Laurabelle’s Blog

I created my dæmon on the Golden Compass movie site. Friends, do you think a tiger dæmon is right for me?

Morning: Got up, took a shower. Thought about cooking eggs, but no time. Shuffled groggily out the door to work.

Day: Hacked lots of sticky stuff on a command line, lunch, hacked some more until I ran out of functioning brain cells. Managed to keep myself busy until the end of the day and finish on a high note (promise of a quick-fix problem for a very sweet lady who is effusive with her thank-yous). Am looking forward to the actual thank-yous tomorrow.

Evening: Came home, husband reheated excellent dinner I made yesterday (chili verde and Spanish rice). Didn’t bother heating corn tortillas; they cool off too quickly anyway. Made crust for quiche tomorrow; left mess for husband to clean up with dishes. Compiled 2.6.22 kernel with new nVidia modules; updated software until X started and kdm could actually log me in.

Now, time for bed, maybe a little reading. Norton Critical Edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray came today, though I doubt I am much up to reading it tonight.

Last week Jeff and I checked out Total Recall from the Oakland Public Library. Jeff thinks this is one of the few passable movies involving Schwarzenegger (if not the only one); I’m not sure I would be so generous with my praise.

In any case, the point of this post is not to critique Arnie’s acting. The point is that this is a movie about humans on Mars.

By chance I ordered Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra at the same time. And I do mean chance; I had absolutely no idea what these books were about when I ordered them, only that they were written by C. S. Lewis, that Jeff had read and liked Out of the Silent Planet, and that we owned the third book of the trilogy and thus that I was obligated to lay my hands on the first two before opening the last.

Out of the Silent Planet is a member of the first, classic generation of science fiction, where almost nothing was known about the conditions in the deep ocean or on the other planets in our solar system, and therefore fantasy was allowed to roam freely where it is now lamentably restricted by fact. For example, the hero of Lewis’ novel simply pokes his head out of his spaceship and breathes freely of the Martian atmosphere.

Anyone familiar with the premise of Total Recall cannot fail to be struck by the contrast. Still, I would be hard pressed to concede that the post-moon-landing movie is any more realistic than Lewis’ seventy-year-old tale.

Neil Gaiman came to town this evening, promoting Anansi Boys and MirrorMask, and the University Bookstore arranged a reading-plus-signing in the University Temple. Jeff and I went, of course. (It was decidedly odd to have a SF/fantasy reading in a Methodist church.)

Tickets were required for admission, although they weren’t expensive; they were free with the purchase of Anansi Boys or $3 without. Some people got in line outside the church, without realizing that they needed tickets, and had to get out of line to go buy them at the bookstore, a block away. The tickets were blue and had little numbers in the corner. Remember the numbers; they come in later.

So Jeff and I went in and found a two-butt-sized place in the pews. The spaces up in the front were filled already, of course, except for a space for about five people, very close to the front, that some idiot was saving for his friends. Creep. A few minutes after Jeff and I got seated, someone from the bookstore went up to the microphone and asked everyone to squeeze in as tight as possible to make space for the people still coming in. She especially told people saving spaces to cut it out. Ha.

Neil came in eventually and talked a little, then read a section from the middle of Anansi Boys. It was a very funny section, and he read it very well. I really like the fact that he’s as good at reading books aloud as he is at writing them. He does different voices for the characters and everything.

After the reading came the questions and answers. Neil said, I’ll do the answers, and he did. Mostly people asked about the status of various movies, and it was interesting. He referred several times to what the statuses of various things had been the previous year when he’d been through, like he was continuing a conversation with old friends that he hadn’t seen in a while. I like that about Neil, too; he hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be a fan.

After the Q&A Neil started signing. People were directed to line up in batches of 100; ticket numbers 1-100 first, then up to 200, etc. I had number 212, and Jeff had 332. Why they were different, I don’t know; Jeff got the tickets at the same time. While we waited for our turn to get things signed, I bought three books that I didn’t yet own: Angels and Visitations, The Last Temptation, and 1602 (unfortunately not the hardback edition).

Also while we waited, the woman who had directed us to squish together started calling out numbers for a raffle. At one point she called 333, which was frustratingly close to Jeff’s number. We discussed the fact that now she’d never call his number, although statistically 332 is just as probable as any other. Eventually numbers 201-300 were allowed into the line, and I inched toward the front of the sanctuary. Jeff, meanwhile, waited at the back.

