Thursday, January 27, 2005

Mixed Bag

I started reading a book recently, and I really wanted to like it. I got all the way to page 189 by hoping things would get better (the book has about 500 pages) but it didn't seem to be happening. The main character is not very likeable. He's surly and grumpy and flies into rages, and he doesn't want to be where he is now. Nobody has told him what they know, and so he's in the dark (and surly and grumpy) and running for his life. I don't care. The bad guys can get him. I just don't care what happens to him. I wish I did. But the book goes back to the library unfinished. It's not worth it.

Today I played with character building for the marathon at FM. I know a great deal more about both Shann and Taafa than I did before. Shann's archetype is Lost Soul, and he used to have a wife, but she died. (I'd like to think of something other than childbirth complications, but those will do if they have to.) They did have a child, a son, I think, about two years old when the mother died. This is complicating because in their culture the child cannot be raised by a single parent. And if Shann really does marry Taafa (from the enemy country) his child would not be released to him anyway. That might be fodder for a second book; I don't expect it to play a huge part in this story except as difficult decision making. Taafa's archetype is Survivor. She'll do nearly anything to make her life more meaningful, including a few things not acceptable to either culture. And I discovered that she has a cousin, Nadiia, with whom she is good friends. And her sister is married to a prince. Yes, I had a ton of fun today!

At work, anyway. Came home to discover that calf#2 needed its bottom washed. And then I discovered that my only rubber gloves had holes in them. So...anyway. It was pushing dark by the time we got to the baby's bottom, so I'm not sure how clean I got it. Good enough till Saturday, anyway, when I can have a look in daylight. And have some new rubber gloves. Whichever one of you who said they wished THEY lived on a farm, come on up. You're welcome here anytime, especially this week. I promise you rubber gloves.

1 comment:

Jean said...

I'm reading a book like that, too. I'm on page 351 of 377, and I just put the book down.

For the cow water pipe, I don't imagine bleach through the line will work like it does on air conditioning vent pipes, would it? I'm guessing this is a much larger pipe. I hope you get it fixed.

I love hearing about your cows and wish them all the best, but after learning what you do, I'm content to watch our neighbors cows across the fence (and to chase the little critters back home now and again). They're beautiful creatures, but I can't imagine how they survived without humans. And that seems strange.

Jean (using Inuit's account, of course)