03:39 - Words fail me:
http://victorystore00.stores.yahoo.net/s
(Leave a comment | Link)
http://victorystore00.stores.yahoo.net/s
My undefeated 13-0 Aussie Rules footy team, the St Kilda Saints, played the other undefeated team, the Geelong Cats, today in the most anticipated match of the season. We raced ahead 25-0 in the first quarter but the Cats came back and with a little less than 5 minutes to play, scores were even. For once, a match actually lived up to the hype. In a nervewracking final few minutes, my team managed to get a goal and won the match 91-85! I'm exhausted...
To make the win extra sweet, I made a $24 profit, having bet on my team to win, and to win by fewer than 39.5 points :->
![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/pengies/happy.gif){kind=small}
happyI found these old drawings of mine from when I was writing Moonwise. Do they look as you imagined them?
 |
| Sylvie |
 |
| Ariane |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
sovay thinks I should do a chapbook.
You can take my Bleeding Heart Liberal card if you like, but when I see a member of the armed forces, I like to take a moment and say "Thank you."
That is all.
Thirty-three years ago, America celebrated its bicentennial. Anybody else remember the "Hands Across America" campaign? Not the 1986 fundraiser, but the original one that reportedly "failed completely and never took place." Well, Battle Creek, Michigan was along the original route and I was among the 200 or so people who showed up and stretched out along a block or two of the Michigan Mall, holding hands at the designated time. It was lame, but kind of sweet. The three other people I was with that day had great fun forming "Hands Around the Clock Tower" and taking silly pictures of ourselves doing it.
In 1976, I'd never made professional use of a single one of the items currently featured at The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies. Then again, I never was an artist, not that kind at least. I still need a see-thru ruler (with the right sort of printing on it) to draw two parallel lines. But glancing quickly through the images tonight, I found well over 33 tools I've held in my hands and pieces of equipment I've used to make money in the 33 years since. There are many I still own.
Like the other museum visitors who commented, I use my Pantone books regularly. My loupe, too, actually. You won't find me clear acrylic rollers, X-acto knives, and box of blades are not among the "Shop at Geri's" merchandise. If you're looking for a drafting table, I suppose we could talk, but I'd certainly miss mine if it were gone even if I didn't miss the debt its sale would pay off. For not being "that kind of artist," I certainly have a surprising number of their tools.
I smiled at the photos of non-photo blue pencils, a KroyType lettering machine, the Haberule, smelly Design markers, waxers large and small, rubylith, Bestine, Rapidograph eraser, and so much more. They're all on my "not yet forgotten, but no longer used" list.
Thirty-three years. So much has changed; so much endures. Two hundred and thirty-three years? Yep, same story. Happy birthday, America. Here's to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Here's to you.
I admit, I love fireworks to the depths of my unregenerate twelve-year-old soul.
Happy birthday, America!
Added: DAMMIT! This was actually a post about the Fallen Princesses Project & also Lev Grossman (who pointed it out to me)'s new book The Magicians. Bad, bad, stupid cut-and-paste has failed me. Gone, gone, never to be re-undone. The links alone must suffice.
Here's what got pasted in instead (a comment I made to yesterday's Urban Fantasy post, but you should probably see it here, too):
* This 2008 Library Journal article by Nanette Wargo Donohue - footnoted in the Wiki "Urban Fantasy" listing - is spot on. Poor L. Miller's got no excuse!( Read more... )
I brought various Meat for Derrick's barbecue; shumashi asked for the recipe for the skewers, which is approximately as follows (chenoameg may recognize the bulgogi recipe...)
Get a bunch of boneless short rib meat from McKinnon's. Cut it into pieces.
Blend together:
1 kiwi
1 onion
1/2c soy sauce
6T sesame oil
6 dashes black pepper
4T plum wine (it says use rice wine, but it's what was in the fridge)
2T vinegar
10 cloves garlic
Marinate meat in sauce overnight. Stick onto skewers (soak them in water for a while first), and make Derrick grill them.
