Wooly aphids, second breakfasts and Turkish Star Trek

Congrats to our friends William and Mona on the birth of their daughter on the weekend!

I'm tickled to report that Chris Conway has written a song in which he kills me three times. You can find the lyrics to his wonderfully silly song, Death to the Immortals (or Killing Friends Is Fun) in his LJ.

'Twas a fine Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Our fridge is stuffed with leftover turkey which I didn't cook. I had pumpkin pie for breakfast on Sunday morning. Life is good.



Thanks to our biologist friend Peter Kotanen for identifying the mysterious bug I posted about yesterday. From Peter, through Leslie: "It's a wooly aphid (Family: Pemphigidae). The white hairs are wax. They spend the summer as clonally-reproducing females, often on plant roots or in galls; in fall, sexual winged forms are produced. Weirdly, mated females lay a total of 1 egg."

My Typical Day:

I usually wake between 6:30 and 7 a.m., sometimes earlier if I have insomnia. I make some tea and toast or cereal and take it down to my basement office since I find it cozier there in the mornings. My current favourite tea: Fleur d'Oranger Oolong from Mariage Freres in Paris. Hey, I just discovered you can order some Mariage Freres tea online from Furansunocafe.com. I also enjoyed some chestnut honey from La Petraia, which we visited during our Italy trip. I love food memories.



But I digress.

I usually work until about 9 or 10, at which point I have a shower and my second breakfast. I love the hobbit habit of second breakfasts; I would far rather two small breakfasts spaced out through the morning than one big one.

I usually work at my desk until 5 pm-ish (sometimes later if I'm work-obsessed, in which case we get take-out), with a break for lunch as well as later in the afternoon for errands / workout. Sometimes I go for a run just before lunch, sometimes after work. We have a big supermarket a five minute walk away, so I usually plan dinner near the end of the day, then go shopping for fresh ingredients just before I start cooking.

After dinner, I either do musicstuff (I'm writing two songs right now as well playing around with home studio stuff and recording a flute part for Seanan's CD), read, write non-work stuff, study CSS, or do something with Jeff like playing Magic or going for a walk. I recently calculated that giving up cable tv has netted me about 40-50 extra hours a month, or 480-600 hours a year. That's a big hunk of bonus time for which I'm always grateful.

Links

Thanks to Ray for this link to a bizarre Turkish Star Trek video titled "Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda" (anyone out there know Turkish?). This episode appears to be a remake (sort of) of the Salt Creature episode. The special effects are hilarious. If anyone knows more background to this video, I'd love to hear about it so I can post about it in He's Dead, Jim.

Cottage and bug question

Back from the cottage! Glorious weather, and there was still colour on the leaves. We had our turkey on Saturday, went to the annual Turkey Bowl on Sunday. The Turkey Bowl is one of the lake's long-standing traditions on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, where cottagers from the south and north ends of the lake play a game of touch football.

For those of us on the sidelines, it's a chance to catch up with other cottage families and park news. I remember how nervous I was when Jeff brought me to my first Turkey Bowl; I knew I was an outsider. The cottagers are a welcoming bunch, however, and it wasn't long before I felt like part of the family. Now I look around at young people I've known since their toddlerhood, some old enough to play in the Turkey Bowl.



Above: Lauren and me. I first met Lauren when she paddled over in a kayak from a nearby cottage on the lake; she was only seven years old. We've kept in touch ever since, and she's just graduated from college!

The photo below was taken this morning, as we were packing up to leave the cottage:



That stuff that looks like snow is actually a swarm of bugs; there were hundreds of them. Here's close-up of one lying upside down on my hand:



Not sure what kind of bugs these were...anyone there know? The white fur substance came off eventually, so Jeff and I figure it must have been part of the hatching process. The bugs weren't biting, at least not yet, but they were swarming so thickly you had to make sure to keep your mouth closed as you walked around. :-)



Alan Thiesen asked about the term "Canuck" after my last post because he thought the term was derogatory, and Allison did some research. From Allison, based on this Wikipedia entry: "Seems to indicate that Canadians use the term affectionately to refer to each other, but it might be considered insulting said by a non-Canadian. If used with affection, it's never been a word I'd consider offensive said by anyone."

