Floating Leaf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
floatingleaf) wrote2011-06-17 11:47 pm
floatingleaf) wrote2011-06-17 11:47 pm
Entry tags:
food and fiction - life's enduring pleasures ;)
Today we had our annual summer outing at work - just like last year, it consisted of lunch and bowling at that lovely Italian place in a far-out suburb. I couldn't care less for bowling, but the food was exquisite, and I had entirely too much of it. *massages aching stomach* Those are the dangers of an open buffet - once you start heaping stuff on your plate, it takes a will of iron to stop before the plate is overflowing. *sigh* And, since there was still plenty of food left over after everyone finished stuffing themselves silly, they handed us a stack of plastic containers and said to take some home (they were going to throw it out anyway). I packed three boxes.:D
Oh, and btw, I had to get up at 5 a.m., because the shuttle bus they provided for those of us who don't drive was scheduled to leave the office at 7:45 (as usual, there was a company meeting before lunch). In the early morning confusion (my brain doesn't really wake up until sometime around 8 a.m.) and anxiety at the prospect of being late and keeping everyone waiting for me, I actually got to the office around 7:15. It felt surreal to be there so early. I know a lot of people at our company start work at seven... but to me that feels just WRONG on some very deep level.:P Thankfully, we have the flexibility to pick a schedule of anywhere between 7:00-3:30 and 9:00-5:30. And yes, nine is STILL a bit too early, if you ask me - but I can cope with that, at least.
I tried to take a nap after I got home around 4 p.m., but I ended up getting sucked into the tumultous universe of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. I am now reading the second part in the trilogy - Kushiel's Chosen. I've been dragging this out as much as I possibly could, because I HATE to finish a great book too soon (I tend to suffer from withdrawal after I'm done ;) - but these novels are REALLY, REALLY hard to put down, even for me (the master of restraint, used to fanfic authors ending WIP chapters on nasty cliffhangers and having you wait months for the next one... LOL). The suspense is almost intolerable at times, and the plot twists make your head spin. There is delicious complexity to all chief dramatis personae and their relationships/interactions - nothing is quite what it would seem at first, and new perspectives are offered at every turn. The fictional universe itself is extremely layered and intricate in its structure, based as it is on Medieval Europe, but modifying cultures and religions to suit the author's needs (she puts a very interesting spin on Christianity, btw). Just to give a brief glimpse of what this means to those who haven't read the series: the heroine is a high-class courtesan in a culture that places no stigma on prostitution, but her main love interest (as well as bodyguard) happens to be a member of a religious order who has taken a vow of celibacy. Of course, heartache ensues.:) But that is only the tip of the iceberg, as far as complexities go. Being who she is, the heroine has deep emotional and/or sexual ties with many people, including the chief villain in the story so far, who also happens to be female (and what a magnificent, clever and subtle machinatrix she is!... LOL). Btw, the culture places no stigma on homosexuality either, and there are several important gay characters within the story. Not to mention the fact that the heroine has an extremely strong, independent and willful spirit despite being a sexual submissive and a masochist. That in itself is a resounding slap in the face of some persistent stereotypes. In short, the author's open-mindedness and non-judgemental approach towards a variety of cultural phenomena feels very refreshing, and her storytelling skills are superb (she knows EXACTLY how to tug at her readers' heartstrings, lol). Btw, I've seen a review that compared this series to Frank Herbert's Dune - but I have read Dune, and I honestly think Jacqueline Carey's books are much better. Perhaps because they are written from a more feminine perspective - less about battle strategies, more about people's hearts and minds and the intricacies of the many ways they can relate to one another. I can't really get into tales of intrigue and power struggle unless they go deep into the characters' personalities/motivations - and Jacqueline Carey is extremely good at exploring that. I can empathize with most people in the story, no matter how wildly different they are from me - and that, I think, is a mark of high achievement in a writer. Hell, she almost convinced me that heterosexual BDSM CAN be erotic - and that, let me tell you, takes some MASSIVE suspension of disbelief on my part.:P
That's it for tonight. I need SLEEP, in large amounts, pronto. *sigh*
Oh, and btw, I had to get up at 5 a.m., because the shuttle bus they provided for those of us who don't drive was scheduled to leave the office at 7:45 (as usual, there was a company meeting before lunch). In the early morning confusion (my brain doesn't really wake up until sometime around 8 a.m.) and anxiety at the prospect of being late and keeping everyone waiting for me, I actually got to the office around 7:15. It felt surreal to be there so early. I know a lot of people at our company start work at seven... but to me that feels just WRONG on some very deep level.:P Thankfully, we have the flexibility to pick a schedule of anywhere between 7:00-3:30 and 9:00-5:30. And yes, nine is STILL a bit too early, if you ask me - but I can cope with that, at least.
I tried to take a nap after I got home around 4 p.m., but I ended up getting sucked into the tumultous universe of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. I am now reading the second part in the trilogy - Kushiel's Chosen. I've been dragging this out as much as I possibly could, because I HATE to finish a great book too soon (I tend to suffer from withdrawal after I'm done ;) - but these novels are REALLY, REALLY hard to put down, even for me (the master of restraint, used to fanfic authors ending WIP chapters on nasty cliffhangers and having you wait months for the next one... LOL). The suspense is almost intolerable at times, and the plot twists make your head spin. There is delicious complexity to all chief dramatis personae and their relationships/interactions - nothing is quite what it would seem at first, and new perspectives are offered at every turn. The fictional universe itself is extremely layered and intricate in its structure, based as it is on Medieval Europe, but modifying cultures and religions to suit the author's needs (she puts a very interesting spin on Christianity, btw). Just to give a brief glimpse of what this means to those who haven't read the series: the heroine is a high-class courtesan in a culture that places no stigma on prostitution, but her main love interest (as well as bodyguard) happens to be a member of a religious order who has taken a vow of celibacy. Of course, heartache ensues.:) But that is only the tip of the iceberg, as far as complexities go. Being who she is, the heroine has deep emotional and/or sexual ties with many people, including the chief villain in the story so far, who also happens to be female (and what a magnificent, clever and subtle machinatrix she is!... LOL). Btw, the culture places no stigma on homosexuality either, and there are several important gay characters within the story. Not to mention the fact that the heroine has an extremely strong, independent and willful spirit despite being a sexual submissive and a masochist. That in itself is a resounding slap in the face of some persistent stereotypes. In short, the author's open-mindedness and non-judgemental approach towards a variety of cultural phenomena feels very refreshing, and her storytelling skills are superb (she knows EXACTLY how to tug at her readers' heartstrings, lol). Btw, I've seen a review that compared this series to Frank Herbert's Dune - but I have read Dune, and I honestly think Jacqueline Carey's books are much better. Perhaps because they are written from a more feminine perspective - less about battle strategies, more about people's hearts and minds and the intricacies of the many ways they can relate to one another. I can't really get into tales of intrigue and power struggle unless they go deep into the characters' personalities/motivations - and Jacqueline Carey is extremely good at exploring that. I can empathize with most people in the story, no matter how wildly different they are from me - and that, I think, is a mark of high achievement in a writer. Hell, she almost convinced me that heterosexual BDSM CAN be erotic - and that, let me tell you, takes some MASSIVE suspension of disbelief on my part.:P
That's it for tonight. I need SLEEP, in large amounts, pronto. *sigh*