Current meme
Nabbing this off Teh Betteh because I'm borede.
Current clothes:
Black top, black leggings, stripey socks, woolly socks over them, pants and bra.
Current mood:
Full. And still trying to wake up.
Current music:
I've got CMX's new Iäti album in my head and it's bautiful. I'm so sad that the lyrics are mostly untranslatable. It's such great stuff.
Current annoyance:
Sexism, misogyny and biphobia, especially amongst LGBT people, but that's nothing new.
Current thing:
Ashtanga, even if I haven't been doing it for two days because I've been feeling ugh. I always find it hard to eat enough anyway, so things get tricky when I throw in something that uses up so much energy. Hopping on the mat again in a couple of hours.
Current desktop picture:
Still this. Think I've had it for a year now. Can you blame me? I am also responsible for my parents' desktop being this. And it makes my Dad crack the fuck up every time he opens or closes their laptop, so that is a good thing indeed. I went there yesterday and he randomly started gurning and I went "what" before he explained it was his interpretation of Noki's face. Artist's impression:
Remember that this is a 60-year old, retired man. This is the sort of gene stock I come from.
Current book:
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I'm in two minds about this. On one hand, I love the old-fashioned and humorous style and there's interesting stuff in there, including great wit and wonderful historical pastiche. On the other hand, it means the book meanders a hell of a lot and only a couple of things have happened in the first 150 pages. Just when I think the plot is starting to move on, there's another fucking three-page footnote on fairies and while those are entertaining in themselves (she reminds me of Gaiman and Pratchett), I keep grumbling "get a move on"... I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to another 850 pages of this if it doesn't pick up. This might be really awesome as a slow-moving, old-fashioned 24-episode costume drama where people spend most of their time being witty over tea. But I do want to finish it because the prose is enjoyable. Don't tell me what happens, though!
James E. Lindsay: Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. The library ordered this in just for me! Eeee! It's a really good book for some clear and concise info on its subject, and I am finally starting to get a hang of who exactly ruled which bit of Persia towards the end of the 900s. On the minus side, even though the book is pretty much on an academic reading level, the author has decided to try and make the book accessible to "modern American readers" (yeah, because no-one else would ever read this) and then talks down to the reader like s/he was a child. Which is a pretty weird mix, because you get a few paragraphs of your basic, interesting historical stuff and then he squats down and pats your head and says "these people had dreams and ambitions just like you and I, regular Americans, do! It's just that they were a bit different". And I'm headdesking. Dude, you are writing about the world outside the US and outside your own time period and for people older than 12, so please don't presume everyone reading it is American and/or stupid/five years old. It's the equivalent of a professor suddenly pausing an interesting lecture to baby talk at the audience. o_O Other than that, the info is solid and accessible and it's a good starting point for delving into this period and this cultural sphere, and I wish I had had it on hand earlier.
Current song in head:
CMX: Totenmann. Which is breathtakingly beautiful and reminds me of the story of The Fountain. It's hard to listen to because I will cry my fucking eyes out.
Current DVD in player:
There's none in the player, but I've been rewatching Granada Holmes with sam42, who is seeing it for the first time and is enraptured. I'm envious of you people who get to see all this amazing cult television for the first time, damn it!
Current refreshment:
Green tea.
Current worry:
Health stuff.
Current thought:
"Bugger, I should start making the Karelian hot pot because it'll take three hours for it to cook."
Current clothes:
Black top, black leggings, stripey socks, woolly socks over them, pants and bra.
Current mood:
Full. And still trying to wake up.
Current music:
I've got CMX's new Iäti album in my head and it's bautiful. I'm so sad that the lyrics are mostly untranslatable. It's such great stuff.
Current annoyance:
Sexism, misogyny and biphobia, especially amongst LGBT people, but that's nothing new.
Current thing:
Ashtanga, even if I haven't been doing it for two days because I've been feeling ugh. I always find it hard to eat enough anyway, so things get tricky when I throw in something that uses up so much energy. Hopping on the mat again in a couple of hours.
Current desktop picture:
Still this. Think I've had it for a year now. Can you blame me? I am also responsible for my parents' desktop being this. And it makes my Dad crack the fuck up every time he opens or closes their laptop, so that is a good thing indeed. I went there yesterday and he randomly started gurning and I went "what" before he explained it was his interpretation of Noki's face. Artist's impression:
Remember that this is a 60-year old, retired man. This is the sort of gene stock I come from.
Current book:
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I'm in two minds about this. On one hand, I love the old-fashioned and humorous style and there's interesting stuff in there, including great wit and wonderful historical pastiche. On the other hand, it means the book meanders a hell of a lot and only a couple of things have happened in the first 150 pages. Just when I think the plot is starting to move on, there's another fucking three-page footnote on fairies and while those are entertaining in themselves (she reminds me of Gaiman and Pratchett), I keep grumbling "get a move on"... I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to another 850 pages of this if it doesn't pick up. This might be really awesome as a slow-moving, old-fashioned 24-episode costume drama where people spend most of their time being witty over tea. But I do want to finish it because the prose is enjoyable. Don't tell me what happens, though!
James E. Lindsay: Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. The library ordered this in just for me! Eeee! It's a really good book for some clear and concise info on its subject, and I am finally starting to get a hang of who exactly ruled which bit of Persia towards the end of the 900s. On the minus side, even though the book is pretty much on an academic reading level, the author has decided to try and make the book accessible to "modern American readers" (yeah, because no-one else would ever read this) and then talks down to the reader like s/he was a child. Which is a pretty weird mix, because you get a few paragraphs of your basic, interesting historical stuff and then he squats down and pats your head and says "these people had dreams and ambitions just like you and I, regular Americans, do! It's just that they were a bit different". And I'm headdesking. Dude, you are writing about the world outside the US and outside your own time period and for people older than 12, so please don't presume everyone reading it is American and/or stupid/five years old. It's the equivalent of a professor suddenly pausing an interesting lecture to baby talk at the audience. o_O Other than that, the info is solid and accessible and it's a good starting point for delving into this period and this cultural sphere, and I wish I had had it on hand earlier.
Current song in head:
CMX: Totenmann. Which is breathtakingly beautiful and reminds me of the story of The Fountain. It's hard to listen to because I will cry my fucking eyes out.
Current DVD in player:
There's none in the player, but I've been rewatching Granada Holmes with sam42, who is seeing it for the first time and is enraptured. I'm envious of you people who get to see all this amazing cult television for the first time, damn it!
Current refreshment:
Green tea.
Current worry:
Health stuff.
Current thought:
"Bugger, I should start making the Karelian hot pot because it'll take three hours for it to cook."