7 August 2001

We now own everything. I went out running errands today: grocery store, Trader Joe's, library, bookstore, office supply store, bank, post office. The only place I intended to go but did not was the Goodwill to drop off our old stuff. So we have a lot of stuff again, but we needed to. It was a four-rejection weekend, and I didn't have paper to send the stories back out on.

What I really love about airplanes: plenty of time to read. I also did a bunch of editing and wrote some scenes on the Not The Moose Book. (And they're cool scenes, too.) I finished American Gods, which was good, but I feel like Neil Gaiman is still getting into his novel rhythm. I also feel like Mr. Wednesday was so evidently changed by America that he was no longer at all recognizable as Odin in anything but the shallow details. And along similar lines, I was pleased with Will Shetterly's Thor's Hammer -- it avoided preciousness altogether, and it didn't make any of the common mistakes people make when they do a shallow reading of Norse mythology. (Timprov: "Well, most people don't live in Minnesota, where they could be beaten up by big, irate pale people if they screw it up too badly.") And it had some of my pet alternate social structures just thrown in casually on the side. To finish up the Nordic readings, I read Scandinavia Since 1500, which is a good political overview but didn't live up to its promise on the social half of a "sociopolitical overview." But there's only so long a book can get.

I also read The Mind of a Mnemonist by A. R. Luria -- I can see where Oliver Sacks was inspired by Luria, but I think Sacks has clearly far surpassed him. Nonetheless, I sometimes want to read neuropsych stuff when Sacks doesn't have a new book out, so.

Michelle and Scott gave me I Capture the Castle, which I also read, and while it's not my usual style of book, it was quite nice. (They also gave me The Elementals, which I haven't gotten to yet.) I borrowed a certain short story collection from Tim, and I believe the author of it reads a lot like Tim himself, but with different obsessions. This author's stuff is nice, but I like Tim better. His prose, too, I mean.

I also borrowed Speak, Memory (good) and On Wings of Song (good, for Thomas Disch) from David and read those. And I started The Rainy Season by James Blaylock, which feels like it's just missing, just barely.

I did other stuff this weekend, but that's further along, with the pictures.

I've got a better idea of what size the files are going to be now, so my next set of pictures are bigger. I may go back through and redo the birthday pictures so that you can see more detail of people's faces. I may not. I've got a lot on my list, you know. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from DC.