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Light blogging ahead….
OK, folks, I’m in the final home-stretch of editing Princesses In SPACE!!! (not the actual title). I have less than a hundred pages to go, and I have an outline to write, so I can get my submission packet ready to go for January 15, my self-imposed deadline. This means that I’ll be posting less frequently here until all that is done. No hiatus, but there will be less new stuff here for a few days. Thanks!
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Sunday Burst of Weird and Awesome
Oddities and Awesome abound!
:: Probably not safe for work…but it’s hilarious. Cats that look like pin-up girls.
:: Wonder what Mars looked like when it was still a watery, verdant world? Wonder no more! Amazing.
:: Emotions for which English has no words. I find this interesting to consider — if we did have words for such feelings as these, would English poetry be less interesting?
More next week!
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Something for Thursday
Regular readers of long duration will know that an annual New Year’s tradition at Casa Jaquandor — not yet indulged this year, but likely Saturday night, when The Wife is home from work — is the viewing of the New Year’s From Vienna concert, which features the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and various other artistic groups, most often ballet artists, in a wonderful concert of music by the Strauss family. It’s invariably a magical evening, and one of my greatest dreams is to attend it in person one day. (One of my great dreams of youth, now ruled impossible by choices I’ve made since, was to actually conduct the concert. But that was always unlikely….)
The concert always ends with three encores: a galop or polka chosen by the conductor, and kept secret until the concert itself, followed by a waltz, and then closing with the Radetzky March, which is the Austrian equivalent of The Stars and Stripes Forever. That waltz? Not just any waltz, but the most famous waltz ever written: On the Beautiful Blue Danube.
Most years, the concert footage of Blue Danube is combined with ballet footage, but a couple of years ago, they did something different, using the waltz to trace the flow of the river itself, from its headwaters in Germany all the way to where it empties into the Black Sea. How utterly captivating! Here is On the Beautiful Blue Danube (conducted by Georges Pretre).
And hey, why stop there? From the same concert, here is that final encore number, the Radetzky March. Note the snare drum opening, before our conductor even reaches the podium, and note the audience participation, with our conductor indicating when they should clap softly and when they should clap loudly.
Let 2013 commence proper!
(For those interested, through January 16 you can watch this year’s concert broadcast here.)
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A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter
A quiz-thing, huzzah!
I don’t do as many quiz-things as I used to. So here’s a quiz-thing, stolen from Cal.
1: What eye color do you find sexiest?
Blue, I guess. Never really thought of it before.
2: White, milk, or dark chocolate mocha?
No idea. Not off to a promising start here….
3: If you could get a Sharpie tattoo on your back, what would it be?
Label where my internal organs are.
4: Did you grow up in a small or big town? Did you like it?
Small town. I liked it well enough, but even then it was slowly dying away, and while the area is physically beautiful, there’s really nothing there now. At the time I didn’t really understand “the rules” of interacting in a small town, so I got bullied a lot. To this day I’m unsure as to how much I liked it, but I did enjoy the people a good deal, despite not having a hell of a lot in common with any of them.
5: Your favorite adult as a child? (and not your parents, if they were your favorite)
Huh. Probably any teachers who took active interest in whatever talents I had. Regrettably, these were more infrequent than they should have been.
6: What kind of smoothie sounds really good right now?
Blueberry. I love me some blueberries. Or pomegranate. Or orange-vanilla. Or…anything but banana, peach, or mango. I don’t like those flavors in things, even though I love the respective fruits. What can I say, I’m strange.
7: Most embarrassing moment from your elementary school years?
Well, when you’re the kid who tends to get bullied a bit and you make the mistake of writing on the cover of your notebook that you like some girl and one of the bullies finds the notebook…yeah, that’s kinda mortifying.
8: Most embarrassing moment from your middle school years?
Writing a brief love-note to the girl I was crushing on turned out to be a less than good idea. She let me down gently, though. Good on her!
