La Mrowsera and I decided to go on an image heavy walk outside today!


We got her a harness a while ago, and somewhat to my surprise, she's been quite happy about going outside in it.

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I suppose I really ought to get some writing done now...

First, gleaning. I can't believe I forgot to explain the point of it yesterday. All the gleaned fruit goes to local food pantries and halfway houses.

Second, I decided to play a little bit more with video editing. This is not as high quality as the hedgehog video, but it amuses me.



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Today I went out with the Boston Area Gleaners to glean apples at Kimball Fruit Farm. Alas, I didn't remember my camera, so no pictures of the apples. It was a beautiful day, with perfectly clear skies, and lots of apples. The three of us on this gleaning trip filled eleven fifty pound boxes with perfectly good fallen apples. Then we had to carry eleven fifty pound boxes of perfectly good fallen apples to the van, but hey, good exercise.

The downsides were all the slugs and rotten apples, which squished when I touched them. Oh, and the poison ivy everywhere. I know it was all over my arms and my clothes, so when I got home, I stripped, washed in frigid water to hopefully get the oil off, and then took a long, hot shower to scrub further and get all the mud out from under my nails.

After my scrubdown, I googled poison ivy to see what other potential remedies there were. Some people suggested that consistently eating raw honey helps make one immune. We've got raw honey, and I don't eat it every day, but hey, I'm certainly not averse to honey on toast!


We have a Hello Kitty toaster, which puts the image of her royal kawaiiness on our toast!

So, having washed, and consumed honeyed toast, it is now time for me to go to the writing workshop I signed up for. I am exhausted, and really hoping that I don't break out in a bad rash of itchiness. If I do, I guess I will be trying a paste of baking soda and water or white vinegar, but I really hope I don't have to do that...

Hope you all had a poison-free day!

One thing I love about living in Massachusetts is the fact that all four seasons are well represented here. A few weeks ago it was summer, but now we're well into fall with crisp weather, and colorful leaves. To better appreciate this phenomenon, we hiked up to the top of Mount Wachusett yesterday. As usual, you may click on any photo to see a larger version.


Sunlight made these leaves glow while we stopped to rest on our way up.

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It is going around again. If you'd like me to ask you 5 questions, leave a comment. These questions provided by the lovely and talented tanyahp

1. What is your greatest challenge when writing?
Generally (and I think this goes for a lot of writers), making myself do it. Starting, finishing what I've started, coming back to rewrite after a rejection, or critique. It's hard to sit down and do it. Once I start, I'm okay. I get into a writing zone, and that's cool. But starting is a challenge every time.

Specifically, right at the moment, plot. I am having some real struggles with constructing solid and compelling plots. Characters, settings, and emotions come easily, and often I'll get great ides for part of a plot, but putting it all together into one story that makes the reader want to keep reading... well, I'm working on it.

2. If you could interview any current celebrity, who would it be and why?
Gosh, this is a really hard one. I'm tempted to say Bette Midler because my 13-year-old self would totally freak out, but I don't actually have any idea what I'd ask her. I don't spend a lot of time really thinking about Celebrities. Maybe George Takei? He just got married, so we could talk a little about that.

3. What is your favorite thing about the place you now live?
I really love the place I live, but I guess my favorite thing is being geographically close to friends. I love being able to see friends at the drop of a hat. In Northern California, the land was beautiful, and the food was awesome, but I felt very lonely a lot of the time because I had no friends in walking distance and I had to try really hard to socialize. Here, I feel like I get plenty of satisfying socialization without trying very hard at all.

4. Where would you recommend one go when visiting France for the first time?
Well, I'm going to guess that the first place one would naturally go would be Paris, because lots of flights land there, and it's the capital. There's a lot of really good stuff to see there, too. I guess my recommendations would really depend on the person, though (don't want to recommend fondue to a vegan, for instance). There's still a lot of France that I haven't seen, actually, so for myself, I would recommend going to see the lavender fields in Provence. I'm sad that I never got to do that when I lived in France. I love the smell and the color of lavender.

5. Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year and if so, any idea what it will be about?
I think so? I've done it enough now that it's sort of a comfortable habit (plus, I rely on it to supply me with t-shirts). I'm still thinking of what to write, though.

Krysta and Lee are thinking of getting a hedgehog, so we went to look at babies tonight. Film at eleven (or 11:30. Whatever).



This was my first attempt at creating an audio track to go with a video. I think it turned out pretty well. Obviously not professional, but not bad. I am amused at the occasional mrowing in the background. I think I'd better pay the cat some attention now.

Moss and I are participating in a round robin altered book exchange project, so I've spent the last few days in (as Moss says) an art trance. Today I worked straight through from 9am to 8:30pm without any breaks. Was it worth it? You be the judge. Click on any photo to see the larger size.



