disassembly_rsn

Yesterday, I baked bread, did embroidery, carried books down to the basement and got them safely stowed, finished Phase One of the Sekrit Project, which leaves two Phases left to complete by November 14, which is totally doable.

I also found Steve's cardinal, which was hiding behind books on the bottom-most shelf of the bookcase from which it fled.

And a bonus find...

About a million years ago, I bought Steve a sundial for his birthday. Approximately two hundred years ago, the gnomon went missing. The sundial then became a piece of glass art that sat on a bookshelt in Steve's office.

Today, as I was looking for the cardinal, I found the gnomon for the sundial. It had been stuck to a book.

So the sundial is back together, which is pleasing, even though it I probably have no place to set it up, since -- windows, cats.

Still, I'm pleased that it's at least potentially functional again.

Where are we? Thursday?

Thursday. Sunny, white-and-gray clouds traveling across a blue sky.

Breakfast was two slices of yesterday's bread, toasted, cottage cheese, and grapes. Yesterday, I ate three slices of bread with butter as soon as the loaf was cool enough to slice, two slices this morning, and I foresee another slice or two with lunch. I am not usually like this, but I'm gonna finish this loaf by Saturday. Guess I needed Vitamin Bread.

Wrote 1,459 new words this morning. Did the addition, to get some idea of where I am contract-wise, and found the total WIP at 102,870, which In Theory means I can type THE END.

Yeah, yeah. We laugh at Theory.

I did sleep in, and my desk one! more! time! looks like a bomb hit it. How does this keep happening? Gremlins, I guess.

Tonight is glassworking, which means a late lunch, because class goes so late. Happily, I can sleep in tomorrow.

That? Is all the news from this side of the world.

How's everything going for you?

Oh. I got the sundial set:

Thursday afternoon cat census:

james_davis_nicoll

The August 2023 Nightmares Underneath Bundle featuring The Nightmares Underneath, the old-school horror-fantasy tabletop roleplaying game from Chthonstone Games.

Bundle of Holding: Nightmares Underneath (from 2023)

james_davis_nicoll

Faraday, Oregon, seems to have a missing persons problem. Its problem is much worse.

Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner

james_davis_nicoll

A robot muses contentedly on the events that led it to its rapidly approaching doom.

A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-Ran

rolanni

Q: How many witches does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Into what?
#
Tuesday.

So that wasn't much fun. The nerve-zapping-via-electrodes was...disconcerting. The insertion of the thin needles was downright upsetting. However! we lucked in that my patience and the number of needles to be inserted came to an end at the same time.

After, I went to Bleeker and Greer, had an early lunch of ham quiche and mocha (yes, yes -- indulge me) then came home via Camden, Northport, Belfast.

I'm going to have a snack and get myself in gear to go out to needlework in a couple hours.

Today's blog post title brought to you by Lonesome George Thorogood, signing Bo Diddley, and coincidentally the song I heard three times today on three different stations. "Who do you love?"

Below, Park Row, in Northport, Maine.

james_davis_nicoll

The story that began the grand tradition of picking on a teenager's work.

The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis

rolanni

Did some work on the Sekrit Project, checked the post office box, put gas in the car, went to the book club, hit the grocery store, came home and strung lights. Checked the route to the hospital in Rockport, bought next month's book club book -- Remarkably Bright Creatures -- my choice, because -- octopus.

Tomorrow I drive to the hospital in Rockport (ref "gas/car") for a nerve conduction test. I don't think a visit to the hospital to have electricity run through my body counts as a Writer's Day Off, even if I do get to drive to the coast. I also want to try to get to needlework tomorrow evening, so -- I may be scarce, but fear not! This is The Plan.

Wednesday looks like a free day, as does Friday, Thursday is mostly free, except for glass class, which I will try to go early so I can talk to my teacher about various fixups that probably need to be done.

So! How was your day?

Let there be light. Left to right -- Steve's Office, Sharon's Office, Living room

Eek.

These just in...

And gosh it was nice of the UPS guy to throw both boxes into a puddle AND block the front door, AND fail to put said boxes in plastic, even though it's raining.

And we end the day on a complete mystery.

I went back to Steve's office to put the new edition of I Dare on his shelf and in doing so, bumped the cloisonne cardinal he had sitting on the shelf, which fell to the floor OR SO I THOUGHT. I cannot find it, ANYwhere. Hands and knees, flashlights, vacuum cleaner -- I have no idea where that bird went. My only hope now is the cats, and the hope there is that they won't destroy it if they do find it.

Sheesh.

Wine o'clock.

