Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 263
December 28, 2010
Book #30 & 2010 Reading Review
Book #30 - Staying Sane in the Arts by Eric Maisel
I am vaguely dissatisfied with this book. Many writers I know think very highly of Eric Maisel and I wanted to see what he was about.
Maybe this isn't a good representative work. I don't know. It's light on philosophy. Honestly, it's light on everything. The breadth of this book is enormous. It strives to encompass artists of all natures at every stage in their careers. It wants to offer advice to the struggling unknown and the superstar. To the concert musician, the painter, and the poet. All in 250 pages.
Also, there are a few basic tenants that don't agree with. I don't believe there is a fundamental difference between "artists" & "non-artists" and "art" & "genre art." I believe it takes as much creativity to be a great engineer as a great novelist. Granted, there is a difference in what abilities people have and how their jobs are structured, but it's a disservice to view "art" in vaguely mythological terms. And while it's good to talk about the compromises one might make in an effort to make a living in art, commercial art is kind of bad-mouthed. Which doesn't fly when your audience is a "genre" writer.
Maybe I shouldn't have read it all at once. Do people read self-help books straight through? There are a few good suggestions for guided writing exercises, but nothing ever truly gelled for me.
---###---
So, ending on a down note considering a primarily good reading experience in 2010. This has been a stand-out year, mostly because I quit reading books I didn't care for. There are too many books in the world to waste time reading ones I don't like. Two high points: Tyler recommending Erik Larson to me and Chris loaning me the Horus Heresy books. Yay, for being social, I guess. The breakdown:
30 books read.
16 by authors that were new to me.
5 by female authors.
6 nonfiction.
2 rereads.
5 read in electronic form (and I don't even have an e-reader!)
3 from the library.
3 loaned to me.
Plus a bunch of short stories. I plan on keeping better track of them in 2011.
Acquired 24 books in 2010.
6 purchased used via the library sale and Book Maze.
3 were gifts.
13 were acquired from PaperBack Swap.
Plus there are a few on the way that I don't think are going to make it here by the end of the year:
5 from Amazon.com - gifts.
2 from PaperBackSwap.
Vague plan for 2011 is posted at Reading Notes.
I am vaguely dissatisfied with this book. Many writers I know think very highly of Eric Maisel and I wanted to see what he was about.
Maybe this isn't a good representative work. I don't know. It's light on philosophy. Honestly, it's light on everything. The breadth of this book is enormous. It strives to encompass artists of all natures at every stage in their careers. It wants to offer advice to the struggling unknown and the superstar. To the concert musician, the painter, and the poet. All in 250 pages.
Also, there are a few basic tenants that don't agree with. I don't believe there is a fundamental difference between "artists" & "non-artists" and "art" & "genre art." I believe it takes as much creativity to be a great engineer as a great novelist. Granted, there is a difference in what abilities people have and how their jobs are structured, but it's a disservice to view "art" in vaguely mythological terms. And while it's good to talk about the compromises one might make in an effort to make a living in art, commercial art is kind of bad-mouthed. Which doesn't fly when your audience is a "genre" writer.
Maybe I shouldn't have read it all at once. Do people read self-help books straight through? There are a few good suggestions for guided writing exercises, but nothing ever truly gelled for me.
---###---
So, ending on a down note considering a primarily good reading experience in 2010. This has been a stand-out year, mostly because I quit reading books I didn't care for. There are too many books in the world to waste time reading ones I don't like. Two high points: Tyler recommending Erik Larson to me and Chris loaning me the Horus Heresy books. Yay, for being social, I guess. The breakdown:
30 books read.
16 by authors that were new to me.
5 by female authors.
6 nonfiction.
2 rereads.
5 read in electronic form (and I don't even have an e-reader!)
3 from the library.
3 loaned to me.
Plus a bunch of short stories. I plan on keeping better track of them in 2011.
Acquired 24 books in 2010.
6 purchased used via the library sale and Book Maze.
3 were gifts.
13 were acquired from PaperBack Swap.
