Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 53
January 6, 2011
From Twitter 01-05-2011
08:57:45: ISS or Darth Vader comin' to get ya? http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/eclipse110104_solar_transit.html
08:58:03: RT @NASA: Thierry Legault captures another amazing image against the sun. This one includes the eclipse and the ISS! http://go.nasa.gov/ ...
09:01:48: RT @NatureNews: RT @JonSatriani: Cool, via @Ananyo : Tweetometers for nine cities. Physical at @britishlibrary, digital here http://www. ...
09:05:12: RT @NatureNews: Researchers to drill for hobbit history http://ff.im/-wiN8F
09:11:51: RT @ISS_Research: Affordable, sustainable, realistic: Charlie Bolden's opinion of what NASA's next heavy lift vehicle should be, per AIA ...
09:18:48: Choir practice tonight. Will miss big episode of Spanish-language serial. How will they stop Gemela from killing Eduardo & Elena's baby?
09:19:51: But next week starts another, for which my nickname is "Horses with Hunks"--gorgeous horses, good scenery & hoping for swords too.
09:23:19: Oh, and hunks. Fabian Rios, villain in this one, will be in that one. The rest of the horsemen appear equally view-worthy from previews.
11:15:18: RT @NatureNews: Science fictions fans, did you know we've made Futures short stories FREE to read? Enjoy and RT! http://bit.ly/eMjPCi
11:24:48: RT @awfulagent: http://brilligblogger.blogspot.com/2011/01/borders-update.html updating events as the Borders people head to NYC to mak ...
11:36:26: RT @NatureNews: RT @JLVernonPhD: I absolutely adore animated videos of molecular processes! DNA -->Protein: http://youtu.be/J3HVVi2k2No
11:40:07: RT @NatureNews: @emoontx all done by spaceships!
15:41:16: RT @NASA_EO: Activity at Popocatépetl [image] http://tinyurl.com/2f4ns6h #NASA
15:42:46: RT @NASA_EO: Heavy Sediment along the Queensland Coast [image] http://tinyurl.com/2uwhqvl #NASA
15:43:47: All that dish-washing and only one box of stuff to take away.
16:09:57: RT @ISS_Research: 1/7 Mark Uhran at 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting: Survey period for microgravity research has identified major ...
16:10:04: RT @ISS_Research: 2/7 Benefit 1: Liquidmetals developed in space are stronger and now exclusively licensed by Apple for use in consumer ...
16:10:12: RT @ISS_Research: 3/7 Benefit 2: Ability to culture tumor cells in 3 dimensions originally developed for NASA now used in laboratories ...
16:11:19: Dragging self away from computer to go to choir practice...didn't get nap, mea culpa.
23:30:02: Interesting choir practice. As in "interesting times". Apparently, I can now sight-read accidentals, sort of. Not good enough.
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January 5, 2011
Sky's clear, wind's blowing
And I'm still inside. It's been a paperwork & correspondence morning, with more to come. 90% of the work I need to do is indoors...including housework chores (clean and box up all the kitchen stuff I'm not using with reasonable regularity (obviously Christmas cookie cutters aren't used except in one burst once a year...) and cart it down one of the places these things will be valued; sort and box for removal all the clothes that don't fit or no longer suit our lives; finish boxing and moving to storage unit both papers and books that will be final-sorted later (when there's room to do them one at a time.)
We also need to plant the early garden and put up the supports for peas (early garden) and beans (spring/summer garden) and make new tomato supports. But I'm determined to get some parts of the inside in better shape first.
Tonight is choir practice for tomorrow's Epiphany service, and (thus) tomorrow is Epiphany, after which the forest in the house (a juniper tree rather larger than we'd planned!) will go outside and become part of erosion control in a gully. Busy week, for a "vacation" but that's how everyone's supposed time off is spent these days.
We also need to plant the early garden and put up the supports for peas (early garden) and beans (spring/summer garden) and make new tomato supports. But I'm determined to get some parts of the inside in better shape first.
