Jul
28

Percolation

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This past weekend was the time of conventions apparently. Between SDCC, RWA and assorted smaller venues, pretty much everyone I know was at something.  And while I would have liked to be there, I was traveling up and back from NJ to pick up the oldest sprog from summer camp. (Lots of driving this summer, whew.) But driving leaves room for brainstorming and sometimes just finding time for that sort of thing is priceless.  (It’s easy to zone out and let the mind drift, particularly if the other passengers are sleeping or whatever.) And I’m a fan of percolation – sometimes ideas just aren’t ready yet and forcing them before their time can make for a harder road.  At any rate, I was revisiting something I’d started a while back – a concept I really liked, but wasn’t quite sure how to tie the individual bits into some sort of continuity and suddenly it… Read more
Jul
24

Giving an Avatar a Chance

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So it turns out that the latest season of Korra has suddenly been moved to digital only due to bad ratings.  I’m assuming it’s going to be a bit more complex than that, but hopefully we’ll know more tomorrow. But ratings aside, you wouldn’t think Korra was in any trouble by living in my house. Lucy adores the newest incarnation of the Avatar series – in fact, we’ve watched every episode of the current season 2 or 3 times this week alone. And really, why wouldn’t she? The main character is a young woman of color, set in a familiar, beloved world. Sure there are plenty of plot issues and flaws, but looking at it from the perspective of a seven year old girl, that doesn’t particularly matter – what *does* matter is representation. Korra is young, headstrong, brash, impulsive, and physically muscular. She has cool powers and an animal companion and… Read more
Jul
18

Waiting on Something Good

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I don’t really do book reviews – mostly because I don’t have time, but since I read this one when I was on vacation and the Outlander series has some special meaning for me, I figured why not?  (No spoilers, though…) And to back story that – when I was in college (or possibly high school, I can’t remember), my mom insisted I needed to read Outlander. Which was sort of odd for her – we didn’t generally read the same types of books – to be honest, the only time we really crossed paths was the Outlander series…and Kushiel’s Dart (which surprised both of us when she actually took my recommendation…and really  liked it. Even though she wasn’t a SF/F reader, KD became the gateway to a few other series she enjoyed, notably the Robin Hobb Assassin books. At any rate, I sat on Outlander for a few days, not… Read more
Jun
26

In the Pipe…

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Not quite 5 x 5. Not yet. Yes, it’s an Aliens reference – but it’s been that sort of week. (And I watched it again the other night – it’s one of those comfort movies for me, for some odd reason.) At any rate, radio silence being what it is, I’ve just been completely slammed – the volume of paperwork required for the kids’ summer camps is somewhat baffling, not to mention the crazy amounts of running about, and a fair number of contractors stopping by. (Mostly for estimates, but everyone’s trying to sell something. And really, why is it that nearly every contractor badmouths all the others? “Oh, you should have called me for X. You paid too much for Y.”  No offense, but making the homeowner feel like an ass isn’t the way to get their business. Just saying.) And the dog. The dog. Little miss Maggie, who has… Read more
Jun
6

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

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I had a sleep study done last week on the advisement of one of my docs. It was mostly one of those things where they don’t necessarily suspect anything, but they want to rule out the particulars of sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. The good news is I passed with flying colors. The bad news…eh, still not getting a lot of good rest. The sleep doc suggested I probably had an immunodeficiency of some type, which yes, I do – but in some ways it was a relief to not have one more thing going on. (I really, really didn’t want to have to deal with a CPAP on top of everything else.) I’m a pretty high stress person -my brain is always whirling with something, even when I’m so exhausted I can’t directly focus on anything. I sort of wonder if most creative sorts have issues with sleep… Read more