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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 07:14 am
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I don't know when we've had such a bad year, loss-wise.
RIP, Randy Pausch
The first time I heard of this great man was whe he gave his last lecture at his university. We aired it and my phones went totally banana's the next day. He touched a lot of people. Including me.
And then Sophia. Oh, Sophia. She was impossible not to adore, eh?
RIP, Estelle Getty
I feel...:  sad |
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 09:32 am
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365 Days: 08072517 |
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turning a negative into a positive
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 08:42 am
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today I have to make phone calls which is one of my biggest anxiety makers. BUT, I didn't ask Tim to call the termite people this morn - I'm Going To DO IT. and my chest hurts already. but this way I can feel good about myself for conquering the anxiety instead of continuing it and feeling miserable cause I let it beat me.
The termite people came yesterday but didn't do the neighbors garage like they were supposed to also...and I guess we got too good a deal cause they were bitching about it (the amount of work around our house and the price) the whole time. So I really really don't won't to have to make this call.
then there's the vet for kitten shots, neuter and declaw (which I feel terrible about, a necessary evil though); pediatrician to see if the kids vacs are up to date; dentist appmnt for all of us with a new dentist in town since we haven't been in over a year since Tim's dept bit the dust, which btw he finally got the green light for new permanent job yesterday-yeah :) ; Shades about camping.
my goal is to complete most of them, cause depending on how some go it may just wipe me out. pathetic I know. but, so it is.
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this came out as we were headed to ReaderCon
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 08:19 am
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The Fix reviewed my Journey to Kailash with a kind disposition, saying that the book "contains around sixty poems, each rich and darkly beautiful. Nurtured by Allen’s fertile imagination and strong poetic skills, seeds of myth, science, and art have grown into poetry that is lovely, thought-provoking, and subtly twisted.... truly an excellent book, filled with poetry that evokes emotion even while it inspires thought. ... I cannot recommend it highly enough."
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More from the Long Day Shearing
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 11:30 am
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 04:02 pm
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I can't quite choose a book to stay on. I have a Judith Tarr and a Cherryh started, and The House at the End of the World, and Prince Caspian on reread, and an Anne Perry I'm trying to finish, and I catch myself thinking 'Oh noes, what to read?'.
I think I am wary of most of those. I get the feeling of ... emotional unsafety which I am not sure I can handle at this moment, since my emotions are up and down for other reasons (I think I am losing the ability of managing my emotions. Woe is me), so I hesitate. But I still want to be swept into a story. Isn't this what they call 'keeping your cake and eating it'?
Maybe I will start some other book. There's no law against having ten unfinished books at once, even though my tidy soul tries to avoid this.
Work torments me by the need to translate an article into English — when half the time I can't quite understand what the writer wanted to say in English. She's writing about the works of some painter who was into mysticism/Blavatskaya/Castaneda and whatnot, and trying to describe what he painted and what he wanted to say by that. Horrifying stuff.
... which keeps me pondering about vaguely related things. Like English language and the way it's different from Russian. Like, Russian schools are good at teaching English grammar (don't look at me; my English isn't quite the school-taught variety), but the usage... One thing, for example, that seems to be different and often difficult to remember (when you do not think in English) is the use of... pronouns of ownership? (see, I am bad at grammar, and not quite up at checking how they are properly called. I mean stuff like 'my', 'yours', 'his', etc.) We all were taught (quite early in the course of studies) to describe everyday life in sentences like 'Each morning I brush my teeth'. And then students try to translate this into Russian and it sounds weird. Because why 'my teeth'? Is there a chance I'd be brushing someone else's teeth? ... and then they forget to stick this 'my' into sentences and situations of this type. But why 'my', really? The remains of some proto-article? I have never studied the history of English language or English theoretical grammar (I studied the Spanish one and happily forgot nearly everything) so maybe this is a very simple question.I hear...: Kaida Yuki 'Peaceful Time' |
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Friday Week End Round-up
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 07:19 am
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I have decided to stay at West End Ministries until I can find a full-time, paying job. That may mean that I start getting my resume out there now, and if something comes along that is right for me, I'll take it, but the real push won't come until spring.
