Writtenwyrdd

Memory lane

Found this old picture of me, taken in January 1976.  I was a freshman in high school that year, and I weighed a whopping 128-- what several years later the Army said I should weigh when I was fully grown and several inches taller.  Under that godawful jungle boogie shirt you can't see that my ribs and spine all stuck out.  At the time, I could lay a finger between my ribs, and my poor mother was worried I was anorexic (something that people were just becoming aware of at the time.)  Also, orange shag carpet and curtains???? It was my best friend's house, but still.

Anyhow, I keep this picture around to remind me that goals aren't always the same for everyone.  One person's ideal weight is not another's.  One person's preferences aren't another's.  We aren't the same and viva la differences.

Not sure if there is a point to this ramble, but that picture of me so terribly skinny just serves to remind me that I thought I was fat at the time.  What 14 year old girl doesn't go through that?

Healthcare

If you don't follow John Scalzi's blog, you might want to.  He's an unrepentant liberal, but he has very well thought out posts on political issues now and then (more now than then).  And today's is on the situation in the Great Death Panel debate (a.k.a. healthcare reform). 

The Killers for Musical Monday

Here's a link to the Mr. Brightside video, which has a very clear storyline for a video. 

Shelving update

By this time, you are no doubt sick of me crowing about my projects.  However, digital camera + blog = me oversharing.  (Thanks for bearing with me.)

The new bedroom shelves are painted and filled.  Here's the TBR pile (notice room to grow):

And the other side of the entry and closet, where some of my favorite reads, almost all my CDs, my writing books, and all my esoterica books reside:

Then the mega huge shelves, which, you'll notice, are not yet organized.  (I'm alphabetizing.  Makes it so much easier to find things.)  These shelves are obviously oversized, but again, room to grow!

And this is the spot where I am building the second to last set of shelves, which will be just like the really big shelves, but are destined for holding boxes of stuff, office and art supplies, and about three dozen binders of miscellaneous stuff--most of which you see in those black boxes or on the shelves below. 

The last set of shelves goes here, to replace the admittedly nice but not quite 'it' shelves.  (I need more room for books and the desk (below) which is really just plywood, needs to have a return of a sort, because I am presently set up backwards from my preference.  I like all the sprawl to the right. 

And here's my current workspace.  NOT ideal. :)  Unfortunately I don't have time to get the desk area built before I'm off for surgery. 

(And have you seen a messier desk?  That's three months of filing sitting there.  I should be embarrassed.  But I'm not.)

Stomach-produced hormone influences hunger

Since I've been on the topic of dieting so much lately, I'll share a recent article from Science Daily that helps you understand one point of why a gastric bypass helps people not feel hungry.  A hormone in the stomach (ghrelin) makes you hungry, or at least to want to eat; and bypass surgery keeps much of that hormone from entering the blood stream because of how the digestive system is rerouted.

"Previous studies have shown that people given ghrelin injections feel voraciously hungry and eat more at a buffet than they otherwise would. The new research suggests that the stomach tells the brain when to eat, and establishing a regular meal schedule will regulate the stomach’s release of ghrelin. “If you eat all the time, ghrelin secretion will not be well controlled,” says Silver. “It’s a good thing to eat meals at a regularly scheduled time of day.”

The research also suggests that ghrelin, the only known natural appetite stimulant made outside the brain, is a promising target for drug developers. Unlike drugs that focus on satiety, those that target ghrelin could help curb appetite before dieters take that first bite."  Science Daily 

Spam comments, oh my!

I just checked behind the scenes on my blog account and discovered that, in the last 30 days, I've received 2190 spam comments. I did find one that wasn't spam, though. I didn't go through but about a fifth of them before going cross eyed, but most are--unsurprizingly--all about the pr0n.

And Typepad is changing up a little bit, which is actually a bad thing. I don't like the new way of doing things, as it's much more difficult to figure out where everything is now. Why do software companies insist on fixing things that aren't broke? (However, I do like the new ability to email a post to the blahg. The only bad thing is that you can't post date the post; it goes up immediately.)

(mostly) all done

Well, I've gotten books back on shelves, so my office is messy (and needs a good vacuum!) but is clear of boxes.  Yay! 

Gained a pound and a half since yesterday, though.  Figured the 'magic' diet would poop out at some point.  But since I also haven't been off work, so I'm not doing physical labor for a few hours in the day, I've been burning fewer calories, too.  (Not to forget all the sweating.  It's been hot.)

We're back to cooler temps here in the Great White North, with a low hovering around 40f the last couple of nights.  Frost warnings in August!  Guess our spate of Summer is ending and we are segueing  into Fall.

Spoke to my surgeon last night.  She was checking in, and seemed surprised I had lost so much weight.  My start weight on the program (according to their scales) was 259.  I'm at 232 today, according to my scales, which means add five pounds maybe.  Either way, that's pretty decent loss.  I had to work really, really hard physically to get rid of the weight I lost already.  Ten pounds lost in the move last January, and then it went all bouncy, going up and down until I fought it down to 243.5 before the liquid diet.  (Two weeks sweating like a stuck pig while painting the kitchen helped a lot for the last bit of loss before the LD.) 

I've had the distinct impression these folks thought I was borderline and not likely to succeed in keeping weight off, much less lose any.  I doubt I could maintain the loss very long, either, despite trying...because when Winter hits everyone gains some weight.  Anyhow, though, the surgeon seemed surprised.  I blame the nutritionist, with whom I had a puzzingly hostile interview a few months back.  She tried to oust me from the program.  (I got her report, so I know what I'm saying.)  Fortunately, the psychologist has the degree and he disagreed with her.

