Barbara Hambly's Blog, page 25
April 22, 2012
In the Houston airport, homebound, checking the magazines...
In the Houston airport, homebound, checking the magazines (I frequently have trouble reading a book of any kind on an airplane - I think from stress), settled on Cosmopolitan as I often do... On the cover, in big letters, the helpful subtitle: THE SEX ISSUE.
Is there ever an issue of Cosmo that is NOT "The Sex Issue"?
Is there ever an issue of Cosmo that is NOT "The Sex Issue"?
April 17, 2012
Prepping for travel Thursday and Friday. Since I teach to...
Prepping for travel Thursday and Friday. Since I teach tomorrow night (Wednesday) it means packing today (Tuesday) - and due to tight scheduling and strange arrival and departure times, I probably won't even be able to get e-mail for two days.
Just as well. I could write entertainingly about New Orleans (or anyway I hope it was entertaining), but I fear this is going to be a plane and a room and a car and a room and a room and a room - a line which was given to Paul's grandfather (Wilfred Brambell) in Hard Day's Night, but which was actually a John Lennon comment that got borrowed into the script.
It's always vexing when I lose something in the house.
Just as well. I could write entertainingly about New Orleans (or anyway I hope it was entertaining), but I fear this is going to be a plane and a room and a car and a room and a room and a room - a line which was given to Paul's grandfather (Wilfred Brambell) in Hard Day's Night, but which was actually a John Lennon comment that got borrowed into the script.
It's always vexing when I lose something in the house.
April 16, 2012
The foregoing was an experiment in making a "sticky ...
The foregoing was an experiment in making a "sticky note"... now let's see if it worked...
New Stories About Old Friends: for those who don't kn...
New Stories About Old Friends: for those who don't know, I continue to write short stories about the characters of my old Del Rey fantasy serieses, available for $5 per download at: barbarahambly.com, in the section of the site called, "The Further Adventures Of..."
Stories are available in pdf, and an assortment of digital formats for Kindle, Nook, and other types of e-reader.
Stories are available in pdf, and an assortment of digital formats for Kindle, Nook, and other types of e-reader.
April 15, 2012
That list, by the way, comes from the Commissioner in Lun...
That list, by the way, comes from the Commissioner in Lunacy's report to the State of California on Insanity and Insane Asylums, 1871. (I'm always screaming at my students to cite their sources...)
A beautiful day of WAY too much work, plus laundry and tea. My cold still hangs on. Though I'm up to my eyebrows, probably, in anti-bodies, I need to start taking Airborne in preparation for another two days of planes, trains, and automobiles getting to and from Houston for the Texas Library Association's converence Thursday and Friday. There are so many different types of rhinovirus around, I'm sure my current crop of antibodies for THIS cold won't be anywhere near the DNA spectrum of the ones that'll be on the flights coming and going.
Still working on trying to get enough rest.
A beautiful day of WAY too much work, plus laundry and tea. My cold still hangs on. Though I'm up to my eyebrows, probably, in anti-bodies, I need to start taking Airborne in preparation for another two days of planes, trains, and automobiles getting to and from Houston for the Texas Library Association's converence Thursday and Friday. There are so many different types of rhinovirus around, I'm sure my current crop of antibodies for THIS cold won't be anywhere near the DNA spectrum of the ones that'll be on the flights coming and going.
Still working on trying to get enough rest.
April 14, 2012
Still more adventures in research
My goodness.
I've come to the mad-house portion of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title) and dug out the massive folder I compiled of photocopied bits from books about Victorian mad-houses, from when I was writing The Emancipator's Wife. (I was able to use bits of it also in Days of the Dead).
Here's a partial list of causes of insanity (in case you were wondering).
Physical Causes: congestion of the brain, nervous irritation, bilious fever, scarlet fever, gout, suppression of hemorrhoids, suppression of perspiration, suppression of secretions (!), ill health (really?), ill health and family trouble, ill health and pecuniary difficulties, ill health and lawsuit (makes sense), mesmerism, sedentary habits, idleness, bathing in cold water, sleeping in a barn filled with new hay, tight lacing, excess of quinine, pregnancy, suppressed menstruation (and how do you do THAT?), excessive labor, loss of sleep, intemperate use of snuff, vice, immorality, and want of exercise (among many other things).
