August 13, 2007: Diversicon 15! Editing out the wazoo! Back all better!
(Maybe I can't make it rain? Jury's still out.)
Writing -- So first, I should say that after five days of virtually complete immobilization, my back got better almost as quickly as it had gone out. A few more days of moving gently, and I was good as new. I'll never know if it was walking the dogs, or sleeping on the couch, or something else.
Which is good, because I've been busy! Holy smokes, I've been busy. I've been working to the point of not sleeping, eating, or showering. (Okay, was that last one more than you wanted to know?) At one point, after getting maybe 11 hours of sleep in the last 72, I thought, "I really just don't need to sleep," and recognized my state as being a wee bit hypomanic.
And my five-year-old computer seems to be on its last legs, at least as far as running a network is concerned. I've ordered a new HP Pavilion a6150e with most of the memory and processing speed I could get and other cool stuff. It should arrive next week. I don't think I could have dealt with my back going out and my computer going buggy.
So back to being busy. Tons of editing work coming in. Got a project that was supposed to be a 350-page copyedit that turned out to be a 520-page rewrite. Prose was often gibberish, and the text was factually wrong in many places. So I had to keep pushing that deadline back and back. The darn thing kept taking longer than I anticipated; I don't know if I slowed down or if the writing got worse -- maybe some of both. Then a bunch of other projects came in. I've had a lot of variety: a book to help high school students pass a standardized math test to graduate, a book to help them pass the Advanced Placement exam in "human geography" (I'd never heard of it before, but it's kind of a blend of economics, sociology, and history), a study guide for new doctors who need to pass a test to practice medicine (the descriptions of all the icky things that can go wrong with the human body help you appreciate the body you've got), and several educational theory/practice books. Now I'm wrapping up another book for teachers and starting a book about statistics for MBAs. I like the variety. Each publishing house (and sometimes imprints within a house) has its own style preferences, though, and sometimes it's hard to keep them all straight, especially when I haven't been sleeping or eating (or showering)!
I've also been busy because of Diversicon 15. It was an awesome time. My panels all went pretty well. I got to bond with some people I have haven't gotten to bond with for a while, or ever. I got to hear Keg Salad, a folk music band with Mark Rich and Martha Borchardt and bought their CD, Touch of Life. I got to wax enthusiastic about the reproductive habits of aquatic snails, and people listened. Later, one man pointed me out to another, saying, "That's the Snail Lady." Man #2 wanted to hear all about them. I saw parts of some early SF films and part of a 2002 British SF film that looked really good (28 Days Later). I did the Program Book for the con, and I think that turned out pretty well. And I found some good books and great T-shirts in the dealer's room and got a lot of books at bargain prices at the Auction. Guest of Honor Andrea Hairston is a rock star, and Special Guest Melissa Kaercher is a firecracker. Altogether, a very satisfying weekend.
Family -- Doug's parents came for their annual visit. We had a pretty good time with them. Visiting the dog park with Cubby was a high point, as was playing Russian Rails with his dad (one of the more fun rail games, IMO -- easier to get started than many of the others). Unfortunately, Doug and I were both so zonked from working so hard and (at least in my case) not eating, sleeping (or showering), that we weren't up to doing a whole lot.
Culture -- Just read Dreamer (1988) by Daniel Quinn, the author of Ishmael and leading figure of a radical environmental philosophy. Dreamer is a really excellent book -- recommended! I guess you'd call it contemporary fantasy/horror but with a definite science fiction sensibility. (If you haven't, you should read Ishmael, too. It *will* change the way you think about everything.)
Home and Garden -- We're having the hottest, driest summer since 1988. I think before that, you have to go back to the Dust Bowl to find anything worse. Starting last week, though, we finally got a series of the furious thunderstorms one associates with June in the northern prairie, and some much needed inches of rain. I was too busy for a couple of weeks to water much, so I did lose some of my newer/more fragile plants, but what can you do?
I planted too many tomato plants, and now they're producing, and I have too many tomatoes. I gave some to my next-door neighbors yesterday, and my therapist said she'd love some, so a bag is going her way today or tomorrow. They're gorgeous heirlooms; the yellow/orange "Persimmons" are especially delish -- sweet and meaty. The pak choy/joi choy hybrid has proved incredibly hardy for a leafy vegetable; the heat and drought seemed to have killed it, but now it's coming back and growing like crazy. Too bad it doesn't taste better. Sauteed with salt and butter, like collards, it's okay. My basil is proving delicious in salads, as are my chives. I've gotten a couple of nice cantaloupes, and some beautiful broccoli is forming (and Old Dog Bill isn't around anymore to eat it off the plant!). Even some lettuce has survived, though only a small percentage of what started. The asparagus I put in the front yard this spring all came up and seems to be thriving, so hopefully next spring, I'll be able to harvest a little. And it's as pretty as an ornamental plant as I'd hoped. Have gotten lots of white, green, and purple beans and one yellow sweet pepper so far. I'd say this has been my most successful veggie garden year yet!
Fun! --
Writing -- So first, I should say that after five days of virtually complete immobilization, my back got better almost as quickly as it had gone out. A few more days of moving gently, and I was good as new. I'll never know if it was walking the dogs, or sleeping on the couch, or something else.
