Under Construction

Ugh, erk. And other appropriate noises of the undead.

Alex and I are currently existing in an undead state because we worked on the building--I can't count the days before Christmas, but we did indeed work Christmas Eve, took Christmas off, and then worked for the next three days straight. 7:30 am until dark. Our backs, necks, legs, arms, heads, feet, and other body parts ache beyond description. I was so physically exhausted at one point on the 27th that I cried, and I'm not much of a cryer.

Anyway, the "under construction" title applies not only to work on the building, but to the dearth of posts lately on my blog. The reason? My vacation is more like a work camp thus far--though the end results will be worth it!--and when dark comes, Alex and I shuffle like zombies to the shower and to bed. I've actually composed three or four posts while hauling sheet metal or drilling recalcitrant screws, but haven't had the time to post them. I'll post them later, after our New Year's Eve-Eve party tomorrow, for which I am dashing about the house organizing and cleaning and such. (If you're a party-goer yourself, ignore that last sentence and go on believing that I keep a pristine house year-round. Thanks for your kind cooperation.)

So, in the meantime, be heartened: I have not forgotten you. This is only a temporary neglect. Posting to resume in early 2006, and have a Happy New Year!

A Clean Slate... er, House

Whew... We've got the five trusses up for the building and a whole smattering of C-purlin to weld onto that to finish the frame. On Saturday, I wore five layers on my top half and three on my bottom half--not counting my unmentionables. You know how you can tell how old a tree is from the rings in its stump? Well, the layers in my cross-section let you know how many degrees colder than 60 it is. I think I put one layer of pants on for each 10 degrees below 60.

So, Saturday and Sunday were the building, Sunday evening Joel and Kali treated us to dinner--thank you both!!!--and some King of the Hill, Monday I think I did errands, Tuesday Kali graciously helped me to clean my kitchen and guest bathroom, and today I cleaned the master bathroom, down to the back of the cabinets. One huge sack of trash later, the bathroom's less cluttered and I vow never again to keep one ounce of shampoo in a bottle for two years. Ugh.

The rest of this week will be cleaning the rest of the house and filing papers--ugh, what fun "vacation" is--and then more work on the building. We were to spend all day Tuesday on it, but then the cold, cold rain started, and we weren't too keen to electrocute ourselves welding.

Last night, we wasted 104 minutes of our lives watching the 2000 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Wow. I'd heard it was good, somewhere, and now I really wonder where I hear these things. It's starting to worry me. I think those voices in my head are growing louder.

Ahem. Ah, right, just forget I mentioned being crazy. Um, please.

Rent or Purchase?

This sounded odd at first--renting a Christmas tree?--but I like it. San Francisco rents living trees to families for Christmas, and then instead of throwing the tree away come January 1st, the city takes it back and plants it somewhere. It appeals to the dryad in me.

Also, Digger is again available in print--go forth and purchase!

In Brief...

Ah... fiction. It's like a relaxing warm bath for my brain.

Accomplishment: having all presents for spouse, family, and friends wrapped and under tree over a week before Christmas.

The Smell of Leather

You know you're a librarian when: you refer to an item on hold at a retail store as "on reserve." (Boy, did I get an odd look from the saleswoman.)

In happy news, though, I used my portion of scrap metal money to purchase (from Wilson's Leather) a 3/4 length black coat, a pair of black gloves with purple fur cuffs, and a small purple purse for a total of $178 instead of the $550 it would have been originally! I did this while proudly wearing my Santa hat, which earned me a few more odd looks, but which I thoroughly enjoy wearing. It advertises my seasonal goofiness.
When leaving the mall, I had this strangely wicked urge as I passed the Santa photo-op to shout out "Santa's not real!" to all the kids in line. You'd think this wouldn't happen to a person wearing a Santa hat herself, and this was really a particularly authentic and jolly-looking Santa. Perhaps I need to dial down my consumption of hot cocoa to curb such caffeine- and sugar-crazed urges.

I did it: I began reading Knife of Dreams. I've waited for, what, three years for this book now, and so far it's not disappointing. But I do think that RJ's penchant for long prologues is getting wildly out of hand--this one numbered 99 pages. 99! Can't he just get over this notion and call it Chapters 1-3? There's nothing to make the narrative in them different from other chapters, unlike his earlier novels where prologues were special because they took place in the past, or from a villain's point of view. Now they typically span 4-5 locations and character's point of view and just flow into the narrative for Chapter 1.

Ah, well. I guess we're all allowed a few bad habits--his is extremely long and non-prologue-ish prologues. Mine... well, they're too numerous to mention, but I'll just mention unwashed dishes and leave it at that.

The Last Unicorn

Now we know more about how narwhals use their tusks (New York Times article). And I learned that there is such a thing as a double-tusked narwhal.

I always liked these creatures, just like the unicorn tales they inspired. A whale with a long spiraling horn seems only slightly less romantic (in the fairy-tale sense, not the love sense) than a horse with one. I'd love to see them in person--if only they didn't insist on living in such darned cold climates. There ought to be a Gulf Coast species of narwhal. The nar-y'all?

All Fun & Games

I just had to go to Slashdot to confirm the story I saw this morning about a Grandma Gamer. Her name's Barbara St. Hilaire, and her grandson is blogging* their joint gaming adventures. Man, I hope I'm that fun when I'm 69!

*caution: contains some language

Profession of the Over-Educated

Go read one of my favorite posts of all time, from the Library Avengers site.
Then take a fun language survey for UNT.

Go. Now. I command you!