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Beds, books and other challenges
Oct. 19th, 2014 07:31 pmLast week my big news was my new bed.
You see, for the past...actually, I'm not sure how long. At least seven years. I've been sleeping on this old sofa bed.
( Photos and the rest of the story behind the cut )
Last week I also...replaced a ceiling light fitting with help from YouTube. The old one was totally fubared and sis was too cheap to hire an electrician. I replaced mine years ago, so figured I could do it. But after removing the old one I found it impossible to find out which colour wire was supposed to be live and which was neutral. I mean, I do know how to do basic wiring but the wires in our ceiling were not the colours they're supposed to be. Google was no help as it insisted on giving colours for the 1950s or post-2006 - this house was redone in the 80s. But not all of it, hence my confusion. I eventually decided it was a fifty-fifty shot and I was almost sure red wasn't live because I remembered thinking that it should have been back when I learned this stuff. I got it right, anyway, and the light is now working. Yay me!
Last week's movie was...The Judge, and it's so nice to see RDJ in a movie where I don't hate him! I've loved RDJ as an actor since his turn on Ally McBeal but boy do I loathe Iron Man! In The Judge his character is still something of a dick - it's RDJ's niche, I think, that particular brand of overconfidence and brash fast-talk - but there's a real depth to the character and it's an excellent film even if it does fail Bechdel.
I am also watching...United States of Tara on DVD. I found it under my old bed and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this show on its first run. There aren't many TV shows that deal well with mental illness but this one did. I don't know how well it reflects the reality of DID; I'm not a psychologist, but it does a fantastic job of portraying how living with someone who just doesn't think and behave in a "normal" way affects everyone else. It's also sweet and funny and sexy - just the kind of comedy I can get into.
This week I am reading...still on The Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver. I'm about a quarter of the way through.
This week I am listening to...A Storm of Swords audiobook by George R R Martin, read by Roy Dotrice. RD is a fantastic actor, but not no hot as an audiobook reader. I finished listening to Broken Soul - I enjoyed it, but the end made me sad as it feels like the series is edging toward a conclusion, and listened to A Shiver of Light - LKH's latest Merry Gentry novel. Which was basically a short story padded out with recap and repetition ad nauseum. A shame, because the last few chapters really did work. It's just such hard work to get there! And LKH did that thing which she always did in the Anita Blake books but has largely avoided so far with Merry - it's like LKH gets to a certain point when it feels like something should really start to happen, and then she stops, and gives you the rest of the plot in a quick summary instead of another 20K words. I know there always comes a point when you write a long story where it gets really hard to finish - I've written enough myself to know the feeling - but I've never known a writer to just blatantly give up the way LKH does. It's like she thinks she's worked hard enough setting things up, so the reader doesn't need to experience the rest of it, a quick summary will do. No, it won't!
You see, for the past...actually, I'm not sure how long. At least seven years. I've been sleeping on this old sofa bed.
( Photos and the rest of the story behind the cut )Last week I also...replaced a ceiling light fitting with help from YouTube. The old one was totally fubared and sis was too cheap to hire an electrician. I replaced mine years ago, so figured I could do it. But after removing the old one I found it impossible to find out which colour wire was supposed to be live and which was neutral. I mean, I do know how to do basic wiring but the wires in our ceiling were not the colours they're supposed to be. Google was no help as it insisted on giving colours for the 1950s or post-2006 - this house was redone in the 80s. But not all of it, hence my confusion. I eventually decided it was a fifty-fifty shot and I was almost sure red wasn't live because I remembered thinking that it should have been back when I learned this stuff. I got it right, anyway, and the light is now working. Yay me!
Last week's movie was...The Judge, and it's so nice to see RDJ in a movie where I don't hate him! I've loved RDJ as an actor since his turn on Ally McBeal but boy do I loathe Iron Man! In The Judge his character is still something of a dick - it's RDJ's niche, I think, that particular brand of overconfidence and brash fast-talk - but there's a real depth to the character and it's an excellent film even if it does fail Bechdel.
I am also watching...United States of Tara on DVD. I found it under my old bed and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this show on its first run. There aren't many TV shows that deal well with mental illness but this one did. I don't know how well it reflects the reality of DID; I'm not a psychologist, but it does a fantastic job of portraying how living with someone who just doesn't think and behave in a "normal" way affects everyone else. It's also sweet and funny and sexy - just the kind of comedy I can get into.
This week I am reading...still on The Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver. I'm about a quarter of the way through.
This week I am listening to...A Storm of Swords audiobook by George R R Martin, read by Roy Dotrice. RD is a fantastic actor, but not no hot as an audiobook reader. I finished listening to Broken Soul - I enjoyed it, but the end made me sad as it feels like the series is edging toward a conclusion, and listened to A Shiver of Light - LKH's latest Merry Gentry novel. Which was basically a short story padded out with recap and repetition ad nauseum. A shame, because the last few chapters really did work. It's just such hard work to get there! And LKH did that thing which she always did in the Anita Blake books but has largely avoided so far with Merry - it's like LKH gets to a certain point when it feels like something should really start to happen, and then she stops, and gives you the rest of the plot in a quick summary instead of another 20K words. I know there always comes a point when you write a long story where it gets really hard to finish - I've written enough myself to know the feeling - but I've never known a writer to just blatantly give up the way LKH does. It's like she thinks she's worked hard enough setting things up, so the reader doesn't need to experience the rest of it, a quick summary will do. No, it won't!
