Ponderings

The last few weeks have been rough.

My youngest and I were sick last month, I missed a few days of work between myself and him. Then he got an eye infection, so was off another two days. Then, I got sick, and came home from work early yesterday. Was shaky, nauseous, had a headache, pale and thought I was going to slide off the chair in Court. Had a very shaky drive home (I shouldn’t have driven, but I did), slept for two hours, felt marginally better…then I threw up last night. My husband was away at a work event, and my childminder brought the boys home just after 5. Went to bed with the boys last night at about 8pm and woke up this morning at 7:30 after a rough night of coughing.

I think the stress of the last few weeks has finally caught up to me. I would love nothing more than to sit on a beach in plus 30 weather and not have to think about anything. Or, a spa afternoon….or something.

Every year, I go through a phase of horrible home sickness. This is made worse by being sick and wishing someone could pop in with a pot of soup or take the boys…I am alternating between missing Vancouver Island and the Rockies. When I’m homesick, I inevitably go through my annual debate of whether or not we should up sticks and move back. It’s a scary thought. My life here is relatively settled, we are debt free, in stable jobs and I am studying for my graduate diploma (oh, yeah, the homework!). It’s scary uprooting that and starting again from scratch, especially given that Canada will have changed a lot in my time away and although it is my home country, we would all be adjusting. However, I miss my family and my friends…

I have settled in to my hearing aids really well. My left ear has been really sore due to the hard shell not being made correctly. I have a scab on the inside of my ear, which is very painful. My tinnitus has been horrible due to my being ill. My audiologist has put a tinnitus program on the hearing aids, which has been helping. *sigh* She has sent away for another remake so hopefully that will help. I am not wearing my hearing aid in my left ear this weekend – it might be a feeble attempt to try to get my ear healed. We will see.

I haven’t read any new books the last few weeks. I can’t remember if I posted my reading list, I don’t think I have. I’ll post a list of the books I’ve read soon.

Oh, I got a new bike too! However, my back tire is flatter than a pancake so I have to take the wheel in to get looked at. That’s one of the things on my to do list…

Over and out for now!

Hellos, Sherlock, Life, Books

Hi Readers!

I’m sorry for the lack of updates. Every day I think of something to write but virtually no time during the past week. I’m still adjusting to working full time, but I’ll get there. It’s been a rough week dealing with a new routine, the loss of someone who was in my life for a time, a dog who wasn’t adjusting very well to said new routine, annoyed neighbours because of dog, warm temperatures making bedtime uncomfortable etc. 

We’ll get there though.

Last night was the re-airing of Sherlock’s “A Scandal in Belgravia”. I was of the firm opinion that it’s my favourite Sherlock episode to date, but…really, the entire series 2 was just phenomenal. BBC are putting hints out to the title of episode 3, series 3 in each re-airing. Last night’s word was “his”. Of course, there’s a lot of speculation and worry flying around on the web that it’s going to be “His Last Bow”, but Moffat and Gatiss have never named episodes after a complete title before. I also think they would be completely nuts to end Sherlock after 9 episodes, the fandom would implode. So far we have “The Empty Hearse”…a play on The Empty House, which is the first story after Sherlock “dies” at the Reichanbach Falls. I’m not sure where Hearse comes in…I’ve been reading and re-reading the Canons for a clue but nothing is jumping out. Episode 2 is titled “The Sign of the Three”, an obvious play on my favourite, The Sign of the Four, and I think, The Adventure of the Three Students. So episode 3 could be anything, but I can definitely say, it won’t be His Last Bow. Looking forward to next week. 🙂

I literally jumped off the couch during the scene that the American mobster gets chucked out of the window of Baker Street. Sherlock is describing the injuries, man survives after the fact. A big clue for how he survives the fall? Only time will tell, but I’m waiting impatiently. 

I’ve given up on reading Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart. Instead, I’m turning the pages of A Thousand Shall Fall by Murray Peden. He flew Lancasters though, not B-17s as the summary reads. If you are a bomber fan like me, and love reading experiences in the wars, definitely check this out!  

Rambles

I bet you guys thought I’d failed yet again in blog writing, that The Geeky Canuck was another blog relegated to the black hole of discarded blogs. Nope!

