I hope that you are OK and keeping yourselves as safe as
possible.
I've been thinking that as our generation now faces a massive,
global disruption that will affect us all (and that is what is happening), at
least it isn't a war. At least it isn't certain groups of humans trying to kill
certain other groups of humans until the killing encompasses almost everyone.
At least this emergency is about preventing loss of life and showing care for
others. There's a lot of war-like language going around, and perhaps that helps
some to frame/parse what s happening, but I do think that we shouldn't lose
sight of the fact that this is all about health, not killings.
We are showing compassion for ourselves and others, and that
needs to continue even when it feels hard. Our sacrifices vary, and of course
many people are sacrificing a lot for others, but this isn't easy for anyone.
We need to pull together whilst (ironically) keeping a certain physical
distance apart. We want to save lives, and now we all have the ability to do
that, even in small ways. I take hope from the fact that we've so swiftly and
massively changed our behaviour and inconvenienced ourselves out of care for
others. Let's hope some of this solidarity and consideration continues after
the current crisis.
Anyway, it's just a thought but I'm hoping it brings a bit
of hope or comfort to others.
I don't usually revisit New Years resolutions much, that might be why I often don't do so well. I'm trying to be a bit more intentional in how I do certain things and spend my time, which is not a resolution so much as a general goal. I'm having mixed success with that, but I figure checking in with myself periodically is probably a good thing. Here I'm doing it publiclly, because accountability.
My original New Year post has more detail (I don't remember how the weird background colour on the text came about, just that it was a massive pain to get rid of it after posting).
1. Get out more
An oldie but a goodie. I've not done too badly with this so far. I've done some toddler-less cinema trips, went to a meal with the local Coeliac group, and made it to an event with the group I volunteer with. Plus I have another cinema trip and a colleague's wedding coming soon.
I regularly take toddler to the local park, and now the weather's getting nicer I should probably make an effort to invite others along. I took him to a birthday party recently and chatted a bit to other mums. I haven't taken him to as many kids/families sessions as perhaps I should do (though most pre-school ones are when I'm at work), but I have booked tickets to go to a little kid's show next month.
2. See Friends More
Another one that I have more trouble with than I should. Not doing too badly though, considering I'm working full-time and I'm a mother most of the rest of the time. I've gone to the cinema and a comedy show with friends. As a family we hosted a Pancake Day meal with local friends and just recently we went to visit an old friend in a different city. I should get better at inviting people round to my house more, Toddler isn't shy and seems to like having adults about so that's not a problem. As I said above I could invite people on park walks pretty regularly. Plus there's some museum exhibits in the city centre I'd like to see, just need to remember to ask others along.
3. Reduce Carbon Footprint (or generally help the planet more)
There's more detail in the original post (and I do recommend the video I posted there as an accessible guide to practical things to do). I've been doing reading around this, and boy is there a lot out there, but there's some clear and simple stuff that most people can do. Not everything is going to work for everyone, but I'm figuring out what works for me.
3a) Home Improvements and Food Waste
Not sure now why I lumped these together, might have to rethink that.
Home Improvements are mostly things we were going to do anyway, but that doesn't mean they don't have an impact. As well as the new draft proof back door we got last year we now have draft (and moisture) -proof patio doors. We had to get the flat part of our roof redone because water was coming in. That was sorted a couple of weeks ago and I was pleased when the roofer said ours is a warm roof, meaning it's already well insulated to keep heat in and actually better than what's required by current building regs. I have also replaced our halogen bulbs with brighter LED ones, which (according to a mate who works in energy) use about 20% of the energy, so that'll reduce our electricity bill.
Not made as much progress with food waste, I may be more aware of it but other than the composting (see below) not much has changed. I'm not the one who does the bulk of the shopping and cooking, so I probably need to discuss this with my husband more. He is good at feezing or chilling leftovers and planning meals to make the most of what's been bought. I've got a few ideas we could try, but I'm still mulling stuff over. There's going to be some waste in our house for a bit, because Toddler will just stop eating when he's had enough and hand you a half-chewed food item and there's little you can do about that. 3b) Garden
Composting has been going on since the start of the year. Husband has gotten on baord with it and says that its reduced how much we're putting in general waste, which is good. He's bought a few things to help in the kitchen, though I think it's something we could tweak a bit, it's going well. I feel as though we're not doing so well with the layering of different kinds of compost that most posts on the subject recommend, but I do know people who just throw everything in and see what happens, so I guess we'll go with that for now.
