yuki_onna

Tonight, Becca needed to re-dye her hair with henna (a lengthy and remarkably gloppy experience, I'll stick to conventional dyes when I bother), and so Alice helped her, it was very cute and very loving. As Becca put it in a very pleased & proud tone of voice, "Alice put mud in my hair". Seeing my two wonderful partners together, happy, and being very loving towards one another is one of the greatest gifts my life has given me.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/020874.html

Larger woman in elevator eating Snickers bar: No matter what I do, I can't lose no weight!
Less fat friend: Mm-hmm.
(elevator goes one floor up and stops. Both go to get off)
Suit #1: Unbelievable, no wonder you have weight issues.
Larger woman: What? 'scuse me? What you know about me?
Suit: Other than you are fat, can't take the stairs for one floor, and are stuffing your face with a king size Snickers?
Less fat friend: Shit, he do know you.

--40th & 8th

Overheard by: SandmanEsq

Why is it p_dilla and I have some of our best conversations when we need to get up in the morning? Things have been so stressful and we're having such a good relaxed time tonight so of course he has to be at work early. We need to figure out a way to abscond for a weekend sometime soon so we can keep this good momentum going. In other news my hair is almost long enough for a ponytail. I will have to learn how to pull it tight without giving myself a headache all over again.

Tom Bagley's biographical cartoon of me is on the second page of a Google search.

http://www.brokenpencil.com/backpage/howto.php?howtoid=20

Events and discussions of this weekend have spurred a lot of thought and talk about pen names and the uses thereof- mainly how one would handle introducing oneself at a convention or event.  I know CE Murphy and Sherrilyn Kenyon are transparent now about their alternate identities but I wonder if there was a time when they weren't? Did Kate Dermody and Kinley MacGregor do their own events?  I know Victor Milan signs both his names in his books- with the by-line first and then his own name beneath.
When I was signing with my fellow authors in my brief stint as a romance writer, they were all shocked to find I was writing under my real name. And I sat at a table with them for hours and when I left, I realized that one woman (a lawyer) had given me her business card but I never found out the other woman's actual name. And to this day I still don't know.
At Dragon*Con, one of my boothmates was upset because D*C had put her real name on the badge and she had to go back to get it changed to her professional name. As a school teacher, she was not comfortable with her convention persona getting back to the parents of the children she taught and being misunderstood.
She and I talked a lot about names and personas and it was an interesting chat.
We ascribe a lot to names: meanings, numerology, cultural background, emotional baggage. There are names I won't use in my fiction because I knew someone who had that name and didn't like him or her, or I know someone currently with that name and don't want to draw a connection.
reannon used my name for the main character in The Cold Ones. But that Sara Harvey is nothing like me- except that she may have brown hair...but that's about it. It was an homage, not a character study of the original specimen. Yet, I am attached to that character because she has my name.
Names are a strangely powerful thing. They resonate. We get attached to them. They have power.
There are so many stories and legends about guarding one's True Name, whatever that is. How would one find out one's True Name? Is it something given or something acquired? And if the latter, what do you do with the old one? And how do you use the True one?
I have an acquaintance I knew for about a year. Not long ago, I saw her at a party as it turns out she is friends with a group of my friends separate from the social circle in which I had first met her.  Friendgroup A and Friendgroup B called her by two COMPLETELY different names! Evidently one is her first and one is her middle and there were periods of time where she had used  both as her name, so which one someone called her depended on when they met. I was never able to pin down which she preferred me to call her because she knew so few people who belonged to both Friendgroups.
But I have found it really unsettling to find out- usually through some random third-party method- that the name by which I knew someone, for whatever reason, is inaccurate. It makes me re-evaluate how well I really know that person and people around me in general, or at least re-evaluate what I know about them. And if it matters.
A recent NPR story talked about renaming fish because "Orange Roughy" is so much tastier sounding that "Slimehead Fish."
And "Marilyn Monroe" sounds so much more glamorous than "Norma Jeane Baker" (or Mortenson, for the purists).
So, does it matter? Should I feel slighted that my menu doesn't mention "slimehead" or upset that  "Marilyn Monroe" is emblazoned on her tomb even though she never legally assumed that name. In Marilyn's case, that was who she wanted to be, not Norma Jeane. (Of course, it was the weight of being Marilyn that eventually killed her.)
These are the things I ponder.

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
~Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 38-49

• 13:07 The rain is pouring down in Portland. What are all the PDX queers doing on a cold & wet day? #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/020873.html

Teenage boy #1: Dude, that mannequin was hot!
Teenage boy #2: Imagine if it had a head and limbs!

