In Which the House Creaks.
February 10th, 2003
There is something strangely compelling about being up in the wee hours of the morning. Even though the demands of my job have required me to conform to a diurnal lifestyle, I think secretly that I would be best suited to a nocturnal pattern.
It's about 3am at the moment. It's -40C outside. It is so cold that the house shudders and twitches like an animal. When the furnace comes on, the house expands, the roof creaks, the floors crack. It's an inhalation and expansion, but with rafters instead of ribs, and vapour barrier and shingles and insulation instead of lungs. When the furnace turns off, the air cools. The house contracts. An exhalation of misty vapour creeping out the myriad little holes and vents in the fabric of the house.
I am up so late because I am marking assignments. I was asked by a former prof if I wanted to be a marking assistant for him. I had worked with him when I was an undergrad. Now that I work at the University and am not commuting, I am available. It's been not too bad so far, despite having to give a lecture to the class with less than a day's notice, although I seem to have forgotten the Rule of Marking. This Rule, which I learned well at Western, is to not leave them all to the last minute. Do a few assignments a night, and then there is no need for the marathon, punishing sessions. I think I have re-learned the Rule, because I don't think I can survive any more all-nighters.
I used to be able to survive on very little sleep. One summer I worked a night-shift job as an operator. One month, I went to school full-time during the day and worked all night. I routinely stayed up for 36 or 48 hours at a time. My abilities have been sorely taxed by grad school, and I think I have used up my allotment of all-nighters. I know I am going to feel just rotten. I feel sick to my stomach the next day, and the effects last for days. No bounding up bright-eyed after a pittance of sleep.
I miss these quiet hours, though. Chris and the cats are asleep. I am curled up in a globe of illumination, listening to the house breathe. My pen scratches the paper, and I idly flip through pages. Only 25 more assignments to go. Sigh.
Books I have Read Lately:
- Circle at Centre by Douglas Niles. I was first exposed to Douglas Niles when I read his Watershed Trilogy. I really enjoyed them - he had a fresh, engaging writing style, with some new twists. This book, not so much. The initial concept of the book was promising. The world is divided into Seven Circles, each the home of a race of beings. Dwarves live in the First circle, and humans in the Seventh. The Fourth circle is home to Elves and human Druids who have been invited there. Some druids, forseeing future troubles, bring human warriors out of time to the Fourth circle. Unfortunately, one of them, a Crusader, goes insane and launches a righteous attack against what he thinks are demons. He raises a huge army and the balance of the Seven Circles is in jeopardy. What are the peace-loving Elves going to do?
There was not enough character development, and the book jumps around to different places a lot. You never really know the characters or their motivations. The plot kind of drops off, and there are several jarring incidents which completely catapults the reader out of the narrative. Plus, as a minor spoiler, the book suddenly jumps ahead 20 years in time, which is very annoying, and there is a giant deus ex machina facilitating the ending. Ho hum. ()(All links go through Amazon.ca because of the affiliate program with The Usual Suspects. I spend so much time on there, that this is the least I can do.)