Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
King leopold's ghost
Notes
Andre, the Belgian we met in France.
Didn't he say he led African tours? Is he an offshoot of King
Leopold's focus on the Congo?
Andre, the Belgian we met in France.
Didn't he say he led African tours? Is he an offshoot of King
Leopold's focus on the Congo?
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Checked out from the rwc library and it is also an Oprah's book club
book.
book.
Hard to avoid the temptation of reiterating the back co er since it is
in front of me right now.
Anyway what I loved most about this book is all that happened after
Eliza Sommers follows her lover to CA during the Gold Rush.
Walking to Bart last night I was thinking about the history of San
Francisco and looking up at the tall downtown buildings.
Thinking about all the different boom times.
I also really enjoyed the character of Tao Chi'en, a Chinese doctor
who helps Eliza stow away on a ship sailing to ca from her native Chile.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
First Grade Cheater praise -"published"! - on the Can I Sit With You blog
From: Pat Murphy
Wonderful. You really capture the trickiness of being a smart kid -- but trying to fit in.
patOn Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 1:30 PM, David Zarubin
This is awesome! Great job! I love you.On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 1:16 PM, Solveig Zarubin <solveigp@gmail.com> wrote:
http://www.canisitwithyou.org/?p=441
I am exaggerating a bit here, but it is all fairly true. (and feels kind of weird to have it out in public).
For those who don't know, this blog is a chronicle of adults' memories of the "stormy social seas of the schoolyard" - founded by two moms (Shannon Des Roches Rosa and Jennifer Byde Myers) who wanted their kids to feel a little less alone. They gather up a selection of the blog contributions every year into a book and sell it.
Proceeds benefit the Special Education PTA of Redwood City (SEPTAR).
Finally I wrote something for this after buying both books, and going to most of their readings.
When I went out for drinks with the core group after the last reading, they pointedly remarked that I was the only one there at the table who hadn't yet contributed to the blog. So I decided to jump in and do it!
cheers,
Solveig
Monday, June 22, 2009
Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin
Just finished this today on Bart and writing about it now on Bart.
This is kind of "another side" of the story of Vergil's Aeneid - the
voice of Lavinia - who is fated to marry "a foreigner" who turns out
to be Aeneas - of course all kinds of war ensues since all the locals
wanted to marry her too.
This is kind of "another side" of the story of Vergil's Aeneid - the
voice of Lavinia - who is fated to marry "a foreigner" who turns out
to be Aeneas - of course all kinds of war ensues since all the locals
wanted to marry her too.
Vastly over-simplified, of course.
I thought the more interesting part is the first third or so before
Aeneas even shows up.
Lavinia winds up "meeting" the poet in one of her family's sacred
groves... And thusly she trusts the prediction of the oracles (knowing
that the whole story is a fiction anyway from the mind of the poet).
So that part actually a lot more fascinating than all the war and all
in the rest of the book. Of course the whole thing great because it
is Le Guin.
Also there seemed to be some common threads with Lavinia and her poet
meeting in the forest, and the Red Magician in Lisa Goldstein's book
that I just finished. Who talked with her main character also in the
woods.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
For My Dad on Father's Day
Yesterday (June 20) I was taking BART up to San Francisco to hear The Brazen Hussies reading at SF in SF.
I was listening to some family tapes that I had digitized on my iphone and that I should get on CD and send to my dad and sisters.
I'm a toddler on the tapes and both parents are singing and reading with me - in the past I tended to fixate more on my mom's voice because I don't have her here in the world any more (she sings "Sweetheart, Sweetheart" and tells me she wouldn't trade me for a million dollars, and we sing "Plop, Plop, Fizz Fizz" and other stuff).
But I also can hear how much my dad loves me as well. He's actually on the tapes more than my mom - it seems like my mom is off in another room for parts of the time, since I can hear her distantly talking, but it's my dad who is directly interacting with me for a lot of it.
And I hear his love for language and his hope that I will also enjoy it as much -- in all the poems he has me repeat (such as "There was a crooked man, who walked a crooked mile...").
And stories he read to me on the tapes.
It's such a warm and familiar voice and I realize that this is probably the most familiar voice that I can currently still hear live. It's a voice I've heard literally all my life, and he still sounds so much the same, even now.
And it's a voice I don't hear often enough because I don't call him regularly, or hook up the webcam I got from work so we can video skype. (although I did do that today for Father's Day and it was quite fun).
After dinner when I get to the reading, I'm pretty relaxed before Lisa Goldstein kicks it off with the first story, which is in the first person and from a male perspective, which she says is new to her.
I've never heard this story before of course, and I've only just met Lisa an hour prior, but when she starts reading, I feel like I am suddenly at home.
Something kind of primal takes over - "listening to a story = safe at home with people who love me".
And the story itself is really really good - which accounts for quite a bit of this feeling...but the other part I realize is that I am so familiar with this and it's such a positive experience for me. And that started with my dad and my mom reading to me at an early age.
I settled down into the Variety Preview Room seat as if it was a comfy armchair in a living room with people who love me...and I just relax and stop caring about anything I might have been worried about before....
I'm aware of this more acutely because I was listening to the "toddler story tapes" so recently on the train, and feeling the same feeling wash over me then.
During Pat's story, which is next, I am thinking about my dad even more because of the character's dad in the story.
