I'll remember what strawberries tasted like.

[greygirlbeast]

Dreamsick today. And I'll try hard to make this a short entry. My thanks to everyone who left comments yesterday. They were needed and appreciated. They'll be needed again, today, though I doubt I have anything even half so interesting to say. But please, do not try to engage me in anything even remotely resembling an argument. Trust me. Not today. Anyway, yesterday, I wrote 1,197 words on "Derma Sutra (1891)", which I'd thought, days ago, would be a 2,000-word vignette, but which has blossomed into something like actual short story. You can read it, of course, in the forthcoming issue of Sirenia Digest, which will be #32. It will also include a wonderful piece by Sonya Taaffe (sovay), as well as Geoffrey Goodwin's (readingthedark) interview with artist Richard Kirk (who, among many other things, provided illustrations for several of my short story collections (including Tales of Pain and Wonder, Wrong Things, From Weird and Distant Shores, and To Charles Fort, With Love). Not too late for new subscribers to get this issue. Just click here.

Now, I have this list, because if I don't do it as a list, I'll forget something:

1) The KGB Fantastic Fiction Auction was an enormous success. I have the press release from Ellen Datlow (ellen_datlow), cohost of the monthly Manhattan event, and she writes: "New York, NY (July 29, 2008) – The KGB Fantastic Fiction Raffle was a huge success. Sixty nine highly-coveted prizes were awarded to individuals from all over the world, including winners in Germany and Australia. The raffle has generated enough money to keep the series viable for two years. In addition, the hosts will now be able to pay the readers a small stipend for their participation." My congratulations (and thanks) to Mr. Michael Curry, who won the signed copy of the 3rd edition of Tales of Pain and Wonder, and also to Mr. Chris Dill, winner of the one-year subscription to Sirenia Digest, plus all 32 back issues. And if you have no idea what the KGB Bar readings are, and happen to live in the NYC area, you should check it out. I read there in May 2001, and will be reading again on November 16th.

2) Please have a look at the current eBay auctions. Surprisingly, there's still no bid on Alabaster.

3) Don't forget that subpress is now taking preorders for A is for Alien. Yes, this book will very likely sell out before it is published.

4) I'm going to begin a really hard push on the forthcoming mass-market paperback edition of Daughter of Hounds. It'll be out September 2nd, and you can now preorder it from Amazon.com for a mere $7.99 + s&h.

Last night I read more of Fraser's Triassic book, which I've been neglecting and need to finish. Spooky and I unsuccessfully tried very hard to hang a picture, but ran afoul of punky plaster and the weird steel hurricane braces built into the old walls of this place. Maybe we'll have better luck tonight. I had a nap at the feet of Dr. Muñoz. Later, there was Second Life, but really, the less said about that, the better.

Okay. Coffee, Platypus. All set. If I could just stow this dizzying futuredread that's locked onto me like a rabid lamprey. Right now, I choose to blame Generation Why (Or Gen Y, or the Echo Boomers, or what the hell ever you want to call people born in the '80s and '90s), and would like nothing more than to give the whole instant-gratification seeking, peer-oriented lot of them a good attention-span enema. Yeah, sure, I'm getting old. That's a fact. And I'm not happy about it. Another fact. But at least I remember what came before, and I know I'm not entitled, and the world is not here to serve me, or keep me entertained, or hypnotized. For that matter, while I'm at it, I place equal blame on the parents of the Why crowd —— Boomers and Xers —— because, ultimately, they're the ones to blame for this.

Comments

[whiskeychick.livejournal.com]

i anxiously await the next Sirenia Digest.

I'm probably very solo in my endeavors with my brood; but, they _must_ work for everything. Weekly library trips are near highlights of their days; hiking in the Cascades to identify flora, fauna and other creatures we might be lucky to find; biking down the old railroad tracks to find history grown over; trips to the beach to fish, comb and camp. Electronics, although a part of our lives are saved for when inclement weather pounds on us.

My peers think I'm a cold-hearted bitch. My brood thinks me just cruel because they have not the life like their bratty peers. However, I know they will relish how wonderfully dynamic and simply beautiful they're youth was.

"If I could just stow this dizzying futuredread that's locked onto me like a rabid lamprey."....I so know that feeling.

hang in there.

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

I came late to the party: for me, both vacations in the woods and working in the garden were punishments in my family, because there wasn't any time to sit back and enjoy it all. These days, I go out onto my back porch at night, look at the Carolina anoles that use the leaves of my Buddha's Hand citron tree as hammocks, and my heart could burst from the sheer wonder of it all.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

These days, I go out onto my back porch at night, look at the Carolina anoles that use the leaves of my Buddha's Hand citron tree as hammocks, and my heart could burst from the sheer wonder of it all.

Beaches, anoles, whatever it takes...

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

I wish I could have both. I really need to get out to see Moonstone Beach.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I'm probably very solo in my endeavors with my brood; but, they _must_ work for everything. Weekly library trips are near highlights of their days; hiking in the Cascades to identify flora, fauna and other creatures we might be lucky to find; biking down the old railroad tracks to find history grown over; trips to the beach to fish, comb and camp. Electronics, although a part of our lives are saved for when inclement weather pounds on us.

My peers think I'm a cold-hearted bitch. My brood thinks me just cruel because they have not the life like their bratty peers. However, I know they will relish how wonderfully dynamic and simply beautiful they're youth was.

I applaud you. Really. Please, for the sake of tomorrow, keep it up.

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

Seconded. Trust me: the bratty friends will disappear as your brood realizes how shallow they are.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

the bratty friends will disappear as your brood realizes how shallow they are.

Maybe "Wading Pool Generation" would be appropriate...

[humglum.livejournal.com]

oh, not even that deep. I say Puddle.