Lyda Morehouse's Blog, page 38
March 1, 2014
Neighborhood Politics
I'll be honest. We have a lot of issues in my tiny Midway neighborhood, not the least of which is three--count 'em THREE--abandoned houses on the block on the other side of our alley.
But you know what makes people REALLY scream on our local e-forum? The new ban on street parking.
I actually don't blame them. The plowing in St. Paul has been sucking for a number of years now, and it's fairly ridiculous when you go to the suburbs and discover dry, wide roads that seemingly miraculously have been plowed to the curbs (proving both are POSSIBLE). It does make a person wonder what they have in the suburbs that we don't have in the city (besides, presumably, money).
Also, my street is clogged with cars on a good day; parking has always been difficult given our proximity to University Avenue and the people who work at the various businesses at the end of our block. Plus, a lot of residents, including myself, have no working garages. (We have a "garage" but it has barn doors and probably last fit a car the size of a Model-T.) This is fairly typical up and down our alley. Plus, we are in what is politely called a "high-density" neighborhood, which means a lot of what look like single-dwelling houses are actually duplexes, triplexes, and more. So, though it looks like we only have half-a-dozen houses on our block, in reality, that's more like fifteen or more families, many of whom own more than one car.
So, yeah, I'm not sure how things are going to go. I wish, in fact, if St. Paul was going to do this, they'd give residents in neighborhoods like ours parking permits and ticket and tow all the neighborhood "interlopers." I doubt I'm going to get to park in front of our house any time soon. I suspect that during these frigid weeks I may have to park blocks away and haul groceries and kid the distance....
On the flip side, right now, we have to skid to one side or another if two cars are coming down the same street from opposite directions. Because the roads are already piled high with snow and ice that are inches from the curb, the streets really are dangerously narrow when cars are parked on both sides--especially since people won't go all the way up to what exists as a curb because they still want to get out on their passenger side doors.
It's a gnarly business, though I can't help but side with the people who are screaming WELL, IF YOU'D PLOW RIGHT THE FIRST TIME WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM, WOULD WE???!!
But you know what makes people REALLY scream on our local e-forum? The new ban on street parking.
I actually don't blame them. The plowing in St. Paul has been sucking for a number of years now, and it's fairly ridiculous when you go to the suburbs and discover dry, wide roads that seemingly miraculously have been plowed to the curbs (proving both are POSSIBLE). It does make a person wonder what they have in the suburbs that we don't have in the city (besides, presumably, money).
Also, my street is clogged with cars on a good day; parking has always been difficult given our proximity to University Avenue and the people who work at the various businesses at the end of our block. Plus, a lot of residents, including myself, have no working garages. (We have a "garage" but it has barn doors and probably last fit a car the size of a Model-T.) This is fairly typical up and down our alley. Plus, we are in what is politely called a "high-density" neighborhood, which means a lot of what look like single-dwelling houses are actually duplexes, triplexes, and more. So, though it looks like we only have half-a-dozen houses on our block, in reality, that's more like fifteen or more families, many of whom own more than one car.
So, yeah, I'm not sure how things are going to go. I wish, in fact, if St. Paul was going to do this, they'd give residents in neighborhoods like ours parking permits and ticket and tow all the neighborhood "interlopers." I doubt I'm going to get to park in front of our house any time soon. I suspect that during these frigid weeks I may have to park blocks away and haul groceries and kid the distance....
On the flip side, right now, we have to skid to one side or another if two cars are coming down the same street from opposite directions. Because the roads are already piled high with snow and ice that are inches from the curb, the streets really are dangerously narrow when cars are parked on both sides--especially since people won't go all the way up to what exists as a curb because they still want to get out on their passenger side doors.
It's a gnarly business, though I can't help but side with the people who are screaming WELL, IF YOU'D PLOW RIGHT THE FIRST TIME WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM, WOULD WE???!!
February 28, 2014
Today, the Water Park!
In about a half-hour, my family and I are about to head off to spend the day at the Water Park of America. This place claims to be the largest INDOOR water park in America. It very well may be. It also boasts a 10 story water slide, which I've never been brave enough to try. Though we have tried the one that's probably 3 or 4 stories high. It always makes my stomach drop out, but, usually, in the OMG-THIS-IS-FUN way, though there is a turn that always makes me shift into OMFG-WE'RE-GONNA-DIE mode momentarily. Shawn, my dear beloved, will opt out of all the scary and sit in an inner tube and surf the lazy river all day. I will be the one climbing the stairs and rushing to my doom with Mason, though Mason confessed he's more nervous this time, so I might not be required to do it as much as I have in the past.
I actually don't mind. Adrenaline is good for the soul.
In small doses.
:-)
I'm also bummed because Shawn won't let me bring along any electronics (yeah, okay, MAYBE I have a problem with bringing Mac/i products in the bathtub), which means the book I was reading will have to be on hold.
naomikritzer
has a friend who has a book coming out from Viking soon who tapped me for a blurb, and I'm REALLY enjoying the book so far. But, even with a day's hiatus, I'm hoping to get it read by this weekend, because = awesome, plus I really like doing this kind of favor for people, even though I'm never convinced that my name on anything helps sell it.
Especially lately.
Of course, because I have impostor syndrome bad right now, everyone has been asking me to do author-type things. I got asked for this blurb, asked to do a reading for Speculations, which I'll be doing next month, and the Loft has me teaching one of their teen drop-in classes in May at, of all places, ROSEVILLE LIBRARY, where I work.
I don't know what to do about this feeling I've been having, either. I think it's been triggered by the admiration I get at work by non-writers/wannabe writers when they hear I've been published. Listening to them makes me realize that, even if I feel like a moron lately, I did something that a lot of people really, REALLY wish they could do. Even if I don't feel lucky right this moment, the truth of the matter is that I am extremely lucky to have published at all, much less 15 books. And they remind me that I'm proud of what I've written, what I've accomplished....
But instead of making me feel like "yeah, damn it, that's a good thing," I find myself feeling, "what the f*ck is wrong with me that I can't push on?" Even though I finally have pushed through (mostly thanks to
empty_mirrors
who has found a way to help me value both fan and original writing) and am working fairly steadily on two projects.
It's been slow going, though, and I feel badly about that.
I'm not fishing for anything here, I just wanted to write these feelings down in the hopes of examining them and trying to figure out why I can't feel happy for the progress I am making. Maybe I need to do one of those lists that people always make of what they're grateful for, like, hey, despite all this, I still have an agent who is shopping things around. Hey, I have a job that I like that's keeping the wolves from the door so we don't have to fight about money while I'm struggling with my feelings of Moon-Moon-ness. I have super supportive friends who haven't given up on me either.
Yay. Okay, see, that actually worked a little. There will always be greater and lesser persons then myself... as Spock used to tell me on the Leonard Nemoy albums I had as a kid. (Yes, I have BOTH of them, yes, the Biblo Baggins song, which f*ck you, I LOVED, plus his reading of "Cool, Green Hills of Earth" and "Gentlemen, Be Seated" on VINYL, kids, VI-NYL.)
