Some days it just doesn’t pay to gnaw through the straps, you know?

If there’s one surefire way to ruin your day, it’s reading a distilled synopsis of all of the character flaws that led to the breakup of your marriage. I don’t recommend looking in the mirror of someone else’s pent-up bitterness as a fun way to pass a quiet afternoon.

Of course, one of those character flaws got me into today’s mess in the first place, so I have nobody to blame but myself for how lousy I’m feeling right now.

It’s awfully hard to like myself, most days. It’s even more difficult today.

(For the record: This is not a pity party. I’ll be okay in a while. I just needed to get this “down on paper,” as it were. Think of it as being not entirely unlike writing something down so you don’t forget it later.)

At the same time I picked up that Eddings book reviewed below, I also took a small (four dollar) chance on the first volume in a “recommended” series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

“The Magic of Recluce” is interesting, amusing at times, moderately compelling, well-told, and takes an effective approach to the whole “good/bad, order/chaos” thing. It’s not exactly a white-knuckle page-turner (especially when the lead-character-slash-narrator settles down for a year to make a living as a woodcrafter) but the writing’s enjoyable enough to keep me hooked even through that bit of downtime. I’m pleased with the book overall, and I’ll definitely check out the next one in the series.

Home sick today. Bleh. Upset tummy, weak as a newborn kitten, etc.

The VPN thing works, though. Go me.

I had jogged up to the intersection, but not in time to hit the crosswalk button. Not to worry, I thought, since a check in all four street directions (even though one of the streets is one-way, I still look) told me that there was only one vehicle at the intersection and it didn’t have it’s turn signal on. So I crossed with the green…

…and almost got ran over. I have to curse my slow brain, because I’d finished crossing the street before I realized that I’d just been scolded! “Geez, it doesn’t say walk!” The lady in the white, toy-sized SUV (“It’s so small, you would almost think it’s fuel-efficient!”) had rolled down her window and turned into the lane in front of me so she could give me what-for about my street-crossing decision? What the ever-loving hell? So, what, I was supposed to wait another three minutes at an empty intersection for my chance to see the white stick figure instead of the red hand on the sign? Good grief, lady. Let me restate for the record that I was crossing with the light, and after checking for possible hazards!

See, if I was the quick and clever sort, I’d have shouted back, “Whatever, MOM!” Grrrr. No turn signal and she turns into the far lane of the three available? And I’m the irresponsible one here?

Anyway. Speaking of utter dorkwads, how about this frequently-seen specimen among the public transit set: The Seat Martyr. You know the guy. He’s the one who insists on standing, even when there are seats available. Now, I sometimes remain standing when I’ve only got a short trip, or if the available seat isn’t particularly appealing for one reason or another. But this morning I saw a guy standing in the raised portion of a low-floor MAX train when there were two available seats next to not-unappealing women. So this schmuck’s not only being stupid, but also an unneccessary obstruction since anyone who wants to get off the train has to go around him… no mean feat when he insists on acting as if he’s the only one on the train. Even when an entire two-seat bench opened up, he remained standing.

Gah. I don’t know about you, but the only thing I can figure is that this guy likes feeling higher-up than everyone else. Or maybe I’m just reading things into his behaviour and body language. I don’t know.

Ah well. Now I’m safely ensconced at work, where I don’t have to deal with that sort of thing. (Yeah, right…)

So I sort of blew it on my original plan to post each and every day in November. Life sort of came at me fast and furious halfway through the month, after all. There was this weeklong visit from my dear Kyla, not to mention Celebrate L-Tryptophan Day and various other activities.

Now it’s December and I’m looking at a relatively uneventful month, minus a few bits and pieces early on. Right now I’m embracing the prospect of peace-and-quiet… not that I mind fun and excitement, but if now’s the time to be low-key then I’m ready for it.

What are you looking forward to most, this month? I’m sort of curious…

My wishlist has grown smaller. Dawn saw fit to gift me with not one, not two but six music CDs yesterday!

• Yuki Kajiura’s “Fiction” – One of my current favorite albums, hands-down. Very pretty stuff.
• Space Brothers’ “Shine” – Yay for spiffy dance music!
• Econoline Crush’s “The Devil You Know” and “Affliction” – I really like “Devil,” but haven’t listened through “Affliction” yet. I’ll be doing that fairly soon, I wager.
• Genesis’ “And Then There Were Three” – It’s not one of the all-time great Genesis albums, but it’s one of the few I still only had on cassette. Dawn was even polite enough to sit patiently while I skimmed through the album… yes, yes, it’s a very 70’s kind of record.
• Peter Gabriel’s third solo album, aka “Meltyface” – Arguably his best solo album. ‘Nuff said.

And all I gave her in return was a bracelet… Hmm…