We've recently planeted some potatoes, carrots and parsnips in a bed in our garden. Toddler helped plant things, although he keeps poking at the bed and saying 'taytoes' when we go out there, and it'll be a while before there's anything to show him. We're starting small, but do have plenty more seed potatoes and seeds we can sow later. 3c) What I Buy
Going to be honest there's not been much change on this front, although I do not buy a lot of things usually. I have bought some beeswax food wraps to replace cling film/tin foil, I've used one a bit, but still getting the hang of it.
Additionally I invested in a local community energy project with Community Energy Birmingham, which has put solar panels on a community building. I know I can't get them on my own house due to the orientation of the building (plus the Government recently stopped tariffs encouraging people to do this), so it's nice to have contributed to solar elsewhere.
Here's another video from Katharine Hayhoe, because I'm still finding her to be a very accessible source of information on climate change and people's reactions to it.
Happy New Year folks! I kinda disappeared from here again, I do that. As ever I intend to do that less this year, will see if I manage it.
Resolutions:
1. Get out more, both with and without the toddler - it can be tempting to stay at home, especially when weather isn't to my liking, plus toddler is at awkward age for kids activities, but I should be doing more. Also going out without him means I can be a person instead of a mother, which can be a nice break.
2. See friends more - I've been feeling socially isolated recently. This happens periodically and puts me in a low mood that makes it hard to change things. Having a toddler can make it harder as I can't accept as many invitations as I'd like to. Just means I need to try harder.
3. Reduce my carbon footprint - The news about climate change has caused me to wibble recently. It's scary stuff, we are the last generation that can prevent future catastrophe. But there is hope, there's a decade to change things and we already have the ability to do so.
I've found the Global Weirding video series from climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe helpful. The one below is a good starting point.
Since this is kind of a big resolution I've broken it down into 3 main areas:
3a. Home improvements and food waste - we've already done stuff to reduce drafts, and have more work planned to increase energy efficiency. Along with reducing wasted food (as much as you can with a toddler) that'll save money.
3b. Garden - I'll start composting again and my husband wants to grow food. These are both things we did a bit in our old house. We have a greenhouse in the new garden, so can start there and add some vegetable beds.
3c. I need to look at some of the stuff I buy and see where I can find better alternatives. I'll admit this is currently a little vague, and I'm mostly researching stuff just now. I have friends who know about this kind of thing, and there's so much info online, I just need to figure out what will work for me.
I've not posted much recently because I'm moving house soon so there's been a lot of preparation for that. Additionally mid-August is the busiest time of the year at my work. Basically I've not had much time or brain space for blogging. I expect that I won't be able to post regularly until next month, when hopefully I'll be well set up in my new place.
Not much actual reading for me recently. Well, I'm gradually working through Tim Peake's Ask an Astronaut, but that's non-fic and I'm mostly reading little bits at a time. The baby was having some sleep-regression/teething/eczema issues, so evenings and a few nights have been interrupted. Hopefully he's working through that now. Still listening to podcasts on my commute whenever I don't have the baby with me.
Audio Scar Clan by Carrow Narby (Podcastle 512, narrated by Becky Stinemetze)
About a woman who works in a vets late at night and helps patch up local werewolves. She encounters a fat werewolf nicknamed Thunderhead, mean and reckless even for a werewolf. The story shows us the nighttime work of the veterinarian and how she helps the werewolf population and keeps their existence unofficial. We learn about the narrator; her own history with werewolves, and her ritual of getting a tattoo to cover/comemorate scars. We see that daytime and humans aren't necessarily safer and that being a monster isn;t about whether you can change shape.
The Fumblers Alley Risk Emporium by Julian Mortimer Smith (Podcaste 511, narrated by Wilson Fowlie)
An intriguing story set in what intitially seems to be a magical shop, but is actually somewhere much stranger, where the proprietor runs a strange game of chance where the stakes can be seemingly anything. It is told from the point of view of a regular, but one who is in a desperate frame of mind, which lends a tense edge to all that trasnspires. It is a story full of mystery, including the cause of the narrator's desperation, the nature of what he wants and the identity of his tormentor.
A Study in Symmetry or the Chance Encounter of an Android and a Painter by Jamie Lackey (Escape Pod 619, narrated by Trendane Sparks and Divya Breed)
This was so sweet and lovely, as well as being really well done. It's about HK182 and Lawrence going about their days; she is contented as usual, he is hungover and vulnerable. Then there's the chance encounter and further meetings, and it works on an emotional and story level. The Dual narration works really well as the story focuses on each character's POV and captures their different mindsets very well. The contrast between human artist and android landscaper is strong, but the interest they have in each other and the growing areas of compatibility are built up really well. Definitely a story to cheer you up.