Right, okay, on that much happier note, I'll head off to drift around the lazy river and bounce in the wave pool and plunge to my terrifying doom....
I actually don't mind. Adrenaline is good for the soul.
In small doses.
:-)
I'm also bummed because Shawn won't let me bring along any electronics (yeah, okay, MAYBE I have a problem with bringing Mac/i products in the bathtub), which means the book I was reading will have to be on hold.
naomikritzer
has a friend who has a book coming out from Viking soon who tapped me for a blurb, and I'm REALLY enjoying the book so far. But, even with a day's hiatus, I'm hoping to get it read by this weekend, because = awesome, plus I really like doing this kind of favor for people, even though I'm never convinced that my name on anything helps sell it.Especially lately.
Of course, because I have impostor syndrome bad right now, everyone has been asking me to do author-type things. I got asked for this blurb, asked to do a reading for Speculations, which I'll be doing next month, and the Loft has me teaching one of their teen drop-in classes in May at, of all places, ROSEVILLE LIBRARY, where I work.
I don't know what to do about this feeling I've been having, either. I think it's been triggered by the admiration I get at work by non-writers/wannabe writers when they hear I've been published. Listening to them makes me realize that, even if I feel like a moron lately, I did something that a lot of people really, REALLY wish they could do. Even if I don't feel lucky right this moment, the truth of the matter is that I am extremely lucky to have published at all, much less 15 books. And they remind me that I'm proud of what I've written, what I've accomplished....
But instead of making me feel like "yeah, damn it, that's a good thing," I find myself feeling, "what the f*ck is wrong with me that I can't push on?" Even though I finally have pushed through (mostly thanks to
empty_mirrors
who has found a way to help me value both fan and original writing) and am working fairly steadily on two projects. It's been slow going, though, and I feel badly about that.
I'm not fishing for anything here, I just wanted to write these feelings down in the hopes of examining them and trying to figure out why I can't feel happy for the progress I am making. Maybe I need to do one of those lists that people always make of what they're grateful for, like, hey, despite all this, I still have an agent who is shopping things around. Hey, I have a job that I like that's keeping the wolves from the door so we don't have to fight about money while I'm struggling with my feelings of Moon-Moon-ness. I have super supportive friends who haven't given up on me either.
Yay. Okay, see, that actually worked a little. There will always be greater and lesser persons then myself... as Spock used to tell me on the Leonard Nemoy albums I had as a kid. (Yes, I have BOTH of them, yes, the Biblo Baggins song, which f*ck you, I LOVED, plus his reading of "Cool, Green Hills of Earth" and "Gentlemen, Be Seated" on VINYL, kids, VI-NYL.)
Right, okay, on that much happier note, I'll head off to drift around the lazy river and bounce in the wave pool and plunge to my terrifying doom....
February 26, 2014
Wednesday, Official Bleach Holiday
New Bleach chapters come out on Wednesdays (when Kubo-sensei is not on hiatus, at any rate,) and so I've decided that, for the most part, I'm going to give into my fannish squee one day a week and mostly just spend the day being a fan.
Chapter 570 was good, in case you were wondering.
Rukia's bankai was revealed. Probably the most interesting part of that was how much her outfit looked like the personification of her zanpakutō in the Zanpakutō Rebellion arc, which was supposedly "filler." As predicted from the name we got in the previous chapter, it seems to be a kind of mist form that is instant death. For me, the humorous part of the chapter was that Byakuya, who'd supposedly left Rukia to fight on her own, clearly only stepped a few paces away and came back with an admonishment to thaw slowly. So... Byakuya. I'm proud of you, but you know, if you fuck up, I'm only just here. Be free little snow bird, but I'm just over here to catch you! Oh! and be careful!
Kubo managed to make me briefly sad for As Nodt, who is otherwise one of the creepiest, most dislikable characters he's created. Apparently, the hole Ywach filled for him was, no surprise, fear, but watching him die of it was still kind of sad.
Then we switched to Yachiru and Lieutenant Isane (as opposed to her sister of the same name, the Third Seat), who were gathering medical and other supplies by stealing them from the enemy. A new baddie "V" appeared and started taking them down. His(?) power seems to be to make his/her opponent forget they're fighting while remaining ninja-invisible. I told
empty_mirrors
this morning that I figure Kenpachi Zaraki is going to show up to save the day, because he's never not thinking of a fight, so forgetting won't be a problem. He's kind of like the Hulk. ALWAYS mad (though in Ken-chan's case, always fighting.) She and I discussed that we'd really like to see the ladies kick a little butt first, but neither of us is particularly holding out hope (witness Hisagi's non-starter.) In particuar, I'd be interested to see a) Yachiru (2)'s kido power manifest more, and/or b) Isane's shikai in action. We saw her call it once, but Ichigo was in God Mode so he disarmed her with his bare hands.
So once again, the biggest strength of this chapter was making me look forward to the NEXT chapter.
Speaking of manga and chapters, last night, at work, I picked up Volume 5 of Ōoku: The Inner Chambers.
naomikritzer
bought volume one of this series for me as a Solstice/Christmas gift this last year because the premise sounds right up my alley (and it sort of is.) The manga is an alternate history where sometime during the Edo period, the men of Japan are all afflicted with a disease that wipes out a huge percentage of the male population. Women rise to power and men become, well, breeders, really. Many are sold off to brothels, etc. The main plot, however, revolves around the men in the "Inner Chamber," the shogun's own harem/concubines. So there is political intrigue and lots and lots of men being "debased" for the shogun's pleasure.
YET, despite that fabulous premise, this manga could be a lot hotter than it is, honestly. Despite the warning of "explicit content" there's only a little hint of m/m and most of the sex is a pan to the left and IMPLIED.
The other problem with the story, IMHO, is that there are a lot of time jumps. Like, right now, I'm not actually sure where I am in the timeline. It started when the female shogun was well established, but then jumped to tell a story of the first "Swain" (the concubine in charge of taking the Emperor's maidenhead and then falling on his sword) and then jumped again to tell of the rise of the first female shogun. I THINK we've been moving slowly back to the "now" from that second story-in-a-story, but I'm honestly not sure.
Unfortunately, this is a two part problem, one that falls squarely on my shoulders, and the other I will blame on the mangaka (a woman named Fumi Yoshinaga).
The problem that's mine is that Japanese names don't stick very quickly in my head. I have to be hammered with a Japanese name for several issues before I remember it (even when the characters are wildly different looking, like in Bleach--thank fate for the Bleach Wiki and the fact that Byakuya kept saying "Renji" over and over and people introduced themselves at each fight...) and... the second problem is that the mangaka seems to have one image in her head of "hot guy" and so the guys that catch the shogun's eye (even different shoguns) are all kind of the same TYPE. Worse, everyone is sporting the same hairstyle, purposely copying the Hot Guy. So, I've had a hell of a time figuring out if I'm following the first Hot Guy or a new Hot Guy.
