{"id":10752,"date":"2013-08-25T23:14:18","date_gmt":"2013-08-26T03:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=10752"},"modified":"2013-08-25T23:14:18","modified_gmt":"2013-08-26T03:14:18","slug":"sunday-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=10752","title":{"rendered":"Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

So it’s been a couple of days.<\/p>\n

They’ve been good days, mostly, and in fact quite remarkable by the poor standard that the rest of August had already set. <\/p>\n

My back seems to be doing a lot better, in that there aren’t terrible twinges of pain every time I bend or move in the wrong way. Or, sometimes, in any way. That’s actually the worst part about having a bad back: is this<\/i> the perfectly ordinary movement that’s going to cripple me for days or weeks? (Well, the worst part if you discount the pain itself.) My back is a lot better when I sit than when I stand, which is actually the exact opposite of how it was when I was first diagnosed with a herniated disc, when standing seemed to relieve it more than anything else. (I’d find reasons to work standing up, when I could, and I’d frequently not take a seat on the train.) This is probably better, since it’s usually easier to find somewhere to sit (or make excuses for having to do so) than needing to stand all the time, but it’s a little weird. And it does still kind of hurt when I’m standing. Not nearly so much that I can’t — or would prefer not to — move, but enough to make me cautious and I’m sure occasionally a little irritable. I don’t know if it’s getting better, or if this is as better as it’s going to get, but this is much, much better than it’s been for the past couple of weeks, and so I’ll take that.<\/p>\n

And honestly, there are people who have it a lot worse than I do.<\/p>\n

My parents spent most of Friday and Saturday away, visiting my mom’s brother in Connecticut, who isn’t doing very well. All of her brothers and sisters made the trip, and I spend the time at home looking after the dog.<\/p>\n

Some things I did, in no particular order:<\/p>\n

I read a couple of books. On Friday, I finished listening to David Mitchell’s Back Story<\/i> and reading Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama<\/i>. I think the former was probably better than the latter. What Mitchell may lack in a hugely exciting biography — he grew up fairly normal, went to school, became a comedic actor, and now does that for a living — but he tells that story well and amusingly, and I particularly enjoyed hearing it in his own voice on the audio book. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I like Clarke, or at least I remember a great fondness for him when, as a young teen, I discovered the Space Odyssey<\/i> series. I don’t remember if the books or Kubrick’s movie came first for me, but there’s more humanity in Clarke’s writing, more warmth and humor, and I quite enjoyed reading the books, even if I never went as far as the fourth and final volume in the series. <\/p>\n

(3001<\/i> came out in 1997, and I have a dim recollection of it getting some bad commentary at the Penn State Science Fiction Society, which I was part of at the time…and which I discovered on Friday, quite sadly, appears to have disbanded. Or maybe I should say re<\/i>-discovered, since this is apparently something I learned of back in 2007<\/a>. I have a comment on that post and everything, so it’s not like I didn’t know. I was actually more distressed to learn that the Monty Python Society<\/a>, of which I was a long<\/i>-time member and two-time president, has probably also disbanded. With only a few exceptions, I sadly haven’t kept in touch with most of the people I knew through the club, but I’m saddened by the idea that it might be gone forever. There’s apparently a Harry Potter fan club on campus that’s taken up a lot of the slack of both clubs — inheriting the science fiction library, putting on sketch comedy for Red Nose Days — but it’s just not the same.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to Rama<\/i>. While I like Clarke — his short story “The Nine Billion Names of God” remains a favorite — I was a little surprised to discover this one both the Hugo and Nebula when it was published. I haven’t read any of the other nominees from the same year, but Rama<\/i> is…well, kind of boring. Very little actually happens, and maybe that’s in part by design, and maybe that’s why Gentry Lee (who continued writing a number of sequels) apparently introduced a lot of new characters and plot, but it feels much more like a short story padded out to novel length. It’s never exactly un<\/i>enjoyable — I was worried it would be risibly dated, remembering cosmonauts in 2061<\/i> — but that wasn’t ultimately a huge concern. There just wasn’t enough to the book. There’s a huge central mystery — and this is maybe a bit of a spoiler — and it’s one that never gets solved. Along the way a few other things happen, although the stakes never feel terribly high, but not nearly enough.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, I finished reading Voltaire’s Calligrapher<\/i> by Pablo De Santis. I hope to say more about it in the near future, since it’s an interesting book, but for now let me just say that when you pick books out of the local library based almost exclusively on their short length, you may wind up with some weird choices.<\/p>\n