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I have never been, but the National Geographic photo of the day is stunning.

English Russia has more pictures, and they're all gorgeous. English Russia claims that the castle was built in the late nineteenth century, but according to Wikipedia, the original 1895 building was actually wooden, and work on the existing structure didn't start until 1911.

Apparently there's an Italian restaurant inside it now. If you'd like to plan a visit, you might start with its website.

I do intend to post more of my own pictures eventually, but this seemed worthy of a castle post for the nonce.

I've enjoyed everyone else's pictures of themselves (taken spontaneously with no stopping to fix hair or whatever, according to the arbitrary rules), so I thought I'd play along.

Pronounced Nak-a-tish, this town has a ton of antebellum architecture. It's also the setting of Steel Magnolias. My sister and I had the good fortune to spend a night there last summer --and survive! What follows is the picture heavy (plus a short video) story of our adventure.

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Lost the bulk of the day to a headache. Silver spike of lightning in the left side of my brain. I know, I know, the brain is supposed to not actually feel pain, but I merely wish to relate perception. Somehow it's past 2:30 now. I could swear it was 10:30 last I checked. I don't think I actually slept for most of it (just the last hour), but I can't tell you what I did. Might be weather-related. Storm finally broke as I managed to drift off. Now I feel like my head is wrapped in fuzz, as if the lint from the dryer formed dust bunnies behind my eyes, and around my face. My nose itches from the inside. I was supposed to be writing. I am supposed to be writing now. We'll see if I can pull some productivity out of exhaustion.

A while ago sartorias asked for castle pictures. I am taking that a bit loosely, but I have a few to share. This is part I of a series (more to come as I dig up photos and scan them in), and picture heavy.

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I'll be away from the intarweb until Tuesday. Don't burn it down while I'm gone! I promise pictures of castles when I return.

In the meantime, you may puzzle over these cats with winglike growths. Cute? Horrible? Both?

Because I should post more, and because quirks have been on my mind lately. Feel free to share some of yours if you like.

1. Split infinitives. Just yesterday I said I was going to actually write. I know this is considered technically incorrect, but it sounds natural to me, so I do it all the time.

2. Dip cookies in water. This especially applies Oreos or hard, mass-produced chocolate chip ones, but just the other day I did it with a fresh, homemade one. I like soggy cookies, and I don't like milk.

3. Use little spoons for eating whenever possible. I don't think this is weird, but it prompted Moss to say, "Okay, I am going to get a real spoon. Would anyone else like one?" last week. We had soup for dinner with some friends that night, and I set the table, assuming everyone would share my spoon bias. Oops.

4. Go through periods of time when I am convinced no one likes me, including my friends. This annoys me as much as it would annoy you if I posted about it whenever it happened. SRSLY.

5. Greet sheep and cows in French. I don't know why. It just seems right. Bonjour, mouton! Salut les vaches!

Because we here at Julia Industries take pride in bringing you the important news...

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by the Smashing Pumpkins totally took its riff from "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream.

This is arguably not news, but not being able to pinpoint the original riff had been bothering me ever since we got up this morning, so I thought I would share. After a night of poor sleep due to the cat yowling all night, Moss said that the kitten was a monster, and I replied in song (I have succumbed and opened a YouTube account, heaven help me). Moss said that the riff I was mrowing was longer than the one in the Smashing Pumpkins song, and he was pretty sure it was older, too.

And that is how I spent all morning looking up famous guitar riffs. Because I value productivity. Now I am off to Krysta's where I plan to actually get some writing done.

And very tired. It was quite an action-packed Canadian vacation. We climbed hills, saw strange and wonderful animals, and generally had a great time. As proof, I offer this picture of Moss and I riding intrepid travel dogs in St. John's, Newfoundland:





I'm hoping to slowly come back to onlineness, and I figure that means missing out on most of the past two weeks of the old friendslist. If something important happened to you, or if you posted something nifty, point me there. In the next few days, I'll post more of my adventures, and get to some of the other stuff I have been meaning to post (like the remaining panel notes from Readercon... only a month or so late). For now I just wanted to say hi. I'm alive. I missed you.

Moss and I are busy packing for two weeks in Canada, so no Readercon notes, explorations of greatness, or other in depth posts today. We'll be in Newfoundland for the next week and Toronto the week after that. I don't know how much internet access we'll have, so consider this your official warning. I may not post or comment much.

To temper your Julia withdrawals, I encourage you to check out at Ekaterina Sedia's awesome short story, "Amber Ships" over on Voyages Extraordinaires.

I've taken a while to write about it, I know. Mostly I've been recovering. Large events where I don't know anyone and have no idea what to do with myself are super stressful for me. It was really great to meet asakiyume and watermelontail, and to attend a couple of panels and so forth, but I think the next time I attempt a con, I need to volunteer so I have some direction. Since I had no specific assignment, I spent large portions of Sunday at the edges of rooms, trembling, nauseated, worried that people were staring at me, and feeling incredibly stupid about all of the above. I had a major meltdown in the car during our lunchbreak, complete with tears and protestations of, "See, this is why I knew I should wait until I had a better plan before going to a con!"* Is this rational? No. But that doesn't change my feelings. I'm throwing this out there so that if you meet me at a future con and I seem unbearably awkward, or reserved to the point of rudeness, you'll understand that it's not you, it's me and my panic!brain.

And now, the first panel I attended:

( Trolls Got Rhythm? )

It seemed like everyone was a afraid to step too hard on this topic for fear of seeming racist. I would have liked more exploration of ways to communicate that the terrorist was a lesbian, or of how not to make your aliens seem like cheap knockoffs of Japanese businessmen, but as it was the panel seemed mostly to acknowledge that racism is touchy and tricky, and that writing diverse characters is hard. Please feel free to explore the topic further in the comments here. I welcome discussion.

I'll try to get my other panel notes up soonish.





*Moss, it should be noted, was very good about the whole thing, and took me to a drive through so I didn't have to go in a restaurant with my splotchy meltdown face.

Back in the summer of 2002 when my friend Cait and I were hanging out in London with very little money, we routinely passed posters for Mamma Mia!, and wistfully read each other the puntastic tagline, "It's ABBAsolutely Fabulous!" We knew the show was probably terrible (and we couldn't regret all our money going to tickets for The Mikado at the Savoy), but still, the very idea of a whole musical devoted to ABBA songs was just glorious.

Fast forward six years, and here I am, in Boston with Moss, and Mamma Mia! has made the transformation from stage show to film. Upon first view, the trailer looked pretty shaky to me. It wasn't clear if this was actually going to be a singing and dancing spectacle, and honestly, it looked like it might be too much of a serio-comedic chick flick. I was uncertain. Then a friend linked to a video of Mark Kermode's Review, and my attitude changed.* After watching the review, I told Moss, somewhat sheepishly, that I was probably going to drag him to see this movie, and he looked relieved and said, "Oh, good. I wasn't sure you were going to want to see it." This pretty neatly sums up why Moss and I work so well as a couple.

I went in with fairly low expectations (even after the pep talk from Patty Bunny Mark Kermode), but I came out grinning. It was amazing. Now, there are a couple of taste requirements you'll have to meet if you have any hope of properly appreciating this movie. First, you must agree with the basic sentiment that ABBA songs are excellent and enjoyable pop songs. If you don't, then there is zero hope for you, because this movie is full of them. Additionally, you have to not be an ABBA purist. If you hate covers, and if you hate people doing their best to murder excellent pop songs (but, as Kermode points out, never actually managing because the songs are that good), you should step away.

Finally, you need to love Shakespearean comedies. I don't mean this in the hoity toity way that says, "Yes, I am a pretentious scholar, and I have read and intimately dissected every play and sonnet, to say nothing of the bard's shopping lists and dry cleaning bills." I mean it in the way that says, "Ridiculous plots, playful characters, and a very tenuous grasp on history? Sign me up!" Mamma Mia! is the most Shakespearean comedy I have seen in ages. I want to say it is my favorite adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, but even though it's set in Greece and has a very Puckish bartender, the plot really isn't the same. In spirit, though? Totally.

The movie gave itself over to gleeful flamboyance quite sincerely until I couldn't help being swept up, too. The plot is hacked together, the singers are not the best, and the world it portrays is full of bizarre holes, but it doesn't matter. Sure Sophie's 20, so her fathers should all be reminiscing about the summer of 1987, when apparently Pierce Brosnan was a Flower Child with long hair and bell bottoms. Whatever. By the time Meryl Streep sang her heart wrenching version of "The Winner Takes It All," I didn't even have to try to suspend my disbelief. If you can relax and go along for the ride, you may find this movie surprisingly brilliant. I liked it enough that I'm considering going back for more.

(Also, there's Colin Firth in a wet shirt, and topless, and [spoiler!] if you're into that sort of thing.)

I'm behind on my friendslist because I've been running around trying to get stuff done in preparation for Moss's aunt visiting us tomorrow, but I wanted to post this before it slipped my mind.

Anyone out there going to Readercon this weekend? I will only be able to make it on Sunday, but if you're going to be there and would like to meet up, please say so! This will be my first con, and I'm vaguely anxious about it because, well, big social events tend to make me anxious. That said, I've heard people say cons can be a lot of fun, and I'd sure like to be one of them.