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do meerkats dream of electric puppies?
Apr. 18th, 2009 12:10 pmReminder: two more days for the puntastic book contest!
I hit the 20,000 word mark on MUSTANG, and am putting it aside until Monday, when Word War resumes. This weekend I'm focusing on PACK OF LIES -- it's past time to get that sucker into fighting shape. So of course instead this morning I get the opening line for a story that's not due until August. Damn it, brain, get with the program! (it's set in the same universe as POL, so I don't feel too bad)
( the opening para )
Spent the afternoon yesterday with the World's Most Adorkable Dog, playing tug-of-war and don't-eat-that in Central Park. She was so wiped, I had to carry her the last few blocks home, and when we got there she flopped on her side with a "please don't make me move ever again" expression on her face. I could relate. Today, after an evening of recovery, I'm off to the Bronx Zoo to see somewhat larger animals. Tomorrow, back to work.
For those who enjoy hearing about other peoples' weird dreams, last night I dreamed that I was sitting outside somewhere with two other people [on a ship? On a seaside deck?] and saw first two ragged-fin dolphins, then an orca swim by, and then a polar bear rose from the water (seeing it swimming under the waves the way you do on a docu) and climbed over the side and put its arm around me to the utter amusement of my companions. Did it hug me? Eat me? I have no idea. Woke, thought 'that was weird' and then went back to sleep to dream of [among other things] walking along a long indoor walkway with cafes to get to the apartment that I was renting from my former in-laws (??) and discovering the furniture, mainly sofas and the bed, was either gone or totally rearranged. Not robbed -- just rearranged.
That was odd, even for my subconscious.
I hit the 20,000 word mark on MUSTANG, and am putting it aside until Monday, when Word War resumes. This weekend I'm focusing on PACK OF LIES -- it's past time to get that sucker into fighting shape. So of course instead this morning I get the opening line for a story that's not due until August. Damn it, brain, get with the program! (it's set in the same universe as POL, so I don't feel too bad)
( the opening para )
Spent the afternoon yesterday with the World's Most Adorkable Dog, playing tug-of-war and don't-eat-that in Central Park. She was so wiped, I had to carry her the last few blocks home, and when we got there she flopped on her side with a "please don't make me move ever again" expression on her face. I could relate. Today, after an evening of recovery, I'm off to the Bronx Zoo to see somewhat larger animals. Tomorrow, back to work.
For those who enjoy hearing about other peoples' weird dreams, last night I dreamed that I was sitting outside somewhere with two other people [on a ship? On a seaside deck?] and saw first two ragged-fin dolphins, then an orca swim by, and then a polar bear rose from the water (seeing it swimming under the waves the way you do on a docu) and climbed over the side and put its arm around me to the utter amusement of my companions. Did it hug me? Eat me? I have no idea. Woke, thought 'that was weird' and then went back to sleep to dream of [among other things] walking along a long indoor walkway with cafes to get to the apartment that I was renting from my former in-laws (??) and discovering the furniture, mainly sofas and the bed, was either gone or totally rearranged. Not robbed -- just rearranged.
That was odd, even for my subconscious.
W00t! Curse the Dark and Bring it On are now available as audio downloads from audible.com
/PSA
And under the "bah, cats" heading -- I woke up at 5:45 this morning with Boomer making noises like a smoke detector (small, high pitched meows) that normally indicate that he wants attention but Big Bad Pandora won't let him in the bedrooom (he sits just outside the door and waits until I invite him in, thereby supporting my contention that he's actually a Labrador in a cat suit). But when I did tell him to come in, Pandora got into the act and there was Noise and I decided whatthehell, it's almost time, I'll feed them. So I hauled out, fed them in their separate corners (because Boomer is convinced Pandora's Getting Something Better and will stare at her until she abandons her food so he can go eat it). I, still being wiped out, go back to bed for an hour. I wake up two hours later (oops) with Pandora under the covers sleeeping on my thigh, and Boomer above the covers sleeping at my knee, both perfectly content and happy and why no mom, we neeeeeever fight! That would be wrong. Uh-huh, says momma twolegs, not at all convinced but soothed by happy purring snores anyway.
Off today [after word war] to work in the Park (it's gorgeous out today) and spend time with Mei-mei, whose main Thing is wanting to eat dried leaves and be BFF with dogs seven times her size.....
Y'know, I talk all the time here about my critters. Tell me about yours! Past, present, it's all good....