On Friday evening, I finished watching the last two episodes of the British crime drama Broadchurch<\/i>. I could probably say a lot more about it than I’m gong to now — it’s late, but I also know some people who are not yet caught up with watching it — but let me just say I’m a bit torn, and my feelings about the finale in particular are hugely split. Is it possible to find something both completely compelling and effective and also a letdown?<\/p>\n

On Saturday, while the neighbors partied and karaoked, I watched Lincoln<\/i>. I’ve had it out from Netflix for a while, unable to watch it until my new computer (with its working Blu-Ray drive) arrived. It’s not a perfect movie, maybe a little too pat and certainly not a full biography of the man, but it’s quite entertaining, moves at fast clips, and the performances are terrific.<\/p>\n

And today, I went to see The World’s End<\/i>, which was quite funny.<\/p>\n

That doesn’t feel<\/i> like a busy weekend, and it probably wasn’t, but it was a decent one if nothing else. I had pancakes for dinner on Friday night, so there’s at least that.<\/p>\n

And today I also wrote this:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When the world ended, all the birds fell from the sky, and Rachel found out she was a cyborg.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That never happened,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Rachel. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe him, Mom, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just being dumb.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thank you, Rachel,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said their mother. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been trying to finish the Sunday crossword when the two kids had come in from the yard, and her pen hovered momentarily over 8 down before filling in the now obvious four-letter MINX. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I might have believed your brother if you hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t said something. You have been looking a little cyborgy lately.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Told you!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Peter. He snatched a cookie from the plate on the counter.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mmhmm,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said their mother, looking sternly at her son. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And those<\/i> were for after supper, but I guess if the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really ended neither your father nor I have to cook tonight.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pizza!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Peter around a mouthful of chocolate chip. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Gino\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will still deliver.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153How WILL they get around the mountains of dead birds?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d his mother asked. Forty-seven across, she now saw, was FLIGHT. Which crossed, perhaps morbidly, with CRASH.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The birds didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t die,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Peter. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They just fell from the sky. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all just walking around out there, looking stunned. The thing you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to watch out for are the alligators. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones that can now fly.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see a lot of alligators in Pennsylvania.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153End times,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Peter said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Anything could happen.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mmm,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said his mother. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe I was wrong. Maybe your sister really is<\/i> a cyborg.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mooooom!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Rachel said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There was that mad scientist who used to work at the hospital where your born. What was his name? Frankenstein?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re making that up! There was no Dr. Frankenstein at the hospital!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not any more. Not if his cyborg creation was loose in the world. You did<\/i> make a lot of weird whirring, clicking noises as a baby!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I knew it!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Peter.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Moooom!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Rachel. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quit encouraging him!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It would make things a lot easier,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said her mother. She dipped her pen down again: 18 across, NECTARINE. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your father and I would just have to figure out the right computer code to make you clean your room. Maybe we could get you to do your homework by remote control.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Very funny, ha ha!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Rachel said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And I suppose you believe the little brat about all the dead birds, too.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just stunned,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said her mother.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Right,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Peter, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153just stunned.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the flying alligators that are the real problem.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She stumbled over 22 down, then saw that it was PIANO FORTE. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And, I imagine, the zombies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Zombies?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Peter and Rachel, almost as one.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well it wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be the end of the world if there weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t zombies,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d their mother said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I mean, stunned birds, flying gators, and cyborg girls are one thing, but zombies seems like standard operating procedure to me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Five down, she finally saw, was EDAM. You only ever saw that<\/i> in a crossword puzzle.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In fact, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be at all surprised if Gino\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s was the first places that got overrun with zombies. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always so crowded on a Sunday night.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Does that mean no pizza?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Peter asked.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. Is your sister really a cyborg?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Probably not,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, reluctantly.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Then go wash your hands and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk. And wake your father — he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s asleep on the couch.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Peter ran from the room, shouting, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Daaaad!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and snatching another cookie from the plate as he did so.<\/p>\n

Rachel eyed her mother. She could never understand why her mother enjoyed doing those silly crossword puzzles.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s starting to suspect,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s probably more a meandering joke than a story — thanks in large part to the cyborg bit, which is not part of the writing prompt I supplied — but I had fun writing it.<\/p>\n

And that’s pretty much it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So it’s been a couple of days. They’ve been good days, mostly, and in fact quite remarkable by the poor standard that the rest of August had already set. My back seems to be doing a lot better, in that there aren’t terrible twinges of pain every time I bend or move in the wrong … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,5,14,28,17,12],"class_list":["post-10752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-books","tag-health","tag-movies","tag-personal","tag-tv","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10753,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10752\/revisions\/10753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}