Sunday Review Postponement

I've got way too much crap going on over the next few weeks to do reviews. If I get chances, I'll throw some up, but the only really solid thing I have in my head right now is Gran Torino, and that'll proably slip out of my head if I don't get to it soon. More news later on, but now it's bedtime. I'd still like to exercise, but when the house is 80F/27C at 11:40pm, that's not gonna happen. It's raining in Linthwaite...wish I were there to run up and shut the skylights and stand on the balcony in the rain. Wish it were raining here. Blargh. I hate this heat--after Death Valley, anything over 2% humidity (hell, 1%) is too damn high.

Hopefully I'll get my act together enough to post some news in a few days. Got to get sorted though, first.

Stateside

Just a quick note. I have made it safely back to Eugene. My luggage even arrived today (I arrived yesterday). I really hate Delta. They're incompetent. I hate having to go to Atlanta to get anywhere else. And there are other issues with them, but I've mostly talked about those before. I think I'll be contacting them and complaining.

Also, they drastically overbooked the flights I was on, and so were offering compensation to be bumped. I did not do so--though I should have from Atlanta to Portland--but the compensation from ATL to PDX was only 200 Delta Dollars (or points, or whatever). Definitely not much. Though if I had know I wasn't on the last flight of the night to PDX (thought I was) I would have possibly done that. I need to fund other trips, though $200 on a crap airline really isn't enough (to their credit, internationally you can still check 2 bags--50 lbs--for free).

How do I know that there was another flight from ATL to PDX after mine? Because my luggage had to come in on that flight. I'd tell you why, but no one at Delta seemed to know. Morons. So I made them deliver it to Eugene. At least I had underwear this time.... To make it better, they tried to blame me for it not making my flight (they were still going to deliver it, though). Their argument fell apart when the other guy whose luggage didn't make it pointed out that he didn't come through customs (he orginated in ATL) and he checked in 2.5 hours early. I repeat: Morons.

No Review this Week

Due to the necessity of packing, cleaning the house, baking bread for the boy, and--if I'm extra lucky--getting to sit on my ass doing nothing for a few hours since it is my birthday--I won't get a review up this week. I didn't get one done over the weekend since we went out Saturday and over to the in-laws' on Sunday, and I've now got too much to do before Wednesday.

When I get a chance, however, I will regale you with stories from Saturday. I think I drank a smoked ham hock at one point. I didn't mind it, but everyone else thought it was foul. Apparently I'm the only person who doesn't totally mind when my beer and bar snacks have been combined into one...

Suicide is painless...

And it would bring on many changes, such as my not having to fly with Delta in a week. But I can take or leave it as I please.

Delta makes it look all nice and happy on their website. Too bad I've flown with them before and know what it's REALLY like. I will get a free meal from Manchester to Atlanta (which is good, because I've never boosted an airline galley before, but for the amount of money they charged for my tickets, they'll damn well feed me or I'll steal food). I'm debating if I want to be a pain a register for a special meal. Muslim, in this case. The Hindu option I got on Air Canada a few years ago was tasty (parsnip curry), minus that my snack was a dry nut-butter (cashew?) sandwich. No jelly. It was ok, but the normal meals had really fantastic smelling pasties for snacks. Mmm...oh well. I don't want Kosher, and I figure they're gonna be curious about me regardless, so I might as well ratchet that up with a "terrorist" meal. I assume it will be vegetarian, possibly bland, possibly very spicy, but it will be a pain for them. Which, admittedly, is unfair to the airline crew, who are rarely at fault for all the douchebaggy things that seem to happen with airlines. And I'll probably lose out on the snacks, which are, as everyone knows, the best part of an airline meal (can you say bizarrely textured brownie?).

I also looked at my in-flight entertainment options. I might possibly have internet access on my Atlanta-Portland flight, but that's not worth the $10 it would cost me. All the movies look like they suck. Plus, they claim to have on-demand, so I should have access to ALL the movies, but on the other hand, it lists them by region/date, so I don't know. Again. I have a distinct feeling I'll be doing a lot of reading, and hopefully a fair bit of writing. And a lot of yoga in the galley, which may irritate the flight crew as well. Too bad on that though; they get space to move around.

IF no one else moves their seat/books tickets for the flight, I can get a whole row to myself. I moved my seat today for that possibility. Additionally, there's currently no one in the seat behind me, so I don't have to suffer through some jackass continually kicking my seat. I rather doubt I'll be lucky on either of those two options, though. And that's only for the MAN-ATL leg. ATL-PDX is booked solid. Ugh. Sweaty masses, no food. Good thing I've got aisle seats. When you fly as much as I seem to, the window is only good for leaning against to sleep. Since I rarely sleep on planes (I do if I get 3 seats to myself, though, so here's hoping), someone else gets the window, and I get to get up without acrobatics.

Garh. I have so much I need to do for the few weeks I'm in the states, not enough time to do it in, and I have to suffer through long flights to do it all. I'm trying to limit my time in the states since I can't come back to the UK for as long as I hoped--I'm needed to dog-sit after I undergo the terrifying introduction of Adam's parents and mine. Hell, after 3.5 years, we can't really put it off anymore, since my folks are coming over to see Adam's and my place anyway. They're in the area, so we'll take them all to a pub. Then we'll drop them at a table, and Adam and I will go get quietly drunk in a corner.

[Day] Review #8: The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is in many ways one of my favorite novels. I have seen the movie, and from what I remember, it wasn't bad, but it could not capture the voice and tone of the novel, primarily I think because of the way Atwood tells the story.

To quote from the Wikipedia article:

The Handmaid's Tale is a feminist dystopian novel, a work of science fiction or speculative fiction . . . . Set in the near future, in a totalitarian theocracy which has overthrown the United States government, The Handmaid's Tale explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain agency.

I was probably about 12 when I first read The Handmaid's Tale. Perhaps a bit young for the themes in some ways, but I understood the fear and the sense of loss of family and comfort and way of life. What captivated me then, and what still captivates me now, is the structure of the story and the way Atwood creates her sentences. The story is told in fragmented chunks, as the protagonist remembers things. It all weaves together into bits of the Handmaid's history prior to Gilead (the new name under the new regime), elements of her training/re-education, and life under the Commander and his Wife.

The nature of the language is what makes it all seem so real. Offred (the Handmaid's new name) is telling her story to whomever may be listening. She knows that it could be an imaginary person, or no one at all, but she has to talk, for her own sanity, if nothing else. In an almost desperate, pleading tone of voice she tells of her life. She needs it to make sense for herself, and she's pleading that her actions will make sense--and be excused--by others. She occasionally makes things up to make it more...palatable...for herself, but will correct herself immediately. Sometimes she doesn't know all the facts, but can piece together a reconstruction from what she does know.

What makes The Handmaid's Tale so terrifying is the ease in which the new regime takes over. It was published in 1985, and in some ways the technology is dated, but in other ways Atwood made the descriptions vague enough that it could pass for the present. By taking over the technologies (banking, employment records, marriage records, etc.), the regime fairly easily slides into place. It's by no means bloodless, but it is effective. While this is not perhaps the central theme of the novel, it certainly serves as a warning to being overly dependent on certain types of technology.

It is a depressing novel, but there is also a sense of hope to it. The indomitable strength of the human spirit and such. Really, I've just run out of things to say. My brain can't get into gear today.