![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/opiummmm/foxies/happy.gif){kind=small}
happyI like them. I like setting them off more than watching them. I prefer watching them to just hearing them (that can be unpleasant actually).
Tonight we (my father, sister, a friend of hers) went to watch the show on the river.
It was nice. It was a year ago that CG and I first met. It was at a party, and there were fireworks. Tonight I had the next best thing to her being here (well, no, second best. I would, perforce have preferred to have ![[info - personal]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
commodorified present, if CG couldn't be here, and vice versa).
I had CG singing on my iPod while I watched. The last bits of the show I was listenig to Fernando, while the mist of the river drifted like smoke over the hillside I was sitting on, and the crescendo of lights was being blanketed by the powder of the bursting charges.
Not as much fun as loading the tubes, and running the wire, but I didn't have to strike the frames either.
On balance.. a pretty good evening.
Is this a spectrum or a binary?
I was just reading a post (linked to by someone on my f-list) that referred to being cisgendered as "the concept of living / identifying / presenting as the gender society always expected of you because it was on your birth certificate." (It isn't clear to me whether the person means the virgules (slashes) to mean "and" or "or," and I don't feel free to ask there.)
The one that confuses me is "presenting." What all does that involve, and to what extent? I have mentioned before that when someone says, "Women do this and men do that" or "Men are like this and women are like that"--whether the person is saying it informally or from a position of being an "expert"--I am about as likely to fall into the "men" category as the "women." Therefore, it seems to me that some of my behavior constitutes "presenting" as male, in the eyes of this society. Yes? No? Does wearing clothing sold as "men's" constitute "presenting" as male? Does on occasion being taken for a man--without having intended to be taken specifically as either male or female--and not correcting the person constitute "presenting" as male? If one is taken for male online, has one "presented" as male?
Inquiring minds want to know.
![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/twotone/hamsters/puzzled_hammy.gif)
confusedPowered by Twitter Tools.
I'm asking this question for someone who doesn't have a LiveJournal account. He uses a small local bank and doesn't know if he'll be able to use any local ATMs in Montréal. How much cash would people recommend he bring? He will have at least one credit card with him as well.
Okay. I have lots of entries about the amazing Pantanal which I will upload later. Meanwhile, we made it out of the Pantanal, to Cuiaba, out of Cuiaba and safely to Uberlandia, which is more than half-way to our next stop of Campinas. We took a fleet of taxis to our hotel where the showers were wonderful. After 20 hours on a bus that froze us throughout the night and then roasted us during the day, everyone really needed the showers. We had academic class at 7pm and I did a small yoga class at 9pm. After which, all of the students headed out for dancing. Jenny and I walked part way with them to try to find a working ATM. They all shut down at 10pm so we missed the ability to take out money today. Annoyingly, a couple of well-meaning students asked any available person for directions rather than going to the two we knew about. Jenny and I and our guardian student (who has a bit of a cold and wants some rest) walked back using a completely different route.
Students managed to procure some fireworks in honor of the fourth of July. I have no idea how and I have no idea of their legality. But it was fun to see them go off and see that the neighbors seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. You don't seem to need much of an excuse to light fireworks in Brazil. It could just mean that someone or other won a soccer game. Our country had a birthday, definitely a good reason. The students even sang God Bless America.
Breakfast was extremely random snacks on the bus. Lunch was at a roadside stop. Most of the group did the buffet and paid for their lunch by the kilo (typically around $4-7US). I talked with the ladies at the fast food part and first asked for coxinha (nope), then o sanduiche com sa queijo. Nope. Ham and cheese, ham and cheese, ham and cheese... chicken and cheese! Frango e queijo por favor. She heated it up and gave me the plate and a fanta orange. When I joined the others at a table and I started eating the sandwich (with capupiry-- cream-- cheese), I found something completely unexpected given the litany: a slice of ham! Apparently it is impossible to get a sandwich with cheese without ham.