A Cure For Homesickness by S. L. Scott (Escape Pod 617, narrated by Eric Luke)
An insectile being is confused by his human crewmate coming back to save him during a dangerous mission. When her rescue attempt leads to injury he ensures that she is cared for, and whilst talking to her as a distraction he diagnoses her with homesickness. The captain's cure is bizarre, but fellow humans will likely find it adorable. This story works really well because the clash of cultures and mindsets doesn't stop there from being much respect and affection between the characters. It's a great example of crewmates-as-community, a sci-fi trope I enjoy more and more. It's often cool to see humans from an 'alien' perspective, to have our foibles played back to us to expose how weird they are. The ending is pretty cute. Max struck me as a fun character, very clearly American/Western, and her attitude contrasted strongly with Krem, the main character who comes from a strongly communal society. The story made me think of Becky Chambers work, especially Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.
My Generations Shall Praise by Samantha Henderson (Escape Pod 616, narrated by Alethea Kontis)
This was difficult and powerful. It's super dark which isn't normally my scene, but it was so well done and somehow intriguing . The narrator does good work to make the horrible POV character somehow understandable despite being a sociopathic baby-killer. That took real skill and the narrator deserves praise for her amazing performance. The central SF concept is intriguing and the ramifications of how things could work out are fascinating, while also being kinda awful whichever way you look at it. There's a conundrum at the heart of the story, which keeps your intellect occupied even as your emotions are reeling. I think the dispassionate voice of the main character, who relates horrors in a matter-of-fact way, is what kept it from being too much for me. I felt really bad for the main character's daughter, poor girl was surrounded by such awfulness and barely spoken of with affection. It's interesting that the respectable, wealthy woman in the story came off almost as cold and hard as the murderer; the story could spark discussion of how someone's background influences their outcome.
It's hard to blithely recommend this story, as it could easily be too much for people, there's reference to murders and sexual assault, and no sense of remorse. I'm surprised I managed to enjoy it, I must've been in the right frame of mind, or perhaps it helped that I was travelling while I heard it. If you do listen, maybe have one of the happier stories I mentioned further up ready to go as a pick-me-up.
An American Refugee by Tiah Maria Beautement (Cast of Wonders 295, narrated by Julia Rios)
A story set in a future where Americans have fled their country and are being accepted by other nations, we see a girl in South Africa getting used to being allowed to run outside and meeting one of her future schoolmates. As the story unfolds we find out more about the narrative character, her family and their uneasy status as refugees. We also gradually find out more about the situation in the US. It sounds like a dystopia, but it's eerie in it's plausibility. Sadly there are loads of actual people who would applaud the awful measures we see in the character's reminisce. It's also a story about a boy and girl meeting. The host of this episode makes some good points about how difficult being a teenager can be, and how things are made worse for many people.
Books Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
The first in the October Daye series, about a half-fairy PI whose life was in limbo for 14 years. Set in San Francisco and full of different kinds of fairies (I think mostly Gaelic/Celtic, but not entirely), it's an engaging read that hits various familiar beats. The reluctant former-PI who has a bad past and lost her shot at a "normal" life is pulled back into the world she's tried to disengage from by a death and a mystery. Admittedly there's a curse pulling Tobi back into fairy stuff and despite her attempt to seem totally isolated she has a lot of friends and allies around, as well as dangerous enemies. The reveal didn't particularly surprise me, but the journey there was fun.
Audio Sparg by Brian Trent (Escape Pod 614, narrated by Alasdair Stuart)
This story is cute, poignant and kinda heartbreaking. The reveal is gradual and done cleverly. Told from the point of view of a pet it masterfully examines the way human behaviour and circumstances can affect the animals who live with us.
Lonely Robot on a Rocket Ship in Space by A. Merc Rustad (Escape Pod 615, narrated by Christopher Cornell)
A teenager tries to tell his dads a truth about himself, but it's hard to make them understand. Luckily his best friend and a supportive online community are there for him. The story is fairly sweet in itself, but also feels like an uplifting metaphor for all sorts of things, including gender-identity and neuro-divergence.
