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Australia teaches us how to laugh, and yes, more snow

Does anyone know how to ship a snowball to Australia so that it won’t melt before it arrives?

theapplicant has posted a hysterical Aussie version of my maple snow photos. Seriously, you must see this. We howled.

To give equal time to our friends Down Under, I present the weather in Sydney, Australia today. (For the record, I am a total weenie about heat. I hate, hate, hate it and would probably crack and break into a million pieces if I lived in a place that was hot and dusty for more than two days.)

Here in Mexico, NY, we now have eight feet of snow from this week’s storm. Day 7.

Swimming sectionals are finally going to start today, so we’re loading up the truck and preparing to head out for that. (Number One Son is competing in two events.) It will be snowing while we’re away, but not enough to prevent us from getting back up the driveway when we get home. The meet will be packed with people and very hot and humid, so I have to dress as if it were 80 degrees out. Then I have to cover all of those clothes with wool socks, boots, snow pants, sweaters, jackets, scarves, etc. We’ll drive across the tundra to the meet, go inside, and try not to melt before we strip off the winter gear. At least it will give us plenty of soft stuff to sit upon.

If you live around here and you are bored today, do me a favor. Take a shovel and find a fire hydrant. (Especially if you live in Oswego, and I am waving at all youse guys at SUNY when I say that.) Firefighters in the area are exhausted from trying to fight fires in houses that are surrounded by mountains of snow. Finding the hydrants under the snow wastes time and could mean the death of someone or the loss of a house. Grab your friends, grab a shovel, and dig out a hydrant. It will give you bragging rights. (Thanks, Biggest Q, for the tip.)

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caring for a knee

Yesterday a nice doctor drilled three holes into the right knee of my Beloved Husband. He had permission to do this, of course, and had accommodated BH by giving him a shot before the operation that allowed him float away to happy land on the bubbles.

Between the driving, and the drilling, and mucking around once actually inside the knee (doc found pieces of machinery, old engine parts, misplaced chain saws, all kinds of debris messing up the works), and waiting for the happy land feeling to fade away, and the drive home in a lake effect storm, and the settling in, not a lot was written yesterday. However, I brought my computer to the waiting room and was able to untangle what I think is the last of the plot knots towards the book’s end.

Today will be spent on the couch next to BH, fetching ice and pillows for The Knee.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting The Knee rests.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting The Knee uncovered.

I will also be taking very good care of the BH who is attached to The Knee.

And writing. And tending the fire.

(If you ever read a book of mine in which a character has knee surgery, now you’ll know where it came from.)

PS – I would love some bookseller opinion about the article in the CSM about new indie bookstores opening.

Happy birthday, !!

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Authors should marry well

I’m working up in my office today (it’s the third floor loft) because it is warm enough to step away from the fireplace today. My husband just brought me a carafe of tea and a hot pad to put under my feet because while it is warmer, it is still a wee bit chilly (feels like 10 degrees outside). Note to future authors: choose your mates with care. The life companion of an author must have the following:

1. The patience of all the saints, combined.
2. A fondness for inexpensive clothes and peanut butter sandwiches.
3. A wicked good sense of humor.
4. The ability to not be put off when you talk to your characters in your sleep, or when your eyes glaze over during conversation and he/she realizes that you are in your story, and not really listening.
5. A gracious acceptance of the fact that state and national library conventions count as family vacations.
6. The ability to stand at the Staples photocopier for hours and remain cheerful.
7. The courage to return your overdue library books and pay the fines.
8. The willingness to go back to the library and pick up the dozen books you just ordered.
9. The skill to spin the straw of all critical reviews into gold.
10. The sense of when to cheer, when to nudge, and when to brew tea.

I am a very lucky author. Thanks, BH.

I found an amazing mistake in a history book this morning, and lost a half-hour verifying it. But now I know I’m right about the date of a particular invasion and I’m feeling a little smug. (And I have warm toes! And hot tea!) Am anxiously awaiting the news from Seattle about the Big Awards this morning. Good luck to all!!

Yesterday: writing. Today: more of the same.

edited to add: Here are the ALA winners – hearty congratulations to all!

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nose in books

I’ve been researching the new WIP like a fiend, but will lift my face out of the musty library books briefly for this update.

Happy Belated Father’s Day to all. We had a grand time – hung out with our dads, feted BH, called G (dad to daughter’s #1 & #3), and ate massive amounts of barbequed chicken and strawberry shortcake. I baked the shortcake, much to the puzzlement of my family which so rarely sees me in the kitchen. #1 Son and Jess, daughter #2, made BH feel very proud and paternal. If you want to make your dad laugh, send him here.

A couple of teachers have written to tell me that SPEAK made it into their school’s yearbook as one of the students’ favorite books. This feels very nice. Even better is the fact that Best Books is now a yearbook category. Maybe there hope after all.

Summer solstice is coming up this week. When I lived in Denmark, it was a night of great parties and amazing bonfires. Might have to recreate a little of that here in the Forest.

If any of you are bored out of your skulls, see if you can track down a copy of the diary and sketches (1762-1780)of Lt-general Archibald Robertson. I think the formal author names are Robertson and Henry Miller Lydenberg. There is a microfilm copy at SUNY Oswego, but I would like to find a hard copy to borrow so I can photocopy and blow up some of the sketches of New York in the time period of the WIP.

One more thing. I tried to watch TV yesterday. Miami Ink, to be precise. I enjoy tattoos and the stories behind them, but I wanted to find the directors/editors of the show and through them to the sharks. They stretch 5 minutes of story-telling into half an hour by repeating things over and over and over again. One guy, about to ship out with the Navy, wanted a koi fish to remind him of his son. OK, let’s leave the fact that they never explained the fish=son connection alone for a sec. They told us that he was getting the “koi fish for his son” seven freaking times before the artist even fired up the machine. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!! My brain was shrinking by the second.

Most television sucks.

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Talking about leaving the nest!

Several of my chicks have flown the nest in a big way. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

This is the paradox of parenting. You want to raise your kids to be strong and kind, to have a sense of morality and direction, to make good decisions, etc etc, blah, blah blah. But if you do your job right and accomplish all that stuff, then they want to leave.

Le sigh.

Last week BH and I drove down to PA to help Mer (daughter #3 for those of you with a score card) finish moving into her slightly off-campus apartment. She’s spending the summer down there, living out every college almost-sophomore’s dream about not moving home after freshman year. And we are really proud of her, because she’s doing it in a smart way – has a job, is taking a class, found a great apartment, and clearly doesn’t need her mom so much.

Le sigh.

Then on Monday, BH and I took Stef (#1) to NYC on a very, very slow Amtrak train.

(This post will now pause to bring you the following haiku:)

Hours late again
We tried to submit, accept
Train zen is a crock

(Back to post)

Why were we going to NYC? Because Stef thought it would be a good idea to spend the summer in China. Yep. Right this very second she’s eating breakfast somewhere near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. She is on a very cool program that offers an 8-week language intensive course, run by CET.

And because the Internet is a wonderful thing, you can follow her adventures. She is anshutian.

More details about our trip & photos

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