Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 54

From Twitter 12-30-2010

01:08:40: If you try to select a track on the boombox that's actually on the CD in the computer...you don't get the right music in the headphones.
08:46:57: RT @NASA: View from space Tuesday of the snowstorm that blanketed the Northeastern U.S. From our Terra satellite. http://go.usa.gov/rTh
08:47:13: RT @NASA: And on the other side of the Atlantic, dust plumes stream off the coast of Morocco. Also from our Terra. http://go.usa.gov/rbq
10:04:42: RT @BacklisteBooks: Get 25% off coupon codes for #ebooks by bestselling authors, most starting at $2.99! All formats incl #Kindle http:/ ...
14:48:08: RT @bookviewcafe: Thursday Special: Ursula K. Le Guin's King Dog: ebook and free sample: Part 1. http://www.bookviewcafe.com/
14:50:52: If must work through burning eyes and stiff joints, old recordings of Horowitz in his prime sure help.
23:52:57: RT @awfulagent: if Borders wants 2 read its obit b4 being officially dead http://brilligblogger.blogspot.com/2010/12/borders-post-mortem ...

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From Twitter 12-29-2010

00:28:58: Several recent/new posts on revision progress at http://www.paksworld.com/blog/ #writing
09:44:13: RT @BacklisteBooks: Spot Quiz: What's $2.99 minus 25%? A RIDICULOUS price for #ebooks by popular authors! All formats incl #Kindle http: ...
16:07:49: RT @awfulagent: The Speed of Dark from Audible by @emoontx makes the list of best audio of 2010! http://www.fantasyliterature.com/best- ...
21:07:09: RT @openleft: Yes, Virginia, global warming causes more extreme snowstorms--and other surprises http://ow.ly/1aEe1r
22:42:07: Just discovered that sound via headphones from old boombox MUCH louder than via speaker. Near zero is LOUD. That'll keep me awake.

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From Twitter 12-28-2010

10:33:08: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Book View Café releases A Wind in Cairo, by Judith Tarr http://www.bookviewcafe.com/
10:33:16: RT @patinagle: Solar eclipse on Mars! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=955
10:45:50: Halfway through main (but not final) revisions. And now back to work. #writing
16:34:23: RT @enzolombard: "I know its not politically correct" is the new way of saying "I'm about to say something really bigoted & ignorant"
16:34:50: RT @BacklisteBooks: Get 25% off coupon codes for #ebooks by bestselling authors, most starting at $2.99! All formats incl #Kindle http:/ ...
16:59:07: Self to book: No, you may NOT lure me down the flowery path of interesting new stuff until we've finished pruning and polishing the old.
18:19:46: Rain = good. Weather-related headache = not so. Need to clear another 200 pages at this level tonight.

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From Twitter 12-27-2010

08:49:52: RT @BacklisteBooks: #Kindle Exceeds Expectations This Year http://bit.ly/hSq7vq #ebooks #ebook
08:49:56: RT @BacklisteBooks: Spot Quiz: What's $2.99 minus 25%? A RIDICULOUS price for #ebooks by popular authors! All formats incl #Kindle http: ...
08:52:42: RT @BacklisteBooks: RT @Philoponus: RT @steffenmeier: How E-Books Are Changing the Economics of Writing (DailyFinance) http://j.mp/hyiJo ...
08:52:54: RT @BacklisteBooks: Get 25% off coupon codes for #ebooks by bestselling authors, most starting at $2.99! All formats incl #Kindle http:/ ...
08:53:20: RT @BacklisteBooks: Win a #Kindle from Backlist #eBooks and some of our favorite authors: http://bit.ly/i2Jps5 #ebook
08:59:00: Cold, with high thin clouds. Deep in revisions and cussing every paragraph over something I thought I'd fixed months ago. #writing
09:44:28: RT @NASA: NASA satellites see strong La Nina in the Pacific "spreading her curses & blessings across the planet." http://go.usa.gov/rYq
12:17:59: Was asked about using old story in txtbook--looked at story and winced. Have learned some in 15-16+ years. Good idea, not-so writing.
12:19:45: Maybe I just do more drafts now, she says, having weed-whacked the book's chapter 21 this morning for the umpteenth time. #writing
13:49:41: Lunch: omelet with cheese & green peppers. Biggest one I ever made. Folding was an adventure, but R- liked his half and I liked mine.
19:01:39: RT @NASA_GoddardPix: A particularly cool view of the US East Coast today. Can you feel the wind blow? http://bit.ly/gNoIBu
19:03:46: RT @CassiniSaturn: Bad weather on Earth? Bad weather on Saturn, too! New pic shows megastorm in Saturn's northern hemi http://twitpic.c ...
23:03:32: Am working on three different sections of book revisions alternately in hopes of keeping my mind fresh & alert. (ho, ho, ho!!) #writing
23:29:29: Brain completely gone...bedtime.