9: Most embarrassing moment from your high school years?
Don’t worry, it didn’t involve girls. I think. I actually mostly managed to get through high school with a minimum of embarrassing stuff happening.
10: Pirates or ninjas? Why?
Pirates. There are lots of cool, notorious pirates, and they drink lots of rum and get lots of wenches. Ninjas? They wear masks and anonymously dish out death as part of a collective.
11: Have you ever climbed a tree more than twenty feet off the ground?
Yes! Tree climbing is fun. I’d be great in the Amazon rain forest.
12: Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing set?
Oh yeah, I loved swinging. In fact, it’s still fun, if the swing is big enough.
One time I’m swinging away, nice and high, and some toddler wanders right into my path. I managed to jump off while holding on, dragging my feet and knees and generally hurting all manner of body parts — and the little shit’s mother comes over to get him and gives me a dirty look for almost hurting her precious little angel. Stupid woman.
13: If you could have any pet in the world, illegal or not, what would you get?
A Persian kitten. No, two Persian kittens. Because Persian kittens are so adorable that it makes me cry.
14: What’s your most favorite part of your body?
Is Jadzia Dax would say of Leonard McCoy, “He had the hands of a surgeon….”
15: What’s your most favorite part of your personality?
My increasingly-strong ability to not give a crap.
16: Madonna or Lady Gaga? Neither? Both? Who cares?
Madonna, although I do think Gaga is cut from the same cloth. I still think Madonna can bring it — her Super Bowl halftime show was one of the greatest things I’ve seen in years, for sheer gonzo lunatic spectacle.
17: Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through?
Every year since SB XXIII (SF 20, Cincinnati 16), except for: SB XXIV (at college, busy that night, everybody knew SF would clobber Denver), SB XXXV (Baltimore beats crap out of Giants, dull game, missed second half driving home from party), SB XXXVIII (again, driving home from party), SB XLV (again, driving home from party). Most times when we’ve gone to Super Bowl parties, they’ve been really far away, and it takes a big chunk of the second half getting home.
18: Have you ever watched any major sporting event drunk?
No.
19: What’s the most delicious food you’ve ever eaten in your life?
I’ll say something different each time you ask this, so for right now, I’ll say…my mother’s turkey dinner.
20: Margarine or butter? Which did you grow up with?
Now, butter. I don’t recall what we used when I was a kid. I think that margarine is pretty awful stuff, though.
21: Whole, skim, 1%, or 2% milk? (Did you know they make 1 1/2% milk?)
Skim, although I’ll use others for recipes, depending on what’s called for. I prefer whole or half-and-half for creamy soups.
22: Which continents have you been on?
North America. Travel has not been in the cards for me much to now, aside from the States and Toronto.
23: Do you get motion sickness? Any horror stories?
Not really, but I’m chicken about inverting roller coasters. I want no part of those.
24: Backpacks or satchels?
Satchels, unless I’m walking through the wilderness. Then a backpack.
25: Would you wear a rainbow jacket? A neon yellow sweater? Checkered pants?
No on all three counts, but I’d be most likely to do the neon yellow sweater.
26: What was your favorite cartoon growing up?
Bugs Bunny and company.
27: If you had to have a cow or a pig, which would you take? Why?
The pig, because of bacon.
28: If you had to look at one city skyline for the rest of your life, which would it be?
Toronto’s. I love that city! (Close seconds: NYC and Chicago.)
29: Longest plane ride you’ve ever been on?
Boston to Phoenix, as part of our journey across the country for my mother-in-law’s funeral. It took 6.5 hours. I’m better equipped for such a flight now; I’d load up my tablet with a movie or two and watch away. I did have my laptop, but I could barely get it opened in those tiny seats.
30: The latest you’ve ever slept?
Noon, once or twice in college following an almost all-nighter. (I never once pulled an actual all-nighter, although one night we went to bed at 5:30 am.)
31: Would you buy a sweater covered in kitten pictures? Would you wear it if someone gave it you for free?