Funny thing is, I tell people I'm having this surgery and they don't believe I need it.  Mostly because they think it's 'drastic' ...because no one believes me that I'm 120 pounds overweight (or was).  See, I have very large bones (yes, I'm one who really does have the big bones everyone rolls their eyes at) to include really broad hips and a huge ribcage...but my waist used to be about 20 inches.  So all that weight in the middle is sort of invisible.  Fools the eye.  But  my joints aren't fooled, my cholesterol, blood pressure, migraines, blood sugar and et cetera aren't fooled! 

Even my neurologist, whom I see for the sleep apnea and the migraines, was shocked to learn about the upcoming surgery and he spent a half hour grilling me to be sure I'd tried everything less drastic than surgery.  He was in disbelief when I said my BMI was over 50 (I think 52) when I started the surgical weight loss program.  Because I don't look that overweight.

Of course, general designations of what is skinny and what is normal weight and what is fat are not very accurate, especially when using the non-calibrated eyeball or averaged charts.  For example, last time I was skinny the Army considered me fat and wanted me to weigh what I did when I was in 7th grade, when all my ribs stuck out and I wasn't even at my adult height!  (Another good reason I did not stay in.)  And my bird-boned pal who looks so skinny a wind would blow her over states she's at a BMI of 40, and really it's hard to see.

I don't know why I'm rambling this morning, but really I'm feeling a bit philosophical and yet strangely morally superior without any real basis other than feeling proud of myself for having actually lost some weight without resorting (yet) to the surgery.  Not that it would have stayed off for very long; winter  and the inevitable "I'd rather die than diet when it does no good" attitude would have seen to that! 

So, anyhow, thanks for bearing with the ramble, those of you who made it thus far!  I have the surgery in a few days (9/3) and I'll be mostly out of touch for a while after that.  And after the surgery, the real work begins, because now I'll always be dieting, not just for weight loss, but to keep my stomach small, my nutrition good and my body hydrated.  Getting enough water, in particular, will be a tough proposition for the next while. 

Goal weight (which is a bit lower than what I'll probably settle for) is 135.  Just to see what I look like now at what I weighed at 21, when I could bench press 220, do 50 guy pushups, a couple hundred crunches, and run a six-minute mile.  Actual and practical goal weight:  145 or 150. 

Are you well enough read?

A few days ago, Charles Gramlich shared a meme: a list of books that the BBC believes everyone should read but which perhaps the average person has only read six. 

You can play along in the comments or repost. 

1) Look at the list and put an ‘X’ after those you have read.
2) Tally your total at the bottom.
3) Tag a few people you think would enjoy sharing similar information about their book interests.


I'm not going to tag anyone, but play along if you want to.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible X (bits...in college)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte X (truly an awful book)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman X
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X (several times)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (I think so?)
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller X (One of the funniest books ever written)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare X (most of them)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (not sure)
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger  (attempted it and quit)
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (not sure, maybe in college)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams X
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky X (being forced to read this was a crime and punishment!)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X (many, many rereads)
34 Emma - Jane Austen  X
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen  X
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini X (in the tbr pile)
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X (bleh.)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (been meaning to ever since the movie came out)
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X (this is the reason I hate Survivor and similar shows.)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel  X (I quit in the middle, this was unreadable to me)
52 Dune - Frank Herbert X
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley X
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon X (A wonderful book!)
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (I think so, but I'm not sure)
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold X (another great book)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy X (I think I read this one, anyhow.)
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X (the first book I ever checked out of the library...at five)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce (tried and quit)
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchel
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (not sure, I think I read it in college, though)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (in the tbr pile)
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X (Some of them)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams X
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas X
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (I quit early on.  This is almost as bad as attempting War & Peace.)

I've read 47 of these 100 books with a couple more in the to-be-read pile and a couple more that I started and quit reading because I loathed them.  In fact, some of the half-read books are the reason for my distaste for classic literature. 

That there's irony, my friends.

Twelve days on a liquid diet, and it's starting to make me sick.  It's a mental thing.  I never did like milk much (okay, I loathe drinking milk) but now my brain's playing psychosomatic games.  I feel that texture of the protein shake in my mouth and want to gag.  I think about that stuff and my stomach churns, making me not want to eat (finally! and inappropriately!).  Worse, I know it's just me wanting Real Food.  I'm not hungry, and the thought of having to drink another shake...ugh.  I want food even less.  

I guess I will be feeling pretty much the same after surgery, too, because I'll be on this diet for two weeks after and for who knows how long until my stomach can tolerate Real Food again!  Yep, it's ironic all right.  The gal with the bottomless pit doesn't want to eat. 

However, today is the 12th day on the diet, and I lost another pound yesterday, making the total loss since I started on it 12.5 pounds in 11 days.  Whoa.  That's an effective diet.  And, truly, I'd rather have a diet where I had to force myself to eat rather than the usual kind where you never had enough and you're always hungry.

And I got one of the bedroom bookshelves painted last night.  The second will be tonight, and then I've got one more shelf I really must build before surgery.  I have several days, so I think I can manage it. :)

Opportunity @ Writers of the Future

L. RON HUBBARD'S WRITERS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST - quarterly; sf/f/h/SpecFic (fic). Words: <17k. Fee: $0. 3 quarterly Prizes=$2250 +pub; 1 annual Grand Prize=$5000.  Quarterly deadlines of 31December, 31June, 30March, 30September.  This is one you should polish up your prose for, folks.  I mean, can you say RECOGNITION?  The rules page.  Specifically you non-published or slightly published should note:  "The Contest is open only to those who have not had professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits."

Yes, I'm dogging this one--because it's such a great opportunity for an unknown writer.  Come on, do it.  You know you want to!

