Gillian Polack's Blog, page 276
January 9, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-01-09T20:00:00
Today has been very frustrating. Despite this (and much emoting) I've finished four things from my urgent list, with the possibility of finishing two more tonight. I meant to start the big stuff today, however, and it's not going to happen.
I get jumpy in the lead up to big stuff, so expect many nerves until my next 5,000 words are written. Make that the next 7,000 words, as 2,000 of those words are very straightforward and not the stuff of drama.
The moment my urgent list is finished with, another one takes its place. I have a mere few weeks before the rest of the world decides what to do with my day. Right now it's possible to get most things done, if I work hard enough and if people around me stop getting ill or forgetting things. In a few weeks time my life will be a circus act.
At least everyone knows why I'm so jumpy now. And that it will get better.
From August, my life ought to calm right down again.
I get jumpy in the lead up to big stuff, so expect many nerves until my next 5,000 words are written. Make that the next 7,000 words, as 2,000 of those words are very straightforward and not the stuff of drama.
The moment my urgent list is finished with, another one takes its place. I have a mere few weeks before the rest of the world decides what to do with my day. Right now it's possible to get most things done, if I work hard enough and if people around me stop getting ill or forgetting things. In a few weeks time my life will be a circus act.
At least everyone knows why I'm so jumpy now. And that it will get better.
From August, my life ought to calm right down again.
January 8, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-01-08T13:02:00
I have two lists to govern my life. One is for the cookbook and includes five emails without which I cannot proceed. Once I have those five, I can finalise the first draft within a day.
This explains why "cookbook" is on my second list. The second list is to reduce the feeling of overwhelm I had when my neighbour decided I didn't need to sleep last night. This is not the same neighbour who felt that sleep last weekend was not a priority.
The second list is only eleven items long. If it were everything I have to do in the next seven days, it would be about triple the length. It's the "I'm in big trouble if I don't get this done" list, and is as short as I can make it. I intend to reduce it by at least two items today, because overwhelm is not my favourite feeling. I also intend to take time out this afternoon/evening and be all foodie with friends.
My handbag book for the weekend is Aliette de Bodard's Harbinger of the Storm. I'll report on it as soon as I finish it, as it's another Angry Robot book (they sent me a lovely parcel that arrived last week). My other review book is Stephen Bertman's The Genesis of Science, which arrived in the mail just yesterday. The book I'm trying not to take from the shelf (useful for food history research, but the most depressing book I own and so I hate getting it out) is In Memory's Kitchen. The magazines I'm reading (in bits and pieces) are the latest ASIM and Parergon. The book at the back of my mind (and one of the many inhabiting my coffee table) is Clemence of Barking's Life of St Catherine. My reward book for catching up on everything is Elfsorrow (James Barclay). The book that really ought not be on my sorting shelf is Storied Kitchens, but I keep forgetting to put it away. The pile of books that most urgently needs to go away has Lambert's Du manuscrit a la table on the top and Thomas Dawson's Good Huswifes Jewell at the bottom and has just been rescued from an ungraceful topple. The novels closest to my bed are by Michael Chabon and Marian Eldridge, except for the London Street Directory (which isn't by either, although part of it is most certainly fictional). The last book I read was by Elizabeth Chadwick. Today's book situation is entirely controlled and, in fact, there is much space between books. It's not always this clear. (Simply writing this paragraph explains to me why I'm often stymied when people ask "What are you reading?")
This explains why "cookbook" is on my second list. The second list is to reduce the feeling of overwhelm I had when my neighbour decided I didn't need to sleep last night. This is not the same neighbour who felt that sleep last weekend was not a priority.
The second list is only eleven items long. If it were everything I have to do in the next seven days, it would be about triple the length. It's the "I'm in big trouble if I don't get this done" list, and is as short as I can make it. I intend to reduce it by at least two items today, because overwhelm is not my favourite feeling. I also intend to take time out this afternoon/evening and be all foodie with friends.
