In Which Our Heroine Buys Food In Mass Quantities

24 July 2004

Today: yard work and food, essentially. The yard needs attention, but the bigger deal is getting stuff together for tomorrow's picnic. I think we'll end up going to Cub, Byerly's, and a farmer's market today. I have no idea how many people are going to show up for this picnic, so we may end up eating leftover salads all week. But better that than not enough food. Every Minnesota girl knows that the worst thing that can happen to a party is not enough food. Well. Every Minnesota girl hopes that at least.

Yesterday, Barnaby was a very, very good boy. Happy about everything. Sitting on the grass: happy. Being fed bits of bread: happy. Watching people come into the restaurant: happy. Having a fresh diaper: happy. This is far preferable to the alternative for a 13-month old. I never expected we'd have such a sunny time at that age. But we did.

I got napkins and duvets and strawberry Pocky and all kinds of things.

I finished Ilium and started Humans, so I think I'm pretty much ready to vote on the Hugos soon. I enjoyed Ilium, but it's definitely not a complete story. The back cover of the book even says that the rest of the story will be published in Olympos. I'm all right with that -- I'm used to stories in multiple volumes, and growing more used to them with time -- but I wish there was some other Hugo to award to series books that are not complete in themselves. Some series books stand alone. This one doesn't. Still worth reading, and I'll still pick up Olympos when it comes out, but -- not a whole story. Just part of a serial.

I'm even less satisfied with Humans than I was with Hominids. In addition to my previous gripes, we have the structural issue of starting chapters with a character (always the same one) talking to his shrink -- oh, excuse me, personality sculptor. (Smerp.) So instead of having to show motivations and inner landscape for that character, Sawyer hands us his thoughts and feelings on a platter: This Is How Ponter Boddit Feels. Bleh. Not impressed.

Now I'm reading Sharon Kay Penman's Dragon's Lair, which, so far as I know, will contain no actual dragons. It is not up for any award I care about. This is something of a relief.

I opened my first birthday present last night. Dave and Lin (Mark's parents, for those of you still in need of a scorecard) sent me Godiva chocolates. They send nice chocolates with ice packs. You don't ruin nice chocolates just because it's not your official birthday. So I took them out and had the chocolate raspberry starfish. Yummmm. This is a good tradition they've got going there.

I feel like there's something I intended to say and am missing here, but I don't know what it is, and I'm going to head out to the farmer's market now before everything nice is gone.

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