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From Twitter 12-26-2010

07:33:40: RT @BacklisteBooks: Win one of 5 awesome prizes, including a Kindle 3G! http://bit.ly/hKMMUP
07:33:48: RT @BacklisteBooks: Spot Quiz: What's $2.99 minus 25%? A RIDICULOUS price for #ebooks by popular authors! All formats incl #Kindle http: ...
07:34:55: Pond frozen right across, frost whitening every surface outside--but it'll be much warmer in an hour or so and colder than this tonight.
07:35:37: Time to go chip ice in the horses' water trough. If they haven't managed to break it themselves.
09:21:56: RT @BacklisteBooks: Santa didn't fork over that Kindle? Enter to win one here from Backlist eBooks and nine generous authors: http://bit ...
15:11:28: RT @BacklisteBooks: Christmas Gifts May Help E-Books Take Root http://nyti.ms/hJFeeY
15:13:31: RT @BacklisteBooks: "For digital campaigns to make sense, they should be on behalf of a block of books...rather than pushing one title.. ...
15:16:24: RT @BacklisteBooks: Agents & E-Books Exclusive Survey Preview http://bit.ly/dIjzOl
21:01:33: RT @LaylaMessner: Neil Gaiman: "Important. And pass it on..." http://bit.ly/6rHxC

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From Twitter 12-25-2010

08:54:26: Awake. Not enough sleep. But sticky buns have risen and can go in oven in only another hour. Others still asleep.
09:09:43: Swore I wouldn't work on the book on Christmas Day. Swore wrongly. Already untangled a page or several.
09:10:11: Quiet time before others wake up to interrupt writing IS a Christmas present.
09:56:48: RT @green_knight: Unwrapping presents is a life skill. Without it, your children will never graduate to flatpack furniture.
10:37:44: Sticky buns and sausage biscuits instead of high-fiber cereal for breakfast. YUM! Christmas dinner is beef-veg. soup.
11:07:24: Sticky buns were !!good!! Soup's on for the rest of the day's meals (hearty beef/vegetable) & lounging about is order of the day.
11:08:20: And now--back to work until I fall asleep or get hungry.
16:53:28: Note to self about warm feet: cold currents of air can penetrate knitted socks, but not those fleece slipper-socks.
16:54:37: I do wish they'd made the slipper-socks with old-fashioned leather soles, though. In our climate, that's practical for lt outdoors use.
18:35:08: Note to self: it might be wise to get a protective mask: some onions are FAR more tear-inducing than others (blink, blink, sniff)
18:35:35: That onion made husband's eyes sting from yards away.
18:40:09: Found whole fossil scene--what it developed from never happened in new version. Oopsie. Best found now, not by reviewer. #writing

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From Twitter 12-24-2010

10:03:34: RT @vondanmcintyre: Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! Starfarers, free, Book View Cafe: http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/McIntyre-T ...
10:07:17: RT @nkjemisin: Holy crap, YES. Why are we talking about Assange at all? http://goo.gl/IBy6S
10:39:41: Soup in progress, check. Book in progress, check. Choir robes ready...omg I haven't washed the cotta yet (scampers away...)
10:59:29: Laundry in, check. Music bag in car, check. Second finger on left hand burned on roasting pan, check. (D, C, E, keys. Typing ouch!)
11:00:26: Blistering the pad of a finger heavily used in typing is not that great when in midst of revising book. OTOH, it's not a BIG blister
11:10:00: Front just arrived (11 am) and temps now dropping w/brisk north wind and occasional spits of water-from-sky. No thunder yet.
12:35:11: RT @JodyLynnNye: "VIDEO: Big Cats Open Christmas Presents" http://t.co/ThfYs3X via @ICHCheezburger This is SO adorable. Donate. I am. RT ...
12:43:17: We now have a cold rain. We need rain desperately (but not in the 12+ inches in 24 hours we got in Sept & none since.)
12:44:54: Deviled eggs in prep by husband for his choir-food contribution. Cotta is out of dryer, hanging with robe. Need to put in car.
12:47:33: And the mustard has disappeared--needed for soup. Cleaned up another two pages of ms. (Oh--he has mustard for d-eggs.) Feet hurt.
12:56:50: The sound of rain falling is a great Christmas present in a dry land.

