Smoking Hoofprints

So I'm not carrying a stone baby. Which is good. ... OK, so it's not like I was expecting to be told I was carrying a stone baby but it was an ultrasound and I had weird thoughts/dreams last night and then freaked Allegra out in the car. In fact the answer is that my insides are fine and dandy. Which I am happy about. But at the same time it'd be nice if there was something small wrong which could be fixed and solve the problem you know? Or at least give me ammunition for my 'please just remove my womb' argument.

There's this t-shirt I want making. When my dept. were out on Thursday I was slapping my boss (Wizard) upside the head every time he got too loud so we didn't get chucked out of the restaurant. And then was sitting with my hands in boxercise guard position threatening to hit him. I forgot that Wizard used to teach martial arts and can kill you with his pinky finger, and he told me my guard position was wrong and corrected it. So I'm there with my right hand in the right place and my left hand in the right place and him going 'and your elbow has to be close in to your side' whereupon I looked down and uttered the immortal words: 'I have topographical issues' ... so now I really want a t-shirt, possibly scoop necked, which says 'topographical issues' on it!

Thank you phoebesmum, ruric, and llaras for the snowflakes. I'm now really wanting shortbread but luckily we've not got any in the house so that's OK.

It's raining. But the birds have discovered the feeders so I'm happy.

So I managed to actually send cards to everyone who answered my poll (technically I've actually just written them, tomorrow I'll send them!) though not the possibly planned parcels (I'll do those in the new year).

So - if you didn't answer the poll and would like a card, please let me know. Comments here are screened or you can email me at ngaio dot wimsey at gmail dot com

I have been, for me, amazingly productive this weekend.

I have:

Washed and refilled the bird-feeders, including mixing suet and meal worms (ew!) into the seed for some proper winter food for the birds.
Rehung said bird-feeders. Hopefully the birds will find them again soon.
Put all my clean clothing away (which could be a problem when the next lot of washing dries as I'm out of hangers).
Had my lip, chin and eyebrows waxed
Reduced my open tabs down from around 30 to my usual 8
Washed up (I'll admit, I don't normally do this, Henry does, but I was feeling virtuous!)
Watched Mansour Bahrami my sexy Iranian tennis playing boyfriend 'perform' at the Albert Hall (OK, that's not productive per se but oh boy was it fun!)
Visited fandom-colleague (with Allegra and Dylan) and introduced him to the world of fanvids, and watched The Plan and a few bits of BSG ephemera and now I really need to watch the whole thing (I stopped about a quarter of the way into the first series) - my February holiday may be entirely TV based!
Organised all my fanvids on my hard-drive as I realised that having grabbed a whole lot in October I'd never sorted them
Written and addresses Christmas cards to all people who answered my poll ages ago (there will be a related post after this on this topic)

And tomorrow (day off) I have to:
Go to the hospital for an ultrasound
Possibly go to the gym
Do a bunch of brought home work
*Post* the Christmas cards
Answer LJ comments

...

Remind me to tell you about my t-shirt I want somewhen.

OK, so I know I owe you all a final Wriso day due to having declared a skip day a week or so ago but it's not happening today as I've just come home from the aerobics class which is either going to kill me or make me able to climb Mount Everest, not sure which yet, and currently as I'm having problems moving any of my limbs at all my tonight's plan involves taking out my contact lenses (without lifting my arms) and going to bed (without lifting my legs) and sleeping (without moving my body at all).

However I have a bunch of unused topics so I'm going to try to post a few rambles through December and one of them will be my final Wriso post.

Someone remind me next year that without major planning of topics and with major work and exercise commitments Wriso is not as not-easy as I think it's going to be, in fact it's downright tricky and hard work.

Thanks.

So I finished the second Gentleman Bastards book (by Scott Lynch). I'm not entirely sure how he's going to get out of that ending, but OK ...


This is why I like the books:

The setting. If I say 'they're fantasy novels' everyone expects large swords and dragons and warlocks. And that's not so. They are set in a non-Earth setting with an almost totally unexplored ancient history which is something I like, it's a good example of worldbuilding which doesn't hit you over the head with the world (Court of the Air I'm looking at you!) but which does describe a complete world. There are swords, and knives, and stilettos, and other sharp objects but no one is questing for anything and a sharp blade is less important than a sharp mind (generally). There is magic, just about, it's an important but also almost incidental facet of the first book and a very very minor plot point in the second book. This is not your swords and sorcery fantasy.

