Catching up

Bad month for blogging, or any writing for that matter. Our upstairs computer (the super-fast one) was Trojaned. Since this is the computer the whole family uses, we have virus problems quite a lot, so everything is always backed up, no tragedy. Quin brought it in to work so his IT guy could wipe it for us, but somehow the Trojan was still there so I wiped it myself last week. Yep, nothing more fun than reinstalling all the software on your PC, twice. My downstairs computer (only used by me and strangely never gets viruses) is very slow. It's basically a wordprocesser with iTunes. I can surf the net on it, but that's a test of patience. Hence my absence.

I haven't been writing much either, around weddings and birthdays and holidays. I did get a ton of reading done, though. Here's what I've plowed through:

A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin. Excellent addition to the series. Here is a guy that doesn't know the meaning of cruise control. The books don't have definable individual arcs like the Harry Potter books; they are really all parts of one big story. But unlike Robert Jordan, the momentum is always forward (Jordan writes like I drive, in a series of circles as I continue to miss all my exits). Cersei gets some POV chapters, which is cool since we haven't seen the world through her eyes yet, and there was one big surprise I didn't see coming. The downside is that this book only focuses on half the characters. The next book will focus on the other half. So the cliffhangers at the end of this one will be left dangling until the book after the next one. Ugh!

We're All in This Together by Owen King. It's his first book (you may be familiar with his father's work, most folks are). It's not a novel; it's a novella plus some short stories. The review I read liked the novella but not the stories. I also liked the novella, but the short story "Wonders" was my favorite piece. But then I'm kind of a sucker for a story with circus freaks in it. I think Owen's best work is still before him, but his writing has a big-hearted quality I'm really drawn to. I've had enough dark/cynical takes on the world.

Across Arctic America by Knud Rasmussen, Arctic Sky by John MacDonald, and The Frozen Echo by Kirsten Seaver. OK, these are all for research. But if you need lots of info on the Inuit or Norse Greenlanders, they're great! An interesting thing I learned from Arctic Sky: Apparently in the Arctic regions it's nearly as hard to see stars as it is in cities. They don't have light pollution, it's just that their sky is always full of blowing snow.

I'm also halfway through the latest WOTF collection. It's tougher reading them this time around; this is the first collection featuring the quarters I had entered stories for. So every story I read is a story that beat out mine. It's hard to read the stories as stories and not be comparing/contrasting to my own entries in a "how is this better?" kind of way. But there was one with people living in hedges that I really liked ("Needle Child" by M.T. Reiten).

I have written one short story for the latest Backspace contest. It was flash in one sense: I wrote it all in a night then typed it up and posted it the next morning. Since my average short story goes through ten or more drafts, you can see how this is a bit of a change for me! I hadn't intended to enter this time around because of my busy November, but then this idea hit me out of the blue and had to be commited to paper. It's not my favorite thing I've ever written, but the responses have been good so it can't suck that bad. I think I'll post it here when the contest is done so my non-Backspacer blog readers can have a taste of my writing (with the caveat that there is a reason I'm posting it on the net and not submitting it for publication).

Singleton or smug married?

I'm back from DC. It was a whirlwind three days. Honestly, I'm not sure why I needed an entire hotel room. I could have stayed in one of those Japanese coffin/room places; I only needed a place to sleep and keep my stuff.

At any rate, everything went smoothly. I wasn't the only one there who had left a husband behind, but a lot of the others were still single (hence the title of this post). They were all comparing notes, what parts of Europe they've been to and how many times and where they are going next, and I'm sulking in my corner (I've been to Canada once for ten minutes, and that was just a short trip to say I'd been there). But somehow the conversation got around to rock gardens, and I said "That's just the short of thing I want in my backyard." And then I was the subject of envy: "Ooooh! You have a backyard!"

I also got to practice pitching my WIP (work in progress). Jenny introduced me to people whom I didn't already know as "my friend the writer", which usually leads to the questions "What do you write?" or more specifically "what are you working on now?". Since I don't tell most people I interact with in person that I'm a writer, this was my first time trying to answer these questions out loud, not typing (where I have more time to think). It's a skill I need to work on, but I don't think I did too bad. I focused more on thematic elements than actual plot details. My speech goes something like this: I hated the movie Stargate. I can't stand the theories that aliens must have built the pyramids (or Stonehenge, or Easter Island), that ancient people were superstitious and fools. I use the sci-fi elements of time travel in order to compare and contrast ancient and future people, and show that magic and science are really just two different ways of perceiving the universe, and I treat them as equally valid.