Other places for research (and even support)

You ever consider online groups for reasearch?  You might do so.  A simple search in Yahoo Groups of 'science fiction writer' gave me a plethora (I love that word and so rarely get to use it) of potential groups for online discussion, writing tips, information, and basically support for when you get down on your writing. 

One in particular seems really useful from the research angle, the CrimeSceneWriter group.  Answers to forensic and police procedure questions, and lots of dicussion by writers as well. 

One more!

So here's the almost-final new set of shelves.  I'm building one nearly identical on the other side of that door.  I need to iron on the trim and do a bit more sanding and prep before paint, but I think these'll do.  And they are much nicer looking than the mega-huge set, aren't they?  (And, PS, I've lost another pound and a half.)

Might I recommend...

For your reading pleasure, might I recommend "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science & Sex" by Mary Roach?  I got this a few weeks ago and am only about halfway through it, but the book is both informative and absolutely, gut-rippingly, hilarious!  Because the topic (human sexuality/sexual biology research) is one that is very awkward for scientists to study without, um, human subjects.  And we tend to be embarrassed or squeamish about people catching us in the act.  And society tends to paste a blanket designation of "you must be a pervert" on scientists who study human sexuality.

But without the intrepid investigations of some of the pioneers in sexual research (Masters & Johnson being an example) we wouldn't have in vitro fertilization or much of the biological understanding of reproduction we have today.  We wouldn't have as keen a biological insight into how the sexual system works.  We likely wouldn't be able to treat infertility or prostate problems as well as we can now.  And (drum roll, please) we wouldn't have Viagra. 

Really, though, Mary Roach's writing style is both droll and informative.  I found the history of the study of human sexuality to be really interesting...and I was really surprized to discover it was being studied as much as it was during the repressive Victorian era.

I don't know if this book will be of any assistance in giving you ideas for any story you might be writing; but it does exemplify how people react around taboo issues.  Honestly, I haven't laughed so much at a book in years.

If you've got to diet...

May I recommend a high-protein, low-carb yogurt smoothie diet?  Not that I can guarantee it's healthy for the long haul, but I've lost 11 pounds in 7 days.  The nutritionist says I can expect to lose up to 25 pounds before surgery.  Some people lose more. 

Thing is, I'm not a fan of milk and I'm tired of it already.  But at least I'm not actually feeling a gnawing-in-the-guts hunger burn.  Not actually feeling any urge to eat at all, really...except for when food commercials for things like mac & cheese or pizza come on tv.  Those are cruel, I tell you!

One project done!

These two mass-storage shelves are done, but now I must build the two sets of shelves in the bedroom.

Katy Perry for Musical Monday

One of my new favorite artists, Katy Perry.  I think she sang this song, "Waking Up in Vegas," on American Idol, and when she came out she had a cape that had Adam Lambert written on the back.  it was hilarious, she paraded that cape around so everyone could read it and then dropped it before beginning her song. 

Bonus Opportunity with Angry Robot

From the Authonomy newsletter:

We're giving you the chance to have your short story published in Angry
Robot author Lauren Beukes' next book. In order to enter, all you need to
do is write a short story (up to 3000 words) based in the universe Lauren
created in her first novel, Moxyland. Use characters, themes and settings
from her book to create your own work.

Moxyland is available to read on authonomy now.
http://authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=10869

Or, if you prefer, you can read the whole book using browse inside.
http://browseinside.harpercollins.co.uk/index.aspx?isbn13=9780007323890

You can enter the competition by copying your entry into the comments
section of the Moxyland book page. Over the next couple of months, Lauren
will be on the site and reading every story with her favourite 3 going into
her next book, out in Spring 2010. The closing date for entries is
September 11th 2009. The winners will be announced at this year's [British Fantasy Society's]
FantasyCon which will be taking place in Nottingham, UK. For more
information, go to http://www.fantasycon.org.uk

Click on the following link to read the full Terms and Conditions:
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/legal/Pages/angry-robot-competition.aspx 

[I'm not posting it as a regular opportunity because of the specific nature of the requirements for this opportunity, which likely excludes 99.9% of you all.]

Tension and expectations in your story

Victoria Mixon's got a fabulous post on tension and story plotting up on her blog.

Useful roots for vocabulary building

One of the best things that ever happened to me in high school was Mr. Bini, the English teacher who gave we freshmen a list of Greek and Latin roots and forced us to memorize them.  Worse (to everyone else but me, it seemed) he made us use them, figure out what new words meant and other such 'tortures' in order to drum them into our heads. 

I've never had a better tool handed to me (except perhaps the multiplication tables, which I can at least still remember, unlike all the capitals of Europe or the location and misc info about all the 50 states.)

A quick search online can net you some pretty good word roots.  And, if you memorize them, you will have an incredibly powerful tool to help you increase your understanding of English and broaden your vocabulary. 

I find it particularly useful to know roots in order to build new vocabulary in my speculative fiction.  People may not understand the root consciously, but they generally do absorb a general sense of what a root can mean and get a sort of subliminal hint when the word I create is based on some appropriate Greek, Latin or other foreign word/root.

A few important roots to know:

• a/an: not, without
• a: on
• ab/s, a: from, away, off
• andr/o: male, man
• ante: before, in front
• anti: away, against
• co: with, together
• com: together
• de: reduce, away, down, remove
• di/s: apart, away, not
• dia: through, between, apart, across
• ex: from, out
• extra: out, about, beyond
• gyn: female, woman
• infra: beneath, below
• intra/intro: between, among
• ir: not
• ject: throw
• mis: bad, wrong, to hate
• non: no, not, without
• pan: all, any
• re: again, back, backwards
• self: of, for, or by itself
• serv: save, keep
• un: not, opposite of, lacking
• vers/vert: turn
• xen: foreign

There are many more of these, and it is a good idea (for your vocabulary's sake) to get familiar with the ones on the Espindle list.  It really is the best one I've found so far.

