Month: January 2010

That was the week that was

I don’t know where this past week went, but it’s really tough to believe that it’s gone. I expected it drag, what with having to go back to work after a two-week absence — during which I got to sleep late, set my own schedule, and watch movies every day — but surprisingly it didn’t. But the month is still young, and I guess there’s always next week for that, right?

Not much to report today beyond a quiet Friday at the office and gray, snowy weather in Manhattan. I started reading Don DeLillo’s Falling Man today, having finished Gene Wolfe’s An Evil Guest yesterday evening. (More on that later.) But right now, I’m just watching some more of that Monty Python documentary — and being reminded that Life of Brian is a truly phenomenal movie — with maybe an episode of The Big Bang Theory or The Mighty Boosh to follow. Then maybe a little light (and a little blind) capping at HCC, followed by sleep.

We had Chinese food for dinner tonight, and my fortune read, “You will travel far and wide, both business and pleasure.”

Well maybe. But not tonight.

Random 10 1/8

Last week. This week:

  1. “Answer” by Sarah McLachlan
    For the night has been unkind
  2. “Shadow on the Wall” by Pale Young Gentlemen
    Bask in the light of the day
  3. “O Canada Girls” by Dar Williams
    In the late-night sun at Winnipeg
  4. “Fallen” by Bree Sharp
    She has starry eyes, starry eyes
  5. “Cannonball Blues” by Those Darlins (orig. the Carter Family)
    From Buffalo to Washington
  6. “Open All Night” by Son Volt (orig. Bruce Springsteen)
    Early north Jersey industrial skyline
  7. “In My Head” by the Ballet
    I know it’s wrong to make you fall in love with me
  8. “Come Away From it” by Ani DiFranco
    Are you trying to tell me this world just isn’t beautiful enough?
  9. “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)” by Simon & Garfunkel, guessed by Clayton
    A man gets tied up to the ground
  10. “Time Is a Healer” by Eva Cassidy
    I spoke such harsh words before goodbye

And so it goes. Good luck!

It’s already the second week of January?

When you get right down to it, Arthur Dent was right about Thursdays. They really are impossible to get a hang of.

Beyond my mild shock that the work week is almost over, there’s not a whole lot to report. Last night, right before bed, I read a short story by Dan Chaon called “The Bees.” I seem to think I’d read it once before, but it’s a masterful piece of work and an incredibly disquieting ghost story. Which, you know, maybe isn’t the best thing to read late at night.
It’s collected, among other places, in the Peter Straub-edited Poe’s Children: The New Horror, if you’re interested in tempting nightmares yourself.

I somehow managed to get a pretty good night’s sleep, despite that, and I caught the earlier train into Manhattan this morning. On my walk from Penn Station, I started listening to this This American Life show about the problems with alcohol at Penn State. It’s hard not to feel a little sad for the place I went to school, and where I worked for several years, and it’s hard not see the fraternities as a big part of the problem. The amount of alcohol a lot of these college kids consider “not a big deal” and a common, every-night occurrence, is maybe more than I’ve ever had to drink in my entire life. Honestly, three drinks over several hours is about as crazy as I ever get, and I was 21 long before I had anything more than a sip of alcohol.

Meanwhile, one of my co-workers was being shadowed all day by a student from his own alma mater who’s interested in publishing, and I spoke with her for a few minutes about what I do as a developmental editor. I always worry, when I explain my job to fresh-faced hopefuls like this, that I’m making it sound boring. But it’s always nice to discover that I do in fact genuinely like what I do. It really is satisfying to take a good book and, with the author, make it better.

And hey, we got word about our end-of-2009 bonuses and (small but still appreciated) raises today, so that’s something, right?!

Thursday various