As much as I love kitties…probably not. Unless I wore it under overalls, which would conceal some of it.
32: Do you pick at scabs?
Ewwww! No! (But when I was a kid…yeah.)
33: Favorite kind of bean? Kidney? Black? Pinto?
I love beans of nearly every variety. I honestly couldn’t pick a favorite.
34: How far can you throw a baseball?
Ugh! I suck at throwing. Never practiced as a kid.
35: If you had to move to another country, where would you move?
Toronto, ON, CA.
36: Have you ever eaten Ethiopian food? Vietnamese? Korean? Nepalese? How was it?
No, yes, no, no. I’d love to, though. I wish more ethnic restaurants weren’t all in the farther-from-home ‘burbs of Buffalo.
37: Small, liberal arts school or public university? Why?
I went to a small liberal arts school, but I think I’d have been fine in a larger place, too. I love the collegiate atmosphere, actually.
38: A relationship with love or one with sex?
Love. Without it, the other thing is pointless. Fun, I imagine, but pointless.
39: Do you eat enough vegetables?
No, but I’m getting better at it.
40: Do you like horror movies? How about thrillers?
Horror, no. Too often they’re about shock and gore. Thrillers, absolutely! Some of my favorite movies are thrillers. Silence of the Lambs, for example.
41: Would you scratch a crotch itch in public?
Erm….
42: Do you swear in front of your parents?
I try not to, because it feels kinda odd, to this day.
43: Coolest thing you’ve ever been for Halloween?
Captain Marvel. Zap! Pow! (My mother made that costume, and it was awesome.)
44: If you could change your natural hair color, would you? To what?
I’d let it go. I’ll be a Gandalf-like gray within five to ten years.
45: Do you want to get married? Have kids?
No, because to do that, I’d have to divest myself of the current marriage, and I don’t have a whole lot of desire to do that.
46: Do you use a reusable water bottle? If not, you should.
Yes. Weird question.
47: City or nature person?
I think I’m a city person with a nature person looking to get out. Or maybe the other way around. I could be a nature person as long as I’m within, say, 45 minutes of a city.
48: Have you ever used something other than “makeup” as makeup? (Like paint? Markers?)
Unless whipped cream and coconut custard count, no.
49: Can you walk well in high heels? Even if you’re a guy?
Never tried. Heels do look nice on women, but I don’t think they’re likely worth the hassle and pain. I don’t think they elevate a woman’s appearance so much that I’d miss them if every woman just said “Oh, frak these things” and shuffled them off to the dustbin of history, like powdered wigs.
One thing I see fairly regularly is women wearing heels who clearly don’t wear them very often. There’s no mistaking that particular awkward gait.
50: Post 5 awesome things about yourself. BRAG AWAY!
I write well. I love to learn new things. I can cook. I’m good with cats. And I’m ready to step in and take over writing chores for Star Wars Episode VII on a moment’s notice!
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2012: The Trek Continues
It’s time for the annual quiz! Because I do this quiz every year as the last post of the year. That’s what makes it annual! In general, 2012 was a kind of promising year. I feel good about the seeds I sowed this year; now hopefully in 2013, I will be able to do some reaping.
The next post below this one is my yearly navel-gazing in which I link all that stuff of mine online that I particularly like: photos, blog posts, and specific posts about books and movies.
Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Aside from the usual — read more, write more, continue eating ever healthier, and so on — not really. As for last year’s? Well, I did read and write a lot, and I did continue eating healthier, and I did lose weight. So yay, me!
I also screwed up on one ‘resolution’ — I signed up for a blogging ‘challenge’, centered on reading literary classics. And I had my list of books picked out. And I read one of them. And then I promptly got distracted by The Shiny and forgot the entire thing. Oops!
Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but I have some friends who are going to in the next few months, so a healthy Mazel tov! to them!
Did anyone close to you die?
