Persephone Is Having Sex In Hell

"Persephone is having sex in hell..."

I have a new poet (new to me at least) who has captured my imagination - Louise Gluck. On recommendation from T.R. I ordered "Averno" from Amazon the other day and it arrived tonight - I spent most of the last hour reading the first half of the collection, and then I had to force myself to set it aside so I didn't finish reading it all in one night.  So now I am splitting my reading time between  "Averno"...

And "Among Thieves: A Tale of the Kin" by Douglas Hulick.

That is the way reading works - when it rains, it pours. 

I am enjoying both books immensely, even though it meant that I set aside Orson Scott Card's "Ruins" because if it was going somewhere, it was going too slow.  I may pick it up again later and give it another try - it's pretty rare when Card disappoints, but, alas, it does happen.

Life is a Strange Journey

Okay, lots of work, most of it detached from reality, but a deliberately easy evening here at home.  I've got to head in early in the morning to run a 7:00 AM User Acceptance Test Kick-Off Meeting for yet another part of the project.  Amusingly (and with plenty of attendant stress) I caught two of three UAT projects - both on less than four days notice, both because the existing plans for it had collapsed under the weight of the project.  Once again, I get to pull a complete cycle of UAT out of thin air.

With that in mind, this afternoon, when I wrapped up my last meeting and headed home I decided I was going to spend a quiet evening relaxing, then some reading time tonight. I am working my way through Orson Scott Card's "Ruins" and quite frankly, it is slow going.  I keep hoping it picks up some action, but it seems to be slow developing in that direction.  I may give it a few more nights and then I am going to have to abandon it.

On the home front, my nephew still remains in critical care.  He was off the ventilator for one day, then landed back on it due to fluid build up in his lungs.  He is once again heavily sedated and each day is the day it is.  I keep him close in my thoughts and prayers during the day.  Life is a strange journey.

A Sunday Morning Narrative

Yesterday afternoon I spent about two hours doing laundry, picked up an order of honey walnut prawns and combination fried rice from Tsing Tao in Campbell, then circled home and spent a lazy afternoon watching a movie.

I was in the mood for something very good that I hadn't seen in a while, so I opted to watch "Winter's Bone" again.  One of the things about a good movie is that they can be watched over and over and each time you glean something more from them.  "Winter's Bone" is one of those movies for me.

Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, and Garrett Dillahunt all turn in amazing performances.  When you compare Garrett's performance with his role in "Raising Hope" you come away with an awareness of an actor whose range is astounding. John Hawkes has that same ability.

After the movie wrapped up, I spend some time hooking up one of my early Christmas presents to myself, a sound bar for my television.  It was a low cost Phillips one, from Radio Shack.  Given the small size of my apartment I really couldn't justify a higher end system.  There is no sense in having a stereo that can go to 11...when 2 or 3 is actually about as high as you can set it without intruding on your neighbors.

Then, I watched an episode of "Elementary".  After it wrapped up I went to bed early, laying down about 7:30 PM with Orson Scott Card's "Ruins" and reading for about an hour before I fell asleep. I slept pretty soundly.  I woke up about 11:30 PM, briefly, then fell back asleep.  One of the things about living in an apartment is that, periodically, you wake up for no apparent reason. Every now and then you'll know the reason that woke you - some sound, some passage, some external thing.  But, usually, you don't, you simple wake up.

All in all though, I got a good night sleep.  On waking, I folded and put away my socks and underwear from yesterday, exchanged texts with my sister, and set up my iPad with iLapse to capture a time lapse sequence of sunrise. Then, a bowl of maple and brown sugar cream of wheat, a cup of black coffee, and I've settled in to watch an episode of "Fringe" as I contemplate the day.

I have a stack of work in front of me and I will tackle it at some point in the day, but most likely later in the afternoon. This morning my plan is a bit of writing (here and in a few emails) and then breakfast, perhaps a bit of wandering, and a movie. I am thinking about seeing Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln", but the jury is still out on whether or not I am inclined to a serious drama today.

I do have a bit of inner work to do, mainly in consideration of my inner turmoil, so I may tackle that today, setting aside some time later in the day for meditation and contemplation. The recent changes in my personal relationships have left me...I don't know how to describe it, but with a certain degree of emptiness.  I need to contemplate that emptiness.