A seething mass of turgid drama.

If the WSJ and the SF Comicle broadly agree on a film, I tend to trust that. Today both their reviews of Dune II were essentially "gorgeous, but boring." Which sounds like it also is a faithful adaptation of the book.

This week's Resolution Recipe: Spicy Gochujang Chicken Stew - for science!
"Loosely based on a traditional Korean chicken stew, this dish is the very essence of full-flavored comfort food."
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This week's Resolution Recipe: Garlicky Pork Chops.
"A blast in a very hot oven is what gives this pork-and-veg dinner its caramelized appeal."
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We visited my dad for his early birthday (actually next week). It was good to spend some time with him. He is getting a bit frailer and his balance can be a bit dodgy. He's in decent shape for being almost 82, but.

We took him out for Mexican food, the same place we went Christmas Eve. I had a chile relleno again. Dad ordered a tamale and enchilada, and the wife tried their fried fish with garlic sauce. All quite good, although the (whole, with head) fish was far more than she could eat. We're having the rest tonight for dinner with a salad.

Now to process some strawberry ice cream and work on the bills. As opposed to what I really want to do, which is curl up under the covers with a book.

This week's Resolution Recipe: Tarragon Chicken.
"Pairing chicken with tarragon and garlic is a classic that never gets old."
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My dream early this morning was strange - it was the only one I can remember where I was a woman. (I sometimes have dreams where I am experiencing it as a female character, but it's observing in the character's body rather than actually being that body.)

In the dream I was the main character of an Ursula Vernon novel, so I was an awkward person in an abandoned temple, fretting whether it was okay to take some of the unused supplies and vestments that I could put to use. Of course, the plot was that this then would lead to me becoming a priestess of said abandoned god.

I suspect this was a mashup of loupnoir talking about some of Vernon's books, and another friend discussing the unusualness of cross-gender dreaming a few weeks back. But still - brains are weird.

I borrow a lot of books from our public library. I know how the system works and in some cases better than the librarians. When a book goes on hold, it updates with "in transit" to say it's being delivered to my branch. When they have it in, the book status changes to "ready for pickup". Pretty self-explanatory. Transit times are usually 1-2 days, which makes sense for van delivery within the city.

So when three books were stuck on "in transit" for two weeks (!) I contacted an online chat-librarian. He/she gave me a bullshit answer that the books were still on order - that local branches might have not processed the books yet. Note: that is what the "on order" status is for. Also, that is bullshit because those books have already been previously checked out, so I know they aren't actually on order.

I wanted to give the librarian-bot a really withering dose of sarcasm about the meaning of statuses, but refrained because really, what good would it do? I just want books to read.

I subscribed to the Kindle unlimited service. The first 30 days are free, but since lockdown is extending through May it looks like I'll pay for a month or two anyway.

I've read a few books that I wanted to read normally, but most of the books on my to-read list aren't available. So I've been bingeing the equivalent of junk food literature.

I am a sponsor for Borderlands Books. We've been fortunate to be in a position where I can donate a relatively small amount to them yearly, which when combined with all the other sponsors, is a sufficient amount to keep them in business despite San Francisco's and the bookseller industry's problems.

I used to buy new books regularly. These days, not so much (in fact the reverse; I've been actively culling my hoard). There just aren't that many books that I want to re-read to the point of purchasing and taking up space. I think the last time I bought a book there for myself was 2016... and that was one that I ended up purging because I was never going to read it again. (Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, for those who are curious.)

Anyway, the sponsorship is one way I can support the bookstore since my purchasing habits are unlikely to change. And I do get some benefits beyond their staying in business: they host a number of sponsor events (which I generally don't attend). I did get to have a beer with Charlie "Ranty" Stross and his wife, which was fun. I get a reserved seat at author readings (if I remember to call it in, which I didn't last time I attended one).

The one I really have taken advantage of is SFF movie sneak previews. Not always, but often they host a limited preview the night before the film opens. We get soup dumplings beforehand and go see the film in an art deco theatre. We saw Last Jedi, Ready Player One, Wonder Woman, Solo, and Blade Runner 2049 this way. Also Bubba Ho-Tep, which wasn't a preview but did have a Q&A with Joe Lansdale.

And next month, we'll also go see Rise of Skywalker the night before it opens with a full house of Star Wars fans. Yeah, totally worth it.

It was a busy weekend, even though objectively it wasn't actually hectic.
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