Luckily…no. I’m keenly aware that the likelihood of continuing to dodge that bullet will continue to drop every single year now, but we have suffered no major visits from The Reaper since my mother-in-law’s passing.
What countries did you visit?
We went back to Canada! First time since 2006 that we were able to enjoy that country’s wonderments. (Or, at least the wonderments in Toronto.) We can’t wait to go back!
Other than that, all the usual fictional countries that I visited in movies or in the books. In a lot of ways, that’s the best kind of traveling.
What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
My usual answer: A book on my shelf, a real book, printed by a publisher and everything, that I wrote. Good news is that I think I’m heading in that direction. I really really really hope I am. I don’t like to count chickens before they’re omelets, or whatever that expression is, but I have a sense that with Princesses In SPACE!!! (not the actual title), I’m on to something in a way that I’ve never been before, writing-wise.
I’d also like a more definitive sense that my country is moving in a direction that I wish. It’s hard being liberal in this country.
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
It’s all writing, baby! Writing, all writing. I got the first draft of Princesses done, then I let it lay fallow, and then I got through one round of edits before handing it off to an able group of beta-readers. Now I’m putting together my final draft (until a professional editor requests/suggests alterations, should I be fortunate enough to get that far). This was a big deal for me — the first major completion of a writing project in quite a while.
I also did a NaNoWriMo project, which I ‘completed’ in the sense of generating 50,000 words in November. The story itself still isn’t done — I back-burnered that one while I’m doing edits on Princesses — but I know where it’s going, and will get back to it as soon as the more pressing work is done.
And it’s always nice to go to a doctor’s visit for a 6-month follow-up and have her be impressed across the board with everything.
What was your biggest failure?
Probably the afore-mentioned ‘Classics reading challenge’. I mean, I completely forgot about it. Remembered in September. Ugh! I feel pretty dumb about that one.
I also started a novel, a fantasy book not actually titled The Adventures of Lighthouse Boy!, but I had to shelve that one temporarily because the story just wasn’t unfolding very convincingly. I need to rethink that one a bit. (And that will bring up some decision-making, as the sequel to Princesses is now gestating in my head!)
What was the best thing you bought?
A new laptop (Dell Inspiron), a tablet (7-inch Samsung Galaxy II), two pairs of Carhartt overalls, a retro-rocket ship and a UFO-with-alien Christmas tree ornament, some books, and so on.
Whose behavior merited celebration?
The Wife, The Daughter, and generally lots of folks!
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
God, I wish the Republican Party would come back to the land of the sane. I’ve been thinking a bit lately about President George HW Bush, who has been sick of late. I didn’t agree with him politically, and I think that he does bear some responsibility for the Republican party’s trip into the cesspool (his winning campaign in 1988 was pretty nauseating), but he was also the last Republican of national standing who didn’t make me feel like throwing up.
Where did most of your money go?
Food, bills, books. Same as most years!
What did you get really excited about?
Finishing drafts of Princesses, voting for Barack Obama a second time, and finally seeing Les Miserables on the stage. (Yes, I’ll see the movie. Not sure when, but I will see it!)
What song will always remind you of 2012?
It’s interesting about ‘viral’ videos: I watch ‘em like everybody, out of curiosity, and then I usually don’t watch them again. This one, however, I still watch a couple of times a month, because the sheer happiness of the thing, the fact that this fellow rounded up that many folks to help out with his little proposal project, and the fact that the song he used is just great, in that ear-worming pop-tune kind of way. It’s Bruno Mars’s “Marry You”, used in the now-famous ‘Live-Dub’ Proposal:
Boy Howdy, I love that! It’s things like this which make me think that maybe, just maybe, no matter how bad things get on the ‘macro’ level, we humans have a chance to get our shit together.
Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Happier. Indisputably happier — and that’s a trend that’s been ongoing for a while now.
Thinner or fatter?
Thinner! Again, not by a whole lot, but I remain convinced that slow and steady is the way to go when it comes to weight loss. (Admittedly, the last month has not been helpful in this regard, but January is coming!)
