Return of the Girl

I’m back, but not quite sure how to jump back into talking here. Waves...ummm. I could tell you what I’ve been up to, but the frame of mind I’m in now it could get rambly (as all my intros seem to be now), so let’s go for some highlights and a challenge wrap up:

Jersey - lovely, great food, but lacking in Jersey cows (we saw six on the whole island)

Nerds Heart YA – has started, see all the first round decisions so far at the blog

Dunsinane (or Macbeth: The Sequel) at the Swan theatre – nice blend of knowing modern metaphor, revisionism and Shakespearean drama conventions, disappointingly anti-Shakespearean lack of main character death (die Seaworth, die), I liked the soldier boy narrator best, recommended

Car booting - they make you get up at 5am, still tired two days later, cleared stuff, made decent money (more than we’d have made working the same four hours at a minimum wage job, a bit more than I’d have made working three hours at my job)
Reading – didn’t read much while I was away, which is pretty usual for me unless I’m on a beach holiday, reread ‘Wyrd Sisters’ by Terry Pratchett, still gold, then mainlined ‘Slice of Cherry’ by Dia Reeves in post car boot sale haze of horror filled wonder (so much inventive murder, hurray)

Tv watching – so. much. crime drama British tv, I will talk about this later after I recover from the finale of ‘The Shadow Line’, which seemed to be written by someone who felt that ‘The Departed’ kind of wussed out in the killing department
Brain – feels much better, circular thinking cut back, dogs now sleeping peacefully instead of pursuing obsession with tails (hurrah)

The Once Upon a Time challenge – this year I decided I’d just try to read one book, so of couse I ended up reading more fantasy than I ever have and watched some films as well, amazing what taking the pressure off will do:

Read

'The World More Full of Weeping' – Robert J Wiersama (fantasy/fairytale feel)
'Demonglass' – Rachel Hawkins (fantasy)
'Iceland' – Betsy Toibin (myth)
'The Iron Witch' - Karen Mahoney (fantasy/myth based)
'Orphans of Eldorado' – Milton Hatoum (myth)
'Fury of the Phoenix' – Cindy Pon (fantasy)

Watched

'Red Riding Hood' (fairytale)
'Thor' (myth)
'Camelot': longass episode The First (legend) – will talk more about this and my Athurian legend reread later, the first episode has won me over and reminds me I need to crack my huge illustrated edition of Mallorey’s tales

And apart from the Hatoum movella these were all very satifying. How did everyone else get on during this challenge?

That's me back then, hopefully for a good long while of regular posting and feed reading. Again...waves.