I am also thinking about my mom after hearing her voice so recently, and wondering what it would be like if she were there with me. I think she would have also liked these women and these stories. Lots of good female energy in the room (Pat, Michaela, Lisa, Carrie, Rina, Ellen, etc) - but it's not the same as having my mom around or even being able to picture her properly.
There's an empty seat on the right next to me and I am trying to picture my mom sitting there. I can't really picture her physically very well anymore. I'm kind of using the memory of hanging out with Ginny, but then imagining her with Mom's face and hair (which is kind of wacky).
During the more emotional parts of Pat's story with her character's dad, I actually put my hand on the seat next to me as if I was holding on to my mom or my dad, whoever is there.
So many people, both the characters in the stories and in the discussions over dinner, are taking care of their aging parents now - or have recently lost them.
My dad might be hard to deal with sometimes now, but I want him to know that he is appreciated and loved, and that I'm so happy he's still around!
I was listening to some family tapes that I had digitized on my iphone and that I should get on CD and send to my dad and sisters.
I'm a toddler on the tapes and both parents are singing and reading with me - in the past I tended to fixate more on my mom's voice because I don't have her here in the world any more (she sings "Sweetheart, Sweetheart" and tells me she wouldn't trade me for a million dollars, and we sing "Plop, Plop, Fizz Fizz" and other stuff).
But I also can hear how much my dad loves me as well. He's actually on the tapes more than my mom - it seems like my mom is off in another room for parts of the time, since I can hear her distantly talking, but it's my dad who is directly interacting with me for a lot of it.
And I hear his love for language and his hope that I will also enjoy it as much -- in all the poems he has me repeat (such as "There was a crooked man, who walked a crooked mile...").
And stories he read to me on the tapes.
It's such a warm and familiar voice and I realize that this is probably the most familiar voice that I can currently still hear live. It's a voice I've heard literally all my life, and he still sounds so much the same, even now.
And it's a voice I don't hear often enough because I don't call him regularly, or hook up the webcam I got from work so we can video skype. (although I did do that today for Father's Day and it was quite fun).
After dinner when I get to the reading, I'm pretty relaxed before Lisa Goldstein kicks it off with the first story, which is in the first person and from a male perspective, which she says is new to her.
I've never heard this story before of course, and I've only just met Lisa an hour prior, but when she starts reading, I feel like I am suddenly at home.
Something kind of primal takes over - "listening to a story = safe at home with people who love me".
And the story itself is really really good - which accounts for quite a bit of this feeling...but the other part I realize is that I am so familiar with this and it's such a positive experience for me. And that started with my dad and my mom reading to me at an early age.
I settled down into the Variety Preview Room seat as if it was a comfy armchair in a living room with people who love me...and I just relax and stop caring about anything I might have been worried about before....
I'm aware of this more acutely because I was listening to the "toddler story tapes" so recently on the train, and feeling the same feeling wash over me then.
During Pat's story, which is next, I am thinking about my dad even more because of the character's dad in the story.
I am also thinking about my mom after hearing her voice so recently, and wondering what it would be like if she were there with me. I think she would have also liked these women and these stories. Lots of good female energy in the room (Pat, Michaela, Lisa, Carrie, Rina, Ellen, etc) - but it's not the same as having my mom around or even being able to picture her properly.
There's an empty seat on the right next to me and I am trying to picture my mom sitting there. I can't really picture her physically very well anymore. I'm kind of using the memory of hanging out with Ginny, but then imagining her with Mom's face and hair (which is kind of wacky).
During the more emotional parts of Pat's story with her character's dad, I actually put my hand on the seat next to me as if I was holding on to my mom or my dad, whoever is there.
So many people, both the characters in the stories and in the discussions over dinner, are taking care of their aging parents now - or have recently lost them.
My dad might be hard to deal with sometimes now, but I want him to know that he is appreciated and loved, and that I'm so happy he's still around!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Brazen Hussies 6/20
Lisa
Magic of everyday life
Rick
Literature of the imagination
Lisa is very close to magic realism
Micky (Roessner) - we can write what we want in speculative fiction
Pat - fascinated with gateways that take u to fantasy world
Science - you are figuring out diff portals
Pat advice earlier during the break about advising writers how to find an ending - it's usually already there in the story.
Example - when she read this story last year, she did not know last
year that rocky would be so important
Lisa - it is really fun writing - although perspective about stuff no
one has seen before
Rick asks Pat - You are describing stuff the reader has never seen
She does not know if it is a fantasy element or not
If 3rd person the author is telling you what happened.
But in 1st the char is telling you what is happening
Pat: This story would be different if read in the New Yorker.
The viewer/reader completes the Story
I write the words but you complete it says Pat.
Michaela - 2 nd person has Creepy quality to it
Michaela's next novel is 1st person
Extrapolating but no wonder.
Pat talks about "The Woman in the Trees" (from Points of Departure ) which was in 2nd
person.
Workshop said it should not be in 2nd person, but she left it there because she did
not want reader to be able to escape
Pat brings up conversation I started or at least contributed to, at the break about fairy tales.
(Brought up the Book of Lost Things by John Connolly).
Pat points out her fascination with Peter pan and her story on her
site called peter
I find it really interesting to look at fairy tales, says Lisa, who wrote a
story called Ever After.
Lisa brings up her fairy tale research
Rick - science fiction takes us back to the ability to look at the
world for the first time.
Transformative view of the world...
Ellen question
Where does fantasy go ?
