diana tkach . com

Flock This

So.  It's been some time.

I got inspired to blog today when I picked up the developer (read: alpha) version of this super new browser they call Flock.  It's got my blog account pre-formatted so I don't even have to go to the account to blog (not that it was really a hassle anyway).  The only drawback is that there is no easy way to blog a photo, so I will have to add one in later (if I can find a good one).

I've been pretty busy recently with the rollover of my 403(b) into a 401(k) and the suspension of my monthly wine club in favor of a ShareBuilder account.  (My investments start next week!)  Don and I are thinking about relocation after he gets his teaching license and AJ is scared that I'm going to leave him.  But.  I guess the most taxing development of the last month is the part where I got a new job.  I know it's pretty lame but I'm really liking it so far.  The company has pretty strict privacy clauses, so I'm not allowed to talk about it and I'm going to stop reviewing tech for the most part (is a link to Flock really a review?); this is a heads up.  When I accepted the job offer, I also made it clear that if the company needed me to close up shop at the blog, that I would comply.  Of course, if any drastic changes are on the horizon, I'll warn you before I close up anything.

Perhaps I will continue to review wines and books and maybe music (I'll have to check if music reviews are against company policy first).  You have no idea how many times I wanted to whip open my laptop and review the new Franz Ferdinand or the Annie CD I was obsessed with for a month.  My newest obsession?  Robbie Williams has a new CD coming out and I'm really trying to get into the new single, "Tripping."  Oh, and AJ got me turned on to Sudoku and I can't stop playing it.  Click here and try an easy one.  Obsessed.

Update: I posted the pic I took a few weeks ago at our cottage, when my moms and I went up there to take care of some things.  We walked around and found that most of the garden we had planted actually survived, including this viny morning glory on the back porch.  They will certainly be on next year's docket.

Wicked

My grandmother was released from the hospital today, and although I had spent the better part of the end of my week visiting her, most of my energy was focused on reading the sequel to the book Wicked by Gregory Maguire. 

I read Wicked during the first two days I spent
serving jury duty at the end of April 2005.  The 400+ page book made me nearly blind the first day (I had to get my sister to drive because my eyes were too broken from focusing in on the tiny print for eight hours), and relieved not to be blind the second day.  Although I own a great amount of literature, I am not a big reader.  I suppose it's because when I used to be a reader, it was when my parents carted my ass all around town.  Now that I cart my own butt around, it's hard to read and drive at the same time.

In fact, I bought the book during the Tony's (the one where I did an up to the minute review of Hugh Jackman's hosting abilities), after the Wicked cast came out and did their little song and dance about defying gravity.  I bought the CD of the Broadway cast performance (though I didn't find the musical version as captivating as the printed novel).  After reading the book, I went out and bought a couple of Maguire's other novels including Mirror, Mirror and Confessions of An Ugly Stepsister, though these novels are still sitting in my bookcase, collecting dust.

After reading Wicked, I talked about it with AJ.  I found out that this book was one and the same as the book AJ suggested to me at a local Border's a few years back.  The basic premise of the book is to coincide with L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz: instead of telling Dorothy's story, Maguire zeros-in on the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba (a fictional name paying homage to the original concept's creator).  It starts with the witch's birth and ends with her death, stopping along the journey to include parts of her childhood, school-age, and adulthood years.  And Maguire offers up a convincing hypothesis as to why Elphaba became a witch--and a wicked one at that.

After reading the book (which I found captivating from start to finish), I rented the classic movie and AJ and I watched it.  The book matches up certain occurrences (the arrival of Dorothy, the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, the arrival of Dorothy to Oz, the death of the Wicked Witch of the West).  It even explains why the Lion can talk and why there are winged monkeys at Elphaba's beck and call.

I actually got into a discussion at my grandfather's funeral about the book.  A friend of my mother's had gone to Toronto and saw the musical.  She and I talked at length about the musical and I urged her to read the book.  When I finally make it to New York, I'm planning on seeing it on Broadway, though I feel that no production could really do the book much justice.

This week at my grandmother's bedside, I started reading the sequel to Wicked, it's called Son of a Witch and chronicles the life of the assumed son (I'm still in chapter one) of Elphaba, Liir.  When I cracked open the cover, I remembered that I had forgotten to recommend the original novel on my blog, so this was my review and recommendation.  Hopefully I didn't spoil too much of the storyline.

When I'm done with the sequel, I'll try to post a more timely review.