A number of bookish (as opposed to uffish) thoughts

• I'm rereading Small Gods -- and I refuse to believe that it's not in conversation with The Name of the Rose. The ideas of how heresy is defined, the character of Brother Nhumrhod (who is totally Ubertino), the burning library -- hell, there's the scene in the square where the pilgrims are pointing at the eagle and saying "It's a sign!" "What of?" "What do you mean, what of, it's a sign." "Well it has to be a sign of something!" If that's not a reference to the most famous semiotician of the 20th century, I don't know what it is.
  
  Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm seeing connections where none are -- but I feel fairly confident in this one.
  
  
• Pogo came up in chat tonight, and THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO DID NOT KNOW IT.
  
  Sorry, dropped my caps lock. *picks it up* But seriously. POGO. Biting political satire in the form of malapropizing possums and turtles! Alternate lyrics to Christmas carols! It's part of the bedrock of everything from Calvin & Hobbes to Bloom County to the Muppets. If you don't know it, you should.
  
  
• Through wandering around on Wikipedia, I came across the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon page again. Man, guys -- especially Milliways people -- I can never emphasize enough how much you need to read these stories. Of course, there are moments, especially in some of the later books, where I shake my head and go "Oh, Spider Robinson" -- when the Mary Sue element gets particularly noticeable, or when he takes a very Heinlein-esque moment to rhapsodize about a philosophy, or more often, in Spider's case, about a cool idea for technology, real or imagined -- but they are far outweighed by stuff like "The Time-Traveler," or the very concept of toasting.
  
  Hell, I would be willing to enable by typing up a story or two, if it would get people reading.

(no subject)

Oh fucking hell Madame Director knows I'm back in town.

I -- just -- for those of you just joining us, Madame Director is a manipulative girl I've known for years who I originally was friends with because of her fanfic tendencies, and who I stopped being friends with when I finally realized that she was a manipulative, controlling, lying bitch -- and I do not use that word lightly -- with a talent for seeing the world as she wants to see it. She used to make a habit of calling me every day and talking at me for an hour about how awesome her story, or her parts of the story we were co-writing, was. I attempted to break off the relationship gently by avoiding her like the plague after she made my life a living hell for two months while I stage managed for her, and more or less succeeded. She stopped calling, we saw less of each other -- we certainly don't write together anymore.

But. She just called, and when I made up something about having to look something up online for my dad, she said "Oh, I'll call you back."

And I'm literally shaking. DO NOT WANT doesn't cover it. And I can't avoid her for the whole month I'm here, because she works full-time at my favorite used bookstore/coffeehouse.

Fuck. Fuck.

*weakly* In, uh, more pleasant news, driving on snow and ice today was not as terrifying as I thought, not even making donuts in parking lots. And I saw a mama and baby moose.

God. I need to eat something. Having low blood sugar is not helping me deal with the idea of dealing with her.