Becca Stareyes

What I did today:
-- Polished my presentation for the Division of Planetary Sciences 2009 meeting based on comments I got from grad students on Friday.
-- Did two sketches -- one for MAX, one for mrcaex. I'll see how they look tomorrow before coloring them
-- Cut out all the pieces for my exchange gift for ag_over_18
-- Finished a fic for fma_fic_contest
-- Finished reading The Mermaid's Madness

What I'm going to do now:
-- See how many words I can get on my fic forscifibigbang before bed

What I would have liked to do:
-- Grade the dozen essays I have to do tomorrow.
-- Go over a report to ask a colleague for help.
-- Do my dishes

Of all things, this was inspired by a MPreg rant on fanficrants...

One series of Lois McMaster Bujold's books is set in a future space-opera setting. One of the technological advances is the 'uterine replicator', a device that mimics the human uterus, allowing babies to be born without anyone having to be pregnant. And I started thinking about how many different ways this shows up in the series. So I made a list.

( Long, and spoilery... )

So, I figured out why I didn't log onto the 'net at night. The insulation in the spare room's window stinks. My fingers are freezing here.

Christmas at Dad's was all right. Sadly both Dad and I had outstanding gifts towards one another -- the coffee mug I ordered got there the day after, and Dad said one of the books he got me was lost in Outer Mongolia or whatever. Anyway, I ended up with books and games, and Mom found out from Ben later that he Really Really Wants Chrono Trigger. (I got to explain to Ben why Chrono Trigger DS was not on the Best Game of 2008 -- mostly because the original is on the Best Game of the SNES Era list)

Yes, I'm playing Chrono Trigger now. I'm already on the way to get Frog back in my party. Also trying to do it without the walkthroughs, unless I get stuck.

Also reading -- I got three books by Charles Stross, and have read two. (See this is why I only brought four books with me on the plane.)

I don't know what else to say, besides that my hands are cold, and it's spreading to my toes and nose and I want to stop typing because of it. Oh, yeah, turned in my Yuletide story.

First off, nary a day after I give my note about 'Not reading SF until November', Ryan makes a post about how someone got the rights to Red Mars (by Kim Stanley Robinson) and is going to be doing a TV series or miniseries. Ryan mentioned the fact he read the Mars Trilogy in high school when he was just getting into planetary science. So did Briony, another friend (who shares the blog and her advisor with Ryan). So did I.

( So, I had to go out and order all three Mars books, plus the short story book.  )

I'm in the mood for an essay, so here's an essay. Also, I am back.

( Read more... )

One thing I rather like is when I'm rereading and I come across some inconsequential detail thrown in for background, that I notice because it relates to a future book. For example, I'm rereading The Sharing Knife: Legacy, and just found a place where Shaun mentions to Dag what he heard happen in Log Hollow when a Lakewalker patroller took up with a farmer woman. In the next book, Dag happens to run into that Lakewalker. At the time I first read that, I hadn't read Legacy recently, so I took it for granted Dag knew which camp the character was from -- stories like that get around. Now, I know that I could have as well.

Similarly, I was flipping through Grave Peril by Jim Butcher and happened on the scene where Harry and Michael were trying to bargain with Leanansidhe, a Fae member of the Unseelie Court, who had Michael's sword. Lea already had something on Harry (she was his Fairy Godmother, and he owed her a favor.), and said if she just collected, she'd return the sword. Michael offered himself in her place, but she refused, saying that he was boring. She then asked for one of his children -- mentioning that she wouldn't mind taking his oldest. Michael told her to take a short walk off a long cliff. Some six books down the line, in Proven Guilty, Michael's eldest child, Molly, is indeed kidnapped by the Unseelie Court and it's actually explained why they have an interest in her. (Not just because one of the things bad fairies do is still children.)

I don't always know if the author was planning on using it when they wrote it. Maybe sometimes they are, and sometimes they aren't, and just happen in on re-reading and think 'hey, I ought to pick that up'. It's still pretty cool.

I like my slow-cooker. The reason is that I can spend fifteen minutes shoving canned/frozen vegetables and chunks of chicken into it, add some herbs, and when I get home, dinner (with enough for lunch the next day) is waiting. The house even smells like cooking. I feel horribly domestic, except it's the kind of domesticity that I like -- the kind that takes very little work for the results.

I found a lovely passage of kitchen-witchery in the book I'm rereading (Whisky and Water, by Elizabeth Bear). I need to get a copy to kuchehexe because I think she'd get a kick out of it. I'm enjoying my re-read of that series (The Promethean Age) -- there are two books (Blood and Iron and Whisky and Water) set in the modern world, with two set in Elizabethan England coming out soon. It's urban fantasy, but it feels different than The Dresden Files. While Harry has a page out of the pulp hero, the world in The Promethean Age is much more complicated. It's not the sort of thing that a guy with a quick wit and handy fireball can easy come in and make things mostly right in 400 pages. Don't get me wrong -- I like both, but they are a bit of different tastes, for all that both are clearly in the 'urban fantasy' subgenre.

Though Whisky and Water does feature the Archangel Michael in a Trogdor the Burninator T-shirt.

It says something about me that I am the sort of person who, after a thunderstorm and upon noticing that the Sun has come out, will dash outside to see if there is a rainbow. I like to think that that something is flattering.

Book Review: Slayers #7: Gaav's Challenge

( Spoilers! )

I am back in New York. I apologize for not updating, but it's hard to do on a dialup connection with an ancient HP machine* -- it finally occurred to me to use a journaling client my last week there. Yeah, I know, but Mom always complains I break the computer when I visit, or infest it with spyware. This time, though, I only visited journaling sites, gmail, Gaia, and Yuletide's site. So we know who to blame if I broke my mother's computer.

* If a Moore's Law turnover time is a generation, this thing would not only be giving 'back in the day' speeches, but would be complaining that the 'young whippersnappers'' 'back in the day' speeches weren't as good as its 'back in the day' speeches. My comparison, my laptop is approaching its midlife crisis, which probably explains all its duct-tape repairs, and the fact that it needs a new battery. Working for me is apparently the equivalent of a career as an NFL linebacker for a computer. (Maybe naming it 'Fullmetal-Alchemist' was not the best idea, even though it is silver and wee**.)

** "Who are you calling knee-high to an iPod?"

( Long Ramble on my life, books I've read, fairies, and New Years )

Crud, it's work time. I better go get dressed and make my lunch. Expect Fanfic Rambles after work.

In honor of me finally spending the money I got for my birthday, I declare December the Month of Things that Make Becca Squee. As part of this month, every day (or, you know, when I think about it, since it is Christmas and I have a Yuletide fic due), I will make a post about a book or manga series that makes me squee with fannish glee.

So, if, you know you want new stuff to read, keep reading. Keep in mind, my tastes run to fantasy and science fiction.