I Speak With the Tongue of a Thousand White-Hot Lies!

I have gone a little crazy in the inter-library loan department, especially considering it's almost Christmas. I have, in my reading stack, two October Daye books, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Legend, Ganymeade, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Shine, plus my father sent me home last week with the new Stephen King book (it's about time travel and the Kennedy assassination, so of course he got it before I did). And I'm still waiting on two books to come into the library.

NO MORE BOOKS.

On the other hand, I have read 70 books in 2011. (Thank you, Goodreads, for making it easy and convenient for me to keep track all year.) This is probably down from my pre-Zweeble days, but I feel it's a respectable number.

I've come to the disturbing conclusion that there are too many entertainment options out there for me, and that I don't have enough time to really watch/read/play/hear everything I want to. (This then leads to some questions of whether or not I have enough life left to catch up, and that sounds like I'm a video game character, but whatever.) I knew I was in trouble when being required to cut comics out of our budget felt more like relief because I'd no longer be woefully behind than sorrow at losing the stories.

If 2011 was about rolling with and trying to embrace Change, I think perhaps 2012 will be about reassessing and sort of narrowing my focus to what I really want to do with my "copious" spare time. Books, yes. Probably less TV. I'd like to see a few more movies, but I think Scott and I might have to re-designate a movie night to manage that. Then we can alternate with video game nights, maybe.

That leaves the internet, my biggest time-suck ...

Oy, I feel like sludge. I spent a solid week and a half dealing with allergy crud, but yesterday was the first day I didn't have to blow toxic waste out of my sinuses every ten minutes. And then ...

(cue ominous music)

... later that night, as Scott and I played some more Lego Harry Potter,* I realized I had a sore throat.

This time out, I don't have toxic waste in my sinuses (yet), but I'm achy and when my throat isn't sore, it feels thick. Also, I took Allegra, so I feel pretty much stoned. As in, I got hit by a giant rock and have been stunned into submission.

Now, the achiness could just be from our ancient and decrepit mattress, so I'm not sure if I'm actually coming down with something or if I'm just dealing, once again, with crazy allergies. I suppose it doesn't matter much one way or the other at the moment. I'm not sure why the idea of being sick makes me go into hurricane-watch mode ("Is it headed this way? Maybe, maybe not--wait, it's crossing Cuba; no, no, it's turning toward Mexico ..."), but it does.


*The Zweeble and I actually beat the end of Year One the other day; I didn't think we'd actually been that close to the end, and it spurred me to want to play some more. The thing is, though, while I adored all the Lego Star Wars games, and the Lego Indiana Jones game, the Lego Batman and Harry Potter games haven't had the same thrill. I think it's because they've added all this extra stuff to them, and they're getting a little cluttered. Also, with the Harry Potter game, there are way too many cut scenes and they go on forever.

Plus, why don't you get to fly the car in Year Two?!

1. Zweeb's got a cold. But I think he's doing better today. I was considering taking him to the library because he's so bouncy, but then I noticed that any time he sat still for a few seconds he looked exhausted. So I've been letting him careen around the house, and now he's crashed out in our bed.

2. Two days ago we were freezing to death, and today I have the windows open. And it's kind of muggy. Ah, Florida.

3. My husband is a big squishy goofball and he loves me. That's all.

4. I finished Gone Baby Gone and am now reading Shutter Island by the same author. (Yes, the Leonardo DiCaprio movie is based on this book.**) Why Shutter Island and not another of Lehane's novels (like the one about the stalker that I wanted to read next)? Because this is the one they had at Target. And it's a mass market paperback, so it's cheap. I felt like a bit of a doofus buying the thing yesterday when I was planning a library trip today ... but now I am vindicated!

So now I have read three Dennis Lehane novels, and all three are the books he's had made into movies. (I'm pretty sure there aren't more.) And not on purpose.

5. Jason's coming down tomorrow for Scott's birthday, so Scott bought him a new Magic deck with the extra, adds-to-the-"fun," annoying side cards. This is Scott's present. Because what my husband wants for his birthday is to have geeky fun. And to cook, which he's also doing. (Every time I look at this crazy-ass ham that's soaking in a container in the guest shower, I think of how on Mythbusters they always use pork to simulate human flesh.) I'm looking forward to making a Jason-Mii, because I'm pretty sure our little geek-in-training is going to want to play Mario Party.

**Scott called the ending when we saw the preview, so I am looking forward to seeing if he was right.

So my printer died for the third time last night, and I gave up on it. Sure, they'll send me a new print head, and sure it'd get here--probably--in time for me to print the stuff I need, but you know what? I'm done. So I went out and got a Canon, and thus far it's pretty sweet. I'm now getting caught up on printing Zweeble pictures.

Said Zweeble is with his grandparents for the weekend, so I can get work done. Scott put together his Harley Davidson rocking motorcycle, which is also pretty sweet and not nearly as tacky as it might sound.

I got the Curious Village video game for the DS, which is really cute. The puzzles are actually challenging (well, okay, some of them are easy), which may say more about my logic skills than their actual difficulty, but whatever.

In music news, I am really enjoying Pink's new song--any song with a chorus that involves calling your ex- a tool is okay by me. Scott also found a mash-up of "Bootylicious" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that is disturbingly kewl. And I downloaded the Doctor Horrible soundtrack, and am reminded that when his cast can really sing, Joss Whedon can write musical numbers. (Look, I love "Once More With Feeling" as much as the next Buffy fan, but we all know Sarah Michelle Gellar shouldn't join the cast of Chicago, like, ever.) Plus, I love Neil Patrick Harris. I'd like to have him and Johnny Depp over for dinner.