Which is good, because I've been busy! Holy smokes, I've been busy. I've been working to the point of not sleeping, eating, or showering. (Okay, was that last one more than you wanted to know?) At one point, after getting maybe 11 hours of sleep in the last 72, I thought, "I really just don't need to sleep," and recognized my state as being a wee bit hypomanic.
And my five-year-old computer seems to be on its last legs, at least as far as running a network is concerned. I've ordered a new HP Pavilion a6150e with most of the memory and processing speed I could get and other cool stuff. It should arrive next week. I don't think I could have dealt with my back going out and my computer going buggy.
So back to being busy. Tons of editing work coming in. Got a project that was supposed to be a 350-page copyedit that turned out to be a 520-page rewrite. Prose was often gibberish, and the text was factually wrong in many places. So I had to keep pushing that deadline back and back. The darn thing kept taking longer than I anticipated; I don't know if I slowed down or if the writing got worse -- maybe some of both. Then a bunch of other projects came in. I've had a lot of variety: a book to help high school students pass a standardized math test to graduate, a book to help them pass the Advanced Placement exam in "human geography" (I'd never heard of it before, but it's kind of a blend of economics, sociology, and history), a study guide for new doctors who need to pass a test to practice medicine (the descriptions of all the icky things that can go wrong with the human body help you appreciate the body you've got), and several educational theory/practice books. Now I'm wrapping up another book for teachers and starting a book about statistics for MBAs. I like the variety. Each publishing house (and sometimes imprints within a house) has its own style preferences, though, and sometimes it's hard to keep them all straight, especially when I haven't been sleeping or eating (or showering)!
I've also been busy because of Diversicon 15. It was an awesome time. My panels all went pretty well. I got to bond with some people I have haven't gotten to bond with for a while, or ever. I got to hear Keg Salad, a folk music band with Mark Rich and Martha Borchardt and bought their CD, Touch of Life. I got to wax enthusiastic about the reproductive habits of aquatic snails, and people listened. Later, one man pointed me out to another, saying, "That's the Snail Lady." Man #2 wanted to hear all about them. I saw parts of some early SF films and part of a 2002 British SF film that looked really good (28 Days Later). I did the Program Book for the con, and I think that turned out pretty well. And I found some good books and great T-shirts in the dealer's room and got a lot of books at bargain prices at the Auction. Guest of Honor Andrea Hairston is a rock star, and Special Guest Melissa Kaercher is a firecracker. Altogether, a very satisfying weekend.
Family -- Doug's parents came for their annual visit. We had a pretty good time with them. Visiting the dog park with Cubby was a high point, as was playing Russian Rails with his dad (one of the more fun rail games, IMO -- easier to get started than many of the others). Unfortunately, Doug and I were both so zonked from working so hard and (at least in my case) not eating, sleeping (or showering), that we weren't up to doing a whole lot.
Culture -- Just read Dreamer (1988) by Daniel Quinn, the author of Ishmael and leading figure of a radical environmental philosophy. Dreamer is a really excellent book -- recommended! I guess you'd call it contemporary fantasy/horror but with a definite science fiction sensibility. (If you haven't, you should read Ishmael, too. It *will* change the way you think about everything.)
Home and Garden -- We're having the hottest, driest summer since 1988. I think before that, you have to go back to the Dust Bowl to find anything worse. Starting last week, though, we finally got a series of the furious thunderstorms one associates with June in the northern prairie, and some much needed inches of rain. I was too busy for a couple of weeks to water much, so I did lose some of my newer/more fragile plants, but what can you do?
I planted too many tomato plants, and now they're producing, and I have too many tomatoes. I gave some to my next-door neighbors yesterday, and my therapist said she'd love some, so a bag is going her way today or tomorrow. They're gorgeous heirlooms; the yellow/orange "Persimmons" are especially delish -- sweet and meaty. The pak choy/joi choy hybrid has proved incredibly hardy for a leafy vegetable; the heat and drought seemed to have killed it, but now it's coming back and growing like crazy. Too bad it doesn't taste better. Sauteed with salt and butter, like collards, it's okay. My basil is proving delicious in salads, as are my chives. I've gotten a couple of nice cantaloupes, and some beautiful broccoli is forming (and Old Dog Bill isn't around anymore to eat it off the plant!). Even some lettuce has survived, though only a small percentage of what started. The asparagus I put in the front yard this spring all came up and seems to be thriving, so hopefully next spring, I'll be able to harvest a little. And it's as pretty as an ornamental plant as I'd hoped. Have gotten lots of white, green, and purple beans and one yellow sweet pepper so far. I'd say this has been my most successful veggie garden year yet!
Fun! --
- Squirrels and Snakes: Judging from the way they like to throw themselves in front of oncoming cars, I'd always thought squirrels had low survival quotients. But they do have some things going for them. A special protein in their blood that makes them immune to snake venom, for one. And a way of shaking their tails vigorously and heating them when venomous snakes approach. (They shake their tails but don't bother heating them up around nonvenomous snakes.)
- Africa: It's a big continent, it's a varied continent, and it's a continent we should all know more about. The BBC World Service has a great page dedicated to news and information from all parts of Africa.
posted by Paula F. at
7:38 PM
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