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May 23rd, 2013
03:20 pm
kayshapero
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 Flat Spray-On Optical Lens
Doesn't sound quite like a Fresnel lens either, at least unless there is a very careful pattern sprayed on.  Interesting, in any case...

Flat Spray-On Optical Lens Created

May 23, 2013 — A University of British Columbia engineer and a team of U.S. researchers have made a breakthrough utilizing spray-on technology that could revolutionize the way optical lenses are made and used.

Nearly all lenses -- whether in an eye, a camera, or a microscope -- are presently curved, which limits the aperture, or amount of light that enters.

"The idea of a flat lens goes way back to the 1960s when a Russian physicist came up with the theory," Chau says. "The challenge is that there are no naturally occurring materials to make that type of flat lens. Through trial and error, and years of research, we have come up with a fairly simple recipe for a spray-on material that can act as that flat lens."

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06:12 pm
whatwasthatbook
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 A Princess who escaped her book
The story starts with a mention of the reader, and the way the characters in the book perceive them - usually as nothing more than an overly large, protruding nose. Then the protaganist (the princess) takes over the story. She acts out the events of the book in which she's written. When she's finished she sometimes rides to the edges of the book, where she can cross into the dreams of the reader.

There's some unrest within the castle where she lives. Eventually, the court jester takes the throne from her parents, and has her cast out as a criminal or an outlaw of some sort. She flees the area, crossing over into the dreams of one of the previous readers. The book subsequently catches on fire and the entire work is destroyed.

When the reader whose mind she inhabits grows up, the princess convinces her to look into the book that she once lived in. They discover that it was likely privately published for personal amusement, and the girl re-writes the book with the princess' help (carefully omitting the jester from this version of the tale). After its publication, she crosses out of the girl's mind and into the book.

I can not for the life of me remember the name of this novel, although I recall I read it roughly six or seven years ago (not that this will necessarily be reflected in the publication date). Thank you for any help if you can give it!

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05:41 pm
suricattus
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 TRICKS OF THE TRADE ebook now available in the UK!
http://www.lauraannegilman.net/tricks-of-the-trade-ebook-now-available-in-the-uk/

After a delay that was making me twitch (and no, I don't know why there was a delay), TRICKS OF THE TRADE (Paranormal Scene Investigations #3) is available digitally in the UK!

Book 4, DRAGON JUSTICE, will be available 1 June.

*throws confetti*

(and while you're there, check out the short fiction of DON'T READ THIS BOOK and DRAGON VIRUS!)

Thanks to  reader Catherine Sharp for the news!

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10:23 pm
sbisson
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 My tweets
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05:09 pm
mariness
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 More Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Dragons closing
1. Over at Tor.com, we're discussing Johnny Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka. Come chat.

2. And that is finally the end of the Roald Dahl journey. Now, I think it's time to focus on people who are smaller. A lot smaller. With perhaps an introductory book first...

3. This morning I headed out to what will be one of my last trips to the Here Be Dragons Bookshoppe, which alas is having to close down because of the owner's health issues. It's incredibly frustrating: a bookstore selling used and independent books (and the occasional dragon) that's turning a profit...and this. The owner is offering the business for sale, and says she has a couple of interested prospects, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

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05:17 pm
haikujaguar
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 The Ai-Naidari Guidebook, Part 4: More About Food

The Ai-Naidari Guidebook
Part 4

UTENSILS
      Some names, then, for utensils:

      Serving plates are called yeqev (singular, yeqevi), and serving spoons are lolnev (lolnevi). This is also the word for “shovel.”
      The single plate you eat your serving off of is your jzangavi (plural, jzangav). If you are issued a bowl for food also, that is a yolikuli (yolikul, plural). If you are in a restaurant, you also get a gav qeja (more on that in the next section).
      Bowls for drinking are called yolnav (one yolnavi). Some drinks are served in cups, which are called bipren, or glasses, nubril. Bowls are the preferred way to drink, but glasses and cups do show up on tables, depending on the drink. Some drinks are never served in cups or glasses however, like tea (in the same way we could drink hot coffee from a glass, but most of us would put it in a mug).
      In addition to the bowls and plates, you will have your napkin holder, the kul kupi (the word kup meaning “small precious boxes”), a spoonish sort of thing called a nepi (plural nep) and a small cup/bowl for sauce called a bip hefa, which translates, more or less, to “bowl of yummy.”
      Note that bowls are frequently used for ceremonies. A ceremonial bowl, however, is a quni (plural, qun). You do not mix the two, linguistically or in practice.