/PSA
And under the "bah, cats" heading -- I woke up at 5:45 this morning with Boomer making noises like a smoke detector (small, high pitched meows) that normally indicate that he wants attention but Big Bad Pandora won't let him in the bedrooom (he sits just outside the door and waits until I invite him in, thereby supporting my contention that he's actually a Labrador in a cat suit). But when I did tell him to come in, Pandora got into the act and there was Noise and I decided whatthehell, it's almost time, I'll feed them. So I hauled out, fed them in their separate corners (because Boomer is convinced Pandora's Getting Something Better and will stare at her until she abandons her food so he can go eat it). I, still being wiped out, go back to bed for an hour. I wake up two hours later (oops) with Pandora under the covers sleeeping on my thigh, and Boomer above the covers sleeping at my knee, both perfectly content and happy and why no mom, we neeeeeever fight! That would be wrong. Uh-huh, says momma twolegs, not at all convinced but soothed by happy purring snores anyway.
Off today [after word war] to work in the Park (it's gorgeous out today) and spend time with Mei-mei, whose main Thing is wanting to eat dried leaves and be BFF with dogs seven times her size.....
Y'know, I talk all the time here about my critters. Tell me about yours! Past, present, it's all good....
various and sundry take a tax deduction
Feb. 18th, 2009 07:51 pmGalley Slave alert! Galleys are going out this week. Everyone should stow their oar and rest up...
As I mentioned this morning, part of my day was spent doing site research. It's a small scene but an important one, and has repercussions not only for this book, but for the entire series, and into the Retrievers series as well. So it needed to be right and, while I'd been there before, I needed to know specifics. Because if you're going to ask people to suspend their disbelief, you've got to give them a sturdy chair to stand on.
( some photos behind the cut, for them as are interested. )
And then I had Tax Joy (not), and then on to ( puppy therapy. )
And, to end this day on the proper note of OMGWTF, from AP:
"About a quarter of the nation's TV stations cut off their analog signals Tuesday, causing sets to go dark in households that were not prepared for digital television. Though most viewers were ready, some stations and call centers reported a steady stream of questions from frustrated callers."
Guys. If you have a tv, and watch it enough to know your signal's been cut, you should have been tipped to the fact that this was planned.... two years ago? There's been television coverage, newspaper articles, and congressional debate on the topic, all front and center and not covert at-farking-all. So if you were still caught off guard, unprepared, and clueless enough to complain about it/ask what was going on?
*facepalm*
And now I have to try and get some wordage in. *whimpers*
As I mentioned this morning, part of my day was spent doing site research. It's a small scene but an important one, and has repercussions not only for this book, but for the entire series, and into the Retrievers series as well. So it needed to be right and, while I'd been there before, I needed to know specifics. Because if you're going to ask people to suspend their disbelief, you've got to give them a sturdy chair to stand on.
( some photos behind the cut, for them as are interested. )
And then I had Tax Joy (not), and then on to ( puppy therapy. )
And, to end this day on the proper note of OMGWTF, from AP:
"About a quarter of the nation's TV stations cut off their analog signals Tuesday, causing sets to go dark in households that were not prepared for digital television. Though most viewers were ready, some stations and call centers reported a steady stream of questions from frustrated callers."
Guys. If you have a tv, and watch it enough to know your signal's been cut, you should have been tipped to the fact that this was planned.... two years ago? There's been television coverage, newspaper articles, and congressional debate on the topic, all front and center and not covert at-farking-all. So if you were still caught off guard, unprepared, and clueless enough to complain about it/ask what was going on?
*facepalm*
And now I have to try and get some wordage in. *whimpers*
1. BookVew Cafe is site of the week in the Guardian Online! Woot us!
2. Took a break from work at lunchtime to welcome Mei-Chan (and The Parents) to Ch. Felidae (a trial run on taking puppy out on the bus). ( the not-so-gory details )
3. Because I was feeling the urge to get Really Organized, I just sat down and plotted out the basic structure for the next 12 months, not including page proofs, copy-edits, or any of the inevitable production/promotional/infernal fiddly bit of publishing:
( All subject, natch, to whims of fate, publishing, and the middle finger of chaos stirring the pot. )
2. Took a break from work at lunchtime to welcome Mei-Chan (and The Parents) to Ch. Felidae (a trial run on taking puppy out on the bus). ( the not-so-gory details )
3. Because I was feeling the urge to get Really Organized, I just sat down and plotted out the basic structure for the next 12 months, not including page proofs, copy-edits, or any of the inevitable production/promotional/infernal fiddly bit of publishing:
( All subject, natch, to whims of fate, publishing, and the middle finger of chaos stirring the pot. )
Very funny and sort of sad article in the NYT about Pres-Elect Obama having to give up his crackberry in the name of security. He fully intends to keep his laptop, tho, making himn First Pres Evah with a laptop in the Oval Office.
