The Oplympics (that is *not* a typo!)

Well, the Olympics are under way, just in time for my brother's coming-of-legal-age(-in-Quebec-at-any-rate) birthday. I watched the opening ceremonies right up until the Presidents of this and that and what have you started making speeches. My parents and I amused ourselves making jokes about Dubya, wondering if they'd banned pretzels from the refreshment tables and whether or not he'd slip on the ice on the way to his place on the little stage-thingy.

The best part, though, was watching the parade of nations. Not for the stirrings of patriotic pride (though there was some of that even if the Canadian team has taken to wearing its caps front to front), but to see which was the most tropical country to have sent a delegation. Cameroon and Thailand sent athletes, which amused us no end. Another highlight was the entrance, under the letter F, of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. We just about killed ourselves laughing over that one. I mean, think of the confusion their entrance under Y, or R, or M would have engendered!

Aside from that, not much news on the reading front, as I have been more occupied these past days with cleaning my room and messing around with Adobe. But I have gone back to "Of Human Bondage" *glares at Bashy to quell his perverted comments* and have continued reading "The Golden Compass". It's such a pleasure to read a book that sucks you in like that one does. I feel like I'm swimming through deliciously cool water as I read, the words flow so smoothly. One scene I read yesterday on the bus had me blinking back tears, and I read it over again three times to try to figure out how the author managed to break my heart with so few words. I've recently developed the itch to write again, and I want to know how it's done, dammit! Without being sappy and/or maudlin and/or trite, that is.