of things…and malazan

Holidays: needed, taken, appreciated. Returned.

My first decent holiday since 2010 when I spent 2 weeks, post LIANZA, in NZ and tramped the Routeburn. I’ve just spent a little over 3 weeks in Borneo, or more precisely in the northern Malaysian part as the island of Borneo is split between Malaysia and Indonesia. I travelled there with a mate on a 22 day trip with Intrepid. Intrepid trips are for small groups, usually up to a dozen with a guide/admin person. This trip was a combination of two trips and there were 8 of us on the first half and 12 on the second (including 4 from the first). Will perhaps speak more of the trip on a future post but I’ve at least uploaded all my photos and am slowly adding descriptions.

For most of the trip, I kept waking in Sydney time (around 7) which alas is around 4am Borneo time. Now that I’m back I’m going to bed around 1.30am Sydney time (10.30pm Borneo) which is really hurting when I have to get up at 7am (10am Borneo). I’m hoping this will resolve itself sooner rather than later.

Pre-trip, I was exhausted. Now, I seem to have topped up my reserves. I’m enjoying being back at work and think I have some balance once again. I have a clearer idea of what I’m doing and why; a better sense of my direction.

Despite a plan to stay offline for the trip, I did check in occasionally. Alas this meant that early on in the trip I saw an email from a bookseller in the UK relating to my Malazan obsession. He’d previously sold me book 2 (Deadhouse Gates) of the Subterranean Press limited edition for GBP270 (around AUD$420) thereby giving me the rights to books 3-10 of the same number as they’re released (approx every six months with book 3 currently on pre-order). The good news was that he’d found book 1 (Gardens of the Moon) of the same number on ebay, the bad news was that the asking price was USD$800. I don’t recall seeing the SubPress edition of Gardens on ebay at all ie it rarely appears for sale and for the same number as the edition of book 2 I have was a rather large stroke of luck.

I left it for a few days and realised that I didn’t really have a lot of choice, though the price was high, I needed it to complete my eventual set. The downside is that I didn’t have great net access in Borneo and was mostly reliant on wifi access in the occasional hotel/hostel. I had a few failed attempts at creating an ebay account and finally succeeded a week or so later. Then spent a week (with jungle treks in the middle), negotiating with the seller. The good news is that they were willing to drop their price to USD$650. That’s still on the expensive end but a little more comfortable than the initial price. Books 3-10 will cost me around USD$150ish each. Even better, the book was waiting for me when I returned home and now sits beside Book 2 on the shelf.

Oh, almost forgot, I’ve grown a beard. First time in a decade or so that I’ve had hair on my face…I think 1996 was the last year I had any sort of facial hair. Borneo is a very hot and humid country…so humid that trying to shave while sweating was a little icky. This also meant that my glasses tended to fog up so I stopped wearing them for three weeks too. In addition, not all places I stayed had available powerpoints. So I decided to let it go and see how it turned out.  I’m liking it. All the bits that were bright ginger last time I now grey. The other noticeable change is that last time was still in my shy days and it could be argued that I was hiding behind my beard. These days, it seems to suit, and my sense of me is not lost.

rituals

Brekky is my mainstay. My luxury. My space. My centre.

I’ve said as much before. The thought struck me a short while ago that in the 20 or so years that I’ve been enjoying my weekend brekky ritual, I’ve done so through many cafes and many contexts: sometimes alone, with friends, a partner, a girlfriend, and me…at peace. I had a favourite spot that managed to be a cafe despite several changes of ownership…it’s now a japanese restaurant. Admittedly, I don’t live as close to that spot either.

In recent months I’ve been on the prowl for a new cafe, as my previous favourite closed. Nothing new about that; change is the story of my life. There are no sure things, no guarantees, no sense of permanence. Change is the only constant. Of all the cafes I’ve had brekky in on a regular basis, none exist today. I think I’ve found a new regular spot; the reality is that this spot too will disappear in a year or three. That’s ok.

Keeps me on my toes. Keeps me looking. Keeps me open.

tech dilemma

A while back I mentioned that I had finally managed to organise myself with regard to my tax returns. The result of all that came to a conclusion last Friday when I discovered that a nice amount had been credited to my account from the tax office. All paperwork is done for 7 years of returns, including 2011/12, so I am completely up to date as far as taxes are concerned and the return was within the ballpark of expectation.

Priority number one is new hearing aids. I inherited my current pair from my dad and they’re about 10 years old now – that’s a reasonable life span for a pair of hearing aids. There have been substantial developments in hearing aid technology and the aids themselves are now smaller and lighter – I can even get them in red! The other step is to look at what sort of options are available with regard to hearing aid support and sound systems. My current TV doesn’t have great sound and there are options for systems that can pipe directly to the hearing aids via a combination of bluetooth and the traditional hearing aid loops. I don’t even have a stereo anymore as I tend to listen to music via my ipod with a decent pair of headphones. I am reluctant to make any move in that direction til I have the new hearing aids.

