Rodent Ramblings

What's in a Word

jgkress@hotmail.com — Sat, 16 Feb 08 10:09:00 UT

So, I don't consider myself a feminist, and I don't think I am at a significant disadvantage because of my gender. In fact, I get somewhat annoyed when people try to tell me I should feel that way.

However, this does not mean I am unaware of the way cultural stereotypes can impact the world. I was in a discussion recently about how Hillary Clinton may have a harder time being judged a good leader because she is female, and that while male politicians aim for a certain sensitivity, she is deemed weak if she cries. There is a small amount of truth there, I guess, but on the other end of the spectrum, I'm not sure Hillary Clinton *is* a good leader regardless of gender and so I don't think she should be handicapped in either direction.

But, that's politics, a subject I have neither the information nor the inclination to discuss intelligently.

What actually brought this to mind was dictionary.com's word of the day:

Word of the Day for Saturday, February 16, 2008

virago \vuh-RAH-go; vuh-RAY-go\, noun:

1. A woman of extraordinary stature, strength, and courage.
2. A woman regarded as loud, scolding, ill-tempered, quarrelsome, or overbearing.

Same word, completely antithetical connotations. It brought to mind the conversations on how strong women are considered to be domineering (there are other words appropriate, but I try to avoid swearing here).

Now, to be fair, I am sure there are words like this for men as well, probably relating to sensitivity vs. masculinity or a some such, a dichotomy that is equally unfair.

It just didn't show up in my inbox this morning.

Blogging and Chipmunks

jgkress@hotmail.com — Fri, 9 Nov 07 13:03:00 UT

I've always been vaguely interested in the online journals of others and so will graze on them if something happens to catch my eye. As for my lackluster keeping of my own online journal (my husband hates the word blog and so I try very hard not to use it, unless, like with the title I'm just plain feeling lazy) I find I have very little to say that would interest others.

Which is why it amazes me when I see some of the things that are out there. Neil Gaiman, for example, manages to be both entertaining and startlingly down-to-earth given a schedule that would send most mere mortals into the nearest bar, or under the nearest bed depending on their age and proclivities. And often his discussions aren't about the glamour of junkets and press parties, though there is some of that, but about ordinary, endearing little things like chipmunks.

In this case a chipmunk in his drainage pipe that he is doing everything in his power to remove safely. Being a rampant animal lover, I, of course, want to do everything I can to encourage such behavior.

Then there is Nancy's blog which is usually short and often though-provoking and deals a lot with the methods and madness of writers.

I guess it's not fair to compare my pitiful little bl-online journal with those of people who are so much more successful, not to mention just plain interesting, but it does make me long to be wittier.

Alas, I will have to settle for being wordy, though only in this format. My stories are never long enough.

And I Didn't Even Have to Wait Forever

jgkress@hotmail.com — Fri, 12 Oct 07 20:31:00 UT

I have wanted to write for a bit now but was afraid it would interfere with my revisions of the most recent story, which I really just want to be done.

However, I finished the most recent draft and have not yet heard back from either of the readers I sent it to to be torn apart. This is a necessary part of my process because I have a very, very big problem for a writer.

I hate re-reading my own stories. It's not that I think they're bad or anything. It's just I already know what happens so it's not as interesting as reading something *new*. And unlike some of my favorites I can't re-read my stuff to gain new insights and thoughts because I know what it means, where the ideas came from, what it's trying to say and do. There's no mystery. So even when I do read through my stories I generally do it too quickly and with too little attention to be of any use.

But, this is not what this entry was supposed to be about. This entry is to celebrate that I have a new idea. This is unprecedented.

See, while I may have wanted to write, I had nothing to write about. It generally takes up to three months before I can focus on a new idea after finishing a story. For Clarion I had to have a whole list of ideas before I went.

Yet, here I am only a couple of weeks away from a completed first draft and an idea has come to me that I am excited to write about. It gives me hope that perhaps I can start being more prolific.

On the other hand, I may have to ponder the idea for weeks before I can get it on paper. That often happens to me. Even if it goes that way, at least I have one. I'm ahead of the game for now.

