Archive for February, 2007

Weekend wallow

Published on 25 February 2007 in weekend. 7 Comments

It was far too hot to do much of anything over the weekend. I spent much of the time lying around looking at pictures of dogs and reading (and sweating). I finished Ngaio Marsh’s Surfeit of Lampreys and the first of Anthony Burgess’s Malayan Trilogy, Time for a Tiger. (Might review this when I finish it. So far very evocative and enjoyable. Why on earth is it banned in Malaysia??)

I could have spent more time online, given that we bought a new monitor for me on Saturday. I am now the happy user of a 22″ widescreen Asus monitor. I am still amused by the number of tabs I can open in my browser without any of them disappearing off the screen (ya, the novelty will wear off).

I could also have spent some time playing with some new pens, but I went and left my pen case at work. I have some new pens from His Nibs (ordered before the Horror Week).

We also watched some episodes of Black Books, and the movie Hot Fuzz (silly but amusing).

Weekends without plans or scheduled activities are good.

Book Sale

Published on 24 February 2007 in book sale and books. 4 Comments

Thanks to Simone for the great tip - the MercyCare Annual Booksale is on this weekend.

M and I went along last night and were impressed by the range of books available.

Fiction
Monica Ali, Brick Lane
Greg Bear, Eternity
Best Science Fiction Stories
Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky
Alan Dean Foster, Life Form
David Gemmell, Waylander
Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb, Cormyr
Robert A Heinlein, Farnham’s Freehold
Susan Johnson, Women Love Sex

Simone Lazaroo, The World Waiting to be Made
I’m sure I’ve read this, but it looks worth re-reading.

Ngaio Marsh, Clutch of Constables
Ngaio Marsh, Surfeit of Lampreys
Guy de Maupassant, Selected Short Stories
Valerie Miner, Blood Sisters
V.S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River
Sara Paretsky, Guardian Angel
Sara Paretsky, Killing Orders

Georges Perec, Life: A User’s Manual
This is one I’ve wanted to read for ages.

E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
I’ve read this, and wouldn’t mind re-reading it. The novel was better than the movie.

Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
I can’t believe I never finished reading this one! I ought to, before she publishes her next novel…

Vikram Seth, An Equal Music
Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries
Robert Silverberg, Those Who Watch
Theodore Sturgeon, More than Human
Sheri S. Tepper, Raising the Stones
A.E.Van Vogt, The World of Null-A
Sean Williams, Metal fatigue

Non-fiction
Collins German Pocket Dictionary
Eva Cox, Leading Women: Tactics for Making the Difference

Elliott Erwitt, DogDogs
This is one of those books of photos put out by Phaidon. Cost: a princely $2.00.

E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art
Robin Hughes, Australian Lives : Stories of Twentieth Century Australians
Paul Marshall, Raparapa: Stories from the Fitzroy River Drovers
Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism
Susan Mitchell, Icons, Saints & Divas : Intimate Conversations with Women who Changed the World

Alan Moorehead, The Fatal Impact
I read this book in high school, and don’t remember it very well.

John Mortimer, In Character
This one includes an interview with Georges Simenon, among others. Did I mention I’m a Maigret fan?

Josefina Muriel, Monjas coronadas
This is an unusual book from Mexico (it’s in Spanish). I believe the title translates to Crowned Nuns. It appears to be a history of convents in Mexico. I bought it for the pictures (it was only $1.50).

Stevie Smith, Me Again: Uncollected Writings
Ivan Southall, Fly West

Struan K. Sutherland, Venomous Creatures of Australia : A Field Guide with Notes on First Aid
Who knows, I might remember enough to know what to do if I ever come face to face with a taipan, or if I ever annoy a male platypus enough for it to sting me - did you know the male platypus has a pair of “stout but sharp” poisonous spurs on its hind legs? There are apparently no recorded deaths by platypus but the stings can cause “extreme pain and swelling at the site of the wound for days”.

Paul Theroux, Riding the Iron Rooster
The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian Quotations

M selected nine of these titles, me the remaining thirty four. All for the grand sum of $58. It was a very muggy evening and all that fossicking left me sweaty and streaked with dust. I had fun!

Apologies

Published on 21 February 2007 in navel-gazing. 3 Comments

I must apologise. For the quality of the blogging here lately. It’s been a bit uninspired and repetitive, I think, and I’m sorry. I did think about whether having a blog break would be a good thing, but I found I wanted, needed, the routine of waking up and having this blog to sit with.

Much of my blogging this past couple of weeks has consisted of me writing the first thing that comes to mind and letting it all pour out in a revolting deluge, looking at it quickly, and feeling somewhat better. Then I either hit the delete button or edit it savagely pre-publication, so that I don’t look at it in six months and hang my head in horror. I’ve also been scribbling on paper whenever the need arises during the day. It’s a good curative, is writing.

It’s been very good to have time to myself everyday, just to sit and fester for a bit. Although I do think it’s time to shake myself out of this funk now and start pushing myself a bit. Starting to ponder what projects I’d like to do this year. So far they all seem to involve languages and books!