Yesterday was pleasantly busy. I got a phone call to come down for an interview at a fifth agency, I found three books I've been looking for all over town, John got back from nine days in California, and I talked to Amanda on the phone for about two hours in the evening. I also spoke with her boyfiend (sic) Jeff, avidly discussing the pros and cons of the different font management utilities and versions of Photoshop. There was one slightly odd aspect of the phone conversation. About every 10 minutes I distinctly heard a quack in the background. I didn't quite like to ask at first, but eventually I caved in and mentioned it. It was on Jeff's computer, they said, which left open the question of whether it was a computer noise or there was a duck sitting on the monitor. I asked no more. There are some things woman was not meant to know.
I refuse to babble more about job interviews, so will merely mention that I'm now the top candidate for both last Friday's position and the fifth agency's position. I will know by Friday. The three books I bought are Babylon 5 novels. I've been very disappointed in the books so far. Maybe the seventh, eighth, and ninth will be better. I want to read about the tech side of things, the way things work on the station, and get a sense of what it's like to live in a world where aliens really exist. Up 'til now, I haven't gotten that. I thought Steve Stirling was going to do the job right in the sixth book, as he's a reasonably good sf writer in general, but I don't think he's a fan of the show and it just doesn't come across as anything more than a contracted job. A pity.
I have been reading the last of my care package from Tor Books (blessings on Patrick Nielsen Hayden for ensuring I have the best of their publications every year). I just finished James White's The Galactic Gourmet and it was a hoot. The protagonist is an alien gourmet cook with six legs and a positive genius for getting in trouble. I absolutely loved it, and now I have to see if the library has any of his older books. Prior to that, I soaked up the magical desert strangeness of Terri Windling's The Wood Wife which I highly recommend. I read a novel a week, mostly sf, fantasy, historical fiction, and history (and a few celebrity magazines, hem hem). I would dearly love Nashville to spend money on its library system but books and schools are really low priorities compared to sports arenas and acquiring professional sports teams. Feh.
The emails are still trickling in from people letting me know they read my journal. It's awfully good to know you're there. Merci.