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From Twitter 12-23-2010

08:03:50: RT @NASA: [Image of the Day] Where Stars Are Born: This mosaic image is the sharpest wide-angle view ever obtained of... http://go.nasa. ...
08:16:47: What was this chapter supposed to do? Has it done it? #writing
09:46:19: For want of a word (the right word), a dozen not-right words huddled together to not-quite-convey the meaning. #writing
09:48:04: Deadlines a year away vanish in a mirage of Perfect Planning and Lifestuff. Deadlines next week are completely visible. #writing
10:31:25: RT @PatricioSala: I get enough exercise just pushing my luck.
10:33:47: RT @WordWhispers: Whoever took my typically sharp, accessible short-term memory: kindly return it.
10:34:51: RT @WordWhispers: It's hard to seriously whine about life to a cat, who simply regards you with bemused silence.
10:35:08: RT @WordWhispers: Sometimes the key to having a great day is knowing what to ignore.
12:26:47: RT @BacklisteBooks: Starting Dec. 26: 84 #ebooks by 21 established authors on sale for 25% off already low prices! http://bit.ly/evQtPb
12:27:14: RT @BacklisteBooks: Win a #Kindle from Backlist #eBooks and some of our favorite authors: http://bit.ly/i2Jps5 #ebook
12:31:43: RT @tnielsenhayden: Tories planning to sell off all the UK's state-owned woodlands. Yes: all of it. http://tinyurl.com/33louf7
12:32:40: Catalog shopping WIN: despite very late (this week) ordering & expecting stuff not to arrive b4 Christmas--it did. WOW. Impressed.
14:22:58: RT @BacklisteBooks: Ereader holiday gift guide--so many to choose from! http://ht.ly/3tPdV
18:05:22: Rancherfriend brought more meat--so a slab of frozen brisket just went in the oven (slow cooking--prob. overnight. Good eating.)
18:06:31: Meanwhile R- is boiling eggs for deviled eggs for choir feast between services tomorrow night at St. M's, tho we have to leave for St. D's.
18:34:25: RT @KateElliottSFF: Writing: The instant you think maybe you've started to know what you're doing at this craft, you'll be reminded that ...
18:36:03: RT @robinmckinley: GEEZUM RATBAGS it's nasty out there. This wind doesn't have teeth, it has chainsaws.
21:46:18: Sometimes something I wrote months ago still sings when I read it. And sometimes I rip it from the file with a snort of disgust. #writing

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From Twitter 12-22-2010

09:13:39: RT @BacklisteBooks: Win a #Kindle from Backlist #eBooks and some of our favorite authors: http://bit.ly/i2Jps5 #ebook
10:14:39: RT @CassiniSaturn: New img: Backlit Enceladus - dark outline crowned by glowing jets http://is.gd/jejSU All raw imgs here http://is.gd/ ...
10:46:55: Just love finding that I've used a pronoun twice in the same sentence...referring to different characters. NOT. #writing #revision
23:26:27: RT @MarsRovers: Oppy's holiday gift from Mars to Earth is a view of a blue Martian sunset. Vid: http://bit.ly/dV3lUq. Info: http://bit.l ...
23:27:56: RT @NASA: Check out NASA TV's Season's Greetings ID! http://go.nasa.gov/hMsZ5D

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Backyard Lunch

Some of you--those struggling with sleet, snow, freezing rain, and so on--are going to hate me.   But keep in mind that when my husband built the picnic tables last summer and fall...it was too hot to use them.   We would go out with a sandwich, and quickly bolt the sandwich so we could go back into the coolth.

Today was perfect "Let's eat outdoors weather".   Friends who have a ranch about 15 miles thataway came over to take the excess water lilies and iris out of out backyard pond over to the new tanks they've put in at the ranch.   I had just time to put together a hearty, colorful soup before they arrived; they brought frozen "biscuits inna can"  that I baked, and then served. 
It was just the kind of occasion for which I'd wanted the picnic table.  We had the checked cloth (dark green and white and not quite as big as the table, but who cared?), the casual plates (pale gray with a bold cobalt blue stylized floral design in the center), red-handled tableware,  biscuits in a deep pottery bowl with a blue stripe and wrapped in a blue and white cloth, and as centerpiece the big red enameled cast-iron LeCreuset pot.  A light cool breeze, the squirrels flirting in the now-leafless trees (it's their mating season here), birds coming in to water, and no mosquitoes at all.  Nor flies.  And the cat stayed in the front yard.  

E- is one of my alpha readers for the book I'm in the final stages of,  so in addition to watching squirrels and birds, we discussed her reaction to parts of that;  J- and my husband were discussing water storage and other rural pursuits, and planning how to get the heavy (wet and heavy) plants from the pond out to their truck.

All very relaxing after a morning spent hard at work on the book. 

The soup was assembled from components I try to keep on hand (though they vary from time to time.)

1 quart frozen homemade chicken stock
2 packets (2 cups each) frozen chunks of cooked turkey
1 28 oz can Ro-Tel
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 stalk celery, sliced crosswise into little chunks
about 1/4 of a green bell pepper (leftover in the fridge) diced
about 1/3 of an orange bell pepper (leftover, ditto) sliced fine
about 1/3 of a red bell pepper (leftover, ditto) sliced a little more coarsely

If our rancher friends had given me another 30 minutes warning, I would've added some pearl barley, for even more heft, but this was colorful and tasted just fine.