Finished my reread of Wyrd Sisters last night.

Every time I think I've found a Discworld book that contains nothing relevant wrt current events...yeah, no.

Lately I've been concentrating on gardening, cooking, and plotting with occasional actual writing while easing a bit on the social media. To date, I think it's the better way to go.

Still rereading Pterry. I finished Mort, and started Maskerade. It's funny how details come back to me even though I haven't read these books in years.

Also good to burst out laughing while reading.

Anyway, worked outside this morning. Then I set up a pot of chili beans and went for a walk. A cooler than usual late spring day here in NE Illinois, but pretty all the same. (Photo is of a sailboat on Lake Michigan. The water is calm and both sky and water are very, very, blue. There are some large rocks in the foreground)

Since last I posted, I finished both Feet of Clay and The Fifth Elephant.

Feet of Clay contains one of my favorite exchanges between Sam Vimes and the Patrician.

“Commander, I always used to consider that you had a definite anti-authoritarian streak in you.”
“Sir?”
“It seems that you have managed to retain this even though you are authority.”
“Sir?”
“That’s practically zen.”

In my mind, I hear Alan Rickman's rolling r when he says "practically."

I liked The Fifth Elephant mostly because we get to see Lady Margolotta, the Patrician's chess-by-mail partner. It's been a while since I read it, and I forgot she's a twin set-and-pearls teetotaler.

Next is The Truth. Just started it.

I finished Soul Music last night.* It's a sweet story. I'm a fan of Death, and I do like Susan. I have an icon of her, but it's not in my free account batch and I don't know if I can exchange it.

Next up, Feet of Clay.

Liking this paper book stuff.


*make that early this morning

...just finished watching the last two episodes of The Prisoner.

Granted, it had been decades since I last watched it, but I am shocked at how much I didn't remember.

As much as I like McGoohan, I was pretty underwhelmed overall. Maybe I need to think about it some more.

Rewatching "The Prisoner" for the first time in ages. I was about 10 when I first watched it. I know my dad liked it. Not sure if my mom did—it really wasn't her kind of show. I didn't understand much of what was happening, but I liked Patrick McGoohan. The guardian bouncing beach ball, Rover, scared me a little, though.

So far, I've seen the first two episodes. Memories of plot etc are vague, almost like I'm watching them for the first time. I do remember Leo McKern as one of the Number 2s. He was in episode 2, and I'm pretty sure he appears again.

ETA: I guess I'm waiting to see what I feel the series is about. According to the Wikipedia article about the show: "A major theme of the series is the conflict between individualism, as represented by Number Six, and collectivism, as represented by the Village. According to McGoohan, the series aimed to demonstrate a balance between the two ideologies."

I'm sensing more authoritarianism vs democracy, but there could be underlying reasons for that. Anyway, I'm planning on one episode per evening, so #3 tonight.

A few days ago, I lost a right-hand glove. It wasn't expensive, but it was just the right amount of flexible vs padded and was easy to slip on and off.

Thing is, I was sure I had been wearing it when I drove home. Which meant that I lost it somewhere in the garage/house/car devil's triangle. But I looked everywhere—I checked under the front seats, the floor. The shopping bags. My handbag. All my coat pockets. The pockets of coats I had not worn.
I then drove to the last store I had visited and checked around the spot I parked, then went inside and asked if anyone had turned in a glove. Nope.

Drove home. Gave glove up for lost, but set aside its partner just in case because devil's triangle.
Yesterday, different gloves. I needed to check my phone, so I did what I always do—I slipped off the right one and tucked it under my left arm. Did phone stuff. Moved around in my seat—as I did, the glove slipped out of place and fell between the seat and the door. Dug it out, then squinted into the dark space, and oh look.

Let us recall that I had entered and exited the car several times over the course of the last several days and did not see that glove.

Devil's triangle. I'm telling you.

That's how fast January is flitting by.

I have a new short story out in the latest issue of Boundary Shock Quarterly. Every issue has a different theme—for this issue, it's "First Contact," with alien life of whatever sort. The story is entitled "It's Not the Face," and it involves a couple of characters I've been writing about in serial short story format for the last few years. Their names are Del and Gia and they were once R&D test pilots in the 12th Expeditionary Corps, evaluating experimental long-haul spacecraft. Then their lives took a turn and they've been in trouble ever since.

This is the 5th story I've written in this world (6th if you include a sidebar story that appeared in the ZNB Anthology Solar Flare). I have a few more in mind, and then a novel to wrap it all up.

I've been having fun with this world and these characters while at the same time learning that I can write short. It used to be a struggle to keep the story from spinning off into a novel or, if I was lucky, a novella, but over the last few years the shorter form seems to be working.

It's good to learn new things.

My fiction reading has declined over the last few years. Markedly.

I do read. Online articles. Blog posts. Ebooks. But a paper book that I have to hold with two hands has been a rarity of late.

So a little over a week ago, I decided I wanted a seasonal read and dug out Hogfather. Bedtime reading, for 15 minutes, a half hour. Finished it, then grabbed Carpe Jugulum. Finished that—time for a Guards book. So, Guards! Guards! it is.

Feels weird to read something that requires the use of a separate lamp to see in the dark.

Anyway, I've reached the point where I look forward to that quiet time. Unplugged.

Not a situation I would've ever expected.

Damn.

Just missed getting a photo of the Cooper's hawk that perched on the rail of my deck.

Lovely bird. Just wish it didn't lurk near bird feeders.

Yeah, I know—that's where the food is.