Plus there are a few on the way that I don't think are going to make it here by the end of the year:
5 from Amazon.com - gifts.
2 from PaperBackSwap.
Vague plan for 2011 is posted at Reading Notes.
December 27, 2010
2010 in Review, work edition
My story "Matthew Says There Was an Earthquake" was picked for 52|250's quarterly edition,
twentysix
. Bill and Harold's previous adventure, the "garden incident," will be published in Bards & Sages Quarterly in a couple weeks or so. Since this year is nearly at an end and I'm somewhat on vacation, I might as well review 2010 from a work point of view. As I've mentioned before, the year started rocky but a couple of things turned it around. This is the upshot:
Model Species :
31 queries sent. 17 rejections. We tweaked the first couple of chapters, both in terms of order and content. I plan on continuing with #2QueryTuesday (my own invention) and #10byThen.
Divine Fire :
Puttered around with it a little. I plan on giving it the 10% cut treatment during the second block of RoW80.
Zeta Iota :
Several false starts. Between 4-10K written.
Pas de Chat:
Decided to put her online. I haven't done a great job of promoting her. Will turn her into a PDF when all is said and done and see if there's any monetization possible.
Lucinda at the Window:
Things have not gone very well with Lucinda. She was released at a bad time for StoneGarden and has somewhat gotten the short shrift (still not available in electronic form, for example). On my side, I haven't done a good job with promotion. I need to man up and request the rights back/what is owed to me.
Luck for Hire:
Wrote about 12K, not including rewrites. This brings me to my RoW80 plan. Between January 3rd and March 24th (80 days), I am going to add 50K to Luck for Hire, effectively finishing a first draft. More specifically, my goal is 10K every two weeks. This is a hard total. If I write 12,500 in the first two weeks, the total resets the next Monday. At this pace, I should reach 50K+ by March 11th, giving me an extra vacation before RoW80, round 2 begins. That vacation is my carrot. (Sticks and sub-carrots haven't quite been set...) I'm going to avoid major rewriting, but I intend to right wrong roads I might go down. This will require a good deal of communication between Eric and I. I'll try to continue to blog updates as well.
Other Works:
Between #FridayFlash, 52|250, and Fictionaut, I have 23 pieces of fiction posted at various places. 13 are brand new, the other 10 were clean-ups and excerpts. (This doesn't include any Luck related content.) Sold an older short story, "Breakfast in the Garden." I intend to continuing submitting a few finished shorts. I'd like to put together an e-anthology of related pieces during RoW80 breaks. I also have about half a dozen unfinished short stories. I'd like to finish and market at least one of them in 2011.
One thing I've struggled with this year is Twitter (and other social networks, like Fictionaut). I like Twitter. I like interacting with other writers and readers. But it wears me out. I often feel like I can be social (and that I *need* to be social to grow an audience) or I can have the energy to write. I don't have a good answer for this aside from "writing needs to come first" and hope for patience.
So, somewhere in there is my plan for 2011. Ambitious, since I'm pretty lazy. It almost looks like I have irons in the fire. Almost.
Model Species :
31 queries sent. 17 rejections. We tweaked the first couple of chapters, both in terms of order and content. I plan on continuing with #2QueryTuesday (my own invention) and #10byThen.
Divine Fire :
Puttered around with it a little. I plan on giving it the 10% cut treatment during the second block of RoW80.
Zeta Iota :
Several false starts. Between 4-10K written.
Pas de Chat:
Decided to put her online. I haven't done a great job of promoting her. Will turn her into a PDF when all is said and done and see if there's any monetization possible.
Lucinda at the Window:
Things have not gone very well with Lucinda. She was released at a bad time for StoneGarden and has somewhat gotten the short shrift (still not available in electronic form, for example). On my side, I haven't done a good job with promotion. I need to man up and request the rights back/what is owed to me.
