For the curious reader of science fiction (scifi) and fantasy
My friend from wayyy back, Michael Daugherty, put me on to this. Cats, cows, and sheep perform Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies, which I think I first encountered with Blood, Sweat, and Tears, back in the ‘60s. Give it a listen. But keep in mind what one commenter said: You will never be able to unhear it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uql_5Gj52z4&feature=youtu.be
More strange music tomorrow…
Having shown you what working from home does to the wife, it only seems fair to reveal the converse. I think I’m holding up quite well under the strain, don’t you?
Some of my writer friends were talking about people’s reading habits during the current situation, and the theory was floated that in times like these, people like comfort reading: light, escapist, familiar.
A lightbulb went off in my head. I think I forgot to tell everyone that my two story collections, Going Alien, and Reality and Other Fictions, are both free at Smashwords through May as part of the Authors Give Back Sale. Both of those collections have some light, funny stories in them. Plus, they’re free!
I also have two omnibuses, Dragon Space and The Chaos Chronicles: Books 1-3, for 60% off as part of the sale.
These prices are at Smashwords only. Lots of other authors have books on special for the sale, as well.
Cast your mind back to a long, long time ago, when the threat of being stuck in the house for weeks on end was merely a threat. In order to be prepared, I stocked up on less-perishable food items, including snack foods for comfort. Here’s one I found at Costco: Crispy Cauliflower. Hey, I figured, we all like cauliflower! Maybe these will be good!
They’re not. They’re awful. They’re terrible. They’re spit it out and wash your mouth out and dig the bits out of your teeth terrible! Imagine leftover cooked cauliflower five days in the fridge, but crisp. Why would anyone market something like that? Augh. I hope this company makes other, tastier stuff, because relying on this as a marketing plan would be a recipe for disaster.* I wish them well, but not this product.
Here’s another one, and I say this sadly as a dedicated lover of Oatly Oat Milk. Truly, we drink Oatly all the time, and I miss it if I can’t mix it with dairy milk in my coffee. Unfortunately, Oatly ice cream (second ingredient: coconut oil) tastes nothing like oat milk. In fact, it tastes like nothing quite so much as hardened lubricating oil, with an aftertaste of generic chemical.* We each ate a few bites—and then, wishing that we hadn’t, threw the rest of it away. Allysen flashed back to many years ago, when we tried Tofutti ice cream, a vegan smart-bomb targeted at unsuspecting tofu lovers.*
I don’t want to end on a downer, so let me just praise to the skies this other Oatly product, Barista Edition Oatmilk! Love the stuff!
*Just my personal opinion, of course!
Only its makeup artist knows for sure.
What happens when the wife works from home for too long…
They say those masks make your skin glow, but I dunno, I’m not seeing it.
Here’s hoping for a joyous Easter for all of you who celebrate Easter, and a beautiful day for everyone! I couldn’t find any flowers blooming around our house, but my neighbor Maddie is showing off these lovely azaleas.
We dragged ourselves out of bed at 10 this morning for virch, the virtual church service at our Reservoir Church—which was lovely, including a dozen or so band members coming together from their homes, via Zoom. Since then the day has been filled with zooming of friends and family, and I am about to start preparing our Easter dinner. Hamburgers for two, on the grill!
Celebrations are a bit surreal in this time of quarantine-at-home, as my friends celebrating Passover just experienced. But a celebration is a celebration—so let’s celebrate! I hope this finds all of you well.
In this time of crisis, we all need some good news, right? John Krasinski’s “Some Good News,” shot from his home, is a great example. Here’s episode 2, with some extremely uplifting guest appearances. The best part starts about 9 minutes in.
I came across this picture—on photo paper! The year was 1998. The year we hung on.
This is me with my family, gathered around our one-square-yard wheat crop. We harvested that wheat, and still have the unhusked kernels in a Mason jar, to remind us of when we survived. I take this as a sign that perhaps we should try gardening again this year.
Can you tell that I came from a farming family?
Beyond the Trope is a weekly podcast about writing, hosted by the lively and welcoming Michelle and Giles. This week, they pick the brain of moi, and we talk about writing in general, touching on research, teaching, and television hosting. I just listened to it, and I was not disappointed! Hopefully you will be, too. Er, not. You know what I mean. Check out all of their podcasts!
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