Echo Les Semaines

from Les Semaines, July 6, 2008: Second Week of Clarion West 2008

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:20:30 GMT

Mary Rosenblum was a terrific instructor to follow Paul Park. She's one of Clarion West's graduates, and has built a reputation for strong, humane hard science fiction, a mystery series, and for her award-winning short stories. She helped move the students into our usual Milford-style workshop critiquing. She's a smart critiquer, and very good at taking stories for what they aspire to be and helping point the way toward that goal. I really enjoyed hearing her critiques.

Her reading on Tuesday night was great--she read an alternate history mystery story from a new anthology of them. Hers was set in a Mexico where Europeans and disease hadn't wiped out the native population, and where as well the Chinese explorers had had a greater impact. It was a delightful story: clever, with fascinating details woven in throughout.

The week was capped by something horrible that brought out something wonderful: while the students were in class downstairs, someone broke into the third floor of the house where our students are living and stole four laptops and some personal effects. I feel terrible for the students--some lost work, some lost family photos, some have had to go online and change passwords, etc. It has been a harrowing experience for them--more than just annoying, because a laptop while you're at the workshop is almost as important as a hand. Not only do you write on it and use it to mail your story to Kinko's, but it's also your lifeline to home and your personal support network.

The students are all upset, of course, but trying hard not to let it ruin their time at the workshop. The wonderful part is how the community responded. One of the students (who wasn't involved) blogged about the event, and people picked it up and rallied around with offers of computer loaners and office supplies, and donations to start a replacement fund. There were lots of queries, so we posted on our website and other friends of Clarion West posted on theirs, and within 48 hours of the theft we had enough in donations to replace the laptops.

What an amazing, heartwarming conclusion. The students still have lost what they've lost, but the support, both emotional and financial, has been mind-blowing.

Thanks, everyone, for doing what you could, whether you helped spread the word, sent a message of support to the class, are watching ebay and craigslist and all to see if we can catch the perpetrators, offered a loaner, or made a donation to replace the computers. The way the community is rallied around really helped the students feel that they're not alone in this. The support means a lot: to them, and to Clarion West (and to me!)

One thing it has made me see is that people really understand how intense attending Clarion West is, and what the students were going through already when they had the additional stress of this invasion of their workshop home. The sympathy and support has been really affecting. This is such a generous, responsive community. I'm in awe.

As I type this, Leslie has the affected students with her to buy them new laptops. We're also going to make certain they have both the software and hardware to keep writing (and lock-down cables). It's possible that donations may exceed what we need to do this, and if so, we will be returning them proportionally to the donors.

All I can say is thank you. Wow.

In personal news: today is Jim's birthday. We had dinner and cake last night with Karen and Barry and will be having sushi then cake with the family and neighbours tonight. If you want to wish him a happy birthday, you can email him at jmg @ zipcon . com (remove the spaces).

For more about what I'm listening to, books I read, and my writing this week, see Les Semaines.

After The Theft: An Amazing Response

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:17:52 GMT

The outpouring of all kinds of support for the Clarion West students whose computers were stolen has been nothing short of astonishing and heartwarming.

*Less than 48 hours* after the discovery of the robbery, we have almost enough donated funds to replace the stolen laptops. The messages of support and funds donated from those who could afford to (and possibly from those who couldn't really afford to) has been wonderful.

One thing it has made me see is that people really how intense attending Clarion West is, and what the students were going through already when they had the additional stress of this invasion of their workshop home. The sympathy and support has been really affecting. This is such a generous, responsive community. I'm in awe.

We will be buying the affected students new laptops in the next couple of days, and making certain they have both the software and hardware to keep writing. It's possible that donations may exceed what we need to do this, and if so, we will be returning them proportionally to the donors.

Thanks for everyone who did what they could, from passing on the word, to sending messages of support, to offering loaner machines, offering to donate machines, and sending funds for the replacement.

If you could, please pass on the word that we think we have enough donations to replace the laptops.

All I can say is thank you. Wow.

The Laptop Thefts at Clarion West

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:46:11 GMT

As I'm sure many of you have heard already, someone broke into the house our students are living in and stole four laptops and some personal effects while the students were in class downstairs. I feel terrible for them--some lost work, some lost family photos, some have had to go online and change passwords, etc. It has been a harrowing experience for them--more than just annoying, because a laptop while you're at the workshop is almost a important as a hand. Not only do you write on it and use it to mail your story to Kinko's, but it's also your lifeline to home and your personal support network.

The students are all upset, of course, but trying hard not to let it ruin their time at the workshop, and the community, especially here, is rallying around them with loaners and someone has offered some office supplies, and others have started sending donations to start a replacement fund.

This has really restored my faith in humanity.

