Communication Hypothesis

A random thought, on which I invite comment:

A person's desire and ability to communicate tends to be inversely proportional to how often they disable comments in their LiveJournal posts.

Books: Changeling and Empire

Changeling by Roger Zelazny

A reasonably entertaining story in the magic-versus-technology vein. The infant son of an evil sorceror is taken away to a world like our own (to prevent him from growing up like dad), and a mechanically-gifted child is brought back for balance. Unfortunately, the technophilic kid proves to be much more of a threat . . . I liked the esthetics of the magic system, and the assorted fantastic critters were engaging (particularly the dragon and the minotaur). Mildly recommended.

Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer, translated by Ursula K. Le Guin

A series of short stories about "the greatest empire that never was". I think bluegargantua recommended this book, but I don't recall for certain. Most of the tales revolve around life in the royal family of an empire that spans centuries, full of political alliances, betrayal, and quiet poisonings. The background is intentionally murky; the empire is never named, and the overall tech level could be Imperial Rome, or Medieval England, or Napoleonic France, but there's also a casual reference to airplanes . . . This means the stories come across as, well, timeless. I particularly liked "Concerning the Unchecked Growth of Cities", which is about the birth, growth, and constant change of one particular city as the empire ebbs and flows around it. The movers and shakers of history pass in and out of the city's story with no more than a few paragraphs each, as the city endures. Recommended, particularly if you're looking for something different in the quasi-fantasy vein.

Two Weekends Running

Sheesh, I gotta try harder to keep up . . .

Last weekend, Friday, lovely if all-too-brief evening spent with mizarchivist. (Who I then got to see twice more that weekend, glee!) Saturday was a two-party day, with a big grill-fest at deadwinter and tisana's place. Got to see many people I don't see enough of, including the bubbly supercheesegirl, the shiny leofwynn, and the smoky msbutterpecan. DW&T's place looks great, and I had definite trouble pulling myself away from browsing their shelves. Went on from there to inthatoneway and signsoflife's home, which I haven't seen since it was under construction, and now looks fantastic. We were there mostly to celebrate SoL getting into Indiana U. to pursue her doctorate in the Gross But Nifty. As a congrats gift, I gave her the family heirloom library stand she's been coveting. And, Sunday, the latest session of the Firefly RPG I'm in, in which we added a lesbian Hindi mercenary played by nchanter to the crew. My ex-Companion character always finds it disconcerting when someone invlunerable to his wiles comes along . . .

This past weekend, the highlight was our potluck party on Saturday. It's always a delight to have our house full of people, especially when they bring tasty food and then compliment us on how beautiful our home is. I made vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (the ice cream was homemade, the dough, not so much), strawberry sauce, and a chocolate mousse that was so rich people consistently had to hand their bowl to their SOs, saying, "It's wonderful, but I can't finish this." Gotta love a recipe that starts with melting a bag and a half of Ghiradelli, and then you start throwing sticks of butter into it . . . Thank you all for attending. We are truly blessed to have you as our community.