BUT, despite this criticism, I'm still reading. I even picked up the last two volumes 6 & 7, with the thought that I'll see this through. The universe is interesting enough to keep me reading and the titillation is titillating. (I've got a good imagination, after all.)
Plus, as Naomi well knows, this sort of set-up is a big guilty pleasure of mine. I really enjoyed (far too much) Catherine Aasaro's LAST HAWK, because it's this same thing, only in that case the Hot Guy is a crash-landed fighter pilot captured and thrust into the harem of a matriarch on a matrilineal planet. Similarly, I pushed through Wen Spenser's A BROTHER'S PRICE because it was a future where there was another plague that affected only men, and... yada, yada harems and brothels full of desperate men. Similar-but-different, I really adored ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND a six-volume shojo manga about a girl who mail-orders the perfect android boyfriend (from the future, but that's kind of a side story.)
Clearly, I love this set-up. It's like some kind of gender-swap Slave Girls of Gor and I'm really not sure what it says about me.... and I'm not sure I want to know.
Chapter 570 was good, in case you were wondering.
Rukia's bankai was revealed. Probably the most interesting part of that was how much her outfit looked like the personification of her zanpakutō in the Zanpakutō Rebellion arc, which was supposedly "filler." As predicted from the name we got in the previous chapter, it seems to be a kind of mist form that is instant death. For me, the humorous part of the chapter was that Byakuya, who'd supposedly left Rukia to fight on her own, clearly only stepped a few paces away and came back with an admonishment to thaw slowly. So... Byakuya. I'm proud of you, but you know, if you fuck up, I'm only just here. Be free little snow bird, but I'm just over here to catch you! Oh! and be careful!
Kubo managed to make me briefly sad for As Nodt, who is otherwise one of the creepiest, most dislikable characters he's created. Apparently, the hole Ywach filled for him was, no surprise, fear, but watching him die of it was still kind of sad.
Then we switched to Yachiru and Lieutenant Isane (as opposed to her sister of the same name, the Third Seat), who were gathering medical and other supplies by stealing them from the enemy. A new baddie "V" appeared and started taking them down. His(?) power seems to be to make his/her opponent forget they're fighting while remaining ninja-invisible. I told
empty_mirrors
this morning that I figure Kenpachi Zaraki is going to show up to save the day, because he's never not thinking of a fight, so forgetting won't be a problem. He's kind of like the Hulk. ALWAYS mad (though in Ken-chan's case, always fighting.) She and I discussed that we'd really like to see the ladies kick a little butt first, but neither of us is particularly holding out hope (witness Hisagi's non-starter.) In particuar, I'd be interested to see a) Yachiru (2)'s kido power manifest more, and/or b) Isane's shikai in action. We saw her call it once, but Ichigo was in God Mode so he disarmed her with his bare hands.So once again, the biggest strength of this chapter was making me look forward to the NEXT chapter.
Speaking of manga and chapters, last night, at work, I picked up Volume 5 of Ōoku: The Inner Chambers.
naomikritzer
bought volume one of this series for me as a Solstice/Christmas gift this last year because the premise sounds right up my alley (and it sort of is.) The manga is an alternate history where sometime during the Edo period, the men of Japan are all afflicted with a disease that wipes out a huge percentage of the male population. Women rise to power and men become, well, breeders, really. Many are sold off to brothels, etc. The main plot, however, revolves around the men in the "Inner Chamber," the shogun's own harem/concubines. So there is political intrigue and lots and lots of men being "debased" for the shogun's pleasure.YET, despite that fabulous premise, this manga could be a lot hotter than it is, honestly. Despite the warning of "explicit content" there's only a little hint of m/m and most of the sex is a pan to the left and IMPLIED.
The other problem with the story, IMHO, is that there are a lot of time jumps. Like, right now, I'm not actually sure where I am in the timeline. It started when the female shogun was well established, but then jumped to tell a story of the first "Swain" (the concubine in charge of taking the Emperor's maidenhead and then falling on his sword) and then jumped again to tell of the rise of the first female shogun. I THINK we've been moving slowly back to the "now" from that second story-in-a-story, but I'm honestly not sure.
Unfortunately, this is a two part problem, one that falls squarely on my shoulders, and the other I will blame on the mangaka (a woman named Fumi Yoshinaga).
The problem that's mine is that Japanese names don't stick very quickly in my head. I have to be hammered with a Japanese name for several issues before I remember it (even when the characters are wildly different looking, like in Bleach--thank fate for the Bleach Wiki and the fact that Byakuya kept saying "Renji" over and over and people introduced themselves at each fight...) and... the second problem is that the mangaka seems to have one image in her head of "hot guy" and so the guys that catch the shogun's eye (even different shoguns) are all kind of the same TYPE. Worse, everyone is sporting the same hairstyle, purposely copying the Hot Guy. So, I've had a hell of a time figuring out if I'm following the first Hot Guy or a new Hot Guy.
BUT, despite this criticism, I'm still reading. I even picked up the last two volumes 6 & 7, with the thought that I'll see this through. The universe is interesting enough to keep me reading and the titillation is titillating. (I've got a good imagination, after all.)
Plus, as Naomi well knows, this sort of set-up is a big guilty pleasure of mine. I really enjoyed (far too much) Catherine Aasaro's LAST HAWK, because it's this same thing, only in that case the Hot Guy is a crash-landed fighter pilot captured and thrust into the harem of a matriarch on a matrilineal planet. Similarly, I pushed through Wen Spenser's A BROTHER'S PRICE because it was a future where there was another plague that affected only men, and... yada, yada harems and brothels full of desperate men. Similar-but-different, I really adored ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND a six-volume shojo manga about a girl who mail-orders the perfect android boyfriend (from the future, but that's kind of a side story.)
Clearly, I love this set-up. It's like some kind of gender-swap Slave Girls of Gor and I'm really not sure what it says about me.... and I'm not sure I want to know.
February 25, 2014
A Weird Sort of Nostalgia...
I'm feeling a bit like I've reverted back to my college days, and not necessarily in a good way.
Yesterday, while driving to pick up Shawn, I forgot that our windshield wiper was loose and I flicked on the spray cleaning thing, and watched helplessly as the wiper flung itself out into traffic. So now the wiper on the driver's side is a wadded up bit of Kleenex until we have a chance to replace it.
Similarly, Mason and I have three garbage bags full of dirty laundry to take the laundry mat because our washer decided to give up the ghost last week.
Next I'm going to be making instant ramen for lunch or something... oh, wait, that's been Mason's favorite food lately!
Oh, and I have to go to work tonight at five... which, though I love, is adding to that sense of being a down-and-out twenty year old.
*sigh*
Oh, but hey, there's a quickie interview with me over at the Wyrdsmith's blog, if you want to check it out: http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/2014/02/q-lyda-morehouse-and-tate-too.html
Right! Off to the laundry mat~
Yesterday, while driving to pick up Shawn, I forgot that our windshield wiper was loose and I flicked on the spray cleaning thing, and watched helplessly as the wiper flung itself out into traffic. So now the wiper on the driver's side is a wadded up bit of Kleenex until we have a chance to replace it.
