Barbara Hambly's Blog, page 26
April 6, 2012
One of the books I spent my food-money on in New Orleans ...
One of the books I spent my food-money on in New Orleans recently - and which even more recently showed up on my doorstep - was Judith K. Schafer's "Illegal Sex in Antebellum New Orleans" (that's the sub-title - I'm not going to leap up and double-check the title but it's Something Something And Abandonned Women). Fascinating, and FILLED with background detail for the January books: not just bordellos, but laws and court decisions of the 1850s (which is slightly after my time-period, but not much) concerning crimes related to sex and sexuality - how they were viewed (by the newspapers) and how they were punished. (A woman could be arrested and sent to the parish work-house for 60 days for wearing men's clothes - AND would be mocked at in the newspapers, despite the fact that many women did this simply because men's jobs paid a living wage, and women's didn't.)
This is the type of history I love. Not theories of history - which I have several times been asked about on teaching job interviews - but demographics and studies of sources.
Evidently, by the way, sex between whites and blacks was NOT limited to white men keeping free colored mistresses or molesting the slave women. Despite what various historians have indicated (for one reason or another) the newspapers and court records indicate that there was a great deal of black-man/white-woman goings on going on... Either way was illegal, but generally only the white women got busted for it, and they were punished pretty severely. Evidently didn't stop 'em.
This is the type of history I love. Not theories of history - which I have several times been asked about on teaching job interviews - but demographics and studies of sources.
Evidently, by the way, sex between whites and blacks was NOT limited to white men keeping free colored mistresses or molesting the slave women. Despite what various historians have indicated (for one reason or another) the newspapers and court records indicate that there was a great deal of black-man/white-woman goings on going on... Either way was illegal, but generally only the white women got busted for it, and they were punished pretty severely. Evidently didn't stop 'em.
April 5, 2012
Yay again! Last night when I opened the packages that arr...
Yay again! Last night when I opened the packages that arrived for me while I was in San Jose, I discovered a) the really excellent books I got in New Orleans (including one that has, thank goodness, the floor-plan of the old house that I use as the model for Ben and Rose's place on Esplanade - since it's VERY difficult to get into that house*) and b) my author-copies of The Magistrates of Hell. One of which I of course sat up reading until WAY too late last night, so it's nearly noon now and I have yet to do a lick of work...
The cover isn't how I think of Ysidro as looking, but other than that, I'm just delighted that the book is in print and presumably available through Amazon (or will be soon). One of these days - and it's going to be summer before I have fifteen minutes time off to spare - I'll have to start painting or drawing pictures of the characters of my stories, and posting them. I used to oil paint, when I had time (and intend to go back to it, when I'm not quite so buried in work); probably the best I'd be able to do these days is sort of anime-style drawings. But for every drawing drawn, a dish would go unwashed...
I'll also have to figure out how to post photographs on LJ... unless that's something that would require me to get a paid account?
In the meanwhile, I guess I need to go to Amazon and check whether Magistrates is indeed available... and it looks like it is! (And has a cool scribbly handwriting-font for the title, that I'll have to track down and acquire...)
*Mind you, I did sneak briefly into the yard of the house, because it was being set up for an "event". I should have just waltzed on through and checked around the upstairs again, but they'd have thrown me out**, and anyway, now I have the floor-plan in a book.
**Of course, I've sneaked into stranger places. One afternoon George and I were at Disneyland, in the "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Three-Hour Line", and on our way out - through that long passageway that has a huge ornamental gate to one side that's usually locked... Well, the huge ornamental gate wasn't locked. So we went through it and found ourselves standing next to a hollowed-out concrete giraffe on the banks of the Jungle Rivers of the World. Had a boat come by - and had we been spotted - I'm SURE we'd have been escorted out of the park, so I hustled the loudly-protesting George back through the gate. But I was pretty tempted to sit on the hollow concrete rock and wave at the next boat by.
