Not much going on these days, or rather not much that I feel like writing about. It's been cold these past few weeks, but at least we see the sun every now and again. And here I am, now writing about the weather - I must really not feel like writing! Still, I think it's a good habit to sit down and write regardless of moods, so I will try to write a few quick messages here or there.

I am looking forward to the weekend. Chris has to meet with his thesis advisor in Toronto again, so we rented a car and will be driving up on Sunday. We plan to stop somewhere in or near Port Hope and crash in a nice little Bed and Breakfast for the night, to break up the driving and to have a quiet evening together. I will continue my quiet, winterly hobbies of reading and knitting while we drive. I just finished Philip Pullman's 'The Golden Compass', which is the first of the Dark Materials trilogy which Chris gave me for Christmas (which came in a really neat box-set, by the way), and it was very entertaining. I started the second book, 'The Subtle Knife' last night and it seems to be just as good. The trilogy is vaguely comparable to the Harry Potter stuff (with a dash of Lord of the Rings), and focuses on child characters, magic, witches, talking bears and daemons - yet the Pullman novels are much more detailed, complex and dark. I used to dislike any fantasy-based plots, but there's something very captivating and human in the writing here. I especially like that he chose a little girl as the main heroine, which adds a bit of a twist to things. It's just so much more exciting than reading my feminist theory books right now! As important and interesting as they are, they can't compete with the entertaining world of Philip Pullman.