"THERE IS NO EARTH"

Whew; didn't mean to let so much time elapse between posts, not that this one will be all that substantive. The last couple weeks have been spent mostly acclimating to revised job duties. It ended up shaking out better than I thought I would -- mostly, I still get to write, and in the arts/culture area, so it's still a decent gig. Interspersed among the workdays have been some fun moments: got out to hear The Hi-Risers at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que last weekend (and on any given night they may just be the best band in the world) and to see my friend Sarah's improv comedy group The Village Idiots. Much fun. Also interspersed have been some sad moments, including the death of a man formerly connected with our church (who had written some of the study curricula) from complications of diabetes. Sadness is, of course, mingled with faith and hope for an eternal destiny -- as well as the knowledge that Roger is free from pain and limitations, as his last years were painful and debilitating ones for him. Thankfully, he got to see his first grandchild born, which was a blessing for the whole family.

Caught my breath this weekend by doing pretty much close to nothing. Stayed home for the most part, which was easy since I'm getting over a week of hacking and wheezing ... and finally, finally broke out disc one of season one of Battlestar Galactica. Yup, I tend to trail the rest of the fandom universe; I frequently don't catch the buzz until a show is far enough along that I figure I'd be lost if I tried to jump into it. (*) So I'm starting up with Galactica from the very beginning, and am gamely trying to avoid spoilers. So if you see me running out of the room at a filk con if mrgoodwraith or someone does Luke Ski's Galactica song, that's why. Watched the miniseries today (the Cylon attack, etc.) and was immediately hooked. Strong characterization, skillful editing, suspenseful pacing, great casting. Especially Edward James Olmos; I mean, c'mon.

(*) Didn't even watch Lost from the very beginning, but I started soon enough -- about halfway through season one -- that I was able to follow what was going on and catch up fairly quickly when the DVDs came out. I would've been hopelessly lost if I'd tried to jump in in the middle of, say, season four. With my luck, it would have been a Desmond episode for ultra-maximum disorientation.

Words: The Queen and I by Sue Townsend. Funny little trifle circa 1992 about the British royal family being forced into low-income housing after a republican government abolishes the monarchy. (Still haven't done my annual January post giving capsule reviews of the previous year's books read. Will follow, heh, before the end of February, I hope.)
Sounds & Images: Fairly obvious from the post, I'd say
State O'Mind: Calm, mostly