Luck for Hire:
Wrote about 12K, not including rewrites. This brings me to my RoW80 plan. Between January 3rd and March 24th (80 days), I am going to add 50K to Luck for Hire, effectively finishing a first draft. More specifically, my goal is 10K every two weeks. This is a hard total. If I write 12,500 in the first two weeks, the total resets the next Monday. At this pace, I should reach 50K+ by March 11th, giving me an extra vacation before RoW80, round 2 begins. That vacation is my carrot. (Sticks and sub-carrots haven't quite been set...) I'm going to avoid major rewriting, but I intend to right wrong roads I might go down. This will require a good deal of communication between Eric and I. I'll try to continue to blog updates as well.
Other Works:
Between #FridayFlash, 52|250, and Fictionaut, I have 23 pieces of fiction posted at various places. 13 are brand new, the other 10 were clean-ups and excerpts. (This doesn't include any Luck related content.) Sold an older short story, "Breakfast in the Garden." I intend to continuing submitting a few finished shorts. I'd like to put together an e-anthology of related pieces during RoW80 breaks. I also have about half a dozen unfinished short stories. I'd like to finish and market at least one of them in 2011.
One thing I've struggled with this year is Twitter (and other social networks, like Fictionaut). I like Twitter. I like interacting with other writers and readers. But it wears me out. I often feel like I can be social (and that I *need* to be social to grow an audience) or I can have the energy to write. I don't have a good answer for this aside from "writing needs to come first" and hope for patience.
So, somewhere in there is my plan for 2011. Ambitious, since I'm pretty lazy. It almost looks like I have irons in the fire. Almost.
December 25, 2010
Book #29 - Returning My Sister's Face
Book #29 -
Returning My Sister's Face
by Eugie Foster
I have several theories about cover songs. One of them is, a truly excellent cover can stand on its own. Sure, if you are familiar with the song that a band is covering, you can gain a certain amount of pleasure from comparing the differences, but often the cover really can't be enjoyed on its own merits. In the case of something like "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell, arguably one of the best covers ever, it can be appreciated without any notion that Gloria Jones did it first.
The same goes for adaptations and retellings. If you know the story to begin with, a retelling is given a leg up. But if you're unfamiliar with the source material, the author has a job to do.
In Returning My Sister's Face, Eugie Foster (![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380442897i/1319734.gif)
eugie
) pulls from the rich well of Far Eastern tales for this anthology of adaptations and "inspired bys." These are stories that I am pretty much unfamiliar with and, happily, Foster gives them the Soft Cell treatment. While the anthology is named for the final tale, a traditional ghost story, I think "Thread of Silk" is the crown gem. Mae is great character and Foster uses her to explore how women can use force as well as soft power. And this story has a bit more of an epic outlook, which is always welcome in the realm of fairy tales.
From a craft perspective, culture is handled with a light touch. Definitely some for me to learn from especially when I get back around to writing Fuel Eaters.
Other Notes
I have several theories about cover songs. One of them is, a truly excellent cover can stand on its own. Sure, if you are familiar with the song that a band is covering, you can gain a certain amount of pleasure from comparing the differences, but often the cover really can't be enjoyed on its own merits. In the case of something like "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell, arguably one of the best covers ever, it can be appreciated without any notion that Gloria Jones did it first.
The same goes for adaptations and retellings. If you know the story to begin with, a retelling is given a leg up. But if you're unfamiliar with the source material, the author has a job to do.
In Returning My Sister's Face, Eugie Foster (
eugie
) pulls from the rich well of Far Eastern tales for this anthology of adaptations and "inspired bys." These are stories that I am pretty much unfamiliar with and, happily, Foster gives them the Soft Cell treatment. While the anthology is named for the final tale, a traditional ghost story, I think "Thread of Silk" is the crown gem. Mae is great character and Foster uses her to explore how women can use force as well as soft power. And this story has a bit more of an epic outlook, which is always welcome in the realm of fairy tales.From a craft perspective, culture is handled with a light touch. Definitely some for me to learn from especially when I get back around to writing Fuel Eaters.
