Here's what's been going on, more or less:
- Signed my first-ever "last will and testament" plus health care proxy and living will. So now I can embark on super-dangerous hobbies with a clear conscience, knowing that I've left my affairs in order. Sign me up for juggling lessons ... with flaming chainsaws!
- Got started on four small home improvement projects. One is completed (hooray!). One is in progress. One contractor is about to get the good news that I'm going forward with it. One contractor won't give me a start date, not sure what's up with that - but the good news is that at this point it will be better not to start before August 20.
- Learned that my paper proposal has been accepted for publication!! (Eep, now I have to write it....)
- Watched "The Tempest" w/ New York Classical Theatre - it's one I'm not very familiar with. Long ago, I read a synopsis (courtesy of a "tales from Shakespeare" book my grandparents gave me as a kid), but I've never read the play for myself, and I've only seen it once or twice before. Caliban and the 2 drunkards were especially good. They used multiple actresses to play Ariel -- I'm not sure if it is written into the play, or even a "standard" interpretive technique (after all, another director did that in at least one prior production, and it's a low-tech way to give a sense of the supernatural by allowing the voice of Ariel to come from multiple locations at once). Here, Ariel also was able to control or possess other characters from time to time, which made for an interesting effect. Liked Prospero as well, and I think his character is not always considered very sympathetic - so it probably has to do with the actor's charisma. All in all, I enjoyed it. Will try to watch it again before it closes.
- Watched "Despicable Me" (rented from iTunes) - it was fun and cute, though somewhat forgettable. (Question: Was this movie the source of the saying "This is how I roll"?)
- Read The Cuckoo's Calling by "Robert Galbraith"- I liked it, although perhaps not for the "right" reasons to like a detective novel. I was more interested in the characters of Robin and Strike, than in the mystery. And of course if this is a series, I think JK is up to her usual tricks in terms of laying groundwork for Ron and Hermione (er, I mean Strike and Robin) to get together after the wrong matches are weeded out.
- Read Genesis by Bernard Beckett. This was recommended to me by two of my fellow Mythgard students, at Mythcon. They warned me that not everyone in the class liked it. I enjoyed it, but I think I can see both sides re: the book's appeal. I did not particularly care for the philosophical debate aspects of the story; it's not particularly original to very loosely fictionalize matters of philosophy (Sophie's World comes to mind, but there are many others). But the overall story arc I enjoyed - particularly the slow reveal (with strong misleads to counterbalance the many hints about what is going on and why). Also intrigued by the characters' names - almost every name, no matter how casually dropped, has one or more historical or literary antecedents.
- Read The Boggart by Susan Cooper. I was curious whether this was an inspiration for JK. I don't think it was (both authors were commandeering a creature of myth and legend). Parts of the story I really liked, esp. the opening chapter. And it was interesting to meet the trickster creature and explore the old world/new world dichotomy. But it also comes across as really dated in some ways - especially with the computer-related aspects of the plot. Found it jarring that the mom and dad seem to be known by their first names; it felt like the author was trying to be progressive and modern (although who knows, she may well have been simply writing what was true in her own culture or experience). My working theory is that the more up-to-date and contemporary in feeling a novel is, the less likely that it will prove to be timeless. But we shall see.
- Went to the beach and got sunburned... despite two layers of sun screen + zinc oxide + beach umbrella. We were there longer than I'd expected, and honestly, if I'd been watching the clock, I'd have applied more sunscreen. Then again, it's just the top of the right arm, so I'm wondering if I got burned through the car window as we were driving out to Long Island. Hmmm. Oh well.
- Picked up some supplies for the move. It's coming up fast. Really fast....
- Tried to give my beautiful armoire/media center to friends or a high-end charity I'd heard of. No takers, so I'll go with a for-profit furniture removal service that promises to do the charitable match-making for me. So I may still be able to chalk that up as a win.
- Made two batches of Indian Slaw - yum. The second batch was a bit more sour and spicy (2 TBS lime juice and 2 serrano chilies), so I'll probably go easy on those items next time for a better balance of flavors.
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