And then there's this cool gallery of steampunky objects from New Scientist . . . Stuff to drool over--like this Eye-Pod from an artist known as Dr. Grymm:
Some really cool makeovers of computer keyboards and suchlike. I don't know if she still uses it, but two years ago, at the Launch Pad Workshop, the multitalented Mary Robinette Kowal was toting around her thoroughly steampunked laptop, provoking envy in everyone. She blogs about it in this post from 2007, with step-by-step instructions, accompanied by photographs, to help you do the same! Here's the (almost) final result:
I know what I want for Xmas!
i'd put off updating my livejournal due to general life busy-ness, intending on doing it all this morning, but now i'm sitting in Panera quite worried about my primary karate instructor. for the first time since i've known him (three and a half years) he managed a no call/no show for our 6 AM class. it's so not like him...
( the update. and a picture from my mom's lap. )
- Mood:
worried
And I've been knocking most all the day.
Oh and I've been calling, Oh, hey, hey, Johnny
Can't you come out to play?
- Music:"Empty Garden"
Marion Zimmer Bradley had published several novels set on the world of The Bloody Sun when I first discovered Darkover with The World Wreckers (1971). 
The Planet Savers and The Sword of Aldones had come out in 1962, followed by The Bloody Sun (1964, revised in 1979) the YA Star of Danger (1965) and an Ace Double, The Winds of Darkover (originally entitled The Wings of Darkover!) (1970). The early Darkover novels were action-adventures, solidly written but also well within the fantasy genre. The World Wreckers (1971) pushed the boundaries of acceptable topics. Although a secondary plot, the evocative love story between a Terran man and a hemaphroditic chieri brought up issues of sexuality and gender in ways I had never before read. I believe it was Marion’s first “breakthrough” in the Darkover series, and it firmly established me as an avid fan.
The next two Darkover novels added depth and complexity to my experience of Marion’s special world, and I admired Marion tremendously for not shrinking from presenting provocative questions. In Darkover Landfall (1972), she confronted a shipload of 
marooned colonists not only with a strange world and their deepest fears, but the necessities of survival. To the outrage of many in the burgeoning feminist movement, Marion depicted a situation in which, for the human colony to have a future, every woman of child-bearing age must contribute to the gene pool. She went on to ask what kind of cultural mores — towards monogamy, towards intergenerational sexual relations — would then evolve. The Spell Sword (1974) continued the idea of telepathic intimacy and non-exclusivity.
The next year, 1975, saw the publication of The Heritage of Hastur, considered by many to be the definitive novel of Darkover. Marion had set out to write a novel featuring a 
sympathetic and heroic gay protagonist: Regis Hastur. She took a character from an earlier novel (The Planet Savers) and placed him not only under the pressures of an heir-apparent, but in the cross-hairs of a story of power and its abuses. She followed up the next year with The Shattered Chain. Having created a world in which most women had little power or freedom, she showed how even under the most oppressive circumstances, women do have choices. Her depiction of the Free Amazons or Renunicates was so compelling that women set up “Guild Halls” and even changed their names to the Renunciate form of daughters of their mothers.
About 1980, Marion and I became personal friends and soon thereafter, she bought a story from me for the first Sword & Sorceress. 1984 marked my first sale to a Darkover anthology. Marion had long considered fandom her community and welcomed others to explore Darkover and edited a series of anthologies based on that world until the increasing legal complications of copyright ended such openness.
When I heard Marion was reading for a Darkover anthology with a Free Amazon theme, I concocted a tale of justice and revenge, impossibly grim and melodramatic. Luck was 
with me, for I never submitted it. While visiting my mother, I was struck by a hilarious idea–a Free Amazon, while traveling in the Hellers, accidentally imprints a newly-hatched banshee chick. Banshees are giant carnivorous birds, vile and smelly, who haunt the mountain passes and prey upon unwary travelers. The idea of a hapless woman pursued by one of these flightless monsters who thinks she’s its mother, was too hilarious to resist. The story wrote itself and Marion approved.
Other tale followed, and another. Some were grim, others light-hearted, although none so demented as “Midwife” (Free Amazons of Darkover, DAW 1986). With each successive story for the Darkover anthologies, I ventured more deeply into a new world. The challenge was to discern and remain true to Marion’s vision while also remaining true to my own creative voice, to tell the stories that were mine to tell. Occasionally, a story would push and tug at me, pleading to continue beyond its final pages. This was especially true for “The Death of Brendon Ensolare” (Four Moons of Darkover, DAW 1988). Alas for the “inelasticity of typeface,” to use Marion’s phrase.