Similarly, Mason and I have three garbage bags full of dirty laundry to take the laundry mat because our washer decided to give up the ghost last week.
Next I'm going to be making instant ramen for lunch or something... oh, wait, that's been Mason's favorite food lately!
Oh, and I have to go to work tonight at five... which, though I love, is adding to that sense of being a down-and-out twenty year old.
*sigh*
Oh, but hey, there's a quickie interview with me over at the Wyrdsmith's blog, if you want to check it out: http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/2014/02/q-lyda-morehouse-and-tate-too.html
Right! Off to the laundry mat~
February 24, 2014
Snow, Snow, Go Away
Shawn and I discussed whether or not we're "officially" done with winter or not this morning. I believe I'd been in the "eh, I still think the snow is pretty" camp, until we got stuck, spinning our wheels, at the intersection of Summit and Snelling.
Now, I'm officially done.
Thing is, I probably would continue to be the "meh, winter is okay" camp, if PEOPLE WEREN'T MORONS. Because as we were very clearly struggling to get going several people thought it extremely clever of themselves to go around us. This was stupid for a couple of reasons: 1) I could have easily gotten a sudden burst of traction and sideswiped them as I fishtailed, 2) they made me tense, thus making it even harder to do the tricky work of trying to get the car in the right gear and move slowly enough to get going, 3) their random pulling out in front of me could have also resulted in a crash if I'd had a sudden burst of uncontrolled sped.
The only satisfaction I got was, after I'd had a chance to back up a bit, I was able to get moving and the MORON who was next to me, hoping to go around, got stuck. Ha! Ha! Ha! I gave her the one finger salute as I pulled ahead. It was deeply satisfying.
Shawn and I spent the rest of the drive wondering why the roads SUCK SO MUCH still. Do they no longer put down sand in this town? What is the deal with the snow plows that seem to hover about an inch over the asphalt? If they're hoping this will save on wear and tear on the asphalt, they're wrong. The few places it is clear to the ground the streets are riddled with potholes.
Also, as Mason and I were leaving Great Clips this afternoon, I noticed there was a cop car with its lights on at that same intersection I was stuck at. S/he was either directing traffic or there had finally been an accident there.
No surprise.
Oh, and in other news, Susan is still alive. In fact, I can see her right now dancing around at the top of the tank munching up the tubifex worms I put in for her lunch. I had to change a bit of the water in the tank, however, because she is NOT FOND of the sinking pellets she's supposed to like, and they were sitting on the substrate looking ready to rot. So, I sucked them up and gave her a tiny little water change. I don't want to change the water too much, because I'm now fairly convinced that Susan is helping condition the tank. I'm hoping, given some time, I can actually introduce some other fish. As it is, I'm so, so happy to see Susan every morning, it's almost sad. I (whispers) even did research on dojo loaches, so... yeah, I'm officially in love with her.
naomikritzer
said, when she was over, that Susan reminds her of a mermaid, the way she wiggles her long, flowing tail.
The other thing I've been doing is updating my deviantart page with all my juvenallia (stuff I drew when I was young and foolish); that's been fun. I'm still trying to find my Marvel stash. I know I have some pictures of Gambit that I drew when I was in college, but damned if I can find where I've put them.
It's made me what to draw again, though, and that's fun.
Have I told you guys what I've been reading lately? I'm about three chapters into Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. It's a novel that was translated from Japanese, and it's... trippy. It's starts with a young woman whose name is 'green pea,' Aomame who is stuck in traffic on her way to an "important business meeting." She takes the advice of her taxi driver and ditches the taxi to go down a service staircase in order to hop the subway and make it to her thing on time. Only, as she leave the taxi, the drive makes some cryptic remark about how "there's only one universe, you know."
Well, clearly, there isn't, and our heroine somehow ends up in an alternate one.
But that's really not clear except on the dust jacket. Because the second chapter is from the point of view of a crappy wannabe novelist named Tengo, who looks like a linebacker and whose salient personality trait seems to be that he's haunted by vivid memories of "someone who is not his father sucking his mother's breast."
F*ck I hate mainstream fiction.
I may be giving up on it soon, but, just when I was ready to, Green Pea busted out and assassinated someone. And, I was like, OKAY, I'm in! So, I don't know. It's also dauntingly gigantic at 925 pages, so we'll see...
Now, I'm officially done.
Thing is, I probably would continue to be the "meh, winter is okay" camp, if PEOPLE WEREN'T MORONS. Because as we were very clearly struggling to get going several people thought it extremely clever of themselves to go around us. This was stupid for a couple of reasons: 1) I could have easily gotten a sudden burst of traction and sideswiped them as I fishtailed, 2) they made me tense, thus making it even harder to do the tricky work of trying to get the car in the right gear and move slowly enough to get going, 3) their random pulling out in front of me could have also resulted in a crash if I'd had a sudden burst of uncontrolled sped.
The only satisfaction I got was, after I'd had a chance to back up a bit, I was able to get moving and the MORON who was next to me, hoping to go around, got stuck. Ha! Ha! Ha! I gave her the one finger salute as I pulled ahead. It was deeply satisfying.
Shawn and I spent the rest of the drive wondering why the roads SUCK SO MUCH still. Do they no longer put down sand in this town? What is the deal with the snow plows that seem to hover about an inch over the asphalt? If they're hoping this will save on wear and tear on the asphalt, they're wrong. The few places it is clear to the ground the streets are riddled with potholes.
Also, as Mason and I were leaving Great Clips this afternoon, I noticed there was a cop car with its lights on at that same intersection I was stuck at. S/he was either directing traffic or there had finally been an accident there.
No surprise.
Oh, and in other news, Susan is still alive. In fact, I can see her right now dancing around at the top of the tank munching up the tubifex worms I put in for her lunch. I had to change a bit of the water in the tank, however, because she is NOT FOND of the sinking pellets she's supposed to like, and they were sitting on the substrate looking ready to rot. So, I sucked them up and gave her a tiny little water change. I don't want to change the water too much, because I'm now fairly convinced that Susan is helping condition the tank. I'm hoping, given some time, I can actually introduce some other fish. As it is, I'm so, so happy to see Susan every morning, it's almost sad. I (whispers) even did research on dojo loaches, so... yeah, I'm officially in love with her.
naomikritzer
said, when she was over, that Susan reminds her of a mermaid, the way she wiggles her long, flowing tail.The other thing I've been doing is updating my deviantart page with all my juvenallia (stuff I drew when I was young and foolish); that's been fun. I'm still trying to find my Marvel stash. I know I have some pictures of Gambit that I drew when I was in college, but damned if I can find where I've put them.
It's made me what to draw again, though, and that's fun.
Have I told you guys what I've been reading lately? I'm about three chapters into Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. It's a novel that was translated from Japanese, and it's... trippy. It's starts with a young woman whose name is 'green pea,' Aomame who is stuck in traffic on her way to an "important business meeting." She takes the advice of her taxi driver and ditches the taxi to go down a service staircase in order to hop the subway and make it to her thing on time. Only, as she leave the taxi, the drive makes some cryptic remark about how "there's only one universe, you know."
