Currently reading: Ursula Le Guin's the Lathe of Heaven, which is eerily brilliant.

Reads so far this year:
6.Larry Kirwain, Mad Angels: Plays about Eire's politics & history, decent/good
5.Frank Herbert, the Book of Frank Herbert: anthology of shorts, overall- good
4.Catherynne M. Valente, Palimpsest: Fantastic!
3.Rachel Green, An Ungodly Child: Great and funny!
2.Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy: overall- good
1.Margaret Atwood, Bodily Harm: don't bother

More in depth thoughts & reviews are at my Stage and Canvas.

Words slowly making their way onto paper, here and on my public blog over at Wordpress.
Also in the queue, aside from Harvest, are animal guides, art stuff, book reviews...

More car stuff today, but narrowing down. Fit aside...

Found 2 good Honda Civics and 2 good Nissan Versa hatchbacks. I'm biased towards Honda, but the Nissan drove well. It was also comfortable, roomy, and meets my requirements, including a rear wiper- which these Civics lack. Not having one in my old Focus drove me nuts, especially with these winters.
So now I guess it's Nissan or Honda. From what I've read, they're pretty comparable. Nissan tends to generally be more budget. Sticker price is more for the Fit, but APR would be less... Ugh, never did care much for math. Anyone wants my car notes let me know. I'm done for the night.

Scene from last night at the bar:
Young Caucasian coworker talking to 70 year old Caucasian guest. Asian bartender pouring wine.

Guest: What language does that person speak?
Coworker: French.
Guest: I meant first language.
Turn to guest Bartender: English. Takes glass and walks away.

---------------------------------------

I gave coworker props for her response. She was surprised that the guest asked that and that I get comments like that ALL the time. Friggen frack, people! That's just downright rude and ignorant.

One religious work from a non-familiar tradition you’ll read:
Having already read Ursula LeGuin’s translation of Laozi’s Tao Te Ching, I’d like to read another just because. The poetic work flows through Taoism, Shintoism, and Buddhism.

One music video-that you like-from your “least likely to listen to’ genre:
I can’t think of one because I don’t know of any music videos and I barely watch any of the 8 channels I have. But I’m least likely to listen to rap and hip-hop. They just never jived with me.

A book from a genre you almost never read, that you have read, or you will read (promise!):
John Grisham’s The Chamber was surprisingly very good. The legal fiction genre isn’t something I would normally pick from a shelf, but I found myself reading this because of the plot and subject matter (in short, Jews and the KKK). I would read another Grisham, though I have other books waiting that have priority.

Somewhere you’d never thought to go on holiday/vacation, and why it might be fun to go there?
James Bay, Canada. I’d never heard of it until a friend told me about it. I love the rugged outdoors, especially when open water is involved, and it’d be cool to visit him while he’s there. I think he mentioned sub-arctic climate…

A specific food you’ve never tried, but will because of this meme, honest!:
Specifically, that’s hard. I love food and will try anything, provided it’s within the range of my vegetarianism.

A sport or game you really hate, or haven’t tried yet, but are willing to give one more go:
Tennis or racket ball. I’ve picked up a racket a few times in my life, but wouldn’t mind hitting the ball back and forth again.

A style of dance you probably won’t try (we won’t make you promise on this one):
I’m usually up for trying just about anything at least once. Thanks to friends, I’ve done the merengue, line dancing, polka, and even the tango. My two left feet, on occasion and with the right partner, can bumble their way through a dance.

A career job you don’t feel you’re suited for, and why:
I found out that office jobs bore me to tears and I can’t deal with the monotony.

If there’s one thing in life you wanted to do, and will do because of this meme, what will it be?
Sky dive. According to friends, a few of whom do it regularly, there’s nothing like it.

An item that’s “thinking out of the box” for this meme that hadn’t been included:
If you could learn an instrument what would it be? The fiddle so I can play the jigs and reels that I love so much.

Read so far this year: 11 books from Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. I sludged through the Vows and Honor trilogy, mainly due to really poor writing. Also broke up the series with Rod Serling's New Stories from the Twilight Zone and Catfantastic, a sci-fi anthology edited by Andre Norton.

Starting Lackey's Exile's Valor tonight. Also reading Ted Andrews' Animal Speak, Pat Califia's Sex Changes, and Tao Te Ching.

Considering taking a break from Lackey and reading Irene Radford's Merlin's Descendants. I've been wanting to read them for awhile now, just need to get them.

Finished Brightly Burning today. Perused the used bookstore on my street to see if they happened to have any of the Vows & Honor trilogy. No go, so ordered the first 2 online. Think I'll go back tomorrow and snatch up Stranger in a Strange Land, which I've heard is REALLY good. I like Heinlein's other stuff I've read so it's on my List. Also spotted a Peter Beagle book. Wouldn't mind reading more of him as well. And Orson Scott Card and...

Practicing almost made me late for work Wed. Time warp of 2 hours.

Have improved on Churn Down Columbia, only missing a few of the doubles when they occur. Relearning Gypsy's Fire with its quicker and more difficult beats. I know it well enough to do the basics, but want to do it "properly". It's a matter of getting the hand to follow what I know mentally needs to happen. That'll take some time, as will Johnny McEldoo.

Gotten better with the short tipper, preferring the sound and feel to the long one. Still need to get one of length between those...and a case. Or convert (foam pad) the backpack that I've been using into one.

Mentioned to a friend I'd like to jam with her sometime. Will see what comes of that. Hard enough seeing each other.

1. Do you read for recreation?

Bookworm here.

2. What sorts of things do you read? Fiction? Nonfiction? What category or genre? Long pieces? Short? Books? Magazines? Web pages?

All of the above, but mags on occasion.

3. Does your mood (day-to-day), circumstance (week-to-week or month-to-month) or lifestyle (year-to-year) influence the reading choices you make?

Sure. Lately, I've been reading fantasy & SF and on shamanism. I usually have 5 different books going depending on what I'm in the mood for, light and easy or heavier.

4. What function does reading hold for you? Escape? Learning? Companionship? Imaginative voyage? Other?

All of the above.

5. What, if anything, that you've read in the last year or so stands out as particularly excellent reading?

Uh...absolutely loved these for various reasons.

John Perkins- Shapeshifting
Oscar Wilde- The picture of Dorian Gray
Charles de Lint- Memory & Dream
Meat Loaf- To Hell and Back
Peter Beagle- the Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle (anthology)
Ursula LeGuin translation- Tao Te Ching
Margaret Atwood- the Handmaid's Tale

Earlier, just suddenly felt blah so practiced my bodhran and was almost late for work. Woops. Had to stop 'cause of shoulder. Don't know what's with it lately.

Focused on left hand technique. Don't want to be a one-handed drummer. By the end I was able to use both hands without completely losing rhythm. To get the desired sound and hold the bodhran a certain way, my (relatively small) hand has to be in a really weird/awkward position. Still more comfortable than doing a C-chord on my ex-guitar.

Still getting to know my bodhran's quirks. It's not fond of this weather. I had to dampen the head 3 or 4 times fairly frequently so it wouldn't sound tinny.