Random grammar and vocabulary stuff:
Did you know about the "phrasal verb"?  It's basically a compound verb, such as "down from," although there are other multi-word verb structures out there.  A good example of these is on EnglishClub.com here. 

EnglishClub.com also has a great page that lists and defines Latin phrases commonly used in English, which includes many of the abbreviations.  Also good stuff to have memorized. Some of my favs (which all of you should learn if you don't know them already):

e.g. (exempli gratia): for example
et al. (et alii, et alia): and others
etc. (et cetera): and the rest, and so forth
et seq. (et sequens, et sequentes, et sequentia): and the following
id. (idem): the same
i.e. (id est): that is

Links:
Espindle "Word Root Quick Reference" page.

(Please see the writing resources page in the top right sidebar, where other useful links are located.)

Miscellaney

I'm painting the shelves I finished a couple of days ago.  It's actually taking longer to paint these things than it did to build them. 

by the way, I've lost another pound since yesterday.  That means I've lost twenty-one pounds since Christmas, because I lost about ten during the house renovations and move between 12/23 and 1/21.  I measured and my waist isn't much smaller, but my butt and legs are.  They do say it's harder to lose it around the middle, and I seem to be following that trend.  The only problem with doing the weight loss the hard way is my freaking joints hurt and I'm gimping around for a couple weeks afterwards, sometimes longer.  (Arthritis is not your friend.)

I lost one of my days off to another overtime shift, but I still have Monday and Tuesday in which to get the shelves completed and build the shelves in the bedroom.  I  might not get those shelves painted, but, by god, I'll get them built before I go off for surgery! 

Mmmm...tastes like bacon!

In closing, the only silver lining to this dark dark cloud is I have figured out why so many dogs lick their own assholes. They are trying to kill the taste of Beggin' Strips. (By the way, it doesn't work.)  from Steve, Don't Eat It! on The Sneeze blog

Brought to you by Pacatrue, whose recent post about trying everything in the grocery store and reporting on it got a reference link to the above.  (Seriously, Paca, I'm waiting for you to try everything and come up with an alternative use.  Think of it as preemptive post-doc research because you're bound to come up with some new 'linguistics' to describe the results!)

Writing for teenagers

I see a teenage novel as a story with a teenage character(s) at the centre, written from a teenage viewpoint, which explores a situation which teenage readers often fear, aspire to, dream about or experience, and which provides an emotional connection to themselves as teenagers now. It has no visible boundaries or safety-nets and may be frightening, cutting-edge, brutally honest, shocking or sad, (but doesn't have to be) but in fact there are boundaries of acceptability and hope: 
"it takes them to the edge but will not throw them over."  Nicola Morgan

Nicola Morgan at Help! I Need A Publisher! blog has an excellent article on writing for teen (with links at the bottom to other great articles.  The quote above is from one of them.)  If you have ever considered a YA project, step on over and see what she has to say.  Great stuff!

Don't tell me that won't work. I'm a director, damn it!

Thought I'd offer you a bit of amusement and insight this morning.  John Scalzi's weekly post at amctv.com's SciFi Scanner is about the epic fails of Star Wars design. 

Another anthology opportunity for the experimenter in you

From Anthology News & Reviews, an interesting opportunity for experimental fiction (a category into which spec fic can nicely slide):

A Handsome Laundrette, a Box of Lovers and Two Dozen Happy Seacows for Anthology "Moonlight tubers."  Stories: Up to 5000 words.  What they want.  "[S]tories of an experimental, odd, or surreal nature." Payment: $50 (Australian)  Deadline:  August 30th 2009.  Submissions via email, .rft attachment, to moonlighttuber@ gmail.com No reprints.

"AHLABOLATDFHS is open to writers of all varied nations, but is particularly interested in publishing Australian writers and funny dogs."

Squirrely waste of time

Recall that picture with the ground squirrel in the foreground?  I hear there's some question as to whether or not the picture was legit.  Well, regardless of its being 'shopped or not, you can achieve the same results here, with The Squirrelizer.  Check out some of the other photos that have been squirrelized. (Thanks to Cute Overload for providing this waste of about twenty minutes tonight!)

I'm puzzled but pleased.

Okay, so I am going in for that lovely gastric bypass surgery on September 3rd, which is less than two weeks away.  For the two weeks preceding, I am on a high protein, low carb liquid diet--the better, according to the doctors, to 'shrink my liver' and make surgery easier for them and recovery easier for me.

Fourth day in and the diet isn't bad at all.  I generally don't like milk (which constitutes some of every liquid meal) but when it's flavored up with vanilla protein powder (whey protein) or tomato soup, or yogurt, it isn't bad.  AND--bonus!--I have been amazingly not hungry on it, which the nutritionist tells me may be because my insulin is now lower due to the food I'm slurping. 

Whatever.  The thing I wanted to relate here isn't how un-bad the diet is nor how easy it is for me to follow.  It's about how I've lost four pounds in three days! 

Now, I know I've been working hard around the house, and I've been only taking in 800 or 900 calories per day, but it's only been three days, and I am sure I haven't burned 14,400 calories in three days, which is the approximate calorie burn required to lose 4 pounds.  Not even when I've been sweating buckets (almost literally, it's been 90+ humidity and high 80s or low 90s temp-wise) while building shelves in the attic office (about five hours worth of work) or spending a whopping half hour mowing the lawn yesterday, or the half hour on the treadmill every morning.  And it isn't due to water loss, as I assure you I drink far more water than I need, like a gallon yesterday.  (It was really hot.)

