a series of events

Right. Having spent most of today wrestling with the undead, shambling horror that is Chapter 1, I have achieved the following:

• A completely restructured chapter outline which, by means of actually presenting a coherent argument, makes considerably more sense. Now I just have to write the damned thing;
• A new, hitherto-undiscovered A.S. Byatt article which incidentally makes exactly one of the points I'm trying to make, only more coherently;
• Eventually, after over an hour of fruitless internet searches and swearing, the grudging acknowledgement that an obscure English journal from the 70s does actually exist, and that at least one South African university possesses the issue with the Italo Calvino article I badly need;
• a headache.

As a reward for all of the above, I shall now proceed to review Lemony Snicket. ( Don't read this if you object to lit-babble, genre-fondling or cruelty to children. )

Rather a mad weekend overall, with overseas visitors and an SCA event, and a more than usually off-the-wall Sunday evening with jo&stv. I am pleased to report the wild successes of wolverine_nun's Nice Husband, who not only copped an extremely well-deserved award at the event, but also seriously kicked butt in the heavy tourney. It's always pleasing to feel that a Political Point Has Been Made in support of one's own opinions without one having to actually get involved. Heh.