I’ve got a lot to do today, and I thought maybe you’d like something to do, too!
So, here you are — an essay question.
Who is your favorite character in the Carousel books so far — and why?
Remember to insert spoiler space, if you need to discuss specific scenes from the books.
See y’all on the flip side.
So had follow-up at dentist, which was, according to him, a “consultation.” To me, “consultation” means sitting ’round a table and drawing up a Treatment Plan, or figuring out which things are priorities and which are pie in the sky. “You will not,” the dentist said to me — the last thing he said to me, at the end of our last appointment — “need to take the sedative.”
So, I didn’t take the sedative, and I didn’t bring the bear. BIG mistake, there. I’m gonna start making it Policy to just bring the damn’ bear. She can sit in a chair next to me and play with the pens if it turns out we’re in a meeting. Because! It comes to pass that the dentist’s idea of “consultation” is, You sit in the dental chair; I show you the model of your mouth and what the problem is. I tell you what I’m going to do about it. Then, I do it, right now.
On top of this, the Tooth of Doom (which always hurts, a little, no matter that I’ve given it two root canals and a pretty porcelain cap) blew up on me yesterday, which I noticed when I took my first sip of coffee and the pain sent me Right. Through. The. Ceiling.
Informed of this circumstance, the dentist decided to knock around on the teeth on either side of the Tooth of Doom, to see if anything else was compromised. I can see where this is going to end up — I mean, I’m not an idiot — and I carefully tuck my hands under my thighs so I don’t hurt anybody.
Knock Tooth One. “Does this hurt?” Headshake.
Knock Tooth Two. “Does this hurt?” Headshake.
Knock Tooth Three. “Does this hurt?” Headshake.
Knock Tooth Four — I’d grabbed his wrist before I even knew I was moving.
“OK, then! This one.”
Sigh.
Anyhow, we got through the consultation with everybody still standing, and no one bloodied. He filed down some of my upper teeth (“The bottom teeth, I will not touch this time. I promise.”) so they’ll fit better with the bottom teeth, and recommended braces. We made another appointment, for a consultation, in two weeks, and I’m here to tell you right now that I’m not only taking the bear; I’m taking the sedative, too.
The plan for the rest of the afternoon was to see Winter Soldier, but I already used up a week’s supply of adrenaline. I think maybe a nap is in order.
I’ve been seeing a lot of squee about Winter Soldier, and! it so happens that I still have two matinee admissions left on my Flagship Cinema gift card. I’m drawn to the squee, but. . .not Cap’s biggest fan here, so I’m torn. Have you seen Winter Soldier? What did you like about it (as reasonably as you can without spoilers)? Do you think there’s enough Other Stuff/Characters to carry the movie for someone who’s lukewarm (at best) on Captain America?
In other, completely unrelated news, the blurb for Carousel Seas is now up at Amazon — here’s the link — from which we learn, among other things, that Carousel Sun is/was a National Bestseller, according, I’m thinking, to Bookscan. Which is nice to know.
In that same vein, and for those who did not read it elsewhere, Liaden Universe® Constellation Volume 2 appeared in the Locus Bestseller List for Trade Paperbacks reported in the April issue, at Number Two, just behind Fahrenheit 451.
Thank you all, because we surely couldn’t have achieved either of those list without you.
Here at the Cat Farm, it’s warm again, and sunny, but we’re not going to the ocean. I’ve done the dishes, and groomed the cats, and other Sunday chore sorts of things and in a couple minutes, I’ll be turning off the intertubes and getting down to work.
Hope y’all are having an enjoyable weekend.
Steve tells me that “Deep in the Heart of Texas” is less desirable as an earworm than “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?”
You be the judge.
So, yesterday, we went to the ocean. Here’s a picture of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Maine edition, as seen from the top of Brown Street, in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, which is approximately the view Kate Archer has from the summer parlor at the house at the top of Dube Street, in Archers Beach:
It was a bright and sunny day, with the breeze off the ocean. Steve and I bundled up and walked the beach for a while, then cut uptown and took pictures of various things that caught our fancies. Mostly, we were working blind, it being that sunny, and both of us having surrendered our viewfinders for the convenience of cameras that make it impossible to block photographs in strong sunlight.
What an age we live in.
