Arthur's favorite thing these days are trains.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
New Moon Wednesday
Today was a new moon day. I try to feel mystic on new moon days, but usually I end up feeling low-energy and listless.
Today was a four Pepsi can day. It was fun while it lasted.
Today I ate a lot of chocolate. Hopefully I won't get a case of "backne."
Today was a Värttinä day. With any luck, hearing the song "Äijö" won't require therapy sessions for Arthur. I like the vocals and the percussion. Now if I could only figure out what they're singing -- I'd ask my Grandmother, but as she's Norwegian and the band is Finnish that wouldn't get me very far. Oh... wait... the lyrics are at the Varttina web site. (reads English translation) Oh. (reads more lyrics) How cheery. Oh, wait... here's a Quick Time movie of the group (16 MB) singing Äijö. Hmmm... I'm not sure but I think it's ABBA meets "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
One of today's high points was opening up "The Fearful Parent" Magazine to their laughable and pathetic "For Dads" collumn. This month's dad was shirtless, had low riding jeans so you could see his white Calvin Klein underwear band, and boasted a large koi tatoo on his shoulder and triceps. I guess I'm going to have to get ink done.
Muriel continues to be an irritant.
Today was a four Pepsi can day. It was fun while it lasted.
Today I ate a lot of chocolate. Hopefully I won't get a case of "backne."
Today was a Värttinä day. With any luck, hearing the song "Äijö" won't require therapy sessions for Arthur. I like the vocals and the percussion. Now if I could only figure out what they're singing -- I'd ask my Grandmother, but as she's Norwegian and the band is Finnish that wouldn't get me very far. Oh... wait... the lyrics are at the Varttina web site. (reads English translation) Oh. (reads more lyrics) How cheery. Oh, wait... here's a Quick Time movie of the group (16 MB) singing Äijö. Hmmm... I'm not sure but I think it's ABBA meets "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
One of today's high points was opening up "The Fearful Parent" Magazine to their laughable and pathetic "For Dads" collumn. This month's dad was shirtless, had low riding jeans so you could see his white Calvin Klein underwear band, and boasted a large koi tatoo on his shoulder and triceps. I guess I'm going to have to get ink done.
Muriel continues to be an irritant.
Monday, May 14, 2007
I find your lack of faith disturbing
Last Friday we went to Jerry's, a local hardware and houseware store. While we were traipsing through the waterfall section (and discovering that all the rock waterfalls are really plastic waterfalls) I spied an outdoor furniture arrangement. "Oh," I said, "it's Cafe John."
"You've been saying that for years," said Mark. "I don't believe that Cafe John exsists. Or if it does it's that card table sitting out on our patio."
Well.
For those of you who are wondering what 'Cafe John' is, it is an outdoor cafe table large enough to hold writing supplies, a teapot, several tea cups, and a plate or two of savories. The table's surface must be smooth -- so it's likely that it's brushed metal or glass plate. Two to four outdoor chairs surround the table -- they're probably made of metal, but they must be comfortable. There might be an umbrella over the table... or it might be in a gazebo... or white canvas drapes or other pavilion structure could shade it. And, I've decided that it should have a fountain or other ambient sound to drown out some of our louder neighbors.
So last night I went to Froogle to price out outdoor cafe furniture, only to discover that it had been replaced by Google Products and my previous wish lists had been lost. Sigh. Time to rebuild. I did find a really tall set of chairs, and my excitement that I might have found a workspace out of Arthur's reach was unbounded until I realized he would simply knock them over (probably onto himself). Unfortunately, it looks like I can have gracious or I can have cheap.
So now it's time to shop, because Goddess knows that I'm going to want to sit in a chair and table set before I buy it. And while I'm at it, I'm going to get a bench/bin for all the plastic toys scattered around the card table, too.
"You've been saying that for years," said Mark. "I don't believe that Cafe John exsists. Or if it does it's that card table sitting out on our patio."
Well.
For those of you who are wondering what 'Cafe John' is, it is an outdoor cafe table large enough to hold writing supplies, a teapot, several tea cups, and a plate or two of savories. The table's surface must be smooth -- so it's likely that it's brushed metal or glass plate. Two to four outdoor chairs surround the table -- they're probably made of metal, but they must be comfortable. There might be an umbrella over the table... or it might be in a gazebo... or white canvas drapes or other pavilion structure could shade it. And, I've decided that it should have a fountain or other ambient sound to drown out some of our louder neighbors.