Writing an entire novel set on Darkover was another adventure entirely. In my own 
novel-length work, I was used to world-building, creating cultures and landscapes and histories as well as characters. When asked what it is like to write “on Darkover,” the only reasonable answer is that it is akin to writing historical fiction. The world is there, so I cannot invent it as I go along. Marion, on the other hand, did not always envision Darkover in the same way she did when it was mature. So when I do research, I keep in mind when this particular story was written. Marion never let details of geography interfere with a good story, so she refused to create any maps. Others have attempted it, always with imperfect results. I try to follow Marion’s lead in focusing on a satisfying and complete story experience, rather than trying to reconcile incompatible details.
Following Marion’s example, I have tried to create each novel as complete in itself, even when part of a larger story arc. So, although the first three we worked on together, “The Clingfire trilogy” was marketed as a series, the books can be read separately, with the one caution that it is best not to read the third (A Flame In Hali) before the second (Zandru’s Forge) because they are chronological and involve many of the same characters.
Yup, for the extra $5 (and a little extra legwork) it cost to get the Target-exclusive limited edition Star Trek Blu-ray package that comes with an Enterprise model, you get a heck of a nice-looking starship -- which doubles as a case for the discs! (They fit inside the primary hull, aka the saucer section.)It also looks a hell of a lot better when shot with the D40 and the zoom lens than with the Coolpix. I should find some black velvet and take a few more shots.
The fears of kids today seem similar to the fears that I had growing up, but I have to say that my daughter Meredith had slightly different fears. She wasn’t afraid of any TV show or movie so far as I could tell. Instead, she talked about fears related to problems at school or at home — in other words, realistic. However, she was afraid of the dark, just like nearly every kid at one time or another.
Today, one of my favorite movies is the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder. I think, however, that it legitimately scared me when I was a kid. What did I find the most frightening? Ending up like “blooberry” (Violet Beauregard), or sent off as a “bad egg,” like Veruca Salt. (”Salt’s my name – I’m in noots [nuts]“). I think Veruca’s father frightened me the most. Augustus? I did think he was funny, because I was in no danger of diving into a chocolate river against my mother’s ineffective protests.
To be totally fair, these original Oompa-Loompas and Gene Wilder as the original film Willy Wonka are horrifying. Their eyebrows are white, their hair is green, and their skin is orange. They look completely insane, and Gene Wilder is more than convincingly crazy. The scene at the end where he berates Charlie truly terrified me. I thought it was real, and I didn’t comprehend anybody “testing” anyone the way he’d “tested” Charlie and his Grandpa. It was mean, and his soft-voiced anger and turned back really scared me. His big blue eyes made me think he was nice, and I agreed that the bad kids should have had “bad things” happen to them, since I was a LOT closer to the movie Charlie than any of those pushy, loud-mouthed, selfish characters. So, when he really “tested” Charlie right before the end of the movie, it really alarmed me. I think I had nightmares about NOT passing the test and being thrown to the workhouse in the dark, or set wandering in dank, cobblestoned alleys . . .
The Oompa-Loompas are scary because they are child-sized, yet they are completely unsympathetic, look weird and act even weirder than they look. It didn’t help that, at the same time, there were Star Trek aliens with the same freaky appearance.
These aren’t over-tanned hippies. They’re aliens that worshipped an alien computer called “Vaal” in one of the classic original Star Trek episodes. They were supposed to be innocent and unspoiled, yet also willing slaves of this super computer “Vaal.” Basically, they just seemed brainless, had weird white hair, orange skin, and inexplicable face paint (later to be seen in Pirates of the Caribbean, I think – or sort-of). They had white eyebrows too. Scary.
Anything that is out of the ordinary or unexpected can be funny or delightful, but it can also go wrong and be scary. It’s hard to say whether or not Gene Wilder meant his original Willy Wonka to be scary, but I think he probably did. I learned that the original script for the film was written by Roald Dahl, and his stories for adults were often quite scary, and stories for children always contained dark elements.
I’m not sure whether being scary is a good thing or not, when entertaining children. I guess the rule of thumb is – if it gives the child nightmares, it is probably too scary. I had Oompa-Loompa nightmares, and I also had nightmares about horror films I supposedly wasn’t allowed to see, like The Blob. The Blob chased me all over my dreams, and I also had nightmares about “Inner Sanctum,” which was a show I never saw, but with which my brother used to terrorize me by making the oven door creak and saying in an ominous voice, “Inner Sank-Tummmm.” Brrr! And of course a short time later I could not wait to get home after school and watch Dark Shadows and all manner of other cheesy horror films. But that’s a story for another day.