Granny Death and the Drag King of London by A. J. Fitzwater (Glittership 49)
This story, read by the author, is about a New Zealand drag king living and working in London and saddened by the death of Freddie Mercury. She discovers that the weirdness she experiences around death is actually a kind of power. The story describes what it was like to be in the queer community during the AIDS crisis. The narration is great, full of anger and despair of the main character.
A Non-Hero's Guide to the Road of Monsters by A. T. Greenblatt (Podcastle 509, narrated by Mike Flinchum)
A story that looks at quest stories/tropes with a sarcastic eye. The setting and character initially feel fairly simple, but further depth is revealed as the story progresses.
Audio La Gorda and the City of Silver by Sabrina Vourvoulias (Podcastle 506, narrated by Sandra Espinoza)
A Guatemalan woman who was raised around luchadors, develops her own mask and persona in order to protect the women of her city from dangerous men. This story felt very powerful, La Gorda's yearning to fulfill a masculine role that is denied to her become something greater and more important when she uses her skills to become a protector of other women. It was great that the main character was explicitly fat and felt no shame about this. The scene setting leading up to the ending felt a little rushed, but the ending itself was great.
There Are No Wrong Answers by LaShawn M. Wanak (Podcastle 505, narrated by Jen R. Albert and Khaalida Muhammad-Ali)
A story told through the medium of a multiple-choice personality test as an interesting idea and it works well here. Exploring psychology and divination, suggesting the similarities between the two and throwing in a bit of the fantastical worked well. I was OK with the endings, though I imagine some might not enjoy it. The episode was narrated by the two editors and the dual narration worked well.
The Substance of My Lives, The Accidents of Our Births by Jose Pablo Iriarte (Lightspeed Magazine Podcast, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki - also available in print)
Jamie can remember all of their past lives, it makes them a bit of an outsider. When a man who has served a murder sentence moves into the trailer park Jamie knows he's familiar. After some investigation Jamie realises they knew him in previous life, and with the help of their best friend Jamie tries to get justice. This story is intriguing, dealing with the challenges Jamie faces by being out-of-the-norm, and a decades-old mystery.
The Sixes, The Wisdom and the Wasp by E. J. Delaney (Escape Pod 612, narrated by Nadia Niaz)
This clever story, told from a child's point of view, seems like it's just about time travel at first, but then things get more complicated. The setting and main character are interesting, and the in media res beginning works well. The narration wonderfully conveyed the frustration of a girl who was just trying to undo a stupid accident, but ends up with a beloved horse held hostage and a threatening doppelganger.
Currently reading Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire, but not finished it yet.
I went back to work from maternity leave last week, it's actually gone fairly well. August was a weird month, and yes there were no blog posts, but I don't think that was the cause. All the baby sessions finish at the end of July to make way for the school kids on summer holidays, so my routine got thrown out of whack and I ended up being a bit cooped up. August was also weird because my husband's work hours and location changed a bit and my father-in-law moved to our area, which was a process fraught with issues and delays.
The baby has taken to nursery well, which I'd hoped he would as he's quite a people person and not very clingy. He's also being looked after by grandparents a couple of days a week. I've restarted work at a good time of year as one work cycle is finishing and a new cycle will start next week. I'm working full time again, which feels both odd and normal, but I'm getting used to it again. Still figuring out my new routine, but I'm hoping I'll be able to find some time for blogging occasionally.
I'm very happy that my story 'The Labours of Stropheus' has been published in Tales of the Mouse and Minotaur (Volume 3 of the Bushy Takes anthology series) from Fox Spirit Books, edited by Adele Wearing.
It's no secret that I like both rodents and Ancient Greek mythology, so this theme is very much in my wheelhouse. I originally wrote this story a few years ago (there have been some delays, which happens in publishing sometimes). I mostly remember that the story I wrote ended up stranger than what I'd initially intended, luckily Fox Spirit never shy away from the strange. Mouse & Minotaur features a broad range of stories from talented writers..
Fox Spirit is an award-winning and dedicated small press based in the UK, with writers, editors and contributors from all over the world. They produce an impressive array of novels, anthologies, collections and non-fiction. They also have imprints for children's fiction and martial arts books.
My son was born at the end of January, about a week before the due date and certainly earlier than I was expecting (first babies are more likely to be late). The delivery was under not-ideal circumstances as I had to rush into hospital (nearly had to go in an ambulance, but a lift appeared right on time) and 12 hours later had an emergency cesarean section. I was in hospital for a week after the birth as the baby had feeding issues initially and then my blood pressure went right up and I had to be monitored and put on medication before I could be discharged. I'm still being checked regularly and have to take medication, though it's being reduced now so hopefully I won't be on it for a lot longer.
