between the rock and the cold, cold sea

The books I am reading: The Qur'an, trans. M.A. Abdul Haleem, Aelius Aristides and the Sacred Tales, C.E. Behr, Reading Material Culture, C. Tilley (ed). And a bunch of other things in uncoordinated piles.

Last book read: Kameron Hurley, God's War.

The book I am writing: Apart from the thesis? Some things. I will not admit to them in public, because when I talk about them they shrivel up and roll away, like very embarrassed dust devils in an Old West film.

The book I love most: Hard question. Toss up between matociquala's Dust, the Steerswoman books, or PC Hodgell's Godstalk and To Ride a Rathorn.

Ask me tomorrow, and I might have a different answer.

The last book I received as a gift: Jordan/Sanderson, The Tower of Midnight, around Christmastime. Before that, probably Bear's Bone and Jewel Creatures, in the summer. (People give me gift-books seldom.)

The last book I gave as a gift: Chill, Elizabeth Bear; Idylls, Theocritus.

The nearest book on my desk: Reading Greek Text and Vocabulary Second Edition. Underneath my elbow while I do my homework.


Tag, you're it?

Meme: Take a picture of yourself right now. Don't change your clothes, don’t fix your hair...just take a picture. Post that picture with NO editing. Post these instructions with your picture.



Me, after climbing, with dried sweat making my hair all lank and manky. (And itchy. The non-marking unchalk I use itches.)

And hey, there's my living space in all its glory, too.

The unfinished/potential novels list.

Well, for me, everything I have so far remains unfinished. This will change. Theoretically, this year. That's the plan.

( The List )

Considering how slowly I write, this is probably a life's worth of bookage. (In case you weren't counting, that's above 30 books I'd like to write. More than half of them walked up with at least the beginnings of plot, character and setting attached.)

...I'm a little worried, now.

Via cristalia and cvillette.

Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question..

What does next year have in store for me?
Bon Jovi - 'Just Older'

(I've been up and down and in between
After all these years and miles of memories
I'm still chasing dreams
But I ain't looking over my shoulder)

Maybe I should stop here, yes?

What does your love life look like?
Blue Oyster Cult - 'Godzilla'

(History shows again and again
How nature points up the folly of men)

...Definitely should have stopped there.

What do I say when life gets hard?
The Pogues - 'Sally MacLennane'

(And he took the road for God-knows in the morning)
(Buy me beer and whiskey for I'm going far away.)

Yeah, that's me to the bone. Except for the beer and whiskey part.

What do I think when I get up in the morning?
Spandau Ballet - 'Highly Strung'

(She's walking out upon the knife
She'll take you to the edge of life
Just like the song,
The pressure's on again)

And from the depths of my eighties pop music collection! Freakily appropriate, actually, that last quoted line.

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
Johnny Cash - 'Leave That Junk Alone'

(You better pick up your feet, you're gonna fall on the floor)

Uhuh. Not exactly danceable, now, is it? Somehow, I don't see marriage in my future anyway.

What do you want as a career?
Ani DiFranco - 'Shy'

(Where I come from and where I'm going
And I'm lost in between)

...

I don't know. What do I want as a career?

Your favorite saying?
The Darkness - 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love'

(There's a chance we can make it now)

Yes, I have a Darkness album, complete with shrieky-screechy music and overdone guitar.

Favorite place?
Greenday - 'Give Me Novacaine'

(Out of body and out of mind
Kiss the demons out of my dreams)

...Um. No?

What do you think of your parents?
Matthew Good - 'Symbolistic White Walls'

(mom, nobody wake up, there's nothing you could have done wrong
I'm wearing the same grin, I take it all on the chin
...It's alright now, take the world and make it yours again.)

...Okay. That? Is really, seriously creepy.

Where would you go on a first date?
Nirvana - 'Come As You Are'

(The choice is yours
Don't be late
Take a rest
As a friend)

'Date' is such an American term.

Drug of choice?
Christopher Young - 'Death Storm' (instrumental)

Well, that's nicely ambiguous.

Describe yourself:
Jack Shit - 'Boney Was A Warrior'

(Boney was a warrior, a warrior a terrier)

But I haven't died in exile. Yet.

What is the thing I like doing most?
Sandy Denny - 'The North Star Grassman and the Ravens'

(They stood upon the deck
As the ship went out to sea
The wind it took the sails
And left the land a memory)

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
Spandau Ballet - 'Lifeline'

(Live and let live in love
Neither has the ghost of a chance
Those decisions only can be made once
You never really know just what you're giving)

Oh, not more Spandau Ballet. But the lyrics are weirdly appropriate.

How will I die?
Matthew Good - 'Apparitions'

(We're stuck
Inside our own machine
Apparitions)

...No comment. Just, none.

What's your deepest, darkest secret?
White Magic - 'Long Time Ago'

(A long time was a very long time
Long time ago)

That was another country. And besides, the wench is dead.

What am I doing right now?
Seven Nations - 'Faithful Departed'

(Look over your shoulder; hear the school bell ring
Another day of made-to-measure history)

Well, this song's appropriate for brooding, anyway.

---

Another eleven-minute mile today. This is as a result of going to the gym in the morning in the hopes of working some glum out. Alas, success was not achieved. So I came home, ate, slept solidly from half three to half six, ate again, and still have failed to shake the glum.

I blame the unexpected visitor yesterday who disturbed my day of introversion. But it could simply be that I'm responsible for... quite a bit, this week. And I don't like it.

(Life's lessons learned this week: I don't ever want a high pressure job. This is presumably a good thing to know in advance, but damn, does the process of learning Important Truths about oneself have to be so awkwardly annoying? And painful?)

Haiku2 for hawkwing_lb
third woman if you like you can disagree with texts and socialise
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Created by Grahame

Strangely appropriate. And on the first try, too.