Gillian Polack's Blog, page 283
November 25, 2010
gillpolack @ 2010-11-25T20:46:00
The weather is still coming. My singing Dracula pop-up model is now finished and protecting a bookshelf. Chanukah presents are done. Other presents need to be wrapped. My big choices are work or housework. What I *want* to do is fast forward until this interminable front crosses, but my fast forward button seems to be on the blink.
Work and TV - at once - with the possibility of wrapping presents and maybe doing another paper model. The housework can wait. Although if it wanted to do itself, I would be much obliged.
My life is wildly exciting on Thursday evenings, isn't it?
Work and TV - at once - with the possibility of wrapping presents and maybe doing another paper model. The housework can wait. Although if it wanted to do itself, I would be much obliged.
My life is wildly exciting on Thursday evenings, isn't it?
Aurealis auction
I thought I'd remind everyone needing more good reading, more gifts or wanting to support Aurealis that the auction on ebay finishes in a half day. It's here: http://shop.ebay.com.au/cdb12345/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p167 There are some seriously cool books up for grabs - signed versions, all.
gillpolack @ 2010-11-25T11:08:00
The weather is still changing, which is slow and tedious and rather dull, so many hours later. I'm beginning to wonder if I just get all the weatherchange symptoms then the change itself skirts the ACT and it's sunny skies all the way.
This morning I deserve two cups of coffee. And a phone call.
This morning I deserve two cups of coffee. And a phone call.
November 24, 2010
gillpolack @ 2010-11-24T20:13:00
I'm having an unexpected night at home. Not off, just at home. I'm dealing sequentially with a weather change and accompanying migraine. I work when it subsides and rest when the symptoms overtake. Very logical, really.
My mother thought it was very logical. I rang her to check up and swap news (she's going to Broken Hill tomorrow, for this) Toby-the-cat doesn't know about centenary celebrations or that a bunch of Mum's friends are going together and plan to have much fun. He thinks he's being punished for killing many mice and is Not Happy. If he remains Not Happy, my sister will take delivery of him till Mum returns and he will no doubt be spoiled.
Anyhow, Mum was about to water the garden and she was happy to stop and chat when I told her it would rain in Melbourne in short order. She had to get off the phone to stop the rain coming in when it started, but we had a good chat before then. I got to hear that the bloke who's running the synagogue service this Saturday in Broken Hill has a day job that takes him beyond the back of Burke. He's one of the most interesting doctors in Australia, I suspect and I need to find out more about him.
My next few days are theoretically full of excitement. The reality is, however, I really need to rest and maybe to catch up on reviews. Last weekend was tremendous fun, but just a bit much. Maybe I should be caged and taken to the cattery, with young Toby. We could keep each other company.
My mother thought it was very logical. I rang her to check up and swap news (she's going to Broken Hill tomorrow, for this) Toby-the-cat doesn't know about centenary celebrations or that a bunch of Mum's friends are going together and plan to have much fun. He thinks he's being punished for killing many mice and is Not Happy. If he remains Not Happy, my sister will take delivery of him till Mum returns and he will no doubt be spoiled.
Anyhow, Mum was about to water the garden and she was happy to stop and chat when I told her it would rain in Melbourne in short order. She had to get off the phone to stop the rain coming in when it started, but we had a good chat before then. I got to hear that the bloke who's running the synagogue service this Saturday in Broken Hill has a day job that takes him beyond the back of Burke. He's one of the most interesting doctors in Australia, I suspect and I need to find out more about him.
My next few days are theoretically full of excitement. The reality is, however, I really need to rest and maybe to catch up on reviews. Last weekend was tremendous fun, but just a bit much. Maybe I should be caged and taken to the cattery, with young Toby. We could keep each other company.
gillpolack @ 2010-11-24T17:13:00
We have the main course vegetarian option sorted for the Conflux banquet. I've still got a few dishes to test for other bits of the feast, but they can wait until December. The solution turned out to be completely in keeping with the non-vegetarian main course - the dishes will be mirror images of each other. Also very filling. Also (I can't stop myself thinking) the sort of food that
![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380442897i/1319734.gif)
desperance
would entirely enjoy. I keep wanting to tell him this, but am positing long-distance strangulation if I do.