My handbag book for the weekend is Aliette de Bodard's Harbinger of the Storm. I'll report on it as soon as I finish it, as it's another Angry Robot book (they sent me a lovely parcel that arrived last week). My other review book is Stephen Bertman's The Genesis of Science, which arrived in the mail just yesterday. The book I'm trying not to take from the shelf (useful for food history research, but the most depressing book I own and so I hate getting it out) is In Memory's Kitchen. The magazines I'm reading (in bits and pieces) are the latest ASIM and Parergon. The book at the back of my mind (and one of the many inhabiting my coffee table) is Clemence of Barking's Life of St Catherine. My reward book for catching up on everything is Elfsorrow (James Barclay). The book that really ought not be on my sorting shelf is Storied Kitchens, but I keep forgetting to put it away. The pile of books that most urgently needs to go away has Lambert's Du manuscrit a la table on the top and Thomas Dawson's Good Huswifes Jewell at the bottom and has just been rescued from an ungraceful topple. The novels closest to my bed are by Michael Chabon and Marian Eldridge, except for the London Street Directory (which isn't by either, although part of it is most certainly fictional). The last book I read was by Elizabeth Chadwick. Today's book situation is entirely controlled and, in fact, there is much space between books. It's not always this clear. (Simply writing this paragraph explains to me why I'm often stymied when people ask "What are you reading?")
January 7, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-01-07T22:16:00
Today I keep doing daft things. I've decided to redeem myself by telling you about the first of the new crop of Angry Robot books. It was released yesterday in the UK and I finished reading it way early in the week and feel rather guilty I haven't blogged it. I possibly shouldn't've got that virus?
The novel is by J Robert King and is called Death's Disciples. It's very hard to describe without giving stuff away. I'm tempted to try, because even if I give you key plot points, they'll twist in on themselves. Except it's a rude thing to do and I'm in a polite mood tonight.
What *can* I tell you about Death's Disciples? The thing that fascinates me the most is the way King plays with narrative conventions. This is something that's true of most of the Angry Robot books - they don't simply lift tropes and re-express them. King sets the whole story up as kind of a half-way house between a standard thriller and Lost. Someone survives a plane disaster who should not. Just one person. And the consequences are potentially very nasty.
What's interesting about King's book is that it has many of the hallmarks of a thriller, and quite a few of dark horror and yet, somehow, King makes me care about characters. This is not normal for me. Thrillers are not my reading of choice most of the time, mostly because the characters in thrillers are so often subsumed to the plot. I lost that caring partway through, but there were reasons for that, too.
Death's Disciples isn't as tight as King's Angel of Death. This is both good (heroes and heroines take longer to emerge, the ending isn't as cut and dried) and not so good (I didn't enjoy the last hundred pages nearly as much as I enjoyed the first two hundred or so).
It's not a pleasant book (it's dark horror - of course it's not pleasant) but I cared to see what happened and didn't switch off until well, I can't tell you why I switched off because it's plot related. King made a choice that made it hard to follow a thread the whole way through the novel and the thread I was following was the one of the ones that helped me enjoy the novel. It was clever, and fans of that kind of apocalyptic horror will love it. For me, however, the personal counts very highly, and he lost me.
I loved the initial premise. Sleeping beauty wakes up with an attitude, but no memory. She also wakes up with the ability to talk to every single person who died on the plane she was on. The dual mystery that spins out from that is how she escaped that bomb and who wants her dead.
I also loved lots of the dialogue. There was a casual snark and occasional racism and bigotry contained in the dialogue. Not a lot, just enough to tell us a bunch about the characters and and their world. It meant that the novel was about more than fear. That element of the dialogue helped hold the thread to the characters and kept me interested in them for so long. It was when that dialogue was overwhelmed by events that I paused.
Overall, I found it twisty, very, very dark and a solid read. Not my favourite Angry Robot book, but still enjoyable.
The novel is by J Robert King and is called Death's Disciples. It's very hard to describe without giving stuff away. I'm tempted to try, because even if I give you key plot points, they'll twist in on themselves. Except it's a rude thing to do and I'm in a polite mood tonight.
What *can* I tell you about Death's Disciples? The thing that fascinates me the most is the way King plays with narrative conventions. This is something that's true of most of the Angry Robot books - they don't simply lift tropes and re-express them. King sets the whole story up as kind of a half-way house between a standard thriller and Lost. Someone survives a plane disaster who should not. Just one person. And the consequences are potentially very nasty.
What's interesting about King's book is that it has many of the hallmarks of a thriller, and quite a few of dark horror and yet, somehow, King makes me care about characters. This is not normal for me. Thrillers are not my reading of choice most of the time, mostly because the characters in thrillers are so often subsumed to the plot. I lost that caring partway through, but there were reasons for that, too.
Death's Disciples isn't as tight as King's Angel of Death. This is both good (heroes and heroines take longer to emerge, the ending isn't as cut and dried) and not so good (I didn't enjoy the last hundred pages nearly as much as I enjoyed the first two hundred or so).
