Another low-key Friday

Had a bit of a strange week, what with the change of cycles, the new laptop, the roommate coming into work with me, and a 90-minute-delay that started a half-day.

I'm hoping to start Othello next week with my seniors, and I'm curious as to how all my rednecks are going to handle the racial issues of the play. On the one hand, a lot of the characters in the play feel the way they do about people who aren't white; on the other hand, they really need to freakin' get over it 'cause...well, yeah.

Also, next weekend I'm going to be at a teachers' writing conference. I had to pay for it, obviously, but I think I'll be reimbursed by my job. The theory is that if you get enough writers in one place who never have the time to write, they might actually get something done. Ergo, Wicket (because that's what the roommate dubbed the laptop) and I will be traveling to a retreat for 2.5 days to hopefully get something written. I'm rather looking forward to it.

Cooked dinner for my parents tonight, in preparation for two weeks from now when I'm staying at the house to take care of my mother while she recuperates. Why does chicken breast always take longer to cook than it ought to? Rather annoying, that.

At the insistence of one of my brother's friends, I'm watching Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman. Prison movie...not sure how I feel 'bout it just yet.

I took a bath earlier, my third in two weeks. I'm not sure why I'm suddenly feeling the need to submerge myself in freakin' hot water, but it's been nice. The cats get confused as all get-out, which is really worth the price of admission. Especially Hob, as he tries to determine what I'm soaking in, and also how to get around the candle on the edge of the tub.

I think I had something I wanted to wax poetic on for you all, and now I cannot remember what it was. Ah well.

Hope all have a good weekend.

It's Ba-ack!

Yeah, so I've been up since 4:15 this morning, tossing, turning and staring at the clock. At 4:50 I gave up and came out to the kitchen to have a cup of coffee and play around with my laptop. It's running a little slower than I'd like, but I have a feeling that's because there's just too much shit running at start up that doesn't need to be. Of course, I can't delineate between "necessary to functioning" and "superfluous shit installed by Toshiba," so I'm going to need to find me a computer expert.

For now, I'm just glad to be back online. I still haven't heard from the computer repair store about my desktop, but hopefully they'll call me in the next day or so with an estimate. I still, for the life of me, cannot figure out what happened to the bugger. I'm very good about virus and spy-ware checking, so I doubt it's anything like that. 'Course, the thing hadn't been vacuumed in Lord knows how long, but that doesn't explain the far too frequent Blue Screen of Death.

Oh yes. Because I'm using the laptop, I need everyone who has a blogger account to email me the address that goes along with it, as I cannot remember them. LJ people need not worry, as LJ is smart enough to know who my friends are. :)

Not much else to report in my life. I'm currently reading Son of a Witch, the sequel to Wicked, and am not quite sure how I feel about it. 'Course, if I had read the first book, that might help, but I did see the musical and I feel that ought to count for something.

My seniors come back today, so hopefully I'll have some writing for you all by the end of next week. I've been slacking on it again lately. Bad Lady, no donut.

Time travel, dhamphir and elves

So, I watched Kate and Leopold yesterday. It was a rather cute movie, especially since I got to stare at Hugh Jackman in period attire for an hour and a half. Brought up a kind of gross complication towards the end, but it's really best not to think about it long term, 'else your head will explode. A nice way to spend some time in an afternoon.

Also, I just finished reading Traitor to the Blood, the fourth book in the Noble Dead series by Barb and J.C. Hendee. I'm more invested in the story than the actual books, if that makes sense. The writing isn't oh-my-gosh-wow, and you sometimes wonder if things are repeated because one of the authors left off and another picked up the pieces. Still, half-vampire, half-elves and fay dogs are pretty cool to read about. So we continue to read to discover cool bits about their characters, even if the writing is somewhat lacking.

On a less cheery note, my desktop computer is currently acting profoundly stupid, including but not limited to the Blue Screen of Death and also my current lack of sound. Therefore, I might be incommunicado for a while as I get this thing repaired and wait for my laptop to arrive (hopefully Tuesday).

Hope all had a nice weekend.

Snow day musings

To begin: it's Sarah's birthday! Yay, Sarah! *does a little birthday dance*

Well, roommate's co-worker was right: we had a snow day today. This is nice, as it extends my "vacation," but bad because now the kids have to come back on a Monday in June for their last day of school. Stupid, if you ask me. Still, I got to sleep until 9am, which is practically unheard of for me. I had managed to twist the blankets up in some very strange ways, and I imagine it will take me a little while to untangle them, but I shall live.

I finished Ring of Swords by Eleanor Arnason last night. This book was...different. I'm not going to say bad, because that would be a wholly untrue statement. Something was missing from the book: I felt like many of the human characters in that they knew they didn't know something, but they couldn't figure out what it was. This was an actual sci-fi book, by the way, not something I usually read. Humans have encountered their first sentient life and...well, no one's sure if they want to go to war or not. Set in the not-too-distant-future, Arnason details what's likely to happen on Earth if we don't get our shit together. There are two main characters: a woman scientist who specializes in non-human intelligence, and a male translator who's been living with the enemy for twenty years. If you find it in your local library, or on half.com, it might be worth picking up.

Finally, I watched Alex and Emma last night. For those of you who don't know, Alex (Luke Wilson) has thirty days to write a novel so he can pay off his gambling debts. And no computer. So he hires Emma (Kate Hudson), a stenographer, to type it out while he dictates. What I liked best about Alex's character was that he writes like I do: starts out, and then lets the characters take over; he's never sure what's going to happen next because the characters haven't told him. Emma, of course, who likes to read, doesn't understand this about writing and is frequently challenging his decisions on everything. The book he's writing, which the summary of the movie calls Gatbsy-esque, is actually pretty horrible and something I'd probably never read, but the movie itself was entertaining and not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.

That's all. Off to find breakfast and something else to read.

5 days worth of stuff

The zipper on my winter coat busted this weekend, just before the cold snap hit. As you can imagine, I was not particularly pleased with this turn of events. Roommate at least got the thing unstuck, but I've been wearing my coat tied instead of zippered until this weekend, when my mom and I go shopping and she buys me a new coat. ;)

I have been having these UNBELIEVABLE dairy cravings lately. Milk, yogurt, cheese...that is what I want more than anything in the world. Very, very strange. It started when I went grocery shopping last week: I bought yogurt and regular milk instead of skim milk. When I go out to dinner, lately, I make sure I get something with cheese. I'm taking my vitamins, so I don't think I'm lacking for anything. Just weird.

Haves tarted to (re)read the Aeneid, in an attempt to write a better story (see livejournal). Haven't gotten too terribly far, but I had forgotten how...mopey Aeneas was. Also, Juno = bitch. My gym book, at the moment, is Zorro, a birthday present from Ms. Sarah. It's a little weird, but cool, as one might expect from Allende.

Cleo made a return trip to the old homestead this weekend for the Super Bowl. She didn't leave the guest bedroom, but Jack's food and litter box were there, so she didn't really have to. The two seemed to get along rather well, after the initial growling and hissing phase was completed. Brother's g.f. and I even caught them staring at each other on the bed at one point. Not hostile staring, more like sizing up.

I have a four-day-weekend this weekend, in lieu of a real February vacation. I'm totally ready for it, as I had to DRAG my ass out of bed when the alarm went off this morning. And since I'm posting this, I'll be rushing around like a mad women in about two minutes, but I'm not just about work today. Also, feeling insecure around my colleagues lately. Trying to determine why; re-examining my professionalism, I suppose...hoping I still have a job...blah blah blah.

Okay, must leave now.