Reading Thursday again

[flemmings]

Finished?

Agatha Christie, Evil Under the Sun, Death in the Clouds, Towards Zero
-- all quite satisfactory

Nina George, The Little Paris Bookshop
-- um well. Quite aside from the mysteriously appearing obituary for someone the protag didn't know was dead at the time but somehow stuffed into a copy of Proust, there's my Anglo reaction of 'but people don't *do* and that.' 'That' being 'experience overwhelming love and mutual understanding and perfect sexual compatibility and and and.' I mean, maybe they do. The characters' attitude that love is just something that happens to everyone all the time chimes with what I know of French people, but the sublime apotheosis aspect felt a but odd until I found out that the book was written in German. Oh, that's alright then: just the German Romantic tradition at work. You can find the same thing happening in Dick Francis, just toned down for Anglo sensibilities.

Reading?

Christie, Murder in Mesopotamia
-- must have one's Poirot

Poirot's Early Cases
-- though Poirot shorts are nowhere near as good as Poirot novels

Next?

-- have Karen Lord's Redemption in Indigo on hold, should be in soon.

Not sure if I'm going to read The Elegance of the Hedgehog or not, even though it *was* written by a Frenchwoman. The first paragraph did not pull me in.

Current tsurises: washing machine at work broke down yesterday. Amazingly, repairman came this morning, said the whole thing was foutu, our administrator put in an order for a new one and it arrived this afternoon. Of course it's a terrifying digital thing that I do not trust *at all*, but at least it's there.

Have been having heart palpitations when I lie down, for what seems like several months now. Webpages say to stop taking certain of my herbal supplements, stop drinking caffeine, and stop drinking alcohol. The first I've done, the second I might manage, just, the third is 'I'd rather die.' Last time I had this it accompanied a sinus infection, so maybe I'll wait to see what happens after the allergy season is over.

Comments

[i_am_zan]

*stranger coming in here* - hope the palpitations are indeed nothing to worry over.

Do take care ... and I would die if I had to give up caffeine. Coffee maybe but no, don't take away my tea.

*hugs* I have missed everyone, but have been putting in full days due to peeps being on med. leave and sickly. It means more money, but this month will be a leaner month because one of the dentists are away and they don't need too many frontline staff.

Here's one for you. I was just on the edge of waking up the other morning (5:40) I am coming out of a dream where I am reading fan fiction written on old -type/style blue-hued paper in thick nibbed fountain pen, in BINARY!! I kid you not, and weirdest of all. It made sense. Not now of course that all I can remember are ones and zeroes, but yeah. Talk about odd! ^_^

Love and hugs.

[flemmings]

Hi there, old friend.

Caffeine-wise, I think tea comes at the low end of the spectrum. Never heard of it giving people arrhythmia.

I love your binary dream! The things the mind pulls on us...

[incandescens]

I'm trying to cut down on coffee after being told by the doctor that I had stage 1 hypertension. It is not being easy. I love my five or six cups a day.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Yikes! Yes, that's indeed an incentive to cut down, but I'm sure those five or six cups are necessary to a desk job.

[incandescens]

I'm trying to substitute glasses of plain water instead, in the hopes that having something to sip will do the job.

(Stage 1 hypertension is when they don't actually give you any drugs or treatment, just stern warnings to adjust your lifestyle. I will admit to drinking too much coffee. And eating too much.)

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, as one approaches middle age, one can no longer live as one did in one's thirties. That slowing metabolism... Though drinking more water is a good way to drop pounds.