I think I spelled that right. Tonight, Lime and I were riffing on the theme songs of TV shows we watched as kids. She recognized far more of mine than I did of hers, which is only to be expected — English-language media got aired here more than Japanese or Korean shows got aired in Canada (with the notable exception of Astroboy, and, technically, Sailor Moon, though the latter came onto TV — or returned to TV, maybe? — only when I was too cool for cartoons). Anyway, amid us singing the theme songs for the Smurfs, the Flintstones (“They …
Category: PERSONAL
A Good Birthday
It was, though technically we sort of celebrated it a day early. I made dinner (steaks, steamed vegetables, and even the gravy turned out!) and we had wine, and chocolate cake, and Lime gave me all kinds of terribly fattening but delicious treats — chocolates, shortbreads — and a very fine new wallet, which I have been needing. As for today (er, well, the 4th, which is technically yesterday but I’m still awake), my actual birthday: after my last class of the day (which ended at 7:50) we had some very expensive Scotch (it’s a long story involving my bad …
A Little Piece of Heaven
It’s the first day of the semester, and things are a little chaotic but mostly fine. The students in my Monday morning 9:00 am class seemed to get most of the jokes, or at least laugh in the right places — humor is a great test of comprehension, you see. The office is still a little frantic in getting the disorganization reorganized into, um, a semblance of organization, but things are going. I haven’t been posting because I’m working on several things at once (a rewrite, a draft, an article, course preparations, website template stuff, and domestic stuff), and haven’t …
Webdesigner Pal, Anyone?
I need to update my site. Nothing to drastic, actually just some basic modification of what I’ve already got up, though it will be quite different once it’s done. Slick. Hip. Bad. Unlikely to need a new template update for ages, if I get my way. I don’t imagine it’ll take a ton of work, either, but I’m not sure I’m up to the task alone. My CSS-fu is more like CSS-pyew, to be honest, and I’m impatient at coding new templates with new CSS because I only vaguely kinda sorta know enough to look up what I need to …
Why Writing is a Solitary Activity
Kind of reminds me of editing projects, communal course design discussions, and other collaborative work I’ve done in the past. And yes, this is why writing is a solitary activity so much of the time. And, I suspect, why the book is usually better than the film. This is why crit groups are useful, too. Because crit groups are almost always full of other writers, meaning, people who are both readers, but also know something about writing. But it always becomes a solitary activity again, in the end. Because crit groups all too often bombard you with dozens of great …
Where I’m From Is Not Flat
Um, or at least you shouldn’t say it aloud. Ha! (LJers, pop over for a funny video about how to survive in Saskatchewan, and what not to do when you’re there.) Hilarious, though totally silly. We know it’s flat. We like it that way. Well, except the winter wind…
Vientiane afternoon
It’s a quiet afternoon in Vientiane. I got an air ticket to Luang Prabang, because taking the bus for 11 hours doesn’t appeal. I would upload a photo, but I forgot to install LightZone and the few I’ve taken so far are all in RAW format. Silly me. The thing about traveling with a new PC is you find out there’s software you installed besides the OS, and use occasionally, but forgot to install before leaving. Anyway, in its place, here’s a slice of cheesecake I made for Christmas, and which happened to be on my the flash card in …
It’s Been Rather…
… busy. Aside from work stuff, there have been reasons for me to leave the house almost every day this week. Last night was the most unusual one — a party for people who worked on a textbook. I proofread, and so I got invited along. Food, and drink, and some good conversation. I met a (lit?) professor at Hong Ik who is into SF. And one of the editors of the book I proofread remarked on my place of birth, Malawi. How did she know? She’d come and read this page. This surprised me, and I am taking it …
The Endless Semester Is Almost Done…
Well, other than an official grade change form — one of those grade-change requests was actually valid! — and handing in some official forms, I’m done with my work for the semester! I’ll be handing in the last of my paperwork tomorrow, including gradesheets and attendance forms, paperwork to collect my pension money from my last job — apparently you have two years to do it — and a sheet notifying Academic Affairs that I’ll be out of the country for a month this holiday. (Lime can’t travel, so I’m going alone.) I’ll be in Laos for two weeks, and …
By the Way…
Happy new year, everyone! We had ice cream cake, pasta, and wine last night. We watched, oh, it must have been about the last half of season 2 of Carnivale today. It’s been relaxed and fun, especially aftar all the frantic scurrying of the last week or so. Tomorrow, I am back to scurrying: off to the bank to get some kind of digital something-something so that my credit card purchases and medical expenses can be applied to my taxes. And I’m going to have to make a trip to Yongsan to get a receipt updated — for some reason …