(no subject)

Back at work. Still no computer to call my own (I'm using a spare). ARGH. Rumour has it they may get to us today. Hate not being at my desk. Hate not having access to my C drive (I'll be backing up on the network from now on, you betcha).

Good weekend at the cottage -- me, J, pariah_ink, crankygrrl, monkeycommando, S, baby, JL (one day only), and assorted dogs. It took FOREVER to get out of town Friday night owing to the monsoon; we finally arrived a little after 9 p.m. (the trip normally takes an hour, maybe an hour and a half). Fortunately my parents had left mountains of spaghetti sauce so it didn't take too long to create dinner. Saturday was on the grey and gloomy side, but we played with the baby and the dogs, read, ate, etc. I won at Trivial Pursuit (have to admit the random distribution of easy questions favoured me significantly). Sunday gorgeous and we even got the canoe out (considered sailing but nobody else felt like it and I'm not really comfortable sailing Pippa by myself -- too many sheets, plus centreboard). Drove down in time to watch most of Doctor Who.

It feels like fall today. I like fall, not just because my birthday's in October but because it feels like a time for new beginnings, warmer clothes, hikes in the woods, school supplies. But I wish the cool weather had held off until September.

YES!

Via bookslut, someone else who feels that Elizabeth Bennett is usually just way too gorgeous on film. And who likes Persuasion, too (copied because of tiresome registration procedure):

The power of plain
August 20, 2005

The film world's love affair with beauty does no justice to the power of literature's great heroines, writes Michelle Griffin.

Keira Knightley is a very beautiful young actress, not yet one-and-20, who looks as sweet and skittish as a young filly, right down to the lanky shanks and aristocratic cheekbones. Her career has certainly bolted - since she played the spunky tomboy in 2002's Bend It Like Beckham, she's worked on 16 films. And now she's about to star in what is fast becoming the key role in the classy starlet's rung-climbing repertoire, Elizabeth Bennet, in yet another remake of Pride and Prejudice.

If her performances in Pirates of the Caribbean and Bend It like Beckham are anything to go by, Knightley delivers repartee as if she's reading flash cards, but let's leave that aside. Knightley is yet another actress completely unsuited to the part because she is far too pretty. ( continued... )

House report: Monday

My aunt reports:

( Baked eggs, deluges, and sound insulation )

(no subject)

They fixed my computer!

Happy, happy day!

I would embrace it if, you know, that were easier.

pimpage

Nalo Hopkinson is a kick-ass and beautiful writer (who lives in Toronto). Last week, I found her blog (via The White List, which swestrup kindly posted). It's syndicated at naloblogger. It's wonderful. (And apparently her basement flooded slightly in Friday's storm, which gives me strong fellow-feeling for her.)

I'm behind on her work. I need to fix that.

Memesheep

Baa.

Your Birthdate: October 31

Your birthday suggests that you are a good organizer and manager, an energetic and dependable worker; attributes often showing success in the business world. Serious and sincere, you have the patience and determination necessary to accomplish a great deal. Your approach can be original, but often rigid and stubborn. Sensitivity may be present, but feeling are likely to be repressed. You are good with detail and insist on accuracy, but at times scatter energies. You're a practical thinker, but not without imagination. You love travel and don't like to live alone. You should probably marry early, for responsibility is necessary for your stability.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

oh sure, now they tell me.