"The Fisher Boy"

One of the songs that's been going around and round in my head. Lyrics courtesy sovay:

Oh, the bonny fisher boy
That brings the fishes from the sea
Oh, the bonny fisher boy
The fisher boy got hold of me

On Bamboroughshire's rocky shore
Just as you enter Boumer Raw
There lives the bonny fisher boy
The fisher boy that beats them all

Oh, the bonny fisher boy
That brings the fishes from the sea
Oh, the bonny fisher boy
The fisher boy got hold of me

My mother sent me out one day
To gather cockles from the sea
Before I had been long away
The fisher boy fell in with me

A sailor I will never marry
Nor soldier for he's got no brass
But I will have a fisher boy
Because I am a fisher's lass

Oh, the bonny fisher boy
That brings the fishes from the sea
Oh, the bonny fisher boy
The fisher boy got hold of me

On Bamboroughshire's rocky shore
Just as you enter Boumer Raw
There lives the bonny fisher boy
The fisher boy that beats them all

And the crowd goes wild!

So, seven and a half hours sleep — a minor miracle, no small feat, hardly chopped liver — and then it all concludes in an Epic Dream which seemed to be a surreal hybrid of Star Wars space opera and the whole War in Heaven/Contstantine sort of thing, Paradise Lost with robots and starfighters, and the warring angels were singing This Mortal Coil's cover of Colin Newman's song "Alone." Such are my dreams. At least I can explain the song's presence: it was actually playing on the bedroom stereo as I slept, so that was mere intrusion.

Alone, with too much generosity.
A theatre mask of hostility attracts
Assaults occur, infrequently
And those who come to conquer
Need strength
But damage accumulates
Still moving him to tears
Retain a sense of humor.
Retain a sense of humor.
Retain a sense of humor.
Retain a sense of humor.

I will be pondering this all damned day.

———

Why have I never gone to San Diego for ComiCon? A) It's in San Diego, home of the Creation Research Institute; B) I cannot even begin to justify spending the money on the trip; C) this quote from setsuled's latest LJ entry, reporting back from the con:

Finally, the Grindhouse panel had to leave, and the little Comic-Con administrator guy had time to fill because Kevin Smith was still stuck in traffic, twenty miles away. He said to the crowd, "Well, in room 20 upstairs, Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, and Forrest J. Ackerman are conducting a panel. We can put up the video feed of that--" A few cheers came from the crowd. "--Or, Warner Brothers has provided us with footage from their upcoming movie, Beerfest." Lots of cheers, hoots, and applause came from the audience. "Well, okay," the little man said sadly, "I guess culture loses to-day."

And it occurs to me, again, that there is usually something sort of grotesque about mass appeal.

Yesterday. Mostly, it was spent laying out and proofing Sirenia Digest No. 8, which will go out to readers sometime today, as soon as I have the final PDF. If you've not subscribed, it's not too late to get No. 8, which includes both my new short story, "The Cryomancer's Daughter" and Sonya Taaffe's very wonderful tale, "The Depth Oracle." Of course, if you're saving your money to see Beerfest, I'll understand. So, yes, most of the day went to the digest. I also had to get some information to Pandemonium Books in Boston regarding my signing/reading there August 5th. I sent "Pony" and "pas-en-arrière" to Vince, because neither were illustrated for the digest, but both need illustrations for Tales from the Woeful Platypus. I did a lot of things that have more to do with getting ready to leave Atlanta on Tuesday than with writing.

Oh. I also looked in on my MySpace page. I still haven't had a chance to speak with my agent regarding the MySpace TOS.

Also, I decided what I'd wear to the Boston signing. By the way, here's the announcement again, for anyone who missed it the first two times and has no idea what I'm talking about: I will be signing and reading at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge (4 Pleasant Street) on Saturday, August 5th, from 8-10 p.m. You can get directions to Pandemonium from their website (link above). And yes, I will sign whatever you bring for me to sign. I cannot yet say which books will be available at Pandemonium. I've asked them to push Low Red Moon and Murder of Angels.

I have decided that I will most likely be reading "Houses Under the Sea," a short story I wrote and sold back in 2004, but which has not yet been published. It's one of my favourites. Okay. Stuff to do. Three days worth of stuff, all crammed tightly into today. Mostly, I'll be going over the CEM for Daughter of Hounds One Last Time, as though these tinkerings and obsessions over grammar have anything at all to do with the book's success or failure.

Eight is away.

By now, everyone ought to have received Sirenia Digest No. 8. As always, comments are welcome and encouraged.

I just noticed that Amazon is offering Daughter of Hounds paired with docbrite's latest, Soul Kitchen, the both for only $21.94. I call it a peculiar and yet fortuitous and flattering pairing, and you should take advantage of it while the offer lasts.

Nebari.net's registration expires on September 6th. It's hard to believe that it will have been four years. I am dithering as to whether I shall renew the domain. I've had so little spare time lately, I can't even recall the last time I updated the site. At least eight months ago, maybe longer. But I also hate to see it frelling go. So. We shall see.

We've had good walks the last couple of evenings, as the weather's turned a bit cooler. Yesterday, a brilliant sunset — competing shades of fiery pink and dusky violet-grey. There have been lots of bats, which is encouraging.