My co-teachers procured dinner for us. They found a grocery store and brought back sanduiche fixings. You guessed it. Ham. And cheese. They found some really tasty green olives to accompany it though. I'm trying to check email but gmail is a Fail right now. Definitely a good reason to head to bed.
I still think Alex Kozinski got a raw deal here. A case where the supposed high and mighty profession of journalism got manipulated by a pornographer with a grudge. Now it rates an admonishment to fail to correct a security hole.
http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/08
Because, for all its faults, it really is a good country.
I got to have dinner with The Amazing Mris and her Merry Band, and she cooked, and I discovered that one can make something with paprika and saffron and it is very, very good. I had never even thought of combining paprika and saffron.
Yum.
Originally published at Words Words Words. Please leave any comments there.
If I could find comfort in pleasant memories, I'd be grateful. Instead I keep thinking of all the things I didn't say or do, or didn't say or do often enough. I remember how selfish I was/am and worry that he doesn't know that he was and is the mainstay of my life. I remember arguments or scoldings, I remember being ungrateful when I was sick. I remember being grouchy and taking it out on him even through he didn't deserve it in the least. I remember making him worry. It is hard to remember making him smile or laugh. I remember other people doing that, though.
There are so many "if only"s. I wish so much that I could know that he knows how much I love and need him and how very lost I am without him.
![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/sad.gif){kind=small}
lostI got this recipe from Epicurious and daringly made it for a party today without trying it first. Luckily, it was absolutely delicious, and so I share it with you, my friends.
Cucumber and Watermelon Salad with Hoisin-Lime Dressing
Bon Appétit | July 2002
A Vietnamese-style salad that makes a refreshing accompaniment to any kind of barbecued meat.
Yield: Makes 6 servings
1 1/2 large English hothouse cucumbers, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
(I used regular cucumbers and it turned out just fine.)
3 cups 1/2-inch cubes seeded watermelon
3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/3 cup coarsely chopped lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts
Combine cucumbers and watermelon in medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes and up to 4 hours. Drain; discard liquid.
Whisk lime juice and hoisin sauce in small bowl to blend. Pour dressing over cucumber-watermelon mixture and toss gently. Season salad to taste with pepper. Sprinkle salad with cilantro, mint, and then peanuts. Serve immediately.
...but the evening is beautiful, the temperature is great, the Massachusetts Air National Guard 114th Fighter Wing flew over our house three times, we're replete with steak goodness, and we're watching the Pops play the 1812 Overture. Cannons very soon. :-)
Hope yours is as wonderful!
I had a writing class from Nick last summer, and one of the things wot impressed me mightily, and which I had failed to acquire before that date, was the Try-Fail-Try-Succeed cycle. It explains why some of my past stories didn't work--protags having either no major obstacles or major moral decisions. No tension. Just....story.
Anyway, the cycle came up again recently during one of the recent Kick in the Pants emails that David Farland sends out, and I'm trying to explain some of this to John, who had been lounging on the couch reading his big fat book of Conan. And he explains the try-fail-try-succeed cycle to me, the Conan Way:
"See, Conan is always getting bonked on the head. Or put in shackles. Or betrayed by a friend. Or bonked on the head, betrayed by a friend, and then put in shackles. But THEN he can bust out, destroy the monster, slay the mobs, and win the day."
Duly noted.
................
In other news, it is FUCKING hot here. And I mean that expletive with all the capital letters I can muster. Even with our fans going full speed, and our windows creating the wind tunnel, it is still too hot. It is TOO HOT to play World of Warcraft. I will let your minds ponder the impossibility of that.
