To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive

GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH, there is a rodent of indeterminate size scrabbling around very noisily in my wall. This is NOT OKAY, little mousie, or whatever the hell you are. (It sounds like Godzilla.) We had a deal: I don't bother you outside, you don't come inside, fall into a pocket between wall studs, and panic (LOUDLY) as you slowly expire because you can't climb back out. (And then probably stink once you do finally die, though Google tells me the smell from just one isn't noticeable. I question this.)

Dear dog: Why have you not even NOTICED this? Although come to think of it, since you fell down on the job of keeping the damn thing out of the house in the first place, it's probably best that you haven't noticed it yet, or you'd be scrabbling at the wall as well.

Agenda for tomorrow: POISON. And lots of it.

Photographic evidence that it is entirely too hot here. (Weather.com says the heat index is at 111F. Gaaaaah.)

Apparently there was a huge sale on cherries, so now I have YET MORE. These are the darker Bings, and they make an attractive collage with the lighter claim-to-be-Bings-but-I-think-they're-Rainiers. (I am going to be eating cherries until they come out my EARS.)

Have two swamp hibiscus flowers: here and here. This flowers have bloomed about five and a half feet up on the six feet and some change stalks, so my angle was not so great. They're still nifty, though. Each flower is about as big as my head. They're definitely a tropical sort of plant.

And have a blooming crape myrtle. Our neighbors' are more impressive, but I haven't been out that way with a camera in a while.

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Also, have a poll! (Dreamwidth folks, see the LJ version of this entry to vote.)

[Poll #1760992]

Purely because I'm curious. (I'm option B, BTW, although I'm interpreting it loosely to mean "variations on a song I've heard" as well as completely new arrangements of notes. At any rate, I'm usually humming something, or at least I have a tune playing in my head.)

You know you have a problem when you pick up a cherry, almost pop it in your mouth, and then think, "But it's so pretty. I should take a picture before I eat it." And you do.

P.S. It was delicious.

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Everyone involved with Rizzoli and Isles claims there is no intentional subtext, and yet somehow I question this.

S2 premieres tomorrow night, FYI. I haven't decided whether I'll try it again this year or not. I'm in a similar pickle with Warehouse 13, S3 of which also premieres tomorrow night. I watched it last season pretty much entirely for H.G., and now that she's gone...I dunno. Maybe I'll see what people have to say about them before I catch up online.

BUGS. BUGS EVERYWHERE. SEND HELP. WE ARE HIP-DEEP IN BUGS.

( Photo and videographic evidence )

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In other news, apparently there was a lot of carnage at ABC today as they leaked pickups and cancellations, but Body of Proof survived and will get a second season! Hurrah! This likely means we won't see the last four episodes of this season until September, alas, but I'd rather have that then see them earlier with no second season.

I haven't looked up info on all the shows they and the other networks who have announced pickups already are going to air, but from what I've seen, Once Upon a Time looks interesting. Pan-Am's concept is intriguing (pilots and flight attendants in the 1960s—hey, rowdycamels, remember how we were saying a show centered on travel agents could be interesting? Apparently we were sort of prophetic!), but it's also billed as a very soapy soap opera, and...nope, don't think so.

Does anyone know if there's a page with summaries of all the new series that have been picked up all in one place? Googling individual titles is getting old.

Speaking of new series, apparently there is a Warehouse 13 spinoff in development, and it stars H.G. Wells! It will take place in the 1890s, and feature her as a sort of sciencey Sherlock Holmes (because god knows we can't have a show without mysteries-of-the-week). I'm torn over this; one the one hand, MOAR H.G. WELLS YAY!, but on the other, half the reason I liked her was because she and Myka were so slashy on W13. But maybe H.G. will guest star on W13 a lot since they'll probably be filming in the same studio?

Noooo, I sat outside with my co-workers for twenty minutes at lunch today and now I am crispy and red and sore all across my shoulders and on my forearms. :( Okay, sure, it was in the low nineties today (whyyyyyyy is it so hot in EARLY MAY, argh), but still. TWENTY. MINUTES. AND THEN I TURNED INTO A LOBSTER.

Back to the break room tomorrow, I think.

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Have a screencap from last night's BoP: Nah, I don't need to hold the magnifying glass, I'll just hold your hand. They are so cuuuuuute.

Things that make a boring commute marginally more entertaining:

1. Watching a turtledove attempt to roost on the top of the van in front of you at a red light. Aww.

2. Finding that the jackhammer or other percussive construction implement being used at the sprawling downtown convention center site makes a nifty little syncopation with the song you're listening to as you drive.

The song in question was Tracy Chapman's "Sing for You." Depending on your age and your appreciation for folk vs. blues, you probably know her for one of two things: socially conscious songs like "Fast Car" and "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution," both popular in the late eighties/early nineties, or her bluesy 1997 comeback "Give Me One Reason." In fact, there's a lot more to her work. (Not that those aren't great! More on "Fast Car," in particular, in a moment.) Here are some of my favorites:

Sing For You - My new favorite. I adore how the upbeat tune and delivery mask a wistful, melancholic idea. (gamesiplay, perhaps this would fit on the epic list you're making?) Chapman is really fantastic at the use of symbol and metonym; in this, as in the titular images of "Fast Car" and "Promise," the simple idea of the speaker singing along to the radio for the enjoyment of her ex carries a load of associations and emotions.