This fall, I need to get back into shape again, as usual. I did really well for several weeks in Nepal, but the forced confinement of the general strikes, the heat in Calcutta, and the illness in Nepal upon my return, coupled with French food-- none of which I regret, really-- means that I have to begin once again to get myself out of bed in the early a.m., and to watch what I eat. I KNOW why I don't want to be a roly-poly fat girl, but my sweet tooth doesn't.
Natasha called last night to say that her back issues have at least been diagnosed: disintegrated disk. Yikes. Isn't that what you had, Suzan? The doc told her that it can be healed with some good physical therapy and taking care of it for the rest of her life.
I look around me at the people I know who have dealt with ongoing health issues all their lives, issues that are not "lifestyle" related. My brother, for instance. Well, I don't know how much exercise the guy has ever gotten, but he has been dealing with one thing after another. Some people, say the French, have une petite nature, and so have to take care of their health more assiduously than I ever have. I don't want to call this "luck" on my part, but it is some kind of blessing from the universe that I have been basically healthy if I did the minimum to keep myself that way. And energy! I don't have any idea how long I'm going to have this kind of get-up-and-go, but whooeeee, while it lasts, let's ROCK!
And when I don't have it any more, I can read, or I can be read to. I got projects to last me all the days of my life, not even counting this wonderful work I've found to do. I think this post is about gratitude. As they say around here, Thiank yew Jesus! Which, to me, means sending blessings out from me to the rest of everything. |
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Watchmen Angst
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 06:44 am
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Folks, I'm afraid the new Watchmen movie is going to suck. It's going to suck like a two dollar hooker in room full of lonely sailors. It's going to suck like a Hoover that raped babies and got sent up to Attica for life without parole.
1. Watchmen is brilliant, a detailed literary/visual treat that, for me at least, only came clear through rereading. It's dense. Any attempt to translate it to screen is headed for trouble. Things are worse, though, because...
2. This adaptation is being made by Zack Snyder, the guy who did 300. If all Zack Snyder had done was remake Dawn of the Dead, I wouldn't worry. That was a tight, tense film that did its job well. 300 was a bloated cartoon of a movie that set the dials to 11 at the start and then just left them there. Intermittently fun to watch, but deeply, deeply stupid. I haven't read the graphic novel, so can't comment on the fidelity to the source material, but if the dials on Watchmen are set to 11, it's going to be a travesty unworthy of its title.
3. Some of the preview looks good, some not so bad. But... Nite Owl? Jesus. The whole fucking point of Nite Owl is that he's an aging, overweight used-to-be. In the trailer he looks like a young, generic crimefighter in the Batman mode.
4. The trailer would suggest that Watchmen has the look and feel of contemporary movies, and contemporary superhero movies in particular. Dark. Brooding. Excruciatingly cinematic. It being a movie and all, you'd think "cinematic" might be a good adjective, but Watchmen? Go take another look to remind yourself. Tight frames. Discussions. Memories. Brooding. Mystery.
5. The Black Freighter. It's going to be a separate animated feature released on DVD a few days after the movie drops. Look, I'm not stupid. I can imagine the difficulties in adapting Watchmen. A solid three hour movie that tried to do the whole shebang might have been overambitious, and maybe having a batch of tie-ins is the way to go, but I can't help wishing they'd had the cojones to shoot for the moon.