Wow. He really is One of Us, isn't he?
I hope they at least let him be BigO@whitehouse.gov.
-----------------
from "This is is My Brain, Aren't You Glad It's Not Yours?" -- thinks only a history geek thinks: "night soil. Medieval litter boxes."
------------------
And, for those of you wondering about La Puppy, Mei-Chan had her first appointment with the groomer this week. She's still disgustingly adorable.
( don't say you weren't warned. )
Wow. He really is One of Us, isn't he?
I hope they at least let him be BigO@whitehouse.gov.
-----------------
from "This is is My Brain, Aren't You Glad It's Not Yours?" -- thinks only a history geek thinks: "night soil. Medieval litter boxes."
------------------
And, for those of you wondering about La Puppy, Mei-Chan had her first appointment with the groomer this week. She's still disgustingly adorable.
( don't say you weren't warned. )
Wow. Um, I guess I know more than I thought? (it helps that I've seen a lot of these in person because I took a grand total of one actual art course in my entire life....[stage design counted toward my requirement but wasn't really Art as such]).
--------------
Freelance project landed. I now have revisions [hard magic], copy-edit [blood from stone], editing [freelance]and a copy job [freelance] on my plate. Nom nom, nom. And I leave for Seattle on Tuesday. [flails] Thankfully, the due dates are staggered, so I won't be.
New keyboard a little stiffer than the old one, but actually having an s key that works 100% of the time is making me happy. Also, got to take Mei-Chan out for a walk yesterday and she was such a good girl (except for the nom-noming of every dead leaf she could find). She still hasn't quite accepted "walk walk walk" rather than "walk stop sit sniff walk a little BOUNCE!" but the fact that people stop on the street to exclaim over her (jaded New Yorkers are still suckers for cute puppies) makes her day.
and, on that topic, via m'sister Sue: ( Subject: Dog food diet )
* I make small pots -- only 2-3 cups per. But still...
Your result for The Famous (and Not So Famous) Art Quiz...
Art History Major
94% Artiste!
Art History Major: You scored 94% Artiste!
You've studied art for years, and therefore you recognized almost if not all the works represented here. Way to go!
Take The Famous (and Not So Famous) Art Quiz at HelloQuizzy
--------------
Freelance project landed. I now have revisions [hard magic], copy-edit [blood from stone], editing [freelance]and a copy job [freelance] on my plate. Nom nom, nom. And I leave for Seattle on Tuesday. [flails] Thankfully, the due dates are staggered, so I won't be.
New keyboard a little stiffer than the old one, but actually having an s key that works 100% of the time is making me happy. Also, got to take Mei-Chan out for a walk yesterday and she was such a good girl (except for the nom-noming of every dead leaf she could find). She still hasn't quite accepted "walk walk walk" rather than "walk stop sit sniff walk a little BOUNCE!" but the fact that people stop on the street to exclaim over her (jaded New Yorkers are still suckers for cute puppies) makes her day.
and, on that topic, via m'sister Sue: ( Subject: Dog food diet )
* I make small pots -- only 2-3 cups per. But still...
Monday morning, and a wish for us all
Sep. 29th, 2008 07:37 amHow to annoy your cats, in two easy steps.
1. go away overnight.
2. come home smelling of not one but two dogs.
Mei-Chan is still adorable, and seems to be taking to paper-training with reasonable speed. Also, I am pleased to inform NYCers that Salmon River still makes the best damn tandori salmon ever. I forgive them their wine list.
EtA: and finally! I have a name-storm! T.S. Laura is on the map. (no, I don't want her to do any damage [looks like she's out to sea; go ahead, make the jokes] -- but after years of waiting, it's still fun to see her up there)
---------------------
Meanwhile, those who observe the Jewish traditions face the closing of another year this evening. I was trying to decide what to say, and realized that I had pretty much nailed it last year. And so, updated:
Sunset tonight brings us to the beginning of the Days of Repentance in the Jewish tradition, starting with Rosh Hashanna (Yom Ha-Zikkaron) and ending ten days from now with Yom Kippur.
I am mostly, as I often say, a forgetting-to-practice Jew. But there are a few traditions I hold fast to, and the High Holy Days are among them. Not from any religious compulsion, but more because they...well, they make sense.
The Days of Awe are a time to pause and reflect on the previous year, to consider the actions done by and to us, and to search and find forgiveness. In these days, we are taught, God inscribes our fate for the coming year... but that inscription can be altered by our actions within the next ten days. If we are honest with ourselves, if we seek forgiveness from those we have wronged, and forgive those who have wronged us, the judgment will be lightened, the inscription be kinder.
