I can't say that I'm pleased with the new Typepad. I am having problems formatting, and what's worse fixing the formatting errors after the fact. I can only hope it will get better as I get more familiar with it (and learn what annoying things to avoid).
More frustrations. I'm learning the shortcomings of listening to audio books on my MP3 player. It's nearly impossible to listen to anything in the cold, dark, windy November mornings (just when I need a little distraction most). Aside from the fact that the wind has been so miserably strong that the little earplugs actually blow out of my ears (and why is it that no matter what direction I happen to be walking, the wind is always hitting my face, and never at my back?), and it's really hard to navigate the little buttons wearing gloves to say nothing of getting those earplugs put back comfortably in my ears? Trivialities I know, but I've become very dependent on my little player on my morning and evening walks.
I've also discovered that nonfiction is really very hard to follow in audio. In all fairness those technical difficulties I've been experiencing do nothing to enhance the experience. I've been listening to Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, which is interesting, but how is one supposed to keep track of all those heads of state--kings,princes, tsars, emperors, and all those generals? The world changed irrevocably after the death of Edward VII. Tuchman begins the book with his funeral in 1910 and then goes into the Germany's desire for military superiority and their plans on how to achieve it (mainly via Belgium and into France). They thought they could accomplish it in a matter of only a few months (doesn't that sound familiar?). And I'm in need of maps, and the War has not even broke out yet. If I make it through all 21 parts of this audio, I think my only goal will be to get a general idea of that first month (which is what the book covers) of the War. Further reading will be necessary.
On a happier note, I'm completely immersing myself into Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Light Years. I did read this once before, but I've managed to forget most of the story it seems. I have the vaguest sense that it's all a little familiar, but I couldn't tell you what's going to happen next. I've decided to take the suggestion that I should read Howard's autobiography Slipstream alongside the four books. I won't start right away, but it will be interesting to compare fact with fiction. By the way the novel begins in 1937, and EJH has a wonderfully comfortable writing style and she writes about an infinitely interesting family (the book includes charts of the family, which come in quite useful). One reviewer called it a "wonderful old stuffed sofa of a book". I like the way that sounds, and they captured what I'm feeling so far perfectly.
One more note that's sort of exciting. I complain about my city never attracting any or many literary figures that interest me. As it happens my public library will be hosting author, Vicki Myron, author of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. She'll be speaking and signing books on December 6. I should take advantage of this literary opportunity, since there are so few of them locally, and it sounds like it could be fun. And don't you think Dewey was just about as cute a cat as could be? I don't know any library cats, but I have met a couple of bookstore cats. Somehow I imagine her book would be very pleasing to listen to on audio, too (and requiring no maps!).