We've now been home a couple of weeks and I'm settling into parenthood with loads of help and support from my wonderful husband, who has gotten 6 weeks off work. We're both pretty tired, but I think we've got the basics sorted out and we have support from local family and friends. I'm not sure I'm fully enjoying all the changes yet, but I'm sure that'll come as I feel better and the baby grows.
I haven't been outside of the house much since being discharged from the hospital, just a couple of trips round the corner so far. We have had various guests and lots of well-wishes, which is nice, turns out having a baby makes you kinda popular. We do have plans to get out of the house more, including visiting a few relatives in a different part of the country and going to register the baby in the city centre. Plus there are various baby groups/sessions in the local area. I do still need to figure out how to operate all the foldy bits on the pram and how best to handle it on the bus (I've seen a lot of people using prams on the bus, there are times it looks tricky).
My due date is in 2 weeks and I am on maternity leave now. The last 8ish months have been an experience.
I know that I am very fortunate in many ways, I want to be pregnant and did not have much trouble achieving it. I also know many people have much rougher pregnancies than I have. One of the main things about pregnancy (or I suppose procreating in general) is that you don't have any idea
how it's going to go until you try it. There are some common
factors to pregnancy, but otherwise it's a lottery. I know at least one person who felt great when she was pregnant, but a lot of people feel terrible.
An early sign of pregnancy is that your sense of smell suddenly improves (it's one of the main things that isn't also a symptom of something else). I'd been told about this, but hadn't expected it to be enhanced so dramatically. For about three months I was always tired and everything smelled; it was like a really useless version of being a werewolf. Not fun as it was summer (when bad smells tend to be stronger anyway) and I use public transport, which means being in fairly close proximity with strangers. It wasn't even just traditionally bad smells, a lot of artificial/cosmetic smells bothered me for a while. It turns out I don't have the most fragrant life (not a thing I'd ever really considered before) so I was glad to lose that power.
At present I'm moving very slowly, I can go a few yards at normal place then I have to slow right down. My father is in his 60s and has a pin in his hip but he was outpacing me last month. My husband reckons I have started to waddle.
I need to pee all the time, or at least I think I do. When you're pregnant you're supposed to drink a lot more than usual. It turns out my body can't tell the difference between my bladder being full of liquid, and my bladder being squashed by my uterus. Add to this the occasions when I'm pretty sure the baby has used my bladder as a punching bag and it's a perfect storm.
Me in Euston station last November
One nice thing is that I have never enjoyed looking in full length mirrors and other reflective surfaces so much in my life. I really like seeing the growing baby bump and the changes to my figure. It's also useful to see what the underside of the bump looks like cos I can't see much below my belly button.
I've been wearing men's jeans for months now. There's only one pair of my own jeans I can still wear. I realised that my husband's jeans fit better fairly early on, it's lucky we're a similar size. Then I realised that if I bought some slightly larger men's jeans I could wear them as I grew and my husband could wear them too. It's more cost effective than buying a load of specific maternity clothes, especially as I might not wear them again in a few months. I've found that as well as having far bigger pockets, men's trousers are generally much looser all over (not just in the crotch) and so more comfy and forgiving for a growing torso, if more likely to fall right down when unbuttoned.
Me and my husband did a partial de-cluttering that included throwing some stuff out and sending a load of stuff to be put in my parents' attic. Then we had a re-cluttering which mostly involved people giving us baby stuff and us buying new furniture. We now have extra storage space and no spare bed. I think we'll probably need a bigger house in the next couple of years, but should be OK for now.
I went to school with this guy. He looked different at 15.
A lot of DIY and cleaning has happened (with much help from my husband and parents), more is needed but the big stuff is done and it's a big improvement. I have already warned the washing machine that 2017 will mean a lot more work for all of us.
I still have a various things I'd like to do, but I'm big and slow-moving and knackered, so some of those might not happen for a while. I'm trying to be calm, but I have the feeling that at any moment I'm going to be terrified. Probably when the labour starts.
At the moment it's all waiting around, and though I'm not looking forward to the birth side of things I'm really excited to meet the baby.
Of course in a month I expect I'll be super sleep deprived.
Back in July I mentioned that a period of low energy had delayed most of the blogging I intended to do. July was followed, as ever, by August which is always a busy month at work and certainly doesn't help with feeling tired. Anyway there is a reason for this, which will also explain future delays as well.
I'm pregnant.
