Don't Be Afraid of the Dork: Saturdays in the Garden

OUTSIDE

I feel like I spent no time outside this week which is just sad. I did run an Acoustic Bat Survey on Monday night with a co-worker which was kind of a blast. You drive around really slowly at night with a microphone (that is attached to special bat echolocation call recording equipment) on the roof of the car. Every time the equipment chirped (meaning a bat was flying overhead) it was SUPER exciting, we saw two Luna moths fluttering through the headlights and I got to see some parts of my county I hadn't explored before.

Luna Moth by Fritz Flohr Reynolds

In the garden, some of the peas are starting to develop. I can't wait to chow down...

LIFE

Last weekend? This was me:

I had the most incredibly lazy weekend that I have had in a long time. Seriously, I did virtually nothing but read (and as you'll see below) watch TV. I did go out for a beer Friday evening. I justified all the laziness because last week and next week are crazy busy at work and I suspected I'd have to work some this weekend (which I have). I figured it was okay for me to lounge shamelessly for one weekend in preparation for what was to come. But was it really justified?

I have the capacity for an astonishing amount of laziness and it is probably the biggest trait I have conflict with. I feel like it sometimes unduly influences my decisions and it keeps me from exercising or otherwise pursuing personal goals. Other times, I just feel like I am just a lower energy person than the average and I should just accept that I need to embrace my innate laziness as long as it isn't actively ruining my life. Turns out there may be some evidence that laziness is genetic. And Bill Gates has kind of a fun "different perspective" quote:

So looks like my complicated relationship with my laziness will continue! Ultimately it's probably not the worst bad habit in the world but I'm also not going to let myself indulge my laziness too frequently.

WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING

So TV watching came back with a vengeance last week during Laze-a-paloosa. The dam broke thanks to the goofiest, silliest Hallmark TV show produced by Michale Landon, Jr. Yup. There is some shame involved with this but I got completely sucked into When Calls the Heart. It's about an urban society Miss in 1910 Canada who heads to the frontier mining town of Coal Valley to be the teacher. Yup, it was absolutely as twee and adorable as you think. There is a "dashing" Mountie, an evil mine owner, and a widow with a heart of gold AND steel. And the heroine? Is most definitely plucky. I was obviously in a very odd mood last weekend. It was at least based on a book. That's something...um...right?

Since then I've stuck somewhat with the frontier theme and have been watching Longmire, which is a modern day law enforcement/mystery series that takes place in Wyoming. The cast is great (including Katee Sackhoff from BSG and Lou Diamond Phillips), there's a lot of interesting complexity between the Cheyenne Nation and non-Cheyenne neighbors, there are some really emotional episodes/scenes that are done really well,and there's a great subtle and interesting relationship between Walt Longmire and his deputy Vic (Katee Sackhoff). It's amazing. And also based on a series of books I really, really want to read.

Speaking of Books...

Finished this week:

- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry: AMAZING.
- Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews: Stayed good to the end. I love Curran and Kate so much! This, Dresden Files and The Peter Grant series are in a contest to the death to be my favorite UF series.
- The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood: This is the second book in the The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place middle-grade series. It was just as fun as book one.

Currently Reading:

- Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman: Made a lot of progress in this with all the driving I did for work. I'm loving it!
- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: Not much to say here. Moving along.
- Murder on Gramercy Park by Victoria Thompson: Book 3 in the Gaslight Mystery series that focuses on a turn of the 20th century midwife and police detective in New York.
- The Neverending Story by Michael Ende: Listening to this classic tale on audio. Didn't realize it is a work in translation which is fun! I loved this movie as a child.

On the BLOG LAST WEEK:

SUNDAY: A Couple of British Mysteries Written by Guys Named Peter - Short reviews of Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey and The Lewis Man by Peter May.
TUESDAY: Top Ten Tuesday: Bringing Books to the Big Screen.
THURSDAY: Tough Traveling - Disguises. People playing dress up in Fantasy Land.

On the BLOG NEXT WEEK:

This will probably be a loosey goosey week because I'll be on the road for work. If I can get a review or two published as well as the Tough Traveling post, I'll feel good about things. And not lazy. THURSDAY: The Tough Traveling topic this week is orphans which are INSANELY ubiquitous in Fantasyland so the difficulty will be which orphans to list. Hosted by Fantasy Review Barn.

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