A Twist of Things to Come

Yesterday, I fed a week-old kitten. Abandoned by its mother and eventually coming into the care of my friend Meredith, this kitten was incredibly tiny. Meredith is the lady who gave us the caterpillars, so as soon as she was settled in with the kitty, she suggested I bring the fellas over for a look at her "newest science experiment."

( Large pictures of a tiny cat under the cut. )

So cute!

Today, I finally posted my interview with "James S.A. Corey" (the writing team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), which I had been attempting to transcribe for-freaking-ever. (I really suck at transcription, and I kept having to stop because it gave me migraines. :P )

In any case, the interview itself was tremendous fun. You can read it yourself at GeekaChicas - Leviathan Wakes: A Chat with the Authors.

It was fun to see how they work together, and how easily they could razz each other. Daniel Abraham's entire body of work has landed right in my To Be Read list. He was very charming, and his list of favorite authors made me very happy. His rants about Urban Fantasy and "weaponized" female characters also had me thinking. His take on the phenomenon I used to call The Buffy Effect helped me clarify my thinking about it.

It also put my protagonist in perspective, too. Lethe is a reaction to the whole "female power through violence" thing, but in a different way. I'm anxious to get back to her.

First off, BoingBoing is crowdsourcing The Funny. That is awesome, and very amusing.

Jezebel reviews a book that makes me happy. Turns out all that 'women's brains are better/worse at X' is not supported by science.

Crazy video that my youngest is totally infatuated with but sounds a lot like conversations at our house sometimes. *snrk*

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I've been reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics, and "Brief Lives" made me cry. My experience of comics is limited, I admit, but that never happened before.

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Big Boy had a better day today. Yesterday he was monosyllabic and grumpy. Today he's just grumpy.

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I'm losing weight. I started paying attention to what I eat... maybe a month ago or longer, and I've lost six or seven pounds. The first three or so came off quickly, but I think I'm averaging about a pound every ten days or so now. I think that is slow enough that my hair shouldn't fall out. (When Big Boy was weaned, back in the day, I dieted and worked out to lose my baby weight, and lost 40lbs in two months. Three months later, my hair was so thin it couldn't hold a clasp at the nape of my neck, and I had to cut it all off while the brand-new baby hair came in. Aside from being kind of dumb and unhealthy, it was darned inconvenient.)

I have not noticed a difference, but my Beloved says he has. *shrug* I just want to get back in my sexy clothes. ;) The good news is that it does not appear to be coming off my bust. *snork*

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I had a great idea today, but it may be next week before I can make my idea a reality. I have to develop a process, see. ;) It may not have great results, but it will be fun. :)

... but getting closer. :)

I've been a bad webmistress and have neglected my pimping duties. So here's a run down of the recent stuff up on GeekaChicas.

First up, there's Kitchen Jedi's awesome review of Dorkness Rising. Looks like a fun rental, if it's half as amusing as the review.

Then there was Pearce's God Bless Shatnerday featuring the now somewhat infamous Star Trek OS video of Ke$ha's Tik Tok. It was up on Saturday, which gives you a hint how far behind I am on this stuff. Bad Wemistress, no biscuit.

Then, we have a book review from Alpha Lyra, Black Blade Blues - lesbian blacksmith, anyone?. I always enjoy Alpha Lyra's book reviews, even when she's not hot for the book, because she always gives her reasons and is a critic quite capable of considering the role taste plays in whether or not she likes a book.

Then we have a fun Geek Parenting article by Kitchen Jedi, Character Creation Is Not For The Faint at Heart. None of my spawn has done the non-video RPG thing yet, but it will be interesting to see what happens when they do.

Nightsky's I'm Sailing Away touches on the recent teen sailor rescue and the trend of parents pushing kids into stunts, possibly for the media coverage, as well as teh trend to do something just so you can write a book about it later. It's certainly some food for thought.

Last but not least, there is my no spoiler review of the new Futurama episodes airing tonight, Futurama: Good News, Everyone!

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Whew! That was a lot of articles. Remind me not to get so far behind on my duties again.

We had such plans for the weekend! We were going to go to Baton Rouge and hit the sales, but we SO didn't. Basically, we went to my Beloved's office on Saturday. Wee Boy wanted to do some collating (for pay!) and I used the office as a place to write without internet distractions. (They have internet, but I deliberately avoided finding out the password.) Then we went to lunch.

It was so hot that our Zoo plans evaporated.

Then yesterday, we'd planned to go to Baton Rouge, but didn't. I still need to get my Big Boy a rash guard for swimming, but we did go get a book I had ordered for him and magazine I wanted. Oh, and the new Lynn Flewelling book.

On the way home we got some groceries, and arrived at our place just as the drizzle stopped and the sun came out.