FOOD CARTS AND RESTAURANTS
     Like us, the Ai-Naidar are fond of restaurants, probably because they think of eating as a social affair. Every district will have a selection of restaurants—places you walk in and sit or stand at tables to eat—and food carts, which will be set up here and there throughout the day (and tend to move on schedules).

     Restaurants, called ushkev, (singular is irregular ushkevani), tend to be themed on their chef’s interests: one chef might enjoy the preparation of fish, another might be more interested in desserts and small drinks (nav kiri, “small drinks,” are things that are drunk not for nutrition, but for taste, and come in limited servings; the Ai-Naidar would call coffee a small drink, or cocktails). Each district will have some number of these restaurants, specific to the personalities there. Restaurant owners and employees are almost always Merchants, though there are the occasional chefs who have risen to the level of Public Servitude by becoming so beloved and necessary to the functioning of their districts that they’re rewarded.
     Restaurants serve their food family style by default. When you arrive you are given the list of meals available that day and the first question you ask the person you’ve brought is, “What should we eat?” rather than “What do you think you’ll get?” the way we might. If you are dining alone, you will be served a special single-person serving, called a jzankuli. You can also request a single-person serving if you and the people you’re with are set on having separate meals, but your food will be served with a “sharing plate,” (gav qeja) specifically for that purpose: Kherishdar doesn’t charge for sharing plates!
     Restaurants all keep the same hours, from the beginning of the public “day” until after visiting hours end in the evening.

     Food carts, called gishirash (singular gishirashi), are also specific to their district, and tend to set up during specific times and at specific places; so the fruit pocket vendor will be on the corner by the physician in the morning, but will leave for the afternoon, or after he sells out. Food carts might have cooked food or edible produce, but all of it will tend to be small and easy to take with you.
      As with restaurants, food carts tend to assume sharing; if the food can be, it will be prepared or scored so that they can easily be broken apart and given to someone else. This sort of easy-to-eat-easy-to-share food is called dari-dari, which I assume came from “Ai-Naidari, Ai-Naidari,” (“person, person,” a sort of “one for you and one for you!” thing). So you might buy a hot fruit pocket from a street cart vendor, and it will come crimped in the center so you can break it off and give half to someone (without burning yourself). Or you can break it off and save the other half for yourself for later.

      My suspicion about the true difference between restaurants and food carts involves (as with everything) the caste system. Restaurants tend to be run by Merchant families, and are passed down by people who love feeding people and cooking. Food carts, on the other hand, tend to involve a single person’s passion: my observation is that they’re how Ai-Naidar deal with someone from some other caste who is mad to cook while the rest of his family—Priests, Guardians, farmers, etc—look on, puzzled. Such people are released to the Merchant caste in a way that allows them to feed people without needing a staff or infrastructure… their only other alternative is to become a chef for someone above the Wall of Birth, which would put them in the Servant caste, and when their liegelord or lady evaluates their ishas, they will take into account their interests and personality before suggesting one role or the other.
      I should note that beneath the Wall of Birth, everyone cooks. Families meter out those duties according to their own personalities and whims: one family might have the same people doing the cooking because they’re good at it and enjoy it, while other families might rotate cooking as part of the chores.

***

Food is a big topic, perhaps not surprisingly…!


Mirrored from MCAH Online.

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09:14 pm
bittercon
[marycatelli]
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 balticon's this weekend
Anyone interested in being bitter?  To stage a topic or two?

(If you haven't tried it before -- you do it by posting something on a con-panel-like topic -- you can rip off one of Balticon's from here -- linking back to here, and putting a posting here to point it out.  Then you watch the discussion and keep it on topic, or not if you find the digressions more interesting.)

