I’m almost finished with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which I started sometime in late January. I can usually finish books fairly quick, even 800-page tomes, but life seems to have a lot more distractions lately. I need to take a week off and devote all my time to reading. But I digress. It’s an amazing book, melding fantasy with a masterful pastiche of the social criticism of Dickens or Thackeray. Clark’s descriptions of magic and magical places are poetic without being overwrought or flowery. And those footnotes! The amount of care and imagination she poured into those footnotes is impressive for its own sake, but they also add verisimilitude and texture to Clark’s alternate universe. But this book isn’t just for fantasy buffs. The story should appeal to anyone with a love for epic, sweeping fiction.
Next up, I think, will be David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. Hopefully, I can get through that one more quickly.

I have a theory about the Oscars. Films that feature characters living with (or dying with) disabilities are almost guaranteed to take home a golden statuette. After seeing the results from last night’s Oscars, my theory holds true. Million Dollar Baby, The Sea Inside, and Ray all won major awards. If you don’t buy my theory, look at previous Oscar Winners. My Left Foot. A Beautiful Mind. Shine. Children of a Lesser God. The voting members love to vote for films that bring a tear to the eye and a certain “glad it’s not me” pathos. Hollywood eats up that kind of stuff. And while I don’t deny the artistry and skill behind these movies, it would be nice to see a disability-themed movie that wasn’t so damn tragic. I’m not saying it has to be ha-ha funny, but it doesn’t have to be uplifting/inspirational/melancholy either. Make a thriller or a romantic comedy or a science fiction film with a character with a disability. If the story is good, people will go see it. I’ll even write the script.

I’m off to help a friend integrate her TiVo into a home theater system. I’m my own one-man Geek Squad, but with much more reasonable rates. I’ll write more later if time permits.

The Pope has been hospitalized again and has had a tracheotomy performed on him. I sincerely hope that he recovers. Despite what the Catholic Church thinks of atheists like me, I admire the man’s endurance and I certainly sympathize with his current situation. I might suggest that he use his convalescence to reconsider his characterization of homosexuality as part of “the ideology of evil,” but that’s probably a futile hope. We won’t even get into his comparison between abortion and the Nazi Holocaust. No, on second thought, I’m not letting that pass, either. I’m willing to recognize the moral qualms people have with abortion. I’m absolutely not willing to let them compare it with the bureaucratized, forced exterminations carried out by the Nazis. And now that it’s come up, I don’t seem to remember the Church having much to say about those events while they were taking place.
I’m wearing a new pair of glasses. They’re much lighter than my old pair and the lenses are a bit smaller. I can also finally see things clearly in my left field of vision without turning my head. I got my new specs at a place called Downtown Eyes, a family-run business not far from where I live. My last experience getting new glasses was less than perfect; my prescription was off because the doctor couldn’t accommodate my wheelchair during the exam and I couldn’t see the chart properly. I was pleasantly surprised when things went much more smoothly this time and I’m happy to recommend Downtown Eyes for your eye care needs.

Andrew Sullivan is a well-known blogger who embodies a mystifying contradiction. He’s a conservative, Catholic, gay man; a combination of characteristics that must leave one feeling deeply conflicted. But I’m intrigued by a recent column he wrote for the Times of London. He observed that the familiar white iPod wires dangling from a person’s ears are becoming a ubiquitous sight on sidewalks, subways, airplanes, cafés, etc. His point is that we are cocooning ourselves in a portable shell of sound and distraction, shielding ourselves from the unexpected encounters and discoveries that used to be an integral part of urban existence. Things like a chance encounter with a stranger or overhearing a snippet of music that you might not normally choose for yourself. I was walking through the skyway the other day and I suddenly noticed all the people who were walking with a cell phone glued to their ears. It’s like we’ve become a nation of hyperactives. It’s no longer acceptable simply to be walking somewhere; we have to be walking and doing something else at the same time.
Even though I own an iPod, I don’t wear it when I’m walking around. Couple reasons for that. First, I want to be able to communicate in case I need something. Second, I think it would be kind of rude to the person accompanying me. And besides, I’m well aware of my own isolating tendencies. I know I spend way too much time in front of the computer. That’s why I try to make a point to get out and listen to the madding crowd. Unfortunately, I can’t do much of that now when the temperature is below freezing and snow drifts block every other curb cut. But when spring finally does return, I’ll be hitting the streets with my ears wide open.