Summer is here.
It’s too beautiful outside to blog. It’s hot, sunny, and clear, with a temperature of 70 degrees in the shade. The jacarandas are blooming. (Every time I see one it makes me feel like I’m living in a Dr. Seuss book.) The bus this morning was full of people heading to the beaches. At our house, the Snook is trying out his new 44-litre brewing pot in the backyard. I’m going to head over to Kmart and see if I can find a cheap lounge chair. Life is good.

I stopped in at Galaxy Books tonight to pick up the last Ender book (and indulge in a little self-affirmation*) when I was stopped in my tracks by a large display rack of Stephen King’s latest Dark Tower tome, The Wolves of Calla. I didn’t know this was out yet! I haven’t even had a chance to re-read Wizard and Glass! I couldn’t resist getting it though. I carried my Card and my King up to the checkout and was happily informed that they were throwing in a free copy of the new revised version of The Gunslinger. Sweet! But I wasn’t through yet… As I was paying I noticed a poster for Philip Pullman’s Lyra’s Oxford, which just came out. All right, add that to the pile. My one book ended up becoming four. Ouch. And yay!

Oh, and get this: I picked up a flyer for the next “Friends of Science Fiction” conference and guess who’s going to be attending? Corin Nemec. Yeah, baby! It’s Parker friggin’ Lewis himself. Apparently he’s in “Stargate SG-1” or something; hence the Sci-Fi connection. You know, I wouldn’t mind meeting Harold Lauder, but I’m sure as heck not going to pay $80 for the privilege. Sheesh.

* If you’re ever in need of a self-esteem boost – and you’re female – just head into the nearest fantasy bookshop and peruse the Orson Scott Card section. The geek boys will be drawn to you like moths to a lightbulb. It’s kinda fun.

New Poll: In honor of my brother Antny’s big milestone this week, what did you do on your 21st birthday?

Darn, I missed National Men Make Dinner Day yesterday! I let the Snook get away with just buying me dinner at the pub. Actually he cooks about 80% of the time anyway, so I guess it was nice to give him a night off. 🙂

This is broken. Not really. It’s a weblog where people send in pictures and descriptions of bad design. I especially liked this item, which describes a “feature” of our own microwave that I hate: When cooking finishes, the damn thing keeps beeping until you open the door. It drives me crazy.

How to make gyoza. Finally some writing from Amy Tan that doesn’t put me to sleep! (Link courtesy of not martha.)

Wow, it was a day of purely autobiographical links. I feel like I should make it up to you. For starters, check out Ebert’s review of The Matrix: Revolutions. He didn’t hate it!

In case any other Australians are wondering, the version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that plays during the Dulux paint commercial is by a Hawaiian guy called Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Rodd and I both love the song so he tracked it down. It’s actually a medley with “What a Wonderful World.” I love it. If you can find it, download it.

Trivia Update: The Snook and I headed back to Kelly’s, our old regular trivia pub, and managed to score second place all by ourselves! (Our celebrations were curtailed by the fact that the winning team was captained by an overweight geek in an “All Your Base Are Belong to Us” t-shirt. It was like losing to the Comic Book Guy. Very mortifying.) Your questions for the night:

• Name the eight countries of the world with one word names (in English) that start with the letter “I”.
• Name the six Jane Austen novels that have been turned into movies.
• Which movie did Shirley Maclaine win a Best Actress Oscar for in 1983, and who won Best Supporting Actor that year for the same film?
• Which city in the world has the most taxicabs?

As you might imagine, I rocked the Jane Austen one. (I’m working my way through her complete works right now.)

Congratulations to my friend Nat, who has become the first of my college friends to have a baby. He and his wife Staci welcomed little Marianne Elizabeth Cunningham into the world two weeks ago. Isn’t she cute? The last time I saw Nat we were drinking our faces off at a tailgater… and now he’s a Dad. It’s a weird feeling.