Other Notes
December 23, 2010
Negative Fractional Giraffes and the Rest of my 2010 Task List
This is what I want to do with the rest of the year:
Write two 52|250 pieces. Keith sent me a link to a The Atlantic article about EtherPad, a word processor that will record work in real time. And then play it back! If I write with it, you will be able to see every finger fumble and questionable phrase. I mean, the ones I do catch before publication.
Finish reading Returning My Sister's Face by
eugie
and Staying Sane in the Arts by Eric Maisel. Thus, finishing 30 books in 2010.
Watch both seasons of Intelligence . Eric does go on about TV shows he likes. He found this one on Netflix Instant and thinks highly of it.
Learn some linear algebra. This started with a conversation between Eric and I about Flixster's compatibility test and how ratings are weighted and compared between two people. Eric started working on a matrix which lead me to a "dude, show me" moment. He jauntily passed me his old linear algebra textbook. I've learned about Gaussian elimination and Gauss-Jordan elimination and done enough problems to dream about it. Except, in my dreams, I'm trying to do Gauss-Jordan eliminations with words and objects. Negative fractional giraffes are a pain in arse.
Run 4.5 miles. To make an even 100 miles for the year. Which is up from last year, but less than half of what I ran in 2008.
Finish updating social networks/webpages. I am all over the place...
Have a good long talk with Eric about Luck for Hire in anticipation of RoW80. The other night at dinner Tyler asked if I had a writing challenge or some such planned and RoW80 completely slipped my mind. I'm not sure whether that was because I hadn't talked to Eric about it (thus making it more "real") or if I didn't consider it a "challenge." To me, it's meant to be an aggressive though sensible plan, not NaNoWriMo insane.
Thing I want to do in 2011: play in a beach ultimate tournament. I haven't. I want to. Preferably with the funnest group of players possible because my body will probably pay for it later.
Write two 52|250 pieces. Keith sent me a link to a The Atlantic article about EtherPad, a word processor that will record work in real time. And then play it back! If I write with it, you will be able to see every finger fumble and questionable phrase. I mean, the ones I do catch before publication.
Finish reading Returning My Sister's Face by
eugie
and Staying Sane in the Arts by Eric Maisel. Thus, finishing 30 books in 2010.Watch both seasons of Intelligence . Eric does go on about TV shows he likes. He found this one on Netflix Instant and thinks highly of it.
Learn some linear algebra. This started with a conversation between Eric and I about Flixster's compatibility test and how ratings are weighted and compared between two people. Eric started working on a matrix which lead me to a "dude, show me" moment. He jauntily passed me his old linear algebra textbook. I've learned about Gaussian elimination and Gauss-Jordan elimination and done enough problems to dream about it. Except, in my dreams, I'm trying to do Gauss-Jordan eliminations with words and objects. Negative fractional giraffes are a pain in arse.
Run 4.5 miles. To make an even 100 miles for the year. Which is up from last year, but less than half of what I ran in 2008.
Finish updating social networks/webpages. I am all over the place...
Have a good long talk with Eric about Luck for Hire in anticipation of RoW80. The other night at dinner Tyler asked if I had a writing challenge or some such planned and RoW80 completely slipped my mind. I'm not sure whether that was because I hadn't talked to Eric about it (thus making it more "real") or if I didn't consider it a "challenge." To me, it's meant to be an aggressive though sensible plan, not NaNoWriMo insane.
Thing I want to do in 2011: play in a beach ultimate tournament. I haven't. I want to. Preferably with the funnest group of players possible because my body will probably pay for it later.
December 17, 2010
FridayFlash, What I'm not reading, Plans, Being semi-social
I have flash fiction, posted on a Friday: 129 Southbound at 52|250. There's an odd formatting thing going on with this story. A few letters and parts of letters have been truncated.
Been cleaning-up my "currently reading" list. Reading Notes has details about why I abandoned Machine of Death and Strangers on a Train.