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09:52 pm
sciamanna
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 My tweets
  • Wed, 22:21: RT @thejournal_ie: Oxfam says the world's wealthy could be hiding €14.3 trillion around the world - including €707 billion in Ireland http:…
  • Thu, 09:47: Dear Prozac, please kick in. 5am to 9am this morning was very bad, can't imagine taking a plane at the same time on Saturday in this state.
  • Thu, 09:48: (Better now, but shaky and exhausted. The plane on Saturday takes off at 7:20, and I'm really a bit worried.)
  • Thu, 14:13: RT @irinarempt: Medieval women doctors http://t.co/sd8Lr7i5nk
  • Thu, 15:35: I think I've just won the Cheap Shopper of the Year Award. I didn't even know you could buy a PAYG phone for €10...
  • Thu, 15:36: ...but the really cheap part is that it's replacing a semi-smart-phone I had *won* on Twitter a couple of years back, which just died :-D
  • Thu, 15:37: (Actually it didn't quite die. It just went dangerously delusional. And I never used the smart functions anyway, just phone & text.)
  • Thu, 15:40: And now the number-copying fun begins... ;-)
  • Thu, 16:20: It's a couple of days early! RT @spacedlaw: Lilacs in bloom.
  • Thu, 16:37: This phone may be cheap, but it's intuitive! #win (I'll still read the manual, because that's how I roll. It's very short anyway...)
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04:49 pm
lwe
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 My tweets
  • Thu, 01:21: RT @wonderella: Nobody who says "gay sex causes tornadoes" realizes how awesome that makes gay sex seem.
  • Thu, 03:29: Did a bunch of editing on Ishta's Companion and something I can't talk about yet, instead of writing. I'm okay with that.
  • Thu, 03:30: Oh, and I lost two followers! I noticed this time! I wonder why?
  • Thu, 16:22: Now playing: "Have You Seen the Saucers?" Jefferson Airplane, from the album "Early Flight." A definite blast from the past.

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02:39 pm
shadowhelm
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 My tweets
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04:19 pm
anton_p_nym
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 My tweets
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04:17 pm
bubblesbrnaid
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And now we have to replace some of the floor at the front door.

You know, if at any point y'all find out what I did to make the universe kick me, just let me know.

(My favorite part? My mother walks in and asks, "When did you let something leak inside?" Because, you know, I'm in charge of when things decide to wander in.)

Current Mood: frustratedfrustrated
Current Music: Hank Williams Jr. - All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight
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03:08 pm
fengi
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 Well hey!
Boing Boing is as close to pop culture as I will ever get. I feel the need to include a caveat: I've got endless scorn for that Holstee crap, but I appreciate tumblr. It's awesome and Livejournal is just as full of feels, flaws and stupid aphorisms by people of all ages. When LJ users grumble and mock, deep down we identify (and envy due to LJ's declining userbase).

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03:39 pm
jhetley
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 Thursday floral report
First bunchberry seen on the forest edges, some kind of viburnum blooming -- arrowwood or hobblebush most likely.  More rhodora in the bog.  Lilacs are getting serious, while the apples are shedding enough petals for white and pink shadows underneath.  I am a little surprised that the rhododendrons aren't showing color on the buds yet.

Windy, damp, but the road dried off enough for a bike ride.  And the forecast didn't show me a better offer in the next couple of days.

15.25 miles, 1:13:31

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02:14 pm
asakiyume
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 Wise business advice
Many of my creative friends here on LJ have considered entrepreneurial ventures involving their art, and of those creative friends, many of the writers have considered self-publishing, either as an adjunct to their traditional-publishing career or as an alternative.

If you need someone to talk to you intelligently about your options, let me recommend most highly Maggie Hogarth (haikujaguar on LJ), who offers her services here. A $20 email consultation is an excellent investment if you are thinking of pouring your resources into a venture.

I am very grateful--and expect to continue to be grateful--for very excellent free advice I've received from all sorts of people, from my nearest family members to friends I've only interacted with online. And I hope all of you have similar people in your life whom you can turn to. But there's always a risk of wearing out your welcome if you bother people **too** much. That's where a professional consultation comes in handy. (And, I should add, haikujaguar is a very generous soul who shares tips, ideas, and insights freely--and for free--on her LJ, too.)

While I'm at it, let me also recommend her book on running a Kickstarter. I'm not thinking of running one anytime soon, but her walk-through of the process and the things you need to take into account is fascinating.

From Spark to Finish: Running Your Kickstarter Campaign, available from Smashwords here and from Amazon here.



Current Music: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down: Holy Roller
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12:36 pm
shadesong
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 *happy sigh*
This trip has been very restorative in all kinds of ways.