Well, clearly, there isn't, and our heroine somehow ends up in an alternate one.
But that's really not clear except on the dust jacket. Because the second chapter is from the point of view of a crappy wannabe novelist named Tengo, who looks like a linebacker and whose salient personality trait seems to be that he's haunted by vivid memories of "someone who is not his father sucking his mother's breast."
F*ck I hate mainstream fiction.
I may be giving up on it soon, but, just when I was ready to, Green Pea busted out and assassinated someone. And, I was like, OKAY, I'm in! So, I don't know. It's also dauntingly gigantic at 925 pages, so we'll see...
February 21, 2014
Not to Jinx Anything, But...
Susan yet lives.
In fact, she's staring at me right now, just hanging out on the substrate, as loaches do.
I'm actually beginning to have hope that maybe, just maybe the 30 gallon tank could have LIFE again. Plus, damnit, Susan just has SO MUCH personality. Check her out:
Yes, she's "standing" on her fins in this picture, mugging it for the camera. She does that. I always used to wonder about that evolutionary moment of the fish crawling out onto land because I never realized JUST HOW MANY fish actually use their front fins this way. Answer: a lot. Loaches do it all the time. There are others, too, who seem to prefer this method of locomotion.
I had no idea.
In other news, you may have heard that Minnesota got hit with "a little" snow. I don't know what the final tally was, but they'd predicted 10 inches. I'd believe we got close to that, because trying to get the car over to the other side of the street (for plowing), I managed to get so stuck around the roundabout, that I think I brought the entire neighborhood together to push me back out.
Also, who was the idiot who decided it was a good idea to try to go to work last night? That's right: Moon-Moon, aka. me. Getting there wasn't too bad. The roads were mostly slushy at 4:30 pm. But, by 9 pm? There were winds that gave me moments of intense white-out, particularly when I drove past the fairgrounds. Worse, when we were doing "pros and cons" of ima calling in "sick," Mason "helpfully" calculated that, after taxes, I make about $30 a NIGHT. As I was driving through the blizzard, I thought, "What? This for a measly $30??"
What was even stranger to me? HOW MANY people looked out the window and said to themselves, "You know, I should go to the library right now and play some Grand Theft Auto on their computers." Seriously, when I was shelving upstairs I saw easily a dozen people doing their library things, and I thought: "Really, your copy of Nora Roberts couldn't wait for a day when you might not DIE driving home???"
On the other hand, the bosses were happy to see me. I think they expected a lot of people to bail. I hope I get some brownie points for it, because my training days are over. I now have to rely on need. So I'm going to have a LOT FEWER hours coming March!
It's funny because that's already a good deal/bad deal. I have to say it's easy to get used to the income. Since staying home to write and take care of Mason, Shawn and I have always lived... tightly. We have savings, but we've had to dip into it a lot recently, and with the little extra, we haven't That makes life a lot less tense, because money is just one of those things, you know?
Plus, I actually secretly ADORE the work I do at the library. None of it is particularly hard and I actually like helping people get library cards, renew books, and all the stuff I do at the front desk. I also love getting a chance to see what people request, when I'm filing those, and browse through the non-fiction when I'm shelving that... I mean, I've come home with such a broad variety of books thanks to this job. And libraries, like the university jobs I've had in the past, attract a very interesting crowd. My colleagues are all smart and interesting and READERS. Chatting with them is a highlight as well.
But, of course, not working means more writing... so... yeah.
They cancelled school today, which is no trauma for us, because Mason is still off school and will be for another week. Hopefully, with all this snow, we'll get some more chances at sledding. We also have movies to watch and games to play. I've been working evening hours, so my days have been free.
I think that's all the news... oh, no wait. I wanted to point people to this lovely review of Resurrection Code: http://booksfantastic.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/resurrection-code-angelink-universe-by-lyda-morehouse-mad-norwegian-press-paperback-isbn-9781935234098-14-95/
And to point out that, alas, Norwegian Press has put this book out of print. So, if you want one, you'll have to contact me (best way? lyda.morehouse@gmail.com).
Also, I have a lot of up-coming appearances. Here's the list from my web site:
In fact, she's staring at me right now, just hanging out on the substrate, as loaches do.
I'm actually beginning to have hope that maybe, just maybe the 30 gallon tank could have LIFE again. Plus, damnit, Susan just has SO MUCH personality. Check her out:
Yes, she's "standing" on her fins in this picture, mugging it for the camera. She does that. I always used to wonder about that evolutionary moment of the fish crawling out onto land because I never realized JUST HOW MANY fish actually use their front fins this way. Answer: a lot. Loaches do it all the time. There are others, too, who seem to prefer this method of locomotion.
I had no idea.
In other news, you may have heard that Minnesota got hit with "a little" snow. I don't know what the final tally was, but they'd predicted 10 inches. I'd believe we got close to that, because trying to get the car over to the other side of the street (for plowing), I managed to get so stuck around the roundabout, that I think I brought the entire neighborhood together to push me back out.
Also, who was the idiot who decided it was a good idea to try to go to work last night? That's right: Moon-Moon, aka. me. Getting there wasn't too bad. The roads were mostly slushy at 4:30 pm. But, by 9 pm? There were winds that gave me moments of intense white-out, particularly when I drove past the fairgrounds. Worse, when we were doing "pros and cons" of ima calling in "sick," Mason "helpfully" calculated that, after taxes, I make about $30 a NIGHT. As I was driving through the blizzard, I thought, "What? This for a measly $30??"
What was even stranger to me? HOW MANY people looked out the window and said to themselves, "You know, I should go to the library right now and play some Grand Theft Auto on their computers." Seriously, when I was shelving upstairs I saw easily a dozen people doing their library things, and I thought: "Really, your copy of Nora Roberts couldn't wait for a day when you might not DIE driving home???"
On the other hand, the bosses were happy to see me. I think they expected a lot of people to bail. I hope I get some brownie points for it, because my training days are over. I now have to rely on need. So I'm going to have a LOT FEWER hours coming March!
It's funny because that's already a good deal/bad deal. I have to say it's easy to get used to the income. Since staying home to write and take care of Mason, Shawn and I have always lived... tightly. We have savings, but we've had to dip into it a lot recently, and with the little extra, we haven't That makes life a lot less tense, because money is just one of those things, you know?
Plus, I actually secretly ADORE the work I do at the library. None of it is particularly hard and I actually like helping people get library cards, renew books, and all the stuff I do at the front desk. I also love getting a chance to see what people request, when I'm filing those, and browse through the non-fiction when I'm shelving that... I mean, I've come home with such a broad variety of books thanks to this job. And libraries, like the university jobs I've had in the past, attract a very interesting crowd. My colleagues are all smart and interesting and READERS. Chatting with them is a highlight as well.
But, of course, not working means more writing... so... yeah.