So last night I went to Froogle to price out outdoor cafe furniture, only to discover that it had been replaced by Google Products and my previous wish lists had been lost. Sigh. Time to rebuild. I did find a really tall set of chairs, and my excitement that I might have found a workspace out of Arthur's reach was unbounded until I realized he would simply knock them over (probably onto himself). Unfortunately, it looks like I can have gracious or I can have cheap.
So now it's time to shop, because Goddess knows that I'm going to want to sit in a chair and table set before I buy it. And while I'm at it, I'm going to get a bench/bin for all the plastic toys scattered around the card table, too.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
A Mother's Tears
We've survived another Mothers' Day Weekend.
The tea party event was less High Tea than I thought and more mawkish than I thought possible. Granted, it was a Mothers' Day event (and children's fashion show) and because I was there with my Mother (and Dad), as the MC tearfully read a poem about thanking God for moments taken with the matching of socks and how only a Mother can heal life's boo-boos, I reached over and placed my hand over Mark's instead of French-kissing him. I mean please, just because Mark's the Working Dad and I'm the Stay-At-Home Dad doesn't mean Arthur is any less (or more) blessed by [insert your favorite Cosmic Force] here. As the third (ahem) poem was being read I realized I was in a room that the Baby-Military-Industrial-Complex loves. It was frightening.
Arthur, as usual, was Very Cute; and I'm thinking now that when people said "What a well behaved, even tempered child," we should have answered, "Thank you; he's the product of two gay dads." Oh well. We'll have to keep that it mind next year.
Mark didn't wear a brooch; but I wore my Celtic triskelion brooch. Neither of us wore hats, and only two other folks at the event did -- one was a straw sun bonnet, and the other one was an interesting affair with large flower patterns descretely sewn around its rim. I guess people don't do hats anymore.
The food was nice and the fashion show was fun.
After tea, Mark, Arthur and I went to a park and played on an old train. It was kind of cold, so I had to distract myself by taking photographs. By the time we got home from the park, Arthur was asleep. This meant we had to eat a little later (which was fine because I know I was still burning off all the tea and scones) because we couldn't have home made pizza until Arthur woke up to help my Dad mix the dough in THE MIXER!
Sunday my Aunt Joanne, Uncle Ron, and Cousin Kevin visited my folks. Grandma was there, too; she was a little more disorented today than I've seen her be in the last few months. We think we might deviated too much from her routine, which tends to confuse her. We had a tasty late lunch, and the desert was Ted Allen's Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse (thanks, Ted).
The pollen count is very high, which makes Mark sad; I had to take out my contact lenses. Arthur continues to be a little off-schedule with things like naps -- but given how much chocolate he's had this weekend I can understand that.
The tea party event was less High Tea than I thought and more mawkish than I thought possible. Granted, it was a Mothers' Day event (and children's fashion show) and because I was there with my Mother (and Dad), as the MC tearfully read a poem about thanking God for moments taken with the matching of socks and how only a Mother can heal life's boo-boos, I reached over and placed my hand over Mark's instead of French-kissing him. I mean please, just because Mark's the Working Dad and I'm the Stay-At-Home Dad doesn't mean Arthur is any less (or more) blessed by [insert your favorite Cosmic Force] here. As the third (ahem) poem was being read I realized I was in a room that the Baby-Military-Industrial-Complex loves. It was frightening.
Arthur, as usual, was Very Cute; and I'm thinking now that when people said "What a well behaved, even tempered child," we should have answered, "Thank you; he's the product of two gay dads." Oh well. We'll have to keep that it mind next year.
Mark didn't wear a brooch; but I wore my Celtic triskelion brooch. Neither of us wore hats, and only two other folks at the event did -- one was a straw sun bonnet, and the other one was an interesting affair with large flower patterns descretely sewn around its rim. I guess people don't do hats anymore.
The food was nice and the fashion show was fun.
After tea, Mark, Arthur and I went to a park and played on an old train. It was kind of cold, so I had to distract myself by taking photographs. By the time we got home from the park, Arthur was asleep. This meant we had to eat a little later (which was fine because I know I was still burning off all the tea and scones) because we couldn't have home made pizza until Arthur woke up to help my Dad mix the dough in THE MIXER!
