ten things...

...that make me happy. As tagged by kunstarniki.

1. Good chocolate.
2. Singing, alone or with others.
3. Cats.
4. A rocking good thunderstorm.
5. Chatting on AIM and LJ, whether about serious topics or pure randomness.
6. When the iPod or iTunes hits the perfect song at the perfect moment.
7. Coming up with just the right turn of phrase.
8. San Francisco.
9. Time spent with friends.
10. A sky full of stars.

Let's see. I'll tag peachespig, anzubird, plantgirl, madlori, and coco_keesses.

reading and writing

Last night, I finished a rather intriguing book, which I enjoyed for the most part: Lamb by Christopher Moore, a retelling of the life story of Jesus from the point of view of a (fictitious) childhood friend. Serious in places, funny in others, but what sticks with me is Holy Week. During this time, the narrator is fully aware of his friend's intention to die, and his increasingly desperate efforts to put a stop to inevitable events are deeply moving.

But all I could think while reading it was this: "I have been here before." And I found it very difficult to push through to the end of this book. I've never really lived through anything quite like it, but I have had to put myself in a very similar place twice now. And it's almost as though I have lived it, like I was reliving some difficult period of my life. I'm not sure what this means, or whether I like it. Do other writers of fiction find this kind of resonance when they read sometimes?

new chapter

Another chapter posted. Not quite certain what I'm going to do next on the story -- there is so much I could cover, but I don't know how much of it is worth doing. Maybe I'll let the ideas percolate for a little while before jumping back in.