If you have an idea about how to help and want to contact us about this, the email is info @ clarionwest . org, and if you want to donate, you can use the paypal button on our site at http://clarionwest.org/donate. Please say it's for computer replacement so we can keep the funds separate from our organizational fundraising.

If you want to mail a donation in, our address is on that page, too, and again, please include a note to be clear that the money is for the computer replacement fund.

Thanks, everyone, for doing what you can, whether you've helped spread the word, are watching ebay and craigslist and all to see if we can catch the perpetrators, provided a loaner, or made a donation. The way the community is rallying around has really helped the students feel that they're not alone in this. The support means a lot: to them, and to Clarion West (and to me!)

Title Woes

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:27:58 GMT

Regarding the first-draft-just-completed novel, it doesn't have a title yet. I usually don't have too much trouble with titles--not that I don't change them (for a long time Spells for Clear Vision was Airs and Graces).

This is part of a loosely connected series of novels based on ballad and myth. Gypsy Davey, the first one, is based on the ballad of that name (also called "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy", "The Gypsy Rover" and other variations) + the Donkeyskin fairytale.

This second one is based on "The Demon Lover" ballad + the Persephone myth.

The problem is that "The Demon Lover" has a far too paranormal romance connotation for this particular novel, though a relationship is central to the story and it is a fantasy novel. I'm bummed that "The Demon Lover" won't work as it would be great to consistently name the novels after the ballad titles, but so it does. I would choose a ballad that doesn't seem to have a variety of titles to choose from. At least, I don't think so. There aren't any pomegranates and I don't think there is an image that is central enough to the story to work as a title. My working file folder is called "Kate" after the main character, which is pretty useless.

The only thing I can think of so far is Alakshihir, the (made-up place) setting for the greater part of the novel.

What do you think of that as a title?

Any other title suggestions conjured by the very little I've said about the novel?

From Les Semaines, June 29, 2008: First Week of Clarion West 2008

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:01:35 GMT

Damn, Paul Park is a great teacher, especially great as a first-week teacher for Clarion West. I know I've talked about this more than once before so I guess there's no point in repeating that, but it is still an amazing process to watch. It's powerful to watch people learn so much in such a short time.

Paul's Tuesday night reading was wonderful--he read from his most recent novel, The Hidden World, which I just read a couple of weeks ago, and new short story, which was also dark, smart, and delightful.

The students seem like a great group of people--Leslie and I have really been enjoying them inside and outside of class.

Friday night's party was fun, too, though as always I got a little into my ubiquitous tongue-tied party mode, which I really am getting sick of. When there are too many people to talk to, I find I can't talk. It didn't help that I was painfully tired.

Jim was up in Victoria this weekend visiting my parents (who are still suffering from their long home-rebuild project--it has been about three months now) and our friend John. I spent a lot of time reading and sleeping, both accompanied by cats in various configurations. I also sat down to watch The Buccaneers, thinking it was a movie and discovering that it was a five-part series. Could I turn it off to get some sleep? No, I couldn't. I did enjoy it, even though I was fighting to stay awake by the end. Silly me.

After all this lazing around, though, I did finally reach the end of the first draft of my new novel.
Hooray!!!

For my listening, reading, and writing news, see Les Semaines

Belatedly from Les Semaines, June 22, 2008

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:55:19 GMT

Clarion West 2008 Begins

My brain hasn't quite gotten around to the idea that another workshop is beginning--has begun.

The house is ready, the rooms are full, we've made copies, arrangements, folders, name plates, arranged a classroom and admin space, and then some, and now there are eighteen people here at the Clarion West workshop, all poised to start a six-week exploration into their own writing talents, first under the guidance of Paul Park.

Away we go.

I feel like I would love a week of sleep before the workshop starts, but I'm sure Leslie (workshop co-administrator) feels this even more so, as she has been attending the weekend's Locus Award and Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame events and helping make the Clarion West 25th Anniversary celebration event (Nancy Pearl interviewing science fiction great William Gibson) happen.

I missed that, as it happened the same evening as our 25th wedding anniversary.

We celebrated quietly, with a lovely sushi dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, then sharing some of our recent poems. I had a poem for Jim that I wrote the first draft of at La Push. I frantically revised it until moments before I read it to him. I also read him the first scene from my new novel--so he's the first person who has seen/heard any of it.

For my recent listening, reading, writing and obligatory cat pictures, see Les Semaines.

Clarion West Write-A-Thon

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:12:29 GMT

The Clarion West Write-a-thon is ready to start rolling, but I think this year it will be rolling without me as a participant. This year is too rich with deadlines already for me to add any more. My pledge is just to not drop the ball on my current projects while the workshop is running.

However, I do recommend you take a look at the writers participating, and see if you're up for sponsoring one of them. Michael Swanwick! Eileen Gunn! Paul Park! And a gorgeously long list of up-and-comers to sponsor.

