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Mom

Looking for Stephen King?

Current reading = old reading I never quite made. Mom bought me Stephen King’s Bag of Bones in hardcover back in Christmas ’98. I’m not sure why I never read the thing. I dug it out a few nights ago and when mom saw it she remembered she’d bought it from Asda—where it had been proudly displayed on a stand that proclaimed it King’s Latest (which, at the time, it was).

I’m just over halfway through, and I can say that I’d deprived myself! It’s a really great book. Not very fast-moving, really, but rich in character with lots of intriguing detail. For another opinion, read Kevin Quigley’s review. I’m giving it a big thumb’s-up (of course, if the ending disappoints me, I might go back on this).
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To Blog or Not To Blog?

Well, now the April Foolery is over with, we can reasonably expect that our media friends will be giving us strictly legitimate reportage. Right? Uh, yeah. So Saddam is dead or wounded (obviously; in fact, I’m surprised he didn’t stand in open desert with a target stuck on his chest) and coalition victory is nearing. Let’s all give a jolly good cheer for Our Lads™, and let’s not spend another negative moment pondering the avoidable deaths! Bravo, democracy.

Today, mom and I were actually talking about stuff to do when this interminable move is finally settled. A holiday was even mentioned! Hey, I’m up for that… I’ve had occasional breaks, but not a real holiday since I was a kid. A lot of neat things can come out of resolving this situation, but I still think getting there is gonna be a lot of stress.
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Too Much Analysis

I’ve been thinking about human interaction a bit. Bad idea. Thinking usually ends up troubling me.

Sometimes, it seems to me that a lot of human interaction is bullshit. You pretend to feel better than you really do whenever possible, pretend to be more interesting than you think you really are, and generally ‘sell’ yourself. I’m absolutely useless at doing this. You’d think, understanding the theory, I might not be quite so pathetic at it—then again, part of the problem is understanding it, because then you start to question its futility or dishonesty and open another massive can of worms. Oboy. Too much time on my hands = too much analysis.

Work situation… a brief rant…
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Retail Therapy

Today, being out shopping (for food, not pleasure, alas), I passed a book store and I of course succumbed. Some people buy shoes; some people can’t pass a novelty shop without buying some little cuddly toy; but me, I guess it’s books. It used to be comics more than books, but books are better value for money these days, and comics don’t have many Jack Kirbys out there anymore. (*sigh* I might get nostalgic.)

It was a close one. This store had several copies of Stephen King’s Cycle of the Werewolf, with wonderful illustrations by Bernie Wrightson. I wanted this so much when I heard about it maybe 17 years ago, but amazingly, I have never seen it for sale anywhere. I didn’t even know it was still in print. Anyway, that’s earmarked for purchase v.v. soon. I passed it today.
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Christmas Approaches

I got pretty bummed out yesterday, but it was just over general stuff. Nothing major. Mom was in out-patients briefly, to have a couple of skin cancers removed… not serious, just an unfortunate side-effect of the drugs she takes as a transplant patient. (Kidney transplant, 1990.)

Today, we watched the 1956 Moby Dick movie on Channel 4. I generally don’t watch afternoon films, but I’d actually never seen this one. It was directed by John Huston, screenplay by Ray Bradbury. Anyhow, glad I finally saw it. Gregory Peck—who I’ve always had immense admiration for—was typically brilliant as Ahab. And it reminded me that I’d like to see To Kill a Mockingbird again sometime, as I hardly remember anything about it (I saw it a long time ago). Harper Lee’s original novel is excellent, and would probably be in my top ten list if I thought there was any sense in making in such things.
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The House Must Go

About the house move situation (see August 18th)… the house wasn’t in very good shape, really, and a lot of things have needed to be done. We still need to get a door fitted to the back of the garage—we bought the door, now we need someone to put it on! Dad did all that stuff, and to be honest, my limit is painting walls. The old door was/is falling to bits, literally. Otherwise, I think the place is just about presentable, although I have some tidying to do on my tip of a bedroom.
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What’s Up?

Life update since the death of my father…

Mom has decided to sell this house and move somewhere smaller, so that we have some money in the bank as savings. Dad left no savings at all and had no life insurance. We’ll be staying in this area, though. We might even get a two-bedroom flat, actually. Neither of us are gardeners, so a garden would be a needless burden.
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