It's Raining, It's Boring

We Chicagoans are trapped in some evil weather vortex--even more evil than usual, I should say, because heaven knows the weather here is never any good. But as a result of recent exceptionally foul throwdowns-from-the-skies ~~

I have lost power at home several times. Even when I have power, the cable is usually out. (Because I am a big fan of watching/listening to movies while knitting, this is having something of an impact on my happy little rut.)

I was trapped in the mall yesterday. The tornado sirens went off (again, sigh) and the public safety officers sealed the doors so that nobody could leave until the danger passed. I'm not a fan of the mall to begin with, so this was annoying.

Everything is flooded, but not continuously. A road may be perfectly passable on your way to the grocery store, and underwater on your way home. This morning, they closed one of the interstates. This makes everyday commutes and errands an adventure.

Even when I have power, I don't dare use the computer or modem. My computer took a lightning hit last year. The same surge wiped out a neighbor's television, but my computer survived in a weakened condition. I won't tempt fate by using my computer when we're averaging 200 lightning strikes per hour.

Let me just say, I have officially reached the point where I'm bored with all these disruptions. I'm over it. I like my routine, and while change can sometimes be exciting, this kind of change for this long is just ... boring. I've run out of "special rainy day projects" and am falling way behind on my work. And I'm really sick of being awakened half the night by lightning and thunder loud enough to knock pictures off the walls. Do you hear me, Mother Nature? Enough, already!

A Few Book Notes

The same thing happens every year. I go to the RWA national convention, and everywhere I go, people give me books. For free. Piles and piles of them. You walk in the door and they hand you a bag with a half-dozen titles. You go to lunch and have to move the stack off your chair in order to sit down. You take a left instead of a right, and end up in a room where authors are signing freebies. It never ends. This is a very good thing.

There have been some years I have shipped home over 200 titles from RWA. This year, I exercised some restraint and took only 60 or 70. I've already distributed perhaps half of those titles to co-workers, my sister, my mother, other friends. And that leaves me three dozen romance novels on my shelves.

So as a result, I've been going through my annual post-RWA romance reading blitz just to clear my shelves. Honestly, I find it hard to edit romance novels all day and then read them for pleasure in the evening--usually I read anything but romance just to cleanse my palate. But I am reading them now, and if there's one worth mentioning here, I will do so. Every now and then I stumble on one that's really a cut above.

That hasn't happened yet with the current crop. I would describe all of them as solid, enjoyable, and unremarkable. The Madeline Hunter title is better than most, but the same could be said of all her books. The Candace Bushnell is pretty bad, offensive even, but it's not really a romance. I read an Eden Bradley that was a better-than-most example of female submission erotic romance, and that's a sub-subgenre that's very difficult to do well.

But this is why there haven't been any book reports lately. It's a temporary situation.

Sockgress Report

I hope to have pictures of socks-in-progress to post later. Probably much later. I will be watching the Wild Demon Boy this afternoon and this evening, which means most of the day will be spend arguing with him about the need to wear his sling and trying to keep him from breaking any bones. Any more bones, I should say.

And of course, it's supposed to storm later. (sigh)