The End of an Era?

jgkress@hotmail.com — Thu, 11 Oct 07 11:10:00 UT

So, I turned twenty-nine today. I feel like I should be morning my lost use or dreading the coming next birthday. I know lots of people that have and are griping about getting older as they enter the last year as a twenty-something. The problem?

Twenty-nine just isn't old. I've never thought it was and as I've gotten closer to the age it's seemed even less so. Seventy is old. Forty or so is middle age.

If anything all I can say is that I have not yet accomplished even part of what I would have liked to by this age. Then again I also realize that the goals I said when I was a kid are, in actually, pretty unrealistic. Not that I shouldn't keep trying.

So, I only feel like this is a significant birthday in a meta sort of way, and I think that's a pretty good thing.

Ask me how I feel next year.

Oddities and Relief

jgkress@hotmail.com — Tue, 9 Oct 07 15:27:00 UT

The next version of the story is done and it was nowhere near as painful or time-consuming as I had expected. Which means I probably didn't make half the changes I needed to. Well, it's off to some of my favorite readers and I'll see what they have to say.

In the meantime I am amused by the cosmic irony of the universe. I have been out of work, and most recently working from home, due to a minor heart problem. Still over the last couple of weeks I have been feeling better and not hibernating. Before this I was sleeping sixteen hours a day because things like stairs were wiping me out. Anyway, I have been out of work and keeping my boss up to date on my condition. They want me to come back full time as soon as possible. Which I am not even remotely ready to do.

So the universe beings work to me. I don't go out a lot, the grocery store being my big outing of late. And twice in one week I have run into co-workers there, people who have no business bing anywhere neat my town since I commute forty minutes to get to work. It's been a little weird, and I can only assume it amuses some greater force to play around with me.

Or my work is sending people to spy on me. I'm not sure which view would be more egotistical as I simply am not that important. Regardless it amused me.

Investment and Denial

jgkress@hotmail.com — Fri, 5 Oct 07 15:08:00 UT

So my most recently written story was critiqued on Wednesday and the critique was very positive. Which is a good thing, and yet I find myself having trouble processing the input this time.

I suspect it may be because I was more invested in this story than usual. I often finish a story and hate it and so very much want input to make it better. But I liked this one. Oh, I admit it is far from perfect and needs work. I can even see where the flaws are and the critique addressed those.

Yet, I am having trouble figuring out exactly how to change things to make it better and I am finding that I really don't want to do so. It's completely irrational.

So, I will suck it up, read my notes and tear my baby apart to make it better, but it's with a new feeling of sadness or perhaps fear that I do so.

Which I hope will only last until the revisions are done and the story actually *is* better.

How to Stalk and Capture Ideas

jgkress@hotmail.com — Mon, 1 Oct 07 17:11:00 UT

My husband and I seem to have picked up a bug. Sore throat, fever, generally achy misery. This'll pass by tomorrow. Just in time for me to have to have an echo-something-or-other done by the cardiologist. And then Wednesday my story gets critiqued. Lovely week all around.

However, none of this is as frustrating as the elusive idea. I've wanted to write all week. And I have nothing to write *about*. There are faint glimmers of ideas that flit through my consciousness, dreams that linger just until I get to the notepad to write them down, lines and scenes and characters all playing hide-and-seek in the back of my mind and vanishing as soon as I try to do anything with them.

This isn't new of course and certainly not unique to me. Doesn't make it anymore tolerable. I am currently trying to stalk the ideas, corner them somehow, mostly by trying very hard not to think about it at all. Unfortunately, being sick I have very little else to do.

Well, eventually, when I am least expecting it one of the tricky ideas will capture me. And then I will have no choice but to write.

This will no doubt happen when I am trying to revise the story using the information from my critique. It always does seem to happen that way.

Writing Habits

jgkress@hotmail.com — Fri, 28 Sep 07 18:12:00 UT

I'm taking a writing class at Writers and Books that my mother-in-law is teaching and my friend Pat is attending. We have dinner before class every week and at the most recent gathering we were discussing writing habits.

