I’m in a positively dreadful mood this morning–indeed, I’ve been tetchy all week, for a variety of reasons. Maybe it’s the heat, though it breaks at night to allow for sleep; maybe it’s work, though I’m always happiest with a surfeit of that; maybe it’s the state of the world. The Princess concurs, for she’s been in somewhat of a mood too; she thinks perhaps it’s processing a bit of last year’s…
Marshmallow, Sun Storm, Tuesday
It’s a grey Tuesday morning and there is not enough coffee in the world. A solar storm is expected to hit the earth today, and frankly I’m not bloody surprised, the way things have been going.
At least the cicadas are quiet, since the temperature drops overnight. They’re probably waking up the same as I am, lethargic and blinking, staggering towards their version of coffee, preparing for an…
Spent the last few days listening to my computer read a book I’d written, following along in the text while looking for holes, typos, and inconsistencies. It’s a good way to proof. I also can’t get over the fact that I can write something and have a computer read it to me.
We live in the damn future. The only thing missing is the flying skateboards, and though everyone knows how much I love the…
Picking Battles, No Not Those Ones
Coming back after a long, long weekend, looking at a particular thread in email, and deciding, “Welp, I can be done with this issue, it can be dead to me,” is particularly liberating. I’m not sure I would have arrived there without the past few days spent consciously and resentfully Not Working.
Maybe that’s why everyone likes vacation so much; it repeatedly massages one’s sense of the possible…
A Short Green Hiatus
I’m not supposed to work today.
I was complaining to the kids about how publishing takes several hiatuses during the year, and they put their collective foot down. Apparently a holiday will make me more effective, more efficient, and less cranky–or so they say–so I’ve been banned from working since Friday. The ban ends tomorrow, and I’m not even allowed to spend much time in my office because…
I moved the roses out of the side yard in very early spring. There just wasn’t enough sun, and besides, well, the graves.
On the bright side, since a certain neighbor was silly and took out half the cedars along the back fence, what used to be a shade garden now gets much more light, which made it perfect for said roses though it’s doing bad things to the patio put in with so much labor. Win…
Yesterday was just plain awful. The heat crested at 115F–all official according to the weather app, and I think it might have been a little warmer–and all we could do was huddle in the house with the AC and every fan on. Even with that it was uncomfortable and lethargic. I went out several times to fill the birdbath and put some ice water in pans for the backyard fauna, and each time I felt worse…
A Hot Blue Monday
Yes, it’s an historic heatwave. We trembled at 111F for a bit yesterday; today is looking to be just as awful before a marine push brings back “regular” summer weather.
Helluva time for the sprinkler system to stop working. *sigh* At least I’ll always have New Order.
Something diurnal has been ripping out seedlings, too. I think it’s the squirrels, though what they want with a cucumber,…
This happened a while ago, but the picture’s too good to leave languishing. I call it “Whoops.” Looks like someone had an awful night.
I’m still in recovery. Having a book slide out so easily does not, unfortunately, mean the recovery process is shorter. If anything, it’s longer, because the flywheel takes more time to spin down. Or so it seems.
Be careful this weekend, my beloveds. There’s a…
Another Zero Bites Some Dust
Late on Tuesday–I think it was Tuesday, yes?–I finished the zero draft of Black Land’s Bane, first in the Cold North trilogy. That’s the Tolkien Viking werewolves, for those keeping score.
I thought it would sell before now. But oh well, at least it’s another zero in the bag. It will need a significant amount of working-in and embroidery; right now it’s very lean even at 103k words. There’s some…
Photographer/Stylist/Makeup/Model: Agnieszka Lorek - A.M.Lorek Photography
photos of and by michael and taylor kittell from bolivia’s remote salar de uyuni salt flat. at over four...
Sekino, Junichiro, Still Life, c.1948, woodblock print
# 3: Hokkaido, Japan. Photography by Michael Kenna
The high altar from La Madeleine in Paris, France.
Bless you, Unfuck Your Habitat.
I am aware that this my “after” is probably the same as some other people’s “before.” But this...
