Productive and then not.
After a really productive weekend (long-overdue yardwork, MiniPlu voluntarily going over and above cleaning chores, buying gifts for a giving-tree child, etc), this week so far has felt like absolute failure. I've gone to bed late and then overslept two days in a row. I've frittered time away looking at Yuletide letters rather than answering long-overdue email or LJ posts or write for NaNo. I've taken more naps than usual because of the lack-of-sleep thing, including dozing off during The Peanuts Movie yesterday. I've fallen in love with this music video even though I'd never heard of the vlogger before. (Apparently I live under a rock.) And these photos of Sherlock. I just ... ugh. I just don't want to do ANYTHING but be lazy.
(Side note: Peanuts Movie was what it should be - gently sweet and cute. Not the best thing I've seen in my life, nor a rollicking laugh fest, but that's not what Peanuts is about anyway. It's sweet and nostalgic and true to character, I thought. If you like Peanuts in general, I recommend it. If you're not, then don't bother.)
I also inhaled Hoarfrost last week. I'd held off reading it because it was the most recent book and I didn't want to run out of W&G goodness to look forward to. And then I started having writing and knitting obligations, and didn't want to take time away to read. Then I discovered Book 7 is due out in a couple of weeks, and I cracked like an egg. Inhaled the book in less than 48 hours. :-P
The pattern seems to be: odd-numbered books take place in Widdershins, and even-numbered books take place elsewhere. This kept with that pattern, taking place in Alaska, except for the fact that the even-numbered books usually have Griffin on the cover, and this one didn't. Not sure why, but I was kind of sorry about that. This book was also unusual in giving equal time to both men's POVs, rather than being entirely from Whyborne's, as in all the previous books. Given what happens to Griffin, though, it definitely made sense to do it this way - although it took a little mental adjustment to have "him" references mean Whyborne, not Griffin, in Griffin's chapters.
There were some predictions I had made about certain characters, which turned out to be wrong. I had thought maybe Griffin's brother Jack and his business partner Turner were a couple (or an unrequited one) but - nope. I also thought the pastor they meet up with would do a quick wedding for Christine and Iskandar by the end of the story, so they could publicly be together on the trip back. Like - the fact that they had all almost died (esp Christine) made them realize it was important to be married sooner rather than later, and that Iskandar could have his fancy ceremony once they got back home again. But, nope, that didn't happen, either. I also did not expect to have the Umbra be naturally non-evil creatures, so that was an interesting twist.
Griffin totally broke my heart, though. All the pain he feels at never reuniting with his Pa, and how much he still wants to reconcile with his Ma. Facing his terrors of the Umbra, and so much else. I just wanted to wrap him up in a hug and let him cry.
On the other hand, the scene where the two of them work together to break the magical seals? Hottest. Passage. Ever. It's like the movie Ghost - the pottery scene. They're not having sex, but the sensuality of the whole thing is just so damn hot, they might as well have. *fans self* I really really wish I could capture what I saw on my head, on paper, to draw them.
Will and I got to see Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from Whose Line is it Anyway? on Sat night. We'd had tickets for them a year and a half ago, but MiniPlu's All-City Band concert had been rescheduled due to snow, and ended up being the same night as the comedy performance. Daughter trumps tickets, so we had to miss it. When I saw they'd be back, I immediately bought tickets. (This was last January.) It was SO worth the wait, though - really really hilarious. Will and I definitely needed the levity. My face hurt from laughing so much. My SIL Karen came out for the weekend and stayed with our kids so we could go to the show. It's not that they really need a babysitter, but it was nighttime, and I figured they didn't want to be alone at night.
Ok, I need to scoot. Kids only have half days yesterday and today because of parent-teacher conferences, so time is short. And I've already screwed up enough this morning. :-P
(Side note: Peanuts Movie was what it should be - gently sweet and cute. Not the best thing I've seen in my life, nor a rollicking laugh fest, but that's not what Peanuts is about anyway. It's sweet and nostalgic and true to character, I thought. If you like Peanuts in general, I recommend it. If you're not, then don't bother.)
I also inhaled Hoarfrost last week. I'd held off reading it because it was the most recent book and I didn't want to run out of W&G goodness to look forward to. And then I started having writing and knitting obligations, and didn't want to take time away to read. Then I discovered Book 7 is due out in a couple of weeks, and I cracked like an egg. Inhaled the book in less than 48 hours. :-P
The pattern seems to be: odd-numbered books take place in Widdershins, and even-numbered books take place elsewhere. This kept with that pattern, taking place in Alaska, except for the fact that the even-numbered books usually have Griffin on the cover, and this one didn't. Not sure why, but I was kind of sorry about that. This book was also unusual in giving equal time to both men's POVs, rather than being entirely from Whyborne's, as in all the previous books. Given what happens to Griffin, though, it definitely made sense to do it this way - although it took a little mental adjustment to have "him" references mean Whyborne, not Griffin, in Griffin's chapters.
There were some predictions I had made about certain characters, which turned out to be wrong. I had thought maybe Griffin's brother Jack and his business partner Turner were a couple (or an unrequited one) but - nope. I also thought the pastor they meet up with would do a quick wedding for Christine and Iskandar by the end of the story, so they could publicly be together on the trip back. Like - the fact that they had all almost died (esp Christine) made them realize it was important to be married sooner rather than later, and that Iskandar could have his fancy ceremony once they got back home again. But, nope, that didn't happen, either. I also did not expect to have the Umbra be naturally non-evil creatures, so that was an interesting twist.
Griffin totally broke my heart, though. All the pain he feels at never reuniting with his Pa, and how much he still wants to reconcile with his Ma. Facing his terrors of the Umbra, and so much else. I just wanted to wrap him up in a hug and let him cry.
On the other hand, the scene where the two of them work together to break the magical seals? Hottest. Passage. Ever. It's like the movie Ghost - the pottery scene. They're not having sex, but the sensuality of the whole thing is just so damn hot, they might as well have. *fans self* I really really wish I could capture what I saw on my head, on paper, to draw them.
Will and I got to see Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from Whose Line is it Anyway? on Sat night. We'd had tickets for them a year and a half ago, but MiniPlu's All-City Band concert had been rescheduled due to snow, and ended up being the same night as the comedy performance. Daughter trumps tickets, so we had to miss it. When I saw they'd be back, I immediately bought tickets. (This was last January.) It was SO worth the wait, though - really really hilarious. Will and I definitely needed the levity. My face hurt from laughing so much. My SIL Karen came out for the weekend and stayed with our kids so we could go to the show. It's not that they really need a babysitter, but it was nighttime, and I figured they didn't want to be alone at night.
Ok, I need to scoot. Kids only have half days yesterday and today because of parent-teacher conferences, so time is short. And I've already screwed up enough this morning. :-P