Richer or poorer?
Not so much richer, but I continue to be a better steward of what I have and plan to continue to be that. Plus, when Princesses achieves renown as the science fiction equivalent of Harry Potter, well then–! (Yeah, now I’m really getting ahead of myself!)
What do you wish you’d done more of?
Reading and writing, of course.
What do you wish you’d done less of?
Bitching about politics (which is something I already don’t do much of to begin with). Noodling about online. (“Hmmmm, I could use a break! I’m gonna watch some West Wing clips on YouTube.” [90 minutes later] “Huh, I should really do some work….”)
How did you spend Christmas?
We’re always low-key on Christmas: family at home, eating, playing games, eating some more, watching stuff, maybe drinking a bit of rum. Visiting Little Quinn at the cemetery, and then stopping at 7-11 for BigGulps.
Did you fall in love in 2012?
My stock answer applies: I fall in love on a daily basis!
How many one-night stands?
Zero. I’m taken, as always! (Unless the salacious dreams I occasionally have about Stana Katic and Kat Dennings count…in which case…uh….)
What was your favorite TV program?
Castle, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls, Mentalist, and the new biggie, Person of Interest. Oh, and Once Upon a Time.
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don’t hate. Well, sometimes I do, but I catch myself and try to stop as quickly as possible.
What was the best book you read?
In fiction, probably Sacre Bleu! by Christopher Moore. In non-fiction, Space Chronicles by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and the remarkable The Long Walk, by Buffalo author Brian Castner. Amazing books, all of them!
What was your greatest musical discovery?
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. See below!
What did you want and get?
Closer to a finished book. New tech toys. The re-election of the President. Carhartt overalls. A smaller body. Pies in my face.
What did you want and not get?
Even closer to a finished book than I am now. A sane opposition party that acknowledges science and reality and doesn’t base its every action on opposing whatever the President wants. Some power tools that I’ve had my eye on, but not purchased yet. Forest green Carhartt overalls — they don’t make them anymore, so I have to keep an eye out on eBay for a pair my size. (When I do, they will be mine. Oh yes, they WILL be mine.) And, as it only happened the one time…pies in my face!
What were your favorite films of this year?
Of movies that came out this year, Skyfall and The Hobbit rocked my world pretty soundly. Of movies I saw that didn’t come out this year? I really liked Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Inglourious Basterds.
What did you do on your birthday?
On my actual birthday? I worked. We celebrated a few days later with our annual trip to Ithaca for their Apple Harvest Festival; we ate at PF Changs in Rochester, had waffles and fried chicken at Waffle Frolic in Ithaca, and at Chipotle Mexican Grill for the first time; we shopped for arts and crafts and books at some of the fine bookstores down there. And then a day or two later, the annual pies in my face.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Heh! Same as always: utilitarian to the max, dominated by bib overalls. As noted, I did finally get on board with the Carhartt brand, and now I love ‘em to death. I bought a new fleece sweater, too. As usual, though: the hippie-in-workwear.
What kept you sane?
Same reply as last year: Laughing; reading; writing; discovering that even though we’ve been together in one way or another for almost twenty twenty-one years, I still have ways of getting to know The Wife; singing loudly in the car when I’m by myself; torturing The Daughter with awful puns (something my father did to me, coincidentally enough!); geeking out to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings; getting hit in the face with pies. It’s awfully hard to take yourself seriously when crust, custard, and whipped cream are dripping from your face.
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Oh, the usual ones! But now that Castle is letting Detective Beckett actually be happy…oh my, Stana Katic!
Seeing as how I had no idea who she was a year ago? Adele. She’s awesome.
Outpacing her, though, is my growing admiration for Michelle Obama. She’s just an amazing woman. Our President is a fortunate man.
What political issue stirred you the most?
It was an election year, so there were a whole lot of them. But of late…my general distaste for guns has crystallized into hatred for the damn things.