--Washington Square Park

Overheard by: Dave Rabkin

Yay health care bill!

Boo last-minute amendment that drops all insurance funding for abortions.

As you know, I'm published in two collections. Under the Rose, edited by Dave Hutchinson (hutch0) and Chimeraworld 6, edited by Mike Philbin. I've mentioned before that I'm of two minds over which one to recommend (that is if you dedicated fans don't want to buy every and anything by me). I like my story in Chimeraworld 6 better than the one in Under the Rose. I wrote it later and it's got an elegiac feel to it. By contrast, "Office Job" is a bit whiny and I'm not that mad at Quikpages anymore (in fact the only real evidence that it ever existed are my articles about it).

However, I'm not sure that Chimeraworld 6 will please you as much. I think the editor's axe to grind with Capitalism and evil corporations is a bit dulled by now. I read CC Parker's story and I liked that one, but not the rest.

Besides, hutch0 is going to give me a complimentary copy and Philbin only offered me a chance to buy a discounted copy.

But Mike Philbin bought my story "Mountain of God" about paranoid schizophrenics and from his introduction, I suspect that he took the ramblings of the characters seriously. Anyhow Rusty Nail has this to say about Chimeraworld 6:

What really disappoints me is Tim Lieder’s name on the list. Tim should know better. He’s funny, irreverent, and is a nice guy. Why he hooked up with Phailbin is a mystery to me, but I’m sure he has a reason.

Not sure how to respond to that. Um, thanks? Sorry? Don't know Philbin's reputation but he paid me and that's all that really matters to me.

what should I post about

It looks like i may have to bag on NaDruWriNi, because after a wonderful day of kiku viewing, i now appear to have some kind of stomach virus. Yay.


On the one hand, alcohol may, in fact, kill it. On the other hand, all that's in the house is a very old bottle of port, and a newly discovered bottle of coconut rum, which will itself make me ill in any quantity. Feh.

Edit: Also found completely forgotten Blavod. Still not touching it, though.


On the third hand, i took almost 600 pictures at the conservatory, and still missed a bunch of things. I have several things to do before i can get through those, but there were bonsai and palm trees and tiny little takio-drumming girls. <3

19:05 - Never ever go to the American girl place with a 4yr, 6yr, & 2 8yr old girls.

• 13:53 We have arrived at Valhalla!!! twitpic.com/on3ug #
• 13:53 She seems unsure about the gentleman to her left. twitpic.com/on3xl #
• 13:55 Reminds me I gotta grow my beard in for the winter: twitpic.com/on47z #
• 15:13 @catvalente cam I call you BT from now on? Or will you sick the dogs on me? #
• 15:15 @catvalente in all seriousness that is an am azing story. What would yournlife be without the innertubes? #
• 15:15 @catvalente and I hardly think of you as struggling. Up and coming maybe. #
• 17:01 @catvalente Im haunting @bardcoffee in your absence, editing
  My tome: twitpic.com/oo23z #
• 17:06 @catvalente it sells papers I guess #
• 17:07 "editing" at @bardcoffee. Also enjoying java & baked goods & peace of a sort #
• 18:15 Overheard in cafe: "Winter, that bitch, is on her way. I smell her in the air and feel her in the bones." #
• 18:57 twitpic.com/oomkc - Dinner with chix at Blue Spoon #TiltShiftGen #
• 20:07 twitpic.com/ooyls - The Lone Wedge... #TiltShiftGen #
• 20:10 twitpic.com/ooz14 - I love these hands when they are expanding upon her words. So Italian. So lovely. #TiltShiftGen #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Got a decant of Albedo, now I want more :) Decants are fine -- I'll take what I can get. Here is what I have up for swap for Albedo:

( Rares under cut! Lamia, MB: Underpants, Ingenue, Bruja, Ice Queen, Hellhound, Bruja et al. )
Let me know!

Dear Yuletide Writer:

First of all, thank you!

( Read more... )

Also possibly helpful, but feel free to ignore if it doesn't suit you: cool bits (story tropes & elements I am particularly vulnerable to).

I need some suggestions for good book!   Here is my Blog with what I have already read, please send your suggestions.

www.heathersbookblog.com  

I was too sick to watch movies last night but did so tonight. Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break with Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, and Gary Busey. About 15 minutes too long, some gorgeous shots of surfing, interesting (but someone predictable) plot. It was not a bad way to spend almost two hours.

And saw the earlier version or Imitation of Life with Claudette Colbert. Here's my post and the thread on the later version Imitation of Life .