Eons later, I was at the front of the room (right in front of the microphone), and the raffle-leader called Jeff’s number. He, however, was paying no attention at all. Luckily I got the attention of the leader, who asked me for Jeff’s name and called him through the microphone. What craziness! Luckily I was paying attention and knew his number. A woman standing near me said maybe I should think about finding another boyfriend, but I told her that he’s pretty good otherwise.

Shortly thereafter, I came to the front of the line and Neil signed my books, I thanked him for wearing his wrist out for us, and I went back to sit down and wait for Jeff.

The raffle prize was a beautiful copy of MirrorMask: The Illustrated Film Script of the Motion Picture from the Jim Henson Company and a pass for two to see MirrorMask at the Varsity Theater. I would have gone to see MirrorMask anyway, but the coffee-table book is extra-cool. Besides, this is the first time Jeff has ever won anything at a raffle, and winning is fun. I’m glad he won it rather than I, because I once won $50 at a raffle in junior high. I already had my turn.

Mmm, I’m tired and happy, and I’m going to bed. Good night.

I've been playing around with What Should I Read Next? which is interesting but not fully functional. I'm not just referring to the fact that the site doesn't yet have a critical mass of data for recommendations; that's understandable. What's annoying is that the interface has some bad design choices that I don't understand.

The site's killer app is that users can create a profile of books they have read and liked; this mass of book associations gets chewed up and spat back out as recommendations. So far the recommendations aren't very good, but that has a likelihood of improving with more users and more data. So far so good.

I have a few criticisms, which I will enumerate in list form.

The first line of my current braille transcription assignment (Colder Than Ice by David Patneaude, chapters 2 and 3):

Two of you? Ms. Murphy, young and dark-haired, met them at the classroom door, wearing a smile.

Is it just me, or does that read more like schoolteacher porn than a kids’ book? Bad choice of phrase, perhaps.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is going to be released this Friday night at midnight, and the whole world is going insane, not least KCLS.

KCLS ordered more than 500 copies of this book, and they arrived today. The books were processed and checked in to trigger holds... and they are spending tonight under lock and key in an Associate Director's office. They will be on the holdshelves on Saturday, but not before then.

Yesterday I flew into a tizzy because I thought there might be a problem with processing holds on this title, and with over 2,000 rabid patrons waiting for the book, that could be a catastrophe. Luckily there wasn't a problem (or only a very minor one, easily fixed), and all went smoothly.

It boggles me that one book (just one kid's book!) could cause such a stir. Yeah, it's popular, but so is Tom Clancy. It's ridiculous.

The general feeling among CMS staff was relief that the frenzy is almost over, for them at least, and that they will only have to do this one more time for the last Harry Potter.

Today I finally finished reading Written in Blood: A History of Forensic Detection by Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson. It's nearly 700 pages long and incredibly fascinating, even more so than I thought when I checked it out. Each section focuses on the development of certain techniques of crime detection, usually centered on a weapon (poisons, ballistics) or other evidence (fingerprints, blood, identification of corpses). Because the book is a history of forensic science rather than a history of crime, the crimes described are chosen for their role in developing new techniques. Some of the most infamous murderers, for example Ed Gein, receive the merest mention, whereas the authors describe firsts (for example, the first conviction based on fingerprint evidence) in great detail. For me it was a new way to look at a subject which has long inspired me with a sort of morbid fascination.

The Green River Killer gets a mention as a serial killer who, as of the first edition (1989), had not yet been caught. Gary Ridgway was only caught about a year and a half ago. That reminds me how much time has passed since Written in Blood was first, uh, written (though hopefully not in blood or any other body fluid). I wonder what else has changed since then?

First I started knitting. Then it was the sensible shoes, the occasional severe bun, and the horn-rimmed glasses.

Now I’ve started reading murder mysteries!

My mother says it’s a slippery slope. I asked what was at the bottom, and she said there isn’t one, it just keeps going.

I recently read Terry Pratchett's newest Discworld novel, Going Postal. The whole book was very good, but even if it wasn't, it all would have been worth it for one single line.

An omniscope is one of the most powerful instruments known to magic, and therefore one of the most useless.

It can see everything, with ease. Getting it to see anything is where wonders have to be performed, because there is so much everything—which is to say, everything that can, will, has, should, or might happen in all possible universes—that anything, any previously specified thing, is very hard to find. ...

Archchancellor Ridcully thumped the side of the thing with his hand, causing it to rock.

It's still not working, Mr. Stibbons! he bellowed. Here's that damn enormous fiery eye again!