They say speculative fiction can be everything
Ellen says what about the bar fight? (regarding what is fantasy, what is "hard science fiction", and what is speculative fiction).
The Hussies basically agree that they don't want to get into the bar fight.
Pat says -I choose not to fight - it's all marketing.
It is in the eye of the heholder...someone might see Pat's story as speculative, another might see it as completely realistic.
But that is what is great about YA - you see all the genres mixed together on the same shelf
Rick - we are all just looking for a decent book to read.
Michaela and Pat (and Ellen! and also Lisa!):
We love research!
Lisa is also a research junkie.
Question about the Bart train now going to Millbrae....
Being in the shape of an aleph for Dark Cities Underground.
But she is sad now it goes to Millbrae and therefore no longer in that shape.
Ellen question: Do you feel like writing sometimes feels like homework
Because research is so much fun?
Pat example of research getting carried away - In Clan of the Cave Bear, character stopped in the
middle of a chase scene to talk about basket weaving.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Fudoki by Kij Johnson
I read a story by Kij Johnson and wrote about it earlier - that one
was focusing on dogs and this one more with cats (and people)
There is an aged princess in Japan telling the story of a cat who is
traumatized by earthquake and loses her whole group and is in danger
of losing her fudoki, which is partially a history of all the cats in
the group but also "self and soul and home and shrine, all in one to a
cat.
I am not done with the book yet, but I like it so far.
was focusing on dogs and this one more with cats (and people)
There is an aged princess in Japan telling the story of a cat who is
traumatized by earthquake and loses her whole group and is in danger
of losing her fudoki, which is partially a history of all the cats in
the group but also "self and soul and home and shrine, all in one to a
cat.
I am not done with the book yet, but I like it so far.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The book of Lost Things by John Connolly
I just finished this book - we bought it at Borderlands this weekend.
Really liked it - originally interested because David, the main
character, is a 12 year old boy who loses his mom to cancer, even
though he tries to keep her alive thru a lot of little OCD rituals.
(note that I am surprised that the iphone suggests thru !)
Really liked it - originally interested because David, the main
character, is a 12 year old boy who loses his mom to cancer, even
though he tries to keep her alive thru a lot of little OCD rituals.
(note that I am surprised that the iphone suggests thru !)
He winds up entering a fantasy world and hears his mom's voice
beckoning to him to come save her, because she is not really dead.
I remember having dreams like this too.
Unclear really what really happened to him, and even scarier, what
really happened to two other children who disappeared earlier- if
David was on a coma and his story was a fantasy, then what about the
others?
Unexpected bonus appendix - a whole ton of info on the fairy tales
that Connolly twists around..the 7 dwarfs are spouting socialist stuff
because their book in David's bookcase is next to a political theory
book - shelved by similiar color! (LOL line - are you saying we are
small? Are you sizeist???)
Croning ceremonies
http://imaginemdd.blogspot.com/2009/06/at-what-age-will-woman-be-croned-in-my.html
Sent from TwitterFon
Sent from TwitterFon
Sent from my iPhone
Ursula K. Le Guin: CHANGING PLANES
I read this in the airports on the way to Wiscon. Actually flew
through Denver which is where she ends the book. Cool metaphor of
zoning out in airports and then changing planes to a whole different
dimension.
>
through Denver which is where she ends the book. Cool metaphor of
zoning out in airports and then changing planes to a whole different
dimension.
>
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Filter House by Nisi Shawl
I got this book at Wiscon and got Nisi to sign it at the sign out...
This was the co-winner of the 2008 Tiptree award.
I did really enjoy it but didn't quickly finish it after Wiscon.
Faves - Wallamelon
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
WisCon 33: Favorite moments
My favorite moments of WisCon 33.
Also in reading the Chronicles of WisCon 32 I think I missed at least 60% of what was fun then - so I know this is just a small chunk of what everyone else experienced. But it is my chunk.
1. Ellen Klages' Guest of Honor speech
(Right afterwards I ran up to my room and wrote a long email to my husband about the impact of this speech).
Also glad that I planned in advance to sit with bindr and Vy (and it turned out, Rina, Jacob, Amy, Anna, Matt, and Rez) for the dessert salon, which offset quite a bit of "who am I going to sit with" anxiety that had started to kick in already on Saturday.
Getting to hear Ellen read ALL of "Time Gypsy" at her reading on Saturday, since I love that story. With lovely and well-acted English accent for the character Sarah Baxter Clarke.
And of course the Tiptree auction!
2. Finally getting to read the end of Pat's story from her reading!
(the portion she read at WisCon is the 3rd time I've heard a portion of it, due to faithful attendance at her Bay Area readings!). Very moved by the 2nd half of the story.
3. Hanging out with folks after the Governor's Club closed on Saturday night.
Eating rhubarb pie provided by Geoff Ryman after it had mysteriously appeared in his room (after we determined it was not Nisi's pie), watching Pat entertain people with her bristlebots, and discussing some "interesting" YouTube vids.
4. The strong emotion when K. Tempest Bradford (and Catherynne M. Valente) introduced Nisi Shawl and presented her with the Tiptree Award. (And Nisi introduced her mother Rose!)
5. Random conversation with Jennifer Stevenson in dealer's room which led to an invite to join her and friends (Margaret McBride, Anne Harris , and Victoria Janssen) for lunch.