Here’s a picture of Daddy’s, familiar to those who may have read Carousel Sun:
. . .and here’s a picture of Steve, standing in front of the carousel’s storm gate:
After we had walked around some, we stopped at JJ’s Two for lunch (barbecue meatloaf, mmmmm), walked back to the car and wandered up to Pine Point to look at the ducks. We were not disappointed. I didn’t get a picture of the ducks — big white and black ducks, and mallards, and little black ducks, all swimming around with the crowd of seagulls.
We left town through the Scarborough Marsh, and counted more than a dozen herons on frog-hunt, and also — ducks.
We came home by way of Giffords, for milkshakes, then read a couple chapters of Jim Hetley’s Ghost Point before moving on to lunch (meatloaf reprise, on whole wheat rolls, mmmmm), and so to bed.
This morning, we hit the Button Down Cafe at the Hathaway center for breakfast, which was very tasty. The owner, Mrs. K, was very pleasant and we had a good time, in addition to a good meal. Definitely going back for lunch, soon.
Thus fortified, we hit the redemption center, the post office, and did the grocery shopping. Now, we’re home, and the rest of the day for me is the chores I neglected last week while Steve does a read-through of The WIP.
It is, by the way, another sunny and warm day (38F/3C).
Tonight, it’s supposed to snow.
In other news, the new comb Princess Sprite ordered arrived in today’s mail, as has Code Name Verity.
And now?
To the Dyson!
————–
For those who didn’t grow up with Mitch Miller, and have therefore been unfairly shielded from the earworm, the title of today’s blog post comes from “Deep in the Heart of Texas”. Here’s your link. And — you’re welcom.
12. Peacemaker, C.J. Cherryh (read aloud w/Steve)
11. The Red Hot Empress, Meredith Blevins
10. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
9. Black Widow: The Name of the Rose, Marjorie Liu, Daniel Acuna
8. Agent of Change, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (e)
7. The Emperor’s Agent, Jo Graham (e)
6. Eternity and a Day, Aline Hunter (e)
5. Kindred Rites, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel (e)
4. Billy the Kid, the Endless Ride, Michael Wallis
3. The Steerswoman, Rosemary Kirstein (e)
2. Uncovered, Jordan Matter
1. Dancers Among Us, Jordan Matter
. . .if so, you’re outta luck here in Central Maine, where it’s raining like a sonofagun and we have flood warnings for all extant bodies of water, from the Atlantic Ocean to the marsh down the road. The driveway here at the Confusion Factory is a slew (that is, for the city and/or Southern folk among you, “slough”), and I fear me I’m not going to town tomorrow, never mind today.
Which means that we chose our Almost Electron Free Day well. Yesterday, it was sunny and warm, and the ice had finally melted off the sidewalks in downtown Waterville so that we were able to take a walk and do some window-shopping, after lunch at Selah Tea, which we enjoyed after taking in the matinee showing of “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” at Railroad Square Cinema. We had a great time with “Hotel.” If you like quirky, fond, and slightly chaotic movies, this is one you don’t want to miss.
After the matinee, lunch, and window-shopping, we did a few errands — picking up Mozart’s meds at the vet’s and taking on groceries — then came home and read Peacemaker aloud to each other (not all of it; just the penultimate chapter in the book, which is the last chapter of the story; there’s an appendix left, which we’ll finish up tonight).
All in all, it was a very pleasant Almost Electron Free Day.
Today, there’s cat grooming and laundry on the mundane to-do list, though I’m so late getting the laundry started, I may put it off ’til tomorrow, since I’ll be stuck in the house (Boy, is it muddy out there. Reminds me of the first year we were in this house, when Mud* was so bad that we (as legend has it) lost a UPS truck in the driveway. (In point of Actual Fact, the truck had only sunk in up to the hubcaps in the time it took the driver to walk up to the house, come halfway up the steps, hand me a package and go back to the truck; and the driver was, by a panicked application of torque-plus-gearing, able to break loose. Yeah, leaving two parallel two foot deep gulleys in the driveway. That was fun.)).
In other news, Princess Jasmine Sprite has clearly not been keeping up with her physics lessons, esp. viz. Newton’s Third Law. I’ve asked Trooper to take her in paw for some tutoring.
So! How’s your weekend?
____________
*In Maine, the seasons are thus: WINTER, Mud, Dust, Spring, Summer, Leaf, Rain (good year) OR Rain, Leaf (bad year), WINTER
It’s snowing here at the Cat Farm — just a nuisance snow. Hopefully, it won’t be so much of a nuisance that Steve and I will have to move our date to see The Grand Budapest Hotel to tomorrow, but. . .we shall see.