Who did you miss?
I miss Dr. House. I hope he’s finding a way to solve medical mysteries and call people stupid while he tools around the country with Wilson.
Who was the best new person you met?
Just about all were folks online; I continue to meet more folks online each year, more now on Twitter and Facebook than in Blogistan, but it’s still cool. There are a lot of smart people in the world!
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012:
WRITE. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
READ. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
And keeping the ones from years past: We learn by screwing up, so embrace your inner FAIL! The Internet is made of people. Never, ever punt. (You know, I’m serious about that one. F*** punting. Always go for it. Even if it’s 4th and 30. From your own 2.) Democracy works wonders, but it works them eventually. Not all tears are an evil. Whipped cream is a miracle substance. So is ice cream.
Use your local library! Limiting your reading to only those books you can afford to buy is madness. OpenOffice rules. Buy good tools, take care of them, don’t lend them out, and they’ll last forever. Pie is wonderful stuff, whether on your plate or in your face. Screw fashion; if it’s comfy, wear it. We’re not meant to be alone. No object fits in your hand so perfectly as your wife’s hand, and no object fits so perfectly on your shoulder as your child’s head. Let it be, and all you need is love.
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I heard this song way back in May in, of all places, FOX’s ads for the series finale of House MD. It’s just a wonderful song, and I love its moving sound, its sense of pleading optimism, and its general sense of inspiration. It’s “Live Forever”, by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.
Laughter is the only thing
that’ll keep you sane,
In this world there’s cryin’
more and more every day.
Don’t let evil
get you down,
in this madness
spinning round and round!
I want you to live forever,
underneath the sky so blue!
Some people say faith
is a childish game.
Play on, children,
like it’s Christmas Day!
Sing me a song!
Sing me a melody!
Sing out loud–
You’re a symphony!
I want you to live forever,
underneath the sky so blue!
I want you to live forever,
underneath the sky so blue!
So that’s 2012. Onward to 2013!
And as always, in a ‘last but most certainly not least’ vein, I’d like to thank all you fine, wonderful readers for dropping by this year, either regularly or ‘once-in-a-while’. May each and every one of you enjoy a healthy, happy, and ultimately heavenly 2013!
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Best of 2012
It’s time again for my self-selection of the best stuff I’ve done here this year. Enjoy this trip down memory lane…or ignore it completely! I have no control over what you do, folks!
As always, some stuff took place as month-long ‘festivals’ of posting: Ask Me Anything! took place in February and August. In April I participated in a daily blogging challenge called A to Z. And I just made up a new one, Gimme a Title!, which is still ongoing.
I think I produced some nice bloggage this year, even if my output was actually down quite a bit — according to Blogger (whose stats I have no reason to doubt), 2012 saw the second fewest posts overall out of all eleven calendar years in the books. (The lowest was 2008, when I actually took three months and stopped blogging entirely.) I’m not sure what to forecast for next year, but I’ll note that my decline in posting here wasn’t due to boredom or ennui, but because I was actually really busy with other stuff, such as producing a novel that is slowly grinding toward submission time. I am in no way bored with the blog at this point, so I plan to keep right on going!
And without further ado, here we go.