It's not a pleasant book (it's dark horror - of course it's not pleasant) but I cared to see what happened and didn't switch off until well, I can't tell you why I switched off because it's plot related. King made a choice that made it hard to follow a thread the whole way through the novel and the thread I was following was the one of the ones that helped me enjoy the novel. It was clever, and fans of that kind of apocalyptic horror will love it. For me, however, the personal counts very highly, and he lost me.
I loved the initial premise. Sleeping beauty wakes up with an attitude, but no memory. She also wakes up with the ability to talk to every single person who died on the plane she was on. The dual mystery that spins out from that is how she escaped that bomb and who wants her dead.
I also loved lots of the dialogue. There was a casual snark and occasional racism and bigotry contained in the dialogue. Not a lot, just enough to tell us a bunch about the characters and and their world. It meant that the novel was about more than fear. That element of the dialogue helped hold the thread to the characters and kept me interested in them for so long. It was when that dialogue was overwhelmed by events that I paused.
Overall, I found it twisty, very, very dark and a solid read. Not my favourite Angry Robot book, but still enjoyable.
January 5, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-01-06T07:59:00
This is one of those days I shall take one step at a time. The migraine doesn't want to go - sound and sight are still magnified. The virus is improving - I'm out of bed! The deadlines remind me they're still here - I have a long working day today. What this means is that I shall take today very carefully. I shall complete all my work and rest, sequentially.
If I improve enough, I have an Angry Robot book to report on this afternoon. If my head still hurts when I look at my computer screen, then you get the report tomorrow.
While I was feeling sorry for myself earlier, I realised that I didn't get my 2 weeks leave in September. I took some of it (for AussieCon) but missed much of it due to university deadlines. And I didn't take leave over Christmas, because I could see no reason behind taking time off when there was no-one to spend it with and nothing to do (Canberra closes down more than most cities at this time of year - it won't start up again until next week). In fact, I had trouble even taking weekends off, because of the boredom factor and the deadline factor. I've met all my first year's milestones, however, and probably ought to take a couple of days off before teaching begins. The question is, what do I do with them? There are all sorts of restrictions on my activities due to the money and the health issues. I suspect, however, I would not be hurting as much today if I took a bit more time off occasionally. I shall think on this further.
If I improve enough, I have an Angry Robot book to report on this afternoon. If my head still hurts when I look at my computer screen, then you get the report tomorrow.
While I was feeling sorry for myself earlier, I realised that I didn't get my 2 weeks leave in September. I took some of it (for AussieCon) but missed much of it due to university deadlines. And I didn't take leave over Christmas, because I could see no reason behind taking time off when there was no-one to spend it with and nothing to do (Canberra closes down more than most cities at this time of year - it won't start up again until next week). In fact, I had trouble even taking weekends off, because of the boredom factor and the deadline factor. I've met all my first year's milestones, however, and probably ought to take a couple of days off before teaching begins. The question is, what do I do with them? There are all sorts of restrictions on my activities due to the money and the health issues. I suspect, however, I would not be hurting as much today if I took a bit more time off occasionally. I shall think on this further.
gillpolack @ 2011-01-05T19:41:00
I'm so lucky! Small virus *and* Weather! It's an equation. Virus+ Weather= Curious Dreams.
I go to weatch Star Wars with the volume strangely low. It's my alternate to not sleeping, since sleeping left me feeling I'd just lived a chapter from horror novel.
Tomorrow this virus shall be banished. The storm will go much sooner.
ETA: I was tempted to leave a piece of spam comment on my blog. Why? Because the spammer had commented on my fascinating topics and it was the other "Waah, I'm sick" post. Maybe I'm more interesting when off-colour?
ETA: Storm dreams began a really horrendous migraine which has just emerged fully (it was slow onset). I shall be out of commission until Friday, not tomorrow. Sorry folks. I shall reply to emails and etc Friday. Til then, bed and panadeine forte are my friends.
I go to weatch Star Wars with the volume strangely low. It's my alternate to not sleeping, since sleeping left me feeling I'd just lived a chapter from horror novel.
Tomorrow this virus shall be banished. The storm will go much sooner.
ETA: I was tempted to leave a piece of spam comment on my blog. Why? Because the spammer had commented on my fascinating topics and it was the other "Waah, I'm sick" post. Maybe I'm more interesting when off-colour?
ETA: Storm dreams began a really horrendous migraine which has just emerged fully (it was slow onset). I shall be out of commission until Friday, not tomorrow. Sorry folks. I shall reply to emails and etc Friday. Til then, bed and panadeine forte are my friends.
gillpolack @ 2011-01-05T12:28:00
Today I have a mild virus. Yesterday I had an even milder virus, but I tried to bludgeon my way through it. Today I am beyond bludgeoning. I had a big and strong cup of coffee with breakfast and fell straight asleep after it. (I shall be noble and refrain from giving you all my symptoms.)