In general, I'm getting excited about starting new "plans" in the new year. Yeah, my track record with "plans" isn't great, but it's probably not harmful to use them to be productive for a while. The reading end is outlined over at Reading Notes. As for the writing, I'll be participating in A Round of Words in 80 Days. My goal will be 50K words on Luck for Hire. I'll post specifics closer to the date.
I've also been sorting through some of my social networks in an effort streamline. In the meantime, I've been pretty hermit-y. Online at least. Eric and I had dinner at La Grande Orange on Sunday with Tyler, Reif and Jeff. Tasty, interesting pizza. I think my favorite of what we had was the Rocket Man: occasionally spicy red fresno chiles, broccolini, roasted garlic and oven-dried tomatoes. We'll be having dinner with Eric's family this weekend in honor of Eric's graduation, followed by Christmas festivities, and Chris being in town until January.
Been cleaning-up my "currently reading" list. Reading Notes has details about why I abandoned Machine of Death and Strangers on a Train.
In general, I'm getting excited about starting new "plans" in the new year. Yeah, my track record with "plans" isn't great, but it's probably not harmful to use them to be productive for a while. The reading end is outlined over at Reading Notes. As for the writing, I'll be participating in A Round of Words in 80 Days. My goal will be 50K words on Luck for Hire. I'll post specifics closer to the date.
I've also been sorting through some of my social networks in an effort streamline. In the meantime, I've been pretty hermit-y. Online at least. Eric and I had dinner at La Grande Orange on Sunday with Tyler, Reif and Jeff. Tasty, interesting pizza. I think my favorite of what we had was the Rocket Man: occasionally spicy red fresno chiles, broccolini, roasted garlic and oven-dried tomatoes. We'll be having dinner with Eric's family this weekend in honor of Eric's graduation, followed by Christmas festivities, and Chris being in town until January.
December 15, 2010
Hippo, Birdie, Two Ewes
Yeah, kinda fell off the Reverb10 wagon. I can only be more introspective than usual for so long.
Spent the first day of year 37 goofing off in a pretty random manner. I did some reading, played some EverQuest2, listened to many cover songs, had my first Polish sandwich from Der Wienerschnitzel (which does not carry schnitzel, Viennese-style or otherwise), watched Kick-Ass (good, though sort of disconcerting), and chatted/texted with just about everyone I know. (Okay, didn't really text anyone. I responded via comments. Is "texted" even a word? These kids with their new-fangled lingo...) A generally good day, even if my body is achy.
And now for the ever-popular (with me) "Year in Review" LiveJournal meme: Copy and paste the first sentence of the first entry of each month for this year to create your year in review post:
I'm not much of a New Year resolution person. I managed to post every other day in January, even when (for better or worse) I had little to say. As is tradition when I'm in Omaha, Tess and I went to a movie. Zeta Iota might be the most difficult project we've ever undertaken. I love word counts. I've been totally wiped out the last couple of days. The sore throat, ever so slight, started around the 20th of June. Nathan Bradford had a post on Tuesday about the The One Question Writers Should Never Ask Themselves When Reading. I sometimes listen to music; I sometimes put on movies or television shows. I didn't bump anything to Eric in time for new Luck flash. No NaNoWriMo for me. Yesterday, Lifehacker presented Five Commonly Repeated Words to Hunt Down in Your Writing.
Spent the first day of year 37 goofing off in a pretty random manner. I did some reading, played some EverQuest2, listened to many cover songs, had my first Polish sandwich from Der Wienerschnitzel (which does not carry schnitzel, Viennese-style or otherwise), watched Kick-Ass (good, though sort of disconcerting), and chatted/texted with just about everyone I know. (Okay, didn't really text anyone. I responded via comments. Is "texted" even a word? These kids with their new-fangled lingo...) A generally good day, even if my body is achy.
