Category Archives: Books

Cautiously Optimistic

(I see that I have used this title before. I don’t know whether to be amused or concerned.)

I think that the order I now have is final. I need to walk away for a while, then come back and go through it with a fresh eye to make sure it flows. Or to at least ensure that the shifts aren’t too jarring. Because you just know that I’ve deliberately put some jarring sequences in there to shake things/perceptions/cherished beliefs up. Homogeneity is boring! Carefully scripted juxtapositions are exciting!

If it works, then Monday I’ll do a final pass on the introduction, and then the anthology is my editor’s problem! (Sorry, Andrea. But I am doing my best to make sure it’s in the best possible shape before it lands on your desk, to give you as small a problem as I can. *g*)

Suspiciously Cheerful

Suspicious because I shouldn’t be this happy and/or laid back this close to a deadline. I should be more focused on what I’m doing. But it’s sunny outside and there is no more snow (well, other than the edges of the backyard), and I got my third lovely surprise yesterday: a small bouquet of tulips from my boys.

Today I’ve been researching Mac Minis. I had to walk away from my desktop yesterday because it was (a) loud and (b) connected to the Internet. I tried to use my Dell laptop and it was even louder than the desktop. I defaulted to the Macbook I have on extended loan, and it operated in blessed silence. All my experiences with the Macbook so far have convinced me that I want to go Apple next. HRH has told me that any time I want to go downtown to the Apple Store to do some hands-on research, he’s good to go. He gets an educational discount, too, which knocks a bit of the price down. Of course I’ll just feed that right back into a three-year warranty, but hey. It will be very exciting to have a brand-new computer with a warranty. And I’m looking at the Mini because I have all my peripherals and don’t need the all-in-one package an iMac offers. Also, much cheaper. And portable. And tiny.

I had two cupcakes for breakfast. So there.

Yesterday I managed to finish my first draft of the introduction for the anthology; I’ll polish it on Friday. I’m still poking at the order, trying new things in different places. It feels like I’m spinning my wheels, because rearranging fifty stories doesn’t net me any tangible progress except a different sequence of titles in the table of contents. It’s harder than it sounds, because it takes a lot of brain power to remember what each story is about and what themes or tones it demonstrates. It’s like making a mix tape, trying to get the right flow between the moods and styles, except it’s 277 pages of stuff instead of two thirty-minute chunks. It’s taking up more mental RAM.

Fearsclave and I are geeking out about recurve bows at the moment, and I’ve pulled my two volumes of The Bowyer’s Bible out to lend him next time we see one another. In a rather apt illustration of my personality, they were shelved between books called Music and Literature: A Comparison of the Arts and The Technical Manual And Dictionary Of Classical Ballet.

And now, I must go and poke at the anthology with a sharp stick again.

Mailbox Joy!

The next best thing to getting money in the mail is getting books in the mail.

The Game (Diana Wynne Jones)
Pride and Prescience (Carrie Bebris)
Good Enough (Paula Yoo)
The Tower Room (Adele Geras)
Pictures Of The Night (Adele Geras)
A Companion to Wolves (Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear)
Old Man’s War (John Scalzi)
The Ghost Brigades (John Scalzi)
The Last Colony (John Scalzi)
The Android’s Dream (John Scalzi)

I recently read Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades and had to own them, along with the other two available from the place I bought them, because I anticipate rereading them often. But everything else will be a first-time read, and I’ve been waiting for some of them for a while. They’re mostly hardcover, too. I love Bookcloseouts.com.This is the first non-necessity I’ve bought for myself in a while, and certainly the first set of books that wasn’t purchased with a gift certificate in months.

Back to work.

Forty-Five Months Old!

And only three to go before the big four years old. I have been informed that there is to be another Totoro cake. Duly noted. Also noted is the likelihood of the cake theme changing according to almost-four-year-old whim.

Someone brought home a medal from the annual preschool Olympics. They don’t give coloured medals out any more (“Because,” the director told HRH, “you would not believe how competitive they get.” “The kids?” said HRH, astonished. “No, the parents,” she said darkly. “You’re really laid back about this.”) but the director oh-so-casually pointed out that someone’s medal was strung on a gold ribbon. Apparently he’s giving the five year olds a run for their money. It’s not that he’s a conscious overachiever, he just throws himself so completely and totally into everything he does and does it with enthusiasm and energy. February was winter Olympics month at preschool, complete with preschool-geared Olympic events in which everyone participated. As HRH has a multitude of Canadian flags Liam volunteered to bring one, which meant he got to carry it in the little parade. I hope someone got pictures.

There’s a new assistant at preschool. She was helping him into his coat yesterday when he reached out and stroked her hair, saying, “You have really soft hair, like my mama’s, except hers is curly.” To which the teachers at preschool, and I when I heard it, all said, “Awwww.”

