Here's my 2009 books poll. If anyone is interested you can find me here on goodreads where I've written a review of every book I've read since January 2007. My Librarything has a nearly complete list of the books I own but I've only added reviews for books I own. Without further ado: ( Schnaucl's 2009 Book Poll )

00:32 about to bike home from campus. That's my trusty Specialized Hard Rock Sport in the background.

I have finished the face. I will not stay up all night to do the earring and paint a turban, though I totally want to.

My body appears to have given me beginning RSI symptoms for a late thirtieth birthmas present. I would like to return them for something better, please. Routine stretches are the order of the day, because stabbing wrist pain is NOT okay.

Painting is fabulous. I will hate it shortly, but right now it is fabulous.

And now I sleep.

"Two Trees"
Don Paterson

One morning, Don Miguel got out of bed
with one idea rooted in his head:
to graft his orange to his lemon tree.
It took him the whole day to work them free,
lay open their sides and lash them tight.
For twelve months, from the shame or from the fright
they put forth nothing; but one day there appeared
two lights in the dark leaves. Over the years
the limbs would get themselves so tangled up
each bough looked like it gave a double crop,
and not one kid in the village didn't know
the magic tree in Don Miguel's patio.

The man who bought the house had had no dream
so who can say what dark malicious whim
led him to take his axe and split the bole
along its fused seam, then dig two holes.
And no, they did not die from solitude;
nor did their branches bear a sterile fruit;
nor did their unhealed flanks weep every spring
for those four yards that lost them everything,
as each strained on its shackled root to face
the other's empty, intricate embrace.
They were trees, and trees don't weep or ache or shout.
And trees are all this poem is about.

"The Bean Eaters"
Gwendolyn Brooks

 

They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.

Dinner is a casual affair.

Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood,

Tin flatware.

 

Two who are Mostly Good.

Two who have lived their day,

But keep on putting on their clothes

And putting things away.

 

And remembering . . .

Remembering, with twinklings and twinges,

As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that

          is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths,

          tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.

Wild Card Weekend is almost upon us. No, I'm not talking about SUICIDE KINGS this time -- although this weekend would be a great opportunity to go out and buy it -- but about the NFL.

The Giants are out, but the Jets are still in it (it's good to have two teams), travelling to Cincinnati for a rematch with the Bengals. Needless to say, I'll be pulling hard for this game to turn out the same way as the last one. Cincy will be playing all their starters this time, so I expect the game will be closer, but I do think the Jets have an excellent chance of winning again and advancing to the next round. Let's Go Jets!

That's the game that matters most to me, of course... but it's no fun watching a football game unless you care about the outcome, so I'll be rooting for certain teams and against others in the other three wild card games as well.

I hate Evil Little Bill, so of course I will be cheering for the Ravens to upset the Patriots and eliminate them from this year's tournament. I have mixed feelings about the Ravens themselves. I don't much like Ray Lewis, but I've always been fond of Bawlmer, and of course I am an Edgar Allen Poe fan. But I'd cheer for almost anyone against the Vile BB.

I also hate the Philadelphia Eagles, but not as much as I hate the Dallas Cowboys, so I guess I have to cheer on Donovan McNabb and company. If the Cowboys get eliminated, extending their long drought of playoff victories, Jerry Jones will probably fire Wade Phillips and the Cowboys will start all over with a new coach, which always causes a certain amount of chaos.

So here's hoping the Eagles win. (Then next week I can cheer for someone else to beat them).

In the Arizona - Green Bay game, my feelings are mixed. I think Green Bay treated Brett Favre shabbily; but then, I'm more a "loyalty" guy than one of those "it's a business" guys. On the other hand, I love the Green Bay fans, the history and tradition, and the fact that the team is publically owned, rather than being the personal plaything of some asswipe billionaire like Jerry Jones. (More teams should be publically owned). On the Cardinals side, I like Kurt Warner, who was a class act when he was with the Giants, as a mentor to Eli. But I don't like the Bidwells, or the fact that the Cardinals still refuse to give up the championship they stole from the Pottsville Maroons. Tough call... but Pottsville takes it. May the curse endure. Go Packers!