Both conversation and lunch invite initiated by Jennifer - next year I will practice the art of striking up more conversations). Enjoyed the conversation at lunch (touching on many topics) and got some extra info from Jennifer re: targeted marketing, and also Roller Derby!
6. The panels overall! The Kickass Moms panel still sticks in my head the most. commented on it on live journal.
7. Parties on Sun night:
Getting more writing advice/support from Eileen Gunn and Diane Silver and hearing about Eileen's Microsoft past. Meeting Georgiette who has been coming to WisCon since WisCon 3 (and was wearing a beautiful dress).
I, on the other hand, was not wearing a beautiful dress! While I would not have ventured into the Fancy Dress party by myself with no fancy dress, I was with Pat which made it easier.
8. Signout - Briefly meeting Catherynne M. Valente (I love In the Night Garden but haven't yet read Palimpest, which she signed for me).
In chatting about my name she tells me that she too will soon have a "Russian Z name husband". (hers more Russian than mine since he lived there until he was 12 years old. Hopefully my Z 3rd gen Russian husband will come to WisCon next year).
9. Non-WisCon but still important to the weekend - Memorial Day picnic with my godparents at their house after they picked me up at the Concourse on Monday (and then dropped me off at the airport).
Really nice to talk to them and start transitioning back to the "real world"slowly. If I plan this well enough hopefully this can be a WisCon tradition, as I was also able to see them last year. Their house is so comforting.
They have lived there for over thirty years. They met my parents when all were young working in Monroe, WI, where I was born. It's really inspiring just to watch them interacting together - they are one of the main current role models for a long and happy marriage for my husband and I (since his parents divorced when he was two and my mom died when I was 16). My godmother wrote this email about my mom for me a couple years ago.
Regrets on WisCon:
I wish my flight hadn't been delayed since I missed all of Friday night - got in really late at 12:30 am by cab, but jazzed and hard to sleep.
Wish I had planned my panels out a little more, I feel like I missed several that I should have gone to (plotting the novel, romancing the beast, children's books that we remember... etc)
Wish I had talked to more people and put myself out there a bit more.
Wish I had read more of Geoff Ryman's work and Nisi Shawl's, before WisCon.
Or at least remembered that Geoff also wrote and coded the interactive novel 253, which I loved! So I could talk about it.
Also in reading the Chronicles of WisCon 32 I think I missed at least 60% of what was fun then - so I know this is just a small chunk of what everyone else experienced. But it is my chunk.
1. Ellen Klages' Guest of Honor speech
(Right afterwards I ran up to my room and wrote a long email to my husband about the impact of this speech).
Also glad that I planned in advance to sit with bindr and Vy (and it turned out, Rina, Jacob, Amy, Anna, Matt, and Rez) for the dessert salon, which offset quite a bit of "who am I going to sit with" anxiety that had started to kick in already on Saturday.
Getting to hear Ellen read ALL of "Time Gypsy" at her reading on Saturday, since I love that story. With lovely and well-acted English accent for the character Sarah Baxter Clarke.
And of course the Tiptree auction!
2. Finally getting to read the end of Pat's story from her reading!
(the portion she read at WisCon is the 3rd time I've heard a portion of it, due to faithful attendance at her Bay Area readings!). Very moved by the 2nd half of the story.
3. Hanging out with folks after the Governor's Club closed on Saturday night.
Eating rhubarb pie provided by Geoff Ryman after it had mysteriously appeared in his room (after we determined it was not Nisi's pie), watching Pat entertain people with her bristlebots, and discussing some "interesting" YouTube vids.
4. The strong emotion when K. Tempest Bradford (and Catherynne M. Valente) introduced Nisi Shawl and presented her with the Tiptree Award. (And Nisi introduced her mother Rose!)
5. Random conversation with Jennifer Stevenson in dealer's room which led to an invite to join her and friends (Margaret McBride, Anne Harris , and Victoria Janssen) for lunch.
Both conversation and lunch invite initiated by Jennifer - next year I will practice the art of striking up more conversations). Enjoyed the conversation at lunch (touching on many topics) and got some extra info from Jennifer re: targeted marketing, and also Roller Derby!
6. The panels overall! The Kickass Moms panel still sticks in my head the most. commented on it on live journal.
7. Parties on Sun night:
Getting more writing advice/support from Eileen Gunn and Diane Silver and hearing about Eileen's Microsoft past. Meeting Georgiette who has been coming to WisCon since WisCon 3 (and was wearing a beautiful dress).
I, on the other hand, was not wearing a beautiful dress! While I would not have ventured into the Fancy Dress party by myself with no fancy dress, I was with Pat which made it easier.
8. Signout - Briefly meeting Catherynne M. Valente (I love In the Night Garden but haven't yet read Palimpest, which she signed for me).
In chatting about my name she tells me that she too will soon have a "Russian Z name husband". (hers more Russian than mine since he lived there until he was 12 years old. Hopefully my Z 3rd gen Russian husband will come to WisCon next year).
9. Non-WisCon but still important to the weekend - Memorial Day picnic with my godparents at their house after they picked me up at the Concourse on Monday (and then dropped me off at the airport).
Really nice to talk to them and start transitioning back to the "real world"slowly. If I plan this well enough hopefully this can be a WisCon tradition, as I was also able to see them last year. Their house is so comforting.
They have lived there for over thirty years. They met my parents when all were young working in Monroe, WI, where I was born. It's really inspiring just to watch them interacting together - they are one of the main current role models for a long and happy marriage for my husband and I (since his parents divorced when he was two and my mom died when I was 16). My godmother wrote this email about my mom for me a couple years ago.
