Another Month, Another Meme

Yeah, I think most of you know to expect this by now...

Current clothes: Gray shorts. Black t-shirt that says "I'm blogging this." (And, hey, whaddaya know? I am!) White ankle socks. No shoes.

Current mood: I'm incredibly happy to be off work for a while now. I really did desperately need the break. I think I'm only just starting to relax into it, though. I keep finding myself thinking: aargh, I've got this to do, that do, all kinds of other stuff to do... And I have to actively remind myself that, really, I don't have to feel all time-crunched this week.

Current music: They Might Be Giants' Flood to make the household chores more fun, and Jimmy Buffett's Banana Wind to put me into the vacation spirit.

Current annoyance: Crazy fans on the internet who seem to think that holding a different opinion about some stupid TV show is roughly equivalent in personal injury to coming over to their house and beating their family up with a baseball bat. *rolls eyes*

Current thing: Not working!

Current desktop picture: This lovely piece of Doctor Who fan art by Kathryn Andersen, featuring the TARDIS.

Current song in head: They Might Be Giants' "Dead" is now floating in and out of my brain.

Current book: I just finished Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. And, oh, man, I'd forgotten how dull Verne could be. This one's about a handful of men marooned on an island, and I swear, every rock, tree, animal and mineral on that island got its own paragraph. And I'm not talking about lively lectures in natural history, either. I'm talking stultifyingly dry lists of names and properties. The main thing that's interesting about this book is the glimpses it gives at certain worldviews that existed a century and a half ago and have changed or faded since, in particular the idea that nature exists solely for the use of Man, and that humanity has a manifest destiny to tame and civilize it.

Current video in player: I don't think there's been anything in there for quite a while. Probably the last thing was an episode of the weird Doctor Who not-quite-a-knock-off, The Stranger, which a friend lent me some time ago.

Current DVD in player: The Doctor Who episode "The Aztecs", definitely one of the best of the very early episodes. Sure, it's kind of stilted and the camera work is shaky, but when you know the conditions under which they filmed it, it's actually quite amazing that it looks as good as it does. But it's got a good plot and an interesting setting, it's very well researched, and it provides an unusually strong and meaty part for one of the companions, Barbara. Actually, I find going back to these old episodes and seeing Babara and Ian again is very much like greeting a couple of old friends. They were great, those two. And given the show's later tendency to go with very young and immature companions, it's nice to see people travelling with the Doctor who are mature adults and act like it. Oh, and, just for the record, anybody who thinks the Doctor being flirtatious is a new thing should be required to watch this one.

Current refreshment: I just had some dried cherries. I didn't actually mean to buy dried cherries; I was aiming for the dried tropical fruits next to them and must have got the wrong bag by mistake. But they're pretty yummy, anyway.

Current worry: I feel surprisingly worry-free at the moment.

Current thought: I must remember to mail my dad his Father's Day card next week. Actually, as I recall, one of the things I was thinking about posting yesterday was a rant about greeting cards, but I think I'll either skip that or save it for later.