Sunny Days, Chasing the Clouds Away

Ha-HA! Now you have the Sesame Street theme song stuck in your head!

I’ve been quiet on here for a couple days again. I’ve been writing, just not this. And since I’ve been writing things I’m not ready to share, and because it’s been raining, I didn’t really have much to report. We have sunshine today, though (finally! I’d forgotten what blue skies looked like!), so I’d better do things outside before it gets too hot.

I feel like I’ve complained about the rain too much in such a short span of time. I do actually like rain. It’s just that we’ve had alarming amounts of it in the last month. When I took Pippin out for a walk during a quick break in the deluge, I noticed that even the sidewalks have begun leaking.

It’s not as clear in the video as it is in person, but that’s water actively flowing out of the crack in the sidewalk, like a weak drinking fountain, or a natural spring, or an old lady with a weak bladder who heard a really funny joke.

When I’m done writing this, I’m going to try and go for a run. I’ll certainly come back with wet socks and muddy ankles.

I’ve also been reading a little the last few days. My copy of Christopher Moore’s new book Razzmatazz, finally arrived. I preordered it last month and it didn’t arrive until four or five days after the release date, which had me a little bit scowly.

I was in seventh grade when the fourth Harry Potter book came out, and a couple of my best friends and I went to Wal-Mart to get it at midnight when it released. This was in the early days of Potter-mania and a lot of booksellers in central Missouri had not yet realized the business potential in midnight release parties. Wal-Mart was the only place open at midnight, and including myself and my friends, I think there were maybe a dozen people there waiting to get the book, which was unceremoniously rolled out on a cardboard display at 12:02. Checkout was further delayed while employees and management tried and failed to complete our transactions, eventually determining that it was because their computer system had the wrong A.M./P.M. setting and this somehow meant that the computers didn’t think that they were allowed to sell the book yet. I was irrationally frustrated with the incompetence at the time and even though I see now that it was the smallest of hiccups in a pretty inconsequential matter, I am certain that it has been irrevocably added to my internal list of why I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart.

This is where I would include a picture of our first book release party adventure, but I was fortunate enough to go through puberty in the time before everything was photographically documented and shared on the internet, so photo not found.

My anticipation of Razzmatazz was not quite as intense as my pre-teen Harry Potter addiction was, but nonetheless, I was pretty grumpy that pre-ordering did not result in a more timely deliverance of bookage. All that said, I have it now, I’m enjoying it, it’s a fun read (as Christopher Moore always is), and if you need to turn off your brain and laugh at something stupid and ridiculous, go read some of his books. (The audio versions of his books are also very well narrated, so if you prefer to read with your ears, I can still recommend).

It’s upwards of 60 degrees outside now so I guess I’d better get out and enjoy some sunshine while I can. Have a good Memorial Day Weekend if you’re in the US, and if you’re elsewhere, I hope you also have a lovely weekend, remembering as much or as little as you like (I see a couple of you peeking in regularly from other countries on my statistics page; come say hi!)