Optimism....

My LJ Idol entry is NOT WORKING NOT WORKING NOT WORKING NOT WORKING.
I am extremely frustrated and my brain seems to have stopped functioning. That is all.
Bah humbug.

Wow. My first LJ Idol post in years.
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I herewith notify all and sundry that I am signing up for the 9th and final season of therealljidol.

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett, 2006, 400 pages.

Wintersmith is part of Pratchett's "Tiffany Aching" series of books, written for young adults. I am enjoying them immensely. In this novel, young Tiffany, witch-in-training, dances with the wrong individual during a traditional autumnal revel, and the results are catastrophic. There is a wonderful cast of characters, including my beloved Granny Weatherwax, the Nac Mac Feegles, and even a cameo by Death himself.

I love that Pratchett conveys, even in a young adult novel with only a few human characters, the power that words and books have in transforming lives.

The first little signs of Pratchett's Alzheimer's - tiny plotholes, subtle things amiss - creep into this book. It's not alarming or even obvious, but I've been on a steady diet of Pratchett for many months now, and I can see and feel the change. Wintersmith was published in 2006; Pratchett made the announcement of his battle with the disease in 2007.

Little incongruities aside, this was a terrific book, and will require me to acquire my own copy.

Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge

Wow, it's been a long time. I've been battling with the worst depression of my life. Still am, some days, although the trouble is beginning to recede.

At least temporarily, I have James living with me. There was a falling-out between him and the people with whom he lives, and it has not yet been resolved, if such a thing is even possible. I don't know how this is going to end up. I don't want to go into details yet - this is barely 12 hours old, and I need to think before I speak.

Have missed so much work this fall due to poor mental health and multiple hospital admissions because of it. Am thoroughly broke. Luckily it's getting closer to Christmas, so my hours have practically doubled, which will give me a chance to pay some bills and break even.

Have made up the argument with Martin, and he has actually admitted that he was in the wrong, and that he's been treating me abysmally. There was a very near tragedy with one of his children this summer, and hearing about it now makes me understand why he acted the way he did. I think he behaved unfairly towards me, but it's at least comprehensible now. We've decided to leave the past in the past, and I'll be seeing him next week for dinner and a movie, which will be nice.

Reading four books at a time right now. I've never really done that before. But I can't concentrate due to depression, so the reading of four books at once actually does help with the scatty concentration.

And now back to bed. It's been a weird and unsettling night.

To say that I am (pleasantly) shocked by this announcement would be to understate things radically:

Hell may have officially frozen over.

In an interview with La Civilta Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit magazine, released earlier this morning, Pope Francis urged followers to make the Catholic Church a more merciful and welcoming place for all. Then he issued a warning: If the church neglects to find a “new balance” regarding gays, abortion, and contraception, its moral foundation will “fall like a house of cards.”

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Cross-posted from my entry at 100_snapshots.

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This entry replicates my post at the community 100_snapshots. It is my first post to the community, as I am starting again with my new user name.

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I've read very little this year, as I've allowed my internet addiction far too free a rein. I plan to change that. Ironically, here I am on the internet, although at least I'm posting about books this time.

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I'm still reading Pratchett books; I'm on a bit of a kick now. Currently I'm halfway through Feet of Clay, and enjoying it. I have The Colour of Magic and The Fifth Elephant in the queue.

Happy birthday to my country! Canada is 146 years old today, and it is the best country in the world. I'm proud and happy to call this beautiful, enlightened, safe, endlessly fascinating country my homeland. I am a very lucky woman; so are we all who live here and can share in this land's bounty.

Sleep was not my friend last night. I finally got to sleep around 4 a.m., and that was because I took an anti-nauseant pill in order to knock myself out. I wasn't nauseated in the least, just desperate for sleep. The pill has left me feeling incredibly groggy this morning, and I think I'd be better off sleepless than feeling drugged in the morning, but that is the perspective of the middle of the night, and not of the wee hours of the morning.

Nothing Canada Day-ish planned for today. I tend not to be very celebratory of occasions, even Christmas. I put up a tree at Christmas - a pink one - but mostly because it's expected, not because I want to. I never really get into holiday moods like most people seem to.

I need to do some housework today, some laundry, and if I can find my ladder, I need to clean the siding and the window sills on the front porch, clean bird dirt off the mailbox, wash down the front door and its sill, and give the porch a good sweeping. I don't know what one cleans a concrete front porch floor with, but when in doubt, Mr. Clean seems to clean everything.

Martin has been spending the long weekend with his children out-of-town; it is the birthday of his youngest daughter this week, so there are celebrations to be had. Depending on when he is free, we are probably going out for dinner tonight, and then back to his place to continue our James Bond film-viewing. We started with the Daniel Craig films, as I had not seen any of them, and we will be watching Skyfall this evening. Then we're going to watch the rest of them in order, bit by bit. Daniel Craig is seriously hunky; you could sharpen knives on his jaw, and I do like chiseled features like his.

Am going to join the 50bookchallenge community today, as well as the 100_snapshots community. I have been reading shockingly little this year, as I've let my internet addiction fill in much of my spare time. That needs to change, and pronto!