And the wheels are turning and turning...

[greygirlbeast]

I've been making myself go to bed at 2 ayem the last two nights (or mornings), and slowly I am catching up on all the sleep I've lost. Still, here it is 1:12 pm, and I'm still groggy. It's cold in Atlanta this afternoon, but we got marvelous thunderstorms yesterday, and the warm will be back tomorrow, so that's not so bad.

Yesterday. Let's see. It was all about getting Sirenia Digest #28 put together. I did the corrections to "Pickman's Other Model" that I marked when we last read through the story on the 18th, but had not yet made. I have a feeling I'm going to have to read over this one one more time before I send it out into the world. Anyway, that took about an hour and a half. Then I snurched HPL's "Pickman's Model" from Wikisource and spent a bit of time making sure the formatting matched HPL's original (there were some discrepencies), because I want Sirenia readers who haven't read "Pickman's Model" to have it on hand. I gathered up some images I want to use in the issue. I wrote the prolegomena, which is mostly about inspiration. So, it's looking like #28 will go out tomorrow. I still have to do the layout today, and I'm waiting on Vince's illustration. Oh, and this issue will also include, for all those new subscribers, one of the older stories, one of my favourites, "The Sphinx's Kiss" (from #14, January 2007). I think I will be very happy with this issue.

Also, yesterday, the contracts for the German-language editions of Threshold and Low Red Moon arrived. Of course, the IRS still hasn't sent me the forms I need to send to my German publisher to prove that, yes, I really am an American citizen (in order to avoid the hefty German taxes). The post also brought a package from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, because Spooky had ordered a bottle of their Baghdad for me (amber, saffron, and bergamot, with mandarin, nutmeg, bulgar rose, musk, and sandalwood), plus a bunch of "imps" (and I'm not gonna list them all, but her faves are Zombi and Séance). Baghdad is the new smell of me.

Last night, there was Manhattan-style clam chowder for dinner, followed by a pretty good episode of Torchwood and a very good episode of Angel ("Damage"). I started reading another JVP paper yesterday — "Cranial anatomy of Ennatosaurus tecton (Synapsida: Caseidae) from the Middle Permian of Russia and the evolutionary relationship of the Caseidae" — but didn't finish it.

Another casualty of the March 14th-15th tornadoes, one I have not yet mentioned, was the second of the two trees in Freedom Park that played an important role in a dream I wrote of way back on March 8th, 2006. Somewhere, there's an entry with a photograph of the two trees standing, but the journal's gotten so long, I'll be damned if I can find it. Anyway, one of the two trees was already dead and fell in storms last year. These two oaks were a bit special to me, because of the dream, and because we'd done some magick there, and they were just very fine trees in their own right (which is the most important thing). There's a photo, taken late on Thursday, behind the cut:







My thanks to furrylittleprob for pointing me to more LJ icons by artist Liz Amini-Holmes.

Yeah. I hear ya, platypus. Where's my damn coffee?

Postscript (2:34 p.m.) — Thanks to cliff52 for pointing out that the photo of the two trees can be found in my March 10th, 2006 journal entry (third photo down).

Comments

Picture

[cliff52.livejournal.com]

March 10, 2006, 3rd Picture?

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Wow... That's so unfortunate. A lot of really old, really nice trees took it really hard, that week...

I'm glad that you did get to do the ritual work, under it, that you'd wanted to do, though...

[jtglover.livejournal.com]

Did you think last night's Torchwood was specifically Bradbury-influenced, or simply carnival? I was afraid of an Autumn People ripoff going in, and it wound up being both more (not just Bradbury) and less (sorta creature-of-the-week) than what I expected. Sadly I fell asleep, for the first time ever while watching that show, but I'll probably catch the second half next Saturday.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Did you think last night's Torchwood was specifically Bradbury-influenced, or simply carnival?

I would simply say Bradbury-influenced.

[docbrite.livejournal.com]

Of course, the IRS still hasn't sent me the forms I need to send to my German publisher to prove that, yes, I really am an American citizen (in order to avoid the hefty German taxes).

I've always understood that it was your agent's responsibility to provide these ... ?

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I've always understood that it was your agent's responsibility to provide these ... ?

Maybe it varies from agent to agent, and Writer's House has done some of the paperwork for me, but it's been up to me (in this instance, and the Italian edition of Threshold) to acquire these certification documents from the IRS.

[derekcfpegritz.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to read "Pickman's Other Model"! Something tells me that Megan and I (and probably aRvin, too, though he's very, very busy these days--even more so than I am) will end up writing a song based on it. Don't worry: you'll be the first to hear the song when it's done!

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to read "Pickman's Other Model"! Something tells me that Megan and I (and probably aRvin, too, though he's very, very busy these days--even more so than I am) will end up writing a song based on it. Don't worry: you'll be the first to hear the song when it's done!

Do it with my blessings!

[tiel.livejournal.com]

I've not sniffed Baghdad but it sounds lovely. Was this your first experience with BPAL?

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I've not sniffed Baghdad but it sounds lovely. Was this your first experience with BPAL?

So far, I've loved most of the scents I've sampled, and I adore Baghdad.

[deekskusting.livejournal.com]

Sirena arrived safely in my aether box over the night. You have no idea how exited I am to read Pickman's other Model. Lovecraft's original has long been on of my favorite tales of his (along with the Horror at Red Hook). Pickman's Model has even influenced much of my behavior in Second Life. (the "paintings" have been temporarily removed from the gaslight Pickman's room pending some prim sorting, and I think I heard young Elenore poking around up there the night of the St. Paddy's Day party at Ruby's)

But the question remains,

[cdennismoore.livejournal.com]

have you TRULY not been to Oxford Town?

[reverendcrofoot.livejournal.com]

I am wandering the pages of Tales of Pain and Wonder and am amazed by the stories found wherein. All I can say Key Rye Stuh I just finished Breakfast in the House of the Rising Sun. And I fucking bow before you.

Salumbo, Tears Seven Times Salt, Superheros, Glass Coffin, And the sheer anticipation when I realized Jimmy DeSade was in this story and this is THE DEAL GONE BAD...

Again been a while since I've had that holy-crap-this-is-really-close to-what-I'm-writing, moment. And it makes me chuckle and shake my head.