Everybody have a good evening.

james_davis_nicoll

Since the authors are no longer with us, will we ever get a glimpse?

Five Anticipated Books and Stories That Remain Unpublished

james_davis_nicoll

A bundle for Daniel James Hanley's tabletop roleplaying game of Gothic and Romantic Horror in the decadent, disastrous age of Marie-Antoinette, Napoleon, and Lord Byron.

Bundle of Holding: Ghastly Affair

james_davis_nicoll

The young people wrestle with what is arguably an early example of Cyberpunk.

Young People Read Old Nebula Finalists: True Names by Vernor Vinge

alierak posting in

dw_maintenance

DW is seeing some issues due to today's Amazon outage. For right now it looks like the site is loading, but it may be slow. Some of our processes like notifications and journal search don't appear to be running and can't be started due to rate limiting or capacity issues. DW could go down later if Amazon isn't able to improve things soon, but our services should return to normal when Amazon has cleared up the outage.

Edit: all services are running as of 16:12 CDT, but there is definitely still a backlog of notifications to get through.

Edit 2: and at 18:20 CDT everything's been running normally for about the last hour.

rolanni

What went before ONE: So that's +/-1,320 words on the morning. I'm not reporting the impact of these words on the WIP total because I don't know exactly where they go.

The cats were all waiting for me when I got to Steve's Office, and they stuck with me until I said, "That's a wrap," whereupon Rook and Tali got up, stretched, and followed me to the front of the house.

It's now time to have lunch, then go downstairs to perform one's duty to the cats, and monkey around with my glass for a bit.

The cloudy morning has become a sunny afternoon, though still cool.

And so it goes.
#
What went before TWO: Aaaand that's enough fun for one day! I have finished cutting what glass I can. As Was Predicted, I did break the starfish -- twice, but the second time much better than the first (Do not laugh. The bar we're using here, as Miri Robertson once famously said, is the one that's buried in that snowpile over there). So, rather than run out of glass, I shall take what I have with me to class, prepared to Learn Better.

There's a horrifying amount of glass pieces in my scrap box. Honestly, I should go into the kaleidoscope business.

Also, the project got its tithe of blood today, so I was glad I had wimped in and taken my silly little first aid kit down to The Studio.

But! All that said -- I'm for a cup of tea and a bun, and then I do believe I'll read.

Everybody have a good evening. I'll check in tomorrow.
#
What went before THREE: New entry in Steve and Sharon's Excellent Adventure, for those who are reading along: Eager Street
#
Um. Monday? Cool and damp; rain in the forecast.

Updated my books read list -- I have read my 50th book, which is something of a relief; I really didn't think I was going to see that many.

Read the first eight chapters of the book club book last night. I really can't tell if the ... predictability is a feature or a bug. As in, yes, this; yes, this, too; no that's pretty flimsy, but it gets us where we're going; ok, yeah, they lied, what a surprise -- is just the entrance ramp into the Real Story* (feature) or if, having begun, this is how we mean to go on. Well. I'll find out.

In other news, I was inclined to feel Poorly Used when I got the news that my health insurance will be going up $30 a month in 2026, but that was before I read the newspaper and found out that this same insurance provider is dropping membership for half the state. Yes, the half that needs it the most, why do you ask?

Sigh. It's possible that Mondays aren't good for me.

P'rhaps I'll go find a cup of tea and something for breakfast.

How's everybody doing this morning?
________
*I almost had a fistfight on a panel regarding the beginning of The Goblin Emperor, in which,** and my fellow panelist was insisting that it was Bad Storytelling because Basic Security mandates that you Don't Do That, and my equally empassioned argument that this was just to "explain" how we got to the Unlikely Situation which was the Actual Story the writer wanted to tell. Wow, that was an exhausting panel.
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
_________
**The Emperor and all of his sons are on the same airship when it blows up.

james_davis_nicoll

2019: The Tories somehow find someone worse than May to be Prime Minister, UK pleas to the EU for a Brexit negotiation do-over on the grounds “our negotiators were fucking numpties” fall on deaf ears, and Tory MPs reject multiple Tory Brexit proposals, for which UK voters rebuke the incompetent Tories with a massive majority.