Regrets on WisCon:
I wish my flight hadn't been delayed since I missed all of Friday night - got in really late at 12:30 am by cab, but jazzed and hard to sleep.
Wish I had planned my panels out a little more, I feel like I missed several that I should have gone to (plotting the novel, romancing the beast, children's books that we remember... etc)
Wish I had talked to more people and put myself out there a bit more.
Wish I had read more of Geoff Ryman's work and Nisi Shawl's, before WisCon.
Or at least remembered that Geoff also wrote and coded the interactive novel 253, which I loved! So I could talk about it.
WisCon 33: plane ride home
The trip from Madison to Chicago was relatively uneventful. There were a group of people on my plane obviously talking about WisCon but I didn't talk to them much.
At O'Hare I walked under the Brachiosaurus replica (which I really appreciated, in the large airy concourse, a huge beloved dinosaur!) And twittered about it.
In the gate area Freddie Bear spotted me reading Nisi Shawl's Filter House, and came over to talk. She mentioned her friend Lyn also had been at WisCon and they were both on this plane.
(BTW, I love Freddie's blue sparkly glasses but did not tell her.)
On the plane my seatmate turned out to be Lyn (Paleo) who lives in the Bay Area and co-wrote
"Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror" - and now works for First Five of Contra Costa county. (Small world since both Dave and our friend Anna Olsen worked for First Five of San Mateo County in the past).
I found out from Lyn that Freddie is the famous Freddie Bear of WisCon T-shirts fame.
Actually I didn't find out more about Lyn until a little later in the flight, since we were initially talking about WisCon and then reading (me reading Nisi, she reading Ellen's Portable Childhoods).
It was fun talking but I think both of us were very tired. I'm only now recovering from not being tired yesterday. Trying to do work and WisCon writing at the same time.
At O'Hare I walked under the Brachiosaurus replica (which I really appreciated, in the large airy concourse, a huge beloved dinosaur!) And twittered about it.
In the gate area Freddie Bear spotted me reading Nisi Shawl's Filter House, and came over to talk. She mentioned her friend Lyn also had been at WisCon and they were both on this plane.
(BTW, I love Freddie's blue sparkly glasses but did not tell her.)
On the plane my seatmate turned out to be Lyn (Paleo) who lives in the Bay Area and co-wrote
"Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror" - and now works for First Five of Contra Costa county. (Small world since both Dave and our friend Anna Olsen worked for First Five of San Mateo County in the past).
I found out from Lyn that Freddie is the famous Freddie Bear of WisCon T-shirts fame.
Actually I didn't find out more about Lyn until a little later in the flight, since we were initially talking about WisCon and then reading (me reading Nisi, she reading Ellen's Portable Childhoods).
It was fun talking but I think both of us were very tired. I'm only now recovering from not being tired yesterday. Trying to do work and WisCon writing at the same time.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
rhubarb pie at WisCon (yay we did not eat Nisi's pie!)
Very happy to be at right place, right time (both always seem to be the case when getting the chance to hang out with Pat at WisCon) -- for an impromptu rhubarb pie offered by Geoff Ryman.
One thing I noticed this morning - that group was not talking about their work or really much about writing specifically at all, just hanging out.
I was thinking of stuff I could have said this morning - I was looking at my earlier post about the 2008 anthology and remembering how much I liked KJF's story "The Last Worders".
But in that group, same feeling as when standing near Pat when talking to Cory Doctorow - it's not a place for the superficial fandom of "oh, i love such and such! You are the best since sliced bread!"
-- it's just "Hey, here we are sitting on a couch in a hotel hallway."
Not sure if Karen really has ever met me. It was nice to see her, since last year I had not read anything of hers, and now I've at least read "The Jane Austen Book Club" and the short story mentioned above.
I don't remember actually talking to her last year, and Pat probably assumes that we have met (since when she does introduce me to people, like Liz Henry, sometimes I know them).
Karen read out loud an excerpt from Laurell K Hamilton (that she found online using Pat's laptop) and there was much amused disdain (of Hamilton). Interesting and sad that the romance genre is so popular, and some of it is good, but more of it isn't so much.
One thing I noticed this morning - that group was not talking about their work or really much about writing specifically at all, just hanging out.
I was thinking of stuff I could have said this morning - I was looking at my earlier post about the 2008 anthology and remembering how much I liked KJF's story "The Last Worders".
But in that group, same feeling as when standing near Pat when talking to Cory Doctorow - it's not a place for the superficial fandom of "oh, i love such and such! You are the best since sliced bread!"
-- it's just "Hey, here we are sitting on a couch in a hotel hallway."
Not sure if Karen really has ever met me. It was nice to see her, since last year I had not read anything of hers, and now I've at least read "The Jane Austen Book Club" and the short story mentioned above.
I don't remember actually talking to her last year, and Pat probably assumes that we have met (since when she does introduce me to people, like Liz Henry, sometimes I know them).
Karen read out loud an excerpt from Laurell K Hamilton (that she found online using Pat's laptop) and there was much amused disdain (of Hamilton). Interesting and sad that the romance genre is so popular, and some of it is good, but more of it isn't so much.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
WisCon 33: Ellen Klages 10 am reading
I was trying to decide whether to see Ellen read at WisCon (as conceivably I _could_ hear her read in the Bay Area...) or to go to a panel on "Reinventing the Adventure" which featured Carol Emshwiller.