It started as an off-hand comment that I made about using my headphones to listen to music and how this hampered my husband's innate ability to be talking, making noise, etc. right when I want to write. Given we share an office this is a pretty regular event.

Anyway, Nancy was surprised to find I could write with music going. She apparently needs more quiet. I envy here the ability to write without some filtering mechanism in that way. I find without music going I am aware of every creak in the floorboards, can track the cats throughout the house, and an desperately conscious of every sigh, laugh, or whatnot Brian (the aforementioned husband) happens to make. Nancy has none of these issues.

Pat apparently does but he writes with a well-known movie playing in the background. I've never tried this method but I suspect I'd end up watching a lot of movies and doing very little writing.

We tangentally also discussed the wheres of writing. While I have a laptop and try to do the writing at coffee shop thing or in a room not shared with Brian, it almost never works. My best writing happens at my desk on my desktop.

Pat apparently writes at his kitchen table and Nancy in her office though she has to use a laptop for reasons up to her to explain.

What I really took out of this conversation is what creatures of habit writers tend to be. We all had our preferences and rituals, and while I imagine we could all write in other surrounds, at least for me it is a more difficult and painful process.

It's also interesting to see exactly how much really goes into creating a productive writing environment and how individualistic that environment can be. I know that I have been writing more since we got full-spectrum lighting (though I full accept that probably has to do with its effects on my very mild depression rather than an inherent element of writing. I know people though that must have certain scents or candles around, can handle different levels of noise and activity, must not have internet access, can only write on paper. The list goes on.

All I can say therefore is that if someone is having trouble writing they might want to consider mixing up the environment to create something that works better for them. It makes a bigger difference than one would think.

So I Lied

jgkress@hotmail.com — Thu, 27 Sep 07 20:26:00 UT

So, my mother-in-law recently started a blog, and for some reason it got me thinking about this journal. So, I revisited it and noted that my very last entry states I am revamping to add entries more often. That was three years ago.

Obviously, I lied. I make no such promises here.

I just finished IMPOSSIBLE THINGS, a short story collection by Connie Willis. Now, the horrible person that I am I had never read any of her work before. This is a sin of an unbelievable magnitude for someone that states she wants to be a science fiction writer.

It's also too bad because now I have to go back and read all her stuff rather than having been keeping up all along. It really was fantastic. I can't state this enough. Especially since there aren't enough truly funny writers in the field, at least not that I have seen so if you know of others let me know. Connie Willis is hysterical.

Okay, so I said this would be something of a review journal so lets go over IMPOSSIBLE THINGS. Please be warned that while I do not intend to give plot summaries or anything there may be unintentional spoilers.

Also, please be warned that there will be rambling and babbling. I am making no attempt to be erudite or witty. I'm just spewing forth my thoughts in no particular order. There may be something of interest to you in there. Or not. Like I said, no promises.

The first story in the collection is "The Last of the Winnebagos". I'm pretty sure this story won some award when it came out, and it no doubt deserved it as it is a finely crafted story. If I was more dedicated I would find out which one. Regardless, well this was a nicely put together piece and one that makes a strong statement it is actually my least favorite in the collection.

Part of this is no doubt preference. I was reading more for entertainment than for intellectual stimulation and so the more comedic pieces (which were still incredibly intellectual in their own rights) appealed more to my mood. However, I also think this particular story hinged a bit too much on coincidence. I'm not entirely sure that's the correct way to state what I mean, but I'm going with it. The story is a strange confluence of events that feed into one another to make a statement that transcends the individual segments to create a poignant sentiment. But for me it felt a little forced, like the elements didn't quite blend as smoothly as I would have liked.

On the other hand the language was gorgeous and the subject matter one I would never have dreamed of taking on myself, at least not with as subtly as Connie Willis does, and most certainly not with as much grace.

It is a serious story. This is important because it is then followed by "Even the Queen" which is perhaps the funniest story of the lot. The introduction to the story states it was written as a response to people claiming she didn't write enough about Women's Issues. Certainly, this story could be considered doing such, but not in the way most obvious on initial reading.

