Dead Beat, by Jim Butcher

There is nothing, repeat, nothing like a Harry Dresden novel. God-damn, that was fun, and a highly enjoyable addition to the ever-growing Dresden Files series. jimbutcher has not missed a step, putting our boy Harry through the usual gamut of high-paced supernatural dangers, bringing back several recurring characters for another appearance and tying back to things that have happened in previous novels, and showing us that while Harry's getting a bit battered and bruised from all that he has experienced, he is still very much the most kickass wizard around.

( Spoilers back here... )

Doing the Folklife Weekend Dance

So! Yesterday I went back to the Seattle Times downtown for round two of interviewy goodness. They wanted to give me an aptitude test and a couple more interviews, and all of that seemed to go pretty well. The test was interesting, and although it took over three hours to get through it all, it helped a lot to think of it as the longest Livejournal quiz ever. ;) According to the results, I scored in the 94th percentile for verbal and oral communication, 81st for math, and 92nd for abstract thinking. I am also apparently quite reserved and shy and apt to open up only to a select few, both trustworthy and trusting, and inclined to work in small groups among equals. And oh yes, quite, quite musical.

To all of which I sort of have to snicker and answer, "The deuce you say?"

The interviews afterwards also seemed to go fairly well, and I came up with a few more questions to ask the folks talking to me on top of the questions I'd asked during round one. I am... cautiously optimistic. Nobody's offered me a job yet, but things do look kind of promising. We'll have to see if anything interesting happens next week after the long weekend.

spazzkat bailed early to come home with me once I was done, and we had a pleasant walk through a chunk of downtown I don't see often, so as to get over to our usual bus stop. The route he took to get over there took us right past the Barnes and Noble at Pacific Place, too, which is a vital piece of information to know. ^_^ There is also a sandwich cafe place within easy walking distance of the Times, somewhere where I can get tasty sandwiches and fruit for lunch, and all in all, I get the feeling that I could do very well there. So here's hoping.

Today promises to be fairly quiet. solarbird and I ran a few errands down to the shops in Lake Forest Park, where I stoically refrained from purchasing a frappucino on the grounds that we will be going to Folklife tomorrow or Monday and my weekend treat will therefore be Tasty Fair Food. I did however get an Asian pear to bring back and have with a sandwich for lunch, and that was pretty tasty all by itself. So far the whole "stay away from the snacks and have fruit with lunch instead of chips and cookies" thing seems to be working pretty well, actually. In the last five days I've lost two and a half pounds. The trick? That's going to be keeping it off. As with the job interview, I am... cautiously optimistic.

And now, to work on writing something!

Thursday evening miles: 2.15
Friday miles: 3.3
Saturday miles: 2.1
Miles out of Hobbiton: 1064.75
Miles out of Rivendell: 606.75
Miles out of Lothlórien: 144.75
Miles to Rauros Falls: 244.25