50 Book Challenge 42

A Fistful Of Charms (Hollows, book #4) by Kim Harrison

This is one of the two supernatural series I turn to when I want the feel of Anita Blake without the 300 pages of necrophiliac and/or bestiality porn (the other is the Mercy Thompson series of books by Patricia Briggs).

Technically the writing in this series is fine, but after 4 novels I'm still not really connecting with the characters on an emotional level. A lot of Rachel Morgan's emotions seem harder for me to approach than Mercy's or even Anita's. This makes for this series to be a little harder for me to immerse into and read quickly.

However, what I really like about this series is the world Harrison has crafted for it. It's decidedly unique and interesting with a back history and paranormal political and policing structure that I really appreciate seeing more and more of. I also really like the way magic is used and defined in this universe. I wish I could fall for the characters a bit more because then I think I would read the rest of the series more speedily (I've only just read number 4 of 11 in this series, whereas the Mercy series I've read 5 of 6 because the characters are more alive to me).

Still, another good porn-free replacement for Anita Blake.

. . .I Sabotaged Myself This Month. . .

Is how the typical text message goes from my ex when she has irresponsibly spent her money on something and then doesn't have enough money to properly feed the kids on the weekend.

This month she played hookey from work to go to some AA conferance and playing hookey landed her a week's suspension without pay, but it's also happened from her blowing her finances on crap like fast food.

Regardless, it's bullshit because while I should feel free to tell her to suck it and do her finances better, doing so means my kids don't eat.

So, off to buy her groceries again.

This post is simply ranting and venting. Please no advice that involves not feeding my kids, trying to deny her visitation because she can't feed them (our courts DGAF), suggesting I take her to court to remove visitations (our courts DGAF) etc. Prayers for meteors or how-tos on voodoo doll making are more than welcome, however.

Today while in a meeting with my son's school (more on that recurring headache later) I had a call that went straight to voice mail. It was my local cancer center calling to remind me of my weekly phlebotomy which reminded me I haven't given everyone here a health update for a while.

To jog everyone's memories, I've been getting weekly phlebotomies, "feeding the vampires" as I called it, of 450 ml of blood since April or so due to an onset of polycythemia vera. We've been trying to get my red blood cell count down to 14 (whatever that number specifically means) and while I got it down from the 19s to the high 14s really quickly, by June, stress over the summer helped keep it spiking back up.

Well, by the end of September the number was consistently at or below the 14 border and my oncologist-hematologist has decided this is a good indicator that I had secondary polycythemia vera, which is the curable version of this blood cancer as opposed to the slow death version.

I now am no longer feeding the vampires and I have a 3 month date with my o-h/ologist to re-check my levels then and see if the supposition is right. Potentially great news.

Happy H.F.O.D. Everybody

Today was the annual (sometimes more frequent) meeting with Rael's school to address his troubles/difficulties as a "team" /sarcasm and work toward a plan of action. Long time readers will recall these meetings are filled with my ex-wife suggesting insane psychological and/or medical problems (synesthesia) along with the school insisting on assessments for every crazy thing my ex would suggest, plus autism, ADD, psychological counseling, etc. All things I've long known to be unnecessary for Rael. For the last two years this has been the case, and the school has done nothing in the way of extra tutoring, small group sessions, anything by way of addressing his needs academically while they smugly insisted on one diagnosis after another. And though going through the assessments took forever, I've proven them wrong every single time.

So today was a new day and new meeting and the sensible expectation on my part of new ridiculousness newly supported by my ex-wife.

It began with the school counselor, psychologist and principal all suggesting that we should consider changing him to a new school so they don't have to worry about him anymore (they're exact words were because "he doesn't like Spanish") but this is the only school in the district with his program, so no.

Then they moved on to trying to push the ADD again even though he's been assessed as not.

Dealing with these people is so very frustrating and demoralizing. I don't know if I can ever properly voice the frustration and hopelessness, or the anger, of being the only person in my son's life to believe in him and fight for him. It's extremely cumbersome (when the autism assessment came back as "not at all autistic" his mother immediately began questioning its accuracy and their qualifications).

Today his teacher sided with me (and transitively, him) in my assessment that he doesn't have these issues and needs more school programs. The speech therapist the autism people forced the school to have study him agreed that he doesn't have these issues.

I dubbed today "Hell Freezes Over Day" to my Canadian because my ex-wife sided with me about Rael and his needs, and that his issues are not medical, stood up to the erroneous ADD argument and pushed for them to finally do their fucking jobs (now if only someone could convince her to do the same Rael's life would be nigh perfect).

For the first time in more than two years (since these problems began at the instance of his mother and I splitting Christmas 2009) our son has an actual IEP in place, he has school-based speech therapy, he has individual and small-group academic assistance to get him back on track. And after more than two years he does have a lot of catching up to do.

50 Book Challenge 41

The Foundling by Wendy Rathbone

This was a quick, easy, often preposterous read. A Caribbean mobster is sailing with a couple of his guards and encounters an unconscious amnesiac nordic god floating in a life raft. The mobster brings him aboard and begins nursing him to health, ultimately bringing the man back to his home where he finishes nursing him to health. Obviously, the two men, perfectly shaped as they are, fall in lust and then love for each other while the mobster uses his connections to try and help our young Thor recover his history.

Turns out the aryan is a man who was sold into slavery, gang raped and then made to walk the plank of his sinking slave ship during a botched escape attempt. The mobster ends up choosing to keep the man's history to himself, to let him remain amnesiac, and so they live happily ever after.

The sex aspects of the story were actually decently written in that they were fairly accurate mechanically and still a little titillating. For a regular read, maybe 2 stars. For a porn divergence 3 1/2 (it would get more here but it takes a long time--about 60% of the book--to get to the first bit of erotica).

50 Book Challenge 40

The Ethical Slut by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy (2nd edition)

Re-read (first read of new edition) and though it's been years and years since the first read, nothing here was really new or mind-awakening for me.

I still think it is an excellent resource for exploring polyamory, whether because it's a journey you yourself are on or are considering, or even if you're just expanding your education in sex positive subject matter. I make sure my potential more-than-casual partners read it or have read it.

Actually, onething did stand out for me semi-heavily this read: the section on the "single slut." I'm quite confident now that it really described me and where I am right now. And I'm OK with that.