Berta went to Johnstown for the weekend, and Abby and I stayed home and hung out.
I managed to finish reading Interface, which was a fairly good read. It's not a pure Neal Stephenson book, but it's pretty good. It's about a governor who has a stroke (2 actually) and whose brain is fitted with a chip that allows the brain to rebuild damaged neuro-pathways. At the same time, he begins a campaign for the presidency, backed by a hidden network of very, very rich people who make every effort that this third-party candidate is the favorite of the people.
True to Neal Stephenson's style, the book ends somewhat oddly, but does wrap things up a bit more than other books of his I've read. That is to say, instead of ending the book in utter chaos or dismay, there is a nice section at the end that explains summarily what happens after the events of which the book mostly speaks. Nice.
If you looked at the link above, you'll notice that the book is written by Stephen Bury. Stephen Bury is a pen name that Neal Stephenson uses when co-writing with his uncle, J. Frederick Geroge. I have only one book left that has anything to do with Stephenson, which is The Cobweb. I'm also looking forward to his new book due in September, Quicksilver, which I already have on order.
I also started reading the fifth Harry Potter book, the Order of the Phoenix. I'm pretty far into the book (125+ pages), and I don't like it. I want quidditch. I want Hogwarts. I want (of all the stupid things) Hagrid. I simply can't stand this perfectly boring Order of the Pheonix and the weird house in which Harry et al are staying. Phooey. I hope the book picks up. At least the fourth book's non-Hogwarts start was interesting. This is just, "eh."
Also for my summer reading list I think I should add William Gibson's most recent novel, Pattern Recognition. I've been meaning to pick it up, but just haven't. I've also told some people I would read certain other books that are stored on my Amazon wish list, and I should probably do that. I think every book on the list is over 900 pages. Sigh.
I was also looking for something new by Neil Gaiman, and stumbled upon this weird unreleased thing. So I stopped by Neil's web site to see what that was all about. While there, I notices Two Plays for Voices, both of which I have already read. But can I think of a reason why I would want a copy of this on audio? Hmm. And the opening statement on the site for Coraline was easily the best thing I've read in the past 4 hours, even though the cool flash doodad proceeded to crash Opera. When I grow up, I want to be Neil; cool, creepy, eccentric, prolific. His webmaster's not to shabby, either.
Upon and beyond that, I wanted to add a couple of other tidbits while I'm here.
I had an incident with a tire and a stray bolt last week, and have been meaning to record something about it. I should do that soon before I forget what happened and where the pictures are.
I've been noticing in writing email to friends lately that I seem to be back into reviewing my own writing. Editing. It's interesting because when I read through some of my older writing, it doesn't sound like me at all. That is, it sounds good. I wonder if what I write today will read better in the future than what I'm looking back on now in wonder. Don't worry- If you can't understand that last sentence, then you understand my point even more completely than I could describe in words. Anyway, I wonder if all of this reading and writing is having a beneficial effect on the actual content of my writing and imagination.
I went out shopping with Mom to get some dresses for Abby as a result of my dismay in finding so few dresses in her inventory. She's all stocked up now. I will have to take some pictures so that you distant folks can check in on the little squirt. She's so cool.
Alright... This headache I have now must be pretty bad, since I can't feel the Excedrin. It's not caused by lack of sleep. Maybe it's all the reading? That would be unfortunate.