I'm so glad I went to the reading, as she was able to read "Time Gypsy" which is one of my favorite stores, in its entirety!
Basically she picked that since she never gets to read it this much time to read it anywhere else: "Where else do they give you more than an hour to read!?!"
Before she started, she told us that she'd had to go grab a copy of Portable Childhoods from the Tachyon table, since this is one that is a little long to have memorized:
- "Do you have a copy of my book?"
"Yes, you know, we published it!" and off she went.
There was also a bit of banter about the suggestion that she could bring the book back, signed, to the Tachyon table, with an inscription that reads "Mangled and Spine Cracked by Author"
(she had bent the spine back and then wondered if Tachyon would be upset about that). The audience seemed to agree that a book mangled by its actual author would be a pretty cool thing.
(I wonder what actually happened to that copy since i did buy a copy of portable childhoods from tachyon later in the day).
Anyway -it was really fun to hear her read "Time Gypsy" - I have the chapbook which I should get signed. I had totally forgotten that Sarah Baxter Clarke has an English accent! EK did a great job switching back and forth between the accents (of course!).
(oh and before the reading when I was hanging around near the reg table, she marched up and asked "anybody know where the Guest of Honor reading is?!?")
I also like the whole theme here of looking up to a mentor and then realizing that there is a real person behind the mentor (of course if you get a chance to actually see that person). In this case in the past they are the same age. But the two women meeting in the present would obviously be different.
SBC would no doubt have another side of herself (the professional mentorly side) that she would usually have for Carol.
I think Sarah S might enjoy these stories.
I'm so glad I went to the reading, as she was able to read "Time Gypsy" which is one of my favorite stores, in its entirety!
Basically she picked that since she never gets to read it this much time to read it anywhere else: "Where else do they give you more than an hour to read!?!"
Before she started, she told us that she'd had to go grab a copy of Portable Childhoods from the Tachyon table, since this is one that is a little long to have memorized:
- "Do you have a copy of my book?"
"Yes, you know, we published it!" and off she went.
There was also a bit of banter about the suggestion that she could bring the book back, signed, to the Tachyon table, with an inscription that reads "Mangled and Spine Cracked by Author"
(she had bent the spine back and then wondered if Tachyon would be upset about that). The audience seemed to agree that a book mangled by its actual author would be a pretty cool thing.
(I wonder what actually happened to that copy since i did buy a copy of portable childhoods from tachyon later in the day).
Anyway -it was really fun to hear her read "Time Gypsy" - I have the chapbook which I should get signed. I had totally forgotten that Sarah Baxter Clarke has an English accent! EK did a great job switching back and forth between the accents (of course!).
(oh and before the reading when I was hanging around near the reg table, she marched up and asked "anybody know where the Guest of Honor reading is?!?")
I also like the whole theme here of looking up to a mentor and then realizing that there is a real person behind the mentor (of course if you get a chance to actually see that person). In this case in the past they are the same age. But the two women meeting in the present would obviously be different.
SBC would no doubt have another side of herself (the professional mentorly side) that she would usually have for Carol.
I think Sarah S might enjoy these stories.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
WisCon fandom
I am only now (3 days before I fly out) starting to get back into the "WisCon mindset" - or at least the mindset I seemed to be in at the end of WisCon last year.
Bought "Changing Planes" by Ursula K. LeGuin, which I will read while flying out and actually changing planes.
I was going to write here a list of people I was interested in seeing again (all of them I met last year!) and new people I want to talk to if they're there:
Kij Johnson ( see below comment about "The Evolution of Trickster Stories by the Dogs of North Park After the Change")
It's kind of overwhelming going back now that I have something to expect...
I wish we had planned better so that Dave could come with me. Or Kari...
Plan to stock up on non-perishable foods to sustain the Con Suite provisions...
Bought "Changing Planes" by Ursula K. LeGuin, which I will read while flying out and actually changing planes.
I was going to write here a list of people I was interested in seeing again (all of them I met last year!) and new people I want to talk to if they're there:
Kij Johnson ( see below comment about "The Evolution of Trickster Stories by the Dogs of North Park After the Change")
It's kind of overwhelming going back now that I have something to expect...
I wish we had planned better so that Dave could come with me. Or Kari...
Plan to stock up on non-perishable foods to sustain the Con Suite provisions...
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman
Invaded the Redwood City Public Library last night to look for Tiptree Honor Books before WisCon...
Found Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (which attracted me because I just read parts of it in the Tiptree Anthology Vol 2).
More below about the actual book....but was momentarily distracted when creating alink to the book for this blog(and excited).
There are 2 signed first editions of Camouflage for sale on Amazon for $100 and $150!
So I'm not going to try to summarize the plots here because we can read them on Amazon. The part that I initially liked in the Tiptree selections, was the tale of the "changeling" who decides to come out of the ocean and learn to become a human.
(Amazon paragraph about Tiptree collection had a good summary: "an immortal, shape-shifting alien who alternates between male and female identities, human and animal. ")
The view of human culture, sexuality, war, etc was fascinating coming from this perspective (instead of the human trying to understand the alien).
It also seemed like it must have been fun to write the changeling's way out of various tight spots (being chased by someone who ripped off your arm? No problem, just jump out the window, get to the water, make yourself into a fish, and swim away!)
