Dancing Around the Four Sides

Waiting for the weather. Right now we're having light rain and thunder, but apparently there is Bad Stuff passing right to the west of us (and by Bad Stuff, I mean stuff like rotating wall clouds and rain-wrapped tornadoes). In other words, Texas in spring.

Also, today is my birthday (I am 61, kids). My sister sent me one of these, which is just as goofy as it looks (ours is a blue mosaic, not red). Mister Nightdog_barks and I immediately christened it the Disco Ball Feeder -- I took it outside, hung it from a tree branch, and put some corn and sunflower seed inside. About 20 minutes later, I glanced out the back door. A squirrel had found it. He was INSIDE THE FEEDER, happily munching away. LOLOLOL

Kittens, the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. The temperature here is 72 degrees (22.2 degrees Celsius), and the humidity is 78%. Which is actually down from the 84% it was earlier. No sun, no breeze, just still.

Currently reading (and almost finished with) Scott Hawkins' The Library at Mount Char. Dear friends, it has been a long, long time since I've read such a bananapants monkeyhouse of a novel. I am just saying.

Finished Ben Aaronovitch's The Hanging Tree last night. I liked it a lot, but ... I have some quibbles with it. I'm going to put the rest under a cut because I may give away some plot points, and I know I'd be pissed if I were spoiled for something I hadn't read yet. *g*

( Yes, Peter Grant is still terrific ...  )

ANYWAY. Do I recommend? Yes, I do. Despite my (few) quibbles, I would give The Hanging Tree two thumbs up. Great series, strong rec. :D

Bleak and drizzly here today. There were at least a dozen finches at the feeders earlier, along with doves, juncos, and a pair of beautiful cardinals. Also there was a blue jay being a dick, making hawk calls to scare off the smaller birds so he and his blue jay pals could have the feeders all to themselves. Brazen little bastards. LOL

Low of 35 degrees tonight (1.7 degrees Celsius); 20 degrees (-6.7 C) tomorrow night. Hard freezes at night through Tuesday. SPRING PLZ COME SOON.

Cold and bleak today -- the sun kept trying to come out, but now it's disappeared, seemingly for good. No sleet, as least as of yet, and it may stay south of us.

Did finish reading Dan Simmons' The Terror, and, while I did say it had its flaws, I also ended up ... loving it. I thought Simmons really did do justice to the historical story of the lost Franklin expedition. There were a few instances where the flashback-within-a-flashback technique didn't quite work for me, and a couple of places where Simmons insisted on rehashing events he didn't need to, but overall he does an AMAZING job of telling a difficult story, with some absolutely incredible set pieces (the "masked ball on the ice" just blew me away). So, yes. Two thumbs up, enthusiastically recommend. Would warn for contextually-appropriate gory death, violence, and sickness (scurvy omg), plus the kind of casual racism one would expect from certain characters.

Currently reading a nonfiction book by a writer named Finn Murphy, called The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road, which is exactly what it sounds like. I picked it up because we saw the author being interviewed by Paul Solman on PBS NewsHour a few weeks ago, and I thought it sounded interesting. And so far, it is! :D

It is the fourth day of February, and it is 81 degrees here, chiclets (27.2 Celsius). It's supposed to be 75 tomorrow and Wednesday, and then by the end of the week it drops into winter again. But for now this is A-OK by me. :D

Watched the movie Annihilation the other night. I did like it a whole lot more than I liked the book (I ... didn't like the book) but wow it is still a very strange ride.

Really. It's clear and crisp and just warm enough to set the citrus trees back outside for the day and give them a good feeding and watering.

I did finish reading Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, and I liked it a lot. I will say that I loved the first half of the book, after Nathaniel's parents had left him in the care of the two dodgy characters, The Moth and The Darter. After all, how could I not love a story which begins, "In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals."? I could've read a whole book devoted to this part of the story, just as I could've read a whole book, separate from Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, about Theo and Boris in Las Vegas.

ANYWAY. I liked the second half of Warlight, with its search for the secret life of Nathaniel and Rachel's mother, and then I was surprised at the end of the book, because ... I don't know, I guess I just didn't expect it to go there, even though Ondaatje had foreshadowed it enough that previously I had actually thought "Hm, I hope Nathaniel is [REDACTED BECAUSE SPOILER]." Would still recommend, two thumbs up.

Wishing it was spring already.

An absolutely grim day today, dark and cold and drizzly. Lots of birds at the feeders, though, and the adorable little juncos on the ground. Also discovered a squirrel industriously tearing strips of paper off the big recyclable leaf bag on the deck and then running away with them, presumably to use as nest insulation. Brazen little thieves. LOL

Here is a wonderfully brain-bending article from Live Science, about a new theory formulated by scientists at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, on the origin of the universe. Specifically, that a mirror image of our universe may have existed before the Big Bang.

But seen another way, both universes were created at the Big Bang and exploded simultaneously backward and forward in time. This dichotomy allows for some creative explanations to problems that have stumped physicists for years.

It's a fairly short read, and very interesting. :D

The SUN came out today! It was still cool, but I got out and got a haircut (YAY!) and then stopped by the store for a few items. And on the way home I saw an ENORMOUS white heron standing in a neighborhood pond. :D

It was so good to see the sun again.

And the first day of 2019 is grey and dreary. Weather guys say there is a chance for us of freezing rain tomorrow morning, but our actual temperature is supposed to hover right around 32 degrees (0 Celsius) so I'm hoping it won't turn into a full-blown ice storm.

Layla did not care for the neighborhood firecrackers last night. They were mostly small bangs, but someone had what sounded like M-80s and they were pretty loud. Someone also set off multiple strings of what I assume were Black Cats, so it sounded like a constant pop pop pop pop pop.

I don't do New Year's resolutions, so I'll just say that I hope to read as many books this year as I did last, and to finish at least one Housefic. So ... we'll see. *g*

1) It was SO BEAUTIFUL yesterday, and today it is grey and chilly and drizzly. We were able to put the citrus trees back outside, and it wasn't long at all before the Meyer lemon was full of honeybees! :D

2) Currently reading Hideo Yokoyama's Seventeen, about a plane crash in Japan and the internal power politics and infighting at the Japanese newspaper covering the accident. I had really liked this author's previous book, Six Four, which was about an unsolved murder, the police investigation, and the internal power politics and infighting within the police bureau AND the media people covering the investigation. It probably helps that Yokoyama is a former newspaper guy. :D

3) Thinking about making a cheesecake soon, maybe for New Year's. Haven't done that in quite a long time. Oh, and there were two bunny rabbits in the backyard last night! Layla was perturbed. :-)

Three things, post.