I'm sponsoring a Clarion West 1996 classmate of mine, Elizabeth McDowell, and as many of the participants who have been students in classes I helped run as I can afford.

Not only does your sponsorship help support a great writer's workshop, but it also encourages writers to get words on paper (or send out their work, or do whatever else they have pledged to do for the write-a-thon.

Torture writers! Encourage them to write! Feel the power!

From Les Semaines, June 15, 2008

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:22:32 GMT

News Alert: Blue Sky in Seattle!

...and a terrifyingly unfamiliar yellow orb drops bright light from the sky rather than clouds dropping the wet. Run away!

So, um, yes, we've been having a very gray and rainy spring, even more gray and rain than I, who rejoices in gray and rain, can be cheery about. Our couple of days of heat have been too summer hot and have lasted but an instant, and it has gone back to gray and rain. This basically comes down to no spring in Seattle, except for the plants that bravely have been doing all their blooming in the rain. I really shouldn't complain, we've not suffering like Iowa. Truly, though, the garden is burgeoning with growth and promising all kinds of wonders. It looks like a good year for blueberries, raspberries, and currants, which means I can make black currant jelly as well as the annual raspberry apricot this year! Hooray!

So today, in celebration, we shall barbecue, and eat toxically charred bits of steak and corn on the cob and we shall pretend it is summer.

This means, of course, that poor Jim's allergies are acting up. His stitches are healing well, though.

Mom and Dad's house is nearly done with all the work they've been suffering through, too.

The Clarion West Workshop is a week away (students start arriving Friday!), so I'm trying to simultaneously enjoy the last of my freedom, get everything prepared for the workshop, and wrap up the day job and the personal things I want to take care of before the deluge starts. Hmm. Wonder how I'll do with that?

But first, Devin and Tamar are due here shortly to help us char the steaks.

---

For my reading comments and writing updates, see Les Semaines.

10 Favourites and 10 Statements

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:18:48 GMT

From joannemerriam

1. Favourite book:

Keri Hulme's The Bone People is an all-time favourite. My favourite recent book is probably Geoff Ryman's Air. Favourite not necessarily adult books: anything by either Diana Wynne Jones (I'm currently reading her latest, The House of Many Ways) and Robin McKinley (I loved Dragonhaven).

2. Favourite movie:

King of Hearts is an all-time favourite. My favourite recent movie is Once.

3. Favourite TV show:

Right now, Battlestar Galactica; Doctor Who is an all-time favourite.

4. Favourite band

Veda Hille, Veda Hille, Veda Hille

5. Favourite season:

Spring (sun and wind and rain and stuff blooming all at once!)

6. Favourite animal:

Cats!

7. Favourite cartoon character:

The gnomes in a weird European cartoon I saw once when I was about 8 and never saw again.

8. Favourite superhero:

Period Queen, a hand-drawn comic a friend gave me and I haven't a clue where it came from. Period Queen eats potato chips by the handful and rides a flying tampon, and you'd damn well better not get in her way!

9. Favourite color:

Teal. Yes, I know it's now out of fashion. I love greens and blues, and so mixing them, well, I love it.

10. Favourite food:

All-time: Any of the chocolate cakes from Simply Desserts in the Fremont area of Seattle. Right now: cherries.

1. I drive:

Depending on the day, I drive a 1990 Honda Civic Wagon or a 2003 Mazda Protege 5.

2. I'd rather drive:

A Bugatti Royale

3. Five guests at my fantasy dinner:

Chaucer, Shakespeare, Sappho, Angela Carter, and Veda Hille.

4. Behind my back, people say I'm:

Scattered.

5. I'm happiest when:

I'm writing.

6. My best asset:

Physical: my hair. Non-physical: I sometimes have good ideas out of nowhere--one of my professors said I was like a salmon suddenly leaping out of the water.

7. My ideal vacation:

The west coast of either Scotland or the Pacific Northwest

8. Phobias:

Spiders, gorillas, clowns, and claustro-.

9. I regret:

Not getting more work done years ago.

10. Nobody knows I:

Am a pantheist.

From Les Semaines, June 8, 2008

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:29:16 GMT

In Stitches

Okay, an actual entry—something I've been managing to avoid for lo these many long months. I'm not sure why.

What news, what news? Small news.

I was standing on the back deck in between rain showers watching Jim cut back bushes in the yard Friday afternoon, when his pruning shears attacked and he had to have five stitches in his left baby finger. They're bright blue. The Frankenfinger seems to be doing okay and isn't too painful but he has horse-sized antibiotics to take. We had a not-too-horrible wait at urgent care to have him seen to, and conveniently I could stop by the Clarion West office and we were near one of our favourite Thai restaurants and got dinner there, which reminded us why it's a favourite--so much better than any of the nearby ones.