Favorite photos, January to June:
1. It’s a proto-book! (2), 2. Reading, 3. The Rains of Orchard Park, 4. Hot Dogs and Potato Wedges, 5. Flags, 6. Fence at Knox Farm, 7. Existential Crisis, in overalls, 8. A place to clip things, 9. Two cats, one box, 10. The Goose family IV, 11. The Goose family I, 12. Supermoon, 13. Lunch of Champions!, 14. Ceiling at the Reinstein Library, 15. Niagara Falls after dark X, 16. Niagara Falls after dark V, 17. Niagara Falls after dark II, 18. Spl-lat, 19. Antique Mall VIII: My Toby jug!, 20. Antique Mall III: Toby mugs, 21. Antique Mall I: The Toby jug, side view, 22. DONE!!!, 23. Trimming, 24. Relaxing in the Overalls, 25. Casa Loma, 26. St. Lawrence Market: the upstairs, 27. St. Lawrence Market: Pork souvlaki, 28. St. Lawrence Market: String quartet, 29. Ontario Science Centre: Planet Earth II, 30. Casa Loma: Ceiling in the Solar, 31. Firefly Cupcakes, 32. Page One: A Princess of Mars, 33. Shea’s Buffalo at night, 34. A Pile of Doorstops, 35. Death by Kitteh, 36. Reading
January
Asimov on Libraries
Photos of a President
All Things Pie
My dream store
A collection of random complaints
February
Ha ha, Brady lost the Super Bowl
Whitney Houston, alas
On Ten Years of Blogging
A story in which one of the cats pisses me off
March
Losing a cell phone battery and not really giving a crap
On seeing Les Miserables live onstage at long, long last!
Ralph McQuarrie becomes one with The Force
On Bounty-gate
Cul de sac
Fifty most-hated movies?
Hot Pepper Jelly
April
Much of April’s blogging was devoted to the A to Z Challenge.
An open letter to Castle
On the completion of the first draft of Princesses In SPACE!!! (not the actual title)
Lester Bangs talks to Dick Clark
May
Junior Seau
Some pie-in-the-face stuff
ROWR: Virginia Hankins
On fifteen years of marriage
I’ll always love you, Donna Summer!
Save Every Building!
June
Kathryn Joosten
True geek confessions
John Constable
A Transit of Venus
Favorite photos, July to December:
1. Betcha can’t guess what it says when you squeeze it!, 2. Finally, that itch is scratched! #McRib, 3. White trash! (Still hate that name.), 4. Henry VIII and Katherine Parr (Queen #6 of Henry’s, and the one who eventually outlived him)., 5. LGM ornament, 6. Retro rocket ornament, 7. Wonder what would happen if TimmyHo’s ever announced a withdrawal from Buffalo…. #TimHortons, 8. Hippie Santa, 9. Dark and Stormy #rum, 10. Cooking in Carhartt #Carhartt #overalls, 11. I like rum. Rummy rum rum. Here it goes down. Down into my belly. #rum #MisquotingAnchorman, 12. Upsidedown self #overalls, 13. Snow in the Southern Tier, 14. Snow in my Hair, 15. A koven of kittehs, 16. The mustering clouds of winter above the old OP train station, 17. This is what #NaNoWriMo looks like, 18. [Insert pun using the word ‘mount’ here], 19. A little Tgiving afterdinner entertainment…., 20. Julio and Mr. Shakespeare., 21. EC Fair XV, 22. EC Fair VI, 23. Carhartt I, 24. Pumpkinville: Happy wife, irritated Daughter, 25. Ramen with fried egg, 26. Long hair and overalls, 27. With the Pie II, 28. Marie Callender’s Coconut Cream Pie: Awaiting my Face, 29. With the Pie I, 30. My oh my, the tie-dyed guy is pied, 31. Guess what happened to me today…., 32. Sunshine on my shoulder, la la la la…., 33. Shoppin’ for Yarn, 34. Sterling Renaissance Festival 2012 IV, 35. SQUIRREL!, 36. Manuscript 2
July
One of the worst pieces of writing I have ever seen.
Ernest Borgnine
Frozen Pizza: Mmmmm!
What editing looks like
A brief reaction to a mass shooting
More selections from the White House Flickr stream
August
F*** Chick-fil-A
I join the Tablet Generation
Sticking the Landing (on Mars!)
So say we all: Thoughts on Battlestar Galactica
Thoughts on ‘Manbabies’
Another frozen pizza: Yummm!
The Many Faces of Monti Carlo
September
I didn’t blog much in September as I was focusing on my first pass-through of the PRINCESSES manuscript. Most of that month’s real content was answers to Ask Me Anything!, so see the link above.
