updates and shout outs

I am so excited for Carl who got a wonderful shout out at Endicott Studios on their April 29 entry.....'My hat is off to the Stainless Steel Droppings blog, which just keeps getting better and better." Wow. Posted by Terri Windling herself. Congratulations, Carl, and well-deserved. He has had an amazing book week, and incredible posts, and is generally as enthusiastic and encouraging towards and about reading and books as you could ever hope to meet. He does so much to let the rest of us find the incredible fantasy art being done, as well hosting the Once Upon a Time and RIP challenges.

Also, in Ian Rankin's Exit Music (to be reviewed shortly), Ottawa was mentioned! Yes, my home city, was in an Ian Rankin novel! One of my favourite mystery writers! It has to do with a Russian poet, so my guess is we got a mention because we have an amazing Writer's Festival held here yearly now, and Mr Rankin came in 2004. I was supposed to go hear him read, with a friend, but she backed out, and as I was very very pregnant at the time, I didn't want to go out at night by myself, so I ended up missing him. To which I really regret, and vow next time he comes, I will be there! I did get to hear Kathy Reichs read from one of her mysteries the previous year, which was very enjoyable. So, Ottawa makes it on the literary map....

Finally, two updates: the new toilets have arrived. They are parked in each bathroom. We are now trying to book a plumber. One would think this would be easier, but it's not,and it's turning into an epic journey. One I would rather not experience! Next week sometime, maybe, they will actually be installed and working.....
And at work, we had our special team-meeting yesterday morning. We all have to work a 9-5 shift for three weeks during the summer. This is the shift I normally work, but can't because of Toby's new job. While everyone was very polite in the meeting, they were rather stunned. Everyone else works 7-3 or 7:30-3:30, so this is a radical change, and previously we could work the hours we wanted. However, we are Operations (code for providing a service to the public) so we have to have staff on during normal work hours. Anyway, two of them did complain, the third who wants to be supervisor next didn't say anything but has avoided me ever since, and the last one made a comment about making sure work (meaning my work, since the work I do has the information needed for the weekends) "should be done as much as possible before 3 pm", to which I'm still furious and am glad he is trying for a job in another department. Just another day at the office!!! But, I will say, my boss and assistant manager went out of their way to point out any new staff have to work the later hours too, that this is required by the department now (ie the directors have said so). They have done their best to accommodate me, and I can't ask for any more. Now I have to hope the buses co-operate and I get to both daycares in time each night!!! The Nanny Diaries didn't cover this aspect of child-rearing, then again, I don't have a nanny!

Happy reading! Hope you have a good book for the weekend! I can pick up The Hero with a Thousand Faces again because it's May - the Non-Fiction Five challenge starts now! - and I'm almost half-way through A History of Reading, and catching up on the stories I haven't read yet in Fragile Things. It's the weekend!

Sunday night....

Because it's late and I am too tired, here is a link to a great site to visit: Endicott Studios has for their Sunday poem, a collection of six Little Red Riding Hood poems. In perfect keeping with the OUaT 2 Challenge we are all doing, and National Poetry Month. Three of my favourite poets are represented there - Anne Sexton, Carol Ann Duffy, and Jeanine Hall Gailey, who I discovered at their site. I love Carol Ann's "Little Red-Cap". And I love Little Riding Hood. One of my favourite horror movies is "The Company of Wolves", based on an Angela Carter short story (about Little Red Riding Hood) which I will be reading in her short story collection "The Bloody Chamber" next month. I've never read it before and am very anxious to get to it. She is my May selection for the birthday challenge, so I have to wait....I adore the artwork Terri Windling showcases on this site, and the book reviews and posts on happenings in the fantasy world make this a must-visit blog for me. I hope you enjoy it too, and find inspiration and good books to read, there!

Meanwhile, I have been busy reading. I finished "Shaman's Crossing" by Robin Hobb. I will be writing a review, hopefully tomorrow. (Loved it, folks, ecstatic fantasy fan here). I started "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky this evening, and am having a hard time putting it down. Since I had the same welcome difficulty with Shaman's Crossing, this is delightful!

I have some book reviews to catch up on, and I've been tagged by
Emily to do a meme, and am sorting through various weird things about me to find what i want to make public!!! (How weird am I? stay tuned to find out!) Thanks, Emily! Hers was fun too, so I've linked to her post also so you can go find out how weird and wonderful the book blogging community really is. She's hilarious, which I know I've said before about her.

My husband is currently out of work - between contracts with the government, so it's putting added stress on us here. If I post slightly less in the next while, it's because I'll be reading more, my usual way of dealing with stress. Good for getting through my challenges, though!!!

Happy reading, and remember to read a poem or two for National Poetry month! I figure reading the six on Endicott studios site is an easy way to bring some poetry in!

Oh, and Bloglily gave a beautiful post on libraries yesterday at her fun site Bloglily. I've linked you to it. It's worth reading too. And now it looks like I'll be heading back to the library for a bit, until spouse lands his next contract.....I just hate having to let the books go back to the library! I am so reluctant to take them back out of my house.... I know they're not mine, but I want them to be!!! Then I end up owing late fees (even though we can renew a ridiculous amount of times) because I think i will take them back, but then I am reluctant to go there, or I renew a week after they are due!....but a great resource and a way to try authors and books before buying them. My problem is I like so many books and authors, I want to keep them all! I want my very own library!! there I said it, one weird thing...I want to build my very own Susan's Library..... I think I am a book junkie as well as a book slut!