He was sleeping when we arrived on the second floor and was told he hadn't eaten breakfast. He slept a lot today but I think that's a good thing, considering how active and relatively incoherent he was yesterday. When he was awake he spoke more clearly. He doesn't have the heard leads on his chest any more so we got him untied from the bed, which means he could drink by himself, wipe his own face with a wet washcloth, and fold his arms across his stomach which is how he prefers to nap. He had Occuptational therapy once and Physical therapy twice. He sat up on his bed and was able to keep upright by himself. Progress indeed.
Not as grumpy, although he was frustrated when we didn't comprehend his questions...we think he was asking about the mechanic for the second car (the battery died last week and had to be repaired. I'm sure he knows exactly what he's trying to make sure of but we can only get the bits and pieces of what he wants to check on.
He didn't eat much today and we had to leave before his dinner arrived because it was already dark (6:15) and my mom doesn't like driving in the dark. Hopefully he ate more at that meal.
I asked my mom if she was ok with me leaving Wednesday and she says she is. We were hoping to meet with caseworker today to discuss rehab options (we don't know how long my dad will remain in the hospital) but she didn't show up. We'll make sure we get hold of her tomorrow.
In other news (I've been able to read on and off all day, every day and at night am reading too). I finished going over the galleys of both Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror and Tails of Wonder and Imagination. And continue to read and reread for The Best Horror of the Year, volume two. I've read two anthologies on my e-reader and I believe I can read some more tomorrow although the battery is low and will likely run down in the middle of the day. (good to learn how long it actually lasts without recharging--my playstation charger didn't arrive before I left for Florida).
Does anyone know of any good, reasonably-priced, pie bakers in the area? Thanks.
we got our first tax bill on Saturday. having never seen one before, and noting this was one of the worst laid-out pieces of paper i'd ever seen in my whole life, i really couldn't make heads nor tails of it.
was it a bill? was it a notice? were we supposed to pay it? i thought our mortgage covered that sort of thing automatically so we didn't HAVE a big fat tax bill in the middle of nowhere due the week after christmas! i literally read the thing fifty times and it never became clearer.
the only thing that made sense was the contact number and also, "contact your mortgage provider to make sure you don't end up paying your tax bill twice."
okay. i can do that. i called the county tax office who was very nice and explained the bill and that it was more like "a notice" that taxes were due. since taxes were last due in July and we settled in August, all that pro-ratey stuff was probably scribbled in our mountain-o-paperwork, and i don't remember what was what.
she updated my info that said the wrong bank was handling the tax bill (previous owners, ya know) and said i should call my mortgage company to be sure.
i did and they are. they rec'd the bill too and are handling it out of our escrow. they were also very nice and explained it to me. not that i remember what all they said, but it's being handled and that's the important part. in July, it will all be handled again.
i just feel so in adequate in the ways of buying and owning a house. it's a good thing i have very nice people to help me and explain things. sometimes i think we should have taken lessons first. or bought a house with training wheels. then again, that was our rental condo where we got to "play" like we owned the place but didn't.
there's so much to learn and remember when you own. some good; some bad. hopefully none of it's going to be really really bad. everyone always says "OWNING IS SO WONDERFUL!" yes, it is. but still. it's overwhelming to think about all the "stuff" we have to do, stuff we still need to buy, and stuff we now have to think about that we didn't even contemplate before. mortgage, taxes, bills, repairs, upkeep, repeat.
at least i love the place we have. i can't wait for it all to come together which is happening slowly. heh. i just hope it will all be worth it.
- Mood:
contemplative
I’m sorry, this should have been posted earlier; I take these commitments seriously. But a series of seasonal commitments (Girl Scout events, holiday parties, birthday, etc.) sort of distracted me. But here I am, and I have to tell you about the two coolest birthday presents ever.
The first, from Sarcasm Girl (my older daughter) is an antique copy of Sara Crew: or What Happened at Miss Minchin’s, a novella-version of A Little Princess. I fell in love with A Little Princess when I was a kid, and I’m really interested to see what this shorter, earlier version is like. Plus, the physical book is in beautiful shape, with wonderful black and white illos. Tres cool.
The second, from my husband, who knows my buttons as well as if he’d sewn them on himself, is a copy of the Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, ca. 1950. Kissing the Dog, by the way, has nothing to do with osculation: it’s facing your victim while you’re picking his pocket. High skill required. I love this stuff, and I’m particularly delighted in that it’s in two parts: Underworld Lingo translated to Standard English, and Standard English to Underworld Lingo. So if the next time you see me I’m talking like a Damon Runyan character, you’ll know the reason why. And that’s jake with me.
__________
Madeleine Robins blogs here on the 7th and 21st of the month, and more regularly at Running Air. She’s the author of Petty Treason, Point of Honour, and a bundle of short stories many of which are available on her bookshelf.
You skeptics don't believe me?
