Lost: A Sense of Proportion

 Back from vacation! Rested, had lots of fun, but currently very sleepy and brain-dead from a long day of traveling. 

Further elaboration on the trip - and books read - to follow, once I've had some sleep. And started to catch up on aaaaaallll the e-mails that were awaiting my return. ;) 

*hugs all around* 

 Back from vacation! Oh, the trip was so wonderful... How to even summarize it? 

The first week, we pretty much did a circuit with the tour, starting in London and going through some of southern England, up through Wales and into Scotland, then back down the eastern side through York to London again. The rest of the trip we spent on our own in London - except for the day we spent in Paris! It was all just - wow, incredible, and even more than I'd hoped.  

My brain is so full it feels about ready to explode, so I'm kinda... generally inarticulate about the whole thing at the moment. But yes, it was awesome. And I am now filled with the general, flailing need to write something. I'm gonna have to try later today, and see if anything comes of it. ^.^

*hugs all around*  

 *hugs all around* Thanks for the welcome back, mellyn-nin. I missed you all! 

As I said earlier, the trip was fun, though mostly uneventful. (Aside from all the tornado stuff that last night... but anyhow.) With it being rainy and cool so much of the time, we ended up doing more indoor stuff than usual. Since my brother absolutely loves card games, he insisted that we needed to learn two new ones: rook, and whist. Heh heh, I don't actually hate card games in general, but... by the end of the trip, I was thoroughly sick of both. Eric gets very bored when it's rainy. ;) Still, it is rather fun to actually understand whist - if only because I can now actually comprehend certain passages of the Horatio Hornblower books. *g*

Otherwise, not a whole lot to speak of, aside from the reading. Though I do wonder - are bears actually that much more plentiful now, or is it just co-incidence? Because we've been seeing far more of them the last few years than we ever did in the past. Hmm.

In no particular order, then... Comments on the books. These are more my impressions and opinions than actual descriptions or reviews, so - if you want any details on one you haven't read, just ask. :)

( Book stuff! )

So there 'tis. ^.^

Hehe, purely out of curiosity, I did a quick count-up of the number of pages I read, and it comes up to something over 4300 pages. Not that that means a whole lot, of course, with books of varying sizes and prints and all, but... yeah. I am very happy now. So much wonderful reading....

And I'm actually almost caught up on all the post-trip behindness! (Which, yes, is not a word, but I don't care. ;P) Mostly just fun stuff left to reply to, now. :D

But not tonight, because Nef wants to go to bed, and is objecting to the lights being on. She refuses to believe me when I tell her that sleep is overrated. Pfft. Little sisters. <3

EDIT: *headdesk* Sorry for all the random formatting, here. I have no idea what LJ is doing to it, it's just being... weird. And I can't seem to get it all fixed. Meh.

We're planning to go to England this September. For three weeks. Possibly Paris for a few days as well. Just finished confirming all the travel arrangements.

I have wanted so badly  to go there, for so long... I still can't believe it's even a possibility, much less - :D :D :D

*ded of happy*  

Hehe, and speaking of vacations: leaving for the cabin early Wednesday morning, so - shall be pretty well disappearing off the face of the earth for about ten days or so. *g* 

 Ahhh, much as I enjoy vacations, it is good to be home. 

Had lots of fun this last week. Did a bunch of shopping, mostly at thrift stores. Found some really nice, long skirts, a few shirts - got new green and yellow ones. For some reason, I can have any other color shirt I want, but if I get a nice green or yellow one, it gets stained. Herm. Here's hoping these are presentable a little longer than others have been. *g* 

I got a bunch of new sketch pads, and some new pencils too. There's one craft store there... well, suffice it to say, I got four good new sketch books - including one large one - for about the price I'd normally expect to pay for maybe one or two of them, depending on where I got them. Hehe, and I needed the new ones, too - I've just got one page left in my current sketch book. Apparently I am becoming more prolific. I don't think it was really smaller than the ones I've been using, but where it typically takes me right about a year to fill one completely, this one took me just over six months, I believe. And I was doing several sketches to a page much more often than I have in the past. o.o 