I still have about 5 hours of work that must be done, come hell or highwater, but I've already slept the morning away and plan to lounge around feeling a little sorry for myself and watching TV and old movies the minute I meet my most urgent deadlines. Since my deadline is 5.30 pm, this may well work.
In other news: I've run out of Tim Tams. This alone should have told me I was ill - when I'm well, I can only eat one in a day - multiple Tim Tams are too sweet for me these days.
I still have about 5 hours of work that must be done, come hell or highwater, but I've already slept the morning away and plan to lounge around feeling a little sorry for myself and watching TV and old movies the minute I meet my most urgent deadlines. Since my deadline is 5.30 pm, this may well work.
In other news: I've run out of Tim Tams. This alone should have told me I was ill - when I'm well, I can only eat one in a day - multiple Tim Tams are too sweet for me these days.
January 4, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-01-04T12:26:00
An update for all those who were deeply concerned. My Crichton notes did not run off with the paprika. They ran off with my notes on applied history. The top page on the pile started with "Tosh" which says it all, really.
gillpolack @ 2011-01-04T11:36:00
Dear universe
Next time I do something awesome that quietly sorts problems for a bunch of people, please stop for a moment and let me take a breath. Wait for a moment before you let anyone say "Oh yeah, but what about such-and such?"
Also, next time I take notes and carefully put them in a place DO NOT MOVE THEM. Also, DO NOT LET ANYONE ELSE MOVE THEM. Not even me. My Crichton notes are not where I remember leaving them. I've searched for ten minutes and can't find them at all. I shall look again after this whinge, because today they were supposed to be written up. I have all my other notes, which is very odd. I have also lost my paprika. If my Crichton notes have run away with my paprika and they are engaged in illicit activity I won't be pleased.
I have heaps of coffee now - thank you. Also - unexpectedly - heaps of tea (though not as big heaps as the coffee). And heaps of coffee with chicory (more than the tea and less than the coffee - a medium heap, perhaps), which I'm drinking right now. If you would kindly make the water not taste of chlorine so that I could drink more plain water, then I would have plenty of fine things to drink.
Whatever you did to the partygoers worked and I got a night's sleep last night. Thank you for that. Pain levels are diminishing, which is equally nice (and very much related).
It's all about petty things today, I'm afraid. I'll thank you for the big things (good) and scold you for the big things (bad) privately.
Gillian
Next time I do something awesome that quietly sorts problems for a bunch of people, please stop for a moment and let me take a breath. Wait for a moment before you let anyone say "Oh yeah, but what about such-and such?"
Also, next time I take notes and carefully put them in a place DO NOT MOVE THEM. Also, DO NOT LET ANYONE ELSE MOVE THEM. Not even me. My Crichton notes are not where I remember leaving them. I've searched for ten minutes and can't find them at all. I shall look again after this whinge, because today they were supposed to be written up. I have all my other notes, which is very odd. I have also lost my paprika. If my Crichton notes have run away with my paprika and they are engaged in illicit activity I won't be pleased.
I have heaps of coffee now - thank you. Also - unexpectedly - heaps of tea (though not as big heaps as the coffee). And heaps of coffee with chicory (more than the tea and less than the coffee - a medium heap, perhaps), which I'm drinking right now. If you would kindly make the water not taste of chlorine so that I could drink more plain water, then I would have plenty of fine things to drink.
Whatever you did to the partygoers worked and I got a night's sleep last night. Thank you for that. Pain levels are diminishing, which is equally nice (and very much related).
It's all about petty things today, I'm afraid. I'll thank you for the big things (good) and scold you for the big things (bad) privately.
Gillian
January 3, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-01-03T21:48:00
I have run out of things I have to read for this chapter. No more books. No more articles. This means I have no choice. I have to sort my notes. I also have to write up the chapter. Words!!! Not tonight, though. Tonight is about taking hefty piles of notes and sorting them and working out how they fit together. An intellectual jigsaw.
You know what this means? In three days time the flat surfaces in this room will be visible again. What a terrible thought.
You know what this means? In three days time the flat surfaces in this room will be visible again. What a terrible thought.
gillpolack @ 2011-01-03T18:57:00
I am an equal opportunity offender: give me an opportunity and I'll offend everyone, equally: http://www.bibliobuffet.com/bookish-dreaming/1432-middle-aged-festivities-010211
I don't really know what got into me this week. I promise to behave for my next column.
I don't really know what got into me this week. I promise to behave for my next column.