A lot going on in my life since the last post. Bad floods back in my home province of Alberta had me worried for a few days. My family and friends are fine but High River was particularly badly hit and recovery there has been taken over by the provincial government. I was superbly impressed with the Calgary mayor, Naheed Nenshi for his response to the disaster. He seems really in tune with his city and its citizens, something that is very rare in these days. I don’t want to fan flames, but the mayor of High River just seemed to be left behind in the dust in comparison. In any case, I hope the citizens of HR can get home soon. It’s going to be a long recovery process for Southern Alberta.

I am nearly finished Thunder on the Rightby Mary Stewart. I’ll do a write up when I am finished, hopefully this weekend. My one-book-a-week challenge hasn’t really gotten off the ground. It’s my last week off before rejoining the working world on Tuesday so making the most of it. Monday is Canada Day and an old friend is flying over from Dublin on Sunday to hang out for it :). Not sure what is on the cards yet, but that’s ok.

Boy 1 has finished primary 1 (grade 1 for those in North America) and will be moving into p2 in August. I can’t believe in 2.5 years I am going to have a boy in p4 and and a boy in nursery.

Oh, and the Borders had been ruled out, moving to Linlithgow hopefully within 2 years. 🙂

For those Sherlock fans who follow, A Scandal in Belgravia will be on BBC1 on Friday 5th July. I think I’ll blog about the ep next weekend ;). Episode 3 of series 3 is due to start filming end July so I am cautiously optimistic we will be looking at a late fall airing. Fingers crossed!!

Challenge

Being able to read so often while in Alberta has spurred me to set a challenge to myself. I call it a challenge because I know what I am like with setting myself goals and not following through – remains to be seen if I will (follow through.)

I’m going to read a book a week and write about it here. If I get more than one done so much the better, small steps. I go back to work full time on the 2nd July, so I’ll be creative in finding time each day. I’ll warn my colleagues now, if I seem antisocial at lunch times, I’m not being rude! Well… 😉

I’ll start with a book in my own collection, one that I haven’t read in a few years. Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart. I’m not really clear on my memory of the plot, but the dust jacket tells me it’s about a woman called Jenny and her cousin has gone missing so she goes on a “dramatic and dangerous search.”

Then, I’ll follow up with My Brother Michael, also by Mary Stewart. Or maybe The Crystal Cave, an old favourite. Or, something completely different.

For now, coffee! With a proper dose of sugar. When I first got up this morning, in my sleepy stupor, I thought I was making a bottle of formula for boy 2, but in actual fact, I’d been adding lots of tsps of sugar to my cup of coffee. At least it’s Friday. 😉

If you have any book reccs, please comment below!

A multitude

So, now that I have the trailer for The Desolation of Smaug out of my system, momentarily anyway, I can write about other stuff. Like how the Internet crashed at my parents place in Alberta so I caught up on reading various old books from the 70s and 80s. I was pretty much reading a book in a day or a day and a half. It was pretty great being able to do that again. I started off with finishing The Return of Sherlock Holmes in preparation for series 3 of Sherlock. The first episode The Empty Hearse is obviously based on the Case of the Empty House but I haven’t been able to work out the hearse bit. The Sign of the Three I believe is going to be The Sign of the Four and The Three Students but, I guess we’ll see.

After that, I read my favourite Xanth novel by Piers Anthony, Night Mare. The writing is so simplistic and a real joy to fall into. It’s nice reading books that don’t require a lot of thought, that you can just escape into. The Mark of Merlin by Anne McAffrey was one I hadn’t read before. It was pretty good and, a bit of a departure from her usual. I think it was one of her first books though.

I had four other books earmarked to read but didn’t get around to them. A Whale for the Killing by Farley Mowat, The Inedible Woman by Margaret Atwood, The Sword of Calandra by Susan Dexter and another book by Farley Mowat whose title escapes me. I also finished Life After Life by Kate Atkinson of Case Histories fame and was sorely disappointed in the ending. It was incredibly frustrating as the book took awhile to get into, but once I did, I was invested and felt very let down by how it ended. It was made worse by understanding why it was ended in that way.