I'm with Allison...I had no idea that the term was anything other than a fun nickname.

My friend Andy's post made me laugh:

"Hey parki, is it true you aren't afraid to dream? Does that mean you don't get the one where you're naked, and clowns are chasing you with gardening shears? Or the one where you can't find the beer, because your fridge is full of human heads, and they're all looking at you?
Oh.
.
.
.
.
No, me neither."

:-D

Hope you all had a good weekend!



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Things I'm thankful for

A pre-holiday greeting to other Canucks out there, in case you're going away for the weekend: HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

I try to be thankful throughout the year, but Thanksgiving is one of those times when I try to be more explicit about it. Off the top of my head, here are just a few of the things I've been thankful for just recently:



Ziploc bags. Chocolate. That we didn't have to do any househunting or moving this year. My amazing husband. Rain. Air conditioning. My family. That my tendinitis is under control. That I can finally WRITE without having to worry about every single keystroke. Sushi. Shampoo. Friends. Speaking of friends, I'm getting together with Allison and Jodi tonight! My health. That I didn't get my book rejected today (I just checked).



Poetry. Red balloons. High-speed access. Libraries. Moisturizer. Our house. Buttons. My home recording studio set-up. Toronto. Erasers. Books. My office: I have the best office in the whole world. Autumn. My friend Ray, who sends me interesting music and links like this one. My agent. My Logitech ergonomic mouse. Chocolate pudding. Calendars. Ballpoint pens. The filk community. Optometrists. Babies. Sidewalks.

That I have a roof over my head, and don't have to worry about whether or not I'll have enough food. Spam filters. Flush toilets. Umbrellas. Jumbo shrimp. Sunflowers. Digital cameras. Forgiveness. The hand-dyed tin whistle holder that Teddy made me years ago; I can see it from where I'm sitting at my desk, and it reminds me of Teddy and wonderful UKfilkstuff. The fact that I write and draw for a living. Chocolate milk.



Having friends like Luisa, who inspire me on a daily basis. Ceilings. Ginger. Free will. Lavender. Dictionaries. The Mesozoic period. Humour. The Delete key. The fact that I have friends who have watergun parties. Rollercoasters. Obatzer cheese spread. That I got to see Franklin Gunkelmann wearing a Sailor Moon costume. Tanya Huff, for helping me realize that a rejection isn't always a rejection. The fact that Tom Jeffers is moving to Toronto soon, yay!

Squirrelbuster birdfeeders. Toothpaste. Studio recording equipment advice on LJ and from Jeff Bohnhoff. Our friend Walter, who has helped us these past two years more than I can say. That my copy of Mr. Twilight (by Maya Bohnhoff and Michael Reaves) arrived from Amazon yesterday, yay! The fragrance of cinnamon. Having friends like Parki, who aren't afraid to dream. Shower curtains. German chocolate. Doorbells. Beckett, for posting such wonderful photos and illustrations in her Flickr account that I always find myself feeling uplifted and inspired (woohoo, can't wait to see you and Paul at OVFF!).



My Wacom Artpad. Blueberry pancakes. Roasted marshmallows (toasted brown, not black). Kites. Doorknobs. My Edna Mole doll. Dave Clement, for giving me the idea of connecting music and the Faerie in my book. Beds with firm mattresses. Music. My Patrick Stewart literacy poster.

Amanda Snyder's phone messages. Irish music. My friend Andrea, for her trust and her Market Watch help (I'm looking forward to finally meeting Jim at OVFF!). Flashlights. Earplugs. Peasant skirts. Kraft dinner. My harp. Parentheses.

Anyone who has been interested enough to read this far.

:-)



Above: our front walk, last autumn.


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chocolate, css, Leo Laporte and books

Click on image below for a bigger version.