Sunday my Aunt Joanne, Uncle Ron, and Cousin Kevin visited my folks. Grandma was there, too; she was a little more disorented today than I've seen her be in the last few months. We think we might deviated too much from her routine, which tends to confuse her. We had a tasty late lunch, and the desert was Ted Allen's Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse (thanks, Ted).
The pollen count is very high, which makes Mark sad; I had to take out my contact lenses. Arthur continues to be a little off-schedule with things like naps -- but given how much chocolate he's had this weekend I can understand that.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Jackie Oh!
My Mom wants to take us to a tea party and fashion show. So we're going.
"Do we get to wear Jackie O hats?" I asked. I'm not exactly sure I can reproduce the sound my Mom made over the phone. "Are you going to wear your Jackie O hat?" I asked once she could speak again.
"Well..." she said, "I'm not even sure I still have a Jackie O hat. I'll have to look in my hat boxes..."
I told Mark about the tea party and how we would both have to wear Jackie O hats.
Arthur piped up, "Jackie O hat!" and then repeated this phrase about fifty times. Mark accused me of dressing up Arthur in pill box hats all day, and then said that he wasn't going to wear a Jackie O hat.
"Oh, come on," I said, recalling his black pill box hat with a half-viel of black lace. "At least wear a broach. I think I might wear my Indian Wedding caftan."
Mark muttered something about a laundry accident.
More on High Tea Hijinx with the Ladies who Lunch after the event...
On the Arthur front, Arthur has been demanding that I sing (or play) Sting's version of the Christmas carol, "Gabriel's Message". It took me the longest time to figure out what he meant by "Angel; Sing," because he would get this slightlly out-of-focus look in his eyes and he would hold up his hands. For a moment I thought he was having some kind of religous (or at least New Age) experience, but then I realized his hand motions were his sign for singing and dancing.
Also on the Arthur front, I noticed that the word "chocolate" became more frequent this week. That's because Mark had bought a bag of chocolate buttons and was sneaking them behind my back. Arthur could smell them on Mark's breath and was asking for his own. Now if I could train Arthur to find my keys... hmmm.... on second thought, that's probably a bad idea.
"Do we get to wear Jackie O hats?" I asked. I'm not exactly sure I can reproduce the sound my Mom made over the phone. "Are you going to wear your Jackie O hat?" I asked once she could speak again.
"Well..." she said, "I'm not even sure I still have a Jackie O hat. I'll have to look in my hat boxes..."
I told Mark about the tea party and how we would both have to wear Jackie O hats.
Arthur piped up, "Jackie O hat!" and then repeated this phrase about fifty times. Mark accused me of dressing up Arthur in pill box hats all day, and then said that he wasn't going to wear a Jackie O hat.
"Oh, come on," I said, recalling his black pill box hat with a half-viel of black lace. "At least wear a broach. I think I might wear my Indian Wedding caftan."
Mark muttered something about a laundry accident.
More on High Tea Hijinx with the Ladies who Lunch after the event...
On the Arthur front, Arthur has been demanding that I sing (or play) Sting's version of the Christmas carol, "Gabriel's Message". It took me the longest time to figure out what he meant by "Angel; Sing," because he would get this slightlly out-of-focus look in his eyes and he would hold up his hands. For a moment I thought he was having some kind of religous (or at least New Age) experience, but then I realized his hand motions were his sign for singing and dancing.
Also on the Arthur front, I noticed that the word "chocolate" became more frequent this week. That's because Mark had bought a bag of chocolate buttons and was sneaking them behind my back. Arthur could smell them on Mark's breath and was asking for his own. Now if I could train Arthur to find my keys... hmmm.... on second thought, that's probably a bad idea.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Seasons and Light
Yesterday Arthur woke up at 5:30 AM. We weren't sure if his teeth were bothering him or if it was the sunlight coming through his window. Last night Mark put up a curtain (of sorts) and this morning Arthur slept much later. Later today we plan to go shopping for real curtains.
