I got the book review finished

I've packed a lunch (vegetarian chilli and applesauce--I know, it's getting a bit low, though; I think YKWIA will probably cook tomorrow, which is good, as we have quite a few fresh vegetables, but not a lot of ready-made stuff.  Although come to think of it, we do have veggie burgers and some other frozen food, which will be good for lunches this week.  I don't get paid until Thursday, and I'm afraid my finances are rather bleak at the moment for the first time in awhile.  That $5 an hour pay cut really hurt.  But I'm glad I have insurance.)

I took a shower just now so my hair will be dry in the cold of the morning.  I'm listening to a station on Amazon Music for Portugal. The Man, which has been very entertaining.

I've got the dogs at my feet.  I fed them earlier, then brought them in after only about 10 minutes due to the cold.  Unfortunately, I forgot to gate them so when they came in one ate the cat's remaining food.  So I had to give him a little more after gating them.  He's allergic to just about everything and is on a special hypo-allergenic food without grain or chicken.  I figured he was pretty hungry; he threw up this morning.  But as the vet said, a weekly hack up is better than daily, and in general, this food is working pretty well, although it's a $20 small bag.  So I'm sorry I accidentally let one of the dogs to get a treat.

YKWIA is reading again in his room.  He usually calls a friend on Monday nights, so I'm going to finish this up pretty quickly.  I'm just waiting for my hair to dry, really.  Once that happens, I can go on to bed.  The lack of caffeine is one thing, but all I've done is one and a half loads of laundry, so I'm not sure why I'm so tired.

The house is looking good.  My stuff is all in order. I temporarily 'lost' the book I was reviewing, which was amazing, as I have books in and on top of the bed's bookcase, but nowhere else, but I found it, thankfully.  It was pretty interesting; it was on makerspaces.  I made a discovery in the course of writing it: Google's definitions that they display whenever you put in 'define [word]) come from the Oxford Pocket Dictionary. So I was able to go to Oxford's website to get a good citation for the definition.  Merriam-Webster failed me, I'm afraid.  I guess the term is too new.

I finished the night at 1134 calories, which is 306 under what I should be for dieting.  I might have something else later, like some applesauce, but I'm really not hungry right now.  I only walked about 2,800 steps, but I never left the house beyond taking the recyclables to the containers outside.

I was on the Internet yesterday and found something about a prequel to His Dark Materials by Philip Pulman.  It's called La Belle Sauvage, the first of The Book of Dust trilogy.  I don't know how I missed it.  I've put it on hold at the Library, along with A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.  I always said I'd read that series when she finished the alphabet.  Sadly, it looks like it will end at Y, but still.

Okay, I'm going to transfer some new music to my phone, and then I'll go ahead and head into my room and listen to some more music for a while, then go to sleep.  Hope you had a restful and happy new year.

Oh, yes!

December 7, 2007, I may very well be in the theatre--I who never go on opening night. But this is for His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials: Northern Lights in Britain), and I've just seen the trailer tonight and it looks lovely.

Here is the trailer (a bit dark on YouTube)



I'm interested in what they do with the philosophical and religious elements in the movie. The director, Chris Weitz--who began the project, left, and returned after another director resigned--according to the Wikipedia article

indicated that the film would make no direct mention of religion or of God, two of the key themes of the trilogy – a decision attacked by fans of the novels. Weitz stated that New Line Cinema feared that "perceived antireligiosity" would make the film financially unviable in the US. However, Weitz attempted to reassure fans by saying that religion would appear in euphemistic terms. He also indicated that he believes His Dark Materials is "not an atheistic work, but a highly spiritual and reverent piece of writing".

Still, Philip Pullman, writing of Weitz' return, had this to say:

But Scholastic and New Line, who are both involved in making the film, have been more than considerate to me - and, much more importantly, to the story. And the latest script, from Chris Weitz, is truly excellent; I know, because I`ve just this morning read it. I think it`s a model of how to condense a story of 400 pages into a script of 110 or so. All the important scenes are there and will have their full value.

Anyway, even if I'm not there at the first showing, I know what I'll be doing at some point in December. :) I hope it's a success and the other two books are adapted. It looks quite visually stunning. Let us hope the story has been true to the original.