Marilee J. Layman

I've still got DSL so I won't mention it again unless it stops working again.

Spirit started trying to wake me up at 7:38am and I told her I needed at least four more hours of sleep and she ignored me and kept waking me up. I moved out to the recliner because she will sleep on me there and let me sleep and when the alarm beeped, I turned it off and slept another hour. This is slightly ironic since I cut out a Rhymes With Orange comic (not online yet) where the woman is sitting up in bed showing a cat an alarm clock and saying "Again, when the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the seven... then you can walk on my face."

I checked online and my CK is right in the middle of normal, so no problem there. I went to PetSmart to get cat stuff, got gas, and decided to eat at a buffet I had a coupon for. I don't normally eat at buffets (carrying plate logistics, plus usually not very good food), but the regular price was good and my brother eats an enormous amount of food so I decided to try it. I brought my plate back to the table and after a couple bites of broccoli, I started to lose contact with the world. I was able to hold it, I was never unconscious, but I couldn't see things for a few minutes. Then the restaurant looked weird and that was better in a couple more minutes. I finished my plate (most of what they had was fried or waterlogged, so we're not going there) and came home.

I used Kaiser's website to email my neurologist about it and just got an answer from the nurse saying that since the doctor won't see it until Monday, I should call Advice and be evaluated at urgent care. I'm not going to do that -- the doctor has told me before I don't need to do that. As long as they're like this, I just need to tell her.

Comicmix.com pointed me to a Myers-Briggs test for fans where my INTJ is not that inaccurate.

Madeleine L'Engle died yesterday at 88. I was going to re-read the Wrinkle in Time series again soon, so I guess I'll just read it sooner.

I started the October/November Asimov's last night and read just the pieces before the stories. They were all interesting: 1) Sheila talked about trends including the kind of stories she wants. b) Agberg reviews Sturgeon's More Than Human and finds parts he doesn't like. I guess I'll have to re-read that soon, too. iii) Jim Kelly talks about Pixel-Stained Technopeasants, including a neat bit about Jo.

1. Half Magic
2. Magic By The Lake
3. Knight's Castle
4. The Time Garden
5. Magic or Not?
6. The Well-Wishers
7. Seven-Day Magic

I'd heard so many people mention the first book that I decided I wanted to read it. I found a nice boxed set of all seven on eBay for $10 and bought it. Note that I have listed the books in internal chronological order rather than publishing order which swaps 2 & 3.

All of these books are about children (usually a batch of four or five) finding something magic and using it for adventures. Books 1 & 2 go together, then 3 & 4, then 5 & 6, and then 7. It's clear that there was meant to be a sequel like the others, but he died two years after 7 was published (at age 53) and I guess he just didn't get to it. They're pleasant reading, not challenging.

I noticed a lot more word play and allusions in the first four books. The last three not only are more literal, but church steps in. They don't do magic on Sunday and in books 5 & 6, a church is peripherally involved in the story. I don't know if he changed his beliefs between 4 & 5 or if the times had changed. (I'm not finding much about him online.)

The boxed set I have was from Scholatic in 1999 and has tacky cartoony illos on the fronts & backs of the books (plus the box) but the original very good illos are inside.

I'd say this was still a good set of books to read to kids or for kids to read themselves. They need to be able to deal with the past.