to speak and understand any language spoken to me.