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So, I am in the full throes of January making me hate everyone. I had lunch on Monday with a couple of people I work with, and the second woman, who we don't see much these days due to her business unit getting shifted to a different campus, left me frothing at the mouth a couple of times. We're not the closest of friends but we've known each other for more than a decade and I was literally biting my lip to keep from telling her to shut up by the end of the hour. (I was already annoyed because she was, once again, late, even though we defer to her schedule, but still, the rest of it was a little over the top.)
By lunch yesterday, I decided it was probably more prudent not to inflict myself on actual co-workers, so I took myself off for a bit of end-of-season retail therapy. Did *exceedingly* well, in that I found a coat I'd been looking at online but found that it really didn't look good on me, and so didn't buy it, but then did find a pair of gray slacks and a gorgeous tuxedo-cut black jacket at Chico's for something like 80% off. Possibly not the most exciting of purchases, but definitely useful. (And one of my goals for this year is to curate my closet and see if I can't manage to wear decent clothes this year, rather than the closest pair of jeans and the first sweater I find, and these fit well into gaps.)
Today, I am on calls all day, and so am carting my cell phone around on mute while I continue to excavate the house from where D decided he should clean out the cupboards and the garage while I was off playing over NYE. Again, not the most exciting of days, but I may actually find my kitchen and dining room tables before this day is done.
Also, books!
Catching up from the holiday (time spent w/my parents===books for distractions)...
What I Just Finished
Mary Shelley, Miranda Seymour, which was fascinating for more than just the life Mary led (which was outre enough, at least when she was young, that every time someone asked me about her, I'd get the 'wait, that's *reality*?' reaction) I got sucked into the everyday life of the late Regency and not just for the part where she was living with the Romantics, but for the rest of it, too. Fascinating woman. Fascinating.
Saga, written by Brian K. Vaughn, drawn by Fiona Staples, non-superhero graphic novel. I love the couple at the center (and the fact that the story is told by their daughter relieves the tension of whether they're going to live, because there were a few points where that was in doubt.) They give me the same vibe as Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan.
Breakout, Alisa Kwitney, prose adaptation of Bendis' New Avengers arc -- I was in a Hawkeye/Black Widow mood. The fact that I've read better fic isn't a condemnation (as I know you all know); I've also read much, much worse. I wouldn't ignore the characterizations here, but they aren't going to be the sum total of what I use writing these characters going forward.
A Kiss at Midnight, Eloisa James -- vaguely Regency-ish adaptation of Cinderella. I floated along just fine with it all (as is usual with James, there are strong female friendships and people thinking of others, not just themselves, which I always appreciate), though the story I really want is the one in the epilogue, where they're spending half the year in the crazy castle of exiles and half the year in Egypt. I feel certain there's enough conflict there to give me at least a novella.
What I'm Reading Now
Nothing much--the new Black Widow solo title is out (and written up in USAToday, which was kind of a kick to see this morning) so I'll grab that. I think there's a new Hawkeye, too? More Kate, I think.
What I'm Reading Next
I have stacks from the library and virtual stacks on my ipad. The only printed matter I got for Christmas were cookbooks--I may just wallow in those for a while...
By lunch yesterday, I decided it was probably more prudent not to inflict myself on actual co-workers, so I took myself off for a bit of end-of-season retail therapy. Did *exceedingly* well, in that I found a coat I'd been looking at online but found that it really didn't look good on me, and so didn't buy it, but then did find a pair of gray slacks and a gorgeous tuxedo-cut black jacket at Chico's for something like 80% off. Possibly not the most exciting of purchases, but definitely useful. (And one of my goals for this year is to curate my closet and see if I can't manage to wear decent clothes this year, rather than the closest pair of jeans and the first sweater I find, and these fit well into gaps.)
Today, I am on calls all day, and so am carting my cell phone around on mute while I continue to excavate the house from where D decided he should clean out the cupboards and the garage while I was off playing over NYE. Again, not the most exciting of days, but I may actually find my kitchen and dining room tables before this day is done.
Also, books!
Catching up from the holiday (time spent w/my parents===books for distractions)...
What I Just Finished
Mary Shelley, Miranda Seymour, which was fascinating for more than just the life Mary led (which was outre enough, at least when she was young, that every time someone asked me about her, I'd get the 'wait, that's *reality*?' reaction) I got sucked into the everyday life of the late Regency and not just for the part where she was living with the Romantics, but for the rest of it, too. Fascinating woman. Fascinating.
Saga, written by Brian K. Vaughn, drawn by Fiona Staples, non-superhero graphic novel. I love the couple at the center (and the fact that the story is told by their daughter relieves the tension of whether they're going to live, because there were a few points where that was in doubt.) They give me the same vibe as Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan.
Breakout, Alisa Kwitney, prose adaptation of Bendis' New Avengers arc -- I was in a Hawkeye/Black Widow mood. The fact that I've read better fic isn't a condemnation (as I know you all know); I've also read much, much worse. I wouldn't ignore the characterizations here, but they aren't going to be the sum total of what I use writing these characters going forward.
A Kiss at Midnight, Eloisa James -- vaguely Regency-ish adaptation of Cinderella. I floated along just fine with it all (as is usual with James, there are strong female friendships and people thinking of others, not just themselves, which I always appreciate), though the story I really want is the one in the epilogue, where they're spending half the year in the crazy castle of exiles and half the year in Egypt. I feel certain there's enough conflict there to give me at least a novella.
What I'm Reading Now
Nothing much--the new Black Widow solo title is out (and written up in USAToday, which was kind of a kick to see this morning) so I'll grab that. I think there's a new Hawkeye, too? More Kate, I think.
What I'm Reading Next
I have stacks from the library and virtual stacks on my ipad. The only printed matter I got for Christmas were cookbooks--I may just wallow in those for a while...
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That Mary Shelley book sounds interesting!
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The book is a straight-up biography that was recommended to me after I was sucked into Mary's life by a different biography, one that was written in first-person free verse, which actually fits her as a young woman very well (IMO.) Then I was dying for more depth and this book delivered. It's fairly long and has copies of portraits and stuff, everything my detail-obsessed heart could want. And I love the Regency era to begin with (though I'm not particularly fond of the Romantics) so I happily read my chapter a day and renewed it several times. I have to give it back now and am contemplating buying a copy for myself...
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I really did like seeing how Mary dealt with everything -- I had to put down the book a couple of times until the urge to smack assorted people (esp her father) passed. I am still amazed at her time with Shelley, though, and how she came through all of that with at least most of her sanity and good sense.