Random stuff and a book report
Apr. 4th, 2006 08:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksThe O's won. Brian Roberts got a hit, Melvin Mora and others hit HRs, and Rodrigo Lopez didn't get saddled with a loss. From what I heard, the construction around the stadium caused massive pedestrian congestion, because they couldn't get in by The Warehouse, which is where most pedestrians enter if they are coming from the harbor.
Got caught in the fierce storm last night. People were pulled over under expressway overpasses, even though there was no shoulder, which really freaks me out. Pull into a parking lot, why don't ya? I pulled in to the library parking lot. When the wind and rain were hard enough to rattle the car, I bolted for the building, despite the downpour. The new shoes (bought yesterday at lunchtime because I broke a heel) are water-splotched now, because I didn't have a chance to weather-proof them before wearing them. All the buds were shaken off of the neighborhood trees in the high, high winds.
Bought a haul of used books from the library. I'll post a list this evening, but it included an old Jayne Ann Krentz MIRA book, a tpb about the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, and a copy of Steinbeck's Tortilla Flats.
Had a jubilant email from the Biochemist about political stuff in her district. She's a Blue State person living in a very Red State. Followed by an irate email from the same because a grad student broke a piece of equipment by not following the directions that she wrote out, printed extra large and taped to the equipment. Ah, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: joy followed by the kind of frustration that makes her pound her head on her desk.
Read Dates from Hell. Meh. C+ for me. Didn't finish the Harrison short story, Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil, because I couldn't remember enough of her world-building to make sense of the story and I felt like I was missing stuff. Have to go back and reread her full books, then revisit the short story, which may adjust the grade of the book upward. The Lynsay Sands offering, The Claire Switch Project, seemed elementary or juvenile to me (C-). Lusted after each other since the age of 12 but never acted on it? Friends from childhood through adulthood but never made a move? It was a little irritating, but I could deal with it. But in the epilogue (short stories should never have epilogues) the hero "babysat" their child so the heroine could go shopping. WTF? "Babysitters" are people you pay to watch your children while you are away from them; they are people who are not obliged by a parental relationship to provide care for the children in their company, but who choose to do so for money or for other rewards. By definition, parents cannot be babysitters for their own children. It pisses me off when fathers (mothers too, but it is usually fathers who are babysitting, since they aren't the primary caregiver in many cases) call being responsible and caring for their own kids "babysitting", as if they are responsible for them only for that discreet period of time, rather than having an obligation to take care of them at all times like a parent should. ::stepping off soapbox that appeared out of the blue:: Kelley Armstong's Chaotic was the best offering of the bunch, but you have to have read (I think) at least one of her OtherWorld books in order to understand it. I was impressed by Karl Marsden as a hero and surprised, because he wasn't hero material when introduced in her book Bitten (A-). Lori Handeland's offering, Demon Hunting was interesting and different. I liked it a lot, although the confrontation with the Bad Guy was a little rushed and the Big Mis at the end was a little disappointing. Need a little bit of editing and a few more pages, but not bad (B-).
Got caught in the fierce storm last night. People were pulled over under expressway overpasses, even though there was no shoulder, which really freaks me out. Pull into a parking lot, why don't ya? I pulled in to the library parking lot. When the wind and rain were hard enough to rattle the car, I bolted for the building, despite the downpour. The new shoes (bought yesterday at lunchtime because I broke a heel) are water-splotched now, because I didn't have a chance to weather-proof them before wearing them. All the buds were shaken off of the neighborhood trees in the high, high winds.
Bought a haul of used books from the library. I'll post a list this evening, but it included an old Jayne Ann Krentz MIRA book, a tpb about the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, and a copy of Steinbeck's Tortilla Flats.
Had a jubilant email from the Biochemist about political stuff in her district. She's a Blue State person living in a very Red State. Followed by an irate email from the same because a grad student broke a piece of equipment by not following the directions that she wrote out, printed extra large and taped to the equipment. Ah, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: joy followed by the kind of frustration that makes her pound her head on her desk.
Read Dates from Hell. Meh. C+ for me. Didn't finish the Harrison short story, Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil, because I couldn't remember enough of her world-building to make sense of the story and I felt like I was missing stuff. Have to go back and reread her full books, then revisit the short story, which may adjust the grade of the book upward. The Lynsay Sands offering, The Claire Switch Project, seemed elementary or juvenile to me (C-). Lusted after each other since the age of 12 but never acted on it? Friends from childhood through adulthood but never made a move? It was a little irritating, but I could deal with it. But in the epilogue (short stories should never have epilogues) the hero "babysat" their child so the heroine could go shopping. WTF? "Babysitters" are people you pay to watch your children while you are away from them; they are people who are not obliged by a parental relationship to provide care for the children in their company, but who choose to do so for money or for other rewards. By definition, parents cannot be babysitters for their own children. It pisses me off when fathers (mothers too, but it is usually fathers who are babysitting, since they aren't the primary caregiver in many cases) call being responsible and caring for their own kids "babysitting", as if they are responsible for them only for that discreet period of time, rather than having an obligation to take care of them at all times like a parent should. ::stepping off soapbox that appeared out of the blue:: Kelley Armstong's Chaotic was the best offering of the bunch, but you have to have read (I think) at least one of her OtherWorld books in order to understand it. I was impressed by Karl Marsden as a hero and surprised, because he wasn't hero material when introduced in her book Bitten (A-). Lori Handeland's offering, Demon Hunting was interesting and different. I liked it a lot, although the confrontation with the Bad Guy was a little rushed and the Big Mis at the end was a little disappointing. Need a little bit of editing and a few more pages, but not bad (B-).
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Date: 2006-04-04 04:19 pm (UTC)~Jay
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Date: 2006-04-04 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-04 10:53 pm (UTC)~Jay
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Date: 2006-04-04 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-04 05:03 pm (UTC)Oops!
Date: 2006-04-04 05:05 pm (UTC)