New icon love!

iconsbycurtana is at it again. I love Madeleine L'Engle with much love, and so I snagged it. I appear to have misplaced my copy of Many Waters, and it turns out there's a fifth book in the series (featuring Meg's daughter, I believe), which means I may have to pick them up. Unfortunately, they have once again changed the look of the books, which means my shelves won't match. Again.

Have I mentioned how much I hate it when publishing houses change the look of their books? Especially when they do it mid-series (not the case this time, but still). There is a special place in hell, too, for the publishing houses that not only change the look of their books, but also change the size by a few millimetres (sometimes up to half a centimetre), because then the books no longer fit on the same shelf, damn them!

*pant pant*

So yes. Special hell.

In random news, I appear to have done something weird to my finger. The middle joint is stiff, and feels tight when I try to bend it too far. It doesn't hurt or anything, but it's uncomfortable.

The weekend was lovely, if far too short. Slept a bit on Saturday, got to see ashforestwalker briefly, and watched Persepolis with BorderCrossing. It's a really interesting film, about a girl growing up in Iran during the war, and the effect it had on her and her family. Interesting graphics, all hand-drawn animation (shenlo, rowen26 and karine, you might find it interesting, technique-wise), and a profoundly moving storyline. It's autobiographical, but the animation (based on the graphic novel) gives it a dreamlike quality which is quite mesmerizing.

In the evening I went to see owldaughter's concert, and sat with pasley and Devon, ashforestwalker and Liam, and had a very nice time indeed. The LCO has gained a lot in quality of sound with their new conductor, so all in all it was quite enjoyable.

On Sunday there was some mad scrambling to get out the door in time for Meeting, and I ended up being too late to attend, which sucked. I got some other stuff done, but not all my errands got run, and thus the morning was hectic and felt a bit wasted.

I was supposed to spend the afternoon cooking with luvenditti and toughlovemuse, but the latter was felled by a migraine right before, and had to cancel at the last minute, much to everyone's disappointment (including hers, I'm thinking). So luvenditti and I made soup, and cabbage rolls, and spaghetti sauce, and meatballs, and sausages, and homemade pasta.

I am SO psyched about the homemade pasta! I have my own pasta maker now (courtesy of one of my coworkers, who very generously gave me his old one when he got a new electronic one), and I can hardly wait to start making my own! The recipe for pasta we used was not a difficult one, so it should be pretty easy to remember.

I got to bed really late, and as a result I am a bit twitchy this morning.

It also turns out that the Alouettes lost. Boo.

Holiday Planning

I am getting all sorts of excited about the upcoming holiday. I am planning decorations and parties (going to parties, not hosting them: as much as I'd like to, I think the holiday season is packed enough with parties as it is without my adding to the pile).

I am feeling all bake-y, too. The Shindig is coming up this weekend, and I am of a mind to do some cooking and baking to bring up with me. I don't have much time in which to do it, but I'm sure I can pull something off. Banana bread springs to mind, and maybe soup of some kind. I need to make enough to feed everyone there, which is going to be a Whole Lot Of People. I haven't counted, but I should probably do that. At least two loaves of banana bread, maybe more.

I figure also that if I bring a bunch of food, it will be that much less that poor fearsclave and Carolyn will have to do.

I'm also participating in a cookie exchange. Yummy, yummy cookies. I am looking forward to it. I'm going to be making my family's Christmas sugar cookies, which are a tradition.

*bounce*

I have to find nice outdoor lights for Christmas. Eee!

Is Mercury retrograde?

Either my skills at communicating with tact and sensitivity have taken an epic turn and are now composed of weapons-grade fail, or half of my friends/family/acquaintances are willfully misinterpreting things I say as slights/insults, or Mercury is retrograde. This has happened so many times over the last little while that it can no longer be considered coincidence.

Please tell me Mercury is retrograde. The other two options are NOT my idea of fun.