Worked short again tonight, but it was quieter, so that went OK. It was good it was quiet, since I was tired and had a bit of a headache.

Watched a bunch of movies in the last few days when the children were gone.

Under the Tuscan Sun -- a very good little movie about a woman who begins her life anew in her middle age when she impulsively buys a fixer-upper in Italy while on vacation.

Pillow Talk -- an old 1960's romantic comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, very cute and frothy

Spider Man -- with all of the hype surrounding the recent release of the second film, I thought I should probably see the first...it was a nice surprise, with good special effects, a followable plot, decent acting...pretty enjoyable

First Knight -- yet another retelling of the King Arthur mythos, with Sean Connory as Arthur and Richard Gere as Lancelot...played a little too fast and loose with the basic story for my tastes (Lancelot as a newcomer to Camelot? when he has always been Arthur's best friend? Guinevere as a ruling lady of her own little city state before her marriage? and the whole plot line with the rebelling prince who used to be part of the Round Table...)...visually beautiful, yet somewhat annoying to a diehard Arthur buff like myself

I have been reading John Ford's The Dragon Waiting, an alternative history set in Europe in the Middle Ages, at the time of our Wars of the Roses. In this Europe, the Byzantine Empire is the major power, vampirism is a transmittable disease, and magic works. Four people come together -- a noble born mercenary from the Empire, a Welsh born magician, a German scientist and vampire, and a beautiful young woman from Florence who happens to be a gifted physician -- to try to help a young Plantagenet prince against the Empire...so far it is a very enjoyable read!

I recently read Lethe by Tricia Sullivan, a wild and very good science fiction novel. Entire ecosystems on Earth have been destroyed in massive wars involving genetic engineering/warfare and nuclear bombs. Humans are restricted to very protective reservations for their own safety. Some humans have been genetically altered so they can breathe with gills while in the water and lungs when on land. Others have become gigantic cyclopsians who are resistant to environmental poisons and radiation. The Earth is being run by disembodied human brains attached to computers, whouse dolphins and whales to supply their lacking creativity. And out in space, a gate to another, Edenic, world has been found -- a world that contains secrets that can bring devastation to Earth...