At root, the trailer shows almost nothing that I value about Watchmen. This is one I'll be waiting for the reviews to see, if I ever do.I feel...:  nervous |
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New haiga in the Modern Haiga magazine & Some garden photos
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 06:40 am
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Since I seem to be unable to find time for the big post on the Citizenship Ceremony, I will continue posting about other stuff... Recently, I started a new series of photo haiga with my ikebana. This is one of those haiga, it has just been published in the Modern Haiga magazine -- http://www.modernhaiga.com/2008/jul/807-4.html -- Всё не могу найти время сделать большой пост про церемонию присяги, так что продолжаю маленькие новости выкладывать :) Вот начала делать новую серию фото хайга со своими икебаночками и собираюсь их посылать в разные места, и одна вот только что опубликована в журнале Современная хайга
фламенко ! бисеринки пота
в её декольте
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Luz,Mylapore,Chennai
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 04:06 pm
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Here's the Luz part of Mylapore, Chennai:
Let's start with that landmark of "Luz Corner", the Ashta VinAyakar Kovil (temple), all lit up at night:
( walk around Luz with me )
And I passed the KarpagAmbAL Nagar home of this famous Carnatic musician Madurai Mani Ayyar , who had also been a close family friend:
In fact, I was very happy when many people who heard my concerts said that I could sing kalpanAswaram with some of the fluency of this gifted singer, whose music was melodious and did not resort to mathematical "kaNakku muttAyippu"s. I think I must have heard his concerts so often--my parents were one of the first I know to invest in a spool-tape record player-- that probably something of his style did percolate through! (Though I must say that in my opinion, he was not very clear in his diction of Carnatic lyrics....)I feel...: worried about my city I hear...: none |
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New Project Bluebird Songs
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 01:41 am
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If you get a chance, listen to these new versions of songs with Eric Baldoni and Eric Royer, both friends who used to be in a band with me in the 90s called Barely Bipedal. I am very excited how they fixed up the songs...they add so much. Then a third Eric will be adding onto some soon, Eric Dahlman who I did "Full of it" with on his cd. And there may even be a couple more Erics. I think we will be doing an e-album with the Erics. I will upload these on indiradio as well and lastfm. For now you can hear them here:
http://www.myspace.com/theoriginalprojectbluebird
I am all out of it and scattered, wired-tired. I hope to catch up soon. Love, Nancy
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Hoppipolla music video by Sigur Ros
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 10:42 am
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Вот такой я буду лет через 20-30...
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Discovering Crabapples
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 03:34 am
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the schooner californian
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 12:20 am
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This type of topsail schooner with masts raked back is generally known as a Baltimore Clipper from the early 19th century. (This ought to thrill somebody I know way back east.)
Here are the Californian and the caravel Niña from the end of the 15th century. These current ships are both reproductions of their types, built in the last decade or two. Standing together here, they are like bookends for the great age of sail. 
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A good day
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 11:58 pm
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Once again allow me to express contentment. Also gladness that I have such lovely friends, and the feeling of being utterly spoiled and adored and fantastically lucky in my man. Happy birthday to me.
I feel like a warm cat.
Speaking of which the kitty was unusually content as we came in tonight. She nearly melted over my shoulder (except for the bits that were purring, nuzzling and kneading). Happy cats over here.
Feel especially spoiled by my man ( Read more... ) |
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I don't care what the critics say
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 02:00 am
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I'll happily slap down $11 to see Mulder and Scully together, cynics and sneerers be damned! |
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
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Dear Protagonist Who's Showing Promising Signs of a Viable Personality These Days,
That one thing you do? It's seriously creeping me out.
Yeah, that one, too.
No, no it's okay. Don't change!
Creepy beats bland any day.
Truly,
Me
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Happiness is..
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 10:24 am
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Walking in the rains along the lovely avenue of trees, then have a hot cup of filter coffee at Brahmins and then walk back again :) Ah.... all soooo greeen.. I feel...:  cheerful I hear...: Summer wine |
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A STRANGER TO COMMAND - Available for Pre-Order!
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 09:54 pm
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HOORAY! It's Available for Pre-Order!
Norilana Books presents A Stranger to Command by Sherwood Smith (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sartorias).
In this much-anticipated prequel to Crown Duel, Vidanric Renselaeus, fifteen-year-old Marquis of Shevraeth, finds himself sent across the continent to a military academy in Marloven Hess...
A Stranger to Command by Sherwood Smith
Imprint: YA Angst
Trade Hardcover
August 1, 2008
Retail Price:
$27.95 USD - £20.00 GBP
ISBN-13: 978-1-934648-55-1
ISBN-10: 1-934648-55-8
480 pages
Click here for more information...
Order Your Copy:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Amazon UK
- Amazon CA
- Amazon FR
- Amazon DE
- Amazon JP
Go and get it!!! :-)
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The Auto-Icon of Jeremy Bentham
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
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the_red_shoes showed me this. Apparently Utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham asked for his remains to be preserved (in a sense) upon his death (WARNING: don't click if mummified body parts upset you).
This Web site has more information as to the whys and wherefores. Most of the people who have been discussing this are (understandably) grossed out by the entire affair. But I find it thought provoking, sobering and profoundly beautiful. I'm still reading the article linked above so I don't yet know Bentham's full reasons for willing that his body be anatomized and preserved in this way, but whatever his reasons, he left us, the living, a truly wonderful memento mori.
