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greygirlbeastSee, it's not insomnia when you just stay up too late reading. No. It's not. That's called stupid. And so now I'm not awake, and I'm having to augment my sugar-free Red Bull by listening to Hubero going on about Sméagol freaking him out with carrot cards and a squeegee board. Funny cats are no fit substitute for sleep.
Currently, I'm being horrified by a new "texting" acronym: LMBO. Which is apparently what the Jesus has instructed good Xtians, fans of the Jonas Brothers, and devotees of Stephenie Meyer to use instead of LMAO. Because it's more wholesome to say "butt" than to say "ass." Really, people. What the fuck was wrong with "haha"? It's just as easy to "text" as LMAO. Four letters. Actually, it's easier to type than LMAO, because of the QWERTY keyboard layout. Also, it's logical. "Haha" isn't an acronym. It's an example of onomatopoeic language. Do not badly reinvent the wheel, people. That's why we have the Microsoft Corporation.
Yesterday was a symphony of...well, not dull. Actually, anything but dull. Exhausting, though, and vexing. I am now working on so many different projects at once, switching gears throws out my back about once a day. Or throws out my brain. Or whatever. Yesterday, after the blog entry, and after I brushed my teeth, and answered email, after all that, I had to send electronic files of the Authors Note and Author's Biography from The Drowning Girl: A Memoir to Penguin, because...let's not go there. I think people are forgetting how to retype. It all began with James Watt in 1779, unless it began with Johannes Gutenberg's printing press in 1436, unless it actually began with Bi Sheng in China in 1040, ol' Bi Sheng and his porcelain movable type. Wow. There's nine hundred and seventy-one years of laziness. And a huge digression.
I was saying, yesterday, after the files were sent to my editor at Penguin, I got back to my work on XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (guys, the TRUTH is out there, and it will be revealed in late November or early December, I am told, and we all have to sit tight until then). After that I was greeted by a mammoth email from my editor at Penguin, who needed clarification of several illegible comments I'd written on the CEM for The Drowning Girl: A Memoir, illegible because the Lamictal (which I take for the seizures) makes my hands shake so badly. And that meant comparing my photostat (back to xeros + graphus) with her notes and...it took awhile, and a lot of patience on the part of the vocally reluctant (but ever helpful) Spooky. Then we had spaghetti. Then we proofread "John Four" for the first time since September 24, 2010 (I finished writing it on September 22, 2010), which is being reprinted in S. T. Joshi's A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, to be released in limited and trade editions in 2012 by Centipede Press (and maybe I wasn't suppose to announce that yet, but there you go). That was work yesterday, leaving out a few victuals and bits of flayed skin.
"John Four" is one of my best and strangest Lovecraftian stories, and I'm pleased to see it will be reprinted in such a good home.
Oh, and my comp copies of Stephen Jones The Book of Horror arrived, which reprints my story, "Charcloth, Firesteel, and Flint."
Last night, some very good RP in Insilico, and two episodes of Mad Men, and then, even though I was in bed by two-thirty ayem, I was awake until three forty-five, reading this, that, and the other. Included were two more stories from the Halloween anthology, Sarah Langan's "The Great Pumpkin Arrives at Last" and "The Sticks" by Charlee Jacob. The former is, at best, so-so. It relies too heavily on a somewhat unconvincing "twist ending." The latter, though, was quite effective, a story reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," though only in its most basic premise. I will admit, I'm uncomfortable talking about other authors' stories here, but there's a long tradition of authors commentating on authors, and if I'm going to read the damned things, I can at least be honest.
Spooky's no-longer-premature Hallowe'en Sale (!!!) in her Etsy shop, Dreaming Squid Dollworks and Sundries—20% off on everything—continues. Only one necklace and a bracelet left (plus paintings and other cool stuff), and who knows when she'll have time to make more. When making a purchase, IF YOU WANT THE SALE PRICE, you need to, at checkout, use the sale code SPOOK.
By the way, this is the one year anniversary of our return to Providence from Portland, Oregon. One year ago last night, we spent the whole night awake in the almost entirely deserted Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Then...well, hell ensued. Anyway, here is a token from that night, which I may auction someday on eBay. It's companion, the shortest novel I ever wrote on a napkin, was auctioned last autumn.
Photograph Copyright © 2011 Kathryn A. Pollnac. Text Copyright © 2010 by Caitlín R. Kiernan.