Monday and Tuesday were very warm -- high 70's and low 80's. I much prefer Wednesday's weather -- low 70's and partly cloudy. At least there was wind on the really warm days; in July and August it becomes quite breathless here. I'm trying to think up strategies for keeping the house cool then because it typically lags about three hours behind the outside temperature (which can be really obnoxious when it's 85 F at 10 PM). Right now the yard is nice to be in, but we're getting into the season of no shade as the sun's zenith goes farthur north.
Arthur likes to hang out at a local playground that has water features. That means when we're in our backyard he wants the garden hose one. I'm thinking that I should put together some sort of foutain that will recirculate water so that we won't be using so much this summer on infant recreation.
On the writing front I need to get things into the mail; there's no more excuses as I've finished my mailcall tracking script. I had a funny moment when one of my writing friends pointed out that I was recreating the Duotrope web site. Oh well. It may be a good idea to use both my tool and the web tool for backup purposes.
Monday and Tuesday were very warm -- high 70's and low 80's. I much prefer Wednesday's weather -- low 70's and partly cloudy. At least there was wind on the really warm days; in July and August it becomes quite breathless here. I'm trying to think up strategies for keeping the house cool then because it typically lags about three hours behind the outside temperature (which can be really obnoxious when it's 85 F at 10 PM). Right now the yard is nice to be in, but we're getting into the season of no shade as the sun's zenith goes farthur north.
Arthur likes to hang out at a local playground that has water features. That means when we're in our backyard he wants the garden hose one. I'm thinking that I should put together some sort of foutain that will recirculate water so that we won't be using so much this summer on infant recreation.
On the writing front I need to get things into the mail; there's no more excuses as I've finished my mailcall tracking script. I had a funny moment when one of my writing friends pointed out that I was recreating the Duotrope web site. Oh well. It may be a good idea to use both my tool and the web tool for backup purposes.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Write-O-Rama Photos
For those of you who want to see pictures of last week's writing workshop, there's a bunch posted at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35025258@N00/sets/72157600184732017/
Arthur's teeth bothered him so much today that he's taking an early nap.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35025258@N00/sets/72157600184732017/
Arthur's teeth bothered him so much today that he's taking an early nap.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Adventures in Newport
Mark had a seminar over the weekend, so we spent most of Saturday at the coast.
While we were travelling on Hyw 99 W, Arthur calmly said, "Change diaper, please." We stopped and he needed it. Mark was great and changed it while I went in for Pepsis. When Arthur saw what I had, he said, "John, evil drink, please."
When we got to Newport, where Mark's seminar was being held, we ran into a parade detour. A race closed most of Hwy 101. Mark started laughing as we drove with a host of other tourists through scenic beachfront Newport. Eventually, we overshot and ended up north of Newport at Moloch Beach. I'm not sure why Oregon has a beach named after an Old Testiment demon. By this time Mark was on his cell phone to the hotel where his seminar was -- the didn't seem to believe him when he told them the Newport Police had shut down their 101 entrance.
After we dropped Mark off, Arthur and I went to the Oregon Aquarium -- on the south end of Newport. Arthur liked the otters, the sealions and the harbor seals, and the birds. He also liked the gravel, the machines that crank pennies into tourist trinkets, a barrel of plush snakes, and the fake tidal pool. The plexiglas shark tunnel was merely an obstical to go through so he could get to the water sculpture at its exit. We mostly had a good time; Arthur saw a bunch of kids herded by their older relatives into a group family shot, so when they left, he demanded that I take his picture. But, he got upset with me when I wouldn't let him get inside of the Plover exhibit and didn't appreciate it when I told him that if he studied ornithology in college then the Aquarium might let him in. But he really lost it when I wouldn't climb into the otter tank to get their ball so he could play with it.
We drove back to the north end on a blissfully clear Hwy 101. We parked in the Agate Beach wayside and then Arthur and I had a quick snack and then found Mark. By this time Arthur had his second wind and Mark froze his feet off making sure Arthur didn't wade to Hawaii. We saw lots of kites and met lots of friendly people -- two of which managed to catch sand crabs for Arthur to look at (by this time my camera's batteries had died or I would have snapped a shot).
