with now and again a major drop from lines above making a wonderfully ripple.
It’s one of those change of season mornings when the garden is both autumn evergreens and winter frost.
I had a really good day yesterday. I’ve been outlining the ending in increasing detail and yesterday laid down thousands of words in real writing.
You all are good——-
I’ve got a great alternative story “Keeper”.
Bren retires to a tower in order to engage in some mental development exercises that came from the far snowy north. He finds by focusing his mind gazing into a crystal ball…
[pssssst!]
What is it now? The tower of a castle is called the “keep”!
[whispers]
What do you mean, “Wrong series”?
[more whispers]
Who? Never heard of her.
[more whispers]
Pardon me, we’ve got a little misunderstanding here. 🙁 I’ll be back.
“Chooser” – in which Bren determines the best cell phone service for the mainland, incurring the wrath of Tatiseigi, and three-quarters of the Taisigen Marid.
You mean he doesn’t get monthly (or weekly!) offers for mU-Verse and m-Cast and such? How does he manage without all the junk mail? 🙄
“Keeper”(3) – Wherein Jane starts a new career as a psychiatric attendent for a well-known and beloved author driven round the bend by an unchecked spate of arrant whimsy from her fans.
And now for something completely different (cue Monty Python theme):
Zorro, under protest, was taken to the vet this morning. We had thought, due to her tiny size when we first met her, that she was only a few months old. Wrong! It was probably due to malnutrition; according to the vet, she had her permanent teeth and was more on the order of 7-8 years old. She had also been fixed already at some point, although not chipped, notched or tattooed. She is a mystery, but is still getting the full treatment, and will hopefully come home this afternoon in good shape to become officially part of the household.
Smartypants was having quite the bout of schadenfreude this morning when watching Zorro get stuffed into the carrier, until he realized that NO ONE was getting fed.
And that would be, strangely enough since it’s American and not British, Souza’s “The Liberty Bell” march.
q.v. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_bell_march
“The United States Marine Corps Band has played ‘The Liberty Bell’ march at the last three presidential inaugurations: the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton, the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush, and the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama.”
Perhaps that was the Marines’ “editorial comment” about recent CIC’s?
They played it recently on my local Classical music station (allclassical.org), but I was out of the room for the initial identification. Recognized the tune and cracked up. Had to wait for the follow-up announcement.
Welcome back to Zorro, may she enjoy her new home all the more since she could avoid something she already had done.
My two *hate* the carrier. They think it always means going somewhere and doing something they do not want.
It sounds like you had better luck than I often did with one previous cat, who had this strange octopus-like pseudopod stretchability to avoid entry into a cat carrier. For this reason, I had bought a medium-sized dog carrier. Hah, *that* he could not stretch himself to avoid! It’ll hold two cats if needed. But more usually, I use a small cat carrier for each cat.
Equivocator – in which Bren can’t make up his mind
Leading to the inevitable, Circumlocutor and Perambulator to complete that trilogy.
Oh wait, that sounds more like modern-day news than science fiction….
Say what you like about Hanks-paidhi (and one could say plenty) but at least she is direct and to the point in her, ah, unpleasant difficult way.
Think maybe she has Asperger’s Syndrome?
(pssst!)
Yes, I know! But the old name is clearer.
Oh, OK, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD.
Nah, the Aspies I know of are all much more polite and likable. 🙂 (I haven’t met Aspie folks, afaik, in person, but I’ve met a few in forums.) I’ve also met, in forums, a couple of people I think might be undiagnosed but Aspie, based on how they handle things.
Off-topic, but I read recently they are suggesting redefining the criteria for diagnosis of Asperger’s and other autism spectrum disorders in the next revision of the manual.
Hanks-paidhi is just a special case of opinionated PITA, I think. 😉 (Though I’d probably add, some folks who are opinionated PITA’s are nice and some aren’t. It can be a strength. 🙂 ) But Ms. Hanks labors under species prejudice. It does seem strange to study the language and culture of a species (race, nationality, religion, etc.) she thinks of as inhuman, inferior, or enemies, inimical. Not that it doesn’t happen in real life. It does.
Pleased to mee-cha. 😉 I’m one of ’em. Self diagnosed to be sure, but I know my life best and it’s the one explanation that make it make sense. I’m also sure my father had it.
I read recently that it has been subsumed into ASD in the manual.
I’m having a family problem right now, and it’s causing me to wonder about one of those Pandora’s Box kind of questions, but I’m reluctant to give voice to my suspicions until I have a chance to discuss the matter with a “Neuro-typical” friend–because I just don’t know what would happen if the lid is opened.
If Hanks is lacking in “Theory of Mind”, in that other people have and use them, as seems to be a defining characteristic of Asperger’s, then wouldn’t that be exactly how you’d expect her to behave?
Howdy! 🙂
I hope the family matter or other matters work out okay.
About Hanks, I think there is something else going on with her. (I’d commented in Sable’s thread at Shejidan on Deana Hanks’ character.) She’s prejudiced, has her own agenda, and she’s the type who thinks she’s smarter than anyone else, even if she is wrong. She’s the aggressive know-it-all type of student or worker, who’ll step on people, even colleagues and allies, but for sure, on anyone she thinks is an opponent or enemy. She really has trouble getting along with Bren, who works very hard at being neutral. She manages to alienate most reasonable atevi and Bren, and that’s hard to do.
Sounds exactly like someone totally oblivious to the realization that others also have a mind and all that entails, one of the defining features of Asperger’s, to one degree or another. Bren is clearly “neuro-typical”, as are Banichi and Jago (!), IMO.
You could be right about Hanks, I’m just guessing she has something else going on.
But come to think of it, how atevi think and feel versus how humans think and feel is a good question in relation to what’s neuro-typical for humans, and logic versus emotion in humans.
Who better to be a megalomaniac than one with no “Theory of Mind”, understanding of and respect for other minds? Just because one may have Asperger’s Syndrome doesn’t mean (s)he doesn’t have an “agenda”–it’ll just be ignorant or disrespectful of others.
I’ve only been through the first two, (can’t find Inheritor in the used book stores–Social Security!). But I’ve seen every evidence that the Atevi have “Theory of Mind” capacity, and I might argue better than some humans. Banichi and Jago certainly understand Bren’s mind.
Just dropping in to say we’ve had horrible cold weather, Russ is not happy (he got used to New York weather over the last five years. It’s MUCH colder here. And windy). He did side the house with new insulation stuff, though, and we’re doing far better than last year even if we still don’t have a working furnace. What we do have is three space heaters, plus an incredible amount of baking lately.
I also have four adorable cat pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zettepics/
And for anyone intersted, I’ve started a blog experiment. I am posting chapters of a new book as I get them edited:
http://zette.blogspot.com/
We aren’t due for more snow until later this week. But it is going to warm up to the 40’s soon. Yay!
awwww.
And good luck with the book!