There were three women listening to my spiel the first time around. One was completely lost (eyes glazed over, honestly, and the phrase "I don't read fantasy" came up), one was mildly interested, but the historian was very excited, very into my theme. So that was pretty cool. It's actually the first time I've gone into detail about what I write with people who aren't also writers. I feel like I'm growing or something...

So I came home yesterday after three days away, and my family met me at the airport. Both boys were wearing sweaters I had knit for them (although I suspect Quin had a hand in clothing selection). The entire time of waiting for my bag and then walking to the car, someone was holding my hand (this is usually a gesture that only happens when Mom insists). Oliver told me "I was sad twice. One time I cried and one time I didn't." Quin said they were having dinner Sunday night when he noticed they had both moved their chairs and placemats to sit closer to him. And today, which I decided to make another vacation day because I'm too worn out to attempt school, Aidan practiced all of his skip counting (think Schoolhouse Rock: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30) then vacuumed the whole upstairs with the handheld vac and was going to dust with a wet papertowel until I stopped him. Not to mention all the cuddling while I dozed on the couch last night.

I think they missed me!

I'm going out of town

I know, I know; I post so infrequently you'd never notice I wasn't here if I didn't tell you. But there it is. I'm going to a wedding this weekend in Washington D.C. I leave tomorrow morning at an ungodly hour and don't come home until Monday afternoon. I'm traveling alone. No kids. No husband. Just me.

AAAGGGH!

I'm pretty much a shut-in these days. Example: my husband heard other homeschooling dads talking about the importance of "Mom's Night Out" at a convention, but I opted for a "Mom's Night In" (that's my writing night when they leave and I have a quiet house all to myself). My groceries are delivered. Most of my other purchases are delivered. I could happily never leave the house. I'm not saying it's healthy, I'm just saying I'd be happy.

So tomorrow I will be navigating myself through airports, changing planes in Milwaukee, meeting lots of new people (AAAGGH!), staying in a hotel. And did I mention the public speaking? It's a short reading, and a small wedding, but still.... AAAGGH!

I'm sure once I'm on my way it will all be fine. I have my notebook already packed for all the writing I'll be doing while I'm alone (hahahahahahaha... excuse me). I have the new George R.R. Martin book Feast of Crows which I haven't started yet because I've been saving it for the trip. I'm sure I'll be just fine, thank you.






AAAGGH!

Spanking Kobe Bryant

OK, it wasn't actually a blow-out or anything but still, anytime we can wipe that smug, self-satisfied look off of Kobe's face is a good, good day. You see, the Lakers are one star plus back-up. But the Timberwolves are a team. I mean, look at who scored more than 10 in the game:

For the Lakers:
Bryant: 28
Odom: 15
Brown: 10
(these two mostly scoring when Bryant was sitting down)

For the Wolves:
Garnett: 17
Hassell: 14
Szczberiak: 13
Griffin: 13
Hudson: 10

While the rest of the Lakers were in the 0-2 range, there were a lot of Wolves nearly at 10 (but how much of a graph do you want? All of it? Here you go.) The graph's not everything, though. Anthony Carter had a spectacular 3-pointer and a really awesome block. File that under "it's how you play the game."

KG rocks because it's not about KG, it's about the Wolves. He doesn't want to be the biggest name in the NBA, he wants his team to win.

What do I need?

So I was hanging around Backspace and someone mentioned this little game: Google "{your name} needs". Here's my top ten.

1. Kate needs a shave. (This one goes on to mention a "snug around the flesh mounds" negligee. Oh yeah, that paints a picture...)
2. Kate needs to trust Angel. (Yea! I'm in the Buffyverse!)

These all came from the same blog:
3. Kate needs a priest.
4. Kate needs to be hooked up.
5. Kate needs to leave everyone alone.
6. Kate needs to grow up.
7. Kate needs to know why demons are taking over.

And if I found that alarming, the next two come from a different blog:
8. Kate needs to be exposed for every evil thing she's ever done.
9. Kate needs to be brough to her knees.