And now for the ever-popular (with me) "Year in Review" LiveJournal meme: Copy and paste the first sentence of the first entry of each month for this year to create your year in review post:
I'm not much of a New Year resolution person. I managed to post every other day in January, even when (for better or worse) I had little to say. As is tradition when I'm in Omaha, Tess and I went to a movie. Zeta Iota might be the most difficult project we've ever undertaken. I love word counts. I've been totally wiped out the last couple of days. The sore throat, ever so slight, started around the 20th of June. Nathan Bradford had a post on Tuesday about the The One Question Writers Should Never Ask Themselves When Reading. I sometimes listen to music; I sometimes put on movies or television shows. I didn't bump anything to Eric in time for new Luck flash. No NaNoWriMo for me. Yesterday, Lifehacker presented Five Commonly Repeated Words to Hunt Down in Your Writing.
December 13, 2010
Book #28 - Galaxy in Flames
Book #28 - Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter
This is the last of a beginning trilogy, although I think the series has expanded well past original expectations. Horus Rising and False Gods set the ground work for the Horus Heresy, and Galaxy in Flames extends into the first battles of it. To be spoilery, there are quite a few deaths. To Ben Counter's credit (as well as Dan Abnett's and Graham McNeill's) I cared about these deaths *and* I care about this world. Which leaves me conflicted about the next book. How can we go on without these characters (and I truly hope there are no thought-he-was-dead-but-he's-not shenanigans)? And yet, how's this going to turn out for the world at large?
This series continues to impress me. My only criticism is that occasionally, the descriptions of battles and armor go on a little too long. Even still there are quite a few very good passages that I can learn from.
More at Reading Notes
---###---
My body seems to be going back and forth on a daily basis between feeling fine and barely tolerable aching. Wanted to go play some disc tonight. Not gonna happen.
This is the last of a beginning trilogy, although I think the series has expanded well past original expectations. Horus Rising and False Gods set the ground work for the Horus Heresy, and Galaxy in Flames extends into the first battles of it. To be spoilery, there are quite a few deaths. To Ben Counter's credit (as well as Dan Abnett's and Graham McNeill's) I cared about these deaths *and* I care about this world. Which leaves me conflicted about the next book. How can we go on without these characters (and I truly hope there are no thought-he-was-dead-but-he's-not shenanigans)? And yet, how's this going to turn out for the world at large?
This series continues to impress me. My only criticism is that occasionally, the descriptions of battles and armor go on a little too long. Even still there are quite a few very good passages that I can learn from.
More at Reading Notes
---###---
My body seems to be going back and forth on a daily basis between feeling fine and barely tolerable aching. Wanted to go play some disc tonight. Not gonna happen.
December 11, 2010
Good Decision 2010
Reverb10: December 10 – Wisdom Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Author: Susannah Conway)
The wisest decision made this year was putting the Zeta Iota project aside and moving on to Luck for Hire . I had a crisis of faith during the first few months of this year. I was certain that if I just did my job long enough, I could make the Zeta Iota novel work for me. And it just didn't. I've often compared working on writing project to romantic relationships. My experience with Zeta Iota did not resemble a pulse-pounding crush. It was more like being set up by your friends with a guy that should be perfect, but you have no chemistry, but you still go out a few more times until you realize that staying home alone is the better option. (Always avoid two "but" situations.) This doesn't mean that I'll never write Zeta Iota. The idea isn't quite mature enough. One day, Eric will come to me with another layer layer added to the Zeta Iota onion and it'll be Thunderbolt City.
Obviously, this played out well since I consider it a wise decision. One up-shot: Eric and I as collaborative writers realized that there has to be something in it for me, as it were. I can't just be the "writer." No matter how intriguing the idea, I need the Katherine hook. When left to my own devices, I write quirky stories filled with tricksters and fools. I need some of that in the novels too. Aleister Luck has it in spades.
---###---
Not doing as much work as I should be. I'm caught up in enjoying holiday stuff. The tree is up and looking pretty. I need to shop for the Omaha nieces and nephews. Been writing a few Christmas cards. Putting together holiday playlists. Buying long-sleeved shirts even though the weather has been in the high 70s. Reading Spacelogs. Okay, that last one isn't holiday related, but it is damn cool.
Eric's nearly finished with classes. His parents won't be down for his matriculation, so we are spared the need to go to the ceremony. The next few weeks look calm and good.
