Day 157: Had our morning interrupted by a fire alarm! Turns out it was an unannounced drill, so no real danger or anything, but it was definitely an unexpected minor adventure.
Personal
The stuff about me and my life. The “diary” side of blogging.
📚 Queen Wallis by C.J. Carey
55/2023 – ⭐⭐⭐
A sequel to Widowland, one of this year’s Philip K. Dick Award-nominated books, set in an alternate-history UK where Germany won WWII, and the UK is now an allied protectorate of Germany, under the nominal reign of Queen Wallace Simpson, entirely reduced to a figurehead. Following the events of Widowland, and in anticipation of the first diplomatic visit from the United States in years, England is under even tighter control. The importance of literature and poetry are important threads again, and the book does a good job of continuing the story after the climax of Widowland, picking up threads and quite believably ratcheting up the tension. I’ll definitely be interested to see if the series continues on.
Year 50 Day 156
Day 156: Some afternoons it’s really nice to be able to take a few minutes to step out on the balcony and watch students practicing softball down below.
Year 50 Day 155
Day 155: The other bit of lights we put up are these orange strings all across our back porch. Mostly only visible to us, but can just be glimpsed from the street if someone glances over at just the right time as they drive by.
Year 50 Day 154
Day 154: I witnessed a murder on the way off campus!
Year 50 Day 153
Day 153: Since yesterday’s shot of me putting up our Halloween lights was taken during the day, I figured one taken after sundown tonight to show them lit up was in order. Much more impressive this way!
Year 50 Day 152
Day 152: It’s the first day of October, so it’s time for the spooky season lights to go up!
Year 50 Day 151
Day 151: Some days are just kind of cranky, but having an angry opossum declaring that ‘everything is fine’ does help a bit.
📚 The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
54/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1991 Hugo Best Novel
Miles’s adventures continue, with all the twists, fun characters, double-crosses, and humor that make this series so enjoyable. The adventure is fun, but it really is the characters and how they relate to each other that impress the most. Four books in, and so far the only disappointment is that I didn’t find this series earlier.
Year 50 Day 150
Day 150: This is what happens when a coworker is cleaning off their shelves and comes to the office with a box of free-for-the-taking DVDs.