Interstitial Space

Back in Los Angeles, at DemiDec HQ. The blog will probably be quiet until New Year's Day, when I'll fly to Quito to research for my Master's "thesis"--technically, a "policy analysis exercise" in which I'll work as a consultant for a non-profit organization, Grupo Faro. Between now and then, I'm projecting an uneventful stay here working on a paper, recovering from my Cancunian cold, and catching some Clippers games.

What I'm reading: Nothing for the moment, but on the flight from Boston, I finished Dean Koontz's newest novel, Life Expectancy. It's not Middlesex, but it's probably his best in several years. I do wish all his characters wouldn't sound alike, though. The heroes are always a little too clever, a little too glib. At least this one didn't have a dog play a major role, though it did feature an evil clown. Somehow he pulls this off without ever sounding silly--which itself is worth the price of admission.

(By the way, since American Airlines is apparently now showing the same movies in the same order regardless of whether you're going north, south, east or west, I was also able to finish watching Ella Enchanted yesterday. I could basically guess how it would end--it is Cinderella, after all--but I can sleep more peacefully now that I know for sure.)

I wore an orange fleece today in honor of Ukrainian President-Elect (presumptive, pending possible further fraud, new legal challenges or additional dioxins) Viktor Yushchenko.

Technical update: I've created a link to this blog at www.unlikelyalpaca.com.