Will Write For Chocolate has been updated! This week's column: a caution about looking for writing jobs on Craigslist.

Thanks to everyone who dropped by Allison's and Jodi's virtual party. It was quite the bash...hey, even my sister showed up at the end, with homemade desserts from my nieces! I had to highlight that news because Ruth very, VERY rarely posts anything online. :-) Anyway, Jodi, Allison and I are getting together tomorrow.

Thanks again to David Barker for recommending the W3Schools CSS Tutorial. I'm learning a ton by just fiddling around with the "Try-It-Yourself" examples on that site. My next major site revamp project is going to be my sister's site...wish us both luck!

Novel revisions are going well. I've cut about 2000 words from the first third of the book so far and am tightening up my prose. Because I'm also very excited about my next book project, I'm also continuing to work on background and plot notes for that so I can leap back into the fray when my revisions are done. I've given up on SuperNoteCard, at least until I can figure out what went wrong...the program crashed on me while I was working on my most recent article for Writer's Digest (the day before it was due, in fact), including backup files, and I had to recreate my notes from scratch. I was not a happy camper. I'm using TextMate to organize my notes instead. I'm all for reliable plain text instead of crash-y bells and whistles right now.

Jeff came home pretty happy last night; he and Doug Gardner enjoyed hanging out with Inside The Net's Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte as well as Merlin Mann of 43 Folders, at an Inside The Net Meet-up. You can see a photo here (Jeff is third from the right, Doug is next to Leo).


Recent reads (I've left this for so long that I'm only going to list the most recent two, sorry), both novels for young people:

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. Excellent sequel to The Goose Girl, which I also recommend, and not just because of the gorgeous cover art by Alison Jay. The next book in the series, River of Secrets, appears to be only available in hardcover so far.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. The book blurb didn't do anything for me...it really didn't sound like the kind of story I'd usually enjoy. BUT I enjoyed Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing, and The Flying Dragon Bookstore had a glowing mini-review displayed in front of the book, so I decided to take a chance. Very glad I did. I loved the book...it was the kind that I kept reading waaaay too late one night because I was unable to stop.

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birthdays and mortal Mesozoic mice

Happy birthday to my friend, Allison! Today is the final official day of the virtual birthday party for Allison and Jodi, though stragglers are welcome. Please feel free to drop by and say hello. Attendees so far: pbristow, tibicina, eviltofu, kitanzi, janeg, thette, mdlbear, braider, filkertom, zencuppa, unkbar, patoadam, tnatj, thatcrazycajun, djbp, msminir, blueeyedtigress, vixyish, sdorn, filkergem, barkerland, trystel & Luis), pwi1, it_aint_easy, andpuff, damedini, mvt, faxpaladin, poltr1, frstythesnowman, sposter, unclechristo, sexybass, scs_11, Dave Clement (via sexybass), sal_utations, Erin, beige_alert, peteralway, Bill Roper, missquirt, ldwheeler, fireskin, and starmalachite. It's been fun seeing old and new friends drop by, though I know quite a few are still at or on the way home from Filkcontinental in Germany. Party ends at midnight. :-)

I'm submerged in my novel writing these days. I have a few illustration and writing assignments between now and Christmas, but I've basically decided to focus on my novel(s) until then. Right now I'm doing a lot of cutting and toning. Sort of sounds like a painful cosmetic procedure, doesn't it? I'm being ruthless and cutting out anything in my book which doesn't contribute to the story, no matter how happy I am with the writing. It's hard; I don't think I could have done this right after finishing the book...a good reason for setting aside a story for a while before trying to self-edit.

Cutcutcut. Owowow. But through the pain, I can see a leaner, stronger story emerging, and I'm very happy with the improvements in the story and also in my overall writing; anything that makes me a better writer is a good thing.

Speaking of pain...my favourite Mesozoic mice have finally kicked the bucket in the latest Parry and Carney. Alas, poor Ferd and Dan. I knew thee too briefly.



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