Things I Did Yesterday 16/04/10

Not given up yet. But yesterday I:

- Worked. No Josh, so I had to get in extra early to get the new comics out on the shelves and get as much of the filing done as possible. Started at 7am and worked through lunch so was able to finish at 2.30pm, which wasn't bad at all. Good morning too: got the filing finished by about 10.15. Otherwise did the Marvel advance order adjustments and worked on the till.

- Happily my throat continues to feel better. Since we last spoke I've been hit with a dose of tonsillitis, for which I am now on antibiotics. The last few days I've felt a notable improvement each day, to the point where I no longer feel it's necessary to be popping nurofen through the day. As someone who's not a fan of pill-popping, that's a good thing.

- Went home, settled in a little, and then sat down to play Mass Effect, which I've just started in the aftermath of Dragon Age Origins. Going from one sprawling RPG into another might not be the smartest move I've ever made, but DAO has given me a real taste for games I can sink my teeth into. Happily, given it's a sci-fi game, the setting and interface are quite refreshing after months of fantasy tropes. Mustn't let it dominate my days off, but at the same time it offers good value for money at a time when I have none.

- My novel revision has been painfully slow. Keep falling off the wagon for one reason or another, all of which amount to excuses, really. There certainly have been legitimate reasons for not getting it done first thing in the morning, but none for why I couldn't shunt the time to later in the day. If I'm going to get this done, I'll need to adjust the attitude that evenings are somehow out of bounds.

- Began the slow process of sorting our South Africa trip photos. Seriously, we've got around 2,700 photos to get through. Many of them will wind up being deleted as a part of this process, but between tagging and labelling everything, the going is slow. We spent about an hour on it all told. I think I'll use this once it's done as an experiment in Picasa Web Albums.

- Read Hope Larson's new graphic novel for teens, "Mercury". It's a dual-thread narrative about a girl returning to her home town after a few years away, alongside the story of her family in the 1860's, whose lives are disrupted when a stranger comes looking for gold . It's an enjoyable read, touching on first loves, fitting in, the relationship of mothers and daughters, and a bit of good old fashioned melodrama. Certainly something I'll recommend.

- Watched the pilot of Firefly. I've been of a mind to watch Serenity again lately, and I figured that I'd watch the whole series again, with the film as the capper. I've only watched them once before, and it was a little disjointed, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. Funnily enough, the shorter length of the season makes it all the more appealing. Anyway, I still enjoyed the pilot, although I do find Whedon's tough guy dialogue a little hard to swallow. His knack for humour and drama still hold up very well, every time someone wants to sound hard, it's cringe-worthy. They sound like teenagers who REALY WANT TO SOUND TOUGH. And it's about that subtle. As per the first time, Adam Baldwin is by far the most enjoyable character, as bastards usually are. Looking forward to the rest.

- And then I did rest.