Random things Thursday....

First off, confidential to the weather forecasters: Going from a high of 103 one day to a projected high of 97 the next day does NOT constitute a "nice cool down." Don't even JOKE about that. I know and you know that any day over 85 should just be labeled "too dang hot" and left at that.

****

TChem, I kind of hate to say this but I read somewhere that Clarke WAS working on a sequel - of sorts. It's not going to be like, "Norrellites vs. Strangeites: The Next Generation" or anything but she said it was going to be a novel "set in their world" and that some of the characters from the first book would "intersect" with the story arc. Meh. I think the novel stands well on its own, without added blandishments. I'd like to see her tackle some other topic/genre.

****

Christa - I had to look up the gnome fabric. V. cute. Unfortunately, it seems to be sold out everywhere other than eBay auctions, and I don't really do eBay auctions. (Trust issues, and also the idea of something going for a crazy nutso price bugs me.) I may keep an eye out in case any of the shops 'round here get it, or in case Reprodepot or somewhere gets it back in stock.

****

They've changed (partly) the parking system here on campus and I had to go get a new tag. This required going to two offices. One of them being the one that also deals with student financial matters. It was three business days before the start of classes and they had ONE person working - ONE window open. I waited on line for, no joke, 20 minutes (this was with three people ahead of me - one of whom had a simple problem that was dispatched in a minute or two). It was also not air-conditioned in the building and I wound up contemplating what would happen to my place in line if I passed out cold on the floor. Or if I died from the heat.

At least I have my parking tag now. And I don't want to hear griping from anyone else in my department who had to wait on line for very long to get theirs.

****

Muhahahaha.

Two different people (that I know of; there might even be more, either directly or indirectly) have done the "1001 books" thing I did yesterday.

(TChem- your permalink to that post is borked so I had to just link to the blog itself.)

I particularly like TChem's commentary. Handmaid's Tale: like being beaten over the head with a dystopian future.

And you know? I think I feel about Evelyn Waugh (what stuff of his I've read) kind of like she feels about the Great Gatsby and The Awakening*

Except instead of "lame," I'd substitute "self-absorbed," at least for Waugh's characters. (I finally saw "Bright Young Things" - which is based on "Vile Bodies" - a couple weeks ago and was amazed at how AGGRAVATED I got at the characters. Just shut up, people, and go out and get a job or something! You're depressed and screwed up because you never DO anything, you just gad about drinking heavily and snorting cocaine and dancing until 3 am. Of COURSE you're bored and you feel that your lives are meaningless!)

(*And it's funny, but almost every woman I've ever spoken to who read The Awakening - which is often touted as an early "feminist" novel - hated it. It just seemed kind of whiny to me: Oh, blah, blah, blah, your life is BORING and you have this BORING husband and these BORING kids and all this BORING money and all these BORING servants who do all the housework for you and now you've fallen in love with some dashing stranger and you can't have him, oh boo hoo hoo....I liked Middlemarch much better, where the characters were more prone to be like, "Well, I made a crap choice, but it was my choice, so let's see how it plays out and make the best of things.")