Best Tattoo I’ve Ever Seen
Via here
I have a very special steampunk surprise planned for next week. It’s a whole story told in gorgeous pictures with live models (who, in addition to being awfully nice to look at, prove that you don’t need the usual complement of limbs to produce extraordinary work).
Don’t be an idiot (warning: some swearing)
The real title here is: Don’t be a shit.
If you want to be a professional writer, be polite. No matter what. This article by Chuck Wendig (who has a potty mouth with occasional vivid sexual references – but he sure is worth listening to) is worth reading and obeying.
Here’s a bit:
Editors and agents have it tough. They get a lot of shit for being gatekeepers, but here’s what happens at the gate: they stand there, arms and mouths open while a garbage truck backs up (beep beep beep) and unloads a mountain of submissions upon them daily. And, spoiler warning, ninety percent of those submissions won’t cut it. Hell, a not unreasonable percentage are toxic enough that I’m surprised Homeland Security doesn’t show up with hazmat suits and flamethrowers. So, when you annoy them with constant emails, unedited manuscripts, work that’s already been self-published or with crazily presumptive tweets, well, it just puts them one step closer to a water tower with a rifle. I’m not saying every editor and agent is a shining example, but they don’t deserve you acting like a grit of sand in the elastic of one’s underoos.
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Red Dirt Diary 2: Blue About Love
Last week I wrote about my surprise and delight to discover a brilliant new (to me at least) author, Katrina Nannestad. When I really love an author’s first book, I get quite scared to read any more of their work. What if they’re not as good?
The rest of this review is at Comfy Chair, where I get paid for it.
How to serve vegetables
Fry them.
*ahem*
I’m not big on vegetables, as a rule – although I like potatoes and avocado. I also like butter, garlic, and cheese. Combine all those things and you get an awesomely unhealthy two-vegetable side dish:
Work it, baby
I mentioned on Monday that I’m suddenly looking for full-time work. I figure that with my recent jump in sanity + a return to medication, I should function really well.
I looked at several public service jobs, which reminded me just how unpleasant it is to write applications for a job that is clearly being described by someone who doesn’t know what it is either. But there were a couple that I could probably bluff my way into (skills mental illness teaches: how to fake confidence like a champion). The prospect of actually DOING any of those jobs was a little scary, but I pushed the fear to one side.
Then, for old times’ sake, I searched for babysitting jobs – and suddenly found myself smiling. These were jobs that I’d just enjoy rather than fear – jobs that fit the headspace I was already occupying – jobs where I might even be able to take Louisette with me. . . . which would be cheaper, and so much nicer for my heart and hers.
So I applied for a few. I had an interview yesterday which went really well, and I have another interview in less than an hour. Wish me luck!
In the meantime, Louisette is, suddenly and terrifyingly, on the move. Dangerous objects are mostly safe if they’re at least a metre away in any direction – but not for long. She is fully aware of her ability to reach toys in front of her, and has a good grasp on the first step (pushing herself up on hands and knees) and a tenuous grasp on the second step (diving forward – rather than just flopping back down in the same position or accidentally pushing with her hands and thus going backwards). She generally gets there eventually (unless there’s something shiny nearby).
She is also much better at sitting up, completely unsupported. This is a VERY useful skill for eating (not quite reliable enough to actually be useful yet, but it’s only a matter of time). It also instantly changes her range of non-assisted positions from two to three, which has got to help relieve the tedium of being a baby (like many times in life, it’s simultaneously super exciting and super boring for the participant). As adults, we know sitting up is super useful. All she really knows so far is that she’s generally impressive.
Beating Bad Hair: The Hattification
The one genius thing about Winter is the excuse to cover a bad hair day in seconds AND NO-ONE SUSPECTS A THING. It is even better when your house is infested with hair-pulling midgets who (a) can’t reach hair when it’s under a beanie, and (b) can pull/chew on the plaits instead (because babies are pretty much like cats, let’s face it).
We’ve already begun teaching beanie-wearing skills to the next generation:
PS I received some Rather Good News today that may change everything – or nothing. I’ll blog about it fully within the month.
Ch-ch-ch-changes
So July is interesting so far. Our landlady is selling our flat; I’ve given up losing weight (for now); I’m about to go back on anti-depressants (just to see how functional I can get – possibly very functional indeed); my sister is in town and about to have a second child; and I’m looking for full-time work for the first time in my life. Should be interesting.
Here’s Louisette, pleased with her sudden increase in solo-sitting ability.
Zebras pulling carriages
Let’s face it: The Victorians were just cooler than us.
Lots more pics of different zebras pulling different carriages.
Ebooks
Ebooks are a huge deal, it’s true, but in my opinion the appeal of the “Hah! Take THAT, traditional publishing!” story leads to misinformation and exaggeration. Here’s a collection of articles on ebooks.
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/01/importance-of-context-part-1.html – ebook reality vs hype AND http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/12/will-you-ever-buy-mostly-e-books.html AND http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/11/top-10-myths-about-e-books.html AND (which I think is an example of some of the extremely rare people who are doing ok – while still not as good as print publishing) http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/2011/01/08/e-books-and-indyself-publishing/
As you may have noticed (but I clearly did not), yesterday was Friday. I’d post your weekly book review, but I plan to write up “Red Dirt Diary 2: Blue About Love”, and that’s not going to happen for a few days yet. I’m basically better now, but still sleeping a lot and moving very little.
Sick Day
When you’re a parent and you and the kid/s get sick at the same time, you’re pretty much screwed. Luckily I have a mum and sister in town who have swooped in to save the day, taking Louisette to their place so I can loll about as pathetically as I like.
This is Louisette and I “playing” at 8:30 this morning, before the troops arrived:
PS We received some more bad news yesterday (admittedly, bad news that we were pretty sure was coming) and we definitely won’t be buying a house this year.