The cover isn't how I think of Ysidro as looking, but other than that, I'm just delighted that the book is in print and presumably available through Amazon (or will be soon). One of these days - and it's going to be summer before I have fifteen minutes time off to spare - I'll have to start painting or drawing pictures of the characters of my stories, and posting them. I used to oil paint, when I had time (and intend to go back to it, when I'm not quite so buried in work); probably the best I'd be able to do these days is sort of anime-style drawings. But for every drawing drawn, a dish would go unwashed...
I'll also have to figure out how to post photographs on LJ... unless that's something that would require me to get a paid account?
In the meanwhile, I guess I need to go to Amazon and check whether Magistrates is indeed available... and it looks like it is! (And has a cool scribbly handwriting-font for the title, that I'll have to track down and acquire...)
*Mind you, I did sneak briefly into the yard of the house, because it was being set up for an "event". I should have just waltzed on through and checked around the upstairs again, but they'd have thrown me out**, and anyway, now I have the floor-plan in a book.
**Of course, I've sneaked into stranger places. One afternoon George and I were at Disneyland, in the "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Three-Hour Line", and on our way out - through that long passageway that has a huge ornamental gate to one side that's usually locked... Well, the huge ornamental gate wasn't locked. So we went through it and found ourselves standing next to a hollowed-out concrete giraffe on the banks of the Jungle Rivers of the World. Had a boat come by - and had we been spotted - I'm SURE we'd have been escorted out of the park, so I hustled the loudly-protesting George back through the gate. But I was pretty tempted to sit on the hollow concrete rock and wave at the next boat by.
April 4, 2012
Note to self: next time I'm contemplating a 3-day road-tr...
Note to self: next time I'm contemplating a 3-day road-trip while getting over a cold, think twice.
Actually, the tail-end of the cold was on the first day of driving up I-5; I felt awful that night, but afterwards was fine. On the way up I passed road-work that had traffic stopped for miles southbound, so I came home via the coast route - Highway 101 - which I haven't traveled in years. It took about 2 hours longer, but is a far more beautiful route - something I don't always care about, but it was lovely and relaxing. I saw in a pasture by the roadside - of all things - longhorn cattle... good LORD those horns on them are long! There was something very dinosaur-like about that kind of armament. The journey also included seeing formations of pelicans flying, and beautiful views of the ocean. Since I'm a lousy photographer - and my camera seems not to work anymore - I suppose I could troll around Google for royalty-free shots of Morro Bay that capture that amazing turqoise color of the ocean...
But I'd much rather just have dinner and go to bed.
Lots of exams to correct tomorrow. And I'm now WAY behind on my Real Work.
But I had a lovely time.
Actually, the tail-end of the cold was on the first day of driving up I-5; I felt awful that night, but afterwards was fine. On the way up I passed road-work that had traffic stopped for miles southbound, so I came home via the coast route - Highway 101 - which I haven't traveled in years. It took about 2 hours longer, but is a far more beautiful route - something I don't always care about, but it was lovely and relaxing. I saw in a pasture by the roadside - of all things - longhorn cattle... good LORD those horns on them are long! There was something very dinosaur-like about that kind of armament. The journey also included seeing formations of pelicans flying, and beautiful views of the ocean. Since I'm a lousy photographer - and my camera seems not to work anymore - I suppose I could troll around Google for royalty-free shots of Morro Bay that capture that amazing turqoise color of the ocean...
But I'd much rather just have dinner and go to bed.
Lots of exams to correct tomorrow. And I'm now WAY behind on my Real Work.
But I had a lovely time.
March 28, 2012
An attack of extreme nostalgia last night, missing New Or...
An attack of extreme nostalgia last night, missing New Orleans. It was, by the way, Spring Break there. I stayed strictly away from Bourbon Street: when you've seen one drunk college-student, you've seen 'em all. It'll be Spring Break HERE next week (and I'LL be on break after tonight, yay!!!) (except for grading exams), and I'll take a couple of days to go visit my friend Victoria up north.