Also got a fun-looking new Star Trek novel (99 cents - why not?). *wistful sigh* It is so much fun to look through books at thrift stores, greeting all the old friends, finding new, interesting ones.... Unfortunately, it always gives me the urge to go and buy them all, which, yeah, doesn't work so well. You know what I'd really like to be? A bibliopath. (Yeah, noooo idea of that even resembles correct linguistics - I'm tired, mmkay?) But - you know, a telepath can read/sense others' thoughts? And empaths sense feelings? Yeah, I wish I could just pick up a book and get a feel for it. Not instantly read it, or know the plot, or anything like that - that would take all the fun away. But to be able to get a sense for what sort of book it is, and just.... Ahem. Anyhow. Yeah, had fun, still managed to restrain myself. ;)

AND - I found a two-disk special edition DVD set of "Search for Spock". In practically new condition. For four dollars. *dies*

Speaking of Star Trek, y'know what's awesome? When it's on TV all day. *geeky bliss* Yeeeah, I don't have that many opportunities to watch anything besides the Original Series, so this trip is always my time to catch some episodes of the various series. (I have decided that I like Star Trek Enterprise. *nods* Tucker may be one of my favorite characters in it. The fact that he was Michael in SGA - such a nasssty villain - and seems like such a sweet guy in this adds to the fun. ;D) 

And with all the geeky wonderfulness, sci-fi has begun to really invade my dreams, more than usual. I don't mean just the occasional random appearance by Picard or Ronon - though there were those, yes. *g* But also, hmmm, one in particular with a whole world, various races, snatches of intriguing plot, which had me hurrying to write down notes as soon as I woke up, 'cause it actually still made sense then. And sketching. *pats cuuute little bat-dragons* I think I may have to post a few little sketches tomorrow, when I can get them scanned in. ^.^

Also, it is snowing like crazy right now. And it's actually accumulating, too. 

I love Minnesota. My state is insane. :D

(So am I. I should get some sleep now. That ought to help at least a little.)

*waves* Hi everyone! Wow... it has been a while since I've been around. And actually, I've kinda gotta post and run tonight, 'cause I've got about half a dozen things I need to get done yet tonight. But...

I've been busy at work ordering books for our trip to the cabin (always my big annual reading time), and while I have quite a list of ones I've been meaning to read, in actually getting down to ordering them I've noticed a certain... lopsided tendency toward scifi and fantasy. Not that that's a bad thing, or really unexpected, considering my general tastes. However, I do like to bring along a bit more variety - when I'm reading a book or more a day, it's nice to have an occasional chance of pace. ;)

So, my question: Anyone have any ideas for non-science fiction or fantasy books for me to read? Can be fiction or non-fiction. Some lighter fare would not be unwelcome, but definitely not a requirement.  

So... I'm back! Did ya miss me? *g* It's strange... On the one hand, it feels like we only just started out yesterday, but at the same time it feels like we've been gone months.

First, a brief summary:

States visited on the trip: 15

Countries: 2

Saw: So many beautiful places, I don't know how to begin to describe them. Even the bodies of water alone - the ocean, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan...

Books: Two short ones (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Writing Magic) completely read, and got a quite a way through two longer ones (Vulcan's Forge and God in the Dock). So, not very much, but it wasn't really a trip conducive to reading. All great books, though. :D Also listened to quite a number of books on tape - bit more on that in a minute. And bought a few books, too. Found a neat little out-of-print and used books store - it was in the process of being re-arranged, so the only section in any sort of real order was the Scifi section. Being the people of... eclectic tastes we are, Neffie and I bought several Star Trek books, The Iliad, and a neat old copy of The Merchant of Venice.