Moral causes: mental labor and excitement, mental shock, mental perplexity, excessive study, study of metaphysics, study of phrenology, politics, excitement of the Mexican War, excitement of visiting (depends on who you're visiting, I guess), preaching sixteen days and nights, reading vile books, blowing fife all night, faulty education, hope, day dreaming, ecstatic admiration of works of art, seduction, bad conduct of children, infidelity of spouse, false accusation, difficulty in neighborhood, avarice, speculation in stocks, speculation in lottery tickets, loss of money, murder of a son, anxiety, home sickness, unrequited love, want of employment (explains some of the politics lately, certainly), want of occupation, mortified pride, ungoverned passion, virulent temper, struggle between the religious principle and power of passion, and Mormonism (among many other things).
So now you know.
I've come to the mad-house portion of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title) and dug out the massive folder I compiled of photocopied bits from books about Victorian mad-houses, from when I was writing The Emancipator's Wife. (I was able to use bits of it also in Days of the Dead).
Here's a partial list of causes of insanity (in case you were wondering).
Physical Causes: congestion of the brain, nervous irritation, bilious fever, scarlet fever, gout, suppression of hemorrhoids, suppression of perspiration, suppression of secretions (!), ill health (really?), ill health and family trouble, ill health and pecuniary difficulties, ill health and lawsuit (makes sense), mesmerism, sedentary habits, idleness, bathing in cold water, sleeping in a barn filled with new hay, tight lacing, excess of quinine, pregnancy, suppressed menstruation (and how do you do THAT?), excessive labor, loss of sleep, intemperate use of snuff, vice, immorality, and want of exercise (among many other things).
Moral causes: mental labor and excitement, mental shock, mental perplexity, excessive study, study of metaphysics, study of phrenology, politics, excitement of the Mexican War, excitement of visiting (depends on who you're visiting, I guess), preaching sixteen days and nights, reading vile books, blowing fife all night, faulty education, hope, day dreaming, ecstatic admiration of works of art, seduction, bad conduct of children, infidelity of spouse, false accusation, difficulty in neighborhood, avarice, speculation in stocks, speculation in lottery tickets, loss of money, murder of a son, anxiety, home sickness, unrequited love, want of employment (explains some of the politics lately, certainly), want of occupation, mortified pride, ungoverned passion, virulent temper, struggle between the religious principle and power of passion, and Mormonism (among many other things).
So now you know.
April 13, 2012
Wildly stormy day: thunderstorms and hail. NOT the day I&...
Wildly stormy day: thunderstorms and hail. NOT the day I'd want to drive across the West Side and out into the Valley for a faculty committee meeting, but lunch with a good friend afterward considerably mitigated the experience. However, I am again extremely tired, probably the result of the cold that still hangs on.
I've been playing the Beta Test version of Diablo III since February: HUGE fun! Last night I tried to download the Beta Test of Mists of Pandaria, and the sucker won't install. Not sure if this is a game issue or a problem with my computer - the download rate here is glacially slow. And at the moment I haven't the energy to do anything but fix dinner and go to bed.
Next week is the Texas Library Association Convention in Houston: I'm on a panel at the appalling hour of 8 a.m. (Multi-cultural Murder Mysteries, with Paula Samuels Young). It will be a quick trip - an over-nighter - but will make for two VERY long days of travel. I'll have to a) check the weather in Houston and b) make sure I've got my Famous Author Drag put together: respectable-looking blazer and trousers.
I've been playing the Beta Test version of Diablo III since February: HUGE fun! Last night I tried to download the Beta Test of Mists of Pandaria, and the sucker won't install. Not sure if this is a game issue or a problem with my computer - the download rate here is glacially slow. And at the moment I haven't the energy to do anything but fix dinner and go to bed.
Next week is the Texas Library Association Convention in Houston: I'm on a panel at the appalling hour of 8 a.m. (Multi-cultural Murder Mysteries, with Paula Samuels Young). It will be a quick trip - an over-nighter - but will make for two VERY long days of travel. I'll have to a) check the weather in Houston and b) make sure I've got my Famous Author Drag put together: respectable-looking blazer and trousers.
April 12, 2012
So, now that I have a "premium account" for a y...
So, now that I have a "premium account" for a year, how do I go about posting photographs, and how do I make a "sticky post" which will - I gather - be a permanent notice of the existence of my website?