Poll #33744 Clarke Award Finalists 2019

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 33

View Respondents

Which 2019 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Rosewater by Tade Thompson
7 (21.2%)

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
2 (6.1%)

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
25 (75.8%)

Semiosis by Sue Burke
10 (30.3%)

The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag
4 (12.1%)

The Loosening Skin by Aliya Whiteley
1 (3.0%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2019 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
Semiosis by Sue Burke
The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag
The Loosening Skin by Aliya Whiteley

rolanni

50 Emilie and the Hollow World, (Emilie Adventures #1) Martha Wells (e)
49 Black Tie & Tails (Black Wolves of Boston #2), Wen Spencer (e)
48 Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky(The Final Architecture #1)e)
47 Hemlock and Silver, T. Kingfisher (e)
46 Outcrossing, Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm #1) (e)
45 Outfoxing Fate, Zoe Chant/Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters)(e)
44 Atonement Sky, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9) (e)
43 Stone and Sky, Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London #10) (e)
42 Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (re-re-re-&c-read)
41 I Dare, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Liaden Universe #7) (page proofs)
40 To Hive and to Hold, Amy Crook (The Future of Magic #1) (e)
39 These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Sarah Nichols (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
38 Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
37 Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36 The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35 Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33 The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32 Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31 The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30 The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29 Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28 The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27 Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26 The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25 Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24 The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23 Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22 The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21 The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20 A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19 The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18 A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17 All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16 Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15 The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14 A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13 Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11 Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10 Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9 House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6 Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.

rolanni

What went before ONE: Wrote 1170-ish new words, sketching in that scene. Needs work.

Spent an hour...maybe two hours with my glass project. Needs work.

Back in my office for right now. I may or may not go back to the The! Studio! today, though even if I don't I need to remember to turn off the heaters and the humidifier.

The cats were before me when I got to Steve's Office this morning, Rookie giving me a Look that pretty clearly stated that there would be A Note In My File for coming in late. So far as I know, they're still in Steve's Office. If I wanna go sit in the basement, it's nothing to do with them.

Project to date:

#
What went before TWO: Sat down in the comfy chair in my office to look out over the Long Back Yard and have a snack, and this happened:

What went before THREE: OK. As reported earlier, did some writing, did some glasswork. I also made the paper edition of Civilized Behavior, but it will not be released until November 6. I also sent the ebook files to Baen, with a request that they publish on November 13, which is the date that the ebook edition will publish at All The Other Vendors.

Everybody confused now?

Yeah, me, too.

The cats all came out to my office to sit with me and I was wranglin' files. Pretty soon, they'll start reminding me that it will Soon! Be! Happy! Hour, but I think I have time to get the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put away before that Auspicious Hour strikes.

How'd everybody do today?
#
Sunday. Chilly, cloudy -- no, wait! Here's the sun trying to break through.

Slept a little late this morning, but that's OK, given the exciting week I've got lined up.

Rice and asparagus stir fry for breakfast. Because I Could. Leftovers for lunch.

The two bill-like pieces of mail that came in yesterday, were not in fact bills, so yay.

Yesterday also saw the delivery of another light tube/string. Once I get that up, I'll have three rooms outfitted with LED strings -- the living room, Steve's Office, and my office. This is perhaps excessive. OTOH, the Dark is Rising.

Today's plan is writing, glassworking, one's duty to the cats, reading. Yeah, slacking off again. I'm thinking that I'm way overwriting this book, but -- onward to (an) end, then rest, then Sumo Editing. The Writing Life.

And that? Is all I've got.

Who else is slacking off today?

Today's blog post title brought to you by Siouxsie and the Banshees, "Dear Prudence." (Yes, yes, written by Paul McCartney, thank you.)

james_davis_nicoll

Mars being unfit for humans, there is no alternative but to make humans--or at least a human--fit for Mars.

Man Plus (Man Plus, volume 1) by Frederik Pohl

holmesticemods posting in

holmestice

Match emails have gone out from holmesticemods@gmail.com. Please check your inboxes, spam folders, junk mail, etc.

You MUST reply to your match email to confirm you received it, otherwise we will assume you've ghosted us and we will take appropriate measures (i.e., re-assign your match to one of our pinch-hitters). Please respond as soon as possible.

Your match email contains information about submission, but we will also post as we get close to the deadline. In the next few days we'll also put up posts asking for beta and pinch-hit volunteers -- please keep an eye out.

If you have any questions, for us or your recipient, please email us. Happy baking!

james_davis_nicoll

Garden world or nightmarish hellscape?

holmesticemods posting in

holmestice

Hello, everyone! I had just switched laptops, as mine had rather dramatically died, and I do not have email access to the mod account on the new device.
Rest assured the matches are complete and checked. I just can’t get them out to you quite yet and my co-Mods are not available at the moment due to scheduled activities (also known as “having a life”).
This is just an update to let you all know you haven’t missed them in a mysterious inbox folder and they are on the way as soon as possible (within a few hours for sure)

rolanni

PR first: Open for Business!

