Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate and The Faery Reel

I read Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate by Susan Smith in just a few days. It was a loan from 7j. When I was about halfway through the book, she and starkeymonster had a conversation in which they mentioned that this book actually started out as Xena fan fic. I hadn't realized that at all. And I think that you could definitely enjoy this book without ever having watched any Xena.

(At the same time, having been a Xena fan back in college, this inspired me to order Xena first season on DVD from the library.)

I thought this book was wonderful. The descriptions were great, it was very sexy, and in places, it was profound. "Eight torrid days with a professor and a drag king" could have been the subtitle. I felt this book really captured the rush of a new relationship, as well as treating seriously with topics like fate, family, and gender. Four and a half stars.

On the other hand, I read The Faery Reel very slowly - it took me more than a month. It's an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling as a companion volume to the amazing, and wildly successful, Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest. Now I want to start out by saying that Green Man knocked my socks off. It was a birthday present from starkeymonster last year and I thought it was terrific. This anthology was fine, but it just wasn't up to that standard. I didn't find stories in it that I wanted to read over and over and read aloud to my sweeties, as I did with the other one. Of course, I'm not as into the realms of Faery as I am into the forest. But I did like "The Dream Eaters" by AM Dellamonica, "The Price of Glamour" by Steve Berman, and "The Annals of Eelin-Ok" by Jeffery Ford. Three stars.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

I just love Miyazaki. I do. I haven't watched a single thing he's done that I didn't like.

Anyway, my number finally came up for Nausicaa at the library. I had never watched it before, amazingly, although I remember my friend KK in college really liked it.

It was interesting to watch an earlier work of his and see how his primary visual themes (flying people, monsters, killer robots, animal familiars) have been developed in the past fifteen years. Not to mention his primary plot themes of the loss of humanity, the pointlessness of war, and the spirits of ecology. Really good stuff.

"When clothes die, if they've been really good, they go to the Garment District."

So, today I dragged mrpet out of bed at ten AM and asked him to go shopping with me.

My mission: to get a flattering pair of shorts that went with my wardrobe for $30 or less.

First, we stopped at Hootenanny. I figured they would have shorts I liked, and probably on clearance. Well, the clearance shorts had been cleared already - none left. And the regular racks were carrying the fall collection. (How screwed up is it that we buy fall clothes in the summer? As places compete to be the first to have their fall stuff, it's going to keep moving back, until we're buying fall stuff in the spring, then the winter... and let's not even talk about "the Christmas season.") Lots of bathing suits on clearance, though, so if you're still lacking you should stop by.

mrpet suggested we try Urban Outfitters, but we struck out there as well. Next stop? Garment District. The home of awesome sunglasses and clothes you wish you did have in your closet.

I managed to find not one, but two pairs of shorts that fit and are reasonably flattering. (One pair is GREAT on me, the other pair is okay but will go with a lot more of my wardrobe because it's black.)

I also replaced my heart-shaped sunglasses, which had accidentally gotten squashed while traveling. The new pair is rose-colored, which makes me absurdly happy. The previous pair was blue.

Yay!

(The quote, by the way, is not of my making - it's actually from the Faery Reel. Fun stuff.)