First day back at classes yesterday, and FAR more tiring than I'd anticipated. Though I'm over the worst of my cold, I still run out of energy fast. Tomorrow and Monday there are Faculty Meetings. I'm sleeping as much as I can.
Amazing cloudy skies last night when I got home. The airport throws up a good deal of light onto the clouds, swift-moving walls of dirty grayish-cream with breaks of the clearest, darkest, wind-swept black-sapphire in between. Taking the dog out for a final promenade in the yard is always a chance to see what the night sky is doing; I saw the crooked sickle of the Great Bear, through breaks in clouds and trees. Chilly wind and the smell of wet grass.
First day back at classes yesterday, and FAR more tiring than I'd anticipated. Though I'm over the worst of my cold, I still run out of energy fast. Tomorrow and Monday there are Faculty Meetings. I'm sleeping as much as I can.
Amazing cloudy skies last night when I got home. The airport throws up a good deal of light onto the clouds, swift-moving walls of dirty grayish-cream with breaks of the clearest, darkest, wind-swept black-sapphire in between. Taking the dog out for a final promenade in the yard is always a chance to see what the night sky is doing; I saw the crooked sickle of the Great Bear, through breaks in clouds and trees. Chilly wind and the smell of wet grass.
April 10, 2012
Gilraen2... THANK YOU! I don't know what to say.On other ...
Gilraen2... THANK YOU! I don't know what to say.
On other fronts... I KNEW that getting enough sleep is of benefit. I've actually been able to rest and lollygag for two days of Spring Break (classes start tomorrow, so today will be mostly taken up with prep); taking a walk this morning, found - in the usual imaginary yellow envelope lying on the sidewalk - most of the complete plot to the next Antryg story. Came home, went upstairs to take a shower, thought, "Better write it down before I forget..." Of course, no paper up in the bedroom, so I opened one of the books at the bedside to tear out a back-page and found - in my own handwriting - a one-sentence story-point that was immediately obvious as ANOTHER Antryg story. (No recollection of having written that sentence, but what the hell.)
When I finish two other projects and prep for school tomorrow.
But, it's nice to have it confirmed that lollygagging DOES produce stories - and I'll get these written (plus a John and Jenny story) I hope by June.
On other fronts... I KNEW that getting enough sleep is of benefit. I've actually been able to rest and lollygag for two days of Spring Break (classes start tomorrow, so today will be mostly taken up with prep); taking a walk this morning, found - in the usual imaginary yellow envelope lying on the sidewalk - most of the complete plot to the next Antryg story. Came home, went upstairs to take a shower, thought, "Better write it down before I forget..." Of course, no paper up in the bedroom, so I opened one of the books at the bedside to tear out a back-page and found - in my own handwriting - a one-sentence story-point that was immediately obvious as ANOTHER Antryg story. (No recollection of having written that sentence, but what the hell.)
When I finish two other projects and prep for school tomorrow.
But, it's nice to have it confirmed that lollygagging DOES produce stories - and I'll get these written (plus a John and Jenny story) I hope by June.
April 8, 2012
A very pleasant Easter with family - a very pleasant Pass...
A very pleasant Easter with family - a very pleasant Passover with friends. As usual, there were more gentiles at seder than Jews: our hostess (Jewish) suggested that we bring Book of Exodus sock-puppets, so we had sock-puppets of various Plagues (including a very silly Dead Egyptian First-Born), of the Burning Bush (close proximity to the candles on the table almost made this a literal performance). Hazel made a perfect replica of Shari Lewis's "Lambchop" with a long false eyelashes and a bloody paintbrush in hand from painting blood over the doors. I did Edward G Robinson from the movie The 10 Commandments ("Where's your God now, Moses?"). I think the best was the Parting of the Red Sea: blue socks on each hand...
Family Easter was small and excellent - but after a solid weekend of holidays, family, and friends, after everybody was out the door I sat down and played the Diablo III Beta for two solid hours. I was pretty much too tired to do anything else, and there's nothing like a good dungeon-crawl, slaughtering zombies right and left, to restore one's mental and emotional equilibrium.
Family Easter was small and excellent - but after a solid weekend of holidays, family, and friends, after everybody was out the door I sat down and played the Diablo III Beta for two solid hours. I was pretty much too tired to do anything else, and there's nothing like a good dungeon-crawl, slaughtering zombies right and left, to restore one's mental and emotional equilibrium.
