With much trepidation, I stepped on the scale for the first time since the middle of October, and was pleasantly surprised (considering my recent level of chocolate consumption) to find that I have now lost 15 pounds since I started my concerted effort in mid-July. I think I can consider myself beyond just a good start, as that represents about 25% of what I want to lose. What with Thanksgiving being what it isn’t this year, I think I can slide through the holidays more or less unscathed. It’s almost like optimism, I tell you.

This is for Dorothea, who resolutely refuses to quote me. (Usually a smart move, granted, but in this case…)

Call me passe (or nobody), but I still read books–they go places you can’t (or shouldn’t) take a computer–bed, bath, breakfast, bus. Or anywhere there’s a power outage.

If this guy had ever actually set foot in a library recently (or so much as looked at a good library website) he’d know that libraries aren’t just about print–they’re multimedia centers. Music, video, even software are all part of a library’s collection. Why would anyone look at a collection of Ansel Adams’ photos at 72 ppi on a screen when you can see gorgeous, high-end color plates in a book? There’s a place for computers in the modern library, and not just as a replacement for card catalogs. But as the be-all, end-all of content presentation? I think not.

My inner child is forty-five years old!

I’ve never really liked children, not even when I
was one. I want things neat, ordered, and
adult–fine wine instead of french fries, pina
coladas by the pool instead of beach sand
between my toes. Now if only my fellow adults
would stop acting like such, well, children!

How Old is Your Inner Child?
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“Anything not worth doing is not worth doing well.”

–Pournelle’s Fifth Law

“Don’t assume malice for what stupidity can explain.”

–Pournelle’s Law on Malice

“If you don?t know what you?re doing, deal with those who do.”

–Yet Another One of Pournelle’s Laws

Anyone know where I can get a complete list of Pournelle’s Laws?

I’m not playing in the Friday game anymore. Two of the other players decided that rather than talk to me about some problem they had with me, they were just going to keep killing my characters in a nasty and obvious way until I decided to quit. Until they got the idea to talk to the GM, and have him break the news to me on their behalf. (About which he was not happy.) So I’m not exactly kicked out, per se, but it isn’t going to be fun for anyone–least of all me–if I do continue to show up. The worst bit is that as far as I’m concerned, this is totally out of the blue. I thought I was getting along fine with them–it’s not like these two actually said anything to me; I don’t even know if their problem is with me or my characters. Nor do they care to discuss it, apparently. Granted, I haven’t been at my most cheerful in recent months, but I don’t I’m significantly more annoying than anyone else, and one of the two individuals in question is damned annoying when he gets going.

I’m so predicatble these days…

You are a gamerz quiz. Written by the game
developer — a divine being, in the geek’s
opinion — you may be part of a popular
magazine or you may be something from
pennyarcade.com. You exist to support male
geeks in their desire to avoid as much real
human interaction as they can. Seldom useful to
those who take you, you are instead a tool by
game companies to sample geek-sentiment on new
products. Consequently, you normally go un-
taken - people would rather play games than
take quizzes, after all. Or would they?
WHAT KIND OF QUIZ ARE YOU?
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Cb major - life is full of complecations,
commitments and organisation. You love to make
sure everything is just perfect, but sometimes
this can cause you to fall over your own feet.
A slightly unsociable key: why Cb major when
you could be the identical Bmajor? It has less
accidentals.

what key signature are you?
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You are

Willow Rosenberg

"I don’t get wild. Wild on me equals spaz."

What "Buffy" Character Are You?

You are “Welcome to the Caribbean, love.”
You’re more than a little world-weary, but also
intelligent and you keep your head when things
get dodgy. You’re everybody’s favorite
drinking buddy, but your stubbornness does get
in the way sometimes.

Which one of Captain Jack Sparrow’s bizarre sayings from Pirates of the Caribbean are you?
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What I don’t have is either strep or a sinus infection. Woo-hoo! What I do have is the extra-strength, professional-grade, do-not-inhale-fumes drain cleaner of presciption decongestants. Life is, if not good, much better thanks to modern chemistry.

I suppose that one of the few advantages to being cooped up in the house all weekend was that I got a lot of reading done–and just in time, as the Library Gods have blessed me with yet more holds arriving. Into the drop box this morning went:

The Devil Wears Prada is a boss-from-hell story set at a prestigious fashion magazine. It’s well-written, and I enjoyed it more than I otherwise would, had I not been on the Project of Elemental Evil earlier this year. The author has a talent for describing the outrageous and making it believable.

Death Masks is the fifth book in the Harry Dresden series. If you like the series, you’ll probably like this installment. If you’re not familiar with the series, and you like modern dark fantasy/mystery crossovers, it’s worth a read. It’s definitely entertainment, not art, but it’s good entertainment.

Lord of Snow and Shadows is set in a pseudo-Russia in which magic is ahead of technology, but both exist and are intertwined in some cases. I’d call this one a near miss; there’s a lot going on in the story, which is sound, but something about the writng kept me from being completely engaged. It’s very obviously the first book in a trilogy, and doesn’t stand alone very well.

The Companions is Sheri S. Tepper’s latest. I like her work, even though she’s known for breaking the “if you have a message, use Western Union” rule. This is one of her better violations of that rule.

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27th 1883 wanders around a lot, delving into the development of the theory of plate tectonics, Dutch colonial relations to Islam, the history of telegraphy, and the spice trade. Not that the trip isn’t interesting; it certainly is and there are plenty of fascinating things to learn. If I were going to quibble with anything, I would say that the title doesn’t really reflect the contents. Everything You Wanted to Know About Krakatoa but Were Afraid to Ask would be more accurate.

If you can sleep for 18 hours, it means you probably should sleep for 18 hours.