Oh, darn, I just got a call from duke_flieg who is unable to bring me to 12th Night after all due to reasons outside of his control, so I am once again seeking transportation to the event. I could be picked up from Emeryville (I'm at the home of hrj, who, due to coming down with the flu is unable to bring me to the event (nor is she able to enjoy having a house guest at this time) any time between now and the start of the event. If anyone is willing to pick up me & my suitcase, let me know. If not, I suppose there is always BART...

Hibernation mode has set in full force. Seems like it takes a great amount of energy to accomplish anything, especially blogging.

New Years was rung in at a friend's house. A small gathering but fun conversation, plethora of food and movies.

New Years Day was spent being ultra lazy. Trek to the grocery store was the only accomplishment.

The next day we had Christmas re-do at the lake. That was nice and I finally got to have Christmas turkey. Tons of food again.

This work week has seemed the longest ever. Thankfully its almost over.

On the down side, no 12th Night for me. Plans fell through. I suppose I could have made new ones but with the weather being all craptacular and not feeling up to par I decided to stay home. Sad to miss seeing everyone but there is always the next event.

I did manage to see Sherlock Holmes over the Holidays. Rachel N.and I had a nice dinner out and then to the movies. I enjoyed it. I need to see it again tho. I do agree that Rachel McAdams was miscast. She seemed out of place.

I also caught the end of David Tennant's run as Doctor Who. I felt it was a bit lack luster. But then I felt that way about all this season's episodes. I read several reviews of the show that did improve my opinion but I do feel they could have done better. This snarky review made me laugh.
www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/doctor_who/the_end_of_time_part_ii.php Full of spoilers!!!! 
I guess we will see what Matt Smith can bring to the show.   Looking forward to it. 

New edit: ride had to cancel, do to reasons outside of his control. Seeking plan C.

Edit: ride found. Thanks duke_flieg!

I've arrived in California, and am at the home of hrj, with whom I had planed to ride to 12th Night. However, she's got the flu and won't be attending the event after all. Is there anyone who would be willing/able to pick me up in Emeryville and bring me to the event? I could be picked up any time today or tomorrow, depending on what is easier for you...

Thanks!

Judging by the emails I receive, there are a lot of aspiring writers among my readership.

I wanted to make mention of a couple of summer writing programs that might be of interest to you.

First, the legendary Clarion workshop, which began with Damon Knight in Clarion College, Pennsylvania, and is now in scenic San Diego. An intensive six-week writer's boot camp that will make you, break you, maybe change your life. I will be one of the instructors at this year's Clarion, along with Delia Sherman, Dale Bailey, Samuel R. Delany, Jeff Vandermeer, and Anne Vandermeer. For more details, check out

http://clarion.ucsd.edu/

Applications for Clarion are being accepted now, and will close on March 1... so if you've ever wanted to have me read and critique your work, and learn the secret handshake and the diagonal relationship, speak now or hold your peace until the next time I do a workshop (which probably won't be for a few more years).

[[ I do NOT read unpublished manuscripts that are mailed or emailed to me, so don't even think that. I do my teaching and critiquing only with a workshop context. And sorry, no, I won't be your mentor.]]

Clarion has been helping to turn out professional SF and fantasy writers since the 60s. Maybe you're the next one. You'll never know unless you apply. But be warned, only a few are chosen. Admissions are extremely competitive, with only one of five applicants getting in.

For writers who are already published, but are looking to take the next step in their careers, there is the Taos Toolbox, founded and run by my friend Walter Jon Williams and held right here in scenic New Mexico.

http://www.taostoolbox.com

Walter Jon's pitches his Toolbox as more of a "graduate study" program, for writers with a bit more experience. Graduates of Clarion, Clarion West, and Odyssey, neopros with a few sales under their belts, even journeymen looking to improve. I am not connected with the Toolbox, but I did a guest lecture there a few years ago, and it struck me as a great program. This year Nancy Kress will be assisting WJW with the teaching, and Carrie Vaughn (of Kitty and Wild Cards fame) will be giving a guest lecture. And when you're not writing, reading, critiquing, or listening to lectures, hey, you'll be in Taos.

