Awww.

Ursula Le Guin is one of those authors I either really love or find problematic depending on the work. I’ve started the next Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror collection, and have been unable to get my mind past the opening story, which was a lovely piece by her called “Dark Rose”. In it, our hero gives up learning to be a wizard in order to keep the woman he loves. Now that, I think, is true romantic hero greatness. The character is described as being “ruddy and cheerful”, and he’s a musician. And he just melts my heart… And yet, he’s not at all the sort of hero that a conventional romance author would touch.

*Continues to melt*

BTW, it is indeed somewhat hard to think of thelittle walk I took around my neighborhood as a grand adventure instead of a cause for annoyance because no less than three people offered to help me get where I needed to go when I didn’t actually need the help. They were all very nice to offer, and one of the three did walk me home, but it’s hard for me to learn what mistakes I made on that particular journey when someone is making sure I’m doing everything properly and ensuring I *can’t* get lost.