Tonight is choir practice for tomorrow's Epiphany service, and (thus) tomorrow is Epiphany, after which the forest in the house (a juniper tree rather larger than we'd planned!) will go outside and become part of erosion control in a gully. Busy week, for a "vacation" but that's how everyone's supposed time off is spent these days.
From Twitter 01-04-2011
12:25:33: RT @NatureNews: US science faces big chill http://ff.im/-wfRnY
12:25:39: RT @NatureNews: Chávez squeezes scientific freedom http://ff.im/-wfRnX
12:46:53: RT @BacklisteBooks: Don't want to miss an #ebook #sale? We have a mailing list sign-up! DRM-free #backlist, all formats incl #kindle. h ...
12:50:48: First bureaucratic requirement has gone off in the mail. Now for #s 2 and 3.
16:55:58: RT @Quotes4Writers: "Writing is an exercise in deep concentration." Rachel Simon (aka @rachelsimon)
http://bit.ly/WriRegardless
16:56:48: RT @MarsRovers: On Jan. 24, Oppy celebrates her 7th birthday at this stadium-size crater. New aerial pic from @HiRISE: http://bit.ly/fKzuVn
17:04:23: RT @NASA_EO: Harratt Lunayyir, Saudi Arabia [image] http://tinyurl.com/3747yjm #NASA
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January 4, 2011
Second Day
My second day off accomplished much less, because I didn't sleep well and thus dragged through the morning. I think I managed to move a total of five objects off the kitchen table into new homes. R- had a dental appointment in the morning, and then acquired another for the afternoon. I did actually get a nap in the afternoon, which gave me enough energy to go feed two demanding equines (ears forward, whuffling over the fence, "WHEN are you going to feed us?" Note: it was their usual feeding time.) For once they both went into their stalls without my having to say "Go stall!" and they waited there while I got the feed into the buckets, the little gate open and shut.
Some of the laundry still needs to be folded. Eh. For lunch I had leftovers from the night before--R- had gone down to the local place and brought back Mexican dinners (the local place knows how to cook Tex-Mex) but we had eaten 1 1/2 of them. So I put the cold, hard, unappetizing cheese enchilada and some refried beans and some rice in a baking dish, grated more cheese over the whole, and stuck it in the oven. YUM.
By the time I let the horses out, R- was home with a half-numb mouth and post-dental-surgery orders and a load of antibiotics. I made him mashed potatoes for supper, and later got him some ice cream. I noodled around in the computer with a LiveJournal post from last summer that I want to put on the website (having run into more examples of people--including other women--trying to shame women for writing their truth) but it's not right yet.
I hope I can sleep better tonight. I need to re-establish a more normal sleep-wake pattern than I've had since before I got sick in November.
Some of the laundry still needs to be folded. Eh. For lunch I had leftovers from the night before--R- had gone down to the local place and brought back Mexican dinners (the local place knows how to cook Tex-Mex) but we had eaten 1 1/2 of them. So I put the cold, hard, unappetizing cheese enchilada and some refried beans and some rice in a baking dish, grated more cheese over the whole, and stuck it in the oven. YUM.
By the time I let the horses out, R- was home with a half-numb mouth and post-dental-surgery orders and a load of antibiotics. I made him mashed potatoes for supper, and later got him some ice cream. I noodled around in the computer with a LiveJournal post from last summer that I want to put on the website (having run into more examples of people--including other women--trying to shame women for writing their truth) but it's not right yet.
I hope I can sleep better tonight. I need to re-establish a more normal sleep-wake pattern than I've had since before I got sick in November.
From Twitter 01-03-2011
08:06:31: RT @KSmithSF: When I think of a good line, esp. a line that will end a scene, I SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN IMMEDIATELY lest I forget it. #when ...