Wee Boy found a baby bird, twitching and wobbly on the sidewalk. Big Boy stayed with it while we carried stuff up, and came back with rubber gloves and a step ladder. The nest the bird had fallen from was visible, and I reached it easily and put it back. It was right by the next door neighbor's drive, and he pulled in just as I was stepping up on the ladder, and asked what was going on. He seemed surprised when I explained, but I don't get what the big deal was. I think he thought I was doing something to the shrubs dividing the properties, maybe. Because my kids and I have bizarre shrub fetish. *eyeroll*

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Spent the rest of the day watching Wire in the Blood to which I believe I have become adequately addicted. My Beloved and the boys played video games.

I did make great strides on my novel this weekend, and I think by the time I finish it, the whole of it will be in a solid second draft state. I'm still working out how I work best, I guess.

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Now I just need to sort out what I'm going to do for the Big Boy's birthday. I think Laser Tag may be cost prohibitive (it's either a Laser Tag party or a new computer, and he wants that computer), so maybe a pool party? Hm.

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Oh, and over at GC, Nightsky has made a wonderful discovery in Ultimate Geek Food? The Sushi-O-Matic.

Oy! Something doing every single day last week with the home school gang! It was a blast, but I'm worn out.

But, enough about that. ;) I'm hopeful that we'll have some Doctor Who stuff up on GC soon, what with Eleven's debut and all, but for today I have an interesting digression on certain Norse Gods (in keeping with our recent trends). The Essential Thor: Another Geeky Norse Mythology Moment, by Amalia the Savage re-examines the Thor love. Always a blast!

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( My whinging under the cut. )

I finished reading Kitty and the Midnight Hour, and I have to say that, while it is a pretty typical example of the urban fantasy genre, a few things surprised me. My mind drew some parallels to early Laurell K. Hammilton, which is not a bad thing. Carrie Vaughn has a decent grasp of plotting (I think early LKH may be superior in that regard) and her writing is clear and straightforward. It's not too precious, and it doesn't have the stylistic issues that early LKH had (repetitive phrases, some heavy cheese).

Still, the typical thing is for the kick-ass chick to be, well, kick-ass with monsters but submissive in bed. Kitty does that, too, but in this she seems to be fighting her way out of being a submissive member of the pack, finding her strength. I'm honestly tempted to read more, and see where it goes. If vampirism is the fantastical metaphor for sexuality, then maybe lycanthropy, in these novels, may turn out to be a metaphor for the young adult identity crisis, or a sort of fantasy feminist awakening.

Kitty was tough for me to read at first, slinking through life, not standing up for herself. Whining. I think maybe I saw a bit my younger self in her. In any case, I couldn't really identify with her victimhood, but I could identify with getting pissed off enough to fight back. The tipping point between anger and fear is not really new to me. I've been there, and learned to be strong without benefit of rage.

So, yeah. Fun fluff. I saw the main plot reveal coming a mile off, which was disappointing, and I'm not running out to snap up copies of all her books. But I will read more if the next book drifts into my path, I think.

We had unexpected plans pop up yesterday, and today we had actual plans that went poof, but in a good way.

It opened up our time for a walk through the park, across St. Charles and up to The Maple Street Book Shop, which is actually two houses, side by side. One sells used and rare books and the other new books. We went in both, and it was lovely. I bought four books (including one for the kiddies) and ordered one. I know where I am going for books from now on. Sure, I might have to order genre titles specially, but Amazon continues to piss me off and this book shop is a dream.

On the way home we passed three nice places with For Rent signs, and hope for larger digs swelled within me. Then, my phone rang and it was my dear friend Andrea (whom some of you know as Jenny Gardener). I haven't seen her in years, though she's still someone I consider a close friend. We talk about once or twice a year, but I'm going to change that. It was so awesome to hear from her. She was the first one to expose me the whole "Follow Your Bliss" thing, which seems to be working out pretty well for both of us.

Seriously, a week doesn't pass that I don't think about her. The giant live oaks in the park remind me of her workshop story tentatively titled "Naked Man Falls from Tree." Which, yeah, maybe you had to be there. But she's awesome - take my word for it.

Then we made chicken for dinner, and Big Boy filmed me cutting up chicken breasts his next short film project, which seems like it should be pretty funny.

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Got my words in, too:



For a total of:

The iPad is sexy and hip, and I kind of want one(not to imply that I could afford it). But it would be a damned expensive paperweight, because it really wouldn't let me do half of what it should be able to do. I whine about why in The iPad: My Personal Smorgasbord of Frustration.

I need an ebook reader that will let me upload manuscripts. I may just have to dig out the old palm pilot. *sigh*

***

Well, this week wasn't so bad. I was scared of some of the social obligations, but they have turned out well so far.

The boys had a lovely playdate with a couple of kids in the Unschooling group, and I got to chat with their mom. Her husband teaches at Tulane and they just moved from New York, so our families are going through similar adjustments.