The actual point of the stories. What the books are a (currently pair of) stories about conmen, about criminals who use their brains and plan and scheme and have fun doing what they do. The books are *capers*. Glorious twisting capers where it is impossible to predict the outcomes. Bluff, double bluff and triple bluff. Interconnected strands of plans, upsets to the plans, seemingly impossible situations.

The characters. These people are human. Bad tempered, fallible, reckless. Neither perfect nor fatally flawed they are people we can have a lot of empathy for. Especially in the first book where, told via flashback, we are introduced to how this team of people came together, how they became a team and why they do what they do. While the first book is 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and Locke is the greater focus of the tale the other characters are not there to be his foil, he is not necessarily the 'hero'. In the second book this becomes even more true.

The intelligence. That's a bit of a vague term. You know in Leverage where they show you near the end how the caper actually worked? The Gentleman Bastards novels work in a similar way, we are told some of the plan as it happens, but also they reference throughout things which, if you remember them, may (or may not) contribute to the culmination of the plan, or its downfall. Who knows?!

Women. None of the 'heroes' are women. But throughout both books, especially the second, there are good, strong female characters, strong both physically and mentally. They're human and flawed, but very real.


They are not perfect books. No book is. Halfway through the first book I was worried I'd get bored with keeping track of all the plots and twists and thought I'd not care for the characters. When concentrating they can be a little tiring to read. But ultimately I enjoy them as intelligent and humorous and well worth the time.

lots of things going on here in Louisiana. i was just supposed to be here for the week of thanksgiving, visiting an old friend and my goddaughter and tory's grandparents while tory was in berlin, but grandpa died suddenly yesterday (not too unexpectedly though - he was 94), so instead of flying home tonight, it looks like i'll be here another week or so.
up until granpa died, it was a good time. my goddaughter stayed glued to me for 4 days before she got bored with hanging out with old people, not a bad record for a 13 year old. her mom and i made nice thanksgiving dinner for her friends and family. we got 2 big sacks of grass seed and decorated the lawn of a friend who was out of town - he'll think of us every time he mows the squiggles and lightning bolts in his large front yard next year. we got all plain of nazca on him: 30 pounds of grass seed goes a long way.
now i need to get packed, pick up my rental car, buy a funeral suit, make a few phone calls to square away things baxk in washington, and head on out to the small town south of baton rouge where the grandparents' house is. tory's uncle got in from houston last night, and it's time to start planning the funeral i suppose.

OMG I hate this blinking Mastercard ad, a tumbler does not cost £4, an energy saving light bulb £6, or a reusable plastic bag £1 - if that's what you're spending on stuff you're going to need the damn card. Or alternatively, shop sensibly.

Sorry, I'm not ranting today it was just that that advert came on just as Semagic opened!

Today I have:

Bought some cards to send out in the next few weeks.

By the way, thank you to whoever has sent me a gold wrapped package and card, I don't know who you are because I want to save the package to Christmas day and I can't open the card without opening the package. So just - thank you - and I'll thank you properly on Christmas Day.

Been charity shopping and bought some steampunk-able trousers.

Looked for wellies for Sprog. Failed. If her feet were two sizes smaller or larger we'd have been fine but they aren't so we weren't.

Bought a surprising number of pairs of knee-high socks. I'd love to buy tights but given the combination of both my height and my weight, plus my refusal to pay more than about £2 per pair of tights means I just can't get any. Ah well, tights are annoying anyway!

Dropped my boots into Timpsons to be re-heeled. (And completely failed to remember to pick them up again - whoops?!)

Had my contact lense check-up - everything's fine

Picked up a prescription (don't ask - way TMI)

Received through the post a) an appointment for an ultrasound (which luckily falls on one of the days I'd already booked off work, though I do slightly resent the loss of the planned lie-in) and b) a battery for my (old skool, actual film) video camera which we're going to use at The Steampunk Soiree in about a fortnight (oh God, it's in a fortnight, I need to plan outfits big time)

Eaten a very nice pasanda and rice takeaway and watched Strictly Come Dancing ... mmm, mellow evening ...