I'm going to see if Scott will stop playing with his new lava-lamp PS2 controller long enough to go for a bike ride, and then negotiate for the TV time to watch the next episode of Jekyll. Leisure. I remember you.

(And yet, I still miss the little monkey running around making growling noises.)

Our e-mail is down, so this is the only way I can give Scott the link:

Pandemic II. The flash game for when you hate the world and want to take it out in a giant plague. This is satisfying even when all you do is take out five or six countries.

So, in the end, not only will my insurance company not cover the topical gel stuff, there's nothing similar that can be prescribed because they won't cover that, either. It's all about Retin-A and use for wrinkles, and apparently how no woman over 30 (or 18, according to the nurse at the office) has acne, she must want this stuff for wrinkles.

For the record, while I have gray hair, I do not, as yet, have wrinkles.

Anyway. I'm slightly suspicious of the dermatology office, but that's neither here nor there. They told me to use the other stuff, they're the big ones, and after a quick call to the pharmacy,** I found that the other two scripts are covered, but they won't be in until tomorrow. That's fine. I have samples.

So, a pox on the houses of all the people involved in this policy--those who ruined it for the rest of us by abusing the system, and those who made the rule.

There are further bright spots in my day, though--lots of work done, my to-do list continuing to be plowed through, and hugs from my kid. So ... hm. I'd say it works out to being a good day.

Oh, and Guitar Hero has effectively killed my enjoyment of "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Message in a Bottle."

**I actually tried to find this out on the website. I have a master's degree in English, and I could *not* understand what this site was telling me.

I have all kinds of wacky stories--like the bagger lady at the grocery store who played with the Zweeble rather than help me put my groceries in the car, and leaned right into his little baby face as she told me she'd been sick the day before ... um, STAY OUT OF MY KID'S FACE, TYPHOID MARY!!!!!!! Can you buy Purell by the barrel?!--but I have no *time* anymore!

But, the basics:

1. Trying to read The Three Musketeers because it was on top of the stack, but I'm not really in a reading mood of late. Yeah, it happens every so often.

2. Doctor Who season finale, and then video game night with the husband!

3. Watched the third (6th?) Star Wars movie, and realized that I have two dilemmas when the Zweeble gets older: in what order do I show these movies to him, and when I do, how am I going to keep from spoiling stuff?

4. I've been playing Superman with the Zweeble, which he seems to like--I lift him over my head and do the "It's a bird! ..." thing, then bring him in for a landing and list all the nefarious evildoers he has defeated. He's very good at landing and striking a heroic pose. The thing is, whenever I start "singing" the Superman theme music ("Bum bah da bum bum, BUM BUM BUM, bum bah da bum bum, BA BUH-DUM!!!"), he cracks up. I've tried to explain that this is his theme music, he can't find it funny (at least not until I get to the "Can you read my mind ..." bit, but I don't plan on ever getting to that part, so it's good), but he doesn't see my point.

All right, I have shopping to do and a kitchen to clean, and only nap time to do it all in ...

Today the Zweeble and I are going to go have lunch with dealio. I could very easily stay in the house all the time with the baby--not because I want to nest or anything, just out of inertia and paranoia about the heat--and that is definitely not a good idea, so I try to get out of the house with him once or twice a week, at least.

The Evil Empire is surprisingly child-friendly. Scott's been able to watch the baby for an hour or so while I've been at an appointment, and nobody has had a problem with my using them as a pit stop when I've been out and needed to change diapers. Actually, after some staff changes, the Evil Empire is not quite so Evil. Maybe a Vaguely Malevolent Empire?

He's outgrowing the swing, our Zweeble. He used to be too small for it. But at the moment, he's swinging and grinning and gurgling. God help me, I birthed a morning person. I should have guessed--when I was pregnant, he'd wake up and start kicking about 5am.

In an attempt to find a form of entertainment that I can easily put aside when the baby cries, I broke out my Ninetendo Dual Screen. I tried Nintendogs again, and now that I have an attention span of more than three minutes ... well, it's not much fun. Kinda pointless, even for a video game. Plus, I have to take care of a real child, so why do I want to do take care of a bunch of virtual dogs? My gaming should not hew so closely to my life. I have Big Brain Academy, but that's not the kind of extended-playing thing that I was looking for. And then I remembered ... Jason got me Final Fantasy III for Christmas, and I never felt like I had the attention span, when I was pregnant, to play it. So I started the game, and ... it's fun. Oddly like Pokemon, but I'm enjoying not having to catch my team, and the whole jobs aspect (with the attendant costumes--oh, people, the costumes! I'm choosing jobs by how ridiculous they make the characters look!) is fun. Like a lot of games, it doesn't know what to do with the touch-screen thing: it's actually easier to play the game with buttons, but when the Zweeble's insisting on napping in my arm, I can play it one-handed with the stylus.

I downloaded a bunch of songs off of "Instant Karma," the charity album for Darfur relief that is all John Lennon covers. Scott's and my favorite of those (I think it's a favorite for both of us) is Regina Spektor's cover of "Real Love." I also recently downloaded "Tiny Dancer," because I heard it on the radio and remembered how much I like it. I love old Elton John.

And I need to get reading, because I have half a Falco book to finish still, and the New Harry Potter comes out soon.

My sad news: didn't see Pirates of the Carribbean, and it's not in any of the theaters around here anymore. I'm bummed. :( I shall live, though.

Ack, baby's fussing.