I’m still neck-deep in work. Now more than ever.

Although to offset the impression that I’m leading a totally imbalanced life, on the weekends I’ve been doing things like building a Sukkah with the family, cuddling and reading to Stacey, carving pumpkins with shadowandlight and the kids, and even going out clubbing. I remain humain, albeit a somewhat harried human.

I need to post a photo of my first jack o’lantern ever. It’s Strongsad, and I made it with a white pumpkin.

For that matter, I need to take some photos of the Sukkah. Although it has acquired an embarrassing list; I think the posts sagged in their holes when the ground got waterlogged.

I need to stop waking up to NPR. The only dreams I remember on arising in the morning are of war and natural disasters. And fund drives.

I’ve been reading Alastair Reynolds’ Inhibitor trilogy. Revelation Space was a great piece of epic hard sci-fi space opera. My only complaint was that none of the characters were particularly likable. Usually the lack of character sympathy is an instant turn-off for me; but in this case the universe and the unfolding storyline were sufficiently intriguing to keep me reading. Redemption Ark almost seems to go out of it’s way to alleviate that complaint. It has an abundance of engaging, sympathetic characters, and even the characters who carry over from the preceding book have acquired some semblance of humanity. Almost all of them, old and new, are seeking either consciously or unconsciously for some form of redemption, as befits the book’s title. I’m looking forward to book three.

Thomas Moore continues to be a good read, although he remains tantalizingly vague. He clearly has a gift for connecting myth to our lives, but his skill in bringing those insights home in concrete ways leaves something to be desired. Dealing with archetypes carries the risk that if you do not keep yourself intellectually grounded, you can explain everything in terms of whatever symbol is foremost on your mind. When you find yourself saying that a certain mythic figure can mean war or peace, love or hate, passion or apathy, heart or mind, you stray dangerously close to casting the ultrawide nets that pop astrologers are so fond of.

Still, it’s highly thought-provoking stuff; and the overall theme of caring for the soul, rather than fixing it, is welcome.

I have a beard. I’m still not sure how I feel about this.

I posted recently on the subject of the necessity of a charitable attitude to fully realizing good works. I received a lot of not unexpected debate. As I despair of having the time to reply individually and in detail, I will say only this: you’re all wrong, and I’m right. There, I think that should cover it.

In the words of Garrison Keillor: Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.