Today I went for an eye check. For a while now I’ve been taking off my glasses (I’m nearsighted) to work at the computer and to read books. The eye doctor’s verdict; my eyes are aging. In a week I’ll own my first pair of reading glasses. At last I have an excuse to treat myself to one of those spectacle-chains worn by librarians (real librarians, the ones who gave you the evil eye if you made the slightest noise). Through my teens and into my early twenties my mother would regularly rant that I should become a librarian. I always rolled my eyes. Just because you think every moldy book should be cherished as treasure, cataloged and kept on a shelf (in alphabetical order with all the other books one can go without food to afford) doesn’t necessarily mean one has the talents to be a librarian! At least not the kind of librarians I grew up with. Those ladies (and gentlemen) had degrees in librarianisms. They probably had fantastical dreams of living the Dewy Decimal System. [Read more…] about The evil eye…
Archives for September 2011
For You…
Today I learned of a birth and a death. The birth was my youngest brother’s first child, a little boy they’ve named Clayton. I haven’t yet seen a photo, but I’ll be surprised if he isn’t totally and utterly adorable. Of course I’m biased, but the boy’s mother is really pretty and his father isn’t bad looking either (he was such a cute kid). I have memories of being twelve and carrying him into stores and people saying to me, “Your baby is sooo cute!” I’d smile and say, “Yes, my BROTHER is really cute.” What I wanted to say was, ‘I’m freaking twelve! Do I look like a slut?’ I guess I did. To illustrate the past I found a family portrait from that time…I look like a mutant, but my brother is cute. [Read more…] about For You…
Hitchcock, my hero…
I’ve just finished Chapter 39 of Dancing the Maypole! I can practically feel myself riding down the hill to the finish. I see three more chapters and then the epilogue (I shouldn’t need to bang my head on any brick walls…shouldn’t, shouldn’t, shouldn’t…) The story now has 105,672 words. I would have preferred the book to be shorter (as it would have been done by now) but my characters are willful creatures who couldn’t care less what I think. [Read more…] about Hitchcock, my hero…