After cavorting on the beach for about ninety minutes, it was time for dinner. So we thought we'd go to The Whale's Tale in Newport. While we walked around Bay Blvd in beautiful Newport looking at "coastal art" and basking (tatooed) sealions, we met a (very tatooed) hooker, a drunk (presumably unemployed fisherman), and fellow Wordo Jeff Gieger. (No, Jeff was with his significant other and her parents.) Dining was also an adventure as we watched a (very loud) party of nine enter The Whale's Tale, spend about ten minutes trying to fit around a table for six, and then leave. Arthur shared our dinners, which is his favorite thing to do (and talk about) when we are in a restaurant.
We got home quite late. Sunday was lazy, except for the gardening.
While we were travelling on Hyw 99 W, Arthur calmly said, "Change diaper, please." We stopped and he needed it. Mark was great and changed it while I went in for Pepsis. When Arthur saw what I had, he said, "John, evil drink, please."
When we got to Newport, where Mark's seminar was being held, we ran into a parade detour. A race closed most of Hwy 101. Mark started laughing as we drove with a host of other tourists through scenic beachfront Newport. Eventually, we overshot and ended up north of Newport at Moloch Beach. I'm not sure why Oregon has a beach named after an Old Testiment demon. By this time Mark was on his cell phone to the hotel where his seminar was -- the didn't seem to believe him when he told them the Newport Police had shut down their 101 entrance.After we dropped Mark off, Arthur and I went to the Oregon Aquarium -- on the south end of Newport. Arthur liked the otters, the sealions and the harbor seals, and the birds. He also liked the gravel, the machines that crank pennies into tourist trinkets, a barrel of plush snakes, and the fake tidal pool. The plexiglas shark tunnel was merely an obstical to go through so he could get to the water sculpture at its exit. We mostly had a good time; Arthur saw a bunch of kids herded by their older relatives into a group family shot, so when they left, he demanded that I take his picture. But, he got upset with me when I wouldn't let him get inside of the Plover exhibit and didn't appreciate it when I told him that if he studied ornithology in college then the Aquarium might let him in. But he really lost it when I wouldn't climb into the otter tank to get their ball so he could play with it.
We drove back to the north end on a blissfully clear Hwy 101. We parked in the Agate Beach wayside and then Arthur and I had a quick snack and then found Mark. By this time Arthur had his second wind and Mark froze his feet off making sure Arthur didn't wade to Hawaii. We saw lots of kites and met lots of friendly people -- two of which managed to catch sand crabs for Arthur to look at (by this time my camera's batteries had died or I would have snapped a shot). After cavorting on the beach for about ninety minutes, it was time for dinner. So we thought we'd go to The Whale's Tale in Newport. While we walked around Bay Blvd in beautiful Newport looking at "coastal art" and basking (tatooed) sealions, we met a (very tatooed) hooker, a drunk (presumably unemployed fisherman), and fellow Wordo Jeff Gieger. (No, Jeff was with his significant other and her parents.) Dining was also an adventure as we watched a (very loud) party of nine enter The Whale's Tale, spend about ten minutes trying to fit around a table for six, and then leave. Arthur shared our dinners, which is his favorite thing to do (and talk about) when we are in a restaurant.
We got home quite late. Sunday was lazy, except for the gardening.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Tra La, It's May
Busy week.My Dad called and he wants pictures pictures pictures.... so here they are...
I spent most of Monday sort of recovering from a weekend writers' workshop with Ellen Datlow. A group of (mostly) Wordos spent the weekend critiquing fourteen stories. It was fun meeting Ellen in Eugene instead of at OryCon because I didn't have to worry about when the next pannel was.
Arthur and I went to my folk's on Monday and spent the night. Arthur and my Dad get along well. Arthur still talks about the time Dad showed him the moon; but his new grandpa thing is mixing pizza dough in the Kitchen Aid. I'm sure that once he figures out my Mom has a computer downstairs that she'll be his New Best Friend. 
We also visited my Grandmother. She's doing quite well; she's walking with a walker and you'd never guess that early last Februrary she had her hip replaced. She's also in a new place, and I don't know what they're doing there, but Grandma's recovered a lot of her mental functioning -- it's like she was about four or five years ago.
Tuesday was Beltane. There was a nice Unitarian Pagan ritual at the UU church. We danced around a Maypole and jumped over fires. I surpressed my urge to expain to people, "When a Boy God loves another Boy God very much, things get tied up and there's dancing afterwards." Tuesday night is usually Wordos night, but it was kind of nice to take a quick break from all the critiques. Pollen season is here, so that means Mark has been sneezing a lot. And he's been really tired. He provides great support for Arthur when he gets home, but the poor thing is so tired by the end of the day that he frequently passes out with Arthur during the bed-time story.