Yes, it deals with feminism and the extremist branch of such, a movement I have taken issue with for a very long time. It also looks at the more moderate elements in that movement. However, that is not even remotely what this story is about.

It's about mother, daughters, sisters, and mother-in-laws, and the complex byplays and interactions within and among all of those relationships.

It is funny, but it also is a bit of great writing because without harping or coming across as trying to hard it speaks to the truth of those relationships and the wonder and annoyance that is inherent in them all. Poking fun at feminists is just icing.

Here is where I prove that I am an idiot. The third story in the collection was "Schwarzchild Radius". This felt like a very literary type of story to me, and it had deep and ponderous meaning. Which I only sort of grasped. The scientific concept in the title is explained and the story is told through an engaging and sympathetic character. I enjoyed reading it and I felt for the protagonist. However, at the end of the story I felt a bit let down. Not because the story was unsuccessful. It made the point it intended, and I think probably was deeply meaningful to many readers. I just felt like while I understood intellectually what the story was trying to do I never quite felt it. Instead I ended up feeling a tad lost. I will assume this is my shortcoming and not the story's. Especially as I don't tend to find war stories terribly engaging in general.

"Ado" is probably my favorite of the stories in part because it deals with the ideas of censorship and political correctness, which tend to be pet peeves of mine. It is terrifically amusing in a dark way. Sadly, though the events are exaggerated they ring all too true. This story amuses and frightens because of that.

This is also the first story where I noticed the inclusion of the almost satirical details that seem both overblown and absolutely true at the same time. Without reading Connie Willis's work this is a hard quality to define, but it is part of what makes her work magical. It is a sense of the realistic and how real life so often borders on the absurd. She takes this and in specific details pushes it that tiny bit further to truly undercut how strange and wonderful and weird life can be. I'm sure it is in the earlier stories as well, it certainly exists in all the subsequent tales, but this story is where I first came aware of it.

The introduction to "Spice Pogrom" describes a love for screwball comedies. I almost skipped the story based on that as I am not a fan. I'm glad I didn't. This is another very, very funny story. It read quickly, I loved the characters, and the sappy ending made me grin.

That said this story did feel a bit fluffier than the others in the collection. Most of them had some larger message or significance or emotional impact that they accomplished with greater or lesser success. This story felt more like it was exactly what it seemed. A silly little homage to a certain type of movie. This is in no way bad, and as that it was very successful, but it did stand out in contrast to the others for that reason.

"Winter's Tale" was perhaps the quietest story in the collection and the only one to almost make me cry. On the surface it seems to be a simple story like "Spice Pogrom" but the depth of feeling, of longing, despair, and quiet love is overwhelming. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

"Chance" and "In the Late Cretaceous" were both good stories, but for me not memorable.

With "Chance" I think the issue I had was that I simply couldn't engage with the protagonist. She's desperately unhappy, and the story addresses the reasons for that, but she's so passive to her situation that I had trouble feeling for her the way I suspect I was intended to. Now, part of this is that for the story to work she had to be thinking about the past. The whole concept is about missed opportunities, and she does take action in the story to correct the past issue. She just does nothing to address her actual life. I'm not sure the concept could have worked if she were more proactive. The resignation is essential in the tapestry of the story, and in some ways makes everything that much sadder. It just didn't work for me. This is again, probably my biases coming through rather than an inherent flaw, but regardless I wanted more from the story.

"In the Late Cretaceous" was actually a very good story and I had very little to take issue with in it. It just faded in comparison to the other stories. Perhaps this is because it was a archtypical story. It had the humor and satirical details in spades, it had the sympathetic characters, and the not so sympathetic, it poked fun at popular culture and trends, or at least those obsessed with them. It did everything I could expect from the other stories in this collection. However, in and of itself it didn't have the strength and soul that the others seemed to have. It felt like a puzzle with all the pieces but not quite in the right places. Not because it itself wasn't complete, but because it was surrounded by better puzzles. Which probably makes no sense to anyone but me.

