| a random wondering |
[Jan. 24th, 2010|09:33 pm] |
If a pregnant woman gets turned into a vampire, does the baby get turned as well? Does the woman have to spend eternity seven months pregnant with a fetal vampire, or caring for a forever infant vampire? |
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| A few Yuletide recs |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|11:30 pm] |
In the last moments before the reveal....
Wait Wait, Don't Eat Me, the zombie apocalypse as commented on by NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me show. (When I saw this on the pinch hit list, I wanted to write something on it but didn't have time; that's okay, because this one gets the panelists' voices far better than I would've.)
I received two stories this year:
The Gift of Knowledge, an Alcott Eight Cousins fic answering the question "Who are Phoebe's parents?" Simple and sweet, and a plausible history.
Journeys, a Godden In This House of Brede fic (yes! it exists at last!!) looking at Philippa's thoughts after ten years at Suwa. I absolutely buy this as a "what happened after?". |
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| iTouch app suggestions? |
[Dec. 25th, 2009|12:10 am] |
Anyone have particular iTouch/iPhone apps they especially recommend? (Yes, Santa Claus/my parents were very good to me!)
I'm already planning to get:
* Stanza
* Toodledo's app
* Snowmint's Budget app
* that free level app, even though it doesn't actually work that well, because the concept is just so cool
I'm interested in:
* a basic astronomy app (I used Planetarium on the Palm and found it a little challenging to use but good as far as the star maps and planet locations went) * a basic checklist that handles multiple lists (mainly for trip packing, but also useful for party planning; Simple Pack may be what I want, but we'll see)
* a solitaire app that includes a two-deck version of Spider
* possibly a simple database, though in practice I'm not sure I'd use it that much
* in the massive wishful thinking mode, a decent genealogy app (actually, I really want The Master Genealogist for Mac with a coordinating iTouch app,
neither of which is ever happening) |
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| a Yuletide fic thought.... |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|08:47 pm] |
Reading someone's dissertation on the source you're writing fic about -- research or procrastination?
(In my case, almost certainly procrastination, but I'm very interested to find that someone actually did discuss this particular source in a disseration.) |
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| Things the world needs... |
[Dec. 13th, 2009|09:49 pm] |
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Things the world needs: a mashup of "When I am an old woman/I will wear purple" and Gogol Bordello's "Start Wearing Purple". |
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| on border crossing |
[Dec. 13th, 2009|02:45 pm] |
The only time I ever ran into a problem while crossing an international border was last May, on a trip to Canada to visit relatives.
The extent of the trouble? Twenty minutes of extra questioning and being told to bring proper documentation next time. (Public service announcement: If you plan to enter Canada with your minor child and without child's co-parent, bring a notarized statement from the co-parent saying they know you're taking kid into Canada and are okay with it, or the divorce paperwork saying that you have the right to determine the child's residence.)
The professionalism and courtesy level? 100%.
My level of fear for my personal safety and that of my infant child? 0%.
I'm sure there are jerks in the Canadian customs & immigration services, but comparing my story to Peter <a="http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/11/dr-peter-watts-canad.html">Watt's</a>, I'd rather deal with Canada's border guards than my own country's. |
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| A random thought on publishing, self vs. traditional vs. vanity |
[Nov. 25th, 2009|12:10 am] |
A random thought caused by too much reading of commentary on Harlequin Horizons:
Traditional publishing is like working for a company. You work; the company profits from your work; you're paid. (And if you lose the company money, you're likely to be not working there in the future.) You don't get all the profits that result from your work, but you're also not responsible for handling most of the company's expenses.
Self-publishing is like being self-employed. You work; you do everything yourself or pay a subcontractor to do it for you. You have to deal with every aspect of the business, not just the part of the job that originally interested you. You can lose a lot of money on the business -- but if you succeed, all the profits are yours.
