may musings

Son's baseball season is winding up, and the school year is winding down. An icy, feisty wind is still blowing outside and I still have a bunch of adolescent chickens living in the guest bathroom, but that's okay. Last weekend the daughter and I rode my gelding Zzari out to the old cowboy shed on the prairie. It came down in a storm several years ago, and is now not much more than a pile of weathered lumber on top of some rusty mattress springs. Still, an interesting landmark. Maybe I'll get a picture of it one of these days, and scan the picture my brother-in-law took of it when it was still standing.

I'm hoping to get some update work done on the blog this afternoon (links, nightstand books, etc). I don't have too many more hours, though, since Friday nights are pizza and movie nights around here. I asked the husband to pick up Talladega Nights if he makes his usual trip to the video store. I haven't actually read or heard a single review of this flick, so I don't know if it's any good.

I've been getting some very helpful feedback on the rough draft of the new novel - Beta readers rock. Also, I recently read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, which I never blogged about. A painful read, not because of Didion's prose style, which I enjoy, but because of her nearly unbelievable story of surviving the loss of her husband at the same time that their daughter came down with an (ultimately fatal) illness. Also, just to look at the picture on the back of the dust jacket (an elegant People magazine shot from the 70's) compared to the author photo on the inside back flap is shocking. I'm not sure what else to say about that book.

I've recently gotten my hands on The Time Traveler's Wife, which, sadly, is very likely to be eclipsed by Thirteen Moons, which I picked up just yesterday. I've read mixed reviews of Frazier's sophomore effort, so I'll be interested to see if it captivates me as thoroughly as Cold Mountain did.

That's it for now. I hope you all have a great weekend!Follow @nicole_mcinnes