NaNoReMo - completed

I generously gave myself a 10 hour grace period...and I am now done!  Hooray!

I'm glad I took this excuse to read Catch-22.  I don't think I would have made it very far on my own (I think I only got in a few chapters in high school).  There was a long while where I was just frustrated by the seeming lack of plot and overabundance of confusing characters.  But once I started to get that it was gradually circling back to one defining event, a moment of truth in a maddening chaos of lies, brutality,  greed, and mind numbing bureaucracy, then I was with it.  And what a perfect book to read during a war that makes even less sense than the one it is criticizing.  The bits about war profiteering stood out in particular.  And the massive unnecessary loss of life.  I see now why he needed so many characters in the beginning. 

While I was reading the book I wasn't sure if I was enjoying or even liked it, but the ending really won me over (and not just the relief of getting through it).  If you haven't read it, I do recommend it.  Between this and Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, I read fewer individual titles this month than I have in a very very long time, and I now have a huge pile of teen books and graphic novels to whittle down or just return.  But I'm glad I took the time for this.

November books

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snow + Seattle drivers = bad news

I have no problem driving in the snow, or at least I don't freak out, lock up my breaks, block up hills, and cause general chaos. Which is more than I can say for my fellow Seattlites.

I left the house an hour and a half early to stop by the library, pick up a floor sample, and drive to Ballard for a haircut. At the library, I decided I would need a warmer coat. It took me about 20 minutes to do the usual 5 minute drive. Then I got the coat, threw some extra clothes in the trunk (just in case), and got less than a half mile from my house before deciding to cancel the haircut. Every hill had someone stuck on it, and huge backups. Ug.

I'm tempted to just wait a bit and see how things go, but I've got places to be, so instead I'm going to go catch a bus or two...I should be able to get to Greenwood before 6 if I get a plan in action now. After that...hope to get to a party on Capitol Hill. Wish me luck.