I'm very aware that I'm probably the only person on the planet who sees the auto-icon this way, but I had to share. The auto-icon may soon share the spiritually, emotionally and creatively important place the Kostnice Ossuary now occupies for me.
NB: All comments mentioning that I'm morbid will be met with laughter, as I've never denied this and am rather proud of it, actually :3.I feel...:  touched |
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 11:04 pm
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I've only been driving alone for 9 1/2 months, but the amazing amount of--how to put this--dumb shit I see going on never fails to amaze me. I see women in two ton SUVs chatting for 45 minutes on their cellphone about their new haircut while they tailgate my tiny car. I see people blow stop signs and red lights, putting everyone's life in danger. I see teenagers text their friends about who they made out with that week, while doing upwards of 10 MPH over the speed limit. I see everyone do these things--soccer moms, businessmen, teenagers, teachers, social workers, old people, doctors.
If you like, think of it this way: a car is like having a gun with no safety. And you're pointing it at everyone's head, all the time. And then you leave it out for anybody to get at.
Maybe it's because they are such a pervasive part of our American culture. We hop into the car for everything--it's like a moving house, complete with all the comforts of home: music, movies, temperature controls, nice seats, and--perhaps the thing we like most about them--anonymity. When you get behind that wheel and that tinted glass, when you step into that high cab of your monster SUV you bought to navigate the smooth streets of your suburb of choice, you're not just any tired soccer mom driving to pick up her kids--you're a spoiled movie star, cruising around in her sweet ride, chatting it up with her friends. When you climb into your pickup truck in the morning, the one you bought to terrorize morning traffic, you're not just another washed-up businessman living in a suburban hell--you're driving a Humvee, pumped full of testosterone and ready to kill some guys. It's easy to forget just who you are when you get behind the wheel, isn't it?
But the truth about driving is this: a car is a lethal weapon. When you settle into the driver's seat, you've found yourself in control of a ton of metal, glass, explosives, and bone-shattering force. And if you drive a tiny car like mine, you're at the mercy of any clueless moron driving around in the SUV she bought to protect her kids from terrible accidents--like driving into that tiny Dodge Neon at 55 MPH while the kids sip apple juice and watch DVDs in the back. She'll walk away from it with a yawn and a fine of a few hundred bucks, maybe, and you--you'll never walk away from it at all.
So why do we think it's okay to talk for hours on our cell phones while driving? Why do we think speeding is not only acceptable and normal, but our God-given right? Since when did stop signs become an option? Why don't we punish drunk drivers like we should--with jail time? And why are we sitting back, texting our friends, while our neighbors are being smashed to bits by these immature drivers that the state deems are responsible enough to hold a license?
I have never had a friend or loved one killed in or involved in a serious accident. I have not been in an accident to date. I've never lost someone close to me. I've never even seen what happens when people get into accidents. But it pisses me off royally to know that some arrogant prick looking to shave a few minutes off his morning commute by running a light gets to decide who gets to die that day. I pray constantly that I will not return home one day to find cops at my door, about to tell me that my baby brother has been struck by a drunk driver who will walk away and get to lead a full life, while my mother has to decide whether to turn the respirator off and donate his organs. I can barely stand to watch my beloved boyfriend, whom I've grown to love and admire over two years, bike off at night, because I know how people drive, how easy it is to kill someone. "She didn't mean to hurt anyone" is not an excuse, and it shouldn't be used as a literal "Get Out of Jail Free" card. But it is. And that breaks my heart, and it enrages me.
So I will be writing to my congressmen. And I hope you will do the same. As they say, if you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention. It's about time to start.
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bad news
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 11:05 pm
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I just had an epic coughing fit. Unfortunately, that was just the start of it, because partway in, I began throwing up too. Badly.
I'm pretty much recovered from it now, but I feel like I could be sick again any minute now. I really, really hope nothing hideous happens tonight.I feel...:  terrified I hear...: ff3 |
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Stent
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 08:56 pm
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Referring to TMI... Pictures! Well, just X-rays, nothing actually icky, just enough for your imagination to help feel my pain.
