User:	lizziebelle
	Date:	2012-05-27 15:50
	Subject:	NYC, and the zoo
	Security:	Public

green face, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

It's been quite the week. NYC was great, even though I've once again come home with a cold. I learned a lot at Deanna's workshop, which I hope to apply to future gigs (and one definite gig, if the other parties will get moving on their end). The other women staying at D's place were awesome, and we had a margarita & tarot pajama party Thursday evening.

Friday morning we went to the Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, very close to D's apartment. If you've been reading for any length of time, you'll know how I feel about old cemeteries, and this one is just magnificent. Lots of wonderful statuary and landscaping, and set on the site of the Battle of Brooklyn (and the highest point in Brooklyn). It was appropriately misty, making for some great moody shots. See the whole set here. After Green-wood, we went out to Coney Island in the fog and dipped our toes in the ocean, then had a Nathan's hot dog before heading back.

The bus ride home was a nightmare of traffic and construction, taking 5 1/2 hours (normally a 4 1/4 hour trip). And the poor driver had to turn around and do the return trip! He was a hoot, though: a real New Yorker, with a great sense of humor. He made the trip a lot less unpleasant than it could have been.

Yesterday, I went down to Southwick's Zoo with sea_dark_wine, justjanus, and our friend Jess, where we saw lots of interesting and awesome animals.



OMG, the big kitties! Lions, tigers, and a leopard. Not to mention chimps, birds, rhinos, kangaroos, and a multitude of others. It was packed with families, but spread out enough it didn't seem too crowded. It was great fun. See the whole set here.

Unfortunately, the cold had really started to get its grip into me at that point, so I came home and crashed hard for a couple of hours. Today, I'm not much good for anything. I went out this morning for juice, tissues, and cold meds, and I am down for the count. I really hate being sick, and the last cold I had was last May, right after that NY trip. My usually robust immunity apparently doesn't stand a chance against the millions of NYC germs.

How has your weekend been?

	User:	asakiyume
	Date:	2012-05-27 13:50
	Subject:	Installation art: soap
	Security:	Public

One thing I'd wanted to do for National Poetry Month was carve a poem in soap and leave it somewhere. But, it turns out to be more difficult to carve words in soap than I had expected--you need to write rather large... which cuts down on the length your poem can be.

In the end, I decided to try for aphorisms instead of poetry, and then, hey, if it's soap, I thought going for things related to clean ought to do the trick. So, intending irony, I carved "clean hands, clean conscience." Heh, not true, alas. And then, by way of a prayer (maybe by the guy with the troubled conscience?) I did "Wash away my iniquity."

I thought I'd leave them in a highway rest stop--that way lots of people would have a chance to see them. So this Friday, I left them at a rest stop on our way west.

"People are going to think you're a religious nut," Little Springtime remarked.

The god of irony is laughing at me.

clean hands, clean conscience


wash away my iniquity


soap in situ

	User:	asakiyume
	Date:	2012-05-27 13:39
	Subject:	Open highway
	Security:	Public

Follow the silver snail trail west:



Stop and pay toll (pretty toll taker chatting to driver of pickup truck)



Pass the castle with the Half Moon (Henry Hudson's ship) on its turret top; go beneath the lacy bridge.

	User:	sartorias
	Date:	2012-05-27 08:40
	Subject:	Avengers and the Time Machine . . .
	Security:	Public

Everybody seems to be at cons, or on vacation, so I thought I'd play the Time Machine game.

Last night, went to see Avengers. Since there's no use talking about it without spoilers, here's the cut and the spoiler warning.
( Read more... )

	User:	specficmarkets (posted by ninharris)
	Date:	2012-03-11 19:17
	Subject:	Call for Submissions: Issue Three of Demeter's Spicebox
	Security:	Public

Hullo all!

Submissions Guidelines for Issue Three of Cabinet des Fees's Demeter's Spicebox are now up!

We have chosen the Aarne-​​Thompson type 2031C, The Mouse Who Was To Marry The Sun for Issue Three, do refer to the guidelines for the additional prompts!


Reading Period: 5 APRIL 2012 onwards (until we get the perfect two stories for the next issue).

Do bear in mind that you will need to read the stories from Issue One and Issue Two, as this is a storytelling project and the prompts reflect this. DS runs in Volumes of four issues each, and each Volume will start with a fresh set of prompts.

If you have any questions or doubts, feel free to email us at demeterspice (gmail) in April!

Best,

Nin Harris

	User:	specficmarkets (posted by marycatelli)
	Date:	2012-05-26 22:39
	Subject:	Airships & Automatons
	Security:	Public

A steampunk anthology.