Spring - Really a beautiful, beautiful song.

Fast Car - When I make a list of the saddest songs I know, this will fight for space at the top. It's an aching portrayal of broken dreams and lost hope.

The Promise - A simple, but very effective, love song.

Telling Stories - Almost, but not quite, cynical. Maybe just a bit jaded. Either way, fantastic imagery and concept, and +10 for the Godzilla reference.

America - Love the beat, love the thoughtful lyrics.

For the poor, snowbound northerners reading this, here's what you have to look forward to once you dig out:



(click for bigger)

Yes, now begins my annual orgy of flower macros. Look under the cut for more.

( Daffodils, grape hyacinths, forsythia, and a cherry tree )

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In other news, I've fallen behind on my music reccing, and I'm sad to report I won't be catching up yet. However, have a really great song: "Nashville" by David Mead. Just read the last verse:

Well it's not quite evening, and it's not New York
There's a scar in the blue sky by the old airport
And I'm talking crazy on the driver's side
I will always love you like a long goodbye

I want to marry that last line.

Rats. I had just four things on my to do list for the weekend, and I only did one of them (my ironing). Dear self: get better at working with self-imposed deadlines.

On the other hand, this past week I've had a grand time reading many, many books, which is largely the reason I haven't been around much. I work only two blocks from the downtown library, which is definitely feeding my bibliophile habit.

Recs: Heresy, by S.J. Parris (Elizabethan Oxford, heretic monk, Catholic intrigue...great combination, nicely-plotted mystery) and, to a lesser extent, Dark Echo, by F.G. Cottam. The man has a habit of writing only in short, declarative sentences, but the ghost story/historical mystery was good enough that after a while I didn't care. Well, I cared, but not enough to stop reading. It was spooky and cool.

Anti-Rec: Diving into the Wreck, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. With a title like that and a plot involving a female captain of a space salvage operation, I was expecting at least some kind of connection to the Rich poem, even if it was obliquely, but no, not only did it not come through for me on that angle, it was just a terrible book. It was originally two short stories, and it showed. The actual interesting part started on, oh, the last page, too. Plus the author could not go more than two sentences without starting a new paragraph. Being fond of the single-sentence paragraph myself, I assume it was mean to up the tension or underscore importance, but the effect was much like highlighting every sentence in a textbook. Bah.

I've also been spending my time...uh, well, this requires some context in order to make myself feel less embarrassed. Once upon a time, like back in middle school, I used to watch Caroline in the City. (Don't judge me, I was thirteen.) I quite enjoyed it at the time, so, having little better to put in my Netflix queue, when I saw that it was out on DVD, I stuck it in there. And, you know, for a sitcom, it's held up quite well. Okay, so it was never actually objectively good, relying far too much on clichés, love triangles, and plots where the conflict would be over in two seconds if people would just talk to each other like sensible human beings, but, you know, for all that, it's still entertaining. (Did I mention I was watching this with the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia firmly affixed to my face?) The characters consist of a cartoonist, her assistant, a greeting card executive, and a dancer, and it's nice to see characters on American TV who aren't variations on cops, doctors, lawyers, or soldiers. The show's, and especially Caroline's, combination of sweet/cute/spunky/sincere hits me in the same weak spot that Nora Ephron movies do (DON'T JUDGE ME), and Richard the Black Cloud of Despair is always highly amusing.

And they're so cute when they finally get together. So cute. LIKE PUPPIES AND KITTENS AND RAINBOWS EXPLODING ON THE SCREEN. Look at the icon on the LJ version of this post and tell me they aren't adorable.

Anyway, uh, there might be fic someday soon. Although given that at the moment Caroline and Richard are debating the merits of burnt umber versus burnt sienna, it's possible that I just wanted an excuse to write about art supplies.

So. How have you all been?

Hello, tornado warning siren! I hope you stop wailing before I need to go to bed at 10:30. Preferably without an actual tornado having touched down anywhere. That would be, you know, ideal. *crosses fingers*

Look at this gorgeous ten-day forecast. I think I'm going to wear a skirt to work on Wednesday or Thursday. (Okay, that might be pushing it somewhat for outside, but the office is always really warm, so I think it'll work out for me.)

It can be springtimez nao? Maybe? It's already been in the 60s since Friday!

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I read a book the other day I thought I'd recommend: As She Climbed Across the Table, by Jonathan Lethem. If Nick Hornby and Tom Stoppard teamed up to write a novel about quantum physics, love, and American academia, it would look a lot like this. Although this novel was a bit more lightweight than the hypothetical one they would produce would be, I think. Still enjoyable, though.

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wintercreek did this meme, and I couldn't resist: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. I've got non-descriptive and ridiculous in spades. Pick any of them (as many as you want) and I'll either post a snippet or explain what the heck it's about.

due South
Increments
post-COTW
ten-dance [actually, I already posted a snippet here, come to think of it]
undercover
conversation

Babylon 5
Nine Stories
Remarkable Illusions/weddingfic
baseball/hockey
assassins
looney tunes

Corner Gas
fakeout

Northern Exposure
homeless
grosse pointe