I know the banquet isn't until October 2011, but the final menu and the recipes need to be in the cookbook and I've been instructed that January is a suitable time for editing to begin. It's rather good to have everything bar dessert and the exact meat recipe for the main meat dish to be finalised (I know the dish, but I have five versions of it and, naturally, I want the yummiest of the five) sorted.
Today's word of the day was 'extinguish' which led, as night follows day, to a second word of the day which was the obvious 'antidisestablishmentarianism.' My students made political jokes and we discussed the wonders of prefixes. Fluffy ducks (the bird, not the drink) also made an appearance, although I have yet to establish why.
Also, I have my package of review books and intend to have finished with them all by Monday, because I'm hoping a second and maybe even a third package is on the way. Lots of different kinds of reading: I'm in danger of becoming halfway educated. Only halfway, however.
In the background, I'm still thinking about the various roles bric-a-brac and ephemera play in novels. One thing I'm convinced about is that some writers - in streamlining posessions and simplifying the physical surrounds - create fewer places for the reader to enter into the work and say "I know that. I understand that." (For the record, my readers' comments suggest that the mirror, the food and the ants all serve this role about equally in Life Through Cellophane.)
desperance
would entirely enjoy. I keep wanting to tell him this, but am positing long-distance strangulation if I do.I know the banquet isn't until October 2011, but the final menu and the recipes need to be in the cookbook and I've been instructed that January is a suitable time for editing to begin. It's rather good to have everything bar dessert and the exact meat recipe for the main meat dish to be finalised (I know the dish, but I have five versions of it and, naturally, I want the yummiest of the five) sorted.
Today's word of the day was 'extinguish' which led, as night follows day, to a second word of the day which was the obvious 'antidisestablishmentarianism.' My students made political jokes and we discussed the wonders of prefixes. Fluffy ducks (the bird, not the drink) also made an appearance, although I have yet to establish why.
Also, I have my package of review books and intend to have finished with them all by Monday, because I'm hoping a second and maybe even a third package is on the way. Lots of different kinds of reading: I'm in danger of becoming halfway educated. Only halfway, however.
In the background, I'm still thinking about the various roles bric-a-brac and ephemera play in novels. One thing I'm convinced about is that some writers - in streamlining posessions and simplifying the physical surrounds - create fewer places for the reader to enter into the work and say "I know that. I understand that." (For the record, my readers' comments suggest that the mirror, the food and the ants all serve this role about equally in Life Through Cellophane.)
November 23, 2010
gillpolack @ 2010-11-23T15:04:00
My in-box is slowly diminishing. This is good, because I remembered (about ten minutes ago) that I promised myself a day off today. I shall take a half day off and take the other half some other time. Thursday, perhaps. (working from 9-3 and then again late in the evening isn't really a half day, I suspect, but I won't tell anyone if you don't. And I shall take at least an hour off right now. At once.)
There are bunches of things I meant to blog about and I've even taken notes on some of them, but I haven't sorted my notes yet. Too busy answering emails and pondering the nature of epehemeral possessions and their role in culture and why I can't think of many of them in SFF and whether it would break tropes too much if I littered lives with small things. I was teaching this last week - that it's not only a modern Western thing to have small possessions and many of them and that they're important indicators of both culture and character and I've been trying to think through this concept ever since.
My aid to thinking came in the mail this morning: it's a fold and glue pop-up Dracula and it does disco in its coffin when you crank the wheel. The coffin is 9/10 done, but Dracula is still unstarted. By the time he's finished and bopping in his box, I shall have a decision on the relative weighting of silly possessions and human beings in the quite specific cultures of my novel. If I put the Dracula in the novel, then it will remind me of my thought processes. I can only put the Dracula in the novel if the decisions shape material culture in that direction, however - and I've already been accused of messing with peoples' minds today so I really ought to stop right now, right here and take that hour off.
Except...I suddenly want to know. Has anyone read any SF novels recently that have lots of trivial possessions as part of the world/scene/everything? Or do most people in most SF novels move through clean and clutterless environments?
