Sarah Monette's Blog, page 49

Project Valkyrie: waterlog

50 minutes, 32 laps. Pull buoy, kick board (which I loathe), even some unassisted laps. I am happy.

Also? Nobody goes to the pool on Friday evening. It was me and one other guy, and the lifeguard who was probably bored out of her mind, but who nevertheless wished me good night as I left.

Things Comma Five--I Mean Six

1. My Storytellers Unplugged post for January, "Taking Another Tilt at the Windmill," is up. It's about fantasy, science fiction, and genre theory.

2. I was woken up this morning by a call from the sleep clinic. While the irony is bright and shiny and very pointed, I am glad to know my GP went ahead and made the referral, because I was going to have to call him today to tell him to do so. RLS is evil.

3. Gynecologist appointment also today, in which we agreed to try taking the Mirena out, and see what happens. (Taking it out was about 5 MILLION TIMES less painful than putting it in, so that was good.) The Mirena lessened my menstrual flow, but it made my periods MUCH too frequent, and it also randomized my menstrual cramps so that they became like drive-by stabbings. Double-plus ungood, thank you.

This is a new-to-me gynecologist, and I like her. She asked if I wanted to keep the Mirena. (I did.)

4. RT @pnh Elise, about to be Discharged, manifests as a Figure of Allegory and asserts Control over Time. http://yfrog.com/h7eieaj

5. It is snowing. Nevertheless, I plan to go to the pool in another hour or so.

6. ursulav is right on the money.

Last night, elisem (Elise Matthesen) suffered what has be...

Last night, elisem (Elise Matthesen) suffered what has been tentatively diagnosed as a small stroke.

2011 is so far doing not very well at all as an improvement on 2010. I disapprove.

Blogging elsewhere: tor-dot-com

My third Ellery Queen post, "Packaging the Detective, Part 2," is up at tor-dot-com.

The Return of the Valkyrie

Half an hour, nineteen laps, mostly with the pull buoy. And then the pool was so crowded I nearly got run over, and I was exhausted and brittle and out of cope. Just out.

As a corollary, however, I can report that I am driving again, and life has become approximately 5,398 times easier.

jimhines's Hugo and Nebula eligibility post is a lot funn...

jimhines 's Hugo and Nebula eligibility post is a lot funnier than mine. I'm just saying.

Hugo & Nebula eligibility

I debated back and forth with myself whether I was going to make a post reminding people about my award-eligible fiction from 2010, but then I realized what a short post it would be, so the hell with it.

I published exactly one thing in 2010: "After the Dragon."

Q.E.D.

Submachinery

I've raved about Mateusz Skutnik before (here and here), and this post is not to do more of that. It's simply to point myself and other interested parties to Submachine World, which collects all the Submachine games, including The Submachine Network Exploration Experience , which--as advertised on the tin--is not a game so much as a chance to wander around the fabulously eerie world of the Submachine.

Looking for the Doctrine of Labyrinths?

roisindubh211 is moving, and for the logical reasons is looking to sell some books. Specifically in this case, Mélusine and The Virtu in paperback (Good condition) and The Mirador and Corambis in hardcover (Very Good condition). If you're interested, please contact roisindubh211 -- NOT ME , since all I know is what I've just written.

Happy New Year! (fanservice for the animal lovers)

The take-home lesson from 2010 is: don't break your ankle.

Other than that, I'n not doing any kind of Year in Review post. Instead:

Milo, my five-year-old Holsteiner cross (he's half Holsteiner, a quarter Arabian, and a quarter Percheron), is a goofy soul. In evidence, I offer this exchange from last night, as I was untacking him:

MILO: Hey, what's that? Is it a cookie?
ME: It's a polo wrap. Purple, no less.
MILO: Is it tasty?
ME: Frankly, I imagine it tastes like a sweatsock.
MILO: Huh. Yeah, you're right. Totally sweatsock.
...
MILO: Hey, what's that?
ME: It's still a purple polo wrap.
MILO: It could be a cookie. Is it tasty?
ME: It's still gonna taste like a sweatsock, buddy.
MILO: Huh. Yeah, you're right. That's not tasty at all.
...
MILO: Hey, what's that?
ME: Purple polo wrap. Again.
MILO: Are you sure it's not a cookie?
ME: Sweatsock.
MILO: Oh, right. Where's the cookies, then?


I could not get all four cats into the frame at once, but I assure you they're all on the bed.



Left to right, that's the First Ninja, Catzilla, and the Second Ninja.

And off stage right, the Elder Saucepan does what he does best:



Happy New Year! Here's to 2011!