C.J. Cherryh's Blog, page 177
August 2, 2010
Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we diet…
There's always both regret and relief when a con is over—a delight to see friends I don't see at any other time; but it's tiring. Particularly tiring when the air conditioning isn't up to snuff, and it's August in Spokane: as chronicled frequently in recent posts, I don't cope well with heat, especially with exertion, and climbing up and down 4 flights of stairs or trekking across the quadrangle to another building or out to the car (especially in the workout-sandals I wear) is work. I...
July 31, 2010
want to wander at leisure through the sort of art show we had today?
Michael's an old friend—and we had some time to hang out. Our panel together was "Starting Out Together", which we did—my first novel and one of his first covers. We helped each other out—me with what proved a popular series, and him, providing a killer cover…
Gate of Ivrel happened to be the book, and the cover.
It's good to see him and Audrey again. Patty and Mike Briggs are there, Maggie Bonham, John Dalmas, Tanya Huff, lots of very down-to-earth nice folk who also happen to ...
We're at Spokon this weekend, off and on…
Since it's local and only 5 minutes from our house, we have the luxury of coming and going at need.
Guests of honor are Tanya Huff and Michael Whelan. Michael and Audrey and Jane and I are old friends, and their transport is a couple of nice friends of theirs from the Wet Side (coast) of Washington. We scooped them up after opening ceremonies and went out to the Steam Plant Grill, which is a converted steam-heating plant built in 1916, and which preserves a lot of the pipes and boilers as...
July 30, 2010
Our router blew up…
….so we have been incommunicado for hours!
Back on now!
July 29, 2010
They've finally done it: a cellphone that won't fit a jeans pocket…
The Dell Streak.
I can see, if you're a night watchman, or if you have some other job that means you have long wait-times, there may be some desire to watch a movie designed for the biggest possible telly on a handheld screen instead…
Personally I consider a movie a waste if it doesn't have neat costumes, so that's kinda lost on me…
But…there has to be a happy medium with the consumer, and Dell, a company I actually like a lot, may have gone just a shade far.
What do you think about screensize ...
Still more patterns in the CC Bazaar…
Oh, you guys are going to love it as we clean out our image closet.
We have so many sketches and fun things to commit mugs and t-shirts with.
Latest is Ignorance killed the cat… —thanks for reminding us, Martha!
July 28, 2010
The pond is finally! back under control…
Live and learn!
We now have very little green algae: we have a barley-based clarifier and a type of bacteria-based cleanup stuff normally sold for small lakes: I use it by the half-ounce weekly, and another dose of a different bacterial cocktail once monthly, and it's doing wonders. Finally! When in doubt, ask a pond keeper from your own area, who's got theirs under control. It's looking good out there. The fishes are all growing, even Denys, who almost didn't survive his first hibernation...
July 27, 2010
New items will continue to be added to the store…
Just check it periodically—we put a few up today.
Spectracide weed killer and Ace hardware are now on my dnb list…
1. instructions from Spectracide grass and weed killer; spray it by flowers, trees, shrubs…
and MUCH further down: kills all green plants.
2. instructions from Ace polystyrene hand pump sprayer: place hose inside cap, screw down cap. Nowhere does it say you must use a wrench full torque to make this plastic cap go down tight enough [you have to warp it seriously:] to hold the hose on.
I pressurize the thing, working at my usual spot on the paving by the garden gate and immediately it blows the h...
a somewhat moderate summer day…
Rain is possible, about 30% change of four or five drops, on average. The temperature is headed for 97 and will stay there for a number of days, including this weekend, which is Spokon, so attendees will be baked. Fortunately the venue is dependably air conditioned.
We are slowly winning the algae battle. We are taking advantage of the clouds to do a little weeding. And somebody, probably kids, stole four of our lights out front, probably to use as flashlights. If we have to put a spooklight o...