Some thoughts: although the guy doesn't overtly pressure Colbert to leave her job he does beg to take her away on his boat doing fish research, hence giving up her career to hang around with him while he continues his. However....she's already rich rich rich, so she could retire.

I don't like that Colbert feels forced to give the guy up (for an indefinite period of time) because of her daughter--not saying it's not realistic or even reasonable; I just don't like it.

Same heartbreaking scenes with regard to Peola coming back to the mom's funeral.

Overly sentimental death scene with the spirituals sung in the background are dreadful.

I've seen Claudette Colbert act better in other movies.

The young woman who plays Colbert's daughter is terrible. The one who plays Delilah's daughter is much better.

Tis the time of year for sinus infections, and I has one. I can't smell a blasted thing now, and I was hoping someone here might have a good homeopathic remedy, or even recommend a scent that's good for opening your sinuses.


Also, and suggestions for teas? I bought another box of tension tamer, but it does very little for my throat.



Edited to add:   I love you all, and thank you so much for the suggestions. :D  Big O'l virtual smooches.

So I ease toward the surgery date. Plans are being made, logistics being logisted, visitors and loved ones to be accommodated, and I can already see my life narrowing in those things I now have to refuse or reconsider. Really, it's been a great day, but the truth of what comes next hangs over me like a 900 pound parakeet. The Fear is gone, but man, are there a lot of pieces.

And this is the calm before the storm.

(Thanks also to jaborwhalky for the icon.)

dracosphynx and I have just moved the website to its new revision; we're encountering the expected bugs here and there and are in the process of fixing them. If you find an error (or don't find a page), feel free to drop us a comment here and we'll look into it. Once things are settled I'll be telling you about the cool new features... this being the version of the website that will allow patrons and superfans access to protected content.

Thanks for your patience as we make the switch-over.

the_child and I visited the Portland Japanese Garden today in the pouring rain with jeffvandermeer. ( She and I both took a few photos )

As usual, more at the Flickr set.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the book thingy yesterday.

Tomorrow, I start work on the next book thingy. I know you can't wait for the inevitable relentless bitching and cries of dismay that will emanate from my workspace, between intermittent thumping sounds.

I only have to write three books (and a bunch of short stuff) between now and October. Piece of cake, right?

Following jaylake 's advice, I am now actually using my personal twitter account. (In addition to my job twitter account). If any of y'all are over there, who I haven't managed to find and friend yet, let me know.

My personal account: zellandyne (as always)
My work account: crypticalivet (I just ramble about game related stuff)

I did it I did it I did it! My script runs! Yay for nominations!

Thoughts in <140 characters

• 21:46 #NaNoWriMo Encouragement: At this point, you've written more words than most of your friends have written in their entire lives. #
• 21:54 With Memento, you won't have seen the whole thing until you've seen it twice @PaperClippe #
• 22:09 Charlie's Pub is awesome, great place to come and write, cozy atmosphere, great music. noctur.nl/cbn024 #
• 23:09 I just bought my copy, have you? RT @MyMilkToof: Hi everyone! The book is ready to be sold @ bit.ly/4mW9Tx #

via LoudTwitter

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/2009/11/sunday-secrets_07.html

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people
mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.

















See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.





























Order Your Copy Today






-----Email Message (pic)-----

So I came down to Alivia's tonight for dinner and a bit of staring blankly into my computer in a place where Dead Space and a whole ton of household chores, at least, could not distract me from my purpose. As I walked, I passed one of my favorite restaurants, Anotherthyme, where I thought to stop for their delicious and incomparable raspberry cocotte either before or after dinner. (Dessert first! As they say.)

Only to discover that it was closed, for good. It's last day of operation was September 30th.

I weep for this place, which sold me my first underage martini, which had a lovely bar filled with reasonably priced cocktails, which once served me something blue that knocked me on my ass a full hour after I'd consumed it, which had the best desserts I have ever eaten, where you could get red zinger tea if you were for some reason not feeling alchoholic-- in short, which I loved. I mourn for their passing, the loss of an institution, and for all the raspberry cocotte I cannot now eat.

Hat over my heart, I mourn.

I hear my laptop's fan spinning up (something it usually reserves for Logic or FCE).

The age-old question: so, is it taking a long time to run because it's an infinite loop, or because the file is large? But it shouldn't be taking *that* long...maybe I should shuck in a debugging "print" statement here and there so I know where the program is.

(No, this is not the festivids matching script, which will be in Tcl. This is an alternate script for collating the nominations in Python.)

ETA: Infinite loop. *bonks self on head* I should have seen that!

