last night

I wrote this post last night, but then the Internet got rather noncooperative, so you get it now:

It's been way, way too long since I last blogged. And no good reason for it, either, beyond being more socially active than normal, and just being busy. I've read a couple of good books recently.
Tender Is the Night: A classic. And yes, for book club. I thought it was interesting. Such decadent characters, literally and emotionally. People fall in love within minutes, and that can last so long. I suppose F. Scott Fitzgerald was trying to illustrate the corruption of richness. Or how easy a relationship can go from sweet to sour. Or both. I had a hard time discerning the point. It was sad to watch the marriage between the two main characters dissolve, and I thought that the love of the young actress for the husband was interesting in that it seemed such a fleeting thing but then lasted for years. I think this book is a great meditation on relationships, and how people can affect other people both for better and for worse.
She: A precursor to the modern fantasy novel. This one was so good! I had a hard time getting into it, possibly because of the voice and style it is written in, but once I got past that I really enjoyed it. The story of two men venturing into the unknown to discover both their past and their future, and finding lost lands, savage peoples, and a mysterious immortal queen. It was easy to empathize with Holly, the older and wiser of the two men. He was very wise, and yet still susceptible to the wiles of the foreign lands and people he encountered. And Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, what a fascinating woman! Two thousand years of knowledge resting in her white flesh. Two thousand years of love and longing and passion and pain. She really is a tremendous character, and the choices she makes are sometimes nearly unfathomable. Sometimes. I often empathized with her, at times unwillingly, even. It was impossible not to. She waited two thousand years for her love to return to her; when he did, how could she not do everything within her power to assure his continued presence by her side?
Work is going well. It's still quiet. I am about to start freelancing for companies other than my own, which I am really looking forward to. I know, I'm a workaholic. Can't really help it. And I'm excited to see what other people throw at me.
Still waiting patiently for feedback on my novel. I've gotten a little from a couple people, and it's a good start, some good things to think about, but I'm itching for more. I'd like to start editing in a week or two. I don't want this book to take me as long to finish as the first one did. I mean, every one is a learning process and will move at its own speed, but I still feel like the first one took an inordinately long time. And I feel good about this one; I know that it will only improve with editing, and I'm really looking forward to putting this one out there and seeing if I can get a little interest from an agent. Even if they don't want this one but want to see the next thing I write, that's still a good sign.
I can feel spring in the air when I walk to the subway in the morning now. It's still cold out, still winter-jacket weather. But I can smell it, I can almost taste the spring coming. And with it, change. I can't wait to see what it brings.