Aten't dead

Kind of fell off posting for a while there. But I suspect I'll want to look back on posts from now later, so...random impressions from the last two months in no particular weight.

- When the election news finally broke, I burst into tears on the front porch. ARR was very concerned, and couldn't figure out whether that was good or not. I hugged him until he complained. The neighborhood went nuts - fireworks in the daytime, banging pots and pans, people swigging champagne from bottles on their stoops. Socially distanced impromptu dance party on cars in front of city hall.

- Thanksgiving was tiny, I made too many pies, no regrets.

- ARR officially has ADHD, just as we started getting more wheels turning on that, we went back into distance learning.

- My company gave me a lightbox participation trophy that I would have been actively pissed about if they hadn't also given us a run through the expensive tier of the corporate gifting platform, and the very expensive new coffee maker lowers my emotional reaction to this plastic piece of light up junk with my name on it to merely "bemused."

- I've been getting a lot of interviews. Unfortunately, none of them are for things I actually want. But I guess the fact I'm getting interviews is good? Unfortunately, they take up a lot of time, which means I've been wasting hours each week. Because what I needed was more stress in my life and things on my to-do list.

- I'd actually managed to lose some of the weight I gained last year, and I may be putting that at risk with the sheer number of carbs planned for this week and I just cannot care. I'll go back on the more-careful-eating in January (not full-on diet, just...less booze and Cheez-Its. Not no booze and Cheez-Its. I cannot survive distance learning without booze and Cheez-Its. I have no idea where the raging Cheez-Its addiction came from, it is apparently my quarantine drug of choice.)

- We are doing all the crafts with ARR this week. I taught him some basic sewing, we made Pokemon felties and Zelda thingies with the beads you melt together with an iron. We've got Pokemon origami and "painting" with stickers planned, and we're going to make rainbow bagels. Maybe learn to sew a dice bag. Last night, I threw a handful of glowsticks in a bubble bath and turned all the lights off. Super eerie glow, great for mad wizardry + cleanliness.

Books

114. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch. 5. Absolutely hilarious, with a couple dips into the well of depression that would drive a lot of her second book.

115. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett. 5. Witty and insightful, this was the first Discworld book I originally read, and possibly one of the worst to start on. (I wish I'd read the intersection of the witches and the wizards after having gotten to know them independently first.)

116. Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders. 3. There's a lot that's compelling about this romance focused on a woman on the run from her abusive ex. But be aware the abusive ex bit is fairly disturbing. And the hero tries a white knight asshole maneuver. Fortunately, she calls him on it, but it's not great. First half of the book is great, wrap up is ok, there's some iffy bits right before the climax.

117. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. 5. I'm retreating to comfort reads, can you tell? This one is one of my favorite Discworld books, full of holiday magic and also teeth. Mister Teatime is one of the creepiest villains, but what really won my heart is Death dressed up as a Santa-analogue, with Corporal Nobby Nobbs of the Watch on his knee, reverting to a 6 year old.

118. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. 5. We did this one as a family read-aloud with my 7-year-old. And it really is one of the best children's books written. It's funny enough to keep his attention, but sneakily gorgeous. And the morals that aren't plonked down like a fable but are the backbone of the book itself - about life and death and responsibility and courage - are exactly the kind of thing I want him to not take as a lesson but to have worm into the back of his brain.

119. A Little Dinner Before the Play by Agnes Jekyll. 4. 1920s recipes and entertaining tips. Entertaining and occasionally even appetizing.

120. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwater by E.L. Konigsburg. 4. Every bit as charming as I remembered, and slightly more clever. More of a period piece than I'd realized (it's been a long time since the Met was free), but I look forward to reading with my son when a trip to the Met is practical again.

121. No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper. 4. This mash-up of time travel horror fantasy and Regency romance includes the "how to be a lady" lessons I find to be catnip.

122. A Villain for Christmas by Alice Winters. 4. Snarky but sweet romance featuring a supervillain reluctantly falling for his home town's Superman analogue. Delightful.

123. Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold. 4. Another Penric and Desdemona novella, for which you'll have wanted to read "Penric's Demon" and "Penric's Mission" but don't need the rest. (You could probably even stagger your way through without those two.) I love earnest and rueful sorcerer-priest Penric and the snarky demon who lives in his head. This time, they're loose in Venice-I-mean-Lodi! With an almost-murder mystery!

124. Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai. 4.5. Sizzling romance about a couple who families pulled them apart a decade ago, but still have this hate-sex thing going. They get better.

125. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. 5. I'd argue this is Pratchett's best work. Certainly the most earnest. But it's genuinely moving while still being funny. Deep in the canon, though - without having read most of the Watch books, most of the impact would be lost.

126. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett. 5. Madcap romp involving time monks and the personification of entropy (which is a problem, chocolate kind of blows their minds.)

127. The Dervish House by Ian McDonald. 5. Brilliant near-future SF criss-crossing Istanbul and bringing together a wide host of characters - a disgraced academic, a disabled Boy Detective, a wheeling-dealing art historian trying to find a legendary artifact, a wheeling-dealing finance trader trying a major scam, a sociopath who can suddenly talk to saints, a marketing major who just wants a job, and a terrorist cell who want to make people see God.