Neither of us have ever had stitches before. For clumsy people, we're amazingly accident free. This just wouldn't stop bleeding, so we figured he was doomed to actually have to be see a medical professional and be sewn back together.

The rag he'd been holding around his finger came home in a bag marked "Biohazard." But we had to bring it home because it was one of our favourite rags, and you can't blame a rag for getting itself bled on.[1]

I also thank the pruning shears for attacking now, and not waiting until, say, Clarion West was in session and I had two hundred other things to be doing. I also thank them for not, say, hitting an artery and actually trying to snip the finger off. For flesh-eating, blood-thirsty shears, they were quite restrained.

Titus can't bear to look at the next picture.

Jim salutes the world with stitches.

Note:
1. Yes, I know I'm weird for having favourite rags. I like 100% cotton ones. And I only have a couple of these ones--they're 26 years old and were once my sister's eldest son's diapers. Soft, absorbent, all those good things.

from Les Semaines entry for Sunday, June 1, 2008: Sunday Five

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:01:46 GMT

So, you might think, after basically disappearing for three months, that I would be coming back to tell you that I have written five novels, 55 poems, entirely caught up with my email, and saved the world. Ahem. However, what I have been doing is basically the same as what I was doing when I was keeping this journal up to date. That is: not so very much as I should have been, except this time constantly missing the Sunday "deadline" to get a journal entry up. I wrote the starts to many entries (most of them in my head). I finished none of them.

What have I done? It's hard to recall, really, because I've been getting older every day and my memory is not what it was.

So, for now, here's Sunday Five via stephanieburgis.

What were you doing five years ago?
Good thing I've got my journal to check! (Here's a reason to keep up the journal.) I was in Arbanasi, Bulgaria, where I wrote and walked and got all dreamy about birdsong in a hammock and got tricked by a firefly.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
* Write a journal entry because my Mom asked me to
* Write some Clarion West related email messages
* Keep the kittens awake because they kept us awake this morning (this is an experiment to see if they will sleep in if they get less day sleep--the 4:00 a.m. crazies are driving us crazy!)
* Work on a poem about salmon
* Finish a review for The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music

What are five snacks you enjoy?
* Jazz or Pink Lady apples
* Graham crackers (no comments, you!)
* Rice crackers
* Berries from our garden (soon! The raspberries are starting to flower!)
* Scones and tea

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
* Give Clarion West an endowment
* Give a heap of money to Médecins Sans Frontières, Mercy Corps, Northwest Harvest, Artist Trust, and a bunch of other places I'm only able to give a little money to now
* Buy a writing cottage on the west coast of Scotland and another someplace on the west coast here
* Arrange money to have the people I love taken care of and make their lives easier (but hopefully not in instrusive ways)
* On her Sunday Five stephanieburgis wrote: "put together an incredible library in my mansion/castle, complete with deep, comfy seats, a fireplace, and of course rows and rows of gleaming wooden bookshelves so high they require a ladder to get to the top shelves" and that sounds heavenly to me.

What are five of your bad habits?
* Wasting time on the Internet
* Procrastinating on errands, chores, and jobs
* Building mental blocks about things I should be doing instead of doing them
* Reading when I should be sleeping
* Complaining about things that aren't worth complaining about

What are five places where you have lived?
* Winnipeg, Manitoba
* Victoria, B.C.
* Missoula, Montana
* London, Ontario
* Seattle

What are five jobs you've had?
* Receptionist at an alcoholic treatment center
* Secretary/travel clerk at an astrophysical observatory (I got to send people to amazing places and type papers called "The Age and Size of the Universe")
* Teaching freshman composition
* Counseling Services Coordinator
* Workshop Administrator

There's a little more (brief listening, reading, writing updates) at Les Semaines.

To celebrate International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:49:42 GMT

and Shakespeare's birthday, here's my fourth-week story from Clarion West dawn of time edition.* This was my second published story (I don't write much short fiction). I figured people have (or could have if they wanted to) seen my poetry online, but here's some fiction for a change.

Oh, and if you want to see my first published short story, it's available here. This was also written at Clarion West (a bonus fifth week flash story/prose poem).

--

* 1996. Eek.

Nearest Book

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:21:52 GMT

alphawolfguide tagged me with the Nearest Book meme

Here are your rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences here.
5. Put the meme and answer in your journal, tag five people and the madness continues.

Nearest book: Letters to the World: Poems from the Wom-Po LISTSERV, a poetry anthology I'm in. This is from "Romanian Village" by Ana Doina:

Maybe a peasant
or a shepherd like us. No grades, no insignias,
nothing memorable, heroic or great about him
was found in the mud near the corpse.
So they dug a grave

at the edge of the forest, in the small cemetery,
in the last row.

