At least I'm not alone

I just got a NY Times alert that unemployment is rising faster than expected...apparently almost a quarter of a million people lost their jobs in October. Somehow, that makes me feel a little better about being one of them. Misery loves company. Does that make me a bad person?

Moving on. I've recently discovered, or really, rediscovered Neil Gaiman. I avoided reading Gaiman for years, due to confusion on my part about authors named Neil (I thought he was Neal Stephenson, who is just not my cuppa). After seeing the Stardust movie, I picked up the book -- I thought it was an interesting story that was perhaps muddled up by all the special effects and overacting on the screen. I was, in fact, correct. So now I've been reading some other stuff, and really, really enjoying it. Just finished Anansi Boys, and wow. Funny, poignant, interesting, real characters. There are a couple of things I find myself really enjoying about Gaiman's writing. One is that it's easy to read. It's good, not just fluff, but it doesn't require the same level of involvement and investment that epic fantasy does. It's easy to pick up, easy to put down, easy to start and stop. Those of you with toddlers will understand how important this is. Can't wait to read more. Thankfully, he's pretty prolific so there's a lot out there.

Oh, and hey, look, pictures!

The hat I've been working on (I think it'll look a lot better when it's finished :) ):



Me and the kids. Not very many of these in existence -- I'm usually behind the camera.



I'm going to clean the house now. I made the mistake of telling Becky that's what I was going to do today, and she told her father and now, well, I'm kinda stuck. :)

posted by Laura Y. @ 8:33 AM