Buggery and Skullduggery.

[greygirlbeast]

Yeah, well, the last forty-eight hours or so are a useless blur of anger and depression (and, I know, that's probably stuff I should reserve for the private journal). I'm getting, at best, five hours sleep a night, and that's after I finally broke down and started taking the damned Ambien again. Too, too much in my head, and no way to drain it all away. And we leave for Rhode Island on Tuesday. That's only five days left, and neither me nor Spooky are anywhere near ready. Asleep last night after three, awake at eight. When I sleep badly, Spooky sleeps badly, too.

I've been sitting here listening to a CD of chanteys, ballads, and sea songs which sovay was kind enough to send me.

My hair is black again.

I've been watching too much news, CNN (WarTV®), the escalating Israeli-Lebanese conflict. It's all insanity and leaves me with little but disgust and new disappointment in humankind. Disgust with Israel and Hezbollah and the Lebanese government and the U.S., and, really, I don't know why I bother. This bloody logic of retribution is beyond my abilities of comprehension.

We've managed our walks the last couple of evenings, just after twilight, despite the heat and humidity and lousy-air warnings. Both nights we've seen bats, and last night Spooky saw a bright shooting star in the east. I missed it, distracted and looking the other way (at nothing in particular). There were talll pink and bluish thunderheads to the south and east, catching the very last of the sunlight, and they were filled with lightning, but we got no rain.

Vince is just about done with his illustration for "The Cryomancer's Daughter (Murder Ballad No. 3)," and I'm liking it a great deal. If you've not already subscribed to Sirenia Digest, I wish you would. I'm pretty sure I'm doing my best new writing for it. Plus, this month you get Sonya Taaffe's "The Depth Oracle." Just click here, read the FAQ, and subscribe.

Day before yesterday, I read a good bit of Lynn Truss' Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, which I quite enjoyed, much to my surprise.

Anyway. I should go and try to make a productive day. I can only hope that, while we're in New England, my vision will clear and life after Daughter of Hounds (preorder now) will become a little less daunting prospect. Because right now, it's daunting as hell. Oh, here are a couple of photos of me, hopelessly sleepless, with ruined makeup and crabbit and new hair and blind yellow eye, about 2:30 a.m. this morning.






Oh, in case you missed this announcement from Monday: "First off, I know a lot of you have been waiting on the details of the Boston signing. Finally, I have them. 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). I'll likely be reading something from Daughter of Hounds (unless I change my mind), and yes, I will sign whatever you bring for me to sign. I cannot yet say which books will be available at Pandemonium. If you've been waiting for me to make an appearance in the Massachusetts-Rhode Island area, this is it. There may not be another for quite some time, so I hope you can make it."

Comments

[morganxpage.livejournal.com]

Aw, the second photo is cccuuuttteee!

~Morgan

[humglum.livejournal.com]

It really annoys me that she can look so cute, even when her eyeliner is smudged to the point where it looks like I socked her in the eye.

[sovay]

Even hopelessly sleepless, you photograph well. That is simply not fair.

I'm very glad you like the sea-songs.

[wishlish.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should try Rozerem. I've been taking it for nearly 2 months, and my insomnia improved greatly. I'm getting a couple of hours of interrupted sleep, and I don't feel drowsy from it. I'm still not sleeping perfectly- I've had my days where I feel like the narrator from Fight Club- but I'm feeling much better most of the time. (The other issue for me is the introduction of an apnea mask- now you too can sleep with an oxygen mask like Michael Jackson and emphysema patients! Sexy!)

I reallyreally want to come up and see you in Boston. I'll have just gotten back from my cruise (first vacation in many years), so I don't know if I can, but I'll try very hard.

Horribly dumb question- is your left eye blind because of the yellowness, or is the eye yellow because of the blindness, or are the two unrelated?

Hope you get some sleep soon. The weather is foul for sleeping; we've been shutting the door and running the air a few hours in the bedroom before sleeptime to cool the room down. I don't know what else will work.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Horribly dumb question- is your left eye blind because of the yellowness, or is the eye yellow because of the blindness, or are the two unrelated?

Actually, the eye is hazel green (when I have the human contact lenses in). But a scar on the retina, the cause of the blindness, causes it to flash yellow in a lot of photographs. Other people get "red eye." My left eye gets "yellow eye."

[oneirophrenia.livejournal.com]

That's quite interesting: I get "yellow-eye" in photos all the time, too, though as far as I know I haven't any retinal scarring or anything like that. When folks take flash-photos of me, my eyes sometimes shine yellowish/white like a deer's caught in headlights.

*Shrug* I guess it's just more evidence that I'm built to be nocturnal.

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

The second one should be the author photo on a future book cover.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

By mere chance, I will most likely be at the signing... it's about 330 miles away, so chance may get in the way...

However, if that happens, my eldest son will be stuck in the area up there with my mom even longer! =)

As for sea chanteys, my favorite recording is still the one the Coast Guard did back in the 70's with Jug of This and The Dreadnought.

[drewsilla.livejournal.com]

Lovely!! Anyone who can look that great in the middle of the night is awesome in my book. Also, we have the same hair!! Color and everything! *pets my hair twin* My hubby did my hair last week. Nice to have someone do it for you, huh? No black hands for me!!

[cause-catyljan.livejournal.com]

I really like the pictures. Your hair looks great - I've found black to be the superior colour in most circumstances. I hope the weather changes to better suit your mood, both literally and figuratively.

[elmocho.livejournal.com]

It may be the crabbit or your illuminated eye, but I had flashes of Blade Runner on the second shot.

[tactileson.livejournal.com]

Well, since everyone else are voicing their compliments... I'll just say that my first thought upon seeing the photos were, "I never realized what nice lips you have."

[stonescorpion.livejournal.com]

Happy News! Marlan is OUT on project Runway.

There is indeed reasons to stay up late and watch way too much TV.

Scorp

[blubeagle.livejournal.com]

Pretty. I agree that the second should be the next author's photo.