"Time Out" was an interesting story as the true clever nature of it didn't hit me until much later when I was reading "At the Rialto" which is the last story in the collection. I'm going to discuss these together because to me they were strongly related. "Time Out" is about a time movement experiment. This is sort of like time travel but not exactly and it definitely touches upon the concept of time and space as the same thing at some level. "At the Rialto" is about quantum physics and the nature of Hollywood. And while this is going to come across as a horribly contrived science geek comment, the two stories really did become entangled for me. While I enjoyed "Time Out" and understood it, it didn't stand out from the pack by itself. I finished it and went on to the next story.

That story, "Jack", will be discussed later and has no bearing on the current stories under discussion except that it acted as a buffer between them. I read it and went on to "At the Rialto".

I was half way though "At the Rialto" when a strange sense of deja vu kicked it. It wasn't that the story itself was familiar, but the essence and structure struck a familiar chord in me. When I finished reading it I realized that on some level it and "Time Out" were making the same statements about the nature of reality and read together were an interesting thesis on everything we don't understand about science and the human heart.

Obviously, I like the stories a lot.

"Time Out" is the more human of the two but "At the Rialto" is funnier. Both are very good in their own rights. Together they are immensely thought-provoking.

Or I could just be weird. It's hard to say especially as I don't want to give too much of any of the stories away.

Poor "Jack". Having gotten sandwiched between the entangled stories this story perhaps isn't going to be treated fairly in this discussion. I kind of thought this was going to be a Jack the Ripper story, and I think there is a mention to him, or at least something that could be, but instead this story takes a very interesting view of vampires. It's a sad and tragic piece at its whole and very well crafted. It's also full of fascinating literary allusions such as Jack Harker, a girl named Mina, and warden named Mrs. Lucy. Oh and Renfrew and a vampire. And none of this adds up to what you would expect. It's a charming and thoughtful story and it drew me in despite my dislike of war stories.

So, now all of these comments should add up to some overarching view on the book. I'm pretty sure I have nothing that I can say to do that. Overall, it was a good and enjoyable collection by a versatile and talented woman and I highly recommend it.

CORALINE Through the Looking Glass

jgkress@hotmail.com — Fri, 10 Sep 04 12:34:00 UT

NOTE: There may be spoilers for the book discussed.

I know it's not a terrible original lens for discussing Neil Gaiman's CORALINE, but the story bore some similarity to Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. Both dealt with a young girl being dragged into a bizarre world, both dealt with a journey to return home, and both had a scary matriarch barring the way.

CORALINE, however, has a more modern cast with the young heroine facing everyday challenges as school shopping and work-at-home parents. Of course, she also has to deal with evil other parents that want to sew buttons on her eyes, a particularly creepy concept.

Coraline's guide through the more surreal perils is not a white rabbit, but a dryly sarcastic and self-absorbed black cat. And that's only one of the ways in which Gaiman's story is the better of the two options.

A more important reason is that Gaiman's writing is excellent. The style is simple, very much like the best writing happening in young adult stories today. It is concise, clear, and extremely evocative. It is also, for the most part, completely transparent, which is to say that it does not impede the actual story in the telling.

There can be no doubt that Gaiman is also brilliantly creative. He creates a situation that resonates as both exceptionally strange and yet hauntingly familiar. This story is the stuff of nightmares and an exploration of subconscious fears made real.

I very much enjoyed this book.

Now, however, I should discuss the things that didn't work quite as well for me.

First, I would like to return to the simplicity of the language. While it is true that this was largely a strength of the work, there were areas where the language became opaque simply because it was so uncomplicated. At times the plainer language just could not keep up with the complexity of the ideas Gaiman was exploring, and in those places the story seemed oversimplified.

Secondly, and this was perhaps my biggest issue with the narrative, I felt there were some pacing problems. The development of Coraline's real world and her subsequent entrapment in the dark world through the door was built up slowly, everything was developed in great detail creating a languorous tone that works well with the nature of the story. This slow, careful development continues through to Coraline's quest and escape. And had the story ended there no pacing problems would have existed, though the ending might have felt a bit predictable and sentimental.

