I had a delightful email message show up in my inbox from someone just quickly letting me know they liked my web site. I was so tickled! I mean, I do all this primarily for ME but I do hope that others find it and enjoy it. It makes me happy to hear from people who do, either on the guestbook, through e-mail or the Neocities profile. So, if you come across a website and really like it, let the creator know! They'll probably also be tickled to hear from you!

I put up a new theme in the middle of the week. I don't know why but I really love the look of it. It's allegedly a Christmas set but I think sparkly lit-up palm trees can be year-round. I had to make my own buttons, since I have so many bespoke areas. It's not the best job but you know what? They were all hand-made with love. And aggravation. I think it looks delightfully retro.

I found a new-to-me podcast, Hyperfixed. It's by Alex Goldman, who used to do Reply All. The premise is that if you have a problem, Alex will find you a solution. I've listened to almost all the available episodes and I think the very best one so far is Casey Wants to Believe, about the search for the origin story of a particular button (you know, like the kind you'd pin to your jacket or backpack). Super neat story!

Listening

In addition to listening to Hyperfixed, I've also been listening to some other podcasts this week: ArchaeoEd's "The Aztec Capital of Tenochtitlan" and I finished up season 3 of "Ostium".

Reading

I've got two books going at the moment: Door into Fire by Diane Duane, a 1979 fantasy which is the first book in The Tale of the Five series. And Oathbreakers, which is about Charlemagne's sons and their fight for land and power which led to the creation of medieval Europe. That sounds kind of dry but the writing is actually quite engaging. Just wish the ancient people had been a little more creative with naming - so many Pepins! I haven't finished Terrible Lizards yet but these other two are keeping me pretty occupied and without a pressing need for mediocre dinosaur horror. I'll finish that one eventually. Probably.

I broke down my 2024 reading list. I read 56 books last year and DNF'd (did not finish) 3. Of that 56, 35 were fantasy, 8 mystery, 4 thrillers, 3 romance and 1 each were science fiction, historical fiction, autobiography, fiction, horror and historical. It was kind of hard trying to categorize some of the books because they spanned several genres but this is what I decided on. I was absolutely not surprised that fantasy dominated but I was surprised I didn't read more science fiction. Although, I have been reading Clarkesworld magazines and those are SF but since they aren't books, they don't get counted for purposes of the reading log so maybe I have actually read more SF, just in a different format.

In 2023 I just listed the books, in 2024 I tried to do a little synopsis. This year I think I'm going to go back to just listing the titles and maybe genre. Writing out the synopses was too much like having homework.

Watching

I've been working on the never-ending cross stitch project again which means I've been putting on stuff that I don't have to keep an eye on (like nothing with subtitles). I've been making use of my PBS Passport and watching a lot of NOVA. The latest one was about bodies found in Notre Dame Cathedral when they were repairing it after the fire. They examined 2 skeletons found in lead coffins and tried to figure out who they were. Very interesting!

I also watched a specific season 6 episode of Golden Girls. Why? Because I had left myself a note to watch it on my to-do list I keep on my phone. I'm not sure why I thought I would want to watch it! It was an episode that guest starred both Lyle Waggoner and Sonny Bono. I'm thinking maybe that's why but present-Divergent Rays still isn't quite sure what past-Divergent Rays was thinking. Do you ever leave yourself notes that probably made sense at the time but future you is thinking, "What in the heck?"

See you next week!