So I'm puzzled.  But pleased.

A bit of my writing

Here's about 850 words, the beginning to Iron Maiden, a Beauty and Beast reprise intended to be horror.  If you would, tell me if you can picture this character, Dorlee, being ruthless and conniving in order to get what she wants?  I'm hoping to have the reader be sympathetic to her despite her ruthless choices. (And, yes, this was chewed up and spit out by the Evil Minions.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dorlee!  Get to work, ye slattern!" 

 

"I been working, Mam."  Dorlee finished hauling the bucket from the well, steadying the crank with her bad arm as she reached for the bucket handle with her good hand to lift it off the hook.  It was awkward, and some of the water slopped over, wetting her thigh. 

 

 "Don't sass me, missy, or I'll blister that lazy hide of yourn." 

 

Dorlee scowled as she bent to hook the yoke to the bucket.  "No Mam.  Sorry."

 

Mam waved her apron at a crow landed near her pie on the half door's ledge, her foul temper finding something else to attack.  "Gowway, ye mobbin!  Scat!  Our dinner's not yourn, ye hear?" 

 

"If you brung it into the creamery it'd both cool and be left alone," the girl muttered as she settled the yoke across her shoulders before straightening her knees to take the weight.  She started moving, both hands on the yoke to steady it, her short arm with its deformed hand straining against the load as she trudged up the slope to the big stone trough.  This was her chore.  Her younger brothers milked the goats and sheep, she hauled the water, because her hand made milking slow and awkward.  Besides, Da said, Dorlee's bad luck soured the milk.  Dorlee thought he didn't mind making her work their garden and root fields so much, no bad luck there--or brewing, or making cheese, or especially weaving by smoky peat fire until her fingers blistered and she could barely see for the headache.  They sold her weaving and her lace for enough, no bad luck there, either. 

 

Part of her almost missed him.  At least Da had been predictable, where Mam was a tangle of bitter anger flailing like a cat in a drowning sack.  But he'd been gone for months, through the harsh winter and the mud and slush of early spring--far longer than the trade trek he'd intended--which meant him likely dead in a ditch someplace or scarpered…and either as likely as the other to Dorlee's way of thinking.  It didn't matter, neither, except no strong back to do the heavy work with the boys so young. 

 

Part of her understood their mam's crazy-making anger.  She was left with three littles and no man to run a farm in the back of beyond.  Getting the crops in and the wool sheared and spun and peat dug and dried for fires took more time than one adult could handle.  They might starve.  Brigands might arrive, out here where the lawless outnumbered the king's men.  And getting the fleeces combed and washed and dyed, too--Da was the one who could spin fastest.  Without the hands to do all the work, they couldn't sell yarn or even roving, just the fleece to the shearing crew master come round each Spring. 

 

Lots to make Mam crazy, but it didn't mean Dorlee had to like it.  She thought about leaving, but who would hire a cripple?  Nowt to do but stay.  And at least with her Da gone the worst she suffered besides the ache of physical labor was Ma's knife-edge tongue and occasional slap. 

 

Dorlee set her burden down by the trough and bent for the first bucket.  She though maybe two trips more would see the trough full enough; then she could fill the kitchen barrel and get onto other things, outdoor things, while the sun still cast shadows and heat.  It was shaping up to rain and she wanted to be far enough along in the garden she could come inside and to work in the dry. 

 

"Better hurry, Paddle, we almost done here," Duffin chided, smirking around the straw he chewed in imitation of their absent Da.  He squatted on a four-legged stool, his crown against a warm nanny's side, eying her instead of his hands as milk sizzled rhythmically into a bucket.

            She sneered in his direction as she tipped the water in.  "You're not Da, Duffin.  Best not act bigger than your britches.  And you can haul them buckets to the creamery your own selves and drag down the hay as well.  I'm not doing your chores for you today.  And you best be out there in the fields hoeing alongsides me, too."

 

"Da'll be back," Neffin said after a long, empty look that took all she had not to swallow against.  Of the twins, he was the one took after their Da the most.  Duffin's mouth merely flapped loud with argumentation like their mam's; Neffin was the one who casually burned her with coals when no one was about. He was the one with dead eyes like their Da's when sommat crossed him.

 

"That's as may be," she said after a moment, refusing to look away despite the chill in her heart, "but nothing you or me can do about it."

Neffin blinked and went back to milking.  Repressing a shiver, Dorlee bent her back to her chores, knowing that the boys would tattle lies to their mam soon enough.

Story Architecture finally

You know, some days are total Ideaville.  Today is one.  I think I've figured out the plot for Iron Maiden, and I think I've learned that, yes, I do need to plot most stories out somewhat more than aim for a particular ending with a few scene ideas in mind.  (Think of me like a debutante with an unfilled dance card and bursting optimism despite squinty eyes and a wart the size of Jupiter on my nose.) 

Problem is, I have no discipline on the front end of a story, when I'm waxing all enthusiastic.  I don't like sitting and plotting when I could be writing.  So I stick my nose up at that and write until I get stuck, whine about it, and lose interest in the story.  Not my best shining moment when I do that.  It's also part of the distractable, Oooh! Shiny! mentality that is me. 

In any case, Iron Maiden (a working title) is a rehash of Beauty & The Beast done as a horror.  It's about power and abuse and what abuse of power can do to a person.  Our Beauty is not a Nice Person.  And the ending?  Oh baby, do I plan to have a nicely twisted ending.  Happily Ever After?  Not for everybody!

What short story writing has taught/is teaching me.