Writing: Finished the SGA story! *dances* It is the longest story I have ever written, by about... 11,500 words. *whistles* Coolness. o.o 33,700 words may not be that much ('specially next to certain prolific people I know) but, questions of quality aside, that is quite an accomplishment for me. :)

Art: Heh heh. Two finished pictures, and one rough sketch. But I actually got a ton accomplished. More on that in a bit.

Time had: Absolutely awesome. ;D

( More details and vacation-related ramblings. )

We're at the hotel now. Havin' lots of fun, doing a bunch of shopping, watching movies, staying up late and sleeping in, letting the dog swim in Lake Superior, and all that. ;D The people at this hotel are wonderful. We were having a bit of trouble with a smell in our other room, but they were totally booked the last two nights. Because it wasn't a simple fix, and the fact that we've been regular customers makes us eligible for free upgrades, as soon as they were able to get one cleaned they gave us a really nice suite with a jacuzzi instead. And, since our guys are now gone and it's just us three not-so-strong women, in our various degrees of physical infirmity, and the hotel doesn't have an elevator, they were nice enough to even move everything for us. So, it's been great so far. :D

Hey, didja know that Leonard Nimoy was in an episode of Bonanza? He was working at a bar, and quite amusingly pathetic. Particularly after he found a woman who'd been killed: (in a weak, almost-wisper) "Help?" (then shouting) "Help! Somebody heeelp!" *giggles madly*

A geek? Who, me? *blinks innocently*

And a random question: What do websites y'all use to upload your art to share it online? Any recommendations for sites that work well? I've been using Geocities, but I'm growing increasingly frustrated with it. I've been doing a ton of drawing lately, and even have a bunch scanned in, sitting on my computer, but haven't had the time/patience to get them online. It's gotten to a point where I can usually save, at best, two or three pictures before it stops working, and I have to shut down all the windows for it and then bring everything back up again, which takes 5-10 minutes. :P It's partly because my internet's not been so great, but even when the internet's doing well - this is just getting too aggravating. Photobucket looks nice, so I've been considering switching to that...

So, 'm off to watch a movie. ;)

Alrighty, so here's a list of the books I read on the trip, and a few of my thoughts on them.


And I must be off now! Much to do, and my grandma (er, step-grandma) is coming up to visit in less than a week. Eep! *scurries off*

First off, a bit of praise and celebration - Ashley's visit to the doctor went well. Apparently the baby weighs about four and a half pounds at the moment, and everything is looking good for a healthy birth. Praise God!

And yesterday was rather exciting... We're going to be gone during karate promotions night, so we were tested early - Nef, Eric, and I are now all green-with-purple belts! Yays! ;D

And then we had a big storm here last night, with us right in the path of the worst of it (bad enough that the weather radio actually mentioned our little town by name o.o). So we all had to rush around to secure everything before it hit, and then piled into our basement bathroom. Five people, two cats, a dog, and a bird are a bit of a tight squeeze in one bathroom. Heh, and even though it doesn't phase Strider in the slightest, the cats have recently demonstrated that thunderstorms make them nervous. Fortunately it tends more toward the clingy, cuddly, and hiding in the shower, rather than going berzerk. ;)

For some reason, having to take shelter during severe weather tends to make most of our family rather punchy and giggly. As when Neffie was giving the animals some water in her cupped hands, and then decided to wipe her hands off on my towel. When I protested and told her to use her own, she said, "But it's way over there!" *points two feet away* XP

Anywho, it turned out all right - storm passed over, and almost immediately the sky cleared up and we could see the moon. No damage to the house, and I don't think we even had anything to speak of to the trees. Less than the last big storm, when one of the trees down by the lake blew over. Fortunately it was a comparatively small one, and it even helpfully toppled right on top of our wood pile - guess it knew where it was going to wind up. ;P

And in just a few hours we'll be heading off to the cabin! So if you don't hear from me in the next week or so, it's not a sign that I don't care or that something drastic's happened - just a sign that I'm out in the middle of nowhere without internet. :D

Talk to y'all when I get back!