This is my first pregnancy and it's going comparatively well, even if there were a couple of months when I felt exhausted most of the time. I'm coming out of that now, at last. Though a lot of my spare time is going to be devoted to preparing for the baby, I do intend to keep blogging at least semi-regularly.*
I have no idea whether I will be able to do much after the baby comes, I hear they are rather disruptive, so I am not setting myself any blogging goals or targets. It's due early next year, so all plans for 2017 are very fluid. I'll do what I can when I can, can't expect more than that.
Anyway I'm currently both happy and daunted. Cautiously looking forward to when the baby is here, but slightly dreading the preparation needed and the mode of its arrival.
*This is a useful term because it can mean just about anything.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Everything has gotten rather delayed recently as I'm going through a period of low energy and finding it difficult to get things done.
When normal service (whatever that looks like) resumes I will finish series 4 of TNG (which if you're in the UK is now available on Netflix with all the other Trek series, meaning I can return the DVDs borrowed). I also have a load of books I definitely intend to blog about, but later when I can face doing things again.
I turned 30 recently, which was nice because I was determined to have a good time with it and not focus on my age or where I am in my life and all of that stuff. Plus I can't complain as my husband is 5 years older than me and he took it all in his stride a while ago.
Me on my 30th, with giraffes invading through mirrors
I got a good haul of books and graphic novels for my birthday, so much to read, which is nice. I'll try and blog about what I've read a bit more, but I'm already behind on that, so will see how I go.
The day after coming back from Copenhagen I went out to lunch with my extended family, then back to my parents' house. In collusion with my husband my mum had ordered me a cake with little models of our pet rats on the top. It was really lovely and tasted great too.
Last weekend I got together with a load of my friends for a birthday party. The parties I like tend to have a lot of people gathered around chatting about all sorts of (often-but-not-always geeky) stuff. I'd booked a room in a bar and got a buffet, and it was all really nice. A few people came from out of town and I saw some people I don't see often and it just felt really nice.
So, having organised most of this I've gotten a bit behind on other things. I've various blog posts half done but I'm hoping to get them all sorted soon and catch up with actually posting about books and film and TV and all that stuff. Plus I guess I should decide what's next in general.
Did I mention I have glasses now? I may not have done so on the blog. My vision's gotten worse in last few years (couldn't see words on the TV bad) and now I need them most of the time. I'm considering contact lenses.
Our affectionate old lady was over 2 years, which is about usual for rats. She had been weakening over the last few months, and we were giving her some extra care for a while. This is sad but not unexpected.
This time last week I was in the middle of FantasyCon 2015 in Nottingham, the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society. It was a really marvellous time. I'm only posting this late because of my own failings (been feeling a bit odd and tired this last week).
This year's con really had a great atmosphere and for once I really felt like I hit the right mix of socialising and going to panels and events. Dave and I got to see and talk to a lot of friends we only usually see at conventions, and there was a lovely, unexpected appearance from some friends who live locally. I also got to talk to people I've not met or chatted to before. There were a few people I could have spoken to more, but I certainly did some nodding and smiling to people in corridors. I'm not going to list names, because that would probably make for dull reading plus I would almost certainly forget someone and would feel very bad about that. If we did end up having a natter at FantasyCon then believe me I enjoyed it and it all contributed to a great weekend.
This is our haul of (mostly) free books
The programme was a fairly traditional mixture of panels, reading, launches and signings. There were various good panel discussions, including one on using history in fantasy and another about podcasting and audio books. I enjoyed seeing Juliet E. McKenna interview Brandon Sanderson as they are both authors whose work I enjoy. I attended a couple of useful workshops and fun readings (mostly featuring Emma and Peter Newman now that I think of it). Plus the book launch of Heide Goody and Iain Grant's Hellzapoppin' which featured a monk robe and audience participation in the reading. I also moderated a panel for the first time, it was about screen and script writing and the panellists were all very knowledgeable and had a lot to say, which made things easy for me.
Finally much congrats should go to the con organisers and the redcloaks, these volunteers all made sure everything ran smoothly and did a brilliant job. I'm aware there were a few venue issues in the background, but as an attendee you couldn't tell. Also thanks to Al, who is a great giver of pep talks. We left before the BFS awards ceremony, which was a slight shame as I was a juror for two of the categories and it does feel nice to be involved.
Well I haven't actually been anywhere, but I've not been blogging due to work and life and such (at least this time it was planned). I've seen what full-on August is like at work now, so hopefully I'll be more prepared for next year.
