Those of you who read Slumbering Lungfish will have seen this already, but for those who like cute cartoons with rabbits, cats and Korean ska could well enjoy:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/ddautta.php
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This seems a nice segue into all the St Valentine's Day advertising that seems to have sprung up recently. Not that I have anything against St Valentine's Day, (though it seems very little is known about the three saints of that name). But more than a whole month of reminding single people that that they are, in fact, still single seems a bit excessive - unless they're charitably trying for desensitization. Ah well; by the time the day actually rolls around, I'll be at my parents house, probably elbow-deep in trying to indenture myself to the bank for the priviledge of paying rates.
I promise, by the way, that the mortgage references will drop off as soon as it becomes less of a looming iceburg in my life. :)
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If I start reading when I get home, and let myself keep reading until one or two am, I'm finding that I get through about a novel a night. Of course, reading until 1am is a bad, bad idea, since I pay for it at work the next day; but reading half a novel seems to let me get to sleep at a more reasonable hour, so I'm doing my best to aim for that.
What have I been reading recently? Well, a bunch of books by an Australian writer, Sean McMullen - The Centurion's Empire, Souls in the Great Machine and Voyage of the Shadowmoon. All fun, and the last two are first books in series. (I'd actually already read The Miocene Arrow, which is the book after SitGM.) The first has a premise with echoes of Vernor Vinge's Across Realtime, though restricted in scope from just after the death of Christ to the near future. The second looks at a post-apocalyptic world where killer satellites destroy any electronics, and steam engines are banned by all major religions - nice alternate tech stuff. And the third is a fairly straighforward fantasy romp, but possibly the most fun.
I also read Robin McKinley's Sunshine - the setting would make a nice alternate background for a Buffy campaign, being an interesting take on the modern world where magic is an accepted but minor part of daily life. The plot, I'd agree, isn't particularly groundbreaking, but I found it very enjoyable nevertheless. A bit darker and more racey than her previous outings.
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Off to see The Magnificent Butcher with Hix. I have high hopes for it. :)
Posted by svend at January 12, 2005 7:08 PM