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It occurred to me, some time last October, that I used to really enjoy reading. That is, I hadn't read a book in a long time, and I did not really have an excuse. So I looked up how to read library books on my iPhone, installed Libby, got my library account re-activated (I had applied for one many years ago but it had expired from inactivity), and have been burning my way through books, my appetite much returned. The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian. Still a classic to my heart, an excellent appetizer easing me back on the reading track. I don't think I could ever tire of this series. 5/5 Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. Superbly written, I so enjoyed the film that I was pleased to find that the novel gave so much more. Sublime, thoughtful narrative. 5/5 Master of the Senate by Robert A. Caro. I only made it through a 1/4 of the 1200+ pages before I had to return it but that was enough to convince me that this was a historical work worthy of its many accolades...

I'm beginning to believe that I may, in my old age, actually welcome death, to make room for the next generation; too stuck in my ways, my mind replaying golden memories, unable to accept the changes brought before me. I mean, that's a while from now I hope but I can sense its faint approach. Even now, as in years of late, I am haunted by the ills and trespasses of my younger self; it is an ever-growing mountain, diminished only through the dimness of forgetting. I shall fall to the wind of a thousand inward sighs. But ha, no, I am not nearly so melancholy for most of my day. I'll play a little catch-up, while I wait for my phone to charge. Several nights back MJ and I enjoyed Word Wars , a documentary about Scrabble players. The documentary wasn't particularly compelling, but the characters are fascinating enough, in their fringe-of-society way, to have kept our interest up. We saw a much crappier documentary a couple weeks before, My Brilliant Brain: Make Me A Geniu...

Wednesday night I saw Waltz with Bashir at the Carleton with some friends. I really liked the music and sound, which the animation made stand out -- every footstep and breath and bullet all the more audible. The beach memory music in particular I found haunting. Yeah, the first half or so of the movie I felt was excellent, when the memories are still just fragments, broken pieces that don't line up. It's when they start forming a coherent picture does the movie begin to turn into this .. well, lame, boring documentary. I had hoped that the final statement would be more profound or beautiful but alas, I did not find it so. Still, overall I quite enjoyed it. I've also been playing a bit of Mount and Blade, this neat independent game, a sandboxed action RPG. The bit that brings me back to it is the mounted combat -- there's something very satisfying about riding circles around bandits and shooting arrows at them. I just.. I can't quite explain what it is. F...

'ello 'ello! Yup, December. Hey, I finished reading The Road, the Cormac McCarthy book. Pretty good! I found it reminded me of I Am Legend for that tension from having a survivalist dialog. It's kind of a far reaching comparison I suppose. Certainly I can compare it with Fallout 3 , a very obvious contrast there. I find myself quite enjoying McCarthy's books, and will likely seek out his other work. I must say that I am excited to see how it will translate to the big screen, and should curb my enthusiasm as it is not Coen-directed. Started watching Summer Heights High , an Australian mockumentary centered around three characters in a high school. The twist is that all three people are played by Chris Lilley and it is down right eerie how good he is at it. Surreal. Oh, I suppose one could compare it to The Office (the UK one) since it also has that authentic documentary feel. You can find some clips on YouTube to get a taste of it. I've been trying to go to b...

Hey. Uhm, well, you know, not much going on. Long weekend is here and once again I am caught without much in terms of plans. I slept in until the early afternoon, drove up with my sister through nutty Caribana traffic to get to my parent's house for our yearly extended family get-together. Korean BBQ, pictionary, good times. I'm going to try to see Bourne Ultimatum tomorrow, and then a trip to Kitchener-Waterloo for some exercise of a pugilistic nature. Kitchener-Waterloo. One of these days I'm going to resolve to not go there. Work.. well, work has been kind of busy for the past week, in a decidedly stressful kind of way. Hopefully a lot of that will cool down a little this week, although Tuesday could be nutty as a lot of customers won't realize that Monday's a holiday in Canada. I'm not exactly sure why it's been so busy. Just a string of troublesome customers, I guess. I'm on the 19th book of the Aubrey-Maturin series, and am already halfway through ...