People say it's sort of a waste that I lived in New Orleans because I don't like jazz, don't drink, and am allergic to shellfish. Since I was traveling alone I didn't go out to the fancy places like Upperline and Commander's - mostly it was jambalaya at Maspero's (which was phenomenal) and red beans at the Gumbo Shop (also excellent). I was recommended to a couple of new places, though: Oceana on (I believe) Conti; and, phenomenally, The Green Goddess on Exchange Alley. Antoine's has opened a little gelato-and-snacks cafe on Royal, which was wonderful. My dear friend Jill (who runs The Chimes, the best b'n'b in New Orleans) took me to a place that used to be my old uptown favorite,Copelands. Copelands is long closed, but has been replaced by a marvelous seafood restaurant (whose name I'll look up later). Best salad of the journey.
But odd, to go to a new place and know exactly where the restrooms are.
People say it's sort of a waste that I lived in New Orleans because I don't like jazz, don't drink, and am allergic to shellfish. Since I was traveling alone I didn't go out to the fancy places like Upperline and Commander's - mostly it was jambalaya at Maspero's (which was phenomenal) and red beans at the Gumbo Shop (also excellent). I was recommended to a couple of new places, though: Oceana on (I believe) Conti; and, phenomenally, The Green Goddess on Exchange Alley. Antoine's has opened a little gelato-and-snacks cafe on Royal, which was wonderful. My dear friend Jill (who runs The Chimes, the best b'n'b in New Orleans) took me to a place that used to be my old uptown favorite,Copelands. Copelands is long closed, but has been replaced by a marvelous seafood restaurant (whose name I'll look up later). Best salad of the journey.
But odd, to go to a new place and know exactly where the restrooms are.
March 27, 2012
Well, it worked. I retrieved a personal Facebook page - w...
Well, it worked. I retrieved a personal Facebook page - with the invaluable assistance of the very nice people at Open Road Media - and am now in the process of making sure members of my family know that this strange person sending them "Friend" requests is actually me. The page seems to be in the old format - not Timeline, so I evidently don't get that really nice cover-picture - but that's okay. My chief FB contact is still going to be the "fan page."
A peaceful afternoon of writing. In my costly romp through the bookstores of the French Quarter I got a couple of very fine research books for Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title), and a couple that will be useful for the next January project, which I can't WAIT to get to... except that I owe Severn House a vampire book in between. And I've taken on another project that will really help things financially this summer (more on that subject later). With the result that I'm behind on ALL my work (due to the New Orleans trip), and feeling very overwhelmed. (Exhaustion from getting home late and teaching early didn't help).
There's something so deadly about that little sign in a bookstore in another town: WE SHIP. I read that, and it's all over.
A peaceful afternoon of writing. In my costly romp through the bookstores of the French Quarter I got a couple of very fine research books for Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title), and a couple that will be useful for the next January project, which I can't WAIT to get to... except that I owe Severn House a vampire book in between. And I've taken on another project that will really help things financially this summer (more on that subject later). With the result that I'm behind on ALL my work (due to the New Orleans trip), and feeling very overwhelmed. (Exhaustion from getting home late and teaching early didn't help).
There's something so deadly about that little sign in a bookstore in another town: WE SHIP. I read that, and it's all over.
March 26, 2012
Home, after a long and rather vexing journey which involv...
Home, after a long and rather vexing journey which involved a ground-stop in Houston because of a storm in LA, and a very nice lady sitting next to me whose 18-month-old daughter did NOT want to be on an airplane. I got home around 11 and had to prep for the next day's classes (I was reading lecture-notes on the plane in between picking thrown goldfish-crackers off myself). Fortunately, I'm able to teach about the French Revolution in my sleep because that's exactly what I did.
A question. I am attempting to get a personal page again here on Facebook. They tell me I already have a page (the fan-page I just converted to - which is working very well).
Is there any way to actually speak to someone FROM FACEBOOK to resolve this issue? I can't possibly be the only person who has turned an overcrowded personal page into a fan-page, and then needed to get a personal page again. I am using a great deal of time that could (and must, in fact) be better spent writing (and earning my living) trying to sort through the daisy-chain of "Help" squibs on their entirely un-helpful "Help" area.
