30 October 2003

I don't really understand how things got worked around so that the sensible thing for me to do today is to spend the day writing, but I think some of it has to do with Timprov volunteering for much of the work, and some of it has to do with scaled-back expectations of the house. (Some of it is also probably sheer necessity with approaching deadlines, and some is delusion.) I decided, for example, that the downstairs is more crucial than the upstairs for the purposes of this housewarming party. So it's pretty key to get the ripped-up cardboard boxes out of the music room. Getting the office supplies arranged neatly in here? Not nearly so key. Stack 'em in the corner, and if someone wants to see the office, use the phrase "work in progress."

Similarly, I would like to get Mark's and my clothing reorganized in the newly repaired dresser. But we have enough space, between the armoire and the lovely closets, that our clothing is all put away, just not in its final resting place. I have decided to be all right with that until the weekend is over. Etc. And while we're having guests over, they're not showering, so if the towel bars are not installed yet, nobody will have cause to complain.

Rachel and Ben are lending us a card table and folding chairs, which is awfully nice of them. We'll need to pick up folding chairs at some point, but now is not that point. Now is the point for writing and baking. That's what now is.

I had just written all of my thank-you notes when I got another housewarming present in the mail. It's nice to get them, though! I have no idea where I'll put this one (it's a piece of art that hangs on the wall, handmade by the giver), but there are several pieces of art to hang on walls yet, and many, many bare walls. So.

I finished The Magician's Ward and think I will have enough to say about the works of Patricia Wrede. But I may need to read Talking to Dragons to be sure. It's on my pile, but not very high on it. I'm now reading Scientific American (so Mark can have it when he gets here) and Vivian Vande Velde's A Well-Timed Enchantment (yet another encyclopedia entry to write). And I've got a story to package up and send.

I had a long ramble last night about the difference in the obituaries the mainstream press wrote for Edward Teller and the obits I saw from various scientific communities, but I don't really have the time to rehash that here and now. Suffice it to say I think the scientists did a better job of it, and balance doesn't always mean trying to make both sides of a question look equally good. Sometimes one side is just less defensible than the other.

Look, I'm just not in a good frame of mind to be entertaining here. I'm thinking too much about books and stories, but not in a way that can be coherently reproduced without letting you read the entire text of each to date, plus some extensive notes. I'm also thinking about timing and getting things arranged for the weekend. Small, picky details I can guarantee you don't care about: should I get dressed in normal clothes tomorrow? Or should I just do housework in my pajamas and shower late and put my Halloween costume on? See: I told you you didn't care about that. Also, what coat can I wear over my Halloween costume without looking ridiculous? Is it all right to mix milieus? Is it warm enough to mix milieus?

See? Enough of that. Better to work now, and write more journalish stuff some other day.