Found Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (which attracted me because I just read parts of it in the Tiptree Anthology Vol 2).
More below about the actual book....but was momentarily distracted when creating alink to the book for this blog(and excited).
There are 2 signed first editions of Camouflage for sale on Amazon for $100 and $150!
So I'm not going to try to summarize the plots here because we can read them on Amazon. The part that I initially liked in the Tiptree selections, was the tale of the "changeling" who decides to come out of the ocean and learn to become a human.
(Amazon paragraph about Tiptree collection had a good summary: "an immortal, shape-shifting alien who alternates between male and female identities, human and animal. ")
The view of human culture, sexuality, war, etc was fascinating coming from this perspective (instead of the human trying to understand the alien).
It also seemed like it must have been fun to write the changeling's way out of various tight spots (being chased by someone who ripped off your arm? No problem, just jump out the window, get to the water, make yourself into a fish, and swim away!)
Sunday, March 01, 2009
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: 2008
edited by Ellen Datlow
and Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant.
Checked out from the library along with many others. This is a huge book, of course - it's 458 pages. (I had started it long before starting on Watchmen and then finished today after finishing Watchmen).
- it gathers up (obviously) the best fantasy and horror (from the 2007 calendar year I think) - plus several long essays that sum up the best from that year in both genres, plus music, graphic novels, and movies.
Here are some notes:
Stories that I liked the best (most of these I did like, but not going into a detailed review here. This is mainly for me to remember what I read so I can go back and look again for these authors, etc).
* The Evolution of Trickster Stories by the Dogs of North Park After the Change by Kij Johnson
I wonder if this writer ever goes to WisCon. I'd bet she does since she divides her time between the Midwest and the West Coast.
I really liked this story (dogs get the power of speech but sadly this spooks almost everyone and they are kicked out of house and home. One woman still talks with them).
It reminds me of Pat's work.
One of her stories - "26 Monkeys, and the Abyss" is nominated this year for a Nebula (see her site).
* Up the Fire Road by Eileen Gunn
I didn't know that a Sasquatch can change how people perceive it, including Maury Povich and a couple of x-country skiers who get lost on its mountain...but now I do!
really good story.
* Winter's Wife by Elizabeth Hand
Really liked this. Liked the world, liked the Icelandic sorcery and the folk tale feel of the story.
* Troll by Nathalie Anderson
this goes very well with Winter's Wife. from the troll's point of view:
* The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics, by Daniel Abraham
First this captivated me because it came from a spelling bee anthology (the word here being cambist (currency exchange).
* The Last Worders by Karen Joy Fowler
I liked this first because it's by KJF and also because of the portrayal of the 2 main characters who are twins (interesting reveal that they are twins, they are writing the same last name in their notebooks when fantasizing about the same boy).
Also perhaps feeling a little guilty that I am having trouble getting into "Wit's End". I skipped finishing that to dive into this anthology. This just moved along a lot better as a story.
* A Reversal of Fortune by Holly Black
I don't know if I could win an eating contest with the devil by eating a multitude of sour-gummy frogs (plus one extra!).
She is also the author of the Spiderwick Chronicles
* The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
I liked the time travel in this and the aspect of meeting (or avoiding) your self in other times.
* Vampires in the Lemon Grove, by Karen Russell
(I want to get her short story collection - "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves).
* The Hill, by Tanith Lee
Mysterious house with exotic animals kept around it - mystery of why and what the owner is like, and what is happening with all this weird stuff going on in town?
* Splitfoot by Paul Walther
This one freaked me out - a poltergeist-type scariness in a house that it's only being visited because the owner wants to transfer ownership...And the characters who come to view/transfer the property were very unique and interesting.
* The House of Mechanical Pain - by Chaz Brechley
Also freaky and also sad. I do like the type of story where someone is exploring an old house and the people who live there - really horrible things happened in this house.
* The Monsters of Heaven by Nathan Ballingrud
The lost child, the parents driven apart by guilt and grief, and the "angels" who are so creepy (and unexplained, they're like X-files weird things - but in a short story I guess there's no time to explain).
* Mr. Poo-Poo by Reggie Oliver
Also very disturbing and sad because there is no real escape for Mrs. Poo-Poo.
* Closet Dreams by Lisa Tuttle
Also very good but disturbing
Here's a bunch of stuff from the 2007 Summaries to go back and read!
Fantasy
Ursula Le Guin's young adult series (Voices, Gifts, Powers)
Guy Gavriel Kay - Ysabel
Naomi Novik - dragons and European colonial
Logorrhea - Good Words Make Good Stories - ed John Klima
Shadowbridge - Gregory Frost
In the Cities of Coin and Spice - Catherynne M. Valente (sequel to In the Night Garden)
Territory by Emma Bull - Western with witches, blood, Wyatt Earp
One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak - "a lyrical debut novel of Midwestern magic realism"
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - fast paced immensely entertaining fantasy novel set in NYC.
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos - R.L. LaFevers - 11 yr old heroine can tell when ancient artifacts carry a curse
Graphic Novels
The Arrival - Shaun Tan
and Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant.
Checked out from the library along with many others. This is a huge book, of course - it's 458 pages. (I had started it long before starting on Watchmen and then finished today after finishing Watchmen).
- it gathers up (obviously) the best fantasy and horror (from the 2007 calendar year I think) - plus several long essays that sum up the best from that year in both genres, plus music, graphic novels, and movies.
