Posts Tagged → Urban Fantasy

Snowless snow

“There’s no way we’ll have a snow day tomorrow,” I believe were my exact words to students yesterday.

We have the day off.

I knew there was snow in the forecast, but it looked like a small amount and our district is notoriously stingy with “snow days” to begin with, so I figured there was a snowstorm’s chance in hell that we’d actually have a snow day.

While I’m not going to complain — it’s always nice to have a break in the middle of the week — I am confused by the decision. It’s noon now and it hasn’t yet snowed a single flake. It’s cold and it’s gray and it’s windy, but “cold, gray, and windy” describes Nebraska 50% of the year.

I’ve started reading a book called “The Atrocity Archives” by Charles Stross. It’s the first book in a series called “The Laundry Files,” which seems to be about a British IT guy who’s employed by a government agency (“The Laundry”) that fights against extra-dimensional Lovecraftian horrors.

Sounds like a hoot!

I picked up “The Atrocity Archives” because I was hankering a little Brian Lumley, who used to write books with covers like this before he died a few years ago:

“Necroscope” is a series about a guy who can talk to dead people and fights against an intense body-horrorish breed of vampire (Wamphyri!) from an alternate universe. There are about 16 books in the Necroscope series, and I was really into them when I was in college.

The Laundry Files should scratch that particular itch, but I know very little about these books. (Which is pretty fun, actually. I feel like I usually know a lot about books I read before I read them, which helps me appreciate the writing but leaves little room for surprises.) I’m excited to see what The Laundry Files is all about.

Perfect fodder for a snowless snow day.

Night mayonnaise

Had a slow morning. Up at 5:00 AM to drink tea, watch the news, and read a bit. That’s my general morning routine but, as I’ve posted about before, I don’t often sleep well. Sometimes I snooze until around 6:00, sometimes I randomly wake up at 4:00.

This morning, Good Morning America actually had a brief report stating that the Melania documentary was doing well based on ticket sales, which is an astounding thing to hear on the news. (First, that is an absolute lie. Nobody cares and nobody went to see it, probably including the first lady herself. Second, even reporting on this visual diarrhea is the result of coercion.)

The struggle continues to find a news station that isn’t complete garbage. Or, at this point, I suppose I should say that the struggle continues to find something to do with my time in a post-news landscape, because I doubt I’ll find any news channels that are worth a damn.

I mean. Were these news shows always trash but I just never noticed? I feel like the news used to have integrity. Or, at least, some broadcasters did. Now, though, I feel like I’d be better off hanging around a public toilet, jumping into stalls right after people flush and demanding of the swirling water, “TELL ME HOW THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS DOING!”

It shouldn’t be this tough to find reliable news to watch.

Last night I stayed up late (again) to try and finish Twelve Months, but I only made it to Chapter 53 (of 55). As frequently happens in Dresden books, there are several climaxes all lined up right near the end. Each of the sub-plots has its own little ending that all fire off right in a row, which makes it really hard to put the book down. I’d say the only reason I didn’t finish was because I literally fell asleep in the midst of it.

I’m anticipating some kind of twist at the end. Not an M. Night Shyguyamalan type of twist, but some unexpected thing right in the last chapter that comes into play in the next book. It happens all the time in the Dresdenverse — It’s like waiting for post-credit scenes in Marvel movies at this point. You’re sure it’s going to happen, but you aren’t sure how much you’ll care.