I thought I'd start on a positive note and mention some nice real life stuff that has happened to me. There have been some specific occasions over the past few months when total strangers have been really kind (not that they are normally horrible or anything) and I thought it was worth sharing.
I went to Homebase after work to buy seed potatoes and a paint sample (it was kinda random) but when I got to the till I discovered that I didn't have my wallet on me (I remembered almost straight away that I'd left it at home). Bit awkward, but I have a bus pass so I don't need cash to get about. When I left the shop the woman who had been behind me at the till came over to me in the car park. She said she'd overhead my predicament and asked if I needed any help or any money. Looking back I think she was concerned about whether I was really stuck and needed help getting home or something. I think my facial expressions can come off more sad/worried than I actually am. At the time I briefly wondered if she was offering to help buy my random non-essentials. Either way I thanked her for her generosity but said I was fine.
The day my first rat died (as mentioned here in July) I'd booked to give blood in the afternoon. Obviously I was pretty sad when I got to the appointment and it's possible that that combined with the heat (July was so hot!) was what made me feel faint afterwards. I had to lie down for a bit with a fan pointed at me. A woman who had also been giving blood asked how I was getting home and said she'd give me a lift rather than me waiting for the bus. The Blood Service people seemed to know her and made clear that I was texting my husband about coming home (I sensed no threat, but best to be on the safe side and all). Actually we had quite a nice chat about the city we lived in.
After the busiest day at work (by which I mean the specific day we have to come in early for and get other people in to help out with) I stumbled to the bus stop feeling a little punch drunk. In fact I missed the bus going past, so I legged it down the footpath to the next bus stop. when I got on the bus I realised I didn't have my phone on my any more. On the bus home I was making plans to phone it as soon as I got in. At home I had an answer phone message from a woman who had found my phone, she'd also added me on facebook and sent me a message there. Luckily she was doing research at the University where I work, so we exchanged some messages on facebook, arranged to meet and she gave the phone back to me the next day.
Part of my bus pass fell out of its wallet (same bus stop where I lost my phone). I got things sorted out to get a new one, but in the meantime a letter came to me from the bus company with my missing bus pass inside. There was also a letter from a woman who said she had found it and wanted the bus company to try and get it back to me. Not found her to thank her, unlike the others.
I guess the moral of this is that people can be very nice and considerate, or possibly that I lose things.
Just a quick, happier, update after the previous sad post.
Turns out rats are harder to acquire than I'd expected and for a day I thought I might have to go to a breeder in my home town. Though if you want to buy a lizard there are a few places hereabouts that can help. I did manage to find one pet shop on this side of the city which sells rats. It is 2 bus journeys away, though only 20 mins by taxi.
Introducing our new girls...
Mai
Ty Lee
Ty Lee was very curious about me in the pet shop, climbed over the pet shop lady's hand and actually managed to briefly get on to the floor. She enjoys climbing, moving quickly and getting out of your grasp (hence the slightly awkward picture). If you have seen Avatar: the Last Airbender you will understand that she is well named.
Mai is more laid back, and seems content to hide or stay in one place unless she feels she wants to move. I chose her for the distinctive forehead marking. She likes certain safe spaces and though she's getting more friendly with us. I don't expect her to be sarcastic like her namesake, but I don't know whether rats get sarcastic or what that's like.
They are only 9 weeks old at the moment and are basically the size of mice.
Not forgetting our resident lady...
Micassa
My husband used to call her licky rat, but her enthusiasm for grooming us has reduced since she lost her friends. We're trying to make a fuss of her while she's on her own, but sometimes it seems that she tolerates our attention. We are big and weird and probably don't understand social niceties.
The new ones will be in quarantine for another week, then it will probably take a few more weeks of introductions before all three can share the big cage. Even starved for company as she is, Micassa is used to being the boss rat and she's currently twice the size of the other 2, so we have to be careful that the introductions (and inevitable fights) happen under supervision.
We are also now the proud owners of 4kg of rat and mouse food and 50ltrs of paper-based, eco-friendly cat litter, which is also suitable for rodents. Seemed best to get supplies delivered so we'll be covered even while we've got 2 cages.
There's going to be a bit of a break again, but this time I thought to mention it in advance.
In my current job summer -especially the first few weeks of August- is very, very busy and so I'd planned to have less stuff going on during this time. Theoretically I could probably have covered a lack of blogging time with some buffer posts, but that hasn't happened.
