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June 21, 2006
geekery is infecting my sleep!
Early this morning I was having a very linear and (for a dream) sense-making dream. I was in San Francisco for a conference I was attending with my brother [read: nerdity afoot]. I was waiting at some sort of mass transit station (reminding me a great deal of Gare du Nord in Paris) for my brother to pick me up. He was running late, and I had forgotten my cell phone. But! In the station there were some internet dummy terminal kiosks. In my dream, remember, I navigated to tiara.org because I remembered seeing on Alice's start page a beta messenger service that would send a text message to anyone in your cell address book from any internet-connected location. Seriously, people, HANDY TECHNOLOGY when you forget your cellphone in a dream. (FYI, this site does not actually exist, but it SHOULD.) Anyway, my brother emailed me back saying he forgot to pick me up and I should take the bus. Unfortunately, this rad dream ended there because a garbage truck was emptying the dumpsters at the school across the street but I was convinced someone was trying to steal my car at 4:00 in the morning.
Needless to say, I am a bit sleepy today. Sleepy enough to make a very unfortunate footwear choice. Forever ago (16 months-ish) I had knee surgery. I have been slowly edging my way back into the world of heeled shoes, and when getting ready this morning The Most Comfortable Mules In The World (with a 2 inch heel) acutally felt pretty great. Three seconds after arriving at work, I discovered that this was a false impression, and also that the shoe placed on the foot of the good leg makes a very audible farting noise each time I step down. Today is going to be fun!
Posted by amy at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: geekery, shoes, sleep, tiara
June 18, 2006
that last g&t last night was maybe a bad idea
This morning I very nearly set my house on fire while making a grilled cheese sandwich. The sandwich turned out yummy, but I can't get the smell of overheated cast iron to dissipate. Maybe I should just go back to bed.
Posted by amy at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 16, 2006
View from my home office, or,
View from my home office, or, why I'm so excited I bought myself a (used, crappy, cheap) laptop today.
I have big plans to be doing a great deal more personal computing (you know, computing done away from that place that pays me to come in and use their computer all day long). Even though I am totally excited to have my very own office at home (also known as The Sewing Room and the place I will stash guests if I ever have any), it will be nice to go wherever and do work. Backyard, coffeeshop, or maybe even the kitchen table! The possibilities are endless.
Plus, gadgets are fun! I've wanted a laptop forever, and finally the going price on eBay has dropped far enough for me to not have a heart attack when coughing up the dough. Geekery level rising!
Posted by amy at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: geekery, new house
June 15, 2006
vacation highlights, in no particular order
I'm guessing you probably shouldn't expect too much in the way of a real trip report since it has taken five days just to compose a quick highlights list. Hi! I'm home!
Posted by amy at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
June 3, 2006
[giddy]
Right now I am not sitting in front of a computer typing this. Right now I am watching my little brother marry a woman who loves him as much as he loves her. Probably right now I have a tear running down my cheek (happy, not sad).
I'll be back in a week!
Posted by amy at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 1, 2006
Brief Gaudy Hour
My paternal grandparents were at one time big book people. In the early part of their married life they lived on a farm near Huston, Idaho. "Huston, IDAHO?" you ask. Yeah, so do people around here. A town so small it doesn't really exist, not even on the map (see?). While my grandparents were far from wealthy, they invested in quite a library. When my grandfather passed away, he was happy to know their collection was going to a new home, to live with his English Lit major granddaughter. Even though I am a renter that moves a lot, I now have two huge bookcases full of hardbacks all printed before 1950. There are some collections (The Great Books, a complete Kipling, a very dated Encyclopedia Brittanica I find fabulous for curing insomnia, etc.), but there are also some novels. If I am going to give these books a home, I feel like probably I should read them.
A few weeks ago after finishing my book club book I wanted something light and unchallenging to read (since I was in the mood). A trip to the library was right out since it was about 10 pm, so instead I perused my shelves. A bright green cover with the words Brief Gaudy Hour in some type of gold leaf emblazoned on the spine caught my eye. Just the sort of thing I was after! Opening the fly I learned that it was a fictional biography of Anne Bolyn. Intrigue, power, and undoubtably lots of sex! Woo. Trash.
Sitting down to read, I wasn't dissapointed. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was an engaging story that certainly contained some elements of a trashy novel, but it also had literary merit. Maybe that is why it is still in print after 59 years. This is historical fiction as it should be done (take that, Anchee Min). I was looking for an engaging story, and that was exactly what I found here. The novel is populated with characters whose names I recognized from history classes and Shakespeare. Their actions are believable, and the story is presented as fact, not as speculation. For historical fiction, I feel that this is the best way ahead. I have now been exposed to one complete portrayal of Anne Bolyn's life, and it was persuasive enough that I could believe it, or I could use it as a starting point to find out more (maybe more factual) details of Henry VIII's second Queen.