So, you might ask (and I'll expound at length, as per usual) what have I learned from writing short stories?  Well, because my biggest shortcoming is plotting (I tend toward too freaking much!) I've been improving in how to organize, and even to get better at plotting out in advance--something I used to resist with extreme prejudice other than a general outline I'd freely disregard whenever I had a competing idea. 

Today is one of those days were the lightbulb really goes one for me.  I've been trying to take my usual minimalist plot approach with Iron Maiden--just giving myself the gist and letting my subconscious provide the details needed to advance the plot.

It wasn't working.  So I took the three act plan I blogged about in one of my earlier posts and used it as my handy-dandy plotting tool.  It has helped me get a handle on the story's shape.  Finally.  (Amazingly.)

Funny how epiphany can show up after you beat your head against the wall long enough.  (I'm glad you guys aren't pointing fingers and laughing or saying I told you so! :) )

LeGuin's essays published!

Ursula K. LeGuin's newest book is "Cheek By Jowl," a collection of essays on the topic of writing fantasy.  I haven't yet read it--just found out about it--but it is now dutifully ordered.  I've read bits of things she's had to say about writing over the years (more on her website, all valuable) and so I figure this is a win/win book to purchase. 

Still in chaos

Been busy with work and trying to get the shelves up in one half the office.  I should get the rest of them roughed in tonight or tomorrow, then can prep to paint.  I have Friday, Sunday and Monday off (next weekend) so I hope to get all that finito (including paint) and get some shelves in the bedroom, too.  Cross your fingers for me, because I also have a few other things to get done because post surgery (September 3, which is two weeks away) I'll not be lifting and toting anything for a couple of months and then it'll be winter and too late! 

Working a bit on Iron Maiden today.  Had another lightning moment and it helped.  The problem at the moment is that I haven't been writing so it's hard to get started.

Do you ever do that, take a break from writing and find it really difficult to make yourself start again?  maybe it's just me and my inherent laziness, but there's a reason I get all obsessed with any project I start.  When I go back to it after a break, I find I don't want to. 

*Free ebook: "Habitable Planets for Man" by Stephen Dole

*Repost, but still free online:

From a member of my critique group, Michael W. Lucas:

"For many years, the standard textbook on planetary conditions has been
Stephen Dole's "Habitable Planets for Man."  Published in 1964, it's
just as accurate and relevant today as it was when first released.  I
spent years searching for this book, only to learn it had been
systematically stolen from every university and major library in the
United States.  Copies existed in locked archives, available only to
qualified researchers who were willing to leave a kidney as
collateral.  Inter-library loan was Right Out.  It's the Necronomicon
of the scientific world; mythic, powerful, possibly even outright
fictional.  (I got my copy thanks to an archivist friend at the
library where I worked, who had a friend in the UCLA archives with a
photocopier.  That favor got called in not long ago, but I cannot
discuss it until the statute of limitations runs out.)  IMHO it is the
single most valuable hard-science SF resource, ever.

To my delight, HPfM has been legitimately re-released on-line. [ed.: FREE DOWNLOAD!!!]

http://www.rand.org/pubs/commercial_books/CB179-1/

While I have mixed feelings about ebooks (see the music industry
implosion), this is a perfect use for them; making valuable
out-of-print information widely available again.  Get yours before the
RAND corporation comes to their senses.

If you are writing about inhabited worlds around distant stars, and
you want even a hint of scientific verisimilitude, read this book.
Study it."

You can also order the book for $22.50, which I am doing as well.

ALSO, YOU CAN GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD A NUMBER OF RAND CLASSICS, INCLUDING TOMES ON STRATEGY AND "PLANETS FOR MAN," WHICH IS AUTHORED BY ISAAC ASIMOV AND STEPHEN DOLE AND IS A "LESS-TECHNICAL TRETISE" BASED ON "HABITABLE PLANETS FOR MAN"!!!

My messy progress

More suited to a garage storage system than an office, but here's what I've got. 

I confess I prefer to see all my books, but for the nonce, and due to lack of wall space in this attic room, I have to go for deep shelving, which means books three deep.  (Don't fear, I plan on organizing the books so I can find them later.  I hope.)

I still have to add the top shelf on the long side, sand, trim with veneer tape, and paint.  I guarantee that you will think these look pretty good when I get done.  NOT fine cabinetry by any means, however.  But they will do. :)

And the winner is...

Using a random number generator*, I have selected a winner for the 1000th post contest:  Sylvia!  Congratulations, Sylvia!  Email me with your particulars and I'll get these puppies shipped off to you on my next day off, which happens to be next Friday.

*Hey, it was simpler than writing down names and putting them in a bag.  I got the # and counted down in the comments.  When I got one of my own comments, I drew another number until it wasn't my own comment that got selected.

I just had an epiphany (sort of)

You know how you feel stuck in the middle of plotting a story out and suddenly get an idea which seems like a lightning bolt, clearing all obstacles from your writing path?  Yeah.  Just had one of those.  I hope it works.  I'm tired of not getting the Magus of Athlinar finished.  I want to know what happens next.

Some great news!

Kiersten announces a book deal!  Woot! 

Here's what you might win...

Just make a comment in the post (link in previous post below) by end of day Friday (tomorrow).  There'll be a mixed lot of whatever tag ends I have on hand, but likely two or three of each you see here. 

And just so you know what I've done to my semi-organized office (in the name of getting shelves made):

And my supervisory staff, always ready to lend a jaundiced eye:

Contest reminder!

I apologize for lack of blog content lately.  Too much going on so you get random blather.  I have to warn you that it's not going to get better for a while.  I'm terribly distracted, and with having to quit drinking coffee I'll be a total zombie.  I'm pretty bad right now, and I'm down to only 8oz a day!  (Grumble, snarl, snarf.)  Also, when I get back from the hospital, I won't feel like blogging.  I might bomb my google reader just to keep the guilt at bay!  But we'll see.  No telling what I'll feel like doing.  (Hopefully it's getting some solid writing in.)

