(no subject)
Hmm. I seem to be falling down on the journal-writing job lately. I think I haven't written in almost a week. Let's see ... what's been up ...
Feet. After some careful observation, I've concluded that the pain iis centered mostly in the ball of my feet, rather than the heel. It's never a sharp pain, more of an ache really, and so it was hard to locate precisely, but now I'm planning to get some inserts for my shoes, in hopes that they help. I think I caused this problem by buying some bad shoes about a year ago, and using them as my primary footwear. They have basically no sole, no cushion, no arch ... they feel kind of like I'm not wearing shoes at all, which was why I liked them, but now I'm thinking that walking as much as I do, while wearing that kind of shoes, led to badness. So I'm going shoe shopping soon (probably later this week), and in the meantime I'm limiting my walking to maybe 3 or 4 miles a day.
Since I've been trying to curtail my walking, I've been biking a lot this last week. Shannon and I even biked down to the Point Isabel dog park yesterday, which we haven't done in ages. I have a hard time with the gradual uphill on the way home, but if we keep doing it, I know it'll get easier. As it is now, I just have to stop occasionally to rest. No shame in that. And we saw lots of really great dogs, as always. Going to dog parks is one of my favorite things ever. I love watching dogs play without having to clean up their poo.
The cats are doing relatively well. Cobweb limps a lot now, probably has arthritis, and she has the worst breath in the world, but she seems to be eating reasonably well. She still has an inappropriate peeing problem, but it doesn't seem to be every day ... though some days it's 2 or 3 times.
And Munchkin purrs while we pill her, so she's obviously insane.
Shannon and I are currently reading John Crowley's Aegypt as our read-aloud book, and I am very happy to finally get around to it. I first picked it up about 20 years ago, read a few chapters, felt that it was rather slow, and decided to put it down and wait until the projected trilogy was finished before reading the whole thing. I'm a huge huge huge fan of Crowley's Little, Big, and a considerable fan of his Engine Summer, but I'm finding Aegypt a bit of a slog. It has the same wonderful focus on mood and mythology, setting up a world and a general feeling ... but we're more than 60 pages in, and almost nothing has happened. I love the language and the ideas, but ... I don't know. I told Shannon last night that the book needs more explosions and car chases. I wonder if I would feel the same way about Little, Big if I were to read it now. An interesting question.
I got a bug in my ear recently to revisit some Spike/Xander fic (after about 5 years out of the fandom), so I've been rereading many of my old favorites. The last time I had a peek at S/X fic, I had no interest whatsoever, so I find it curious that it now interests me again after years and years.
My brain is a mystery.
We started watching "Game of Thrones," and I'm finding it very interesting thus far, though we've only seen 2 episodes. Shannon has read the series, but I'm utterly clueless. I was surprised to see the actor who played Ronon on "Stargate: Atlantis" in a small but significant role. He's playing a barbarian ... again. It makes me wonder. I mean, his 3 major roles in recent years have been Ronon (very much the uncouth barbarian type, though not a savage), this "Game of Thrones" barbarian guy, and Conan the Barbarian (in some 2011 film). What is it about him that makes casting folks all want to dress him in hides and hand him a sword instead of putting him in a pair of jeans and a tank top or something? I mean, yes, he looks exotic (Hawaiian and Native American, I hear), but the idea of someone possibly being typecast because of his ethnicity makes me a bit ticked. But maybe I'm getting it totally wrong. Maybe he loves to play barbarians and seeks out those roles. Who knows.
Feet. After some careful observation, I've concluded that the pain iis centered mostly in the ball of my feet, rather than the heel. It's never a sharp pain, more of an ache really, and so it was hard to locate precisely, but now I'm planning to get some inserts for my shoes, in hopes that they help. I think I caused this problem by buying some bad shoes about a year ago, and using them as my primary footwear. They have basically no sole, no cushion, no arch ... they feel kind of like I'm not wearing shoes at all, which was why I liked them, but now I'm thinking that walking as much as I do, while wearing that kind of shoes, led to badness. So I'm going shoe shopping soon (probably later this week), and in the meantime I'm limiting my walking to maybe 3 or 4 miles a day.
Since I've been trying to curtail my walking, I've been biking a lot this last week. Shannon and I even biked down to the Point Isabel dog park yesterday, which we haven't done in ages. I have a hard time with the gradual uphill on the way home, but if we keep doing it, I know it'll get easier. As it is now, I just have to stop occasionally to rest. No shame in that. And we saw lots of really great dogs, as always. Going to dog parks is one of my favorite things ever. I love watching dogs play without having to clean up their poo.
The cats are doing relatively well. Cobweb limps a lot now, probably has arthritis, and she has the worst breath in the world, but she seems to be eating reasonably well. She still has an inappropriate peeing problem, but it doesn't seem to be every day ... though some days it's 2 or 3 times.
And Munchkin purrs while we pill her, so she's obviously insane.
Shannon and I are currently reading John Crowley's Aegypt as our read-aloud book, and I am very happy to finally get around to it. I first picked it up about 20 years ago, read a few chapters, felt that it was rather slow, and decided to put it down and wait until the projected trilogy was finished before reading the whole thing. I'm a huge huge huge fan of Crowley's Little, Big, and a considerable fan of his Engine Summer, but I'm finding Aegypt a bit of a slog. It has the same wonderful focus on mood and mythology, setting up a world and a general feeling ... but we're more than 60 pages in, and almost nothing has happened. I love the language and the ideas, but ... I don't know. I told Shannon last night that the book needs more explosions and car chases. I wonder if I would feel the same way about Little, Big if I were to read it now. An interesting question.
I got a bug in my ear recently to revisit some Spike/Xander fic (after about 5 years out of the fandom), so I've been rereading many of my old favorites. The last time I had a peek at S/X fic, I had no interest whatsoever, so I find it curious that it now interests me again after years and years.
My brain is a mystery.
We started watching "Game of Thrones," and I'm finding it very interesting thus far, though we've only seen 2 episodes. Shannon has read the series, but I'm utterly clueless. I was surprised to see the actor who played Ronon on "Stargate: Atlantis" in a small but significant role. He's playing a barbarian ... again. It makes me wonder. I mean, his 3 major roles in recent years have been Ronon (very much the uncouth barbarian type, though not a savage), this "Game of Thrones" barbarian guy, and Conan the Barbarian (in some 2011 film). What is it about him that makes casting folks all want to dress him in hides and hand him a sword instead of putting him in a pair of jeans and a tank top or something? I mean, yes, he looks exotic (Hawaiian and Native American, I hear), but the idea of someone possibly being typecast because of his ethnicity makes me a bit ticked. But maybe I'm getting it totally wrong. Maybe he loves to play barbarians and seeks out those roles. Who knows.