Tomorrow I start exercising again. Nothing major -- just an early morning walk with El, maybe a few sit-ups. She wants to slim down for her wedding dress (in September, no rush), and I'd just like to get rid of some of what's gathered at my tummy. The plan is to go out at six every morning for a short walk. We'll see how well we hold up. :-)
I've neglected the book reports for a while; I've been reading plenty, though, in planes and buses and trains. Finished two more Laurell K. Hamilton books, and would have bought the last one, but they were out. Very sad. So I read Michael Swanwick's _The Iron Dragon's Daughter_ instead, which was very good, if quite bleak at first. Actually, pretty bleak all the way through, but the beautiful moments rather make up for it. Recommended. I'll be looking up his other books. And currently I'm reading a book called _Waking Beauty_, by Paul Witcover (for some unknown reason, I really like his name), which is...well...odd. I'm about halfway through, and not sure whether I approve of it or not.
I know, it's an odd sort of judgement to pass on a book, but this is an odd book. A mix of fairytale, fiction, allegory, parable...it borrows liberally from many different folk traditions, and a fair bit of religion and history as well. I *think* it all works, but I'm not certain. I'll let you know what I think when I'm done.
I was reading Ceej's journal today, and she sounds so happy. She has everything she wants, pretty much (well, except perhaps for a bestselling, Pulitzer-prize-winning novel). I admit to some envy. But then I thought about it for a little bit. Sure, I've got stress and strain. I've got some problems to settle. But I'm still so damn lucky. Work I love, people who love me, a comfortable home, my health -- the luxury of enough time to write silly journal entries for people who actually read them... Things could be better, sure. But they could definitely be worse. Tonight, I'm counting blessings.
Have a good night, everyone. Sleep well.