I do not believe in a God with pen and gradebook. But I do believe in balance, in forgiveness, and in fresh starts. Coming in September, a time of seasonal change and the beginning again of the academic year, it always made perfect sense to me that, along with changing our closets, we could change our approaches.
Yom Ha-Zikkaron finds me, this year, in a place of peace, if not complete serenity. If you have harmed me, either by intent or omission, by act or by word, I do not hold a grudge. If I have harmed you, either by intent or omission, by act or word, I ask your forgiveness, and offer the knowledge that I will take pains not to do so again.
[I think the Universe will forgive me, this year, if I have to struggle to forgive certain financial and political leaders for their actions of greed, arrogance and willful ignorance]
L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatem. May we all be inscribed and sealed for a good year.
1. go away overnight.
2. come home smelling of not one but two dogs.
Mei-Chan is still adorable, and seems to be taking to paper-training with reasonable speed. Also, I am pleased to inform NYCers that Salmon River still makes the best damn tandori salmon ever. I forgive them their wine list.
EtA: and finally! I have a name-storm! T.S. Laura is on the map. (no, I don't want her to do any damage [looks like she's out to sea; go ahead, make the jokes] -- but after years of waiting, it's still fun to see her up there)
---------------------
Meanwhile, those who observe the Jewish traditions face the closing of another year this evening. I was trying to decide what to say, and realized that I had pretty much nailed it last year. And so, updated:
Sunset tonight brings us to the beginning of the Days of Repentance in the Jewish tradition, starting with Rosh Hashanna (Yom Ha-Zikkaron) and ending ten days from now with Yom Kippur.
I am mostly, as I often say, a forgetting-to-practice Jew. But there are a few traditions I hold fast to, and the High Holy Days are among them. Not from any religious compulsion, but more because they...well, they make sense.
The Days of Awe are a time to pause and reflect on the previous year, to consider the actions done by and to us, and to search and find forgiveness. In these days, we are taught, God inscribes our fate for the coming year... but that inscription can be altered by our actions within the next ten days. If we are honest with ourselves, if we seek forgiveness from those we have wronged, and forgive those who have wronged us, the judgment will be lightened, the inscription be kinder.
I do not believe in a God with pen and gradebook. But I do believe in balance, in forgiveness, and in fresh starts. Coming in September, a time of seasonal change and the beginning again of the academic year, it always made perfect sense to me that, along with changing our closets, we could change our approaches.
Yom Ha-Zikkaron finds me, this year, in a place of peace, if not complete serenity. If you have harmed me, either by intent or omission, by act or by word, I do not hold a grudge. If I have harmed you, either by intent or omission, by act or word, I ask your forgiveness, and offer the knowledge that I will take pains not to do so again.
[I think the Universe will forgive me, this year, if I have to struggle to forgive certain financial and political leaders for their actions of greed, arrogance and willful ignorance]
L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatem. May we all be inscribed and sealed for a good year.
Welcome Mei-Chan!
Sep. 23rd, 2008 08:21 pmWe came, we saw, she conquered.
( yes, I call her mei-mei. )
And, to show where my heart still is...( the once and future felines )
( yes, I call her mei-mei. )
And, to show where my heart still is...( the once and future felines )
*does new puppy dance*
No, not mine -- my folks. They've been talking forever about getting a puppy, but never found the right one. Last night I happened to walk by a rather small, select grooming shop that also sells a few likewise-select puppies at a time. I don't know why I stopped, but I did. And I went in. And I fell in love with a puppy. And I called my folks and I said "get yourselves over there tomorrow." And they hemmed and hawed and I pushed, and they went.
And they did not fall in love with the Poodkie puppy I cuddled. But they did fall head over heels for another puppy (one of five in the store, all a-door-bell as only miniature puppies can be), and she will be coming home on Tuesday.
I have a time-share puppy!
(shhh, nobody tell the cats!)
this is not her, but visually quite close
Puppy!
No, not mine -- my folks. They've been talking forever about getting a puppy, but never found the right one. Last night I happened to walk by a rather small, select grooming shop that also sells a few likewise-select puppies at a time. I don't know why I stopped, but I did. And I went in. And I fell in love with a puppy. And I called my folks and I said "get yourselves over there tomorrow." And they hemmed and hawed and I pushed, and they went.
And they did not fall in love with the Poodkie puppy I cuddled. But they did fall head over heels for another puppy (one of five in the store, all a-door-bell as only miniature puppies can be), and she will be coming home on Tuesday.
I have a time-share puppy!
(shhh, nobody tell the cats!)
this is not her, but visually quite close
Puppy!