The five people I want to annoy: morgan_x, kate_schaefer, vylar_kaftan, tinaconnolly, davidjwilliams.

Kind of a random assortment of friends to bother, but all people I'm curious about what they might be reading.

Ye Olde Aged One Word Meme

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:50:23 GMT

One word answers:

1. Where is your mobile phone? Backpack.
2. Your significant other? RocketMan.
3. Your hair? Long.
4. Your mother? Researching.
5. Your father? Be-dogged.
6. Your favorite thing? Books.
7. Your dream last night? Dream?
8. Your favorite drink? Mango.
9. Your dream/goal? Books.
10. The room you're in? Green.
11. Your ex? Forgotten.
12. Your fear? Wrongness.
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Published.
14. Where were you last night? Home.
15. What you're not? Writing.
16. Muffins? Lemon.
17. One of your wish list items? Time.
18. Where you grew up? Victoria.
19. The last thing you did? Web.
20. What are you wearing? Dress.
21. Your TV? Covered.
22. Your pets? Catsups.
23. Your computer? Mac.
24. Your life? Good.
25. Your mood? Anticipatory.
26. Missing someone? Some.
27. Your car? Honda.
28. Something you're not wearing? Shoes.
29. Favorite Store? Online.
30. Your summer? Seattle.
31. Like someone? Yes.
32. Your favorite color? Teal.
33. When is the last time you laughed? Morning?
34. Last time you cried? Year.

Leave Seattle, Experience an Earthquake

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:35:59 GMT

We're in Chicago visiting nephew Mark and the Field Museum (me, for research for my grant) and I woke up this morning thinking "Jim's shaking the bed. Oh, yeah, no, an earthquake. Wild."

It amuses me that I go to Chicago to feel the first earthquake since the Nisqually in what, 2001? 2000?

It was the first earthquake Mark's ever felt. Jim slept through it.

I had a great day at the Field. Notes galore. There again, it was the Northwest Coast First People's artifacts I was looking at.

Two typical Northwest things I went to Chicago to experience. Ha!

From Les Semaines, Thursday, April 3, 2008

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:06:57 GMT

Quick Ketchup

Sorry to have been gone so long and to leave a message that sounded like things weren't going well, and then only answer one of those question lists.

Here's the short form of what has been happening. I have been working on the longer version long enough to realize that if I wait until I finish it I will never catch up. So here's what you're not reading. At least for now. Sorry.

It was February and March:

* in which I discovered a cure for my February blahs or anemia-induced amnesia
* in which I participated in a Girl's Getaway in Victoria and played Scrabble
* in which I was a bachelorette and ate much lamb
* in which I celebrated Clarion West's 25th Anniversary and missed my husband
* in which I was deluged with paper then divested myself of it
* in which the days just disappeared
* in which I encountered the Radio8ball and learned the future

Someday, I hope, I will finish writing what has not been written. And really, you know, that describes my life.

Working on it

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:29:47 GMT

I'm working on a catch-up message, but for now I have answers to a bunch of questions at my website journal.

I'm still here. I'm fine. It has just been busy, and once I get behind I find it very hard to catch up.

Sorry so silent

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:42:25 GMT

I have a case of the February blahs, which I hope will be cured by a field trip to Victoria with Devin and Tamar (Jim gets to stay home and cat-sit or be cat-sat).

From Les Semaines, Sunday, February 3, 2008

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:08:09 GMT

I Have Become My Parents

When I was young and restless I couldn't understand why my parents spent most of their evenings alone together at home. I mean for much of the time I was growing up they had the delights of my presence (yes, I'm sure I was a charming, grouchy obnoxious adolescent who made their every hour precious and complete) but even when I was out a lot and then moved away they seemed to like to stay at home and just hang out, watching TV, drinking tea, reading, and petting and playing with the dog.

Now I'm their age, whatever age that was, and guess what? What do I like most? Hanging out at home, messing about on the computer (writing and reading and all), drinking tea, reading books, and petting and playing with the cats.

What? When did I become my parents?

I could never figure out why they didn't hang out with their friends more. There were concerts to go to, plays to see, movies to watch, restaurants to eat in, drunken conversations to have, sleep to miss.

All I wanted to be was out and about. There was some special life out there and if I hung out enough I knew I'd find it. I quickly discovered I wouldn't find it in bars, as I don't drink beer and few bars used to have cider and scotch was too damn expensive and mixed drinks were (1) expensive and (2) mostly gave me horrible stomach pains, and watching other people have drunken conversations is, well, boring. One down.

I still like going to concerts and plays and movies and all, but when it's competing with sitting at home with tea, a good book, Jim nearby, and a two-cat cuddling minimum, well, these things rarely win the bet.

