This weekend, I watched some of the other kind of football with my daughter. She became a real fan of Germany during the World Cup, and is now following their season. Sunday's game featured both teams pledging their commitment to fair play, and one to "fuitbol" in general—my head went up when I heard that. A Scot! Yes, the opposing team was Scotland. I was somewhat unsettled to discover that I know the tune to Germany's national anthem really, really well. It's probably come up in classical music compositions. This all brings back my high school days, when I watched British soccer (probably months after the fact) because our local PBS station aired it. It's odd to see that phase paralleled in my own child.
I finished reading Dark Places yesterday. A solid mystery, with Flynn's wonderfully thorny main character offset by several other POVs. This is the first of her books where I've found the story's ending satisfying, both for how it fits the characters and how 'believable' it is. I recommend this one.
My son read Pushkin Hills, which I think he liked as much as I did. The dry, slightly bizarre Russian humor and the Soviet setting make that one interesting. I'm glad he read it if only to get a sense of that era and the frustration and paranoia that so defined it.
All right, off to bed. My Idol story is done and posted, and I was up late last night, so it's time to recoup some rest.