On the writing front, I've been working on a PHP script to help me manage my stories in the mail. Marketing is the hardest writer task for me, and my script tracks which magazines I've sent stories to and makes suggestions for where to send them based on genre, word count, and pay scale (not in that order). I like being able to write scripts; it's one of the things I miss about my old job at the U of O. And... I have some things I have to iron out of the script before Arthur wakes up from his nap.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Write-O-Rama
Whew!
I've been in a day-long critique session with twenty other authors. We got through seven stories and we've seven more tomorrow. It's kind of tiring. I'm trying to process the critique I recieved for a story I had today -- mostly today's feedback confirmed an earlier critique I had (which I was positive was wrong, but now I'm not so sure). As usual, I used too many words' tertiary meanings, and my characters' emotional calculus was off a bit for most people. I did locate my audience, though -- David Raines. I guess my audience is priests who are grounded in words like ethos and ancient Greek culture. The critique was good for helping me to get over the story -- I like it too much, but I guess it goes back to the "fix it" pile.
Tomorrow I've got another story on the critique pile. I'm hoping it receives a more positive critique, although it does have the made up word "Genesisiarch" in it.
Mark took Arthur to the coast today. The first beach they went to was "scary" -- I'm not sure why; I think Arthur fell into a small stream (less than ankle deep) and got wet. The second beach was better and involved Arthur finding driftwood to add to some ladies' fire. Mark says that Arthur's getting two new teeth, so he was kind of cranky.
Tomorrow, Mark and Arthur will watch our friends, the Wilds, running in a marathon.
I've been in a day-long critique session with twenty other authors. We got through seven stories and we've seven more tomorrow. It's kind of tiring. I'm trying to process the critique I recieved for a story I had today -- mostly today's feedback confirmed an earlier critique I had (which I was positive was wrong, but now I'm not so sure). As usual, I used too many words' tertiary meanings, and my characters' emotional calculus was off a bit for most people. I did locate my audience, though -- David Raines. I guess my audience is priests who are grounded in words like ethos and ancient Greek culture. The critique was good for helping me to get over the story -- I like it too much, but I guess it goes back to the "fix it" pile.
Tomorrow I've got another story on the critique pile. I'm hoping it receives a more positive critique, although it does have the made up word "Genesisiarch" in it.
Mark took Arthur to the coast today. The first beach they went to was "scary" -- I'm not sure why; I think Arthur fell into a small stream (less than ankle deep) and got wet. The second beach was better and involved Arthur finding driftwood to add to some ladies' fire. Mark says that Arthur's getting two new teeth, so he was kind of cranky.
Tomorrow, Mark and Arthur will watch our friends, the Wilds, running in a marathon.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Quicky
I've been really busy reading a bunch of stories for a critique-fest this weekend.
Arthur's having a normal day today -- which is nice, since Friday he's either been sleeping a lot or sleepless, or eating a lot or not hungry. I always blame teeth; but this seems a little long. I suppose he's growing.
Mark's been doing a lot of work in the yard; we have a lot of dandilions, and he's pulling them up by hand (and filling the divits with soil and grass seed) so we don't have to use nasty chemicals on the lawn.
Arthur's having a normal day today -- which is nice, since Friday he's either been sleeping a lot or sleepless, or eating a lot or not hungry. I always blame teeth; but this seems a little long. I suppose he's growing.
Mark's been doing a lot of work in the yard; we have a lot of dandilions, and he's pulling them up by hand (and filling the divits with soil and grass seed) so we don't have to use nasty chemicals on the lawn.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Ow-ow-ow! No Fair!
Last night I submitted a story for "Sword and Sorceress 22" and this morning I got a rejection. They had it for about thirteen hours. It's the quickest rejection I've ever gotten for a story. I'm not sure what I did wrong; I guess I'll have to get a copy of the anthology when it comes out to see what they did buy. Oh well, now I've got something I can send to "Realms of Fantasy" or to "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction."