Anyway, this is what they pulled out on Tuesday:
 
While I was completely and unfortunately conscious, for the record. (Sting a little, my ass. Two days later, it still "stung a little." I watched the monitor long enough to see the inside of my bladder, where the doc fished around for the end to pull, but that was about all I could take before I started, well... Not screaming exactly. Groaning vigorously? I had trouble walking for a while afterwards.)I feel...: better |
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It's like "Memento"
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 10:52 pm
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Four images
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Jul. 25th, 2008 @ 08:11 am
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DJ Amberdine
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 09:10 pm
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A few weeks ago, while looking for music, I came across an offer from Son of Rust to remix a couple of their songs. It occurred to me that I do have GarageBand 4, and a MIDI keyboard... this could be fun. So I ordered a new USB/MIDI cable, downloaded the tracks, and... got distracted with workshop stuff.
Eventually though, I started playing around with it, came up with something I thought was moderately neat, and sent it to the artist. I doubt very highly it will make it into a promotional CD release (really, total newbie here -- I know there were some beginners' mistakes in there) but who knows. Unfortunately, I don't really own the rights to that one, so I can't share it, though I will let you all know if it becomes available.
But! While looking into remixing details, I learned what everyone else probably already knows: Nine Inch Nails gives away remix packs as well. So I played around with Head Down my favorite track from NIN's recent release The Slip.
It's here if you're curious. (I know there are other beginner issues with this one too, but I'm getting better...)
I'd start playing with Echoplex but I need a bigger hard drive first. Dang. Garageband files are MASSIVE.I hear...: "Subtronic" - De/Vision |
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201
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 08:49 pm
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in the back lot.
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writing goal
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 08:30 pm
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I am trying to think of something positive to post... anything...but. it's. eluding me.
I'd like to try to do this everyday in an effort to defeat ongoing anxiety.
hmm.
doesn't seem it should be so hard.
night time is worse for me though, tis the time when my world feels like it's falling apart.
I had a couple days recently that I didn't feel this way in the evening and I starting feeling strange because the anxiety wasn't there.
well.
I'll try again tomorrow.
I don't want to write anything like.. I'm thankful we all have our health, warm beds to sleep in etc. because even though that's true it isn't the goal or what will really help.
tomorrow then.
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Chipmunk
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 08:36 pm
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 07:33 pm
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Must pack tonight for the family reunion this weekend. Should be a good time - my brother and his lovely wife are actually going to be there! So, after four days at home, it's back to NY, the land of my birth.
I have no idea what to wear, and my sandals gave up the ghost at camp.
Must go dig through clothes now. |
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Day 205
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 07:46 pm
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It rained most of the day.
( more rainy day photos ) |
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Embarrassing ReaderCon photo
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 07:06 pm
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Ernest Lilley of SF Revu catches me plugging The Journey to Kailash at the captive audience at Friday's poetry workshop.
After I made everyone write a scifaiku, Lilley asked me to write a short piece about scifaiku for his website, where he plans to reprint all the poems that the participants wrote. Those In The Know can appreciate the irony in that.
ETA: Lilley also took photos at the Rhysling Reading.
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Presenting....
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 06:32 pm
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Pictures from the Rhysling Award poetry "slan."
Unfortunately this batch doesn't include everyone who read, but Anita assures me there's more on her other camera.
ETA: more photos of the SFPA table, courtesy of stillnotbored.
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Wainscot panelling
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 05:25 pm
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Some excellent notes on Readercon 19 here and here. At least some of her experience Venned with mine; but she had the wit to write it down.
Note: according to negothick, the Spanish in Pan's Labyrinth is not only Castilian but in part archaic. Pan speaks to Ofelia as if she were a Renaissance princess.
Nine |
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Day 15: The battle is won
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 04:53 pm
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And I'm done! First, some stats.
Queries read and replied to today: 8
Queries during this fit of madness: 243
Queries passed back to Jenny: 0
Queries there was nothing wrong with but just didn't grab me enough: 1
(Total)
Vampires: 10
Werewolves: 9
Elves: 7
Demons: 17
Fairies: 4
Starcrossed lovers: 4
Retellings of some sort: 5
Conspiracy theories: 2
Shapeshifters: 6
Witches: 6
Crazy people: 5
Superheroes: 3
Ghosts: 3
Animal main characters: 5
(Darn, I was REALLY hoping the demons would get over 20. Oh well.)
Genres people identify their stories as
Fantasy: 1
Romance: 1
Science fiction: 2
Urban fantasy: 2
Woman's fiction: 1
Non-fiction: 1
--
A few things not to do in your synopsis:
1. If you have parallel timelines in the story and switch back and forth, that's fine, but don't do that in your synopsis.