Anyhow, I wanted to remind those of you who haven't commented to do so here and win a chance to acquire some mighty fine notecards, made by moi.  (I'll get some pictures up tonight.)

Not One Of Us

Here's a print magazine I just discovered. 

Not One Of Us.  Want: Short stories up to 6000 words.  Pay:  ¼¢ per word ($5 minimum).  "Not One of Us is about people (or things) out of place in their surroundings, outsiders, social misfits, aliens in the sf sense—anyone excluded from society for whatever the reason. We want to explore “otherness” from every possible angle: horror, SF, fantasy, whatever... We prefer stories of 6000 words or less. While we’re willing to read stories up to 7500 words long, they are a harder sell because of the size limitation of our format. We prefer poems of 40 lines or less, although we’re willing to read longer poems. Just not ones of epic length. "  Submissions.

Busy day today.

Geez, I got up at 5am full of pep (because I went to bed at 7pm last night) and started in on chores around the house.  I got every nagging little thing done except mowing the lawn (which needs it desperately) and even got a new closet built in the upstairs.  I had this little door in a dead space and I ripped that out and put an opening in where the dead space was tallest, set up some shelves and put in a closet rod.  Now I can hang all my cool aloha shirt collection (and other shirts) in my bedroom instead of in the guest room.  I still have to trim the gaping hole with moulding, paint the wall and then hang a curtain in front of it (can't do a door in this particular location).  Should finish it up later this week.

Additionally, I went and got 3/4" plywood and some birch edge banding and have started on the shelves for my books.  I got three shelves per sheet of plywood, so I have 15.75" deep shelves running along one side of my room.  I'll get four shelves and plenty of room for books. The sad thing is that I'll have to double or triple stack them in order to fit them all on shelves; but I plan on adding some in the bedroom as well, which will hold the TBR pile if nothing else. 

I've got all my books back in boxes for the duration (except the TBRs) and my rough-and-ready shelves might be done in the next couple of weeks.  I hope so; I can organize them after I'm somewhat recovered from surgery.  It'll give me something to do besides sit on the sofa!

Nominate your favorite writing blog!

Over at Maria Schneider's Editor Unleashed blog, they are nominating those writing blogs which have made an impact.  Why don't you sashay on over and drop a line in favor of a blog you find helpful?  My pick was Evil Editor.

Pictures!!!

Okay, forgive me, these photos are not all glamor shots with the room totally picked up, but this is the old kitchen:

And here is after, with paint, textured walls, shelves, new hardware, and new stuff surrounding the stove (which you can see in the before shot is sort of floating opposite the fridge, all alone.  What you cannot see is the brick wallboard, which has been removed (hence the need for texture to cover the paneling glue, which is probably the hardest thing in nature.)

Too bad that ugly back splash and counter can't go away this year, but hopefully next year!  We have to replace the window over the sink, replace the sink and faucet, and then we can get the tile redone.  I do have the tile and everything needed, so we're all set there when the time comes!

I like that pot rack, keeps the big things handy.  Discovered them when living in tiny spaces in SF.  Hard to find except online with the Container Store.  Relatively cheap, too!

My desperate attempt to put something over the range hood, so I made a shelf.  (The ceiling is too low for cabinetry there.)  Behind that pantry unit are these new shelves:

And despite the cat trying to look all cool and aloof and distract your attention with his cattitude and stuff, you can see the rippling wall here, which I have textured over quite successfully.  It's never going to be perfect unless I make a huge mess ripping down all the wainscoting and wallboard (it's like heavy cardboard) and replace them with sheetrock.  And I don't DO sheetrock!  So this was my brilliant idea.  I thought it up all by myself, but it turns out that others have done similar things before.  Joint compound, it's not just for joints.  And it's cheap.

Now, the BONUS CONTENT:  Before and afters of the living room.  You may remember this before shot:

Well, here's the same angle of the living room (or close) after a new floor and paint. That's it!

And another angle:


And this is the spare bedroom you can see opening off the living room a few shots up.  Before:

And after:

And from another angle:

Research and protecting yourself from said research

What a quandry!  You can look up so much personal information on line these days (for a nominal fee, of course) that it's frightening.  I looked myself up on Intellius, only one of the available options, and there is information on me going back practically all my adult life!  What's even worse is how difficult it is to protect yourself from the data miners who post your information. 

Here's the quandry:  You can request you be removed from the databases, which is a temporary fix, because the next data mining sweep (whenever that occurs) will put your stuff right back!  They note, however, that "removing the data here does no prevent public records from sending us new information in the future. To permanently have your records sealed, you will need to contact your county’s records department."

So I tried to do exactly that in my county's records office.  And here's the inevidable Catch-22:  They have no process for "sealing" my records.  Anything is available if someone knows your name or other info and they can walk right in and request the records.  Which is fine for someone who specifically needs your info on a local level, but these folks have never heard of blocking data mining, nor do they know how these sites acquire their information.  Our records are, I was told, not on some big database that can be remotely accessed for inquiries.  She doesn't think the State does that, either (although I'm going to check). 

I'd really prefer not everyone knowing what I pay for my utilities, my addresses for the past thirty years and where I'm employed.  You never know what can be used to commit fraud in your name or to impersonate you with your existing accounts.

And I'd really like to understand how these sites get their information, too!

But, on the other hand, it is quite the useful tool for looking up information on people, especially reverse phone books.  There are even ones specifically for cellular phones.

Kitchen done!