	User:	keyan_bowes
	Date:	2012-05-27 05:09
	Subject:	Wiscon 36, Day Two
	Security:	Public

Day Two. I attended three panels, three parties, and the Tiptree Auction.  I have to say: The panels this year, at least the ones I got to, were extraordinarily good. Vibrant, well-moderated, funny, and well-attended by an engaged audience.

The Tiptree auction is something I try never to miss; Ellen Klages, the auctioneer, is simply awesome. This year, she literally auctioned the shirt off her back: a t-shirt that said "Brontosaurus is still a planet," then stood around in a black long bra tucked into her jeans, looking rather elegant. "I could be embarrassed," she said, looking not embarrassed at all, "If I could, it would be around now." And she proceeded to auction the next two items before slipping on another t-shirt, this one saying "I'm not short, I'm fun size."

Yes.



She quite outdid the Space Babe, the mascot of the Tiptree Awards.

So, to the panels.

MAGIC SYSTEMS

Having stayed up way too late - I always seem to forget I need a couple of hours to unwind *after* the parties - I made it down just in time to attend a panel on devising magic systems at 10 a.m. It was packed, and it was excellent.This panel turned into a far-ranging discussion of magic systems and their impact on technology; on social systems; and on economies. Some of the points:

• Magic as an eco-system. Damming a river to get water can give rise to silt build-ups and have far-reaching effects elsewhere in the eco-system. What if we considered magic in the same way?
• Common magic vs Deep magic. Simple magic with limited effects may or may not have a cost; but magic that could be world-changing *must* have an associated cost.
• Magic as a craft. One possible cost is the effort of acquiring the skill, and the opportunity cost as well - what are the kids at Hogwarts *not* learning while they spend so much time learning magic?
• Magic as a sacrifice. The cost may literally require a sacrifice. E.g. karmic sacrifices, where the devil keeps a tally and you sully your soul each time you use magic. Or Paolini's concept of magic tapping into the web of life-force, so for instance casting a spell kills a mouse - or worse.
• Magic and class. Who has the magic? Are they the rich and powerful? Would they share that, or keep control of it?
• Magic and technology. Would magic delay the introduction of technology? If you have mage-light, do you need an electric lamp? Or would it allow for leap-frogging technologies, like using "farsight" to study stars or microscopic creatures instead of telescopes or microscopes.

• Effort is not enough. You need a plan that feeds your efforts into marketing either you as a person, or your project or both. Otherwise, you may use a lot of effort, but not actually build a buying audience.
• Know your audience. Octavia Butler said that her books had three audiences that didn't necessarily overlap: African-Americans, feminists, and spec-fic readers. Each needed to be marketed to separately.
• Leverage the internet. If you can find the right thing to say, you can get an audience of hundreds of thousands of people.
• Be creative. People on the internet are always looking for new things, so repeating old promotional methods won't necessarily work.
• Engage with your audience. This is part of building a platform.
• Offer prizes. Authors offer prizes for clicking on links, for comments on blog posts, for reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, and certainly for contributions on Kickstarter.
• Make loss leaders (stories or books) free on Amazon by making them free on Smashwords first.
• For paper copies of books, Createspace is the least-cost alternative now, and for a small extra fee will get you broader distribution via Bowker.

	User:	market_finder (posted by domynoe)
	Date:	2012-05-27 00:54
	Subject:	All/Any | The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes (Antho; Closes: May 30, 2012)
	Security:	Public

URL: http://alchemypress.blogspot.com/p/pulp-heroes.html

Genres: Focused on pulp heroes and villains
Does Not Accept/Want:


Fiction: 2,000-6,000 words
Essays/Articles:
Poetry:

Reprints: yes
Simultaneous/Multiple Subs: no / no

Deadlines/Reading Period: May 30th 2012
Est. Response Time: 6-8 weeks after deadline

Payment: £10.00 advance against royalties and contributor's copy on publication


Submissions:
pulpheroes@saladoth.com

	User:	msagara
	Date:	2012-05-27 00:22
	Subject:	Answering a question about household disagreements
	Security:	Public

spiffikins asked:

Looking back at our own efforts, we had lots of battles :) I've love to hear how you applied these rules to situations where your son didn't want to do something, like have his bath or get dressed/put his shoes on for school or participate in the day to day activities of helping out (setting the table, doing dishes, doing homework) - it seems we always had conflict, and the majority of it with my brother was getting him to do something that he didn't want to do, but that needed to be done.

	User:	oursin
	Date:	2012-05-26 20:09
	Subject:	100 things blogging challenge 40
	Security:	Public

The 100 things blogging challenge.

Oh, gallant was the first love, and glittering and fine;
The second love was water, in a clear white cup;
The third love was his, and the fourth was mine;
And after that, I always get them all mixed up.

This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/1657230.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View comments.