The other area I’m looking at is computer stuff. When I changed back to public sector, a mate gave me his old Mac Pro which continues to serve me well and has even converted me a little to Mac though mac stuff annoys me at times. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support the new Mac OS, Mountain Lion. Other than that it works well and I’m loving that it has unix underneath with easy shell access. On Windows machines, which I also love, I usually had to install cygwin or run it as a dual boot with linux to get the functionality I wanted. Things I love about windows most are text handling ie keyboard shortcuts for manipulating text and moving the cursor around – that would be the primary point of friction in my mac conversion.

Now I’m looking at options for the home. A part of me is tempted to return, in a sense, to what I had when working for Gale: a good laptop that I took everywhere and connected to a decent monitor at home. I had hoped that the ASUS Transformer Prime would fill this gap and it does somewhat but it lacks the true multi-tasking ability of a laptop eg the ability to edit multiple documents at once (it might and I may need to explore that more).

For home at least, I reckon a dedicated server/tower should suffice and the Mac Pro is doing ok though I’m tempted by moving to either a mac mini or a windows based tower. I remain ever tempted by the Mac Air (11″); the air continues to be sexy and interesting. Mostly, I need to work out what my needs are, keeping in mind some of the unique issues of my needs – hearing being a big one.

porting

My port barrel continues. I’ve had my barrel for around 9 months now and it seems to be progressing well. There’s been a few minor challenges, not least of which working out the easiest, and least messy, way of topping it up. The base tawny is kept in a 10 litre plastic flagon – it’s a fairly neutral way of storing which means it doesn’t vary in flavour. However, when it’s full, it can be rather hard to pour from without spillage. I now have some plastic tubing (food specific ie not the length of garden hose I was initially going to use) that I use to siphon port from the flagon into a pouring jug. I then carefully top up the barrel via a funnel from the jug.

A few months ago, having tried some rum port (Drayton’s), I decided to add some rum to the barrel. I’ve previously topped up with a nice port or two as well. Prior to adding the rum, I decanted off two bottles of port so that I could drink from the bottles and give the barrel time to absorb the rum and mature. I bought one of Bundaberg’s better rums and poured it in to the barrel; topping up the remainder from the base tawny. I’ve recently finished those bottles and have been sampling from the barrel – there is a very definite improvement.

Tonight, I poured a small glass from the barrel and decanted off two more bottles, then refilled from the base tawny once again. I also poured a small glass of the base to compare. There was a noticeable difference. The base tawny, while rather yum anyway, is fairly fresh with a sharper edge…not a lot of depth. The barrel sample however has a lovely, long finish that is rather smooth, almost treacly. Not really good at descriptive terms for port but there was definitely a stronger character with a nice, rounded flavour that lasted.

After 9 months, the barrel experiment is proving to be a success.

the times

I seem to be in an awkward spot mentally; I’m finding that my ability to think on the go is somewhat hampered. Initially I wondered if it was perhaps echoes of a year ago as I’ve changed jobs yet again. But that doesn’t really resolve it. I am admittedly, in even more desperate need of a holiday than I was a year ago, at least in part because job changes (2 in 12 months) preclude serious holiday time – it’s ok, I have a month off Oct/Nov and I’m going to Borneo with a mate. Can’t wait!

The last job change was within the same library which meant I could have a decent holiday this year and use my accrued leave. Last year, my accrued leave was paid out when I changed from vendor-side to library-side. This year, I have 4 weeks up my sleeve that I’m gonna use :-) So yes, I’m exhausted but things are being done to resolve it.

The other big thing going on at the moment is that I am finally, at long bloody last, about to get all my tax returns done. I have an appointment with an accountant on Wednesday to get 7 years worth of tax returns done ie I don’t think I’ve done a tax return since my dad died. That was a very painful year or two, and so many things went out the window as it were. Once you get a couple of returns behind, it just gets harder. So too, it means revisiting a painful time in my life in order to get the documentation for those initial tax returns. Me being me, I just kept putting it off…I am the king of procrastination.

Last week, knowing that I had the appointment this week, set aside Sunday for doing the paperwork. based on past experience I would have spent the weekend angsting and getting nothing done til the night before the appointment.

I somehow managed to second guess myself and did the paperwork hunt on Saturday :-D

And it was easy and there was no pain…or so I thought. The reality I suspect explains my current awkwardness and inability to think. Secondguessing has done wonders and means the paperwork is ready. But I’m not going to escape the sadness and that’s ok, I knew that’d be there and it’s healthy. What I have achieved is getting the necessary work done before the sads hit…and that is rather an amazing victory…I’m staggered to be honest :)

malazan

Late last year I finished reading the 10 book epic: “Malazan: Book of the Fallen” by Steven Erikson. It remains strong in my mind. Each book is thick, complicated and long winded…yet I say all such in a good way. It took a few attempts to get through the first one. I tried to read in my usual way of one of several books at once, dipping in and dipping out. That failed.

Malazan requires all your attention. Focus. Malazan needs to be read all the way through; solidly.