2. Don't show the same scene from different POVs in the synopsis. (I'd prefer you didn't do it in your book, either, but certainly not in your synopsis.)
3. Confuse me.
--
j_cheney wants to know: What kind of publication credits do people have, on average?
Generally, not much. I've gotten a couple who've published novel-sized things (for money) recently and are looking for an agent, mostly romance, but there was one middle grade. If the credits are recent, they get passed up automatically unless it's for something Jenny doesn't rep.
There were a few more with magazine publishing credits, mostly for things I've never heard of. (Not a surprise. I don't know much about the short-fiction market.) This doesn't sway me either for or against them, honestly.
A few more belong to RWA and critique group websites, like the OWW and YouWriteOn; the Editor's Choice and YWO Bestsellers don't make me feel any better or worse about the query, either.
Then, of course, there are the few with self-published books. That always makes me cringe and want to have a Very Serious Talk with them about how money flows TO the author and if you've worked with PublishAmerica, maybe you want to change your name and get into Witness Protection so they can't find you again, and oh yeah, never mention that in your query letter again. *petpet*
Sometimes people will talk about unrelated publishing credits: newspapers when they're writing SFF, or nonfic when they're querying women's fiction, or things for universities when they've got a romance. I...don't really care about this, either.
Awards... There've been a couple of those. Golden Hearts, I think. I don't think there were many others that stuck out at me.
It seems to me, the only publishing credits that do anything are actual novel-for-money credits, or short-fiction markets that pay lots of monies. JoeBob's 4theluv magazine may be great, but...
Another thing that isn't a publication credit is discussing all the unpublished novels you've written or plan to write...at length. Saying "This is the first novel in a planned trilogy" is fine. Saying "This is the first novel in a trilogy and the others are about blah blah blah blah blah" for twenty lines is not.
Most of the time people just don't say anything about it. Good idea. Less is more.
--
Chapbook: 1 (I think)
Children's picture books: 3
Erotic romance: 1
Horror: 2
Fantasy: 22
Literary: 1
Mainstream: 6
Middle grade: 3
Movie script: 1
Mystery: 2
Romance: 13
Science fiction: 23
Thriller: 6
Urban fantasy: 10
Woman's fiction: 5
YA: 58
Non-fiction: 4
Unspecified: 2
Well, that's only 163. I'm really bad at math and I'm not sure where the others went. (I was also going through pretty fast, so it's possible I just missed a day.) I didn't count genres the first few days, so lots of the missing ones are somewhere in there. When I add in the numbers from the first few days, I get 233 total. (34 the first day, 21, and 15.) Got me where the others went. But this list (above) can give you a pretty good breakdown of what I got.
I put all the ones that were YA/UF or YA/paranormal romance in YA, which is probably why that number is SO HUGE. But, honestly, there weren't many that were plain ol' YA.
I was really surprised about the number of UF; I thought it would be much higher. (They're all hiding in the YA now.)
Really surprised about the number of science fictions being higher than fantasy.
Of course, remember, this isn't the complete list. Missing bunch from the first few days, and then the mysterious ones I can't find. But I know there are 243 total!
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Out of 243, I requested 11. Seven I'd have sent up on my own. Two had recent publishing credits (see above). One was something Jenny has a special love for. And one was a client referral. The last four are auto-send-ups. :)
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I think that's all the adding of stats I can stand to do. (If anyone else feels like combing through and sharing interesting results, go ahead. The tag is temporary madness.
Two queries: I got returned mail TWICE on a couple people. All mail should be answered by now. If you never got a response, that's because your inbox rejected my rejection. (Jenny says there are two or three more requests to go out. They should get there today or tomorrowish.)
If anyone has questions or comments or whatever, I'll still answer them. I'm also keeping an eye on the intern inbox to see if I get any more snarky responses and then we can have a mocking party! ;)
What else? Oh yeah! It's been fun. :D (In a slowly-going-crazy sort of way.) I'm very happy to have made new friends during this (hey guys!), and I feel like I've learned a ton about queries, synopses, agents, insanity... So thank you, everyone, for hanging out and watching the temporary madness. You're welcome to stay and drink hot caffeinated beverages with me, or run for your lives. Whichever you prefer. :)
*confetti*
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LJ "Widget" Update
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 01:31 pm
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I've gotten what I believe is official permission from LiveJournal to create and use an LJ branded image to link back to my journal. For more information, see the thread in (on?) the LiveJournal Suggestions Box community: ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) suggestions.