Porco Rosso was the new film he discovered this month, thanks to a deal he has going with Scott. Liam asked if we could borrow The Cat Returns from their collection, and Scott said only if he could borrow Cars and/or WALL*E and/or Ratatouille, as he and Ceri hadn’t seen them. Liam thought about it and decided they could borrow Cars and Ratatouille, but not WALL*E. Which makes sense, since it’s the newest one and he’s still a little protective of it. (Although we are personally stunned at his decision to let Cars out of the house.) Then he decided he had to go over to their house in person to effect the trade, which was fun because he ran around and around the central part of the house, and with Scott explored the little section at the top of the stairs where the boards lift right out of the floor to reveal a little hidey-hole. He also decided that he’d have to go back and watch Cars with Scott on the huge television they have set up in the basement. When we told him it was time to go he declared that he wanted to stay forever and ever, which was very sweet indeed, and quite remarkable because the cats wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

He seems to have developed a thing about food touching on his place, and sauces actually on things instead of being used as dips. And his big quirk right now is smelling things. “Can I smell it?” he’ll ask if we show him something new or put a plate of food down in front of us at the table. This applies to non-edible items as well like books, cameras, toys, clothes, pieces of paper, and so forth.

Puzzles are the current toy of obsession. He throws them together impressively quickly. He found an envelope of about six twenty-piece puzzles from a book that had gone AWOL, which had no reference pictures, and zipped through them. He also asked for black chalk the other day while drawing on his easel. HRH explained that people didn’t really use black chalk all that often, because you wouldn’t be able to see it on the chalkboard, and got a flat stare as a reply. Emo Preschooler Requires Black Chalk To Express Himself, we thought.

Books this month included yet more train books from the library, in particular an impressive pop-up one with stations and trestles and all sorts of things. And he went through all three of them plus his own Eyewitness train book and pointed out the Rocket in each of them, being very pleased to be able to match them up, too. The other awesome book discovery was Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile. Hilarious when you are on the verge of four, and so enjoyed that I’ll have to pick a copy up to own. I finally remembered that I owned the four Catwings books, so those are lined up for the next few weeks of bedtime stories because they’re the perfect balance of text and illustration, followed by the Brambly Hedge books. (In my defence, they had been moved about a year ago to a shelf which had space on it, as opposed to a shelf with other children’s books or a display shelf as they’d been kept for years.)

The new word he’s proudest of is “enormous.” Totoro is enormous! The Death Star is enormous! Our new house will be enormous! Dirigibles are enormous! If Gryff grew, he’d be enormous! The sandwich I want for dinner must be enormous! The rainforest is enormous! He’s playing with words and letters and nonsense syllables a lot, which is fun to listen to. The preschool director sent him home with five Eyewitness books and a dictionary the other day, because they didn’t have room for them any more and she knows he loves books. We may not have the room for them either, but we’ll never say no. Knowing that he loves books, loves sounds and words and illustrations, is more than enough of a pay-off. We’ll always find room for what he loves.

What I Read This February

Murder Most Royal Jean Plaidy
Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb
Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith
Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella
Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susannah Clarke
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
Victoria in the Wings by Jean Plaidy
Lady Grace: Feud by Grace Cavendish (Patricia Finney)
44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
The Book of Air and Shadow by Michael Gruber

These Days

Headaches, fatigue, inability to concentrate. Oh, right; I have fibro.

*headdesk*

No, seriously; I tend to forget. Things got so much better and I became used to the new baseline that I have essentially forgotten.

So put my inability to remember what day it is, who to call back, how long something’s been sitting in my in-box, how to string words together to answer a simple e-mail, or how long ago I was supposed to hit ‘publish’ in the boy’s 44-month post (or anything not related to work, really) down to the fibro-fog and lack of available energy and memory. I’m somewhat relieved to realise that I have a genuine root cause of not begin able to focus on something properly, and for not being able to properly plan a month even when staring at a calendar. Work is the only thing I’m staying on top of, because, well, insane deadline.

I’m kind of listless, and I can see that reflected in the cello-heavy recent posts. I’ve just been marking down what’s going on, not really thinking or going beyond keeping basic track of what’s been happening. (Which isn’t much, because I’m not sure where the days are going, thank you, fibro.) I’ve been spending a lot of time just staring at things. Cello’s the only thing I’m keeping up with. Everything else is basically on hold or dropped along a wayside somewhere. I’m sure I’ll find them when the snow melts, a bit battered and worse for wear but essentially salvageable. No knitting; some reading, although I’m not retaining much of what I read so it’s basically light stuff only.

I scrubbed the bathtub this morning and was wiped. (No pun intended.) Thanks to the wonder of the stand mixer I was able to do bread, and a batch of cookies. The boy’s home with me today, so the cookies were a necessity, as were pancakes for lunch. I finally got him to nap; we’ll see how long that lasts.

And yes, the boy’s 44-month post is up. It sat there for a week, because all I had to do was upload the photos, but did I remember to do that? Not until today, I didn’t.