Lately the top guy in Iran, Ali Khamenei, is getting pushback from the faithful because the Supreme Leader's job description is feeling a bit too much like God's job, and polytheism is a big no-no under Islam. My theory is that if people in the United States start praying to Khamenei, his own people will stone him to death to protect monotheism.
It wouldn't take many people praying to him to do the trick. A few thousand people might be enough. We could call ourselves Khameniacs and make t-shirts with his image. If praying to a false god seems like too much work, you can just tell people you do it. That sort of thing is hard to verify. The shirt would be ugly, but a good prank like this takes some sacrifice.
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greybastlady & child in Rhode Island thrown out of house by her father with almost no money, no clothes. Father took cat to pound. Bast's staying with a friend til the end of the month, has no job cos was doing home improvement stuff for father. Needs money to find a place to stay, pay car insurance, get clothes etc. Vouched as legit by someone I absolutely 100% trust, lovecraftienne. Even if you can't help financially, spread the info around.this morning was a toss-up between emergency heat and auxiliary heat and it wasn't getting up to the temps i had it set (71). it was only 68 or 69. that's... not good.
the first place i called i chose right out of the phone book because i thought "it's on Winter View Drive! how clever!". i clearly used the scientific method for that. (this is the same way i pick race horses or dogs, by the way.) the number has been disconnected. i googled and the website is still up, the same number is listed there, and the company info says "in business for over five years!" sadly, i fear they are no longer in business. sign o' the times, man. :(
the second place i called out of sheer name-recognition. yes, i called BGE Home and they are, as expected, gastromically expensive. gastronomical, meaning, it made me a little queasy to think about how much they were charging me. but, i made the appointment anyway.
even so, i thought afterwards, "someplace else has GOT to be cheaper than that." plus, she was nice when setting up the appointment and explaining the fees, but got a little snotty when she tried to sell me on their 21.95 a month service plan to "save me money" of having to pay for heating/AC repair throughout the year. it includes a "free" annual inspection, but $22 a month? that's ridiculous for something you really shouldn't have to call for that often.
the third place i called i had forgotten they existed. i guess the name wasn't that memorable even though we were happy with their service. we used them before for our previous condo which was recommended by the former property manager.
when i called, the guy was very friendly, listened to the problem, and gave his estimate for labor and looksee which was already far cheaper than BGE "we're not telling you anything except expensive."
plus, when he offered to come today between 12-4 and i said "i work farther away from my home and i'm already at work," he said "for special cases, i can get one of my gues out there at 7:30 instead of 8:00 a.m. if that would help you out." why yes. yes it would! so 7:30 tomorrow morning a heater guy is coming to help us out. (i also like that i probably talked to an owner or someone already knowledgeable. someone who is sending "one of his guys...")
and to think... for my third call i ALMOST chose the name of a company that is also the name of my former Junior High School, but it was all the way across town and they might charge me for having to drive all the way out. i realized before i called that there must be a better method of choosing companies. in the end i suppose "stick with what you know" IS a better way of doing business (even if the company name is a tad boring.) ;)
i figure if we need a second opinion, i'll keep the BGE Home appointment. if we don't need one, i'll call tomorrow to cancel BGE Home. i'm hoping to cancel the appointment.
unfortunately, our Home Warranty we bought will only cover us if we actually need to replace something. repairs is all us. (i know i know. welcome to home ownership.) :/ let's just hope it's something cheap like a switch or something easy.
- Mood:
anxious
Page Summary
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noscans_daily :: skalja : Off-Topic Tuesdays [+1] - theinferior4 :: paulwitcover : Postcard from New York, etc. [+0]
- sirhc_warrior : in which there is more holidaze, including a Christmas tree picture. [+0]
- mhaithaca : What happened here, as the New York sunset disappeared? [+1]
- heldc : From Twitter 12-07-2009 [+0]
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bookviewcafe : Welcome to Darkover [+0] - mhaithaca : $5 model [+1]
- bookviewcafe : What Are Kids Scared of? [+0]
- ellen_datlow : Dad update--December 7 [+4]
- 14850_dining :: deithaca : P&C closing! Where now to get good pies? [+1]
- noscans_daily :: madripoor_rose : Amulet [+1]
- dawntreader90 : thank goodness for tax bills [+7]
- bookviewcafe : Kissing the Dog [+0]
- noscans_daily :: neo_prodigy : Your Recommendations: POC Edition [+38]
- jhkunstler : Climate, Oil, War, and Money [+0]
- heldc : (no subject) [+2]
- dilbert_blog : Can You Pray Someone to Death? [+0]
- heldc : Signal Boosting [+0]
- stevegreen : The Very Odd Couple [+0]
- dawntreader90 : heating issues [+2]