It's starting to get dark inconveniently earlier, so more time inside. Except I've been cleaning, and driving to Vermont to help my sister, and doing stuff. So, yeah. And, the treehouse. The f*ing treehouse. It's awesome, it's brilliant, I'm wicked proud of it, and by god I wish it would fucking end. The clients are getting testy, and they are incredible to have not shot me long ago. Building windows tomorrow; rope railing if I have time (fun fact: it takes more than 75' of rope to do 4' of this railing, and several hours. Thread, pull 75', rethread, pull, so on and so forth.) Next week, finish the roof, stain the whole thing, and done.
My mom is coming to town tomorrow. If it's not pouring, maybe she'll work on the railing for a bit.
The semi-annual Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library Book Sale has rolled around again, so I'm trying to update my list of books so I know what to buy. I usually go twice, sometimes three times, and spend no more than $50 the first weekend, $40 the second weekend, and $10 the third weekend. Since the price drops daily, and it runs for 3 three-day weekends, that's approximately 12-15 books the first weekend (hardcover or trade; MMPB are cheaper), 16-20 books the second weekend, and however many you can carry the last weekend (You've got to really try to break $20 the last weekend).
I always hit SF & fantasy first, but I've gotten into mystery thrillers in the past few years, particularly foreign (Scandinavian) thrillers. I dabble in popular fiction as well. I loaded up with a lot of "literature" the first few years, but I'm less frequently in the mood to read that, so I've still got shelves of it to go through. I cruise nonfiction & other categories if things aren't too crowded and I'm not overloaded. I did score an updated, hardcover copy of The Dictionary of Imaginary Places for $3.50 last weekend - and I'm picky about condition, so this is pretty near mint. Not sure it was ever opened. I have a copy, but I think it's the older edition, and paperback.
Anyways, have been reading anthologies recently, which is always nice, and doing google searches on authors, which lead me to several genre ezines, one ongoing (Lightspeed) and one defunct (Black Gate). Subscribing to a few of these is becoming a priority; they help me remember that I'd like to actually submit, and not just read, someday. My BA is Creative Writing, after all.
Man, if I could write short stories and build play structures...that would be a wicked awesome life.
You're not the only one! LOL
ReplyDeleteSo, how many months on the tree house now?
Technically five months, but I lost about 3 weeks to rain, 3 weeks to truck repairs, and 3 weeks on vacation in Thailand.
DeleteThailand? Thailand! Without me!
DeleteDoh!
Hehehehehehehehe
I went with my wife, daughter, and mother-in-law, sooo.... It was an interesting trip. My wife is half-Thai and grew up in Bangkok; her brother still lives there. The house they grew up in is still in the family, but no one lives there. It's a major tourist area, and all but one of the other houses on the street have been converted to bars or "hotels". A giant neon sign less than a half a block away proclaims "Worlds Largest Adult Playground!". I went out for a walk at 10 pm, and learned the differences between the real female prostitutes and the transvestite prostitutes: a) height, b) voice, c) enthusiasm. The transvestites were really selling it.
DeleteIt wasn't like that 12 years ago, seriously. I used to tell people it was a "pink" light district, but it's full-on red light now.
It's amazing what cosmetic surgery can do these days. Bourbon street has a few of those places catering to . . . "special" pleasures.
DeleteFYI, Black Gate's still going, Nathan; it's @ http://www.blackgate.com/
ReplyDeleteAllan.
They are "permanently closed to new submissions". Check out the submissions page. Maybe they are reworking their format, but that's not how I read it.
DeleteAh, here it is. "Black Gate has ceased publication, and subscriptions are no longer available." Under subscriptions.
Delete