The Aviary

Okay, so, about a week ago I idly started rereading Wolves of the Calla, then got bitten by a compulsion and am racing through to the end of the series. And the thing is, I haven't read the final two books since they were published. At that time, I was too busy having FEELINGS to point out or even really notice flaws in them.

Now, of course, I still have a lot of feelings but they are muted by time and by the fact that I know how things end. So other things are bothering me and now I'm going to complain a little.

( These books came out over a decade ago but I have friends I'm still trying to convince to read them, so these things get a cut tag. )

I mean, I am still excited about finishing the series because I literally do not remember most of the details of the final book. And also I still love these books amazingly, flaws and all. But sometimes you have to complain about stuff.

Things of lately:

- I am over my terrible cold (mostly) and my Dad is back from Taiwan. He was there for a month, that is entirely too long.

- This past weekend, I went to see Assassins in Seattle, which was SO GOOD, OMG. I'm so glad I decided to do the ridiculous thing and buy myself two tickets, because I need to see it again. I just - I have a lot of feelings about that show. It's possible that Assassins is my favorite musical, and if that's not true, it's at least in the top five. The ACT's production is really great, if you're in Seattle and can get tickets you really should, and I'm super happy that I'm going again in April.

- I have finished reading Wizard and Glass and have started Wind Through the Keyhole. I always think I don't like Wizard much until I'm reading it and then I remember that it's actually really good and that I do actually sorta kinda care about Roland and Susan's doomed romance. Plus, Cuthbert. Wind Through the Keyhole is entirely new to me, which is exciting.

- Vaguely relatedly, I decided I needed something new to listen to after getting through a large portion of Saga Thing, so I spun the dial of "Things Sara is Interested In" and ended up with old time radio westerns. So I am listening to Gunsmoke. There is a huge amount of it, it's really quite good, and the episodes are almost exactly the length of my daily commute, so I can do exactly two a day if I want. I remain astounded and immensely pleased at the sheer amount of old time radio the internet wants to give me for free.

- We are now about a week and half out from the day the Kingston library closes for three weeks so that we can move into our new building! I'm super excited about the new place, but also weirdly excited about the closure. I mean, I'll still be working, but I'll be working in a library that's closed so all the really annoying people won't be there to bother me. My least favorite patron (who only comes in when he has a hold to pick up, but has a lot of holds so that's nearly every day) came in yesterday to suspend all of his holds till after we reopen (because he refuses to go to the next closest library which is 10 minutes away), so I don't have to see him for a month! I like most of our patrons, but it's still nice to have a break now and then.

Friends, I have an important question:

Because of reasons, I currently desire to revisit the Dark Tower series. It's been about 5 years since I last did so and I have not yet read The Wind Through the Keyhole.

So. Should I start at the beginning and read through to the end with Wind Through the Keyhole as the last book, or start with the one I haven't read? Or is there another place in the order that Wind Through the Keyhole should go?

Tangential question: do you have opinions on whether this reread should be original flavor or revised Gunslinger?

Tonight, Mom and I went to see Cowboys and Aliens. About which, two non-spoilery things:

1) Every time I see something with Clancy Brown in it, I have the following conversation with my mom:
Me: Hey, Clancy Brown!
Mom: Who's that?
Me: ::tries to think of anything she's seen with Clancy Brown in it:: ...he was in Justice League.
Mom: ...oh.

2) I remain incapable of watching any sort of sci-fi/fantasy western without spending a good third of the time thinking about the Dark Tower. (No Eddie or Susannah in this movie, but there is an arguable Jake and, surprisingly, an Oy.) Daniel Craig has been put on my list of "actors I would not mind seeing play Roland Deschain."

I should read the Dark Tower again.



Also, it was a pretty fun movie.