etc.

First off, this is the first time I’m reviewing a book I haven’t finished reading. That said, let’s not call this a review shall we? Let’s instead call it my thoughts on reading Oryx and Crake. Secondly, I’m not going to weigh in on the science-fiction-or-not debate mostly because I don’t read science fiction or fantasy and therefore cannot add any educated comments to the debate on whether or not this book is a work of sci-fi/fantasy and if it is, whether or not it is GOOD sci-fi/fantasy.

Now that’s all out of the way, I will say this: I really didn’t like this book. Partly because of the science fiction thing — I find most allegory too heavy-handed — and partly because I just wasn’t in the mood for flights of futuristic fancy. It took me a week to plod through 200 pages, which, if you know my reading habits, is an agonizing pace for me. I would have put it down sooner if it hadn’t been nominated for the Booker and if it wasn’t Margaret Atwood, a writer who I have loved and hated in the past. She did an adequate job of invoking sympathy for the protagonist (Snowman), and I had a marginal amount of interest in the underlying narrative (how the earth came to be a wasteland), but at the heart of it, I suppose I would just rather read a factual cautionary tale than an allegorical one. If you feel the same, have a look at this list of sources on the publisher’s site.

Community living success [via infoshop].

misbehaving.net, a new collaborative blog about women and technology.

I had a feeling that I’d like this movie, and I did. It is a big old mess of inflammatory statistics and sound bytes and right-wing, gun-toting actors and politicians looking very bad and I loved every minute of it.

For someone who:

· spends in excess of 40 hours a week in front of a computer monitor/on the Internet
· is not deterred from sitting in front of a computer monitor at the end of a 7-hour workday that consisted of sitting in front of a computer monitor for 7 hours
· considers herself all sorts of web-savvy
· has a goodly amount of crazy techno skills
· feels that computers are her friends

you might be surprised to know that I do not:

· download music from the Internet
· burn CDs
· own many personal entertainment, organizational or peripheral doodads
· instant message
· text message
· own a computer that is capable of wireless Internet connectivity
· receive email on, surf the Internet with, blog from, or take photographs with, my PDA
· receive email on, surf the Internet with, blog from, or take photographs with, my cell phone

and not for reasons of:

· copyright — I did have a Napster ID way back when and a little folder containing some 149 MP3s remaindered from those days
· ethics — I don’t burn CDs because I don’t have a CD burner
· technology — my cell phone, for example, is capable of surfing, text messaging, emailing, blogging

either.

If you are an Alternet reader, you’ll want to have your say here.

The 100 greatest novels of all time. Predictable. Although I was indignant over Crime & Punishment not being on the list.

By the time I left, my to-do list for New York was about 12 activities-strong and I got to three of them. The International Center of Photography was enlightening in the sort of way most photography galleries and museums make me feel inadequate and inspired at the same time. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I spent more time at NYPL on this trip than ever before mostly because NYPL feels like the grand-old dame of public libraries, which always makes me wish I had a New York address just so I can sign up for a library card. I’m not remorseful for not getting to the other 9 things on my hitlist — thanks again to everyone for suggestions — not only because plans are in the hopper to be there again in February, but also because infinite possibilities can be discovered by way of aimlessness. Some highlights:

· Rineke Dijkstra’s portraits.
· The View. Seriously. Completely unplanned, we went to a taping and it was eye-opening. In many ways. More on this later.
· Smiling Pumpkin Ale @ Heartland Brewery. Golden sap of pure harvest joy.
· comfy work/play clogs for unbelievable-cheap.
· Bluestockings. This was on the hitlist but I ended up writing it off based on location. Then we fell right over it. A good place to spark or reignite the radical activist fire within you.
· a market/street festival that spanned at least 15 blocks on Sunday morning.

You already know all about my errant memory. Well, it’s a bit of a curse when traveling, especially when visiting a city you’ve been to half a dozen times before. Lucky for me, Manhattan is intuitive, I’m convinced city planners had spaz folks like me in mind when laying it all out.

I got to the library about an hour and a half ago and had a chance to stroll through one of the exhibits and plan to beat feet to the other right after my Internet time is up. I was pleasantly surprised to get a time slot on an Internet station as soon as I got up here to the South Hall, even though the room is teaming. Same experience as the other two times I’ve been here, they must be doing something right.

The weather is stroll perfect, our hotel is all pin-stripped wallpaper marble hardwood fluffy bedding, and none of it on Johnson-dollars which is even better. Expect pictures in a few days. And sorry for no links, this workstation won’t let me open more than one browser window at a time, which is the only thing wrong with this NYC experience so far.

I am an inveterate list-maker, but if you’ve been here before, you already know this. I have stock lists, ones that I use and reuse, like packing lists for different occasions, for example. I have a packing list for camping, one for a weekend getaway, and another for a two-week trip. That alone is a really good indication of the kind of traveling I’ve done. Lists keep me organized and sane and if you’re sniggering about this being some sort of latent librarian trait, you’d be right, and there’s nothing latent about it. Plans are in the hopper to get my stock lists online, but in the interim, drop me a line if you need one in particular. If you can afford some lead time, I can probably pull together a personalised list for you too.

I’m packing for NY right now, which is why we’re even talking about this. Before packing though, I made the following to-do list. If we were proactive, we’d have gotten to most of this stuff about a week ago. As it stands we have about 6 spare hours to get all this done:

Things to do before NY:
· recharge camera batteries
· recharge cordless drill
· buy wire mesh & screws
· squirrel-proof eaves trough area
· remove old chimney bricks from roof
· buy driveway salt
· sand interlocking bricks in carport
· buy cat food, refill food & water
· clean litterbox
· do laundry
· clean house
· pack

Also, thanks for the NY suggestions. I’ve had a recent hankering for arty, political, culture-type stuff so I’m going to try and make it to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (and this place while I’m in the neighbourhood), the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and the International Center of Photography. Also, the library has a couple of exhibitions on that I’d like to get to. Updates erratic for the next few days.