The park day/baby shower was a total blast. A lady who is from NOLA originally but has lived in London for more than a decade came along for the first time. The family is only here for three months, but her boys are close to my youngest's age and share some hobbies in common. Also, their last name is Moriarty, which made me inordinately happy. *hee!*

I think we may try to hit the Beach Day on Monday. Unschooling... well, it's kind of the Free-Range philosophy writ large. I'm not sure I can do it, but these families are so cool... I guess we'll see. :)

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I got to catch up with my BFF on Skype last night, which is always fun. Rochester is buried under snow. It's so hard for me to grok that it's winter, when I go outside and think, "Do I need a sweater or not?" I'll pay for it in the summer when it's so hot I'm melting and wanting to shave my head. But it's fun now!

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The hubby and I have another gala tonight, somewhere out in the boonies. This one is business casual, so at least there's that. Then Saturday night M. from the Unschooling group is having an Imbloc feast. I think I might try to make a quiche. Hmmm.

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We're four chapters away from the end of Half-Blood Prince in our Harry Potter read-aloud. I had forgotten how much I loved that book. It's long, but it lacks most of the flaws of Order of the Phoenix, and by this point in the series her writing style has improved a lot.

I still maintain, for all its flaws as literature, the Harry Potter series is freaking brilliant.

I'm getting comment notices on LJ either very, very late or not at all, but I will catch up. :)

Big Boy's orthodontist had good news - He won't be in braces for as long as we had feared, and it won't even be very expensive (we DID win $2,000.00 worth of orthodontia for $10.00 at a silent auction, so our final cost is ridiculously reasonable).

Also, we found him a good math tutor, whom we will meet with today. I am relieved.

I'm still not physically up to speed, and it's beginning to wear on me. I'm so tired of being sickly, even though it isn't very bad. We had temps in the 70s yesterday, and I wanted to be able to enjoy it! Plus, I've let things at the website slip, which I should not have done. *grump*

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Today at GC, we have a chance to geek out with the lovely Amalia the Savage again, with A Geeky Norse Mythology Moment. I've always loved Norse Mythology, so I found it quite fun.

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I let the boys watch The Hound of the Baskervilles last night (Jeremy Brett). It was enjoyable, though I don't think they got it quite as well as I had hoped. Wee Boy has been reading the novel for Reading, and decided after he started that it was 'boring'. *sniffle* The again, he's only ten. I might well be the only English Classics - loving aberration in my family, which makes me a little sad.

I paused it to explain the phrenology references at the beginning, so when they got to that bit they found it properly amusing - laughed out loud, in fact. If they hadn't, I'd have had to consider the prospect of having more children. They have generally good geeky taste, but if they couldn't appreciate Jeremy Brett's performance, I might've had to start fresh with a new litter. ;)g

I'm still a tad ill, it seems, so I'm going to be taking it as easy as possible for a few more days. Better that than risk a relapse. Do Not Want!

Over at GeekaChicas, we have the latest from Alpha Lyra (known to some of you as amy34), World of Warcraft and Wish-Fulfillment Fantasy.

There's also a bit of non-fiction from the prolific Amalia The Savage, Impress the Mighty Thor With Your Knowledge of Icelandic! For Free!.

Hee! I'm sorry, but that shite is fun. At least *I'm* having fun. I've decided to write about how syndicated Fantasy TV shows are self-consciously kinky. With lots of screen caps. Should be fun.

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Spent some time on chat wit a writer from MA that some of you know as Bright. We always talk about books and movies and slash and how people's minds work, and she never fails to give me new insight into characters and things I'm working on, even when she's not trying to help. Last night we talked about books. Some time ago, I got her into reading Fantasy by pimping Lynn Flewelling at her. She had never found good Fantasy before, with deeply relatable characters. She has now out-read me by leaps and bounds in the genre, and always has a rec or two for me. So last night I was glad to be able to send another rec her way, which I will now share with you.

Dudes. You've GOT to read Elizabeth Bear's Ink and Steel, if you haven't already. I'm not quite done with it, but it would take a really uncharacteristically awful ending to make me not love this book. I'm already requesting the sequel on inter-library loan, after which I will likely do the same with the rest of the Promethean Age books, which are, for some reason, quite difficult to find in stock, even in used book stores (and my book budget is *blown* for the year anyway).

It's called "A Book Club Named Desire" and they read books with a Louisiana/New Orleans connection. We discussed All the King's Men last night. I really liked the group -- it was a lot of fun. Most everyone was nice. Several people were very chatty and pleasant, and a couple even started giving me good info on how to navigate the rather complex school situation in NO. Also, there was pleasant little lawyer in a suit and bow tie who seemed like he might have walked out of the novel. There were close to twenty people there, and the library had moved us from the ballroom due to a scheduling conflict, so we were packed in pretty tight.

Next month we're talking about To Kill a Mocking Bird, which is a big YAY from me.

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Overt GC, we have Nightsky reporting on the new D&D soda in Magically Delicious. I admit to being quite curious about them, myself.