I also have learned the value of sleep (especially now that I sometimes have trouble getting to sleep).

I still like seeing friends but more and more I prefer they come to our place. I know they get tired of it, but frankly three hours on uncomfortable furniture kills me, and none of the people we hang out with that way have comfortable furniture. Not even the ones who think they do.

I'm not sure what sparked this entry so much as (1) being amazed at how boring my life generally is and how happy I am that it's boring. (2) looking ahead at how busy this month is scheduled to be and dreading it, and (3) realizing that when Jim first met my parents they were pretty much the age that we are now.

This getting old stuff is really weird. How can I be my parents' age?

-----

For my listening, reading, writing, and excerpts from old journals, see Les Semaines.

-----

From Les Semaines, Sunday, January 27th, 2008

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:54:29 GMT

Peek-a-Boo View

We have lived in this house for almost 14 years. I just noticed Monday morning that we can see Mount Rainier from our living room window. [Okay, that is, we can see it on those rare moments when none of the neighbourhood trees have leaves and it's clear weather.] I can't believe I never noticed it before. As the sun was rising I was sitting on the loveseat when I noticed the bump of the mountain silhouetted between houses/trees. I thought it was a hallucination, but later that afternoon I got out the binoculars to be sure. Who knew?

Pretty funny. So our house has a peek-a-boo view and is worth lots more money, right? Not that we're going anywhere anytime soon. We will enjoy our silly teeny view, we will!

It just seems so insane that neither of us noticed it before. I keep thinking I must have known and just forgot.

This weekend was the kitten's anniversary. We adopted them a year ago and turned Sophia's world into an even more scary place than it had been, what with all the hazards of people looking at you (terrible!) and touching you (even worse!!!), now the horror of kittens. Though I still of course miss Zach--how could I not miss a cat we had for twenty years?--I can't imagine life without Titus who is the most calming presence possible in times of emotional stress (thank you for all the nights when I was too freaked to sleep when you purring by my head was the only thing that kept me from screaming) and Atia who by her wild energy and frequent nudging for attention reminded a freaked, stressed person what really matters: love and play. So thank you, too.

Touch wood and thanks to better living through chemistry, Sophia hasn't peed outside the box since October. We're going to try easing her off the meds in a month or so when her prescription runs out of renewals.

Do I have anything more to say? No, I don't. So, bye for now. Bye. Good night.

-----

For my listening, reading, writing, and excerpts from old journals (still Jim's right now, actually) see
Les Semaines.

-----

from Les Semaines, Sunday, January 20, 2008

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:48:32 GMT

In Which I Pose a Question With No Foreseeable Answer

I have a cold. Just Thursday I was thinking how Tamar had had the cold, Devin had had the cold, Jim had had the cold, but I had managed to dodge the bullet. Friday, I was sick.

Luckily, it's not a horrible cold. No fever, and I don't feel like I'm going to die. I just can't write. Or I think I can't write. Or I'm letting myself think I can't write.

Possibly because I haven't been sleeping well with the sneezing and the coughing. I keep waking myself up.

I've been doing a hell of a lot of reading, though. Inhaling young adult novels, mostly. Most of which are pretty darn good and a few of which aren't. I've bailed on a couple. I have 36 books out from the library right now, which is insane. I've been juggling which can be renewed and which have which due dates and all. It's been pretty funny, except I have a couple of books that I own that I haven't been able to read because of this passion for putting library books on hold that I seem to have. Time to stop soon.

The second check for my Canada Council grant arrived. I'm pleased with the progress I've made with the project thus far, but this arriving has made me realize that I need to figure out if I should do some more traveling to complete it. I know that I don't need to go back to Scotland however much I'd like to, and it's really expensive right now. I would like to go back to Haida Gwaii/The Queen Charlotte Islands, and Jim would really like to, but the longest I could get away would be for about two weeks, and six days of that would be eaten up with traveling there and back unless I can justifying spending the money to fly and rent a car. And just where would I need to go there?

Maybe it would be better to just do some west coast touring. Vancouver Island or the coast here again (holing up at Kalaloch sounds pretty damn good). I haven't been along the Sunshine Coast since I was a kid, and oddly enough I set one of the poems for the collection there. I'm not sure why, just did. So maybe I should go there.

It's hard to figure out what would really be helpful at this point.

Wherever I go, it has to have woods and sea and moss. There's plenty in any of these places.

So where is guaranteed to spark a dozen folkloric poems that I wouldn't have written had I not gone? There's a question. Ha!

-----

For what I've been listening to, reading (a *long* list this week), writing, and for selections from my old journal (well, still Jim's) see Les Semaines.

