In which Kisha reads non-fiction badly.

[same_sky]

Did I mention my non-fiction resolution to anyone besides Kirsty? I've decided to keep one non-fiction book going at all times. I don't have a requirement on how fast I need to read it, just that I have it--in fact, I'm trying to stretch it out somewhat because I don't have an unlimited supply of non-fiction waiting in the wings, and so I'm still spending more time reading fiction, but still. I've kept it up for several months now. I read a lot of fiction--and previously nearly exclusively fiction--so I'm feeling very pleased with myself.

Right now I'm reading Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (aka Down Under) and am enjoying it immensely. I had no real depth of understanding of what a truly terrific and terrifying place Australia is before I started reading it--I'm not done with it yet, but I highly recommend it. Anyway, in this particular paperback incarnation, it has a kangaroo on the front, clutching (in a photoshopped sort of way) a sign--no attempt to make it look real, at least, which is good, otherwise it would have been revoltingly badly done. A baby kangaroo peers out of a gaping hole in Mum's belly, and it occurs to me--and yes, I've written two paragraphs just to get to this line--that these creatures cannot possibly be real. I've had a couple of months to think about this, since I've been reading it so slowly. This gigantic upright horse-rat creature has been staring at me for ages, and frankly, I'm beginning to be a little disturbed by it. It looks tired and vaguely pissed off. It's judging me, I know it is. It wonders why I'm reading so slowly, why I leave it on the bedside for four days at a time without picking it up. Even the baby questions me. You know, if I don't finish this book soon, I think I'm going to develop an irrational and embarrassing fear of kangaroos. It's watching me. I can feel it.

Perhaps this is a good indication of why I don't read much non-fiction--I start making stuff up. (I'm like the Daily Show!) I'm a little embarrassed now that I've admitted to being a bit scared of the cover of my book. It's an inanimate object--how scary could it be? I wonder if I should delete this and get it over with. Clearly I should.. but I guess I'm not going to.

I'm feeling pretty good about feeling silly at all, actually. I was in the worst mood this morning and afternoon. I slept horribly, and had long, complicated and very strange dreams. Let's just say that I was married to John Cleese and I knew who the Salem serial killer was but I didn't know who to tell, and also, I turned into Nicole but Victor was the killer and I thought that was really hot (?) and he came to visit me in the hospital/jail I was in, and also my mom, aunt and cousin followed me to the bathroom and started asking me very personal questions and.. well, that's just if I take out the parts it wouldn't be ladylike to discuss. That kind of set the tone for the whole day, and I didn't start feeling okay until evening. But things are going generally okay for me tonight, so hopefully the tired and grumpy monster has gone away again.

I also got something good done today. I have this habit of not working on my projects after I mess them up. I get annoyed, put it all away and then I don't want to start on it again because I would have to get rid of the mistake before I can do any good. It's a vicious cycle, and I really should start making myself fix the problem before I put it away, but I never will. I had worked myself into just that corner with both my tatting project (which was almost done) and my baby quilt, which meant that I've had nothing to do while watfching TV lately. I finally sat down for a while tonight and got both of them back to being workable. I'm now ridiculously close to being done with my red snowflake, and not at all close to being done with the quilt. Hopefully I can get some of my crafty stuff done this week. I'm kind of looking forward to this week for some reason. feels like I'm going to get a lot done. I hope that's true. :)

Comments

[lizardek.livejournal.com]

Love Bill Bryson! :) He's great. I really like his books on English, too.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I liked him before I started reading this, but I'm growing increasingly more fond of him as I go. Great guy.

[dbrus.livejournal.com]

Yay non-fiction and I love Bill Bryson!

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I thought you might approve.. :)

[courtesy.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're enjoying (and being freaked out by) it :) Kangaroos are freaky. Freakily real. Once when S was here we went to a park to feed some and there was one with a joey (baby kangaroo) in it's pouch and it was almost falling out but quite comfortable about it, just hanging in there getting to see the real world. REALLY cool :)

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

As I was writing all that, I was thinking about how kangaroos, in my mind, have always been cartoons. They're famously cute with the whole pouch thing, but really, the cartoons are quite flattering opposed to their actual appearance. I really am quite enjoying the book. I've had to struggle not to read parts of it aloud to M all the time, because he's planning on reading it when I'm done. Glad you recommended it (although now I'm going to be too terrified of poisonous and otherwise scary things to come visit..) ;)

[courtesy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, whilst I love it, I don't think he's done much for our tourism ;) I'll protect you though. Whenever we get a snake in our house we act quickly and there's never any accidents....

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I would guess that he has, actually. He goes on and on about all these truly terrifying things, but he's so darned cheerful about it that you can't take him too seriously, even if you know he means it. I finished it today, by the way. Really good stuff.. I'm very glad you suggested it. Too bad I didn't look at the map in the front until I was almost done.. I'm afraid I had a rather skewed image of where things were all through the thing.. ha. :)

[courtesy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know, he has helped :) But he's added a certain Crocodile Hunter mystery to the place but I think deep down most Aussies quite like the thought that other people think we tackle dangerous animals and plants every day :) Glad you read it all and enjoyed it! There's a certain pressure in recommending a book... ;)