And we wrap up with:
10. Kate needs a hand... more correctly, she needs a tooth... a few teeth.

So I'm fighting the good fight, me versus the demons, only apparently I'm a little bit evil myself. That's scarily accurate!

Of course I had to check out those blogs to see why they hated me, and it turns out they don't know Kate, they are Kate. So why the expressions of self-loathing in the third person? Weird. I couldn't find the actual phrases because both blogs were long (but the first one) has some interesting photographs on it.

Spike Spiegel is my pilot boyfriend!

I don't play a lot of video games. They tend to interfere with the writing. But one I do play is Star Wars: Battlefront. That's because it's a game my husband and I can play together on the same team. Quin is ultra-competitive, so games with head-to-head action are a bad idea. If I manage to win one game in seven, he's all pissed off. But in Battlefront we can work together to win battles (and if I beat his kill count one in seven times... well, you get the idea). He usually plays a Wookie, storming into battle with gernades a-launching. I like to be a sniper, climb something high and shoot till I'm empty. I usually get a pilot to stand behind me and give me ammo packs. Sometimes I get two competing for my attention. I call them my pilot boyfriends. "Do you need anything? Can I get you another drink?" It must be the tight leather pants the sniper chick wears.

So anyway Quin bought Battlefront II. Since most nights I work, he's been playing alone (then coming down the stairs to interrupt my very important work to tell me all the cool things he's doing upstairs). But he says the controls are different and I really have to try it out alone before we play together so I don't interrupt the game to futz with my controls. So I gave up a day's writing time to play video games (for the sake of marital bliss, OK?). As it turns out, once I flipped the Y-axis on all the options I was fine control-wise.

Graphics are cool...flying in space (ugh, too hard)... blah blah blah... Wait a minute! I just head-shot a Stormtrooper and that man that said "Nice shot!" was Spike Spiegel! Then I get clipped and he says "I'll have you fixed up in no time." How cool! Spike Spiegel is my pilot boyfriend! I love this game.

Disclaimer: Technically, the voice actor's name is Steven Blum (sometimes Steven Jay Blum) and he does millions of games, but this is the first one I've had with him on it. He'll always be Spike Spiegel to me (and he'll always be saying "Hey! That pooch-bagger's mine!"). Spike Spiegel for those who don't know is from Cowboy Bebop, one of my most-watched DVDs, and is of course the name of my newest cat. Mr. Blum also does the voice of Mugen on Samurai Champloo which is another really cool show. My personal jury is still out and whether it's cooler than Bebop. The animation is better, and it takes place in Japan in the age of the samurai, which is cool, but the female character Fuu seems to exist just to get captured and forced to work in brothels (although she always gets away before actually... performing a service).

For everything there is a season...

And this is basketball season! Finally I'm watching something on television that isn't Go, Diego, Go. Yesterday was the first game of the season. I was all set. I have Wally Sczcberiak wallpaper on the upstairs computer, Troy Hudson on the downstairs computer, and was wearing my Sczcberiak jersey. Oliver wanted to get in on the festivities too, but sadly his jersey is a Sprewell. I'll have to get him a new one.

Yes, the Timberwolves won the game, but I was very unimpressed. Their play was uneven and no one did anything really spectacular (except the new guy Richie Frahm, who sunk some three-pointers).

You know, I didn't used to watch basketball. Quin likes basketball. Technically we have a no TV in the evening rule, but that's never applied to basketball games or the Olympics. But it was only about two years ago that I was able to actually watch the games when they were on. That's the funny thing about babies - they are attention black holes. Particularly if they happen to be yours. I've been in the same room with a game on the TV a couple of nights a week for eight years and absorbed nothing.

But I did warn Quin, I do nothing by half-measures. I either don't care for something, or I'm obsessed with it. I'm not one of those "I watch such-and-such a show if it happens to be on" types. If I watch a show, I record every episode and analyze them to bits. Come to think of it, that's why I don't watch much TV. It's time consuming, being obsessed.

So anyway once I started watching basketball I got obsessed. I'm more into it than Quin is now. He can catch the score at the end of the game and be fine; I have to watch every minute and see every play. I mean jeez! It's not whether they win or lose, it's how they play the game. Right?

Well, here's hoping this year is better than last. I really don't want to see Kevin Garnett cry again.