Still here.

Beware! I live!

Okay. Enough with the Sinistar references. The point is, I'm still alive, just really freaking busy and covered in paint. Literally. I've been scraping paint off my fingers and arms all night. The Boy has been down in Cinci, and I'm working on the house, as per The Plan.

I've also been nigh to gnawing off my own arms from stir-craziness and lack of social interaction. That's nobody's fault but mine, though. I could put down the paintbrush and call folks. However, actually leaving the house and doing anything is mostly out of the question, as the caddy is, for all intents and purposes, dead. At least currently. I'll find out just how permanent a death it is after I get money to take it to the shop.

I'm fortunate to have a madre-in-law who works a few short minutes from my house. Tomorrow I plan to abscond with her car during the day to gratuitously eat out, socialize with a sister, and putz around the bookstore. Sad that it seems so fresh and exciting. Ah well.

I'm getting an extraordinary amount of reading done at night.

Since Monday, I read Steven Brust's Brokedown Palace, which was pretty and sad in its way, but not all that remarkable. I can imagine it being really good the second time 'round someday. I'm currently in the middle of Douglas Coupland's Microserfs, and I find that though it's a book that revolves at least somewhat around computers, and it's ten years old, it still resonates-- even more so, maybe, because I have more inherent cultural nerdiness to draw from than I did when I first read it as a college student. I'm also older than most of the characters in the book now. That came as something of a shock. I recommend Microserfs for reading before breakfast or right before bed. The book is formatted as the journal of a young coder working at Microsoft. I find it hopeful, witty, calm, and interesting. One of the things the main character does to describe the people in his life is to think of what their seven ideal Jeopardy categories would be. It's such a neat (though by no means exhaustive) little encapsulation of a person. I adore lists like this. The book is full of them.

Perhaps my seven ideal Jeopardy categories would be:

1. underground christian music from the early nineties
2. urban legends & internet scammers
3. obscure unrelated facts about animals
4. webcomics
5. recognizing (but not necessarily being able to place) literary quotes.
6. graphic novels that don't have to do with superheroes
7. things to make with wire

That actually took more thought and energy than I'd anticipated. Tomorrow I might write that list completely differently.

Off the cuff, I think the Boy's seven ideal categories would be:

1. computers - programming and deciphering
2. a not-so-brief history of video games
3. obscure electronic music of the nineties
4. medieval history
5. the backwater of the internet
6. most effective chemical compounds for various stain removal
7. Usenet posts from 1991

Hmm. Seven is not enough, I find. I would also add a category called "Steph and her foibles," but that might come off as mushy.

What about you? What would your seven ideal jeopardy categories be?