So, How's Your Weekend Going So Far?

I'm working a night shift tonight, and I've been having some trouble switching my sleep schedule over, but I at least managed to stay awake until about 2:30 last night, which I figured was a good thing. Except that I then woke up, for no obvious reason, at 8:30. An hour later, I was still working on getting back to sleep, with some real possibility of success, when there was a knock at my door.

At first, I thought I'd imagined it. Then I thought, "It's probably the mailman. Ignore it and go to sleep." And then I thought, "...you know, that was an awfully loud and serious-sounding knock. I'd probably better go and see what it is." So I threw on my bathrobe, opened the front door... and discovered two uniformed policemen. Apparently one of my neighbors saw what looked like smoke coming out of my swamp cooler, and called the fire department. Fortunately for all concerned, it turned out to not actually be smoke. It was just mist. Apparently a hose broke or something, and the thing was spewing water out into the air.

I'm glad my neighbors notice when my house seems to be on fire. But, man, I don't think I'm going to be getting any more sleep now.

More Talking About The Weather

The problem with this kind of soul-sucking heat is that it makes it hard to get anything done. It's okay as long as you stay indoors -- all praise to the mighty swamp cooler! -- but any time I have to go outside for ten minutes, I find that I desperately desire half an hour's rest on the sofa while sipping cool beverages afterward.

On the upside, it's great weather for doing laundry. On days like this, I think the clothesline may actually rival a tumble-dryer for speed.

But It's A Dry Heat! A Drought-Stricken, Mummifyingly Dry Heat.

Ah, summer in New Mexico!

Yesterday's high: 103 degrees.

Today's projected high: 103 degrees.

Total rainfall this year so far: Less than half an inch.

Sometimes I wonder why people even live here. Or, for that matter, how.

I'm Not Doing So Great With That "Update This Blog More Often" Resolution, But, Hey, There's Always This.

Current clothes: A red plaid bathrobe. Any minute now, though, I'm going to go and put some actual clothes on. Yep. Any minute now.

Current mood: Eh. I have a lot of stuff I really need to do today, and I'm having some trouble working up the enthusiasm to tackle it all.

Current music: More random songs from my music collection. As I recall, the iPod's random shuffle feature seemed to be in a heavy-duty classic rock kind of mood last time I had it on. At one point it gave me Billy Joel, Dire Straits, CCR, Jethro Tull, and the Who, all back to back.

Current annoyance: Man, lately I've been feeling this sort of generalized irritation that is hard to pin down onto any one thing. Possibly I'm just having some kind of low-key midlife crisis.

Current thing: Wistfully wishing that I could spend an entire week doing nothing but lying on the couch and reading, and then when I actually get a nice block of time in which to do that, getting too easily distracted from it and getting up to do other stuff after all.

Current desktop picture: Still the same Earth from space picture as last time.

Current book: The Infernals by John Connolly, the sequel to his YA novel The Gates. It's fun.

Current song in head: For the last few days, songs have been flitting in and out of my head in rapid succession, at the merest hint of anything that remotely reminds me of them.

Current refreshment: Nothing at the moment. I just finished my morning coffee not all that long ago. I slept a bit later than I probably should have today, given that I have to be up early for work tomorrow.

Current DVD in player: Just finished disc 1 of season 2 of Northern Exposure. Which, while still enjoyable, doesn't seem quite as thoroughly charming as I remember it being back in the day, possibly just because its particular brand of quirkiness is no longer novel.

Current worry: I think I'll let today's xkcd address this one:



Current thought: Bah, I'm hungry, and I haven't had breakfast. And the catbox smells. And I really need to put some clothes on. Any minute now...

Doctor Who News

I have only one word to say: NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I mean, a new Doctor is always exciting. But I love Matt Smith, and I want to keep him forever.

(OK, that was more than one word. Shut up. I am dealing with trauma here.)

Random Links (Biblioholic Edition)

Which DOCTOR WHO Library Is the Best DOCTOR WHO Library?: I can't decide, either!

Tsundoku: The Japanese have a word for it. That's oddly reassuring to know. (Also, holy crap, that Bookshelf Porn blog gets me disturbingly excited.)

25 Signs You’re Addicted To Books: I definitely qualify. But you knew that.

bookbookgoose: Shows you random books from Amazon. Very, very random books. I could keep clicking this all day.

Well, How About Next Week?

All day, I've had this weird feeling like there's some specific activity I should be engaging in, or something exciting that's supposed to happen today that isn't actually happening. And a little while ago, I finally realized why.

There is no new Doctor Who on today. And apparently some portion of my psyche is simply not prepared to believe or accept this fact.

My brain, ladies and gentlemen. My pathetic fannish brain.