But Not the Hippopotamus

All day I've been thinking about making this post ... or not making it. John Lennon's murder was certainly an important event in my life ... one of those "I'll always remember where I was" moments, and I really am too young to be a first generation Beatles fan.

I have memories of their animated show and some of their songs that I formed during the course of the band's active years ... but I didn't really "discover" the Beatles until 7th grade ... that's 1977 and deep right on the cusp of the first solid round of Beatle-revival-mania. At that point, though, I was bit HARD by the Beatles bug. Before long I owned all their U.S. albums ... and was informed enough to know the difference between the U.S. and U.K. releases (a feat that, in those pre-Internet days, required many trips to the library's reading room and microfiche files).

But today is not a day I particularly want to mark. I'd rather do that with his birthday (October 9th) than the anniversary of his death. Still, THIS is the day the world seems to prefer commemorating ... and I've seen some very lovely and heartfelt ruminations on the subject today.

John Kovalic, for example, posted the text of an article he wrote marking this occasion 19 years ago ... and many people simply posted links to videos set to John's music. One that struck me in particular was the clip that John Wick posted of the song God which begins with an audio clip from the Monday Night Football broadcast on December 8, 1980. In it, Howard Cosell interrupts his own broadcast to announce the tragic news. Another poignant clip shows that the news of John's death was, in fact, Walter Cronkite's lead story on the CBS Evening News the next night (at the time, CNN was less than 6 months old ... and cable TV was still a luxury you could only get in the densest population zones).

After all that thinking, I realized I don't really have anything in particular to say to mark this occasion. (Perhaps next year for the 30th anniversary.) But I DO I want to sit back and just listen to some of John Lennon's songs.

Took Molly back to the vet today. She still has the mites and will need another month of meds, but the vet was very encouraged by her hair growth and that she's not gnawing her paws. She's also been almost two weeks out of the Cone of Shame and she has not pawed her eyes badly at all. She is all curled up under a blanket on her pillow beside the computer, fast asleep.

Amazingly enough, I had a stroke of luck - a lesson where the teacher didn't come. I decided to devote the time to finishing the book, and now I'm writing the last review:
( Read more... )( Read more... )

Well, that's it. It was an excellent duology, and I loved it very much. I'm going to start CJ's diaries now, and I hope they'll be as good. I loved everything in it - well developed characters, much information about the world, a few unexpected twists, and an excellent plot. Thank you so much, Sherwood!

"My Amphibious Love: Ponyo's re-envisioning of 'The Little Mermaid,'" to The Internet Review of Science Fiction.

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Rose Hilliard at St. Martin's just sent me a pic of the AWESOME cover!

WHOA, BABY! HAWT!! We may have to invent a whole new genre called URBAN SEXY!

That's the good news.

The bad news is it won't be released until July 2010!

Waaaah! The wait, the delicious agony of the WAIT!

But hey--plenty of time to get in a pre-order!

I am so happy to announce that The Knight Agency authors have made a fabulous showing in this year's Romantic Times BookReview Awards nominations. We have several cited for career achievement and a whole slew nominated in the Reviewers' Choice categories. The whole TKA list is up at the agency blog, but I have to offer a few shout outs for my own clients here:

Nalini Singh is nominated in the Best Urban Fantasy category for Best Urban Fantasy Protagonist for ANGELS' BLOOD and is also nominated in the Best Contemporary and Paranormal Romance category for Paranormal Action Adventure Romance for BRANDED BY FIRE.

Next up is Shannon K. Butcher, also with two nominations. Shannon's BURNING ALIVE, the debut volume in her Sentinel Wars series, is also up for Best Paranormal Action Adventure Romance, and her romantic suspense, LOVE YOU TO DEATH, is nominated in the Best Romantic Suspense/Ingrigue Novels category under Romantic Intrigue.

Congratulations, ladies, and to all the other nominees as well!

"Sssir ... there hasss been a fatality at the excavation sssite."
"Excellent!"

The Drow Politician is definitely going to be one of the ongoing sources of mischief in the Bendar Annetti stories ... but I think I should be clear, he's not just greedy or manipulative or corrupt ... he's EVIL. That won't always seem true because he has chosen POLITICS as his source of power, and that requires the ongoing deniable plausibility that you're working for the public good.

Before anyone gets too bent out of shape, I'm not saying that I think all politicians are evil. I'm saying that a lot of evil can get done in the pursuit of good causes ... the road to hell being paved with good intentions, and all that. It only takes one clever-tongued, popular politician in a position of power to wreak a ton of damage.

Note, that I'm specifically NOT bringing real world politicians into this discussion ... and I'd be pleased if no one else did. I don't want this to become a debate on right vs. left or blue vs. red or one administration vs. another ... I just want it to serve as a general point. You have to hold your political representatives accountable for DOING the good they promise ... and responsible for the bad that happens on their watch.

In this particular doodle, I think that the drow was aware of, perhaps even sponsoring, some arcane ritual being done at "the excavation site" and that he expects the "fatality" is either a planned sacrifice or the death of a meddling bugbear P.I.

I don't know what kind of creature the robed priest is ... but he's kinda lumpy and creepy!

Yeah, yeah, I realize that 50 F and rainy is not "cold weather" for much of the world. Guys, I have only ever lived in Maharashtra and California, and mostly in hot parts of both! I am thin-blooded!

Currently in oven: chopped baking potatoes, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, and garlic. (What I had minus onions; I'm extremely sensitive to onion fumes and couldn't face them when I can't open a window.)

Awaiting oven: Chicken parts rubbed with brown sugar, cumin, salt, and pepper.

In refrigerator marinating: more chicken parts soaking in soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and chopped garlic.

Contemplating: cake. Though that would require leaving house to buy milk.

Tell me of your favorite cold weather food, either ones you make or ones you just eat. (Recipes are great if you actually make them yourself.)

Cancelled both City of Heroes and Aion; I might renew CoH later on. I should considered checking out Champions Online again. I will definately check out Final Fantasy XIII and the Star Wars MMO. Anyway, this leaves LOTRO as my sole MMO at the moment.

If you have five minutes to spare, give this animated short--Off His Rockers--a look. It's cute and looks like it COULD be an early Pixar product ... but it's not. According to my friend taliabriscoe, it was made by someone at Disney-MGM as a side project and wound up being shown with the theatrical release of Honey, I Blew Up The Kid (but not included on the DVD release).

It's a terrific cartoon ... a great early mix of computer and traditional animation, and shows what Disney COULD have achieved on their own if they'd let their visionaries have the sort of free reign that Pixar gave to theirs.


Oh, and the music is by Bruce Broughton, the guy who wrote the score for Silverado. How cool is THAT?!?