Took a break yesterday and went to Olbrich Gardens to see the flowers before they dried up in the heat of summer. Discovered we have a pottery workshop not to far from the house. MORE MESSES! Um… Anyway, here are some pics. (Notice I have a crush on the super macro setting on my camera.) Was lovely to see greenery before the storms today. See also: cleaning my office suxx0rs.
This is Edgar. He is the lone plant that survived gardening 1.0. In my first (failed) attempt, I started the plants indoors and they grew very tall. Transferred them outdoors and they died. I held a funeral for them, but opted to try again. This time, though, I consulting a gardening priest of hard-to-kill plants and priestess of all growing things before I went forth.
This is supposedly a hard-to-kill plant called “flying saucers.” And it’s yellow and green, which are Mallards/Packers colors! Must water often.
The only thing I remember about marigolds, other than the fact that they are also harder to kill, is that they control pests. Ergo… I rather like these in particular. They remind me of fire.
A lovely farmer from our local market sold this jalapeno plant to me. Turns out this was supposed to be a hobby after retirement, but it turned into a full-time job for him. I am curious to see how this particular plant will grow and whether or not I can attach one to a stick.
These are bebeh wildflowers I’m growing from seed. Not hard to kill, but rather… Reincarnated. They were all very tall and proud before the frost took them when they least expected it. So I am trying again. No idea what’s in this pot other than “wild flowers.” Do they salsa? Drink and party? We shall see. I may have to try cybernetic plants next time ’round, but I’m stubborn, so I’ll keep attempting the growing things out of pots.
I am boogie-ing in my chair. Just handed in the last chapter for [redacted]. Exciting! However, I looked at the calendar. I have three major conventions coming up, past-due revisions, and deadlines looming. Though I’ve gotten through 100 pressing e-mails today and am wrapping up a major project, I’ve got more to do. Ergo, social media has got to be cut way back until I achieve my 2013 goals. It just has to happen.
Yesterday I was at sort of a crossroads, but today? Everything sort of crystallized and reaffirmed itself. The thing that’s not valuable to me right now is the news poisoning and I have had it up to ¯ with my governor. I mean, the insanity is beyond ridiculous now, because some old white men who are total strangers to me are legislating my lady bits. Naturally, I am expecting them to be the first in the country to volunteer new laws related to their man parts. What brave heroes are these that they have such an interest in my body.
Anyhoo… Rant over. Well, maybe one more. (You know you love it.) Watched Oz the Great and Powerful. Wow, what a terrible movie. It was marginally related to the books, which I can forgive, but the CGI was obvious, which is hard for me to forgive, and the moral of the story is — doesn’t matter if you’re an asshole or not. Deep down inside, you’re still a “good” guy and you can “change.” Oh, by the way… Women deep down inside are bad. And if you burn them, they’ll only get worse. But if you love them? They’ll stay good. Huzzah! I’m SO relieved!
I’m off to try to watch another movie. Cloud Atlas. Hopefully this one is better. BUT! Before I go! I have a recipe for you that is so incredibly awesome you will wonder if it is a sin to eat it.
I give you… A new/old concoction… That I forgot but made again… And now has a fancy new name…
HELL’S BELLS PASTA BOWL
(3) Fresh Green Onions, thinly-sliced
(1) Orange Pepper, thinly-sliced
Cilantro
Garlic
Ground Peanuts
Sriracha
Lt. soy sauce
Smooth, creamy peanut butter
Shaved parmesan/romano
Whole wheat spaghetti
Boil pasta al dente. Drain. In the hot pan, add enough peanut butter to coat the bottom. Shake 2 to 3 soy sauceness and a few scribbles of Sriracha or however much you can tolerate. Add cilantro and garlic. Toss with the spaghetti and sprinkle the cheese and peanuts over the top.
Oh, and add more Sriracha.
ENJOY!
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I am having a hard time trying to find meaty non-esoteric Alchemy tomes. I am full up on “light this candle, summon the power of St. Germaine!” I need history books that talk about the different cultures, possibly in the context of early Chemistry, but also tomes that offer some science about reagents and the like.
Biographies of key folks would be good, too, but again… I’m not looking for ways to paint circles on the ground and bring three hundred year old dead guys back to life. Also: I don’t “just” want Western Alchemy. The world is not confined to Europe after all. Early chemists would also apply here, too. Sadly, that part of my brain is missing. Suffer the science lapse…
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Conventions really suck for anyone who’s either got a smaller readership or is going for the first time. They should be a great place to meet people, but I’ve seen a lot of “deer in headlights” folks wandering around with nobody to talk to. No, I’m not talking about that creep in the corner, either, and as much as I would love to say crowds are all filled with happy, shiny people — I’m a realist. You get a group of 1,000 people together, and it’s simply pure math. There will be that “one.” Just going to happen. But I don’t want to talk about “the one.” I’d much rather look at the 999 other folks!
I feel the “push to market oneself” is often a mistake. Sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense to always network, network, network and push, push, push — especially if it’s early in your career. Even then, it really depends upon how others perceive you that makes a difference. Just because you show up at a con doesn’t make it automagical that you’ll get readers or fans of whatever it is you want to do.
I’ve given up on cons for the most part unless I can go and be a human being. It’s just not worth spending the time and energy going because I’m more productive writing my ass off instead. That’s not to say that I don’t go, but I have to pick and choose which cons I do go to.
When I’m having fun, being myself, then I can collect stories. See what folks are up to. Meet unusual people. I don’t worry about impressing people because that doesn’t matter to me. (It only becomes an issue whenever everybody says: “But, that was so-and-so… Why wouldn’t you bow and scrape?” I’m so far removed from whatever I’m “supposed” to be doing, because I’m focused on what I “am” doing.) As a writer, I’m more inclined to focus on the experience. If that changes? Where I have to worry about throngs of fans and whatnot? Well, then the experience is different. Then it turns into a scheduled performance due to “work” and that’s another thing entirely. Most cons are work for me, anyway, which means there’s a separation of Monica-me and Monica-workme.
Still, I feel that there’s ways to make conventions better, to highlight the best of what this community can do. Activities like:
The thing is, the fans of today are the George R.R. Martins and Ursula Le Guins of tomorrow. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: You don’t know where someone will end up and people have long memories — especially in this industry. Plus, how boring is it to only go to see your existing favorites. There are so many awesome wondering experiences waiting to be had in fandom. Why wouldn’t you want to try something new?
Does that mean you should be a pushover? Gosh, no. I can be pretty acidic at times when my blood sugar is low or I haven’t slept enough (this accounts for a lot of my crabbiness at cons), but also if I’m tired of getting hit on or pissed on from above. (The “I’m better and more powerful than you.” superiority complex is part of what’s called “punching down” and it’s an abhorrent practice, in my opinion, but it does happen.)
But, I don’t go out of my way to be a bitch. I’ve been told often enough, even outside of cons: “You have such an unusual personality.” Translation: it’s a fight for me sometimes to meet new people and not feel like I’m starring in my own circus. You mean, I have my issues? Yeah, just like everybody else on the planet. (Unless you’re a megalomaniac!)
Still, for all these reasons and more… This is why I hate hearing about people who have bad experiences at cons, because for a community that’s so incredibly awesome, we only hear about the bad things. We’ve all got our shit to deal with, but there’s a lot of positivity that can come out of connecting with like-minded people and meeting new folks to expand our view of the world.
That’s where my interest lies. I’m much more interested in the connections we make. For me, those last a lot longer than the negativity, and I hope that’s true of most people. 🙂
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