Here are some notes:
Stories that I liked the best (most of these I did like, but not going into a detailed review here. This is mainly for me to remember what I read so I can go back and look again for these authors, etc).
* The Evolution of Trickster Stories by the Dogs of North Park After the Change by Kij Johnson
I wonder if this writer ever goes to WisCon. I'd bet she does since she divides her time between the Midwest and the West Coast.
I really liked this story (dogs get the power of speech but sadly this spooks almost everyone and they are kicked out of house and home. One woman still talks with them).
It reminds me of Pat's work.
One of her stories - "26 Monkeys, and the Abyss" is nominated this year for a Nebula (see her site).
* Up the Fire Road by Eileen Gunn
I didn't know that a Sasquatch can change how people perceive it, including Maury Povich and a couple of x-country skiers who get lost on its mountain...but now I do!
really good story.
* Winter's Wife by Elizabeth Hand
Really liked this. Liked the world, liked the Icelandic sorcery and the folk tale feel of the story.
* Troll by Nathalie Anderson
this goes very well with Winter's Wife. from the troll's point of view:
"And where do they get off, those billy goats,
calling themselves gruff? Here they come again
traipsing so innocent..."
* The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics, by Daniel Abraham
First this captivated me because it came from a spelling bee anthology (the word here being cambist (currency exchange).
* The Last Worders by Karen Joy Fowler
I liked this first because it's by KJF and also because of the portrayal of the 2 main characters who are twins (interesting reveal that they are twins, they are writing the same last name in their notebooks when fantasizing about the same boy).
Also perhaps feeling a little guilty that I am having trouble getting into "Wit's End". I skipped finishing that to dive into this anthology. This just moved along a lot better as a story.
* A Reversal of Fortune by Holly Black
I don't know if I could win an eating contest with the devil by eating a multitude of sour-gummy frogs (plus one extra!).
She is also the author of the Spiderwick Chronicles
* The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
I liked the time travel in this and the aspect of meeting (or avoiding) your self in other times.
* Vampires in the Lemon Grove, by Karen Russell
(I want to get her short story collection - "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves).
* The Hill, by Tanith Lee
Mysterious house with exotic animals kept around it - mystery of why and what the owner is like, and what is happening with all this weird stuff going on in town?
* Splitfoot by Paul Walther
This one freaked me out - a poltergeist-type scariness in a house that it's only being visited because the owner wants to transfer ownership...And the characters who come to view/transfer the property were very unique and interesting.
* The House of Mechanical Pain - by Chaz Brechley
Also freaky and also sad. I do like the type of story where someone is exploring an old house and the people who live there - really horrible things happened in this house.
* The Monsters of Heaven by Nathan Ballingrud
The lost child, the parents driven apart by guilt and grief, and the "angels" who are so creepy (and unexplained, they're like X-files weird things - but in a short story I guess there's no time to explain).
* Mr. Poo-Poo by Reggie Oliver
Also very disturbing and sad because there is no real escape for Mrs. Poo-Poo.
* Closet Dreams by Lisa Tuttle
Also very good but disturbing
Here's a bunch of stuff from the 2007 Summaries to go back and read!
Fantasy
Ursula Le Guin's young adult series (Voices, Gifts, Powers)
Guy Gavriel Kay - Ysabel
Naomi Novik - dragons and European colonial
Logorrhea - Good Words Make Good Stories - ed John Klima
Shadowbridge - Gregory Frost
In the Cities of Coin and Spice - Catherynne M. Valente (sequel to In the Night Garden)
Territory by Emma Bull - Western with witches, blood, Wyatt Earp
One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak - "a lyrical debut novel of Midwestern magic realism"
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - fast paced immensely entertaining fantasy novel set in NYC.
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos - R.L. LaFevers - 11 yr old heroine can tell when ancient artifacts carry a curse
Graphic Novels
The Arrival - Shaun Tan
Watchmen!
Just finished Watchmen today.
I should have probably read it before going to see the preview and cast panel at WonderCon yesterday - preview would have been way more fun!
Here is an annotated Watchmen site...
I will be really flabbergasted if they manage to convey all of this in the graphic novel onto the screen. Terry Gilliam (and Alan Moore, the writer) had said that it seemed almost impossible to fully do this in a theatrical movie release. Terry Gilliam apparently had been pushing for a miniseries.
The opening of the graphic novel was mystifying me for a long time, until I got to where Dr. Manhattan tells us more about his origin. That and Rorshach's past filled in a lot of the question marks in my head.
Anyway, great book - can't believe I hadn't read it this whole time. Dave had bought it back when working at Barnes and Noble because there's a big "20% off" sticker on it.
I should have probably read it before going to see the preview and cast panel at WonderCon yesterday - preview would have been way more fun!
Here is an annotated Watchmen site...
I will be really flabbergasted if they manage to convey all of this in the graphic novel onto the screen. Terry Gilliam (and Alan Moore, the writer) had said that it seemed almost impossible to fully do this in a theatrical movie release. Terry Gilliam apparently had been pushing for a miniseries.
The opening of the graphic novel was mystifying me for a long time, until I got to where Dr. Manhattan tells us more about his origin. That and Rorshach's past filled in a lot of the question marks in my head.
Anyway, great book - can't believe I hadn't read it this whole time. Dave had bought it back when working at Barnes and Noble because there's a big "20% off" sticker on it.
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