The start of a new year

I entered 2010 in a pretty quiet, low-key sort of way. I went into the International District during the day with my friend Ashalyn, to go to the Asian American History Museum and eat good food and generally just hang, then I spent the rest of the night at home. The weather is typical for Seattle in January - rain and fog and general ick - and I've been spending a lot of time wrapped up in a blanket reading Sherlock Holmes (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell is on hold). After seeing the new film (which I enjoyed mostly for Robert Downey Jr, who should play scruffy, disheveled Victorians more often, the Holmes and Watson dynamic, and the music) I decided to revisit the canon. So my 2010 reading is off to a good start. I'm planning to keep a list again and, where 2009 capped with 28 books (I read A Study in Scarlet before the year ended), I think I can hit 30 at least in 2010. I also think I will count school books for one class this semester, since I'm taking Apocalyptic Literature and will be reading novels.

But, yes, Holmes. I'd forgotten how much I love these stories (and just how much I love the character Sherlock Holmes). At Half-Price Books today I found the complete canon (all four novels and 56 short stories in one hard-back book) for $8.00 and I'm making a decent dent in it. I also found two volumes of James Bond for $4.00 each, so now I have six of the original 14 Fleming novels (little known fact: I love James Bond - it's kind of a guilty pleasure, except I'll freely admit to it). It was just one of those days at the bookstore where what I wanted was actually there.

So, really, 2010 is off to a good start. I'm reading a lot, catching up on my sleep, getting together with old friends, and taking a well-deserved break before diving into my final semester as an undergraduate student. I've applied for JET and am waiting to find out if I got an interview, I have another possible Japan job that I want more than JET waiting to be applied for, and things are going pretty well. I don't do the resolutions thing, but I do intend to read more and try to actually update that media blog I started every once in awhile. And to enjoy my life, that's definitely key.

明けましておめでとうございます！

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Books of 2010, as of 1 January:
1. The Sign of Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle