Snow

Our part of Minnesota has no snow. These photos are of my brother's place in Upper New York State after the recent storm there. Those lucky people!

(I thought the blog needed more photos, and I thought winter needed some snow.)

Minutia

Usually I take quick showers, one before I go to the gym and one after. Today I felt like a long shower after the gym, so I had one, with much scrubbing and standing in the hot spray.

I get my hair cut at a saloon with Aveda products and over time I have bought many of these, most of which I don't use. Today I used the body wash, the face lotion, the hand lotion... Boy it felt good. Then I got dressed, putting on my new cream-colored Smartwool socks. The socks will go with an Elise Matthesen necklace that I bought years ago, which combines amber colored beads and small figures of cats, carved (I think) from bone.

An editor at one of the New York houses disliked my work, in part because there is so much drinking of coffee. Yes, there is a lot. There are also descriptions of showers and meals and other small things that make life comfortable. As far as I know, I am the only SFF writer who has described a dragon flush toilet (in detail).

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In other news, the short story got accepted. The contract will arrive soon. A couple of us did go out to a Korean restaurant on Sunday. It was good. I ate more than I should. All those little side dishes are irresistible. Pickled everything.

Socks

I have a list of careers I might have liked, but didn't take up -- art historian, forensic accountant, paleontologist, space cadet, revolutionary thinker... I have added a new one after looking at a pair of Smartwool socks. I want to design socks -- not the shape or the fabric, but the patterns. It would take more graphic design training than I have, I think. But imagine spending your days designing lovely patterns to go on socks...

Ravens

My blog doesn't have enough pictures. Here is a photo by Wendy Davis, which comes via Frans de Waal's public facebook page. Ravens in love.

More February News

I have decided that my current problem is not the cold, which is mostly over, but my usual midwinter malaise. My mood always drops when the darks are short and dark. In addition, I have not been getting out enough, due to feeling crummy, and that makes my mood worse. Plus there is Donald Trump.

I have a meeting of my poetry workshop Sunday, which will get me out. I hope to convince the other members of the workshop to repair to a Korean restaurant after. Patrick and I are running errands Saturday morning, followed in the afternoon by Carmen, broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera. The music is terrific, but I really dislike Don Jose. He is a stalker. I want the end slightly revised, so Carmen grabs the knife from Don Jose and stabs him to death, then flees back to the Roma smugglers in the mountains. I think a couple of lines would have to be rewritten, but not much. Anyway, opera on Saturday, poetry on Sunday. Monday I get back to writing.

February News

Once again I have lost track of the blog. The election of Donald Trump really distressed me, and I got an ugly cold in January. The cold is mostly gone, but Trump isn't going anywhere at the moment. Though he looks miserable in every photo I've seen of him since he became president. I don't think he likes the job. I figure he may stop trying to do it, and let other people run the country; or snap and take revenge on the rest of us for making him miserable. I don't think he'll quit, though that is possible. Will he be impeached? I don't think the Republicans will do him that favor, though you'd think they would be happier with Pence.

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I just finished a story for a military space opera anthology and sent it off, having no idea if it will be accepted. I don't like war and see no reason to make it romantic or meaningful. So it's a dark little tale about PTSD. I'm not sure I like it, except it has a truly wonderful African Giant Pouched Rat.

Next I move on to another story for another anthology. This story is bleak in a way that doesn't bother me. It's Icelandic saga bleak, and it has lovely trolls and awful elves. I don't like elves.

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I got out my eight inch Wurthof chef's knife this morning. I bought it years ago and have barely used it. I wanted a six inch chef's knife, but the guy in the kitchen store convinced me an eight inch knife was better. It feels awkward. I really did want the smaller knife. Anyway, I have decided I need to give the chef's knife another try. Green bean and carrot curry tonight, which requires much chopping.

I can tell I'm getting over the cold, when I start to think of cooking... And house cleaning. The dust bunnies are having litters of dust bunnyettes.