monkeys and ponies

I don't post much publicly, primarily because a lot of what I post has to do with my work/clients, and that's not a thing I discuss where Google can find it. But there's nothing in this post that can't be posted where search engines can find it, so:

• I would like to be writing something. What, I'm not sure, but I am going to get something posted to Teaspoon or AO3 before the end of the year, dammit.


• Cooking! There's lots of that right now! Currently on the stove: waaaaay too much posole verde made with the St. Louis ribs we got from the fancypants butcher that someone to whom I'm married disappointingly refuses to eat as ribs, but will eat if stewed, so anyway, ribs + all the remaining green tomatoes from the garden + non-Goya hominy = posole verde.


• Also on the cooking front: Melissa Clark's gâteau Breton with fresh plums and cardamom from her book Dinner in French, because the CSA gave us fresh damson plums this week, and why the hell not? I'm not convinced this is going to turn out well – there was definitely some butter leakage from the springform pan (glad I put it on a foil-covered baking sheet!), and the recipe took a solid 30 minutes more than Clark specified. But I feel like with these ingredients, it's hard to go wrong, so we'll see.


• I don't normally turn over the garden on October 29, but I'm putting winter rye in for the first time as a nutrient-rich cover crop. Good for my garden, bad for my lower back, lol, but:


• Cortisone shot time on Tuesday for the lower back. This is my fourth one, but because these are related to disc issues and not joint ones, my spine guy has said I can have them for quite a while longer.


• Still, it would be nice to not have to have them at all.


• Or to be "I have a spine guy" years old.


• Anyway, still here, still on Twitter at @nonelvispub if you want to follow the public account, still planning on making that shithead's life hell in whatever small way I can now that he's bought Twitter.

I would title this post "burying the lede," but honestly, there's no point in it; might as well just say it, which is that yesterday I submitted an original story to Uncanny Magazine for publication. Honestly, I don't expect them to buy it, because the odds are always against slushpile entries. But you never know -- it's spelled and punctuated correctly, which is probably better than some entries they get; it's a story that "make[s] you feel," which is the type of stuff they're after; and who knows, maybe now that they've hit their Kickstarter stretch goal of an extra story per issue, they'll be open to giving unpublished authors a shot. (I did mention my published nonfiction in my cover letter, but I have no published fiction, which is probably what they most care about.)

So anyway, that happened, and the final story prep and submission was utterly terrifying, but I did it. I should hear back in about a month, although they say authors should contact them if they haven't heard back in 45 days. And I suppose if it doesn't sell to Uncanny, I can always try another market.

Other things: I have a new lead at work that is basically already sold without my having to do a damned thing, as well as a possible small continuation of an existing project. I still need to send out marketing email Real Soon Now, but because last year was such a financial disaster, we are actually owed a huge refund on our taxes (GOD BLESS CPAs) that we will apply to next year's taxes, which makes it much easier to coast by over the next few months.

Also, we had an utterly lovely day today. ( some photos and video after the cut )

We're having a slight water event here in the Boston area. Like, about eight inches of rain, apparently, which would certainly explain the inch of water that was in our basement last night, and the two inches there this morning. jagpatel found shop-vacs on sale a few years ago and bought us one; good thing, too, because I filled it at least fifty times this morning. That's not an exaggeration; I was in the basement for an hour and a half, and though I lost count of the bucketfuls somewhere around #38, at a rate of roughly 1.75-2 minutes to fill and drain ten gallons of water, you get fifty buckets.

Huh. The interwebs tell me that's literally more than one ton two tons of water. Go shop-vac!

The basement is busy replenishing its water supply right now, so I figure in another hour or so I'll go back downstairs in a scruffy t-shirt, jeans rolled up to my knees, and my LL Bean boots (I am one sexy beast today, let me tell you), and will vacuum more of this stuff out of the house. Ah, the joys of homeownership.

In other news, in case you are one of the few people who doesn't read XKCD regularly, today's is perfect. (And the rollover text is excellent, as usual.)

Come on, you always wanted to hear an 80s-synth, Devo-influenced, J-pop band, didn't you? Yes, you did.

• Smokra: best martini accompaniment since habanero garlic scapes. (The garlic scapes still win by a nose.) 

• Have finished Anathem and am slowly working my way through Charlie Stross' Saturn's Children, which is okay but is so far the kind of SF novel that throws futuristic terminology at you in an attempt to show how clever it is. Anathem takes a similar approach, but has the benefit of using an Earth-like setting to ground things, and frankly, is better-written, even if the last couple hundred pages go off the rails a bit. Once I finish Saturn's Children, I'll just have Little Brother to go through to finish the novel category, but it's going to have to be damned good to take away my #1 vote for Anathem. (In case you're curious, The Graveyard Book is currently in the #2 slot.)

• Five and a half more knitted octopus tentacles to go! Jesus, what was I thinking when I decided to knit a stuffed octopus toy for the nephew-to-be? At least I have until mid-August to finish things.

• I can't even talk about Dr. George Tiller. Everything that comes out of my mouth about this is an expletive directed at the pro-life movement, so simply take it as read that I am incredibly upset and angry about this.

• Still not cot_after_dark, in case you were wondering.

I am home recovering from Day 1 of the Mystery Hunt by sitting next to a snoring cat and watching the BSG premiere. (To which I have to say OMG WTF?!?!?! Repeatedly.)

Also, I must remember to bring my camera to MH events. If I don't, then I don't get photos of things like "Blue-skinned human from the past seeking others, β" written on a chalkboard, which trust me, makes perfect sense in context.

More MH fun and games tomorrow, after sleep, precious, wonderful sleeeeeeeeeep.

Have just spent the last three hours or so doing my rec list for calufrax this week, and now my brain is full. (On the other hand, someone on my flist should be keeping an eye out for tomorrow's rec ... .) And before anyone asks, yes, there are a couple of adult stories on the list, though only one of them is well and truly filthy.

I can't believe it's 5pm already. Where did the day go? I have dishes to do, and laundry to start (especially if I don't want to be wearing a ball gown to tomorrow's client meeting), and at some point I really need to finish up that Adipose, because my niece's birthday party is Saturday.

Oh, great, Mr. Peterson is awake and trying to crawl into my lap. Cats are always good for productivity. At this rate, none of the chores will be done until November.