Life has killed
the dream
I kept
in my icebox
and I was saving
for after the tigers come:
probably at night
Now life says, “forgive me,
but your tears are delicious:
so sweet
and so cold.”
Archive for Uncategorized
William Carlos Williams, Les Mis, and Vogon Poetry
I do not think it means what you think it means
So, do you think that Card’s call for “tolerance” is laying the foundation to get all petulant when his movie is boycotted? (“See! I was willing to put the past behind us… it’s them!”)
Thought for the Day
Because being an asshole is not an opinion, it’s just being an asshole.
— Mary Robinette Kowal
The UnDoctor
Several years ago, I made a reference on my blog to the Judith Merril addenda to the old TVOntario broadcasts of Doctor Who. At the time, Orange Mike asked me if they were available anywhere, and a quick Google search turned up nothing. I recently found a few of the UnDoctor segments on YouTube. I haven’t seen these in ages!
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A Moment from WisCon
I was sitting down, getting ready to start my first panel of the weekend, when the panelist beside me asked, “Are we crazy about using microphones, or can everyone hear me?” I quickly asserted, “We’re crazy about using microphones.”
And immediately after that, I thought: Damn. She tricked me into saying ‘crazy.’
This thing about ablist language is tricksy sometimes.
Madam and the Census Man
I find myself reflecting on this Langston Hughes poem a fair bit:
The census man,
The day he came round,
Wanted my name
To put it down.I said, JOHNSON,
ALBERTA K.
But he hated to write
The K that way.He said, What
Does K stand for?
I said, K–
And nothing more.He said, I’m gonna put it
K-A-Y.
I said, If you do,
You lie.My mother christened me
ALBERTA K.
You leave my name
Just that way!He said, Mrs.,
(With a snort)
Just a K
Makes your name too short.I said, I don’t
Give a damn!
Leave me and my name
Just like I am!Furthermore, rub out
That MRS., too–
I’ll have you know
I’m Madam to you!
This is exactly how Facebook makes me feel.
My Kingdom for a Hard Drive
About a week and a half ago, my hard drive started acting up. Once I figured out what the problem was, I determined that there’s apparently a hard drive replacement program for my model of iMac because the hardware is faulty. So the day before I left for WisCon, I lugged my iMac down to the Eaton Centre, and conveniently, they just finished the replacement today.
Amazingly, I actually back up my machine on a regular basis. Really, I just set up Time Machine on a permanently-attached external drive, and have let it do its thing for a few years now. I’ve just finished the restore-from-backup and I’m gobsmacked about how effectively everything has restored itself. I’ve been sitting on my hands, terrified that I’d discover some catastrophic problem with the backups, but no. I’m in my happy place.
I haven’t been without computer (I have waaaaay too many computers), but the iMac has all the good stuff on it. Things like Photoshop and Illustrator. And the scanner. And the printer. And the Wacom. So I’ve not loved being without it. But am I ever thrilled that the inconvenience hasn’t been too terrible.
I will now Preen
@WisCon37 until WisSched I never had an app that so perfectly fit my needs. I am SO excited for my first con!
— Olivia (@osailor) May 22, 2013
The Groundspeed of Joy
I drove for eleven hours yesterday (including through some construction-site nightmares in Illinois — Hey, Illinois: your tolls are out of control. You expect me to pay those price to drive such terrible roads?) and finally arrived in Madison, WI, where I’m now hobnobbing with some of the most awesome people on the planet!
You always take the weather with you…
CBC Weather has a different definition of “high” than I do.