October
On writing and productivity
In what’s become an annual ritual, The Wife propels coconut cream pies into my face. Oddly, I enjoy this.
The Greatest Event in Television History
Joining the Instacrowd
On writing tools through the years
Memories of Weather
Darth Disney takes over the Lucas Alliance
November
More thoughts on Disney taking over Star Wars
An open question for Buffalo Bills fans
A salute to Mabel Normand, inventor-of-legend of the pie in the face
Cover art for Princesses (in my dreams!)
International Overalls Weekend, 2012 (Carhartt overalls are awesome!)
Being thankful
King Tut
December
Winter in the Southern Tier
What the heck is up with Star Trek these days?!
Grumpy Cat tells me how it is
How a local business irritated me and lost my patronage
How Superman’s Butt Saved Christmas
Books I blogged about this year
Restaurant Man,
Joe Bastianich
Ready Player One!,
Ernest Cline
Heart of Darkness,
Joseph Conrad
Coming of Age in the Milky Way,
Timothy Ferris
License to Pawn,
Rick Harrison
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns),
Mindy Kaling
Re-reading A Song of Ice and Fire,
George RR Martin
Preliminary post
A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
A Feast for Crows
A Dance with Dragons
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie,
Wendy McClure
Across the Universe,
Beth Revis
Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier,
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Air,
G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker
Star Wars: The Marvel Comics series
Uncanny X-Men: The “Dark Phoenix” Saga
Movies I blogged about this year
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
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Sunday Burst of Weird and Awesome
Oddities and Awesome abound!
:: The fine starship Enterprise, done up as a parade float, in Christmas lights. This is frakking wonderful!
Original here (plus more goodies).
:: Urban mountain biking:
:: Non-urban mountain biking:
:: What comic-book movies would look like if they actually had the heroes look the way they do in the comic books.
More next week!
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Christmas ’12, in pictures
I’ll put this below the fold, as it’s a lot of photos and such….
There’s a park by the library where they put out a bunch of Christmas trees and let families decorate them.
I have a tie-dyed Santa hat.
I was already planning to watch this movie that weekend…but two days after the school shootings in Newtown, I really needed to see it. No, I do not think this is trite or inappropriate. Storytelling and engaging in story is one of the very oldest ways humans have of dealing with the world and framing it in such a way as to make it bearable.
I’ve missed out on the McRib the last few times it’s come through the McDonald’s menu. Not this time, huzzah!
The Daughter’s main haul was books and video games. I made sure to get some stuff that I’ve read and can vouch for, even if she’s not the SF fan that I am. I can hope, can’t I? (If she knows what’s good for her, she will read Princesses In SPACE!!! (not the actual title) when it comes out. And she will like it. Oh yes.
There was also this nifty item. Guess what it says when you squeeze it!
I confess to being a not-terribly-great wrapper of gifts, but this is mainly because I get lazy, not because I don’t know how to do it:
By way of Christmas treats, I made a batch of what is around these parts called ‘White Trash’. I really don’t like that name, but it seems to be the most common term. It’s rice and corn chex, Cheerios, pretzels, and M&Ms, all folded into melted white chocolate chips. It’s fantastic stuff, but freakishly addictive when you start eating it.
I’ve already made a second batch, this time with butterscotch chips. And I added salted cashews, because I just adore the salty-and-sweet flavor combination.
The tree? The same tree as every year:
But with a few new ornaments, as always. Notice a fellow on there who looks a little like King Henry VIII? That’s King Henry VIII!
There are a couple of new ornaments this year, as is true every year (although we’re getting to the point where we may need a second tree!). This year we added a retro rocket ship and a flying saucer with the alien piloting it:
And all the favorite ornaments are back, like the ship in the bottle and the Nativity with the light in it:
And of course…a visit to see Little Quinn on Christmas. Or at least, the physical location of his former vessel.
Wherever he is, I hope he has a lightsaber. And other shiny things!