Like I said, I knew this wouldn't be time *off* - cons are work for me! But it's a different kind of work and a different kind of busy from what's been plowing me under back home. And the shift has worked. (The shift and everything else. :) )

I haven't much time before departing for Madison, but given what a stressmonkey I've ben lately, I wanted y'all to know: I have had the reset I needed, and everything is good. :)

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11:21 am
shanna_s
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 Legal Fan Fiction?
I woke this morning rather abruptly with the sense that I needed to get out of bed and get dressed. And it's a good thing because I was just finishing breakfast when the contractor called to say he was on his way to look at my water heater cabinet. Normally, I'd have still been in my nightgown. My hair was pretty much the way I slept on it (which isn't that different from the way it normally looks -- I've gone to church without doing anything to my hair after sleeping on it, which is one of the reasons I normally wear it in a bun and one of the benefits of curly hair) and I had on no makeup, but I was wearing clothes. It turns out the issue goes beyond the door. There are also bad leaks. It will require removing the water heater, redoing the interior, fixing the leaks and redoing the exterior. On the up side, I don't have to pay for it (not directly, but I've contributed in HOA dues), and they said if I want to buy a new water heater, they'll install it for free while they're at it. This one is about 11 years old, so it may be a good idea.

While he was here, he looked at some other things for me, and I learned a lot about how my house is built. I also learned that my carpet is original to the house. I thought it wasn't wearing well for 16 or so year-old carpet, but it's apparently wearing incredibly well for 30-year-old carpet. Some things I thought would be major repairs (that I'd be responsible for) turned out to be relatively minor. The hard part would be moving stuff around to do the repairs. I also learned what houses like mine are currently selling for, which is a lot more than I paid. Not that I'm in the market to sell at the moment. I'm not in a position to buy something else, and this house suits me for the time being.

The big publishing news yesterday was that Amazon would start publishing fan fiction and sharing the revenue between the author and the license holder. The Internet exploded, but I don't think most people actually read the announcement (or possibly they didn't understand what they read). They've actually struck a deal with the license holder of the properties, so it's really more of a licensed media tie-in than true "fan fiction." It's also very limited, to just a few properties (like Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl) that are owned by a book packager, not individual authors. So it's not like you can now post your Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover fanfic on Amazon and legally make money off it. But you can submit your Vampire Diaries story that falls within certain guidelines and earn some money from it after signing over all rights to it. The contract terms are pretty stiff and not something to be entered into lightly (really, you're giving up everything in the story -- they can even use your original characters from your story in future works in that universe without paying you anything beyond the royalties you earn from your story). Then again, there's not much else legal you can do with fan fiction. It remains to be seen if this is the wave of the future and if more companies will sign on. I think it would be iffy for an individual author to get on board with this because of the danger of the fanfic authors claiming you stole their ideas if you ever write anything even remotely similar to something in a story that you've received some payment for. That's probably why the contract terms of this are so stiff and require signing over all rights, but that doesn't stop someone from filing a lawsuit, and it's expensive even to hire a lawyer to point out that the person signed a contract giving up all rights to everything in the story. A media conglomerate has lawyers on staff to handle that sort of thing, but it could be financially devastating to an individual author at my level. All my money goes into maintaining my house. I'd just have to send someone with a hammer and saw after anyone suing me.

I'm still forging ahead with this story. I suspect it will end up at least novelette or novella length because I'm at about 3,000 words and just entering the second act, so it will likely be at least 10,000 words. I thought this would be quick and easy, but I'm only managing about 1,000 words a day. Maybe today I won't be quite as easily sidetracked because I don't have a lot of other stuff to deal with.

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12:02 pm
james_nicoll
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 For no good reason
Authors in 1967's Dangerous Visions by year of debut (length of career at the time DV came out indicated in brackets):

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Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment count unavailable comment(s); comment here or there.

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10:58 am
shadesong
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 The Care and Feeding of Shira at Wiscon
Totally copied and pasted from last year, with minor updatery.

Say hi!
I know a lot of people! This means I will often be with people. Please do not let this dissuade you from coming up and saying hi - my friends are friendly people too! I may take a sec to recognize you, or I may recognize you instantly. It will be a surprise to all of us, what happens. Seriously, though, I do love meeting people, and I'll be sad if I don't get to meet you, so come say hi. I'll be the short one.

No, really, I'll be the short one.
4'11". Further data: Curly calico hair that currently wanders down to midback, burgundy cats-eye-ish glasses. Curvy.

Gender
I identify as genderqueer, but I use female pronouns. Some people can totally tell when I'm feeling more on the male side of the gender spectrum, and some can't; I don't expect you to. Keeping in mind that I'm not cisgender is good enough for me.