Currently, I'm being horrified by a new "texting" acronym: LMBO. Which is apparently what the Jesus has instructed good Xtians, fans of the Jonas Brothers, and devotees of Stephenie Meyer to use instead of LMAO. Because it's more wholesome to say "butt" than to say "ass." Really, people. What the fuck was wrong with "haha"? It's just as easy to "text" as LMAO. Four letters. Actually, it's easier to type than LMAO, because of the QWERTY keyboard layout. Also, it's logical. "Haha" isn't an acronym. It's an example of onomatopoeic language. Do not badly reinvent the wheel, people. That's why we have the Microsoft Corporation.
Yesterday was a symphony of...well, not dull. Actually, anything but dull. Exhausting, though, and vexing. I am now working on so many different projects at once, switching gears throws out my back about once a day. Or throws out my brain. Or whatever. Yesterday, after the blog entry, and after I brushed my teeth, and answered email, after all that, I had to send electronic files of the Authors Note and Author's Biography from The Drowning Girl: A Memoir to Penguin, because...let's not go there. I think people are forgetting how to retype. It all began with James Watt in 1779, unless it began with Johannes Gutenberg's printing press in 1436, unless it actually began with Bi Sheng in China in 1040, ol' Bi Sheng and his porcelain movable type. Wow. There's nine hundred and seventy-one years of laziness. And a huge digression.
I was saying, yesterday, after the files were sent to my editor at Penguin, I got back to my work on XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (guys, the TRUTH is out there, and it will be revealed in late November or early December, I am told, and we all have to sit tight until then). After that I was greeted by a mammoth email from my editor at Penguin, who needed clarification of several illegible comments I'd written on the CEM for The Drowning Girl: A Memoir, illegible because the Lamictal (which I take for the seizures) makes my hands shake so badly. And that meant comparing my photostat (back to xeros + graphus) with her notes and...it took awhile, and a lot of patience on the part of the vocally reluctant (but ever helpful) Spooky. Then we had spaghetti. Then we proofread "John Four" for the first time since September 24, 2010 (I finished writing it on September 22, 2010), which is being reprinted in S. T. Joshi's A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, to be released in limited and trade editions in 2012 by Centipede Press (and maybe I wasn't suppose to announce that yet, but there you go). That was work yesterday, leaving out a few victuals and bits of flayed skin.
"John Four" is one of my best and strangest Lovecraftian stories, and I'm pleased to see it will be reprinted in such a good home.
Oh, and my comp copies of Stephen Jones The Book of Horror arrived, which reprints my story, "Charcloth, Firesteel, and Flint."
Last night, some very good RP in Insilico, and two episodes of Mad Men, and then, even though I was in bed by two-thirty ayem, I was awake until three forty-five, reading this, that, and the other. Included were two more stories from the Halloween anthology, Sarah Langan's "The Great Pumpkin Arrives at Last" and "The Sticks" by Charlee Jacob. The former is, at best, so-so. It relies too heavily on a somewhat unconvincing "twist ending." The latter, though, was quite effective, a story reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," though only in its most basic premise. I will admit, I'm uncomfortable talking about other authors' stories here, but there's a long tradition of authors commentating on authors, and if I'm going to read the damned things, I can at least be honest.
Spooky's no-longer-premature Hallowe'en Sale (!!!) in her Etsy shop, Dreaming Squid Dollworks and Sundries—20% off on everything—continues. Only one necklace and a bracelet left (plus paintings and other cool stuff), and who knows when she'll have time to make more. When making a purchase, IF YOU WANT THE SALE PRICE, you need to, at checkout, use the sale code SPOOK.
By the way, this is the one year anniversary of our return to Providence from Portland, Oregon. One year ago last night, we spent the whole night awake in the almost entirely deserted Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Then...well, hell ensued. Anyway, here is a token from that night, which I may auction someday on eBay. It's companion, the shortest novel I ever wrote on a napkin, was auctioned last autumn.
Photograph Copyright © 2011 Kathryn A. Pollnac. Text Copyright © 2010 by Caitlín R. Kiernan.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 05:40 pm (UTC)I do not understand people who actually say "WTF." If you're going for humorous effect, fine. But the version with the expletive is much more efficient to say.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 05:44 pm (UTC)I do not understand people who actually say "WTF." If you're going for humorous effect, fine. But the version with the expletive is much more efficient to say.
