|
|
aberwyn's Friends
dancinghorse |
15th October, 2008. 1:44 pm. Boinging the Light Fantastic
Random bits:
Flock of five yellow-headed blackbirds in the barn last week. I've never seen that many here before. The cardinals are out in force, as well. The bats have gone into hibernation; they haven't been filling the dusk since our double-whammy storm (first a tropical storm, then a cold storm) which gave us next to no rain but much wind and overnight temps in the 30sF. We're now back to more normal mid-October daytime heat and overnight cool.
Mercury retrograde has cut its usual swath. Late last week, within 24 hours, the truck lost both its A/C compressor and its instrument console (as in, it ran just fine, but there was, among other things, no speedometer), and the dishwasher decided to institute a work stoppage. I'm waiting for the repairman to come and tell me if it's fixable or if it's DOA ETA: It's DOA. Now we go through the Dance of Can't Repair, Must Replace. That and truck were/are covered by warranties, thank god. The coffee maker I bought to replace the old one did not work, so had to be returned. The new one arrived today from amazon. It had better work, she said darkly.
Animals are managing to evade the worst of this. Capria's lump has finally gone splooie, and it is gross and uck and eeeuuuwww but it means, at long last, an end to the siege. The rest are hanging in, and the kittens are turning into small and energetic cats. With the cooler weather, the evening configuration on the sofa is: Me, Hillary and Minnow spooned, and Trouble and Genghis on the back of the sofa. Genghis has claimed Taminy's spot, which means that intermittently he slides down onto my shoulder. BT is no longer quite so shy, and comes out for meals and even to be petted, though he won't join the sofa brigade. Which is just as well, believe me. BT is a true Maine Coon, and is literally half as long as the double sleeper sofa, with feet the size of a medium dog's. He can stay in his lair under the table, thank you.
Yes, I do know about the female Eleves at the SRS. They've passed their month's probation and are now officially enrolled, with names and everything. For the German speakers, there's a nice video here, with a very brief interview. There has been flapping and squawking among the traditionalist fans of the SRS, but the School has been careful only to offer positive commentary. Hard to say what the riders really think, but considering how many of them make a strong side career of teaching women riders, many on Lipizzan stallions, I suspect that whatever their feelings about Tradition, they're just fine with the girls as riders.
The stallions, from what I've observed, give it four hooves up. It's a well-known secret that women can handle stallions Just Fine, and in fact stallions are more likely to cooperate with a woman (i.e. alpha mare) than a man (i.e. rival). In the photos I've seen, the stallions have that softly goofy look they get when they're happy.
Speaking of stallions, ( We have lesson neep here. )
We continue to be pleased. Next lesson will be in November, which gives me time to collect more pennies, and to get Capria back up and on the roster. I really want to see what she has to say about this.
Read 7 Notes -Make Notes
|
ogre_san |
15th October, 2008. 1:43 pm. Politics Again
Those of delicate sensibilities or anger management issues are encouraged to avert your eyes.
Ok, now that it's just us, I want to call your attention to Ben Smith's blog on Politico, where he shares an excerpt from an email he got from a GOP consultant who had just shown a nasty attack ad to a focus group for their reaction. Their reaction:
1) Believed everything nasty the ad said about Senator Obama. Thought he would either be a lousy president or at least no better than Senator McCain.
2) Were voting for Obama anyway.
Or as one expressed it "I'll never vote for another g*d d***ned Republican again."
You can find the full text here if you're inclined. It makes for interesting reading.
Current mood:  contemplative.
Current music: "Won't Get Fooled Again" - The Who.
Read 7 Notes -Make Notes
|
al_zorra |
15th October, 2008. 2:12 pm. California Official GOP Website Promotes Violence and Racism
[ Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama" – material that offended even state GOP leaders. ] [ The Bee asked MacGlashan about the content after seeking his reaction to hate-filled graffiti that was spray-painted over an Obama display on a fence at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Garfield Avenue.
In recent weeks, MacGlashan, an attorney, joined local Democratic party officials in condemning vandalism to political displays.
The vandalism to the Obama display appeared to have been done overnight Monday. A racial epithet, profanity, "KKK" and the words "white power" were clearly visible from the roadway. Six of the nine fence panels were defaced.
"What you are describing to me is not free speech, it's vandalism. We don't condone it," MacGlashan said.
But he defended his Web site. "I'm aware of the content," he said. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things." ]
Read 1 Note -Make Notes
|
mevennen |
15th October, 2008. 6:37 pm. Wednesday
Market day in Wells. I have bought some venison, it being that gamy time of year again. And P has offered to give me a sourdough starter, which will lead to great and terrible things.