Or, is there some kind of work-around by which I can read the posts of my family? If I Google their names on Facebook, all I get is profiles. I want to read their daily posts to know how they're doing. There is no "Search" function on a fan page. And no "Contact Us" anywhere on Facebook.
What do I need to do from here?
A question. I am attempting to get a personal page again here on Facebook. They tell me I already have a page (the fan-page I just converted to - which is working very well).
Is there any way to actually speak to someone FROM FACEBOOK to resolve this issue? I can't possibly be the only person who has turned an overcrowded personal page into a fan-page, and then needed to get a personal page again. I am using a great deal of time that could (and must, in fact) be better spent writing (and earning my living) trying to sort through the daisy-chain of "Help" squibs on their entirely un-helpful "Help" area.
Or, is there some kind of work-around by which I can read the posts of my family? If I Google their names on Facebook, all I get is profiles. I want to read their daily posts to know how they're doing. There is no "Search" function on a fan page. And no "Contact Us" anywhere on Facebook.
What do I need to do from here?
March 25, 2012
For whatever reason, there were Events all over the Quart...
For whatever reason, there were Events all over the Quarter: when I went walking in the morning, I passed Latrobe's (formerly a bank owned by a former husband of the notorious Madame Lalaurie) and saw guys setting up a courtyard-entry ON THE SIDEWALK made of white plastic planters containing green plastic hedges. Very silly. The house I use as a model for Ben and Rose's seems to be no longer open to the public (it's always hit or miss whether one finds it open - I've only been inside it once), but there was an even being set up THERE, so I sneaked into the courtyard, at least.
In the evening, the sidwalks were CRAWLING with people; it was like being at Comic Con. I kept the hell away from Bourbon Street (except for dropping briefly by Arnaud's to say Hi to my friend Charles, who's the headwaiter there). I was glad to see my favorite walking-tours company, Le Monde Creole, is still in business (they also operate the best plantation tour in town, the tour of Laura Plantation).
On Royal Street, every day I've stopped to listen to Tanya and Dorise, AMAZING duo of violin-and-guitar. Somewhere a respectable set of Chinese parents is tearing their hair out - "For THIS we gave our daughter violin-lessons?" I've heard some very good street-music here, but they're definitely the best. (And, they said, they sell their CDs on line). Last time I was here I heard the totally amazing G-String Ensemble (or quartet) - I've missed seeing them this time.
Other than that horrific thunderstorm the first night, the weather's been gorgeous - always a comfort, if one is flying out.
A panel this morning (on, How to end a story); then a cheap lunch someplace in the Quarter (the jambalaya at Maspero's is fantastic), and head off for the airport.
March 24, 2012
Saturday morning, after a literary cocktail party at the ...
Saturday morning, after a literary cocktail party at the Historic New Orleans Collection yesterday evening, and a panel on the free people of color that was WAY too short. And frustrating, because one of the other panelists - researcher and writer Greg Osborn - spoke of HIS book... which isn't published yet so I can' get hold of it! Dang! However, another panelist (whose name I'll post next time, to make sure I get the spelling correct) spoke of his own work on free black families, which I will certainly track down.
Between panels, will do more walking around the Quarter. I'd hoped to make it to Jackson Square yesterday morning and didn't get any farther than the Historic New Orleans Collection book-shop... which, fortunately, ships. And had that wonderful experience of getting hit with a new book idea for Benjamin... Oh, yeah, why HAVEN'T I done THAT idea yet?
Heading home tomorrow evening.
Between panels, will do more walking around the Quarter. I'd hoped to make it to Jackson Square yesterday morning and didn't get any farther than the Historic New Orleans Collection book-shop... which, fortunately, ships. And had that wonderful experience of getting hit with a new book idea for Benjamin... Oh, yeah, why HAVEN'T I done THAT idea yet?
Heading home tomorrow evening.