Instead, Gaiman continues the tale, and rightly so. However, this last section while being similar in language moves much more quickly than the parts that came before. It felt, when I was reading it, slightly rushed and lacking in the beauty and depth that characterized the first two-thirds of the book. This is not to say that the writing was bad by any means. It was still well crafted and engaging. However, in comparison to what came before it was flat, no longer resonating as deeply with the surreal.

By the time I was finished I couldn't believe that was the end of the story. Yes, Coraline had vanquished her foe, and did so brilliantly, but I had felt like I was being hurtled towards something, and the ending I got didn't, to me, live up to that change in pacing.

Finally, while Gaiman brilliantly weaved together a number of what seemed initially to be unrelated details, there were a few that were left unconnected, or at least unexplored that I would have liked to know more about. Examples of this were Mr. Bobo and his mice, which were crucial to the story and yet somewhat nebulous, and the entity between the two worlds. I never did figure out what that creature's part in everything was and rather thought that it would have a bigger role in the last part of the book. Instead it was just forgotten, which seemed off to me if only because Gaiman spent so much time building its significance.

So, in the end I was left highly entertained, more than a little disturbed, and undeniably charmed by this story. I was also, unfortunately, left, thanks to the pacing issue and few dangling plot thread, with the impression that the story was not quite finished. It felt more like a lull in the storm than an actual ending when I read the last page.

I have no idea if this was intentional or not. I'm not even sure for all I listed those issues that created the impression as flaws that it wasn't actually the only ending that would have worked. For Coraline is an exceptional young girl, and while her adventure was over her story almost certainly wasn't. Perhaps any other emotional resolution would have just been sentimental.

Revamping

jgkress@hotmail.com — Tue, 7 Sep 04 14:41:00 UT

So, given my extraordiaryly bad track record at keeping up with this journal as a commentary on my life, and taking into account my life is relatively uninteresting in general, I have decided to change how I use this journal entirely.

First, I'm going to start with actually writing in it with some regularity. Note this does not mean every day or even every week. Shooting for once a month or so here, and that may be ambitious.

Second, I'm not just going to catalog the events of my life. I don't find that interesting to write, and I doubt many find it any more worthwhile to read.

So, instead, I intend to use this as a forum to ponder the better books I have read. See my mood for why I'd think anyone care about my opinions about this anyway.

Regardless, I like discussing books, and I like hearing other people discuss books. So, that is what I am going to do.

(See, my entry on STRANGER THINGS HAPPEN for some idea on what this is probably going to be like).

So, first up in the next few days will be CORALINE by Neil Gaiman cause that's what I just finished reading more or less.

For those interested in contributing here, I would love some recommendations on current novels or short story collections that people think might make a good entry here, or that I'd just enjoy. Also feel free to argue with me about my opinions, tell me I just dn't get it, etc.

Anyway, that's it for now. If anyone things this is a horrible idea you can tell me that too. It won't stop me from doing it anyway, but you can try. :)

The Great Debate

jgkress@hotmail.com — Wed, 10 Mar 04 12:26:00 UT

So, I'm leaving for Plattsburgh the day after tomorrow and besides the ever present What do I pack? question now there is the great and mighty mystery of Do I bring my laptop? In the past I have always done so, but 1)That was when I had a laptop that sort of worked properly. That is I didn't need to reset the clock and volume controls everytime it was unplugged. 2)When I do bring it, I never seem to use it anyway because I'm so busy visiting everyone. 3) My writing has been all but non-existant since Clarion and has only mildly improved. 4)I have two books to be discussed in class right after break I'm going to need to read.

However, perhaps I should bring it because 1) I also have a first chapter of my thesis due and need to write it on something. 2) I am sort of working on a new story even if right now I hate everything about it. 3) It's my laptop. I never leave it behind.

So, yeah, I hav eno idea if I'm going to bring it with me or not. Feel free to vote in if for some weird reason you care.

In other news, I aced my logic exam. Woo hoo. Now if I can do have as well in my Seminar in British Writers midterm that I have in...three hours...all will be good. Okay, maybe not, but my grades at least will be sitting pretty.