ETA #2: And that's the second time I've forgotten to increment a counter variable. Geez, am I out of practice. But at least they're easy bugs to catch!

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/020872.html

Not from New York husband: Honey, we can eat over there. (points at Tavern on the Green)
Not from New York wife: Ew! No, I am not going to eat at a tavern. That's gross.

--Central Park

I'm having a 10% off sale over on my sale/swap post! Anything chosen and paid for before midnight Pacific time Sunday gets 10% taken off the pre-shipping total. As usual, anyone who spends $25 pre-discount or more gets free US shipping or $1.50 shipping anywhere else. Come on by and check out my Coxcomb, Purple Phoenix, Yules, Lunacies, Lupercalias, Forum Onlies and CD scents, as well as loads of GCs and all the non-BPAL goodies.

Click to find BPAL, Arcana, Cobalt Blends, HAEE, Nocturne Alchemy, Possets and much more!

And if your PayPal isn't as flush as you'd like, check out my enormous wish list to work out a possible swap. Aside from the really rares (:D?), I'm most interested in a decant of B-Horror, decants or partials of Tiki Queen or Mead Moon, bottles of Blackberry Jam and Scones, Jester or All In a Golden Afternoon; decants of Arcana's Breakfast in Hollywood or bottles of Chai or ; bottles of Haunt's Roma, Blood Orange Cacao or Rowan or Possets' Bear Lake Shake. If you don't see anything you have on my big list, feel free to point me at your swap post or make an offer. ^_^

Like, is that possible as the how-to guides suggest, or is it folly to even consider such a rash idea?

Is this an OK thing to do here?

Some parts of fandom have been discussing a Stargate Universe plot thread, using The Ancient communication stones and concerning body swapping and the temporary occupant of the body then having sex with someone. Well, the first instance was this week - two males swapped bodies, and then one of them had sex. I doubt there are many in this community who wouldn't call that rape, but maybe I'm wrong.

My point here is that I think this would be a great thing to discuss at Wiscon 34, but I have no idea how to propose it as a panel (I mean, I know how to technically, on the WisCon 34 Program Submissions page, but how to phrase it with respect and intelligence (as I'm likely to get a bit worked up.))

I'm not necessarily trying to start a discussion of the topic here (although I would love to see one) but would anyone who is familiar with the topic care to try to create a program description that would hopefully result in a wonderful Wiscon discussion, rather than a flamewar (which is what I would end up starting)?

Some of the discussions:

"Jen" posts on Joseph Mallozzi's Aug 11th blog about a casting call and the plot line that goes with it</a>
(search on "Do you have any idea how offensive this is?" as the nicks can't be searched on.)

Aug 12th post on Joseph Mallozzi's blog with some responses to the earlier post.
(starts with "Re the “Sabatage” debate:")

sheafrotherdon has a number of posts on it under the tag gatefail.

John Scalzi (Go John!) is a creative consultant on SG-U, and has a comment thread regarding this here and the "permenant SG-U thread" has bits more.

A number of times this community has opened my eyes and showed me new ways to approach things. I'm asking a favor: that the community do this again, because I think this topic is worth discussing, but I'm fully aware that I am unable to do it in a constructive, civilized fashion.

I seem to have acquired an extra one, possibly from the World Fantasy Convention.

It contained some Claritan gelcaps, and a green frequent buyer card from the San Francisco Soup Company with one stamp.

Zenyatta!

Wins the Breeders' Cup Classic today, beating the boys in her first (and last, sounds like) attempt at the classic distance.  Here's the replay, not that you'll see her much until the stretch: she's the big black horse--you may remember her from this helmet-cam workout video, yes?--with the yellow blanket and the jockey in green and pick.  She's nowhere and nowhere and then--

And then.

Still perfect.

Oh, mare.

#

Meanwhile, the new eventing dressage tests are now available to the public.  Some interesting choices and changes made.

I bought these bottles of Black Lace and Pink Phoenix on ebay a while ago, but I found I never use them, and with the Yules/Anniversaries/etc. coming up.... I don't know what a fair price would be for these, but I'll be accepting email offers from those interested at cinderfallen at gmail. I have 5 years of feedback at the forum under the same name.

Blace Lace is 2/3 full. Sadly, I spilled the contents, so it wasn't from use. 
Pink Phoenix is full.

Both bottles have a bit of label damage, but nothing too serious.

Queries: 124
Requests: 3: 2 YA fantasy and 1 one mystery (not genre, just a mystery) submission via Jenny
In my inbox: 1 partial

--

Yeah, boring slush stats today since I was gone and didn't have time to get a query project ready.