What went before ONE: And I've just figured out the best part of having a studio with a door -- I can leave everything as it is, where it is, so next time I go down to do some work, I can just -- work.

I'm feeling somewhat better after an hour of working at my own pace and figuring stuff out by myself. Not that I've made Strides -- no, I have made at least one stride. I successfully cut a strip of "sand" out of that awful glass and it broke along the scores! Even the blasted point. So, yay. Progress.

I also cut four or five pieces out of clear colored glass, which behaved like rational silicone dioxide, broke where it was scored and didn't give me no lip. I do, however, foresee days at the grinder in my future...

Work so far:

What went before TWO: So, today I pulled a scene, completely rewrote it, and! The WIP wordcount is exactly the same as it was before I did all that. So! 98,770. ish.

Spent an hour in My! Studio! playing with glass.

It was such a nice day that I think I'll try to do it again tomorrow.

Next week is looking a little complex -- book club on Monday (Oh. I need to get a copy of our next book, The Women), driving to and from the hospital in Rockport with a nerve conduction test in-between on Tuesday, and! needlework (I really don't want to miss two weeks in a row); glasswork on Thursday; and Aztec Two Step on Saturday. So, that will be a good week to use the cut-up time for the Sekrit Project (remember that?) and putting together the paper edition of Civilized Behavior (ebook at all the bookstores for preorder!), and finishing my glass homework, too.

Yeah, I've got a little too much on my plate, still, but I'm working through it. By the end of November, I should be past the worst of it.

Question for my glassworking folks! Must you have a grinder to go forward in the hobby?

The cats wish me to know that it is Happy Hour and technically, they're not wrong. And yanno? I could use a glass of wine my own self.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I'll check in tomorrow.
#
Saturday. Sunny and going to be slightly warmer than the last couple days.

Breakfast was an enormous scramble -- two eggs, leftover veggies, half a said-to-be apple fritter which was, frankly, disappointing. The Caterteria has been replenished. The cats are in various sunspots throughout the house. I will very shortly be going back to Steve's Office to write the scene the Boys Belowstairs so kindly provided upon waking.

The plan for the day is, yes, writing, and glassworking; one's duty to the cats, and a walk. That's enough for one day.

I'm remembering a story about Steve's grandmother, who traveled by bus and by subway, but had never, and by design, learned how to drive. Her reasoning being: "But what if I was driving and I thought of a poem? I wouldn't be able to stop and write it down!"

I know a bunch of you are going/have gone to No Kings assemblies in your little pieces of America. Strength to your sign-carrying arms.

And thank you.

Today's blog post title comes from Men at Work, "Down Under," which actually got me to sing yesterday. Well done, Men at Work.

Profile

Disassembly of Reason

May 2013

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

rolanni - In which the lost are found
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Nightmares Underneath (from 2023)
james_davis_nicoll - Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner
james_davis_nicoll - A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-Ran
rolanni - Come and take a little walk with me, baby, and tell me --
james_davis_nicoll - The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis
rolanni - Monday Evening Update
james_davis_nicoll - Five Anticipated Books and Stories That Remain Unpublished
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Ghastly Affair
james_davis_nicoll - Young People Read Old Nebula Finalists: True Names by Vernor Vinge
alierak in dw_maintenance - AWS outage
rolanni - Gothic Monday
james_davis_nicoll - Clarke Award Finalists 2019
rolanni - Books read in 2025
rolanni - Won't you come out and play?
james_davis_nicoll - Man Plus (Man Plus, volume 1) by Frederik Pohl
holmesticemods in holmestice - Winter 2025 Assignments Have Been Sent!
james_davis_nicoll - The Climate and Habitability of Teegarden's Star b
holmesticemods in holmestice - Matches emails delayed (aka: Coat messes up)
rolanni - Where women glow and men plunder

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Page generated Oct. 24th, 2025 03:13 am

Disassembly of Reason

Reading

In which the lost are found

Bundle of Holding: Nightmares Underneath (from 2023)

Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner

A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-Ran

Come and take a little walk with me, baby, and tell me --

The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis

Monday Evening Update

Five Anticipated Books and Stories That Remain Unpublished

Bundle of Holding: Ghastly Affair

Young People Read Old Nebula Finalists: True Names by Vernor Vinge

AWS outage

Gothic Monday

Clarke Award Finalists 2019

Books read in 2025

Won't you come out and play?

Man Plus (Man Plus, volume 1) by Frederik Pohl

Winter 2025 Assignments Have Been Sent!

The Climate and Habitability of Teegarden's Star b

Matches emails delayed (aka: Coat messes up)

Where women glow and men plunder

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May 2013

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