Views from Medina Road

Went to the bookstore yesterday, for the first time in almost 3 weeks! It's mid-November so all the holiday gift books are displayed on tables near the entrance, pushing new books to read--and there are plenty of those this time of year--into the corners. Trying to catch up on new-in-paperback titles, cribbing from the Books Received lists compiled by Locus magazine for use as a spotter's guide. A page should be posted this weekend.

The 'freak' rainstorms in LA reported in the press were 20 miles or so south of me, near LAX. Didn't rain a drop here, but my contractor delayed the pouring of my new driveway a day for fear of precipitation. It was done today.

Here is a confession: though as a literary type I generally have little interest in computer games (or comic books), I was sufficiently compelled by the game Myst, many years ago, to have enthusiastically pursued its several sequels. The latest, Uru, was released this week, and I checked several stores both Tuesday and Wednesday until finding a copy. (Thus the links at right, posted in anticipation.) Then last night spent an ill-advised 3 hours trying to install and run it. The problem with computer games, for anyone not a fanatic, is that the newest ones depend on having the very latest hardware components and software drivers, and my 20-month old Sony VAIO does not seem up to the task. Perhaps I will find time to troubleshoot the installation in the next few days, but as my personal life hardly permits time to read books, much less play computer games, you ought not to expect any further updates here on this matter any time soon. Maybe someday.