I know I’ve been scarce — my excuse is a combination of Life, both Good Bits and Not-So-Good Bits, and negotiating with a still-faintly-recalcitrant book. Apparently, there’s something still Not Quite Right, and the back-brain isn’t willing to just let me discover the problem as I go along. Which means it’s a foundation issue. So, I’ve been down in the cellar, head-lamp on, poking at the walls, looking for leaks, loose bricks, sinkholes, dead bodies — any or all of the above.
None of this makes for especially interesting reading or reportage (“Glared at screen and hated book for two hours. Threw in towel and vacuumed house.” Yawn.)
I also realize that I’ve been doing rather a lot of self-promotion; and I’ll be doing a little more promotion at the bottom of this note, too. Bear with me, ’tis the season, and even if the information isn’t of use or interest to you; it will be of interest to someone who reads here, promise.
Apropos of nothing much, today’s mail brought me a Levinger’s catalog. Now, I do love me the Levinger’s catalog, but as I flipped through it, I began to feel a little sad. Who buys these lovely pens and the all-leather desk furnishings any more? Most of my work is done on the keyboard; my “desk” is a remaindered dining room table from Marden’s, out of legend, and while I do, sometimes, write out scenes and notes by hand, my Instruments of Choice are Pilot G-2 .07 gel pens and Staples 8.5×11 yellow pads. The surface of my dining room table is covered with piles of paper, and not only is there no room for a beautiful Moroccan leather blotter; there’s no reason for me to have such a thing. A couple of the ereader/tablet pillows are tempting, but otherwise, Levinger’s is dead to me, except as a sort of archival document of a time when elegance had a place.
What are your favorite catalogs?
* * *
Trooper is standing here by my keyboard with his nose practically in my ear, purring, which I’ll take as a hint that it’s time to come around to that promotion I was talking about.
Promotion the First: Uncle Hugo’s SF Bookstore in Minneapolis has kindly agreed to handle a special order of autographed Carousel Sun. They have also agreed to take on the non-trivial task of accepting personalization requests, through December 31, 2013 ONLY. All the niggling little details, including a link to the proper page on Uncle Hugo’s website, are here.
Promotion the Second: Liaden Universe® novelette “Eleutherios” is eligible for Nebula nomination. It was published on Baen.com in January 2013. If you are a SFWA member and you would like to read this story, you may read it here. If you are not a SFWA member, and you’d like to read the story, you may, of course, use the same link to do so.
Other Nebula-eligible Lee-and-Miller works are: Novels Necessity’s Child and Trade Secret; short story “Out of True,” and novelette “Moon’s Honor.” If you are a SFWA member and you would like to read the unlinked works with an eye toward the Nebulas, please write to me at rolanniATkorvalDOTcom with your preferred format.
And, yes, if you read for the Hugos, all of the above are eligible for the awards that will be presented at LonCon 3 next August.
There! That wasn’t so bad, was it?
It was? Well, then, here — have a cat picture.
share a moment.
Photo by Sharon Lee
I used to moon over the Henry and David catalogs………now that I am allergic to nuts, I just cry when it comes, so I think I feel your pain.
I like the sporting goods catalogs like Bass Pro Shop and Cabelas, mainly for the gadgets and winter clothing. I feel warmer, just looking at the mountain-climbing jackets and boots, and the thick gloves and socks. It’s 29 degrees in WEST TEXAS as I write this. Worse, it was 80 degrees last week.
I also like the airline catalogs, for their fascinating items I never realized I desperately needed. Brookstones, for the same reason.
I do love Levenger catalogs, but for their leather goods, not the writing supplies (although I have never written on paper as nice as their ruled pads, so smooth). I can’t recommend their small leather bits and bobs enough. I have a 3 1/2″ diskette case that has to be 22ish years old. I still use it to carry small items in my tote bag. Aside from a layer of dirt you wouldn’t know that thing was a week old, everything about it is as perfect as the day I got it. Every leather item I’ve received from Levenger has been extremely durable and worth every penny.