In between all of the writing that I did S&S 22, I've been working on a PHP script to help me with marketing. I'd have to say that marketing my stories is one of my weak spots. OK -- between the stories I've written that I hope are salable and all the pro- semi-pro and amature-markets to choose from I am paralized with indecision. Once I'm done with the script I should have an easy way to generate a list of my stories, what markets they've been sent to, and what markets I should send them to next. Yes, there are three look-up tables, and I get to use IF and WHILE statements to build a report.
At least I got my prize money from Writer's of the Future today. So now I can buy paper and printer cartridges.
Arthur latest joke is to say "six" randomly when he counts and when he recites the alphabet. Arthur seems to understand the concept of counting, although I've noticed that three and five are the numbers he usually counts to reguardless of how many objects there actually are. I think Arthur's favorite song switches back and forth between "Truly Scrumptious" from "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang" and "Kumbayah, Mother Goddess" (hey, we live in Eugene). His favorite phrase for a while was from the "Shimmer" slush-pile: "Ow! Ow! Ow-ow-ow! No fair! No fair!"... but I think it's become "Delicious" -- or more accurately, "'Licious."
Scene: (Arthur and Mark are rough housing)
Arthur (jumping up and down on Mark's stomache): "Bounce bounce bounce!"
Mark (in time with the jumping): "Oof oof oof! Hey, don't bounce on daddy; he's old."
Arthur (channelling his inner teen): "Tragic."
John: "And who taught him that word?" (Thinking, 'The same man who objects to the phrase 'evil drink.')
Mark: "Ooh, and he got the intonation right, too."
In between all of the writing that I did S&S 22, I've been working on a PHP script to help me with marketing. I'd have to say that marketing my stories is one of my weak spots. OK -- between the stories I've written that I hope are salable and all the pro- semi-pro and amature-markets to choose from I am paralized with indecision. Once I'm done with the script I should have an easy way to generate a list of my stories, what markets they've been sent to, and what markets I should send them to next. Yes, there are three look-up tables, and I get to use IF and WHILE statements to build a report.
At least I got my prize money from Writer's of the Future today. So now I can buy paper and printer cartridges.
Arthur latest joke is to say "six" randomly when he counts and when he recites the alphabet. Arthur seems to understand the concept of counting, although I've noticed that three and five are the numbers he usually counts to reguardless of how many objects there actually are. I think Arthur's favorite song switches back and forth between "Truly Scrumptious" from "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang" and "Kumbayah, Mother Goddess" (hey, we live in Eugene). His favorite phrase for a while was from the "Shimmer" slush-pile: "Ow! Ow! Ow-ow-ow! No fair! No fair!"... but I think it's become "Delicious" -- or more accurately, "'Licious."
Scene: (Arthur and Mark are rough housing)
Arthur (jumping up and down on Mark's stomache): "Bounce bounce bounce!"
Mark (in time with the jumping): "Oof oof oof! Hey, don't bounce on daddy; he's old."
Arthur (channelling his inner teen): "Tragic."
John: "And who taught him that word?" (Thinking, 'The same man who objects to the phrase 'evil drink.')
Mark: "Ooh, and he got the intonation right, too."
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Update
Mark was great and read to Arthur, so I got to work on "Lapis Heron" from 9 PM to 1 AM. Most of the "Stupid John Tricks" are out. Tomorrow I'll print it out to catch the clerical errors that I always seem to miss when the manuscript is on a screen. Oh, yeah, and double-check my character's emotional calculus. The story's at about 4600 words.
Arthur has reached that point in his life where he's discovered that he has his own mind. And he doesn't know what to do with it. It's a little frustrating because it's like his brain is in a super-position and any yes-or-no question elicits both responses. There we go, the way to build a quantum computer is to ask a bank of two-year-olds to do the computing.
He does, however, like to help us out -- today he helped me pick up a high chair at a pizza place.
And his new favorite phrase is "Evil Drink" (to describe when I buy a Pepsi). Speaking of which...
Arthur has reached that point in his life where he's discovered that he has his own mind. And he doesn't know what to do with it. It's a little frustrating because it's like his brain is in a super-position and any yes-or-no question elicits both responses. There we go, the way to build a quantum computer is to ask a bank of two-year-olds to do the computing.
He does, however, like to help us out -- today he helped me pick up a high chair at a pizza place.
And his new favorite phrase is "Evil Drink" (to describe when I buy a Pepsi). Speaking of which...