I had this really weird dream last night that I walking back to Brockport from Plattsburgh. Note that's a seven hour DRIVE so pretty ridiculous. More silly, Brian was with me and we kept running into members of the Brockport Union of Roleplayers (BURP for short). This included Kyle and Nikki who now live in Ohio. It was strange. Must have something to do with my legs aching from the new fitness machine we got. :)

Anyway, that's about all from this front. 'Till later, All!

One Thing After Another

jgkress@hotmail.com — Sun, 7 Mar 04 08:00:00 UT

I have a cold, so I'm going to try to keep this short, but I had to rant somewhere.

Things have not been going well. I found out the other day that my mom had a heart attack. She's okay now, and at home, but it was pretty scary news to receive and I'm worried about how it will affect her other medical issues. Still, she's doing what her doctors say, and the damage was minimal. I guess if it had to happen, it's good news that it wasn't a lot more major.

That was certainly the worst thing I had to deal with, but it wasn't the only one. Our hot water heater decided to die on us. Of course it did this after a huge thaw which means we had to get the basement pumped out before we could get it replaced. Sigh...

We also got our bathroom repainted. It looks really nice and I'd be thrilled, but, and given the nature of this entry you knew there was a but, they're trying to charge us eight hundred dollars more than the estimate. Which was only nine hundred to eleven hundred dollars to begin with so a significant mark up.

Sometimes I swear the universe is an inately hostile place. Either way, i'm off to drown my cold in some hot chocolate.

Til later, all!

On the Writing Front

jgkress@hotmail.com — Wed, 25 Feb 04 11:57:00 UT

Well, it seems like my insane inability to write at all that's been in place since Clarion has finally let up. Now, I'm just writing extremely badly. Sigh...

Still, it's nice to be writing at all, and I probably shouldn't complain since this burst of ability could end at any time.

On the flip-side I've become almost addicted to revising. On one hand this is good as it means I really fix what's wrong with the stories rather than rush them out the door. On the other hand, I am heading into serious over-editing territory in a few places, and I'm afraid I won't recognize when I've crossed the line.

Anywho, I have two stories making the rounds right now; one is at Asimov's (I hope--it's been two months already) and the other is at Realms of Fantasy (also out for two months but there's a website to show they actually just got it).

The one at ROF actually went out too early I think. I've made some major revisions since I sent it. So, hopefully when they don't like it I can get the revision out and do better.

So, that's pretty much all the writing news about me. Just want to throw in a congrats to all my Clarion classmates who have gotten major sales. I'm proud of you guys!

Bye for now, all!

The Other Parts of The Weekend

jgkress@hotmail.com — Tue, 24 Feb 04 17:21:00 UT

Now that there has been a little bit of time I can talk about those things that happened this weekend that didn't revolve around Kiki.

Brian and I have long had plans to go to NYC with Dan and Mary Kate to see MAMMA MIA. Because the universe is generally a sadistic place this weekend was, of course, the same weekend Kiki fell ill. So we were understandably less than fully involved.

However, there was some good bits. We arrived at Dan and MK's Friday evening, but didn't leave for New York until Saturday morning. Still, we got there with time enough to visit the science museum. While the first section was a little disturbing because we were the only ones older than twelve in sight, it was still a lot of fun. Plus, there was a machine that mapped the features of a face and showed what people would look like if they were a different race. None of them looked particularly like me, but the Asian picture was cute.

We also had time to realize that Dan had left his dress shirt back in Albany. And Brian had left his entire suit. It was kind of funny in a really inconvenient way. Dan bought a new shirt and Brian went to the show in jeans.

And the show was good. It isn't going into my top three (which are Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, and Rent) but it was fun and kind 0of silly. Just wish I had been in a better mood to enjoy it.

Anyway, in non-weekendy news my friend Kyle has won some sort of poetry contest and invited me to the conference the award will be presented at with him this summer. It's in Florida, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to go since I'm also going to Worldcon this summer and money is a factor, but I'm happy that he won regardless.

And that's about it for me at the moment. More later. Bye, All!