![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. I want to get a new bag/backpack/carryon, but I'm not sure I want to spend over $300 for it?
Current is $30 from Amazon, which is what I use for work daily.
2. Spent most of the day or from 10:30 am to approx 3:00pm, with a break in between to talk to mother for about an hour around noon - sorting clothes.
I needed to put away the summer clothes and pull out the fall clothes. While at the same time setting aside clothes in good condition that I never wear, don't fit me, and need to be given away. (The rule is - if I haven't worn it in five years, I'm not going to. This rule doesn't apply to clothes I love but don't currently fit, and could potentially fit if I lost weight - I'm giving them until January to decide.) And clothes that are stained, torn, worn out, and old - which were put in a separate bag. (This was painful - I hate oil stains that won't come out after repeated washings and I have to throw out a perfectly good shirt because of them. I hang on to them for a long time - thinking oh, I'll just wear around the apartment or for things that require a damaged shirt - but over time, it becomes clear its taking up space and I should just discard.)
Mother: Where are taking these clothes?
ME: Probably the basement. They tend to disappear whenever I put them down there in bags. I don't know what happens to them, just that someone takes them away.
The basement is a lovely dumping ground for things we no longer use. Also a lovely place to pick up things that other people no longer need and I could use. I scored two porcelain plates with painted flowers on them, that work nicely for my painting, and putting a small salad or small courses on. There was a set of twenty, but I only had space for two and only needed two.
There's also a huge collection of CDs, DVDs, VHS Tapes, and Books, plus children's toys in the basement. Shame I don't have a DVD player any longer.
While I was sorting through clothing which requires patience, and is time consuming, I listened to an audio book on my phone. Sorting through clothing - requires trying it on, finding a new space for it, determining whether it should be kept or disposed of. The most painful item to dispose of was a rather lovely red and black dress that I wore exactly four times, and have not worn since roughly 2014? Maybe 2015? It was when I did the Vagina Monologues, and played a trans-woman in the play. We had to wear dresses for the performances. I wavered on keeping it, and decided who was I kidding? I'm not wearing it again. If I ever lose weight and want a dress, I'll buy a new one.
I sort clothes four times a year - fall, winter, spring and summer. I don't have enough space in my dresser or closet to contain more than one season at time. I can handle a little overflow, because there is always overflow, the weather is wonky, but not a lot.
Anyhow, doing this sort of thing is made easier - if I have something interesting to listen to, during it. I don't tend to like podcasts for some reason or other. But a book I can escape into.
Having finished On the Edge finally. I started Bayou Moon.
Bayou Moon has more characters and distinct voices than the previous book did, and a lot more world-building. Also the creatures are somewhat more innovative. It's a far darker book, with a lot edgier characters.
I'd say it kind of slides more into dark fantasy/horror than romance/fantasy? Also is less like a dark fairy tale than "On the Edge".
The writing does remind me of Kingslover, except the women are tougher, and the characters prettier? Also better banter. Although I like both writers.
Here's the synopsis for the remotely curious:
"The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…
Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.
But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.
When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive."
What it doesn't tell you? Is the two groups fighting are The Mirror - which fights with gadgetry, and the Hand which turns or augments magical people into monsters. Spider runs the Hand. William the protagonist and a changeling wolf is trying to find him for the Mirror, to retrieve a magical device, and to kill Spider - who took, experimented on and killed changeling children. In between are Cerise's clan - Spider wants to capture them, use their power, and augment them to serve his purposes - which is to protect his country. They are from the Mire - which is an area of the Weird and Edge, where outlaws and derelicts are sent.
The writers, a husband and wife, writing team, love to play with characters who are outcasts from society, somewhat powerful, but struggling and live in a grey moral area. Their books fall within a kind of urban fantasy/sci-fi/dark fantasy hybrid. And as their writing improves, so does the banter and dialogue, along with the world building. I like them because they write strong female characters, and surround their characters with strong and interesting supporting characters.
3. Mother and I discuss horror.
ME: I've been picking up on an interesting pattern with folks? They love horror but not fantasy or science fiction which isn't horror.
Mother: I like some science fiction and enjoy fantasy, but not really horror. Although I did like Silence of the Lambs and the Harris books.
Me: That's kind of horror, but more thriller/serial killer motif.
Mother: So not quite horror?
ME: No, it does fall into it, kind of. Alien is an example of horror. I remember you watching it once and not being impressed. Or scared by it.
Mother: I can be scared by it. I just don't tend to like it.
Me: Well you took me to fantasy films, sci-fi, and even horror - you took us to Poltergeist.
Mother: Was that horror though?
ME: Yes, it had a poltergeist?
Mother: What is horror though?
Me: It's anything that scares you, or scares someone else. You personally don't have to be scared by it. Or anything you find horrific - which isn't necessarily scary, just disturbing and horrifying, making you turn away in dismay, shock or disgust. I was discussing Doctor Who with folks, and they'd say it wasn't horror - it was more like fairy tales. Except fairy tales are actually horror. (Honestly people need to read the actual Grimm and Christian Anderson fairy tales not the Disney versions - they are not romances, they are actual horror stories.)
Seriously genre, not the mainstream definition of it, needs to be taught in schools.
Traditional Small Press Editor: We publish various literary genres.
ME (getting excited): which ones?
Traditional Small Editor (looks confused): Non-fiction, Fiction, Poetry, Essay.
ME: Oh, not mystery, horror, sci-fi, fantasy -
Editor (sneering): No, we focus on "literature".
Niece: I'm taking a course on genre -
Me (excited): Oh what genres?
Niece: Poetry, Essays, Non-Fiction, Fiction...
