odds and ends

new month. hope you enjoyed halloween/samhain/all souls/day of the dead.

weekend highlights: meeting a friend for dinner on friday, gorgeous sunset from mount bonnell on saturday, setting up a gypsy camp in the backyard and attending the austin celtic festival with my granddaughter on sunday. she loved the viking camp, the dogs and horses, and getting her hair braided.

i just finished the third book in the "his dark materials" trilogy, which starts with "the golden compass," moves to "the subtle knife," and ends with "the amber spyglass." the author is philip pullman.

i enjoyed these books a lot. although considered children's books, they contain plenty for adults to enjoy--speculation about good versus evil, freedom versus security, what dark matter (the 96% of the universe that scientists currently can't identify) consists of, and how to live a good life. the main characters are well drawn and vivid.

i liked them better than the harry potter books. the author cites major influences as milton's paradise lost and the poetry of william blake. damn fine work for an english major!

welcome back from maui, katie and keith!