The break will be starting earlier than I'd planned (after this very post in fact) because unfortunately in the last 16 days 2 of our rats have died. This is very sad for us, especially as we'd tried to do what we thought was best the 2nd time and it didn't work out. This means that we are left with 1 rat, which is bad because they are very social creatures and need other rats around them. So at present we're trying to find out where we can get a couple more new friends for her. We're also going to move the massive cage to a different part of the house so it's easier to interact with her.
After the 1st rat died we'd thought we would get more, but had been thinking we would do so in autumn, now the timetable has been brought forward. When introducing rats you need to go through a gradual process of introduction, which can take a few weeks. I expect that will coincide with the very busy period at work I mentioned previously, so I'm likely to be a bit out of it for a while.
I'm hoping I can start blogging as usual again in late September. I'm pretty certain I had some ideas for new, different posts, but right now I forget what those were. I'm pretty tired at the moment as I was out in the garden at 11pm last night holding a torch while my husband dug a rat grave. Sorry if I have made anyone sad, it's been an emotional day.
I've never considered myself to have been born at the wrong time (I like history but I'm not big on idealising other time periods), but it does sometimes occur to me that my age and the circumstances of my childhood left me in a bit of a gap as far as pop culture (especially geek culture) is concerned.
I don't remember the 80s, I grew up mostly in the 90s and there was very little geekiness in my family (my dad reads SFF, but is not involved in fan stuff - in my experience there are a lot of people like that and I don't know that they get talked about much). I didn't realise I was a geek until my late teens and didn't really explore what was out there until university. What this means is that a lot of my friends, acquaintances and people I follow on twitter have these cultural touchstones that they are very invested in. I have picked up a lot of the lingo and references, I have often seen the stuff in retrospect, but not really experienced the feels that others have.
I grew up in the Doctor Who gap. As a child I remember we had some knowledge of Doctor Who, we could identify a Dalek or the TARDIS. I remember when I was 6(ish) a group of kids running around holding rulers and saying "Exterminate" in robot voices. Scarves were also important somehow and hiding behind the sofa. I never saw Doctor Who on TV, I wasn't aware of any of the fan-made stuff, the novels, the audiobooks. To me, as a child, Doctor Who was something that used to be on TV. I enjoy Doctor Who now, to a variable extent, but it's not part of my childhood. My Doctor was the guy from the Knock-Knock joke.*
Also I've never seen E.T. all the way through, but I do mostly remember that alien from the BT adverts (it really was the perfect campaign for them when you think about it). It's probably a little sad that a lot of other people's icons are my marketing devices.
Nowhere is my growing up in the gap more evident than Star Wars and this year I've really noticed it. I first saw the original trilogy all the way through on telly when I was 17. I already knew the basics just from consuming pop culture, the references are all over the place. I seem to recall thinking it was OK, but I had no real sense of wonder or excitement. I had always lived in a world where all this already existed. I was not bothered about The Phantom Menace, I expect I saw adverts but I wasn't involved in geek culture of any kind so the whole thing passed me by. The only Star Wars film I have seen in the cinema is Episode III, because my then-boyfriend (now-husband) had a traditional of seeing the midnight screenings (I agree with my friend Greg that George Lucas was clearly trying to blind us all with that film, an effect heightened by having been awake hours longer than usual) and my Dad also wanted to see it.
I've been trying to stay away from all the Star Wars hype this year, just gleaning bits of info from social media and podcasts. If I hear too much about it all I will be sick of it before it even comes out. Though I did hear it mentioned months ago on the store radio when I was in ASDA, the hype has escaped geek spaces and there's no real way to entirely avoid it. I don't want to seem curmudgeonly, I appreciate that others like Star Wars on a level that I'm unlikely to ever feel myself and that's fine. If anything I guess I have an advantage in that I'm not so invested as to feel anger or betrayal if it is done wrong - whatever "wrong" is.
I don't think I have an equivalent of Star Wars or Doctor Who, something from my youth I feel that deeply about. I have things I really enjoy of course, many of them seen or read after the fact. I'm not so ignorant as I once was, and my husband has ensured that I've seen the Alien and Matrix films I missed before. I've never considered myself part of a specific fandom, but that may be because for all that I am a geek I don't think my personality leans towards that so much. Also I can be a little standoffish, wary of giving myself to people or groups. Perhaps that's something I should change? For now though it's nice to see others enjoying things so much, and even if I don't feel it myself I like to see my friends' joy and enthusiasm.
* If anyone is unfamiliar with the knock-knock joke feel free to ask.
