it is morning (though not for long). i have the day off from work, so i do not have to rush in and be worried about how late it is. but for some reason i do not feel like sleeping any more. this is unusual for me. on the other hand, i think i would like to do something different that usual today, and if i really want to have time to do so, waking up before noon is recommended. of course, i don't really know what i want to do that is different. i feel like i should try to get out of the city.
i can't wait until the book is done.
in the last week or so, i have read Neil Gaiman's _American Gods_ and Steven Brust's _Issola_. _American Gods_ was excellent. dark and mythic and beautiful. exactly the kind of book i like. _Issola_ was also excellent; i found it much better than _Orca_ and _Dragon_, his previous two books in the series. it went back to some of my favorite themes -- Vlad and Loiosh and Morrolan and Aliera and Sethra wandering around trying to save the world, and Vlad trying to figure himself out. no Kiera, sadly, but Lady Teldra was perhaps an even better addition. it was also concerned more than usual with the nature of "higher" beings, like gods. i seem to have been reading lots of myth-based books, recently. see, i've also been reading Alan Moore's comic, _Promethea_, the first two volumes. it is excellent as well. and it's also dark and mythic and beautiful. and i was reading it interspersed with _American Gods_. it was a very synergistic combination; i had dreams about both of them at once, and it seemed perfectly natural. i think that can be considered a tribute to both of them.
the next book i'm likely to read is Connie Willis's _Passage_ which looks like it may well be dark and beautiful, but not particularly mythic. though i could be wrong. i've never really thought much about Near Death Experiences myself, but whatever. i'm certain it will be good. probably excellent, even. :)
i'm starting to understand why people need vacations. like, real vacations, getaway vacations, not just breaks and weekends. i'm really looking forward to the next two months. i'll be going to GenCon, to Jeff and Sharon's wedding in Pennsylvania, and to Minnesota. it'll be nice. it'll be different. it'll be away. i think by the time i get back from Minnesota, i'll be really ready and enthusiastic to work again. i hope. see, i've never not had a summer before. this is my first summer that doesn't include inherent relaxation. perhaps that's what's getting me down. but the next two months will be sort of like my summer. sort of. i may have just discovered for myself the downside of working in the "real world."
incidentally, i've never figured out why periods and commas go within the quotation marks. i mean, it does make complete sense that question marks and exclamation points go outside of the quotes. and that it is sort of less important what periods and commas do. but why? grammar is a funny beast.
even though i miss summer, i have to say that i like actually having free time year-round. this is the first time in my life that i can remember when i, year-round, actually truly have no cause to laugh derisively when uttering the phrase "in my free time." and it's *nice*. i *like* it. i may get tired of it eventually, and go back to being kamikaze-busy woman, but for now, i think i'll just relax for awhile. 'cause in many ways, i'd rather read books than do anything more constructive. so why not read books?
don't answer that.