08:07:43: RT @BacklisteBooks: Sales of romance ebooks equal print in the UK http://bit.ly/fjvSkt
08:08:19: RT @BacklisteBooks: How Do I Add Books to the iPhone, iPad, and iTouch? http://bit.ly/hzAIqu
08:09:56: Book's away. Alas, other chores did not disappear just because the book's done...maybe just start chapter of next book?
08:11:08: RT @NASA_EO: NASA's Terra Satellite Sees a Snow-Covered Ireland [news] http://tinyurl.com/22n6ycy #NASA
08:49:19: RT @NatureNews: Going out on a high http://ff.im/-wcBtP
15:25:17: RT @NASA: A big storm of dust blew from Mexico into Texas & New Mexico last week. Our Aqua satellite captured it. http://go.usa.gov/rWv
22:40:26: RT @BacklisteBooks: RT @patricia_rice: Free ebooks. Today, my Impossible Dreams is available at http://tinyurl.com/2wzoyzg Check for mor ...
22:42:29: RT @NASA_EO: Auroral Rocket in Norway [image] http://tinyurl.com/2evfluu #NASA
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January 3, 2011
Book's Away
Just as I was ready to press SEND, however, I noticed two things--the filename of the book was still the unimpressive working filename it had all along, not its title, and the header line had the even more minimal working name of the whole thing: K-III. So, sometime around 7 am, another bit of revision produced a filename consonant with the title, and the same for the header line. It finally left here in time to arrive on Editor's desk at opening of business. I hoped.
Then came breakfast and waiting to be sure that Agent and Editor had received it (since emails have gone astray before and this one was, um, big. Quite big. However, Editor emailed receipt fairly quickly and then Agent, and I turned the computer off and started doing non-writing things.
parts to an old toilet paper holder with their heavy screws.
a tent stake
3 old glass-mercury thermometers (no wonder I couldn't find one when I was sick!)
pieces of candle that I had planned to melt down to make another candle
many, many, many (hundreds!!) of bread ties
still-neatly-attached garbage bag ties
an old roll of gauze bandage
a box of Band-Aids (yes, that brand) with a hiking compass in it
several boxes of birthday candles
2 packets of paper matches
mysterious heavy corroded plumbing parts (from sink?)
a roll of kite string
a tube of hand lotion, very dead
a tube of Ben-Gay (not checked out yet)
an empty tube of Metholatum
a dozen or so pencils, pens, and markers
clips for holding chip bags closed
earplugs (several kinds, including a lot of green ones stuck together in a sheet)
1 long common nail
5 finishing nails
3 small rocks
a small heavy metal cylinder with felt on one end (paperweight we decided. Ugly)
a couple of .22 casings
a very dead all-in-one flashlight
a couple of D batteries, age unknown
a package of small locks, with keys
several mismatched keys of unknown provenance
....and much, much, too much more.
The reason to clear this drawer was the other drawer, on the other side of the sink, which had a miscellany of utensils and had become full enough to jam frequently, especially since the addition of the lovely, but fairly "fat" lemon-lime squeezer. Now the cleared drawer has the rolling pin, the "bench scraper" (drywall tool, a lot cheaper and just as effective as the expensive bench scrapers you see on TV cooking shows--and it won't scratch an old laminate counter), the wooden cooking tools, the plastic & rubber spatulas, the lemon-lime squeezer, the ancient Mouli grater (also talented at jamming the drawer, if crowded), the silicone sauce brush, the little whisk, and the red plastic dipper....the tools I use most often. (The knives are in the sharps drawer next to this one.)
The former home of these items is now less crowded and not jamming.
Some of the things in the junk drawer were instantly consigned to the trash, and some had an obvious right place to be (thermometers back in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom) but some are still sitting in sorted groups on the kitchen table. They must be found a home before I dig into the other difficult drawers. But first: put the sheets back on the bed, sort and fold the other load, and...oh, yeah, cook supper. Time flies when you're having fun.