Otherwise A and P came over this afternoon and we picked windfalls - we have bagged about 8 bags, which has made a massive dent on the windfall situation. Sid watched, to make sure we did it properly.
Apart from this and work, I have been corresponding with a woman in the US who is a distant relative on my mother's side - I found her in a genealogical search. Some of my relatives appear to have been deported to Tasmania, for robbing a widow of some flannel. Tut!
Read 7 Notes -Make Notes
|
sartorias |
15th October, 2008. 9:11 am. Geek Glee
"At this rate, I shall not pity the writers of history any longer. If people like to read their books, it is all very well, but to be at so much trouble filling great volumes, which, as I used to think, nobody would willingly ever look into, to be labouring only for the torment of little boys and girls, always struck me as a hard fate."
--Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
"Geez, you're writing another book? Why? There's already too many books in the world--can't people just read the old ones?"
--A Smith Relative, mid 1980s
Few of us get much respect for our daily labors, but I figured non-famous and caressed writers* who stop by here might get an empathetic thrill when I mention the intense joy--the very intense joy--of of finding the threads connecting up at last, after months and months of overlapping rewrites.
What creatures we are, to get so excited over people who never existed in this world, and situations that could never happen. Yet I shiver with secret glee as I motor about on mundane errands for other people. And getting back to my desk, despite the murderous heat and the air full of ash, makes me sigh with pleasure and anticipation.
I have no idea if any of it will make it to the magic bridge between me and the reader. But oh, after pretty close to a year of hard work on this project (and many years of work on the project overall), I am seeing my way to the end. And there are very few joys greater.
Nobody has to comment about my project--probably 95% of those cruising by who's read this far have no idea what I'm talking about. But if you'd like to share a nifty payoff moment, here's the place. I'll cheer for you.
*the famous and caressed wouldn't read here anyway
Read 45 Notes -Make Notes
|
al_zorra |
15th October, 2008. 9:52 am. Sarah Booed at Flyers Game -- The Full Story
Wonderful Friend fills us in as to the whole story of who, what, when, and where, plus why as to that event. You really need to read it, because it reveals a narcissism and cold-heartedness and a well of lies that is bottomless. Here's the permalink for that entry.
Even I, who know nothing about hockey, and care even less about hockey, would know better than to do what K describes the self-described Hockey Mom as having done. Evidently she actually knows as much about hockey as she does about field dressing moose.
Now, let's compare and contrast that with this:
[ Video gamers who have recently played the racing game Burnout Paradise may find it offers more than a high-speed driving simulation: advertisements for Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, above, have begun appearing in the game. Players of Burnout Paradise who are connected to the Internet are also connected to an in-game system that allows real-life sponsors to place advertisements on billboards and other surfaces in its digital world. Jeff Brown, vice president of communications at Electronic Arts, which publishes Burnout Paradise, said Mr. Obama’s campaign had purchased ads to run in the Xbox 360 version of the game, which he said is most popular among male players ages 16 to 30. The ads will run until Nov. 3 in 10 battleground states. Mr. Brown said Senator John McCain’s campaign had not purchased in-game advertisements, but added, “There’s still three weeks before the election.” ]
Read 1 Note -Make Notes
|
markdeniz |
15th October, 2008. 11:12 am. Fantasy Con 2008
I haven't written about the con yet for several reasons: one of them being time (or rather lack of it), one of them being a few disappointments whilst there and another wanting to get some final stats before posting. Simon Strantzas (cover designer for How to Make Monsters) has posted a few pics on his Facebook account and I was rather taken with this one: 
From left to right: Moi, Simon (behind), the mighty Gary McMahon (author of How to Make Monsters) and his lovely wife Emily. This was one of my highlights of the con, having a good old chat with lovely people! More to follow... maybe...
Current mood:  bouncy.
Current music: Lambchop - Popeye.
Read 4 Notes -Make Notes
|
madrobins |
14th October, 2008. 10:31 pm. Off I Go
Tomorrow at too-early-thirty I go off to SFO to catch a flight to Newark, thence to Manhattan to see ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) claireeddy and perhaps pnh and other friends at Tor, and to see baldanders and maybe spell roadnotes for an hour or two. Having lunch with my editor, too.
Then Friday morning I go off to the airport to pick up my rental car and head north to Massachusetts. My father's show is up, but the Gala Artists' Reception is on Saturday afternoon. So I'll see my Dad and brother and his wife and make much of Dad, and he'll like that.
And home again on Sunday. I'd feel a little guilty about the carbon footprint of it all, but my Dad is 95, and this is likely his last big professional do, so...there I go.
I'll check in. Y'all be good, kay?
Read 4 Notes -Make Notes
|
Back A Page
|
|
drained.