Please don't.
* Wiscon is less crowded than other cons, so my startle reflex is less primed, but still: grabbing or hugging me from behind or playing Guess Who will not work out in a way that you enjoy. I would love to hug you! Make sure I know you're there first.
* Having my hair played with is a very intimate thing. If you're not sure if we're that intimate, we're probably not. If you think we might be, ask. :)
* No photographs, please! If you do catch a bit of me in a photo you must post to Facebook, don't tag me.

Logistics
I'm arriving Thursday afternoon, leaving Monday. If you don't have my cell phone number and feel that you require it, e-mail me.

My body wants to kill me.
* Seizure response info can be found here.
* I am not currently on anti-seizure medication, because pretty much the last possible AED started to give me unlivable side effects. I am managing my epilepsy in my own way, and I've been able to keep my seizures as well controlled as they were with the drugs. I am not seeking advice; I'm doing fine, thank you!
* I have celiac disease. This makes the "feeding' part of "care and feeding" difficult. I believe Wiscon's restaurant guide has a list of GF-friendly restaurants. I would love to go to lunch or dinner with you. Please understand that when I need to know what restaurant first, it's not that I'm being a diva, it's just that I don't want to be sick for a week. If I say no, it's not that I don't love you, it's that I'm not sure about my ability to eat safely where you're going. You don't have to amend your dinner plans for me, it's cool, we can hang out later! Indian food tends to be safe, and there's an Italian place nearby that has GF pasta.

Where I'll Be
Dishing out cookies at the Gathering, on my panels, at my reading! I will be attending the Queers Dig Time Lords/Outer Alliance party for sure - most parties, really! - and Genderfloomp. I'll probably be bouncing merrily along the sixth floor all night. Like Edward Bloom, I am a social person.

My Schedule
Friday
Coffee, Tea, and Subversion (1pm-4pm; the Gathering): Enjoy coffee, tea, ice water, and/or cookies! Members of the Interstitial Arts Foundation serve up refreshments and a bit of chat about the interstitial arts and the work of the Foundation.

Women's Speculative Poetry Now (9pm): Ursula K. Le Guin publishes Finding My Elegy: New and Selected Poems; Tracy K. Smith's science fiction-y collection Life on Mars wins a Pulitzer; Aqueduct issues The Moment of Change, an anthology of feminist speculative verse. If you were standing at the intersection of poetry and speculative fiction, 2012 was an interesting year. In this roundtable, poets, critics, and editors take turns briefly addressing several interlocking questions: What are the most interesting developments in 21st century speculative poetry by women? Where's the action—what magazines, presses, and virtual / physical communities are fostering those trends? What are the audiences—how are these poets reaching readers and listeners? We'll devote much of the allotted time to an exploratory conversation involving the roundtable audience.

Saturday
Open Secrets: A Speculative Poetry Reading (2:30pm): Members of the Secret Poetry Cabal (a speculative poetry group) will read their work.

Spindles and Spitfire (4pm): Join us for a reading packed full of sinister whimsy, hidden hearts, folkloric sensibilities and SNACKS! Lisa Bradley dances with the skeletons in her closet. Shira Lipkin will apparently write anything if you dare her to on Twitter. Alex Dally MacFarlane works at a spindle of bones and gold. Patty Templeton writes hellpunk in a handbasket, full of ghosts, freaks and fools.

Sunday
Exclusion and Inclusion, or Kicking People Out: A How-To Guide (10am): Often efforts to make spaces welcoming are confounded by an unwillingness to expel people who are already there. We'll discuss the issues involved in creating communities that are less alienating. How do we in fandom balance a desire not to explicitly exclude with the need to prevent implicit exclusion? How do we handle the backlash from active exclusion? What role do allies play in establishing and enforcing policies? How are opportunities for education balanced against the exhaustive requirement of providing that education? How do issues of age and ageism complicate these questions? And how do we actually say "you aren't welcome back"?

A Very Special Disability Panel (1pm): You've seen these panelists present on disability, impairment, abl(e)ism, normate bigotry, and similar weighty subjects. That won't happen here. Using a gameshow format, they'll explore vital topics including the silliest, the least effective, the most deadly, the sexiest, and the hardest to clean. The only reference to the social (justice) model of disability will be right here, in this sentence.


As usual, if you can only come to one thing, come to my reading! And the Very Special Disability panel - I'm really looking forward to that one!