From Les Semaines, Sunday (Monday), January 13 (14), 2008

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:52:07 GMT

Unsuspecting Question Answerer Suspects Nothing

I'm a day late, but I'm not re-dating this or anything. I'm just in a mood like that.

The first week of Winter Quarter has passed and I survived it. It wasn't awful or anything, just busy.

And I am daily astonished at the amount of hand-holding prospective students applying to doctoral programs seem to require. One of my favourite questions went something like "if you say you require a master's degree, does that mean that you want your applicants to already have a master's degree?" Um, yes. Another was "You only accept students for Autumn Quarter, so can I apply for Spring?" Um, no. Those are just two samples of recent questions. Most of them are like that. Only a very few are a little more complicated or subtle. Mebbe they're winding me up, but why would you wind up the person who is processing your application? I wonder at the reading comprehension of these people, and can't decide if this means they should be doctoral students or that they shouldn't. I guess shouldn't, because the students we do accept have never asked questions like that; they mostly excel at more complicated questions, which frankly I find more entertaining to answer. I don't much like worrying about people's intelligence and reading comprehensive level. Also, I don't like how crabby answering the dumb questions makes me. It's such a relief to see the students I know and trust.

I also had a bunch of certificate students come by to talk to me and I always enjoy talking to them, especially the ones who are happy to know that they will be able to complete the certificate after all.

I also survived the first Clarion West workshop meeting for 2008. I hate meetings. Or rather, I hate making myself get out the door to go to them. Once I'm there, I'm fine, but motivating myself to leave to get there feels impossible. I moan, I complain. I leave everything to the last minute. I slowly gather things together. Then suddenly if I don't leave right away I'll be late and I swoop up four last things and run out to the car yelling back at Jim to ask if he can (get me my glasses/bring me the thing I left out on the counter/sorry could you do the dishes I forgot). Then I race off, all anxious, and arrive a couple of minutes early.

It's kind of like getting to work, though I'm nearly always a couple of minutes late there. I always stay a little late to it evens out, but somehow since morning are so much not my thing I have trouble getting out the door.

Let's be honest: I really want to stay home with the cats and a good book (even if it's one I have to write), no matter whether it's work I have to go to or meetings. Or even traveling. Getting out the door when I travel is the worst.

We finally had Christmas with Devin and Tamar, and they both have annoying colds that won't go away and leave them alone, so we were all tired but we had fun and cool presents. Devin gave us all sorts of cool things, including a framed copy of a hilarious photograph of Atia and Titus. I really should scan it and put it on LOL-cats with a caption like "Unsuspecting cat suspects nothing" 'cause in it Atia's relaxing into a cat-loaf while above her! where she's not looking! are four! big! heavy! paws! about to land on her. It's really funny.

And Tamar got us a panini maker. Guess what we had for dinner tonight?

* * *

If you want to know what I've been listening to, reading, writing, and read my (Jim's) old journal, see Les Semaines.

* * *

And if you want to read a recent poem, there's one newly up today at Strange Horizons.

From Les Semaines, Sunday, January 6, 2008

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:15:15 GMT

Epiphany 2008

Today is Epiphany, Twelfth Night, the last day of Christmas. Thinking about Epiphany always makes me think about James Joyce's lovely story, "The Dead", which takes place on Epiphany and has one as its main event.

I could use the latter kind of epiphany. For the capital "E" kind, we celebrated by writing, eating leftovers from our New Year's Day dinner, and taking down the meager number of Christmas decorations we'd put up. The Christmas door is undecked, the altar to the Great God Book is long emptied, the books all back in their places, various hanging balls are all packed and boxed up and resting in the basement for their next appearance.

All that's left of Christmas are two gift bags, one for Devin and one for Tamar, because as they've both been traveling we haven't managed to get together yet to exchange gifts. Oh, and we do have some leftover chocolate in case of dire need and some cookies still in the freezer.

My unscheduled entry summarizing last year makes me think about what I want for this year. Obviously, I don't want any bad or ugly. Duh.

I want to finish all my writing projects, sell everything, keep the house perfectly clean, keep Jim (and the cats) perfectly happy, cook exquisite meals, get my study sorted out and catch up and stay caught up on my email. Ha. Well. We'll see, won't we? It should be an interesting year as it brings my mother's 80th birthday, our 25th wedding anniversary, and my 50th birthday. I'll keep you posted.

I wish us all an epiphanous year, which the Oxford English Dictionary tells me means resplendent. May it be short of epiphora, which the same source describes as superabundant tears.

Epiphanous. Resplendent. May it be so.

--

For my reading, listening writing, and a selection from my [Jim's] 1994 journal, check Les Semaines.

2007 in Review: A Strange, Sometimes Difficult Sometimes Wonderful Year

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:31:11 GMT

[Sorry this is long. Maybe in 2008 I'll learn to use the cut feature.]