I did try for a nap to make up on the sleep lost in the last days of getting the book out on time, but husband's dentist's receptionist woke me up with an entirely too perky voice to announce that he'd called for an appointment and they'd had a cancellation and how about tomorrow?
Meanwhile our neighbor who has a lot of chickens (yay!) brought us eggs. Lots of eggs. Three dozen eggs. So for lunch I did a cheese omelet. Yum.
And until Editor pronounces on what needs to be done to the book, I'm free...at least for another 24 hours. (There are other major annual chores coming up, two of which involve considerable writing.
Then came breakfast and waiting to be sure that Agent and Editor had received it (since emails have gone astray before and this one was, um, big. Quite big. However, Editor emailed receipt fairly quickly and then Agent, and I turned the computer off and started doing non-writing things.
parts to an old toilet paper holder with their heavy screws.
a tent stake
3 old glass-mercury thermometers (no wonder I couldn't find one when I was sick!)
pieces of candle that I had planned to melt down to make another candle
many, many, many (hundreds!!) of bread ties
still-neatly-attached garbage bag ties
an old roll of gauze bandage
a box of Band-Aids (yes, that brand) with a hiking compass in it
several boxes of birthday candles
2 packets of paper matches
mysterious heavy corroded plumbing parts (from sink?)
a roll of kite string
a tube of hand lotion, very dead
a tube of Ben-Gay (not checked out yet)
an empty tube of Metholatum
a dozen or so pencils, pens, and markers
clips for holding chip bags closed
earplugs (several kinds, including a lot of green ones stuck together in a sheet)
1 long common nail
5 finishing nails
3 small rocks
a small heavy metal cylinder with felt on one end (paperweight we decided. Ugly)
a couple of .22 casings
a very dead all-in-one flashlight
a couple of D batteries, age unknown
a package of small locks, with keys
several mismatched keys of unknown provenance
....and much, much, too much more.
The reason to clear this drawer was the other drawer, on the other side of the sink, which had a miscellany of utensils and had become full enough to jam frequently, especially since the addition of the lovely, but fairly "fat" lemon-lime squeezer. Now the cleared drawer has the rolling pin, the "bench scraper" (drywall tool, a lot cheaper and just as effective as the expensive bench scrapers you see on TV cooking shows--and it won't scratch an old laminate counter), the wooden cooking tools, the plastic & rubber spatulas, the lemon-lime squeezer, the ancient Mouli grater (also talented at jamming the drawer, if crowded), the silicone sauce brush, the little whisk, and the red plastic dipper....the tools I use most often. (The knives are in the sharps drawer next to this one.)
The former home of these items is now less crowded and not jamming.
Some of the things in the junk drawer were instantly consigned to the trash, and some had an obvious right place to be (thermometers back in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom) but some are still sitting in sorted groups on the kitchen table. They must be found a home before I dig into the other difficult drawers. But first: put the sheets back on the bed, sort and fold the other load, and...oh, yeah, cook supper. Time flies when you're having fun.
I did try for a nap to make up on the sleep lost in the last days of getting the book out on time, but husband's dentist's receptionist woke me up with an entirely too perky voice to announce that he'd called for an appointment and they'd had a cancellation and how about tomorrow?
Meanwhile our neighbor who has a lot of chickens (yay!) brought us eggs. Lots of eggs. Three dozen eggs. So for lunch I did a cheese omelet. Yum.
And until Editor pronounces on what needs to be done to the book, I'm free...at least for another 24 hours. (There are other major annual chores coming up, two of which involve considerable writing.
From Twitter 01-02-2011
07:51:55: Morning. Cold. Clear. A few fading contrails across the blue. Sunlight advancing across the field. Writing.
