(no subject)

[rusty_halo]

Hey look, I'm back. Thank god. *gives NYC a big hug and promises never to leave again*

I may write about my vacation later, or maybe not; I'm trying to be less whiny, and I have very little to say that is positive. One good thing: there is an amazing new vegan restaurant in Fort Lauderdale called Sublime, which just opened, and which I encourage anyone in that area to try. Even my dad, who has never once liked vegan food in his life, enjoyed it. We went there the evening of my birthday, and had a very nice dinner.

Unfortunately that's just about the only positive.

I've not yet caught up with my friends list, and I'm loath to start posting without doing so (I have this compulsive need to be thorough, and it feels wrong to post without first catching up with my friends list). Is there a way to display posts in chronological order? That would make it a lot easier ...

However, I'm not going to catch up with LJ until I finish the book I'm currently reading, which is the third in George R. R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series. I finished the first two on vacation, and got this one yesterday. I'm greatly enjoying the series, and like I said, I'm obsessively thorough; I'm not going to be able to do much of anything until I finish this book. (I'm the type of person who reads all night and into the next day, because once I'm into a book I cannot stop until it's finished).

I also re-read Stephen King's "The Gunslinger," which is the first book in his "Dark Tower" series; he re-wrote bits of it, and it has improved quite a bit (I always thought that "The Gunslinger" was the weakest in the series, but I found it immensely engaging this time around). If you have a chance, I strongly recommend the series. I'm not a big King fan at all, but I love this particular series; it's very different from most of his other work. I'll probably be re-reading it as well, as soon as I get a chance.

And I will of course be catching up with my website; I had only about 30 minutes of internet access for the entire vacation (and was getting yelled at by all the people in line behind me), so I managed only minimal updates over the week. (And they were cheats, actually; I'd archived those stories before I left, but hidden them; I just put them on the home page and sent updates while I was gone. So it looked like I'd done some archiving, even though I actually hadn't).

Anyway, must go work now, and I'll catch up with LJ and fanfic and websites and all that as soon as I finish this book. (Everyone tells me I'm going to love Jaime Lannister, but right now I'm finding Tyrion the most engaging; he's an outcast and a freak, and just about everyone hates him, yet he's smarter and better-hearted than anyone in his family. Jaime is very Spikish though ... I've been having all these thoughts about different ethical systems, one based on rigid principles and the other based on love and personal connections, and how they connect, and how they are gendered, and how they relate to the Buffyverse ... so if I get more free time I'll type that up into an unpolished mini-essay as well.)

Comments

[onetwomany.livejournal.com]

Welcome back.

Sorry to hear the holiday wasn't all that great, though :( Please bitch about it to your heart's content on LJ - that kind of thing is always cool to read!

[hazel75.livejournal.com]

Hmm, let me know your thoughts on the G.R.R. Martin book. I read the first two, liked them alot and then waited so long to read the third one that I can't remember what happened in the first two. And I do remember them being pretty damned dark and depressing, so I haven't really been in the mood to reread them and, thus, enable myself to read the third.

And, re: the Gunslinger -- when did he rewrite parts of it. I read it several years ago and loved it. It's my favorite out of the series -- had such a Clint Eastwood feel to it and some really great imagery. I need to know if I need to buy a new copy -- maybe I'll like it even more!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't have a good time -- I was hoping it would be, if not restful, then at least a bit easier on your psyche than how things have been going, and help you get that vacation you need from the archive. There must be a cloud of darkness hanging around a lot of us lately, or something!

I haven't read the book you're talking about, but I always liked Martin from the other things I've read. Enjoy!

"The man in black fled across the desert..."

[behindblue-eyes.livejournal.com]

Oooh, another DT enthusiast. I think those books are my favorites, and I've read a lot of books (read: librarian). And I agree, The Gunslinger always had a different feel about it than the other books. And I'm so happy he's going to finish writing the series before he retires.

[witling.livejournal.com]

You're back! Yay!

::welcomes you with the beverage of your choice::

::and obligatory baked good::

King's underrated. His early work, when he was young and hungry, could be very very good (The Shining) as well as very very bad (Salem's Lot). He had a gift for tapping into a weird undercurrent of pan-American gothic; he's regional but not limited by that; and he wrote with respect and tenderness about children and other disfranchised people. Well, sometimes he got a little sentimental on the childhood thing. But overall? He's a solid writer, one whom I respect a great deal. He has a Voice. That's rare.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

However, I'm not going to catch up with LJ until I finish the book I'm currently reading, which is the third in George R. R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series.

WHEEEE! I LOVE those books. Jaime Lannister is my fictional boyfriend :) (Well, one of them ...) I dunno how far along you are (do the words "bear-pit" mean anything to you yet?) but I think he has many of the characteristics I loved about Spike - and I was really REALLY hoping that Spike's character would evolve as Jaime's did but sadly, no dice :( It's funny, though, because Jaime has exactly the same kind of polarizing effect on Martin fans that Spike does on "Buffy" fans - I've read comments about Jaime where you could just change the names and they'd be exactly what everyone on TWOP used to whine about Spike for ;)

OK, I will shut up now and not be all pestering about this any more!

[mahaliem.livejournal.com]

I love those George R. R. Martin books. I tried to get my daughter to start reading them but she refused. Maybe I shouldn't have described them to her as fascinating - like a train wreck.

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

It's interesting about DT - I am a King fan, but have avoided those books for the same reason as you have read them, I guess - they do seem to have a different feel than most of his other work. I am going to have to check them out one of these days.

[http://users.livejournal.com/beingboring_/]

Welcome back! You've been missed! And happy reading!

Welcome Back

[soulmate815.livejournal.com]

So glad you're back -- back where you belong! Sorry to hear the vacation was not so great, but don't worry -- you're back!

You sound like your reading plate is rather full. That's always good for the summer. I'm trying to read 3 books at once: Jim Butcher's FOOL MOON, Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE and Richard Russo's EMPIRE FALLS. I just can't even think about the 3 James Patterson books I have in the wings -- oh and I forgot the new Harry Potter book. And don't forget my beloved fanfic. And now you are talking about how much you're enjoying the books that you are reading... *heavy sigh* I'd better get back to reading!

Glad you're back. When is the next Spike-a-thon?

Mar (soulmate)