There are bunches of things I meant to blog about and I've even taken notes on some of them, but I haven't sorted my notes yet. Too busy answering emails and pondering the nature of epehemeral possessions and their role in culture and why I can't think of many of them in SFF and whether it would break tropes too much if I littered lives with small things. I was teaching this last week - that it's not only a modern Western thing to have small possessions and many of them and that they're important indicators of both culture and character and I've been trying to think through this concept ever since.
My aid to thinking came in the mail this morning: it's a fold and glue pop-up Dracula and it does disco in its coffin when you crank the wheel. The coffin is 9/10 done, but Dracula is still unstarted. By the time he's finished and bopping in his box, I shall have a decision on the relative weighting of silly possessions and human beings in the quite specific cultures of my novel. If I put the Dracula in the novel, then it will remind me of my thought processes. I can only put the Dracula in the novel if the decisions shape material culture in that direction, however - and I've already been accused of messing with peoples' minds today so I really ought to stop right now, right here and take that hour off.
Except...I suddenly want to know. Has anyone read any SF novels recently that have lots of trivial possessions as part of the world/scene/everything? Or do most people in most SF novels move through clean and clutterless environments?
November 22, 2010
gillpolack @ 2010-11-23T10:39:00
I'm 2/3 caught up with emails and need a break. Before I have a break, however, I ought to post that I have a new article up at BiblioBuffet.
gillpolack @ 2010-11-22T22:44:00
I'm home and will probably (maybe?) do a proper post tomorrow. It's been a very eventful and good few days and I'm a bit tired. OK, more than a bit.
I'm a bit bemused by the number of people who told me they waved to me at AussieCon and were surprised when I didn't wave back. Now they know I couldn't see them, all is well. Or at least significantly less embarrassing. I now want to re-do AussieCon with vision...
I'm going to sort the notes from my research morning in Sydney. I have some rather cool information from archaeological digs (say after me: "Archaeologists are a fiction writer's very good friend") and I need to work out how I'm going to use it. After that I shall sleep. In fact, I shall not even unpack my alarm clock. When I wake up tomorrow, I start being busy again, and I've had early mornings for eight days, and I rather like the thought of being surprised by the time when I wake up. Not surprised the way I was the other day, when I got up and worked for an hour and then discovered that - after the hour - it was seven am. I want a morning of being my lazy self. I especially want this to happen on a Tuesday, when the whole of Canberra is working very hard...except for me.
I'm a bit bemused by the number of people who told me they waved to me at AussieCon and were surprised when I didn't wave back. Now they know I couldn't see them, all is well. Or at least significantly less embarrassing. I now want to re-do AussieCon with vision...
I'm going to sort the notes from my research morning in Sydney. I have some rather cool information from archaeological digs (say after me: "Archaeologists are a fiction writer's very good friend") and I need to work out how I'm going to use it. After that I shall sleep. In fact, I shall not even unpack my alarm clock. When I wake up tomorrow, I start being busy again, and I've had early mornings for eight days, and I rather like the thought of being surprised by the time when I wake up. Not surprised the way I was the other day, when I got up and worked for an hour and then discovered that - after the hour - it was seven am. I want a morning of being my lazy self. I especially want this to happen on a Tuesday, when the whole of Canberra is working very hard...except for me.
November 21, 2010
gillpolack @ 2010-11-21T18:56:00
I have so many things to report: being read a poem by an SF fan while packing books (end of the Freecon), meeting readers who like my books (and told me so!), dropping in on the Bankstown Eid festival (I so wanted a particularly gorgeous mauve and silver hijab, but I couldn't see where I'd get to wear it). shopping with Llyn (we had a great deal of fun and were exceptionally well behaved), lots of thoughts, a long meeting with my supervisor (I am so much doing a PhD - I have given my supervisor cheek), a most excellent dinner with the best group of people. I forget the rest, because the coffee next to my right hand demands that I forget it and pay the mug proper attention.
My con loot includes 2 mugs, a CD, a few second hand books and DVDs and lots of chats with really interesting people.
My con loot includes 2 mugs, a CD, a few second hand books and DVDs and lots of chats with really interesting people.
November 20, 2010
gillpolack @ 2010-11-20T23:03:00
Just to let you know that my weekend is full of SF and friends and good food. Also much work, of the right type to fit in nicely with SF and friends and good food.