They cancelled school today, which is no trauma for us, because Mason is still off school and will be for another week. Hopefully, with all this snow, we'll get some more chances at sledding. We also have movies to watch and games to play. I've been working evening hours, so my days have been free.
I think that's all the news... oh, no wait. I wanted to point people to this lovely review of Resurrection Code: http://booksfantastic.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/resurrection-code-angelink-universe-by-lyda-morehouse-mad-norwegian-press-paperback-isbn-9781935234098-14-95/
And to point out that, alas, Norwegian Press has put this book out of print. So, if you want one, you'll have to contact me (best way? lyda.morehouse@gmail.com).
Also, I have a lot of up-coming appearances. Here's the list from my web site:
MARCH 2014
On Wednesday, March 26 from 6:30 to 7:45 pm, I will be the Speculations readers at Dreamhaven Books and Comics. Dreamhaven is located at 2301 E. 38th Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55406. You can get more information about the event by calling 612-823-6161 or visiting: http://dreamhavenbooks.com
APRIL 2014
On Saturday, April 19 from 1:00-2:00 pm I'll be the Loft's "First Pages" instructor for "Read to Write" a program for teens at the Chanhassen Library. The library is located at 7711 Kerber Blvd., Chanhassen, Minnesota.
The program description reads: Can reading The Hunger Games teach you to be a writer? You bet it can! By reading as much fiction as you can get your hands on, available right here at your public library, you can become the writer you’ve always wanted to be! Come learn what Harry Potter can teach you about world building in fiction; what Neil Gaiman can teach you about creating memorable characters; and what Veronica Roth’s Divergent series can teach you about plot! After this 90 minute session you’ll be inspired to write your own mind blowing fiction.
For more information call (952) 227-1500 or visit:https://www.carverlib.org/SitePages/chanhassen.aspx
MAY 2014
On Saturday, May 3, 2014 from 2:00-3:30 pm I'll once again be the Loft's "First Pages" instructor for te "Read to Write" program. This time it will be a little closer ot home at the Roseville Library (where I work as a page!). The library is located at 2180 Hamline Avenue in St. Paul, MN. The program description is the same as for Chanhassen. For more information call (651) 724-6001 or check out: http://www.rclreads.org.
JUNE 2014
If students sign up, I'll also be teaching a course called "More Than the Zombie Apocalypse: Writing the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novel" for 15-17 year olds as part of the Loft's Young Writer's Program. The class is currently scheduled forJune 16 - June 20, 2014, from 1:00-2:00 pm.
The course description reads: What do Hunger Games and Dr. Who have in common? They're both science fiction! Did you love fantasy novels like Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief or How to Train Your Dragon? If writing stories with zombies, robots, vampires, fairies, (or even unicorns!) is your thing, then this might be the class for you. We’ll discuss the difference between science fiction and fantasy, learn how to build believable worlds, and make readers rip through the pages of your short story or novel. We will play story games and have idea prompts with a science fiction/fantasy edge. If one of your goals is to break in and get professionally published, we will also discuss strategies that can make that happen!
For more information check out:https://www.loft.org/classes/about_youth_classes_6-17/!
February 18, 2014
I'm Doing Something Dangerous
I'm going to tell you that I bought a fish for the 30 gallon tank, which has, in the recent past, been quite sick. But, then again, it's probably already too late. We named her. Plus, I kind of already adore her.
She is a golden dojo loach (also called a pond loach or a weather loach.) Her name is Susan. And she's f*cking adorable. I mean, look at this face!
Of course, by the time you read this, she may be dead. I really, really hope not. I've been working like a mad lady to try to figure out what is UP with this 30 gallon tank. So much of the stuff I've put in it as died, like, almost instantly.
But weather loaches are supposed to be remarkably hardy. They're native to Japan and China and live (like beta) in rice paddies, which are fairly filthy places. They've likewise adapted to being tank mates to goldfish, who produce a crap ton of.. well, crap. The tank Susan is in was once the home of our mighty and long-lived Joe, who lived to be almost a decade old, but whose death may have polluted the tank beyond the Pale.
We'll see. Maybe if you put out some good energy for our Susan? Also, she has two golden snail companions, too, who I'm also hoping will live through the night (and possibly much, much longer.)
She is a golden dojo loach (also called a pond loach or a weather loach.) Her name is Susan. And she's f*cking adorable. I mean, look at this face!
Of course, by the time you read this, she may be dead. I really, really hope not. I've been working like a mad lady to try to figure out what is UP with this 30 gallon tank. So much of the stuff I've put in it as died, like, almost instantly.
But weather loaches are supposed to be remarkably hardy. They're native to Japan and China and live (like beta) in rice paddies, which are fairly filthy places. They've likewise adapted to being tank mates to goldfish, who produce a crap ton of.. well, crap. The tank Susan is in was once the home of our mighty and long-lived Joe, who lived to be almost a decade old, but whose death may have polluted the tank beyond the Pale.
We'll see. Maybe if you put out some good energy for our Susan? Also, she has two golden snail companions, too, who I'm also hoping will live through the night (and possibly much, much longer.)
February 15, 2014
Romance, Married Style
I'll be honest. Things started out badly for our hero. Shawn woke me up with a card and a classic heart-shaped box full of candy and...
...I had nothing.
Now, that's not to say that I wasn't prepared for Valentines, but, see, I kind of forgot about the whole card exchange thing that we usually did in the morning.
Needless to say, Shawn was a bit disappointed.
So, after dropping her off at work, Mason and I (and about a million tardy husbands and boyfriends) rushed to Kowalski's and got a card for her. Meanwhile, while doing other things on the web, I came across this, which I knew she'd appreciate:
I have a weird THING for the Moon-Moon meme that Shawn has had to suffer through, so I knew she'd appreciate being my Sun-Sun.
About ten minutes after sending along the above, I get a call from Shawn. "OMG. These flowers!"
That's right, my friends, WEEKS ago, I'd put in an order for a metric f*ck ton of red roses. I'd originally wanted to get one for all the years we'd been together (30), but do you even know how much roses cost during Valentine's??? Yeah, I settled for half.... which was probably good, because Shawn said that the people at the help desk, where all deliveries go at the Minnesota Historical Society, said they were wildly jealous when they saw the sheer SIZE of the flower box. It is, in point of fact, quite huge. With the big glass vase, it was almost too heavy for her to carry back to her office.
Shawn also told me that all the women who walked by her office for the rest of the day made happy remarks and pretty much walked away with an expression that could be read as "pretty sure I shoulda been a lesbian, what do you bet when I get home there'll be nothing...?" Shawn said I might be responsible for a lot of Husband/Boyfriend Fail.
Oh.. but was I done?
No, my friends, I am the QUEEN of ROMANCE.
Because, when Shawn got home, what was waiting, besides the Hallmark cards we'd dashed out to get? A dinner delivery at 5:15 pm from the Bitesquad. I happened to come across an Ethiopian Restaurant (alas, not our local favorite,) but one that had Shawn's Yeh Big Wat (phonetic spelling.) I'd set the table with a deep red table cloth, gotten the tall candles out (just like you're supposed to), and pulled out all the fancy china and the pretty wine glasses.
