Non-fandom-related entry
Jul. 25th, 2004 10:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieNot that I can really say much that's not related to fandom, seeing as I have no life. But anyway.
Um...as some of you may know, my aunt is here, and on Friday, we went to the bighugegiant mall in town. Spent a good portion of the day there, which was cool, except that I did something odd to the big toe and ball of my right foot, the pain of which caused me to walk funny on it for the rest of the day, thus straining my calf. And now I'm gimping around the house. Fun times.
I went to Barnes & Noble, of course. Ended up with A Storm of Swords, part three of George R. R. Martin's trilogy. Considering I'm only about two hundred pages into A Clash of Kings at the moment, I may save this one for airplane reading in September--at least I know it'll keep me interested the entire way over there.
I also got a bargain version of Christopher Morley's The Haunted Bookshop (a sequel to Parnassus on Wheels, though I didn't know that when I bought this one). I actually managed to get that one down in a day, so perhaps my attention span is coming back? Anyway, I was amused by all the literary references (anyone who mentions O. Henry makes me happy--I read "The Ransom of Red Chief" at an impressionable age) and general second-hand bookstore ambiance. The mystery plot itself about German bombs hidden in books wasn't hugely thrilling, but what was most interesting was the time period. The book was published in 1919, and set between the armistice of November 11 and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919). Several history books I've come across insist that World War I was the nail that punctured the bubble of innocence (aka the Victorian and Edwardian periods) that Western civilization and especially the United States had lived in, but it's always seemed to me that the period immediately after WWI was even more innocent for Americans--all this joy that "The Great War" was over, and none of the knowledge that WWII was just around the corner, and that for most of the rest of the century, the Cold War--and its offshoots, Korea and Vietnam--would ensure that tensions never really settled back down. I always read a reference to "The Great War" sort of wistfully, since the characters (and often the author) have no idea that that term would soon be usurped.
But anyway. We also saw Shrek 2. It was good, and very amusing, but not quite as good as the first one. This one tried to have more of a sappy message that didnt' really gel with the puns and general satire flying around. I did appreciate the nod to LOTR with the wedding ring, though. Hee.
And now, it's time to reply to comments and then go somewhere without a computer screen to focus on. Preferably somewhere without anything close to focus on. My eyes are planning a mutiny...
Um...as some of you may know, my aunt is here, and on Friday, we went to the bighugegiant mall in town. Spent a good portion of the day there, which was cool, except that I did something odd to the big toe and ball of my right foot, the pain of which caused me to walk funny on it for the rest of the day, thus straining my calf. And now I'm gimping around the house. Fun times.
I went to Barnes & Noble, of course. Ended up with A Storm of Swords, part three of George R. R. Martin's trilogy. Considering I'm only about two hundred pages into A Clash of Kings at the moment, I may save this one for airplane reading in September--at least I know it'll keep me interested the entire way over there.
I also got a bargain version of Christopher Morley's The Haunted Bookshop (a sequel to Parnassus on Wheels, though I didn't know that when I bought this one). I actually managed to get that one down in a day, so perhaps my attention span is coming back? Anyway, I was amused by all the literary references (anyone who mentions O. Henry makes me happy--I read "The Ransom of Red Chief" at an impressionable age) and general second-hand bookstore ambiance. The mystery plot itself about German bombs hidden in books wasn't hugely thrilling, but what was most interesting was the time period. The book was published in 1919, and set between the armistice of November 11 and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919). Several history books I've come across insist that World War I was the nail that punctured the bubble of innocence (aka the Victorian and Edwardian periods) that Western civilization and especially the United States had lived in, but it's always seemed to me that the period immediately after WWI was even more innocent for Americans--all this joy that "The Great War" was over, and none of the knowledge that WWII was just around the corner, and that for most of the rest of the century, the Cold War--and its offshoots, Korea and Vietnam--would ensure that tensions never really settled back down. I always read a reference to "The Great War" sort of wistfully, since the characters (and often the author) have no idea that that term would soon be usurped.
But anyway. We also saw Shrek 2. It was good, and very amusing, but not quite as good as the first one. This one tried to have more of a sappy message that didnt' really gel with the puns and general satire flying around. I did appreciate the nod to LOTR with the wedding ring, though. Hee.
And now, it's time to reply to comments and then go somewhere without a computer screen to focus on. Preferably somewhere without anything close to focus on. My eyes are planning a mutiny...