Vanity publishing....that's like being in graduate school in the humanities. You work and often pay for the privilege; the department benefits from your work. The department sells you a dream -- a tenure-track job, a life of scholarship -- but you're likely to find that the dream isn't attainable, or if you do attain it, that it cost more than you'd expected. The people who do best with this option are the people who go in with their eyes open, who've looked at the options and know what they're really likely to get out of the program. |
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| fun with Bollywood |
[Oct. 12th, 2009|06:23 pm] |
We're watching Koi...Mil Gaya, an Indian SF movie that Lois McMaster Bujold recently recommended on her blog, and we're finding it extremely entertaining. I heartily second Her Ladyship's recommendation.
My husband now wants to know whether there exists a Bollywood submarine movie (well, whether there exists one that's readily available in the U.S. -- given the quantity of Indian film production, it'd surprise the heck out of me if one _didn't_ exist); he'd also curious as to whether there exist Bollywood zombie flicks (or whatever the nearest cultural equivalent is). |
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| note to self.... |
[Oct. 12th, 2009|08:24 am] |
Note to self: If an NPR story has me cursing at the radio, it's time to turn the radio off.
(Why I like the Internet: I can tolerate reading about an opinion, action, or policy I disagree with much better than I can tolerate hearing someone spout that opinion/action/policy.) |
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| Random thought while watching PBS |
[Oct. 5th, 2009|08:34 pm] |
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After watching Rick Steves' Europe and similar travel shows, I really want to see a travel show where non-Americans talk about U.S. cities and sites. The outsider's viewpoint on what's worth seeing (and what cultural differences the traveler should keep in mind) would be very interesting. |
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| sorting Melendys |
[Sep. 20th, 2009|12:00 pm] |
Which Hogwarts houses would Enright's Melendy family sort into?
My first thoughts: Mona - Slytherin, Rush - Gryffindor, Randy - Ravenclaw, and Oliver - Hufflepuff. |
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| Dear university students: |
[Aug. 29th, 2009|10:47 am] |
Those dreams where you realize that it's the final exam and you hadn't been to class or done homework all semester? Or where you suddenly realize that there's a class you'd been forgetting to attend for a month, and now it's the day after the drop deadline?
They will never stop. |
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| sundry thoughts |
[Aug. 28th, 2009|09:31 pm] |
1. A pair of socks is almost finished, after which I shall start another pair of socks.
2. Is taking a half-hour to do a short post or comment a sign that my internal editor has gone way into overdrive? (Answer: yes. No wonder I'm not doing any writing lately.)
3. Grace Lin, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: awesome book.
4. Sleep would be a most wonderful thing. Especially if it occurred in a seven-hour unbroken block. |
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| It's a Scientific Experiment. Really. |
[Aug. 8th, 2009|06:19 pm] |
Purely for experimental purposes, and not because I needed or wanted any books (perish the thought!), when The Book Depository opened up their American site, I decided to give them a try.
I ordered four books on July 28, all of which were discounted to be a smidge cheaper than Amazon, and the order had free shipping. Three of the books arrived today -- in three separate packages. Clearly they're getting a great deal on their shipping!! So that's eleven days from order to arrival, a little slower than Amazon Super-saver shipping for me, but not by much.
I'm also wryly amused that the book which isn't here yet is the book about Islam. (The Muslim Next Door, if you're curious.) If I were prone to conspiracy theories, I'd be saying "See? See?", but I figure it just got separated in the shipment and will probably arrive Monday.
Anyway, if you aren't in a hurry for your books, want free shipping, and don't want to use Amazon.com, The Book Depository is a decent option. Assuming my fourth book actually arrives next week, I'll likely use them again. |
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| two random thoughts |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|09:23 pm] |
Is a sexually explicit story with a lot of typos an example of errataca?
If an Athenian cheesemaker used Parmigiano-Reggiano methods to make a hard cow's milk cheese, would it be Parthenon Cheese? |
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| overheard in the Castiron household |
[Jun. 24th, 2009|08:09 am] |
...on second thought, you don't want to know. Let's just say that "steampunk" and "Medela pump" are perfectly good concepts independently but rather frightening in combination. |
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