The wisest decision made this year was putting the Zeta Iota project aside and moving on to Luck for Hire . I had a crisis of faith during the first few months of this year. I was certain that if I just did my job long enough, I could make the Zeta Iota novel work for me. And it just didn't. I've often compared working on writing project to romantic relationships. My experience with Zeta Iota did not resemble a pulse-pounding crush. It was more like being set up by your friends with a guy that should be perfect, but you have no chemistry, but you still go out a few more times until you realize that staying home alone is the better option. (Always avoid two "but" situations.) This doesn't mean that I'll never write Zeta Iota. The idea isn't quite mature enough. One day, Eric will come to me with another layer layer added to the Zeta Iota onion and it'll be Thunderbolt City.
Obviously, this played out well since I consider it a wise decision. One up-shot: Eric and I as collaborative writers realized that there has to be something in it for me, as it were. I can't just be the "writer." No matter how intriguing the idea, I need the Katherine hook. When left to my own devices, I write quirky stories filled with tricksters and fools. I need some of that in the novels too. Aleister Luck has it in spades.
---###---
Not doing as much work as I should be. I'm caught up in enjoying holiday stuff. The tree is up and looking pretty. I need to shop for the Omaha nieces and nephews. Been writing a few Christmas cards. Putting together holiday playlists. Buying long-sleeved shirts even though the weather has been in the high 70s. Reading Spacelogs. Okay, that last one isn't holiday related, but it is damn cool.
Eric's nearly finished with classes. His parents won't be down for his matriculation, so we are spared the need to go to the ceremony. The next few weeks look calm and good.
December 10, 2010
Par-tay, or something like one...
Been updating social networks and the like. Seems to be a reasonable end-of-the-year thing. Re-re-purposed my WordPress.com blog. KatenRead will be the home of 2011's ill-fated reading project. I'll be keeping my LiveJournal, but I may be doing some reposting in the future.
---###---
Reverb 10: December 9 – Party Prompt: What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)
I think my favorite social gathering of the past year was the happy hour that Tyler put together back in July. It was just six people: Tyler, Casey, Reif, Betsy, Jim and me. Eric was in Nebraska for the week. According to the Facebook thread, we went to Robbie Fox's Public House. I don't remember the name or location of the place since I was in the hands of Reif and Tyler to get me there (mostly Reif since he drove). It was a slightly odd mixture of people since, while we're all ultimate players, Betsy didn't really know Reif or Jim and Betsy and I were the non-engineers at the table. Which led to Tyler drawing up a Venn diagram of common interests. I love Venn diagrams and this is an event I still refer to. The food was okay. The drinks, tasty. I had a Foley sandwich (tomatoes, basil, Irish cheddar, scallions, with a tarragon cream dressing), several Guinnesses and a Murphy's Irish Red. That Friday evening the summer heat broke a tiny bit and we saw some monsoon action...up close since we were sitting on the patio. The first short sprinkle didn't scare us from our seats, though the dust blown on to the head of my Guinness was not ideal. The second round of showers was heavier and set us scurrying under the awning. Luckily that was after everyone had eaten. But the best part of the evening was the meandering conversations. A meal and a drink with a small group of people? That's good stuff.
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Reverb 10: December 9 – Party Prompt: What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)
I think my favorite social gathering of the past year was the happy hour that Tyler put together back in July. It was just six people: Tyler, Casey, Reif, Betsy, Jim and me. Eric was in Nebraska for the week. According to the Facebook thread, we went to Robbie Fox's Public House. I don't remember the name or location of the place since I was in the hands of Reif and Tyler to get me there (mostly Reif since he drove). It was a slightly odd mixture of people since, while we're all ultimate players, Betsy didn't really know Reif or Jim and Betsy and I were the non-engineers at the table. Which led to Tyler drawing up a Venn diagram of common interests. I love Venn diagrams and this is an event I still refer to. The food was okay. The drinks, tasty. I had a Foley sandwich (tomatoes, basil, Irish cheddar, scallions, with a tarragon cream dressing), several Guinnesses and a Murphy's Irish Red. That Friday evening the summer heat broke a tiny bit and we saw some monsoon action...up close since we were sitting on the patio. The first short sprinkle didn't scare us from our seats, though the dust blown on to the head of my Guinness was not ideal. The second round of showers was heavier and set us scurrying under the awning. Luckily that was after everyone had eaten. But the best part of the evening was the meandering conversations. A meal and a drink with a small group of people? That's good stuff.
