Tangled Mind

of course, after posting about having the flu and being on the road to recovery,phase 2 happened. And was worse than phase 1. Everything is very difficult and challenging at the moment, so if I owe you email / social contact, apologies!
am signed off til Monday which I hope will suffice. Bored of not being able to do anything.

1. enjoyed Eastercon very much, with a few exceptions (I was a BSFA Awards walk-out, though went back after the 'comic' turn; I was also a restaurant dash-out due to crap service; I may have snarled at a few people who were clogging bottlenecks). Caught up with many dear friends and a few new ones, though not everyone I'd have liked to spend time with.

1a. High points included the Not the Clarke Award panel; Chris Priest's acceptance of BSFA Best Novel award for The Islanders; cheese and marmite paninis with ladymoonray; our 'Alternate Universes in (Sherlock) Fanfiction' panel; the 'Romance in SF' panel as moderated by me, though wish I hadn't had to terminate increasingly interesting argument between Justina Robson and Adam Rrrroberts; oh, and glimpsing a few out-of-context people including one I haven't seen for a decade.

2. really, massively benefited from being able to schedule time-outs each day. Being in the main hotel is no longer a luxury for me: it's the only way I can cope with full-on fannish interaction over four days. (Last time I was in overflow, a 'time-out' usually meant not getting back to the con.) Still, by the end of the con was so overcome with inertia that I stuck to my bar-sofa instead of making it to the closing ceremony.

3. MY TOOTH HURT. A LOT. Thanks to high-heeled fishlifter and to gummitch for providing little bottles of happy anaesthesia (not the gin-flavoured kind).

3a. Went to dentist this morning. Have antibiotics, painkillers and a dead tooth which has to come out as soon as possible. Next available appointment = 25th May (and that's just the 'sedate me or it will not be pretty' conversation). Expect much whining.

4. I have soooo many books to write up that it's quite intimidating. Including Flashforward, The Chrysalids, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The End Specialist, Last Movement (Joan Aiken), Malvolio's Revenge (Sophie Masson), Servant of the Underworld, Pirate King, Osama, Rule 34.

It has been a busy few weeks. Not only have I started WERK, I have been ingesting CULTURE, including but not limited to:
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
( Read more... )

- Warrior
( Read more... )

- The Elixir of Love (Donizetti)
( Read more... )

- Mahler, Symphony #8 ('Symphony of A Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine')
The finale of Lorin Maazel's Mahler cycle: big in every respect (three choirs, large orchestra, eight solo singers, and the RFH organ (WIP, not yet fully restored); last night's performance was well over the 90-minute mark, and not a single one of those moments was dull. Additional, and unwanted, excitement provided by the collapse during the final movement of one of the double-bass players, who was helped off the stage by colleagues. Apparently shaken but okay. I was impressed by the rapidity of help offered and by Maazel keeping an eye on the basses, and the door behind them, afterwards.
I would have got even more out of this performance if I knew the piece better: as it was, I sat dazed, and hitched a lift with the Muse who was in attendance. (Concerts are brilliant for generating creative inspiration.)

I have also, recently:
- had a chest x-ray (no nasties)
- increased my peak air flow from ~180 to ~350 (still some way to go, but steroid inhaler is fab)
- been to the beach (blissssss)
- been to a barbeque
- had a birthday (thanks to all who sent good wishes or turned up to present in person!)
- had a grand day out with ladymoonray
- cleaned a lot of data
- read some books

Writing up last weekend because it was simply packed with culture, and my memory is like a sieve ...

( Concert, Rachmaninov / Kiadov, Thursday 9th June 2011 )

( Quiet Night In, Friday 10th June 2011 )

( The Man of Mode, Saturday 11th June 2011 )

The stuff coming out of the sky has turned all liquid. Is there anything I can do?

I love snow, not least because it makes everything brighter and lighter. I do not love rain.

Special Forces strategy at its finest (I look forward to the movie)
Tasteful and inspirational -- will post a photo of my version tomorrow.
Full of potential -- is Art, yes!

In other news: we haz blizzard now too!

... because the heavy pounding rain has turned to snow.

Yay! off I go!

... Ozy! Time to go outside!

edit to add actually, if you walk in the park, it's raining and snowing: gusts of blizzard shaking earlier rainfall loose from the trees.

Cat did not want to go out. Gave exasperated sigh when he saw the weather: "O you bastards"

Cambridge city centre to become 20mph zone

Wow, that fast? I presume they will be removing all the tourists ...

In other Cambridgey news: a while back I ordered a pack of 'mini postcards / cigarette cards' from an online craft store. (these, in fact). Front and back of cards are photo-reproductions of old postcards etc -- not necessarily two sides of the same card.

And sorting through them, imagine the weirdness of finding an address on my street (postmark 1915).

In other other news, ear still hurts. Possibly deposit of cat fur? It seems to be everywhere else.

"...she said hoassly"

Help tamaranth and get your own badge!
(The Livejournal Electioniser was made by robhu)



Could the BNP voter please unfriend me? (Still: could be worse, nils has lots).

In other news: tamaranth 1, DRM 0. (I don't mind paying money for ebooks. I do mind only being able to read 'em on the laptop.)

In other other news: 'Hot Red' is darker than one might think.

And finally: GIN and a good book.