I got the whole thing painted, and it took until 9 last night.  Which means it ate my whole vacation, because I have to go back to work this morning.  I'm going to hang the cupboard doors tonight, so I'll have a picture up in a day or so.  In the meantime, you can enjoy this reprise of Hera's "Feels So Good" for Musical Monday, which, because I feel like it, is on Sunday this week.

This blog is three! And a 1,000th post contest!!!

Actually, my blogging habit is three today.  I'm just almost two years with typepad. 

And this is the 1006th post!!!  (Sorry, in the flurry of home improvement updates I didn't note when I hit that overly  huge number last week.) 

So, in honor of both occasions, a contest that will both celebrate three years blogging as Writtenwyrdd and 1,000 posts on this current blog. 

Thank all of you who visit and comment regularly.  I feel like I've made some friends here, and I've truly enjoyed our conversations.  

THE  CONTEST.  I'm keeping it simple.  Leave a comment, I'll draw a name out of the hat.  I'll give it until next Friday for the maximum participation.  THE PRIZE.  I've got a bunch of hand-screened cards (black on cream) that I made years ago as part of my arts and crafts phase. The winner will get a couple dozen, each individually wrapped (a $50 value).  They can be framed as well.  I carved the originals in lino blocks and turned the prints into card designs.  Various Celtic designs, fantasy designs and pagan designs.  (I'll try and get a picture posted later this week.)  Meantime, feel free to spread the word.

Clockwork Phoenix 3 - an anthology opportunity

CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 3  PAYMENT: $0.02 a word on acceptance as an advance against royalties, then a pro rata share of royalties after earnout, plus a contributor copy. WORD LENGTH: Stories should be no longer than 10,000 words, preferably shorter. This is a firm limit for unsolicited stories.   Clockwork Phoenix 3 "is the next volume in the annual anthology series edited by Mike Allen, scheduled to be published by Norilana Books in July 2010. The anthology's literary focus is on the high end, and it is open to the full range of the speculative and fantastic genres....For the second book, I received a glut of sorcery stories, of which I only really used one, and a dearth of stories with the rococo sf elements I enjoy seeing. I hope that trend will reverse somewhat this year. Also, please see what I have to say below regarding multiple and simultaneous submissions."   READING PERIOD begins Oct. 1, 2009; ends Nov. 15, 2009.  EDITORIAL ADDRESS: clockworkphoenix@gmail.com

For further updates, check Mike Allen's LiveJournal, THE PLASTEEL SPIDER FACTORY.

Whew!

Well, all the kitchen walls are now painted.  (Yay!) I'm in the process of painting the ceiling now, which is a big ol' pain in the butt; yet this too shall pass and I'll get onto the sanding and painting of the cupboard doors and drawers. 

Funny, you can see how the result will look in your mind's eye, but it's still a bit of a shock when the work is done.  Our kitchen is so much brighter and more pleasant.  When it's all done, I'll post a picture.  :)

The Carl Brandon Society

The Carl Brandon Society is a group dedicated to increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction.   They also have a list of people of color in speculative fiction.  From their site:

Our Vision

We envision a world in which speculative fiction, about complex and diverse cultures from writers of all backgrounds, is used to understand the present and model possible futures; and where people of color are full citizens in the community of imagination and progress.

We Value

• Fantasizing for its own sake, and as an agent of social innovation
• Literature as a groundspring for social change
• Creative Innovation in the field of speculative fiction
• Inclusive Definitions of both genre and audiences
• A culture of Listening to people of all abilities, genders, and backgrounds, in all fields of endeavor
• National and international community-building around areas of interest

Paint!

I have a coat of primer on most of the kitchen now.  Okay, about 3/4 of it.  I should manage to get the cabinet carcasses done today, and maybe sand the cupboard doors and get them started.  (It rained yesterday afternoon, so no sanding marathon for the doors and drawers.)  On the other hand, I could ignore them for the moment and paint the rest of the room, thereby reducing the chaos tremendously by getting the room cleared of everything clustering in the middle... 

Can you believe it? Still prepping!

I've been sanding the kitchen since 9am and I'm nearly done now.  About ten more minutes of sanding, then off to the clean up!  You wouldn't believe the mess.  (Well, perhaps you would.)  Anyhow, the cleanup should take us an hour, perhaps two.  Then Mom and I will want supper, and have to clean up after that.  Then masking off the counters and floors and the stuff we don't want painted, which will be another hour perhaps two.  And maybe by 7 or 8pm we can start with the primer. 

However, while she does that, I'm going to be outside sanding the drawer fronts and the cupboard doors! 

You may surmise (and you'd be correct) that there's one hell of a lot of wood in this place.  If it wasn't shellacked, I might have just cleaned it and used bonding primer.  However, 60 year old shellac, despite appearances, doesn't still adhere well to dry old wood. 

At any rate, I'm still feeling optomistic that we shall get everything painted this week, except perhaps for the cupboard doors and drawers. 

Oh Progress! (Yes, it's a dirty word)

Cooler feelign today although it's in the 80s.  Not above 90% humidity is why.  Only about 70% humidity. 

I've been doing this and that in the kitchen, little things that need to be done, and now I'm finishing up sanding.  After I clean up the dust and wipe the cupboards off, we can get started painting tonight. 

I textured the walls yesterday, and they are about half dry at this point.  When they're totally dry I have to fill in the cracks and whatnot, then prime and paint those sections. 

I'm actually starting to feel like I might get everything painted (except the doors and drawer fronts) before I finish my vacation.  I might even get those doors and drawers done, too.  But I have to work Tuesday and Wednesday for some training (I volunteered so that I would get the training instead of being blamed for not getting the training should I make--god forbid--a mistake) so I might not get all that done, either.

And no time to write so far.