Cui bono

Just so you know I'm still more or less in the land of the living. If it was possible for life to be more complicated, it has become so.

Mood a la mode: "Beautiful Ones", Prince; "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", Pet Shop Boys; "I Don't Like Mondays", Boomtown Rats; and "I'll Be There in a Minute", Gowan.

And some thoughts...

"That the birds of worry and care fly over your head — this you cannot change; but that they build nests in your hair — this you can prevent." —Chinese proverb

"Emancipation from the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree." —Rabindranath Tagore

C'est tout!
L

Too busy to breathe!

Hello, hello,

Well, after all the excitement of getting my new notebook on Friday, I have spent the weekend feeling fairly flat and uninspired. I seem to have some kind of virus that I just can't shake, so I spent most of Saturday sleeping or trying to sleep. (Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit my meds...) I have a gigantic pile of marking awaiting me, and I spent today working on a paper and a presentation for my own studies. No time for climbing, sadly, but I didn't feel up to it anyway.

In bigger news, the video for "King of the Mountain" is out! Go to www.katebush.com to view it. It's silly and sweet, and Kate looks absolutely beautiful! Oh, just a few more weeks until the release of the complete album...

Back to work!

L

Meet Little Ghost...

...my new iBook, paid for by the college using my professional development funds. Guess I should use it for something professional, or developing, or something. Well, I'm writing — that's professionally relevant!

Giving my first presentation for my English Language Arts course on Monday. Wish me luck, please!

More soon,
L

A New iBook

L's new toy has widgets and that lets me post to the blog without any other interface.

I've been experimenting with Wordpress as well and think it will work fine at work. We will likely move the Enjoygardening site completely over. At home I've been experimenting with Blojsom. See Zak's Blog to see how Blojsom works on my home server and also catch up on Zak's doin's!

All this stuff is basically free for anyone who bothers to figure it all out and the only cost is the server space etc.

Ciao!

Taking climbing for granite

Ouch. Very sore. Last night was the first in the fall Rip and Grip series at VIRG. B and Zak did very well, but I'll leave it to them to talk about that. I myself flashed the first five problems and solved the next two on my second try. I didn't solve problems 8 and 9, but I did try them both five or six times, and after that I was pretty tired, so I just watched the other boulderers. I got my best score ever, though, so I guess all that practice is actually working!

The big entertainment at the Rip and Grip (apart from the event itself, which is incredible fun) comes between the time limit and the announcement of the winners. For about half an hour, some of the top boulderers in the gym play, while the rest of us watch and cheer. If you haven't seen something like this, it's hard to imagine. The boulderers agree to a nearly impossible series of dynos, and then try to get through them. The simultaneous grace and athleticism is astonishing — it is as beautiful as dance and as awesome as lightning. Particularly inspiring is watching them line up to try again and again; some of the guys tried last night's ultimately invicible problem more than a dozen times, most of them having bouldered in the competition for two and a half hours — exhausting! My favourite boulderer is a young guy named Jesse. He is the best boulderer I have ever seen — amazing arms and brilliant technique — but he also has the most encouraging personality. He cheers on every other boulderer with enthusiasm and sincerity. He demonstrates the best of this sport in every way; I have learned a lot from his example.

But that's it for climbing this weekend. Between the holiday, various work commitments, and the gym closure on Monday, there simply isn't time to get back — and I doubt our bodies could survive further punishment anyway. Ow ow ow ow ow.

And anyway, I have cookies to bake for Thanksgiving.

Today's tarot: the lovers — judgement — justice. Hmm. Methinks me better watch out!

Now reading: Literary Theory: An Introduction by Terry Eagleton (again); Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins; Pure by Karen Krossing; and millions and millions of words' worth of homework...

A girl with guns,

L,
NOT solid!

I am proud of me!

Just had my first academic-oriented book review published. This is definitely a CV-worthy event! Meanwhile, my professor has asked me to review one of her articles (informally) before she submits it for academic review. Wow!

Anyway, if you'd like to read my review, you'll find it here. I can only hope there will be more to follow.

Giddily,
L