Clarion Workshop and the Taos Toolbox. If you want to write, check 'em out.

Awesome practice! Shot archery with my boy, which he loved. Gave him a much appreciated birthday gift (Lego Millenium Falcon), and then spent the rest of the night handicapping myself on the fencing field against the various students- I was bouting left-handed, or with short rapier, or forcing myself to use alternate stances, or playing single blade against people with main gauches or bucklers. Everyone seemed to have a really good time, a few of the students who are coming along got some good touches in, and I had to really push myself to the point of exhaustion to stay competitive. Yow, I gotta do that again soon. Dynamite!

And then I went to bed and dreamed about the movie Starship troopers for some reason- not sure why but it WAS entertaining...

A couple years ago I learned to keep a pair of dry shoes and socks at the office for days like this - I walked in from the parking lot this morning and soaked my feet in the process. I found the shoes, but the socks are elusive. And there's hardly any actual snow out there, it's just all freezing onto the roads as it falls. And traffic is crawling along. The drive home should be sooooo much fun.

Last night, same as the night before. We watched some Stargate over dinner, Ben and I played a RA3 mission while Laura sewed, then we watched more Stargate.

Today it's snowing, and we're sort of expecting to be released early. We'll see how that works out. Tonight we have no plans, other than packing, sewing, and - wait for it - Stargate. If my nefarious plans come to fruition, we'll also pack the car (or pre-pack the car onto the dining room table) so that tomorrow we can leave without fuss; despite this, I suspect we'll stop at home before driving to Minneapolis tomorrow night to feed the cats for the weekend. And then it's off to Minnesnowta, to return on Sunday.

And now, work.

If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting 'All gods are bastards'. Terry Pratchet

I got so used to sleeping in every day over winter break. Now we've been back at school for three days, and it's harder than ever to get out of bed in the morning.

I just have to get my sub paperwork sorted out, then I can look forward to maternity leave. When I won't be sleeping anyway because the baby will be here, but - at least I can stay home then.

It's Armageddon Week on the History Channel.  With the awesomeness of a new decade (no pedantic arguments please, we all know how much everyone loves round numbers) and the looming approach of 2012, it's just been a free-for-all of survivalist crazy and fun times predicting what it would be like if we all died from Hamthrax or a Solar flare, or giant volcanoes under Central Park.  Bob and I have been happily watching all the fun "what if..." programs, but I'm seeing something that started with Bear Grylls and is only continuing with all the "It's Armageddon, What Are You Going To Do Now?" programs.

They're for men.  Women, apparently, are useless, and will not survive unless they're kept in cages and only brought out to be breeding stock and homemakers once society has been put back on its feet by the big manly mansome men.

( That's great, it starts with an earthquake... )

Yesterday was a day I'd devoted to training at work... Good thing too.  My trainee now knows every way she can screw up the test I was training her on.  I kept pointing out that it's good everything went wrong while she's being trained because I'm experienced and now she's seen it all and knows how to deal with it.  The down side is that it took 4 hours to do a 1 hour test, so nothing else got done yesterday.  I have tons to get done today, but I'm not doing training untill late this afternoon (if at all) so it should be both a productive, and on time day.

I cut out of work early to go to my 18 week ultrasound.  ladycaissa  and her hubby are right; the Perogi looks like Skelator at this point.  I had a hard time not giggling looking at some of the screen shots.  But it was totally cool, and we could see so much detail on the development.  Everything is developing totally normally, and I'm carrying well, so it's all on track and good.

After the Dr's appointment, argentlupin  and I drove to Columbia and had dinner with the Evil Uncle.  (here for this week only)  We had a great time and got to catch up on what he's been doing.  Good to see he's doing well, and we've really missed him.  Talked fight (Armored and Rapier) and general life stuff.  I think the same drunken monkeys that built my house may have worked on his, and they got an extra beer before they worked on his.....  Just sayin'  

Well off to work,
have fun,
make stuff,
-bec