March 23, 2012
New Orleans
Whew! Got in last night after a safe, fast, trouble-free journey (which included changing planes in Houston - Who knew?). Chatted in French with a Hatian cab-driver as we got into the Quarter, but mostly, just looked out the rain-mottled windows of the cab. I kept feeling that the cab would take me to the old apartment on Magazine Street, that I'd go up the porch-steps and there would be George waiting for me in that high-ceilinged back parlor that he used for his office. Strange memories. It was, of course, 77 degrees and pouring rain.
Lunch today with my dear friend Jill, of The Chimes - then a panel on the Free People of Color. I hope to spend a part of tomorrow walking the Quarter. From the window of my room at the Hotel Monteleone I can look out over the Mississippi, gray under a gray sky; Royal Street, immediately below me, is a slot surrounded by bricks and roofs. Massive thunderstorms last night (which started, thank goodness, AFTER I got to the hotel and not while the plane was trying to land). Lay awake watching the lightning flash.
Lunch today with my dear friend Jill, of The Chimes - then a panel on the Free People of Color. I hope to spend a part of tomorrow walking the Quarter. From the window of my room at the Hotel Monteleone I can look out over the Mississippi, gray under a gray sky; Royal Street, immediately below me, is a slot surrounded by bricks and roofs. Massive thunderstorms last night (which started, thank goodness, AFTER I got to the hotel and not while the plane was trying to land). Lay awake watching the lightning flash.
March 21, 2012
Yay! It looks like Facebook has consolidated (as requeste...
Yay! It looks like Facebook has consolidated (as requested) all my pages into a single fan-page. Open Road did the cover shot, and it looks very nice. This will make it MUCH easier to deal with, and to stay up with.
Now to see if they'll give me a personal page...
I'm leaving for New Orleans in the morning - after teaching a night-class until 10. I told my students to whom I gave an exam this morning, "You ain't gonna get these back graded until the week after next, so don't even expect it."
Yes, I've taken food from outside onto the plane before. They get cranky about liquids, so I buy water once I'm past Security, but I've never had people object to a couple of bags of crunchies, and an apple. I'll also pack a little bento-box of hard-boiled eggs and brown rice, though I'm pretty sure there's edible food at IAH. It looks like flights have pretty much quit feeding their passengers, perhaps because so many passengers WERE packing their own rather than eating Airplane Food. There was a time when I knew which airports had the best food, and which concourse it was in, but I think that kind of knowledge is a marker for "You need to change your lifestyle." I've loaded the Hanne Blank book on Heterosexuality onto my kindle, and also my favorite novel (or one of my favorite novels) of all time, Georgette Heyer's "A Civil Contract." (I don't actually HAVE a favorite novel: rather, it's a list of about 20) (A number of which AREN'T on kindle, which tends to offer things that are very recent and therefore "hot", and public domain stuff which Amazon can essentially give you as loss-leaders. Stuff published in the '60s-80s is pretty spotty).
It's still going to be a VERY long day.
Now to see if they'll give me a personal page...
I'm leaving for New Orleans in the morning - after teaching a night-class until 10. I told my students to whom I gave an exam this morning, "You ain't gonna get these back graded until the week after next, so don't even expect it."
Yes, I've taken food from outside onto the plane before. They get cranky about liquids, so I buy water once I'm past Security, but I've never had people object to a couple of bags of crunchies, and an apple. I'll also pack a little bento-box of hard-boiled eggs and brown rice, though I'm pretty sure there's edible food at IAH. It looks like flights have pretty much quit feeding their passengers, perhaps because so many passengers WERE packing their own rather than eating Airplane Food. There was a time when I knew which airports had the best food, and which concourse it was in, but I think that kind of knowledge is a marker for "You need to change your lifestyle." I've loaded the Hanne Blank book on Heterosexuality onto my kindle, and also my favorite novel (or one of my favorite novels) of all time, Georgette Heyer's "A Civil Contract." (I don't actually HAVE a favorite novel: rather, it's a list of about 20) (A number of which AREN'T on kindle, which tends to offer things that are very recent and therefore "hot", and public domain stuff which Amazon can essentially give you as loss-leaders. Stuff published in the '60s-80s is pretty spotty).
It's still going to be a VERY long day.