Mason wasn't all that into the spicy stuff, so I'd had a meal ready for him. He ate that with us and then politely excused himself upstairs so we could have private time.
Suffice to say, I had a good Valentine's.
...I had nothing.
Now, that's not to say that I wasn't prepared for Valentines, but, see, I kind of forgot about the whole card exchange thing that we usually did in the morning.
Needless to say, Shawn was a bit disappointed.
So, after dropping her off at work, Mason and I (and about a million tardy husbands and boyfriends) rushed to Kowalski's and got a card for her. Meanwhile, while doing other things on the web, I came across this, which I knew she'd appreciate:
I have a weird THING for the Moon-Moon meme that Shawn has had to suffer through, so I knew she'd appreciate being my Sun-Sun.
About ten minutes after sending along the above, I get a call from Shawn. "OMG. These flowers!"
That's right, my friends, WEEKS ago, I'd put in an order for a metric f*ck ton of red roses. I'd originally wanted to get one for all the years we'd been together (30), but do you even know how much roses cost during Valentine's??? Yeah, I settled for half.... which was probably good, because Shawn said that the people at the help desk, where all deliveries go at the Minnesota Historical Society, said they were wildly jealous when they saw the sheer SIZE of the flower box. It is, in point of fact, quite huge. With the big glass vase, it was almost too heavy for her to carry back to her office.
Shawn also told me that all the women who walked by her office for the rest of the day made happy remarks and pretty much walked away with an expression that could be read as "pretty sure I shoulda been a lesbian, what do you bet when I get home there'll be nothing...?" Shawn said I might be responsible for a lot of Husband/Boyfriend Fail.
Oh.. but was I done?
No, my friends, I am the QUEEN of ROMANCE.
Because, when Shawn got home, what was waiting, besides the Hallmark cards we'd dashed out to get? A dinner delivery at 5:15 pm from the Bitesquad. I happened to come across an Ethiopian Restaurant (alas, not our local favorite,) but one that had Shawn's Yeh Big Wat (phonetic spelling.) I'd set the table with a deep red table cloth, gotten the tall candles out (just like you're supposed to), and pulled out all the fancy china and the pretty wine glasses.
Mason wasn't all that into the spicy stuff, so I'd had a meal ready for him. He ate that with us and then politely excused himself upstairs so we could have private time.
Suffice to say, I had a good Valentine's.
February 12, 2014
Fish Disaster of a New Kind
I haven't even been posting much about my fish because... well, first, because it became routine maintenance and Joe (our biggest goldfish) just got bigger, and then after Joe's death it became one horror show after another in both tanks for some reason. I suspect they just got old and riddled with some kind of virus or crud. I tried a number of things to revitalize them. Currently the 30 gallon tank is sporting some of the most beautiful plant arrangements I've ever had, but the 10 gallon tank...
...sprung a leak.
Yeah, and right before work too. I was eating sushi (ironic?) and I looked over to see water on the floor under the bookcase that that tank sat on. LOTS of water. So I quickly drained what remained of the tank water (remember the fish are long gone at this point. In the 10 gallon even the plants are plastic and not worth rescuing.) Finally, the tank was light enough for me to pick up and so I put it in the downstairs tub. Then we had to pull out the bookcase and check the damage. We caught it early enough that the floor is fine. The books in the bookcase got a serious soaking, but since we knew the danger of having a fish tank over a bookcase, the books were... well, we LOVE all our books, but in this case it was 1970s encyclopedia set that had some sentimental value for Shawn but... well, only a few volumes were a complete loss. We can probably find replacement volumes on eBay or elsewhere.
The silver lining for me is that I get to buy a new tank. I'm kind of excited about this, because I was thinking that a complete strip down was my next move anyway. But, getting to buy the whole thing again is EVEN MORE FUN.
I've been indulging my love of Japanese garden designs in my fish tanks. The 30 gallon, which is currently only home to a couple of ghost-glass shrimp and two snails, is actually LUSH with plants (most of which are real).
Here, check it out:
There's a java fern on the driftwood and that other really spindly one is also real. Here's my little pagoda...
And finally, the full view:
The only bummer is, as pretty as it looks, there's still something possibly quite foul in there, since I've discovered a few of my ghost-glass shrimp dead. I can NOT figure out what it is, and it's pretty so, I've been letting it slowly clean itself. I keep up with the water changes and filtering and I keep hoping that it will soon be a great home for some actual animals that have spines. In the meantime, I'm trying to see if I can keep the little ones alive. If the snails croak, I'll know it's going to have to be a SILENT forest (or I'll have to restart this one too.)
At any rate, this is your warning. I may have a number of posts about the research I'm going to do for setting up of the new tank.
...sprung a leak.
Yeah, and right before work too. I was eating sushi (ironic?) and I looked over to see water on the floor under the bookcase that that tank sat on. LOTS of water. So I quickly drained what remained of the tank water (remember the fish are long gone at this point. In the 10 gallon even the plants are plastic and not worth rescuing.) Finally, the tank was light enough for me to pick up and so I put it in the downstairs tub. Then we had to pull out the bookcase and check the damage. We caught it early enough that the floor is fine. The books in the bookcase got a serious soaking, but since we knew the danger of having a fish tank over a bookcase, the books were... well, we LOVE all our books, but in this case it was 1970s encyclopedia set that had some sentimental value for Shawn but... well, only a few volumes were a complete loss. We can probably find replacement volumes on eBay or elsewhere.
The silver lining for me is that I get to buy a new tank. I'm kind of excited about this, because I was thinking that a complete strip down was my next move anyway. But, getting to buy the whole thing again is EVEN MORE FUN.
I've been indulging my love of Japanese garden designs in my fish tanks. The 30 gallon, which is currently only home to a couple of ghost-glass shrimp and two snails, is actually LUSH with plants (most of which are real).
Here, check it out:
There's a java fern on the driftwood and that other really spindly one is also real. Here's my little pagoda...
And finally, the full view:
The only bummer is, as pretty as it looks, there's still something possibly quite foul in there, since I've discovered a few of my ghost-glass shrimp dead. I can NOT figure out what it is, and it's pretty so, I've been letting it slowly clean itself. I keep up with the water changes and filtering and I keep hoping that it will soon be a great home for some actual animals that have spines. In the meantime, I'm trying to see if I can keep the little ones alive. If the snails croak, I'll know it's going to have to be a SILENT forest (or I'll have to restart this one too.)
At any rate, this is your warning. I may have a number of posts about the research I'm going to do for setting up of the new tank.
February 11, 2014
My Life, the Universe, and Everything
For the month of February I'm going to have the weirdest schedule. Mason has Inter-Session at his school. Inter-session is Crossroad's answer to not having a traditional summer vacation. Mason has three weeks off from school now, will again in May, and then have the month of August off. There are school programs if people have work issues, but we've always found a lot of value in the whole idea of taking time off to do the nothing Shawn and I remember fondly doing a lot of in the three months of summer vacation. Other Crossroad's families take vacations. For instance one of Mason's good friends is flying to New Zealand right now.