All mail-in ballots should be received before the 15th of July, the deadline for site selection for the 2010 Worldcon and NASFiC 2009.
http://anticipationsf.ca/English/SiteSe
Tous les bulletins postaux de vote devraient être reçus avant le 15 juillet, l’échéance pour la sélection du site pour la Worldcon 2010 et le NASFiC 2009.
http://anticipationsf.ca/Fran%e7ais/S%e
Anybody going from (or through) South Minneapolis, Powderhorn Park area, who would have room for an Elise? I have a panel in the mid-afternoon...and should have planned ahead and arranged rides, but I am a space cadet, even more than usual just now.
So... anybody?
A clumsy word, a thoughtless phrase
and he's waiting for the axe to fall.
it probably won't rise to that
but the mind is a muddy place
and the heart is in hopless thrall
The lover is a foolish slave:
living by looks and dying by glances,
with so much at stake, and so much to lose
it amazing that anyone chances
So he sits by the phone,
and starts at the post
Looking for the reprieve
and dreading the warrant:
waiting for the axe to fall
Here's a link, courtesy of quility, to 'Speaking of Faith's' interview with Stuart Brown on the importance of play: "Play, Spirit, + Character."
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.o
And here are my comments:
I'm already convinced that play is vital for a person's happiness and mental health. Listening to the program confirms me in that and makes sense of some of my own behavior that I've had trouble understanding. (Like my inability to go very long without reading or playing games).
I get very frustrated with myself at times for the tendency to take things that I do for fun and turn them into work. It can be like sucking all the fun out of the activity. (Art and writing in particular - fortunately I have no musical career aspirations, or any desire to be a professional game player of any sort. )
The best thing I can do for keeping creative work fun and playful is to be okay with failing. Play (like Science) is about exploring, trying new things, testing new approaches - and a degree of failure (undesirable results) is inevitable when we dare try the unknown territory of our potential.
Play is definitely a part of any creative work, and may just be the distinguishing characteristic between artistic work and other sorts of work.
The artist, writer, musician, whatever has to include some degree of playfulness and spontaneity (Hail Eris!) or s/he might as well be a CPA. And that's why reading/viewing/listening to creative works helps satisfy some of that need for play in the reader/audience as they become participants in the creative work.
All Furniture that needs to be moved has been moved. I'm still in need of a minion or three to help hang the tarps up. If you have a minion or two to spare please send them asap ;-) Afterwards I can pass out
Wanted to let everyone know how much I'm enjoying the discussion following yesterday's post. Terri Windling turns out to have a strong thread about this going on her Facebook Wall, as well. She also told me that Mercedes Lackey wrote her series as a direct response to Bordertown, which I hadn't known.
As I keep saying to anyone who will listen: "This is not hard to research! It only happened 20 years ago! We're not dead! Just ASK!"
I'm now particularly interested, in an OED geeky way, in the first recorded use of the term "urban fantasy", which jongibbs asked about yesterday. From TW's Facebook thread comes this note from
Russell Blackford at 5:37am June 23
I co-edited an anthology called Urban Fantasies back in 1985. The expression "urban fantasy" was in use well before then. I picked it up from Lee Harding, and it was applied during the early 80s to books such as Harding's _Displaced Person_ (known as _Misplaced Persons_ in the US), which was published in 1979. I'd be confident that it goes back even further. Mind you, what is now known as "urban fantasy" may be rather different, but still ...
afternoon = doldrums of creativity
words since last report: 1875
word total: 2455
word goal Still 5-7k, looking pretty good.
tyop du jour: n/a
darling: n/a
mean things: A lecture on Wordsworth first thing in the morning.
quirks: This werewolf, who still looks not unlike Claudia Black, wears t-shirts that say things like MY DOGMA ATE YOUR KARMA.
reason for stopping: Like I said, doldrums. Also, I think it's time to take a cool bath.
exercise: Walkies!
work outside the box: Provender provided.
feline assistance: None, although mirrorthaw is being assisted by the Inspector of Saucepans.
Navigate: (Previous 30 Friends)