I've delayed finalizing the image I plan on using, but when I have it done, I'll upload it to my ScrapBook and post about it here, as well as submit it to LJ for others to use.
Edited to add: I first posted about this in Webpage - Under Construction (But No Annoying Blinky Signs!).I feel...:  pleased I hear...: Sugar in the Gourd: Old-Time, All the Time http://www.sugarinthegourd.com/ |
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barefoot
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 12:16 pm
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alas...
falling on the burnt grass
summer rain-
feels so cool under my sole
barefoot in the afternoon |
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Purchased
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 11:32 am
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It's the newest Daniel Abraham novel and it came out on Tuesday. I bought it yesterday. I must not rush through it. It is a delight to visit that world again.
So far I have bought twelve books in the Year of Not Buying Books, which is to say I have failed utterly at not buying books. But I figure I would have bought three times that many books by now if I weren't exercising restraint.
Other things I have not bought: A new camera. Lenses. An iPhone. A laptop. Shoes. Cloudberry jam (but I will on Saturday). I am full of virtuous non-buying. For the most part, anyway.
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above the tree line (and other haiku news)
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 07:18 am
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above the tree line, the 2008 anthology of the Southern California Haiku Study Group is now available. (The introduction I wrote for the book is available at the first link above). We will be having a performance reading and book launch on August 24, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at the Pacific Asia Museum.
In other haiku news, the copy of Mayfly containing my haiku arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Included with it was a flyer advertising Haiku: The Art of the Short Poem, a short film by Tazuo Yamaguchi that looks interesting. It was apparently filmed at the Haiku North America 2007 conference in North Carolina.
Haiku North America 2009 is going to be in Ottawa. Anyone planning to go? |
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Novel-length Art
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 01:55 pm
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I woke up this morning working on a painting, with thoughts about color and visual orientation and which references I'd need... a real creative connective web that meant I'd been sleeping on it.
This is in itself not at all unusual.
What was unusual was that this particular painting has been in my head for at least half a year, and I still haven't figured out how I want to approach it. I don't even have a sketch for it, just two or three thumbnails and a lot of notes. But waking up with fragments of more of a plan for it has made me realize: I am using the same process for making this thing as I would for plotting a novel.
I just sank back into the bed and stared at nothing for a while in stupid shock, the kind of 'Doh, this should have been obvious' shock that always feels mildly embarrassing but also a relief.
For years now I've been posting my list of goals for the year, and that list is almost always 'write one novel, 12 short stories and paint 12 paintings.' Which means I've historically treated paintings the same way I have short fiction: as relatively quick to execute, something I could do once a month with time left over.
Sometimes, paintings are that simple. But lately I haven't been going for simple. I'm spending so much time juggling symbolic, thematic, narrative and visual elements that I need to drop it all into my subsconscious just to get something that makes sense back out. And that's really good because it means I'm working on things that are so hard I can't just blow them off.
But just like it takes me 3-12 months to write a novel, it's taking me months to work on any one of these paintings. Which means expecting myself to finish 12, or even six, or even three! of them a year is... um... I'd say "ambitious" but I'm thinking "unrealistic" is probably more accurate.
So I've decided to change my yearly goals. This year, and probably for the next few years, my goals will be:
• Finish one book, where book="writing project that is complete in itself and takes many months to create."
• Publish one book, where book="anything worth selling, whether that's a short story collection, novel, or coffee-table art book."
• Put down bones for book, where book="writing project."
• Finish one painting, where painting="something complicated enough to be a novel in art."
• Put down bones for another two paintings.
• Finish any poetry, short fiction or "short paintings" I feel compelled to do.
The "bones" of two paintings in this case will be a finished composite I can print and go directly to work on. That's a lot of the thought process right there.
A tremendous amount of stress evaporated from me when I finally understood that I'm treating my painting as a novel process, because I'd been ripping my hair out at how slowly I was working and not understanding why. Now, at least, I know.
Stardancer Home.
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Here!
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Jul. 24th, 2008 @ 01:46 pm
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![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