I hope to see you there! <3

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10:37 am
whatwasthatbook
[koolkatkrossing]

[Link]

 Fantasy book, please help
I read this book a good 6 years ago in highschool. I remember the cover had a girl with red hair. She was the protagonist, roman-esk people invaded, her dad died fighting the first wave, he died as he killed the last man. Girl inherits kingdom, and goes to get aid. She finds a wizard who ends up channeling lightning through himself and frying. Her cousin had a troop of amazing horseback archers. The ultimate goal is to get the aid of these sentient white lions that live in the arctic far north.

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04:28 pm
mizkit
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 too. many. books.

I know it’s blasphemy, but argh, there are too. many. books. in this house. Between Christmas and EasterCon, I (we, but I cop to it: *I*) had some significant Bookstores Accidents, and while this is most of the time merely inconvenient because there are never enough shelves, when I’m facing moving, all I can really wonder is why I didn’t bloody well buy digital copies of ALL THESE BOOKS.

I mean, I know why. It’s far, far more satisfying to go browse and buy physical books than it is to do the same with e-books. And the local bookstore from which I prefer to buy books doesn’t have an e-storefront, so I can’t even go browse and then order digital copies and keep the money flowing to Chapters. And I *do* bring loads of books back to the secondhand shop for credit (thus compounding the problem in one way, but nevermind that right now), but right now I have a *ton* of unread books, which obviously are not best for trading in.

I suppose all I can do is either pack them up or spend the next few weeks reading frantically. I mean, there’re what, maybe 30 books max, I could no doubt read them all–well, in a week, if I could just flop down and read without interruption, but ahahahah.

Maybe I should make a list and have people vote on the order I should read them in. Or maybe I should just START READING.

In the meantime, I really should instigate a rule of only buying one book by an author in hardcopy (because it’s easier/more fun to browse/discover that way), and if I like it, buy the rest digitally. I’m doing that with Rachel Caine’s Morganville books…

(x-posted from The Essential Kit)

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11:16 am
theweaselking
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Christopher Lee to release SECOND full-length heavy metal album about Charlemagne.

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10:31 am
haikujaguar
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 Whimsy: Bring Your Character to Work Day

If there’s anything quite as disconcerting to me when I’m working as a book that keeps growing, I don’t know what it is. But Mindtouch keeps not ending. That’s okay, really: the book needs the length, so I am willing to give it. But it’s a little distressing when the book you thought would be lucky to hit 40,000 words is pushing 100,000. I hope you all are ready for a lot of xenotherapist meet-cute!

Anyway, while going through my closet I found this wonderful plush Shaddragon made for me way, way back when and thought: Here! A wonderful way to combat my anxiety! So Vasiht’h is coming with me to work. He’s a therapist, right? And he’s soft and pose-able! This makes him twice as calming!


Vasiht’h at home with me, having a look at page one of the novel. I really didn’t feel like working last night, so I tucked him next to me as incentive. It helped, since I dutifully wrote about thirteen pages before quitting for the night.


On the commute! My phone’s always banging around so I gave Vasiht’h the job of keeping it in place. He did well until the ambulance made me swerve off the road.

He liked the 80s alternative station, though we agree that Depeche Mode is more Lisinthir than Jahir.


And we made it to work! I use my fifteen minute breaks to write a few paragraphs, though today I’m likely to be too busy for that. He makes good company, though. And very helpful, as you can see.

Maybe before I go home I can photograph him on campus. The book does take place on one! The appropriateness is pleasing. >.<

Today, in addition to having mini-Vasiht'h with me, I am also wearing the Stone Moon necklace Kythryne made after reading the Jokka trilogy. I am an amazingly lucky artist, to have inspired such wonderful gifts. It’s hard not to be grateful, even standing at the day job desk. :)

Anyway. Onward! The Guidebook may be late, but it will go up this week.

Mirrored from MCAH Online.

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07:29 am
sartorias
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 The Greatest 20th Century Symphonists You've Never Heard Of. Post 1: Kurt Atterberg
A few months ago, calimac came over for a visit, and played for me some clips from The Greatest 20th Century Symphonists You've Never Heard Of.

I was so enchanted that I begged him to make a post, and here is the beginning.

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01:00 pm
beingfrugal

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 7 Secrets to Smart Shopping on the Web

http://www.beingfrugal.net/smart-shopping-on-the-web/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=smart-shopping-on-the-web

http://www.beingfrugal.net/?p=4868

I’ll admit it – I’m a shopping addict. But the last place you’ll see me, if I can help it, is at a shopping mall or retail store. I’m an online shopper and greatly prefer it [...]

Read the rest of 7 Secrets to Smart Shopping on the Web at BeingFrugal.net.

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