While I was abroad, the bbc series Case Histories with Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie aired. I’m currently playing catch up and watched episode 2 last night. It’s rough going waiting so long for excellent programming to come back (I know Sherlock fans will agree with me here!) but it hasn’t disappointed. The first episode had at least 5 instances me going “oh Jackson” in complete exasperation, but the second episode had me feeling sorry for him. Poor guy just can’t catch a break. Looking forward to watching the final ep tonight. I hope they do more!

Also while I was in Canada, a few friends and I went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness. I was that girl with the large root beer and pot of poutine. I got chills down my spine when I heard Benedict’s voice go “I can help you”. Yes, I have a serious crush on him. I’m smug to say that a friend didn’t understand the Benedict attraction until I told her watch Sherlock, and now she gets it. And doesn’t he make a good villain?!

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”

As much as I love books, the smell of the paper, the elegant fonts, and intriguing plots, I often don’t have time to read. It wasn’t that long ago that I was reading all the time, 5 or 6 books a week. More so when I was a teenager and into my mid 20s. Now that I’m a mom, working full time, photography on the side and…just life, I don’t read nearly as often as I want to. I usually have my kobo with me in my back and try to catch paragraphs here and there…I’m copping out aren’t I?

The quote in my title today is from Henry David Thoreau. A very apt quote as I’ve been thinking about the books that have impacted on me, you know, the ones that are read over and over again. The ones that no other book quite hits the mark with. The ones that set the  bar maybe unattainably high. The following are books that I’ve read, still read and will pass down to my boys. What are yours?

Without further ado and in no particular order: (It’s viritually impossible to have just one favourite isn’t it?)

1) The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien

2) The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien

3) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis

4) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – CS Lewis

5) The Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger

6) To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

7) My Name is Asher Lev – Chaim Potok

8) The Diary of Anne Frank

9) Ghosts I Have Been – Richard Peck

10) Nine Coaches Waiting – Mary Stewart

11) Wildfire After Midnight – Mary Stewart

12) The Crystal Cave – Mary Stewart

13) The Sign of the Four – Arthur Conan Doyle

14) The Hound of the Baskervilles – Arthur Conan Doyle

15) A Thousand Shall Fall – Murray Peden

16) Outlander – Diana Gabaldon

17) The Secret of Shadow Ranch – Carolyn Keen (Really, the entire Nancy Drew series!)

18) The Famous Five – Enid Blyton

19) The Arctic Grail – Pierre Berton

20) Vimy – Pierre Berton

21) This is My Country, What’s Yours? – Noah Richler

22) The Unfinished Canadian – Andrew Cohen

23) An Innocent in Scotland – David McFadden

24) Sorcerer’s Legacy – Janny Wurtz

25) Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

This list is not exhaustive, but I thought I better keep to the top 25. 🙂 If anyone wants me to do a review of any of these, leave a comment!

Beginning

I deleted my #Livejournal account today. It was pretty bittersweet, and a moment that was marked with a split second panic of “What have I just done?!”

I’d been on Livejournal for…well, the better part of 12 years. So a lot of history. But the platform just wasn’t doing it for me, and my 40-odd strong friends list had dwindled to 2 regular posters. It was time to move on.

So, with that chapter closed, and a new one beginning, naturally it’s a time for reflecting. 12 years at Livejournal saw me through college, breakups, moving overseas, getting married, travelling, having kids, and all the other things in between. We’ll see what WordPress sees me through. 🙂

Part of my reflection has been on fandoms and the geekier side of my personality. For as long as I can remember, JRR Tolkien and Arthur Conan Doyle were the mainstays in my life. I can’t even remember who came in first. It was probably Tolkien, but they have both featured heavily in my life and both could not be more different from each other. One is a world of fantasy, adventures, dragons, hobbits, wizards, the other a world of Victorian London, mysteries, murders, voyages into the human psyche. One allowed me to dream and let my imagination run wild, while the other grounded me and encouraged analytical thinking, processes, being observant. I owe both writers so much, least for all the friends I’ve made with these shared interests. You’re not just reading books when you have favourite authors, meeting people and sharing that excitement and intelligent debates are at the forefront.

I’m not sure what I intend on doing with this blog, but…it’s sure to be varied. I’ll try to stay as interesting as I can 😉