Friday, April 13, 2007
Quick Update
I've been tired the last few days.
I've been busy editing (or trying to edit, anyway) my Sword and Sorceress story. The Wordos found a bunch of typical "John Mistakes" with the manuscript and I have about a week to fix them all.
The 19th Annual Easter Bunny Nuke went well... I finally broke down and purchased a set of Looney Tunes cartoons so that we could play "What's Opera Doc" ("Kill the Wabbit!") before melting chocolate bunnies in the microwave. The only hitch is that Arthur thinks "What's Opera, Doc" is a "scarey movie." It's gotten to the point that when something scares him he says, "Spear and magic helmet," or just "helmet." This afternoon it was the thick black clouds in the sky (just like the ones Elmer Fudd uses to strike Bugs Bunny down with lightning).
Yesterday Arthur made two new best friends at a candle and health spa in the mini-mall near our house. He was working the cuteness.
Today we met a child slightly younger and with more articulate words than Arthur.
Arthur continues to think that feeding me imaginary ladybugs and Mark imaginary banannas is hysterically funny. It's gotten to the point where he feeds us (well, me anyway) fake banannas that are really ladybugs and then says, "trick."
There are a bunch of teeth about to push up through his gums.
OK -- Mark and Arthur are asleep, off to write.
I've been busy editing (or trying to edit, anyway) my Sword and Sorceress story. The Wordos found a bunch of typical "John Mistakes" with the manuscript and I have about a week to fix them all.
The 19th Annual Easter Bunny Nuke went well... I finally broke down and purchased a set of Looney Tunes cartoons so that we could play "What's Opera Doc" ("Kill the Wabbit!") before melting chocolate bunnies in the microwave. The only hitch is that Arthur thinks "What's Opera, Doc" is a "scarey movie." It's gotten to the point that when something scares him he says, "Spear and magic helmet," or just "helmet." This afternoon it was the thick black clouds in the sky (just like the ones Elmer Fudd uses to strike Bugs Bunny down with lightning).
Yesterday Arthur made two new best friends at a candle and health spa in the mini-mall near our house. He was working the cuteness.
Today we met a child slightly younger and with more articulate words than Arthur.
Arthur continues to think that feeding me imaginary ladybugs and Mark imaginary banannas is hysterically funny. It's gotten to the point where he feeds us (well, me anyway) fake banannas that are really ladybugs and then says, "trick."
There are a bunch of teeth about to push up through his gums.
OK -- Mark and Arthur are asleep, off to write.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Cute Train
I finished a draft of my Sword and Sorceress story -- just in time to bring it to Wordos for critique. The good news is that the story is finished, the bad news is that I'm really tired because I was up rather late puting on the final touches. I need to change my circadian rhythem so that my most productive time isn't 11 PM. Oh wait, that's when Mark and Arthur are asleep.... hmmm.
I've joined a writing goal group, and I was going to post more writing goals and things, but it seems that I can't find an e-mail client that won't put annoying little breaks into my text when it is posted to the blog. It's been really helpful to write down what I've accomplished on a daily basis and also my weekly goals; but having to edit my goals twice sort of cuts into actual writing.
Arthur's recovering from his lost fight with gravity. This morning when I dressed him up in overalls, I said, "You're cute!" and it went to his head. "Cute! Cute!" was about the only thing he would say today (that and "Trains! Trains!" when we got Eric Carle's "1, 2, 3 to the Zoo" at the Library). Oh yes. We thought the Train Bug was bad before, but you should hear Arthur now. The only books he wants to read are about trains.
I've joined a writing goal group, and I was going to post more writing goals and things, but it seems that I can't find an e-mail client that won't put annoying little breaks into my text when it is posted to the blog. It's been really helpful to write down what I've accomplished on a daily basis and also my weekly goals; but having to edit my goals twice sort of cuts into actual writing.
Arthur's recovering from his lost fight with gravity. This morning when I dressed him up in overalls, I said, "You're cute!" and it went to his head. "Cute! Cute!" was about the only thing he would say today (that and "Trains! Trains!" when we got Eric Carle's "1, 2, 3 to the Zoo" at the Library). Oh yes. We thought the Train Bug was bad before, but you should hear Arthur now. The only books he wants to read are about trains.
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