	User:	coldhighmountai
	Date:	2012-05-26 20:06
	Subject:	FDR's sailboat
	Security:	Public

Mystic

	User:	coldhighmountai
	Date:	2012-05-26 20:03
	Subject:	figurehead
	Security:	Public

Mystic

	User:	coldhighmountai
	Date:	2012-05-26 20:02
	Subject:	whaler restoration
	Security:	Public

Mystic

	User:	oursin
	Date:	2012-05-26 13:48
	Subject:	Wiscon well under way
	Security:	Public

hano is a Hero of the Revolution who identified the netbook problem and suggested a fix which has, indeed, worked, so I do not have that frustration to deal with.

Having a good time, a bit laidback, a little tired - two of my panels down (the anti-hero discussion, perhaps a bit all over the place but quite lively, the changing reading tastes over time, rather good I thought, lots of thoughts to think about).

Having the usual rather frustrating thing of not wanting to book up every available free slot before I even get here, but then not being able to schedule get-togethers. However, I have some meetups fixed, and yesterday managed to have an enjoyable lunch with lcohen and dinner with oracne - for the record, yak sizzling platter at a Taste of Tibet, having had goat curry at the other Tibetan place on Thursday eve - along with various rencontres around the Concourse more generally, in the Dealers' Room, the bar, at the parties, etc -

Even if at the latter I, and many of my approx contemps were expressing a certain exhaustion by the late-ish hour.

Sleeping reasonably well if with a certain amount of waking earlier than I would prefer, though this morning I did get back to sleep, but not for as long as I might have liked, as I had to get up with a 10 am panel in mind.

Among other good stuff, I record here the whirlpool.

This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/1656914.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View comments.

	User:	sartorias
	Date:	2012-05-26 09:30
	Subject:	Two things
	Security:	Public

First, you people who recommended The Exotic Marigold Hotel film, two thumbs up! I went last night with some of my Jane Austen discussion group. We all loved it.

Tonight: Avengers with the family.

A juicy discussion of fanfiction and literature by alecaustin here.

	User:	oursin
	Date:	2012-05-26 08:43
	Subject:
	Security:	Public

Happy birthday, aedifica!

This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/1656621.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View comments.

	User:	ajodasso
	Date:	2012-05-26 08:48
	Subject:	Living is slow business.
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	sad

Ear situation: the infection itself seems to be mostly gone, but there's still the problem of my (lack of) hearing. I'm going back to the clinic for a third time on Tuesday, and I'm desperately hoping the final approval on my MassHealth will come through by then, as that's what's prevented the nurse practitioner (who's doing the best she can with a bad situation) from referring me straight to an ENT. I miss the NHS so much it's unbearable. I'd have been referred to a specialist by now. I should have been seeing one from the very beginning.

The full-time post at the museum, after three weeks of deliberation on their part, went to somebody else. Which is just as well, given I'm still waiting to hear from the antiquarian-book guys (the latter is a better job). Still, it's one more thing to make me feel beyond crushed. Three weeks of juggling a mutant ear bug with lots of waiting piled on top just...

I would do anything to get out of this.

	User:	keyan_bowes
	Date:	2012-05-26 04:02
	Subject:	Wiscon 36, Day One
	Security:	Public

I tried to decide next about parties vs panels, and got sucked into a fascinating discussion about whether the internet could become sentient: A Conscious Internet: Should we be worried?  The tech people thought it was far from imminent, both for reasons of architecture and energy requirements. But the discussion got into issues such as how consciousness was defined; and how would we even know if the internet became conscious? In the old stories, it talks. But we already have things that talk, like Siri. Is the Turing test still valid?  A lot of questions, good discussion, no real conclusion. The consensus seemed to be that a conscious Internet wasn't likely to be user-friendly; it would have its own agenda. We speculated about viruses and botnets as seeding some kind of consciousness into the network.

	User:	market_finder (posted by domynoe)
	Date:	2012-05-26 00:07
	Subject:	SF Thril | LOST: An Anthology of Exploration (Antho; Closes: August 1, 2012)
	Security:	Public

URL: http://www.psychokittyonline.com/p/open-projects.html

Genres: Science fiction Thriller, Action-Adventure, Suspense
Does Not Accept/Want: Graphic sexual content; Excessive profanity or unnecessarily crude writing; Graphic violence is acceptable but make sure it is necessary.


Fiction: 5,000 to 10,000 words
Essays/Articles:
Poetry:

Reprints: no
Simultaneous/Multiple Subs: no / no

Deadlines/Reading Period: August 1, 2012
Est. Response Time: up to 3 months after deadline

Payment: $10.00/accepted story and one contributor's copy


Submissions:
submissions@psychokittyonline.com

	User:	coldhighmountai
	Date:	2012-05-25 21:23
	Subject:	bard of England
	Security:	Public