Scarlett Letters

1) Books: Having enjoyed Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, I picked up Etiquette & Espionage, the first book in her Finishing School series. I understand that its target audience is YA, but I've read some excellent YA titles. This? I'm halfway through and I'm just finding it a little tiresome. It's the second book I've put down unfinished recently (the first having been Murder in Belleville by Cara Black; I just didn't care) which, for me, is rather remarkable. Moving on to Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, which I'm finding entertaining, though the rambling sentences and extended parentheticals may drive me to distraction. We'll see.

2) Sports: After yesterday's championship qualifier at CLink Stadium, it looks like the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl. I've never in my life cared about football, but the spirit of the 12th Man* is so strong in Seattle, I find it rubbing off on me a bit. The anticipation around town this week was very strong and after last night's win, spirits are very high. Toward the end of the game yesterday, I saw a firework through my living room window explode over Lake Union. People are excited. I may actually watch the Super Bowl this year for more than just the commercials.

3) State of me: I was very low yesterday morning, getting almost no writing done at our Sunday morning meet-up and hating everything I've written recently. I was aggravated with myself and impatient with everything. I think some of this is hormonal and some of it seasonal. I also think it has to do with the amount of sugar I ingested yesterday morning. I must be far more careful with what I put into my body. I must get far better with my self-care. I'm sure I'll be writing more about this another time. This morning? Not so much.

4) Travel: I'm going to be in New York City for a few days in March and have been trying to find lodging for myself and my travel partner. I've been contacting places to stay through VRBO.com, with which I've had excellent luck before, but so far, bupkiss. Not that I haven't found anything. I've found several lovely apartments listed as available, but one declined our reservation, and the other two haven't responded--just radio silence. I'll be following up on the second and third today, and if I can't get anything nailed down, then I'll be pursuing a fallback position that will be perfectly adequate but not what we thought would be optimal. I really want to get this lodging issue nailed down so I can focus on other elements of the trip, and this chasing about for lodging is very frustrating.

5) Cats: Zeke is beginning to mellow. He's about a year and a half now, and he's getting a little more chill. He still has his asshole moments, knocking things off of shelves for attention, walking around the house whining because he's not getting what he wants--I guess that doesn't make him an asshole so much as a teenager. But he's handsome and he's becoming a bit of a cuddlebug, about which I cannot complain. Sophie is her usual sweet and affectionate self. She has taken to a fur mouse I purchased for her, tossing it about, carrying it around in her mouth and so on. I am purely delighted with her, as always.

Bonus! 6) Watched Downton Abbey and the season premiere of Sherlock last night. I want to care more about Downton than I'm finding that I do this season. I may watch the episode via the Masterpiece web site again later this week to figure out why I'm not as engaged. The Sherlock episode was terrific. I'm wildly curious about who targeted Watson in with the rest of it. I may need to watch that episode again, too. Cumberbatch and Freeman have such great chemistry together; they're a delight.


* 12th Man: This term refers to Seahawks fandom, which is practically a tangible force inside the stadium and throughout the region. It's a big deal in these parts. There are "12" flags all over town.

I've been following the Tour de France this year, probably because if Lance Armstrong wins it will be a world record, and I think that's kind of cool. He's just completed the 11th stage. With more than ten stages to go, Armstrong's now in second place but continues to be plagued by rumors of doping and attempts to prove them true. Every sport has its soap opera. Personally, I don't believe Armstong's come all this way only to mess it up by doping his way to a win, but maybe I'm being idealistic. I guess I want to believe in a pure achievement. I hope he won't let us all down.