December 9, 2010
Different
Reverb10 prompt:
December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)
I was mulling this prompt when I came across this post on Tor's blog: May the Force be with Katie. In short, 7-year-old Katie is a Star Wars fan, but has lately been teased for liking something that's "boys only." (I was surprised to learn that it was the boys that were doing the teasing. What does that say about my perception of girls?) Her mom wrote a post for Chicago Now about bullying and this quote caught my eye:
Anyway, this is me with an ewok. I'm wearing a *pink* Return of the Jedi shirt. This was at some very cheesy event in a mall in Council Bluffs. I was 8 years-old when this was taken. About Katie's age. I was very fortunate to have a mother that was a science fiction fan and totally understood the need to attend cheesy events. I suppose I was different in grade school because I yearned for an AT-AT instead of a Cabbage Patch Kid, but no one ever told me that that difference was bad. Or if they did, I was pretty oblivious. I suppose I still am.
If I were to list a "difference" that is an asset to me (and an asset trumps beauty in my book), I'd say that not being too girly serves me pretty well. It gives me a different perspective, or rather lets me see things in a slightly removed way. I can occasionally glimpse the "boy" perspective and compare it to what I assume to be the "girl" perspective. Or something like that.
(The funny thing is that I've been wracking my brain over differences--how am I substantially different than most of the population?--and I just remembered that I have red hair. Other than the odd Pippi Longstocking reference, no one has never made an issue of my hair color. At least not in a way that was meaningful to me. Again, I'm oblivious. (The whole hatred for "gingers" is completely befuddling to me.) But my red hair is a feature that I've really come to appreciate over the years.)
December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)
I was mulling this prompt when I came across this post on Tor's blog: May the Force be with Katie. In short, 7-year-old Katie is a Star Wars fan, but has lately been teased for liking something that's "boys only." (I was surprised to learn that it was the boys that were doing the teasing. What does that say about my perception of girls?) Her mom wrote a post for Chicago Now about bullying and this quote caught my eye:
She has learned that there are degrees of being different, and she wants to minimize how different she is.And that's the rub with being different. Yes, we're all different. Differences can make us beautiful, but beauty is also in the eye of the beholder. We all judge how much of our differences people see. Some of us hide more differences than others. Some of us have more control over what can be hidden.
Anyway, this is me with an ewok. I'm wearing a *pink* Return of the Jedi shirt. This was at some very cheesy event in a mall in Council Bluffs. I was 8 years-old when this was taken. About Katie's age. I was very fortunate to have a mother that was a science fiction fan and totally understood the need to attend cheesy events. I suppose I was different in grade school because I yearned for an AT-AT instead of a Cabbage Patch Kid, but no one ever told me that that difference was bad. Or if they did, I was pretty oblivious. I suppose I still am.If I were to list a "difference" that is an asset to me (and an asset trumps beauty in my book), I'd say that not being too girly serves me pretty well. It gives me a different perspective, or rather lets me see things in a slightly removed way. I can occasionally glimpse the "boy" perspective and compare it to what I assume to be the "girl" perspective. Or something like that.
(The funny thing is that I've been wracking my brain over differences--how am I substantially different than most of the population?--and I just remembered that I have red hair. Other than the odd Pippi Longstocking reference, no one has never made an issue of my hair color. At least not in a way that was meaningful to me. Again, I'm oblivious. (The whole hatred for "gingers" is completely befuddling to me.) But my red hair is a feature that I've really come to appreciate over the years.)