14:54:24: RT @NatureNews: "Science is merely an extremely powerful method of winnowing what's true from what feels good." Carl Sagan
15:06:10: At least all the chapters now have the right number...still working on what had better be the last added scene. #writing
15:40:33: Last scene added seems to be done. Can it be? Am I really ready to call this thing "done"??? Will see what R- says about it. #writing
17:07:43: RT @NASA_EO: Tidal Flats and Channels, Long Island, Bahamas [image] http://tinyurl.com/2c7kdh8 #NASA
17:56:55: Found missing cellphone (fell out of purse onto floor of car and slid under something) the usual way. (Why have 2 phones? That.)
17:57:13: Means need to reorganize purse so things don't pop out so easily.
17:59:14: Actually I need to reorganize EVERYTHING but that's a task so terrifying that I instantly retreat into plotting the next book.
18:18:01: Another "Annals of Revision" post on http://www.paksworld.com/blog/ Welcome to the sausage factory...
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January 2, 2011
From Twitter 01-01-2011
11:46:43: RT @timpratt: I'd make a resolution to clean my desk in 2011 but I'm afraid my desk might hear me and then kill me to protect itself.
11:46:51: RT @KSmithSF: RT @AMERICAblog: GOP House chair pushing TSA privatization while contractor is campaign donor http://bt.io/GWe5
11:47:13: RT @FantasyFaction: The first rule of Fantasy Book Club is, you can talk about Fantasy Book Club - Re-Tweet if you would be so kind ^_^ ...
14:31:18: Suddenly three new scenes insist on being written and inserted into almost-nearly-completely finished book. Headdesk!! #writing
14:32:38: One of 3 can be forcibly yanked into the next book, but the long 1400+ word one? And the tricky one? Urg. #writing
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January 1, 2011
From Twitter 12-31-2010
00:36:52: RT @awfulagent: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-books-we-read-in-2010,49470/ A critics for Onion/AV Club has Oath of Fealty @em ...
00:36:57: RT @awfulagent: http://www.avclub.com/articles/faster-than-a-speeding-dark,16671/ same critic did a nice post on @emoontx Speed of Dark ...
11:56:22: RT @NASA: RT @StationCDRKelly Here's a look at how we break bread in space: http://go.nasa.gov/eLsYLV Happy New Year!
16:02:08: The light at the end of the revision tunnel is getting really bright and close--Must. Not. Get. Distracted. Now. #writing
17:31:11: Happy New Year to all, and to all a (wait, wrong poem.) Hoping for a good 2011 for all, anyway.
18:18:20: RT @ggreenwald: Would have been nice if the GOP had read the Constitution when Bush imprisoned US citizens without charges & claimed pow ...
21:56:01: In honor of the New Year, a double snippet: http://www.paksworld.com/blog/
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December 31, 2010
The End in Sight: Revision
Yes, the end is in sight. And so I'm actually taking the evening off to relax and eat with family and rest up for the last stretch, tomorrow. I might even get more than 4 hours of sleep, and thus a clear brain to do the final polish. (I didn't have a clear brain today when I forgot that I was out of good red wine for the soup....or any previous day that my husband said he was going to the store and did I need anything. [Yes. Bottle of Blackstone Pinot Noir, Perfect for cooking with our range-fed beef. None in this soup, thanks to mind-fade.])
The book is of course better for the work put into it. Several stalwart first-readers helped a huge amount and will be rewarded with (secret-secret-secret) once this little (!!) lump of text is on its way to Editor. When there's not enough time between finishing the main draft and heading into revision, those extra eyes can't be skimped.
Those interested in the process this time can find clues over on the Paksworld blog where I finished off some evenings with a post-midnight report.
By the way, Happy New Year.
The book is of course better for the work put into it. Several stalwart first-readers helped a huge amount and will be rewarded with (secret-secret-secret) once this little (!!) lump of text is on its way to Editor. When there's not enough time between finishing the main draft and heading into revision, those extra eyes can't be skimped.
Those interested in the process this time can find clues over on the Paksworld blog where I finished off some evenings with a post-midnight report.
By the way, Happy New Year.
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