As you know, I've started a new job. I didn't feel entirely comfortable telling my new employer that I'm planning on just blowing off work for an entire three weeks (though I will feel *just fine* about it come May, because then I will have worked there a lot longer.) The point is, I've agreed to work a bunch of evening hours. Tonight I'll be at Roseville from 5 to 9. I'll be at Maplewood tomorrow night, and then back to Roseville Thursday night (which I belatedly remembered is supposed to be Wyrdsmiths.)
Working nights is weird. I'm sure I'll have other observations about it, once I've done it a few weeks in a row, but I think I sort of kind of like it. What I like about it right now is that I feel like I have the day off, even though I don't. For instance, I have the whole day to get stuff done. I'm sure I'll be super productive and do ALL THE THINGS.
(Miss Ball's opinion about how well that'll probably work out.)
But today is the day that I usually meet with some member of my writers' group to parallel play. In other words, we sit together and write. It's kind of our answer to the solitary life of a writer. And, it can be a lot of fun, because you have an audience who understands when you'd rather be playing Solitaire or can't remember a synonym or just want to read the cool line you just wrote that you're super-proud of.
In other news: last night, Shawn and I finally saw "Elysium." That's the science-ficiton film with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster? The one where the rich people have moved off Earth to a kind of Niven-esque ring world/L-5 colony? Yeah, that one. The one that looks super gritty? Yeah, it was grim. About as grim as I expected it to be, but it totally pushed some of my class buttons (in a good way.) I long ago confessed to
naomikritzer
that a science-fiction trope that ALWAYS works for me is "stop the line"/labor strike stories. They'll show up as Very Special Episodes on shows like Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek and every damn time (even though it's essentially the same story) I'll get little tears and my eyes and secretly think it was the BEST EVER. "Elysium" isn't quite that story made large, but there're elements of that trope in the movie... particularly the end, which I won't spoil beyond that.
There was a surprise character moment for me in "Elysium." There's a mercenary/thief/fence-type named Spider who is pretty loathsome when you first meet him, but it becomes clear throughout the course of the film that he's weirdly... altruistic and kind of has been all along if you think about it for a few minutes. He was my FAVORITE character, honestly.
So thumbs up? Maybe. I wouldn't necessarily tell you to go out of your way to see "Elysium," but I wouldn't warn you off it either. I ultimately enjoyed it. But Shawn had to look away several times because it was so gritty-dark and the beginning is so unrelenting that she kept asking, "Should we turn it off? Is this just going to be AWFUL??" I'm glad we stuck with it, but, see: I can't exactly recommend it without reservations.
We were able to watch a movie like that last night, though, because Mason was PASSED OUT. He'd had a sleepover the night before (Sunday to Monday, because of Inter-Session) and I kind of intentionally ran the kids around on Sunday. Mason's buddy is a bit of a couch potato otaku, which are in point of fact MY people, but Mason can get irritable and restless if he sits ALL DAY. So we let them game well into Sunday night and then yesterday I got them involved building marble towers (those Rube-Goldberg-type things) and then took them sledding at the St. Paul Country Club's golf course hill.
So, yeah, there's a date stamp now. That's not from my camera, but from the stupid Mac iPhoto. (Man, I hate Macs. I don't know why people are such proponents.) At any rate, they had a lot of fun, but the rest was that Mason crashed sometime before dinner and we couldn't even rouse him to eat. So, he slept until this morning--a whopping 13 and a 1/2 hours! I told him he's getting practice in for being a teenager!
As you know, I've started a new job. I didn't feel entirely comfortable telling my new employer that I'm planning on just blowing off work for an entire three weeks (though I will feel *just fine* about it come May, because then I will have worked there a lot longer.) The point is, I've agreed to work a bunch of evening hours. Tonight I'll be at Roseville from 5 to 9. I'll be at Maplewood tomorrow night, and then back to Roseville Thursday night (which I belatedly remembered is supposed to be Wyrdsmiths.)
Working nights is weird. I'm sure I'll have other observations about it, once I've done it a few weeks in a row, but I think I sort of kind of like it. What I like about it right now is that I feel like I have the day off, even though I don't. For instance, I have the whole day to get stuff done. I'm sure I'll be super productive and do ALL THE THINGS.
(Miss Ball's opinion about how well that'll probably work out.)
But today is the day that I usually meet with some member of my writers' group to parallel play. In other words, we sit together and write. It's kind of our answer to the solitary life of a writer. And, it can be a lot of fun, because you have an audience who understands when you'd rather be playing Solitaire or can't remember a synonym or just want to read the cool line you just wrote that you're super-proud of.
In other news: last night, Shawn and I finally saw "Elysium." That's the science-ficiton film with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster? The one where the rich people have moved off Earth to a kind of Niven-esque ring world/L-5 colony? Yeah, that one. The one that looks super gritty? Yeah, it was grim. About as grim as I expected it to be, but it totally pushed some of my class buttons (in a good way.) I long ago confessed to
naomikritzer
that a science-fiction trope that ALWAYS works for me is "stop the line"/labor strike stories. They'll show up as Very Special Episodes on shows like Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek and every damn time (even though it's essentially the same story) I'll get little tears and my eyes and secretly think it was the BEST EVER. "Elysium" isn't quite that story made large, but there're elements of that trope in the movie... particularly the end, which I won't spoil beyond that.There was a surprise character moment for me in "Elysium." There's a mercenary/thief/fence-type named Spider who is pretty loathsome when you first meet him, but it becomes clear throughout the course of the film that he's weirdly... altruistic and kind of has been all along if you think about it for a few minutes. He was my FAVORITE character, honestly.
So thumbs up? Maybe. I wouldn't necessarily tell you to go out of your way to see "Elysium," but I wouldn't warn you off it either. I ultimately enjoyed it. But Shawn had to look away several times because it was so gritty-dark and the beginning is so unrelenting that she kept asking, "Should we turn it off? Is this just going to be AWFUL??" I'm glad we stuck with it, but, see: I can't exactly recommend it without reservations.
We were able to watch a movie like that last night, though, because Mason was PASSED OUT. He'd had a sleepover the night before (Sunday to Monday, because of Inter-Session) and I kind of intentionally ran the kids around on Sunday. Mason's buddy is a bit of a couch potato otaku, which are in point of fact MY people, but Mason can get irritable and restless if he sits ALL DAY. So we let them game well into Sunday night and then yesterday I got them involved building marble towers (those Rube-Goldberg-type things) and then took them sledding at the St. Paul Country Club's golf course hill.
So, yeah, there's a date stamp now. That's not from my camera, but from the stupid Mac iPhoto. (Man, I hate Macs. I don't know why people are such proponents.) At any rate, they had a lot of fun, but the rest was that Mason crashed sometime before dinner and we couldn't even rouse him to eat. So, he slept until this morning--a whopping 13 and a 1/2 hours! I told him he's getting practice in for being a teenager!
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