I prefer "what the motherfucking fuck," but yeah. Or, to paraphrase the Dude, "the fuck," if you're into the whole brevity thing.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-07 01:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:26 pm (UTC)What the holy motherfuck is a "side hug"? And invention to avoid the risk of breast-to-breast, penis-to-vagina, etc. contact (with clothing in between)? If so, fuck me in both ears....
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:29 pm (UTC)Heaven forbid these carnal enticements. This just makes me want to screw something inappropriate. Like an Xitian. Up the bum. With a REALLY big dildo.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:38 pm (UTC)And none of the side hug bullshit.
I don't know why they don't just stick with pinkie hugs. Of course, then they'd have to wear gloves.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:48 pm (UTC)I have some gloves for them. Black Rubber Ones.
Haha.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:24 pm (UTC)Between making up stupid acronyms, side-hugging, and fighting to abstain from masturbation, when do these people find time to talk to Jebus?
Maybe they talk to him while they masturbate? See Tori Amos' "Icicle."
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:37 pm (UTC)Indeed.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 10:20 pm (UTC)it was a good time in Portland....
Date: 2011-10-05 06:21 pm (UTC)Q: What do I stay awake for?
A: Everything, it seems.
Re: it was a good time in Portland....
Date: 2011-10-05 06:27 pm (UTC)You can sleep when you're dead.
Re: it was a good time in Portland....
Date: 2011-10-05 06:29 pm (UTC)Likely, I'm so far behind on my deadlines and here I sit on LJ avoiding everything. A tactic to focus when I am overwhelmed. As always, you are an inspiration.
Re: it was a good time in Portland....
Date: 2011-10-05 06:30 pm (UTC)As always, you are an inspiration.
You are to kind, m'lady.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:31 pm (UTC)“Haha” isn’t really a good equivalent for “laughing my ass off”, though. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhahahahahaha” would be better onomatopoeia, I think, and conveys the emotion better than just “LMAO” could (and hence is worth the space (even on Twitter).
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:35 pm (UTC)And here I thought the work was titled XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX because it was that luridly pornographic. :-)
Maybe later.
“Haha” isn’t really a good equivalent for “laughing my ass off”, though. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhahahahahaha” would be better onomatopoeia, I think, and conveys the emotion better than just “LMAO” could (and hence is worth the space (even on Twitter).
No one laughs their ass off. If they did, we'd have a world full of assless people.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 07:53 pm (UTC)No one laughs their ass off. If they did, we'd have a world full of assless people.
I think I just lost my ass...
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 08:28 pm (UTC)We need that!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 09:21 pm (UTC)Suddenly, sitting has become very uncomfortable.
And I am going to murder Hubero in a moment, just so you know what the scream is about. Smacked that resin raven skull TO THE FLOOR.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 09:31 pm (UTC)Bastard!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:34 pm (UTC)re: LMBO ... A yen for euphemism and invisible celestial pals(plus a shrill disavowal of the biological reality of death) is what separates the Xtians from the rest of us. So glad you're alive and well and still kicking.
Reading recommendation (if I may) ... The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is (129 pages in) not bad. Not bad at all. Think Strab's Shadowland meets Carnivale. Take care.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:36 pm (UTC)A yen for euphemism and invisible celestial pals(plus a shrill disavowal of the biological reality of death) is what separates the Xtians from the rest of us.
Well put.
Reading recommendation (if I may) ... The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is (129 pages in) not bad. Not bad at all. Think Strab's Shadowland meets Carnivale. Take care.
I hated what Carnivale, but I'll have a look.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:46 pm (UTC)May one inquire as to the source of Auntie Beast's dissatisfaction with Carnivale?
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:48 pm (UTC)May one inquire as to the source of Auntie Beast's dissatisfaction with Carnivale?
I found it stilted, lacking in authenticity, poorly written, and generally uninteresting.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:54 pm (UTC)Concise and comprehensive. Many thanks. (I still think Clea DuVall is cute.)
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 07:06 pm (UTC)(I still think Clea DuVall is cute.)
On this, we agree.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 07:34 pm (UTC)One can only dream of such a place.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 07:39 pm (UTC)One can only dream of such a place.
It would be interesting.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 10:22 pm (UTC)John Four!
Date: 2011-10-06 01:21 am (UTC)p.s. can't wait for #70