Me: Ugh.
Sigh.
Current is $30 from Amazon, which is what I use for work daily.
2. Spent most of the day or from 10:30 am to approx 3:00pm, with a break in between to talk to mother for about an hour around noon - sorting clothes.
I needed to put away the summer clothes and pull out the fall clothes. While at the same time setting aside clothes in good condition that I never wear, don't fit me, and need to be given away. (The rule is - if I haven't worn it in five years, I'm not going to. This rule doesn't apply to clothes I love but don't currently fit, and could potentially fit if I lost weight - I'm giving them until January to decide.) And clothes that are stained, torn, worn out, and old - which were put in a separate bag. (This was painful - I hate oil stains that won't come out after repeated washings and I have to throw out a perfectly good shirt because of them. I hang on to them for a long time - thinking oh, I'll just wear around the apartment or for things that require a damaged shirt - but over time, it becomes clear its taking up space and I should just discard.)
Mother: Where are taking these clothes?
ME: Probably the basement. They tend to disappear whenever I put them down there in bags. I don't know what happens to them, just that someone takes them away.
The basement is a lovely dumping ground for things we no longer use. Also a lovely place to pick up things that other people no longer need and I could use. I scored two porcelain plates with painted flowers on them, that work nicely for my painting, and putting a small salad or small courses on. There was a set of twenty, but I only had space for two and only needed two.
There's also a huge collection of CDs, DVDs, VHS Tapes, and Books, plus children's toys in the basement. Shame I don't have a DVD player any longer.
While I was sorting through clothing which requires patience, and is time consuming, I listened to an audio book on my phone. Sorting through clothing - requires trying it on, finding a new space for it, determining whether it should be kept or disposed of. The most painful item to dispose of was a rather lovely red and black dress that I wore exactly four times, and have not worn since roughly 2014? Maybe 2015? It was when I did the Vagina Monologues, and played a trans-woman in the play. We had to wear dresses for the performances. I wavered on keeping it, and decided who was I kidding? I'm not wearing it again. If I ever lose weight and want a dress, I'll buy a new one.
I sort clothes four times a year - fall, winter, spring and summer. I don't have enough space in my dresser or closet to contain more than one season at time. I can handle a little overflow, because there is always overflow, the weather is wonky, but not a lot.
Anyhow, doing this sort of thing is made easier - if I have something interesting to listen to, during it. I don't tend to like podcasts for some reason or other. But a book I can escape into.
Having finished On the Edge finally. I started Bayou Moon.
Bayou Moon has more characters and distinct voices than the previous book did, and a lot more world-building. Also the creatures are somewhat more innovative. It's a far darker book, with a lot edgier characters.
I'd say it kind of slides more into dark fantasy/horror than romance/fantasy? Also is less like a dark fairy tale than "On the Edge".
The writing does remind me of Kingslover, except the women are tougher, and the characters prettier? Also better banter. Although I like both writers.
Here's the synopsis for the remotely curious:
"The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…
Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.
But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.
When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive."
What it doesn't tell you? Is the two groups fighting are The Mirror - which fights with gadgetry, and the Hand which turns or augments magical people into monsters. Spider runs the Hand. William the protagonist and a changeling wolf is trying to find him for the Mirror, to retrieve a magical device, and to kill Spider - who took, experimented on and killed changeling children. In between are Cerise's clan - Spider wants to capture them, use their power, and augment them to serve his purposes - which is to protect his country. They are from the Mire - which is an area of the Weird and Edge, where outlaws and derelicts are sent.
The writers, a husband and wife, writing team, love to play with characters who are outcasts from society, somewhat powerful, but struggling and live in a grey moral area. Their books fall within a kind of urban fantasy/sci-fi/dark fantasy hybrid. And as their writing improves, so does the banter and dialogue, along with the world building. I like them because they write strong female characters, and surround their characters with strong and interesting supporting characters.
3. Mother and I discuss horror.
ME: I've been picking up on an interesting pattern with folks? They love horror but not fantasy or science fiction which isn't horror.
Mother: I like some science fiction and enjoy fantasy, but not really horror. Although I did like Silence of the Lambs and the Harris books.
Me: That's kind of horror, but more thriller/serial killer motif.
Mother: So not quite horror?
ME: No, it does fall into it, kind of. Alien is an example of horror. I remember you watching it once and not being impressed. Or scared by it.
Mother: I can be scared by it. I just don't tend to like it.
Me: Well you took me to fantasy films, sci-fi, and even horror - you took us to Poltergeist.
Mother: Was that horror though?
ME: Yes, it had a poltergeist?
Mother: What is horror though?
Me: It's anything that scares you, or scares someone else. You personally don't have to be scared by it. Or anything you find horrific - which isn't necessarily scary, just disturbing and horrifying, making you turn away in dismay, shock or disgust. I was discussing Doctor Who with folks, and they'd say it wasn't horror - it was more like fairy tales. Except fairy tales are actually horror. (Honestly people need to read the actual Grimm and Christian Anderson fairy tales not the Disney versions - they are not romances, they are actual horror stories.)
Seriously genre, not the mainstream definition of it, needs to be taught in schools.
Traditional Small Press Editor: We publish various literary genres.
ME (getting excited): which ones?
Traditional Small Editor (looks confused): Non-fiction, Fiction, Poetry, Essay.
ME: Oh, not mystery, horror, sci-fi, fantasy -
Editor (sneering): No, we focus on "literature".
Niece: I'm taking a course on genre -
Me (excited): Oh what genres?
Niece: Poetry, Essays, Non-Fiction, Fiction...
Me: Ugh.
Sigh.