The Good:

adopted Atia and Titus (kittens!)

Canada Council grant

how friends and family supported me during the Ugly

new, faster, bigger, brighter computer + faster DSL

article about me in the University Week

The Malahat Review's 40th Anniversary/Robin Skelton celebration in Victoria in October

The Bad:

lost Zach, our nearly 21-year-old cat

breaking off my longest-term, most magical but also increasingly abusive friendship

Sophia's adjustment problems to the kittens

keeping the kittens flea-free

my not-always-excellent strength dealing with the Ugly

The Ugly:

The murder at work--and the after-effects

Listening--my favourite musical discoveries this year:

Tunng

Efterklang

Espers

Lisa Knapp

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

The McCarricks

Bellowhead

My favourite discs of this year:

Fiery Furnaces, Widow City

Noe Venable, The Summer Storm Journals

Feist, The Reminder

PJ Harvey, White Chalk

Jesca Hoop, Kismet

Tunng, Good Arrows

Kristin Hersh, Learn to Sing Like A Star

Two Loons for Tea, Nine Lucid Dreams

St. Vincent, Marry Me

Beirut, The Flying Club Cup

Tara Fuki, Auris

Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band EP

Laïs, The Ladies' Second Song

Not as interesting as I hoped: Björk's Volta and Christine Fellows' Nevertheless. Both are among my favourite artists and neither of these are bad albums, it's just that both have shown in previous albums how much more interesting they can be.

I went to one of the best concerts I've ever seen this year: Joanna Newsom and the Northwest Symphony Orchestra. I went in not expecting much and was blown away.

Reading--my favourites of the novels I read this year:

Susan Palwick, Shelter (SF)

Robin McKinley, Dragonhaven (YA fantasy)

Jo Walton, Ha'Penny (alternative history)

Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr. Y (fantasy/SF/literary)

Justine Larbalestier, Magic's Child (YA fantasy)

Elizabeth Knox, Dreamquake (YA fantasy)

Kay Kenyon, Bright of the Sky (SF)

Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind (fantasy)

Ursula K. Le Guin, Voices and Powers(YA fantasy)

Stephanie Meyer, eclipse (YA fantasy)

Charles de Lint, Promises To Keep (fantasy)

Markus Susak, The Book Thief (YA)

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, The Shadow Speaker (YA SF)

Matt Ruff, Bad Monkeys (mainstream/SF)

Judith Lindbergh, The Thralls' Tale (historic with fantasy elements)

Favourite poetic discovery: Alice Oswald, especially Dart.

Writing events:

the Canada Council grant

the CD released

6 batches of poems submitted

5 poems accepted

4 poems published (1 in Strange Horizons, 2 in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, 1 in The Malahat Review)

1 story submitted & rejected

cut the novel by > 10% and submitted it to an agent (!)

participated in the Clarion West Write-a-thon and met my writing goals

From Les Semaines, Sunday, December 30th, 2007

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:38:23 GMT

Sorry I skipped a week. I find it difficult to write when I have house guests. My parents and their two dogs were here for nearly a week. Now they, and Christmas, have been and gone. So has the day which is Boxing Day in my country, but not much of anything in the country I live in. It's nearly New Years.

The parental visit went well. The kittens did not eat the dogs or vice versa. Everyone was very polite, at least among the animals. Some housecleaning did not get done and much decorating was not done because of kittens' desire to see decorations come down. Kittens seem to believe very strongly that new decorations are designed to be taken to floor level by kittens. So. The decorating? Not so much. Besides, our decorating ambitions were few. We did do our annual Christmas door with lights and the more sturdy ornaments, and we cleared out bookshelves for our annual altar to the Great Good Book, where we stashed the presents.

Christmas really was lovely. Low key and all. The turkey was an hour late (I'm beginning to hate gas ovens as much as I love gas stove tops) but everything else went well. Christmas Eve dinner was our traditional brisket, thanks to an online friend for the recipe many years ago. All the important traditions were upheld, including Dad suffering by having to carve the turkey, and the wearing of silly hats and telling of silly jokes from the Christmas crackers.

Oh, and the mince pie (and a turkey pie for Jim who has never adapted to mince) and the eating too much. Urgh.

One non-traditional item was the snow that fell Christmas Day, which was beauteous to see and kindly then melted out of the way of life, and let my parents drive home without fear. They were lucky enough to travel here and back on the only two sunny days we've had recently.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Back to work for a day, so I have to get up early.

I confess that on Friday when I went back to work for the first time since the Wednesday before Christmas I fell asleep at my desk. I haven't done that for a long, long time. Scarily quiet at the U these days. Tomorrow will be quiet, too. I'm hoping that means I'll get a lot done.

Happy New Year to all of you.