The trip with Rob and Jason was amazing. (You remember: flying into L.A., renting a car, driving into the desert. OMG, we saw GWAR!)
Sekrit plans were made, bonds were formed, we laughed, we cried.
… wait, okay, there wasn’t any crying. A bit too much drinking, though.
Anyway, it was a great trip. I have an ease with those guys that I haven’t found with many other people in the world.
Anyway anyway, on the last night of the trip, (which largely consisted of bopping around Venice Beach and getting into trouble,) I was finally starting to burn out. Not with Rob and Jason. Frankly, I wish those guys were my next door neighbors.
But I was starting to burn out with … travel, the road and hotels. I was starting to miss my bed and my cat. (Also Elina, but she was already in London by that point.)
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Of course, within an hour of seeing off Jason at the airport, I flew up to NorWesCon and panels and shmoozing and critiquing and even more sekrit plans (and even more late nights and drinking.)
Needless to say, by the time I got back to Eugene (and my cat) I was completely wiped.
… and of course I jumped right back into the day job, and … whew.
Paris, etc
I mention all this because I’m going on *another* trip in the next few weeks. Elina’s going to meet me in Paris and we’re … well, we’ll definitely make the rounds of Paris awesomeness. But I also want to see some other parts of France etc …
I realized last night I was stressing about where we’ll go first and second and third and I …
… I feel ridiculous and bourgeois. What a hugely first world problem. Should we go to Southern France or Italy? There’s also Vienna, or Edinburgh again?
Part of what makes it possible is that travel, once you’re in Europe, is ridiculously cheap.
Anyway anyway anyway, it’s looking like the trip will be something like Paris > train to Marseille or Nice > fly to London (where we’ll meet up with Damien and maybe a few other folks.) Maybe Elina can show me some parts of London I missed last time I was there.
All of which is a long form way of saying … *SQUEE.*
, a vegan diner, Joshua Tree national park and a drive-in theater out in the desert near the biggest military base in the United States.
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This was all by day two.
As of this morning, I’m finally caught up on sleep. As soon as the other guys are awake, we’re going to flip a coin and head somewhere else, maybe the Mojave.
By the way, if you find yourself at Norwescon(April 5th through 8th) you can find me at the following panels, etc:
Friday 11 am Cascade 6
Rejectomancy
Our panelists will help you divine the meaning of different rejection letters and ways to deal with rejection. Sonia Orin Lyris (M), Sir R.L. McSterlingthong, Grá Linnaea, Lizzy Shannon, Eileen Gunn
Friday 2 pm Cascade 6
Gender Roles Redefined by Sci Fi and Fantasy
Genre literature freed up women long before the ERA. How has sci-fi and fantasy literature redefined gender roles, both for men and women? And why does Joss Whedon have such a love for teenage girls who kick ass? Stina Leicht (M), Paul Guinan, Grá Linnaea, Julie Hoverson
Saturday 11am Evergreen 1&2
The Writer/Editor Relationship
An editor is interested in your story. Hurray! But he wants big changes. Boo! Now what do you do? Find out what goes on behind the scenes and how you as a writer can increase your chances of closing a sale. Jay Lake (M), Stan!, Gordon Van Gelder, Grá Linnaea
Posted by gralinnaea on Feb 28, 2012 in Dear Diary
I have two general states to my life lately:
One is where I regularly take vitamin D supplements and everything ticks along smoothly.
The other (like today) is when I forget to take my supplements.
It takes a few days (I think I last remembered to take my D on Friday.) My mornings are usually still pretty good, but sometime around noon I get depressed. (I probably shouldn’t use the term ‘depressed,’ which means something specific in the therapeutic world. I guess the proper phrase would be ‘seriously blue.’)
The shift is subtle. My mood starts to drift over the last few hours of morning. I start feeling overwhelmed. I start thinking no one likes me. I start doubting all my work.
If I eat, things get a little better (thank you, delicious bowl of Bibimbap,) but generally it’ll take two or three days of consistently taking 4000 UI of D before I’ll feel totally okay again.
I guess another sign that I’m not seriously depressed is that there’s a part of my brain always analyzing these moods. I can sort of step back and go, “Oh, crap, right. Ah well, keep your head down and get through the day … and then go take your damn vitamins.”
Posted by gralinnaea on Dec 24, 2011 in Dear Diary, DIY
Having a new house and no furniture (see: traveling the world for all of 2010) has left me needing … well, to fill a house with furniture.
I’ve instituted a “no particleboard” policy and have been trying to customize (or straight-out make) as much as I can. (Watch this space for an update about my upcoming dining room table.)
Dressers made of real wood are surprisingly hard to find, but craigslist came through with this old beaten up antique. ($20, yo!)
Oops, I forgot to take a picture before I went at it with a sander.
Originally I was going to go the traditional staining and varnishing route, but the wood top was so distressed that I decided to go with a solid black and satin varnish. Elina painted the new pulls blue and I think the whole thing comes together rather dramatically.
Ignore the imperfections, they're ... character!
I didn’t realize the top three drawers were a different color than the bottom two, but I kinda like the effect.
This was definitely a project of the “quick and dirty” variety, but I love it anyway. ($35 altogether, yo!)
And now my clothes live somewhere besides the floor!