When I did finally complete the first one, it was by reading for an hour or so a night, every night. For the first few books, I averaged one a year. By the end, I think I read the last 3 straight through, one after the other. Malazan requires that devotion. In hindsight, it would have been better to have read each, one after the other, straight through…around 12-15,000 densely packed pages. There are multiple story arcs, lots of major characters, minor characters who occasionally become major, and a world view that is deep, complicated and satisfying.

A Tale of the Malazan

I have the first 5 in thick, chunky paperbacks, and volumes 5-10 in ebook. For me they worked best as e, as in p they were thick and heavy. In e, they went with me everywhere and were read in every spare moment I could grasp.

Having reading them all, and mostly in e, I want some nice editions to put on the shelf…to display. One of my favourite small press publishers, Subterranean Press, has produced nice editions of the first two:

• Gardens of the Moon
• Deadhouse Gates

Unfortunately, I have missed them both. Though, I could have bought the latter at least, which would have meant I could have bought the rest with the same book number in limited edition. I was tempted by the lettered edition too ($150 vs $300 I think). However, stupidly, I tried to track down a copy of the first so that I could get number consistency. I failed to get the first and have now missed out on the second. Number consistency while nice, is ultimately a silly thing.

Instead, I’m now looking for regular hardcovers, including first editions. Initial searches suggest they’ll be easier to come by. I’ve already found 3: $60 for unsigned and $125 for signed. It’s interesting that for the first few books at least, the first hardcover is US based. Whereas the first printing was in the UK, where the author resides, and in trade paperback not hardcover.

I remain tempted to read them all again: one after the other.

[update: I've just ordered the first US hardcover edition of Book 1: Gardens of the Moon - signed by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont (fellow creator of Malazan and to whom the book was dedicated. That will cost around $110 including delivery. The first UK edition (paperback) is also easily available though signed editions are around $200+]

[update 2: I've just bought the ebook version of Gardens of the Moon - this means I've bought it in: paperback, signed US 1st edition hardcover, and electronic version]

[update 3: I've just managed to buy Book 2 (Deadhouse Gates) in the Subterranean Limited Edition, admittedly for quite a bit more than it sold for originally. However it does mean I can now order books 3-10 direct from Subterranean with the same # and for around $150/each over the next few years]

objects of desire

I’ve been pondering of late, due to inspiration of other things, that the most I’ve ever spent on a single book was Oz$485…and that was about 13-14 years ago…when I was on the dole. The book in question, Lord of the Rings, spent several months on layby at Galaxy as I slowly paid it off. This particular item was released as a single volume, bound in leather and printed on India paper, first impression – limited to 1000 copies. It remains stunning. In more recent years, I’ve bought other, interesting items including:

• Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner – Centipede Press edition limited to 300 copies, each signed by John Brunner and Kim Stanley Robinson.
• The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition by Ray Bradbury – Subterranean Press edition, 500 signed numbered copies.
• Codex Seraphinianus – 25th anniversary (and much cheaper!) edition.

and I can comfortably go on, nevermind my Captain America and Sandman special editions. One of these days I shall photograph and document all my nice books.

However, as I say, my most expensive book was bought while on the dole, and I’ve never regretted that purchase. Nor have I spent more either. I don’t know why, perhaps my passions have changed, or I have more things available…particularly my desire to travel. Perhaps too, in order to spend more can mean spending a lot more…which I don’t want to do. There’s been a few things that have cropped up here and there such as a leatherbound edition of the OED (a mere US$6k), or the Chinon parchment, published by the Vatican archive (US$8k) that have piqued my interest but not sufficiently so to part me with my cash. Thankfully!

Yet, in a matter of days, two items have popped up…well one really, and the other is an interesting curiosity. The latter I found trawling through the shopfront of the British Library: Codex Sinaiticus – a facsimile edition available for GBP495, however the BL is happy to throw in free international posting. As per the blurb:

Codex Sinaiticus

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world’s most remarkable books. Written in Greek in the fourth century, it is the oldest surviving complete New Testament, and one of the two oldest manuscripts of the whole Bible.

This edition is a unification of the text that is spread across 4 major archives, with no one institution holding a complete version. I first came across this a few years ago when I was in London and visiting the British Library. At the time they had a public display about the Codex which whet my interest. Of course, there’s now a website devoted to it, and I was interested to see that they’ve published a printed edition.

However, the item that really inspired this particular chain of thought, and is rather tempting for a bunch of reasons including its format, is the Scroll of Esther. Published by Taschen, who generally known for producing large, fascinating art books of which I have a few. This work is a full facsimile based on the 1746 Hanover Scroll of The Book of Esther including colourful illumination. It is a single sheet measuring around 6,5 metres, unfurling from a leatherbound cylinder. Limited to 1,746 copies and will retail for GBP450 when it’s released in a couple of months. I have a soft spot for illuminated manuscripts though it’s not a point of collecting for me unless it’s sufficiently unusual. In addition, a big attraction of this is the scroll format; I think I have a scroll or two already but nothing on par with the majesty of this.

Scroll of Esther

I came across it a day or two back and it’s stuck in my head…it might actually be tempting. Interesting to compare prices via booko with prices already ranging from Oz$572 via Book Depository to Oz$1,042 via local retailer Angus & Robertson.