The cats, as might be expected, are being Proactive regarding the weather.
Here’s Scrabble, tucked between the lamp and the work shelf in Steve’s office, back firmly against the radiator, so she’ll be warm, no matter how much it snows:
Mozart is taking up the same defensive posture, though in my room, in his spot between the file cabinets and the supply bureau:
The kids, meanwhile, are in the kitchen. Trooper is on The Box:
. . .while Sprite takes the whole thing seriously:
1. Today’s USA Today “Happy Ever After” column features an interview with Nalini Singh, author of the Psy/Changeling and Guild Hunter series.
2. Sherman’s Bookstore, which has been an independent Maine bookstore since 1886, is opening its fifth location, at 43 Exchange Street, in Portland, on April 1. Sherman’s also has locations in Bar Harbor, Freeport, Camden, and Boothbay Harbor.
3. Speaking of Boothbay Harbor, which I have to resist typing as it’s said (“Boothbee Harbor”) — Steve and I will be taking part in the Books at Boothbay Celebration on July 12. The event will take place at the Boothbay Railway Village and will be in two sessions, with children’s and YA authors signing from 9-noon, and adult and non-fiction authors signing from 1-4. This is Books at Boothbay’s tenth anniversary, and it ought to be a lot of fun. Here’s the link.
4. Y’all know that honeybees have been having a bad time of it over the last few years. If you want to cut them a break and make sure they have something to drink, you can make a bee waterer. Here’s how.
5. The Hugo nomination period ends on March 31 — that’s next Monday! Here’s the rules.
Note to Universe: I really do need my brain back now, thanks.
Been quite the week so far, what with the landing of the tax papers (ouch…), a dental visit and a visit to the eye doctor (for me and for Steve, respectively; it wouldn’t be fair if one of us had all the fun), the arrival of new passports, oh! and news that my piece of the ebook-price-fixing settlement from BN is $9.01 in store scrip. All righty, then.
This time, I went to the dentist armed for bear, so to speak, with the mp3 player, earphones, and Sun Bear in my arsenal. Sun Bear was a hit with the staff, and I had no opportunity to use the music, what with trays of “material” being inserted and removed from my mouth, so that the dentist would have a full impression of all my teeth in what looks like blue Sculpey. The process itself was. . .slightly nerve-wracking. The worst part was the aftermath: accommodating the trays bruised the inside of my mouth somewhat — which is a Very Weird Feeling — and all of my teeth felt like someone had tried to pulled them out of my head (the Sculpey did not release its hostages easily) — which is an Even Weirder Feeling. Next up is a consultation, in two weeks.
After the dentist, we went up to Bangor Mall, to walk around and stare at the shiny things. No kidding — there are six chain jewelery stores in the Bangor Mall (if we count Pandora, which, perhaps, we oughtn’t to). Who in Eastern Maine is buying buckets full of ugly and over-priced mass-produced jewelery? I didn’t even try to count the stores selling clothes to thin young things, all of whom apparently have access to Gold American Express Cards. It’s nothing short of astonishing. There was a kiosk selling fish-shaped ukeleles and Jesus-themed t-shirts, which provided some amusement, as did the head-shop over in the far corner, which was selling glass ashtrays (I can’t remember the last time I saw an ashtray for sale in a retail establishment), high-end waterpipes, t-shirts and gimme caps emblazoned with rude sayings, and wind chimes made out of rainbow-winged unicorn-pegasi.
I remain aggravated that there’s no bookstore in the mall (hasn’t been for years, since WaldenBooks closed), and I was shocked to find that the once-robust food hall (or picnic, or whatever we’re calling it this year) has shrunk to a Java Junction, Dairy Queen, and Oriental Express. Even MickeyD has abandoned ship. Sigh.
Despite all that, though, it was nice to be able to walk around, and to have people and things to look at — so, a successful outing of its kind.
Today, we’re promised a wind storm, with gusts up to 50 mph, but the nor’easter we were being promised late last week appears to have evaporated.
Which? Is fine by me.
Now that we’re home from the eye doctor, I have a call to make to the town assessor (sigh), and some filing to do. I also need to print out the newly-arranged manuscript and read it.
Hope everyone’s had a grand week so far, and that it continues straight through to Friday.
———-
Today’s blog title comes from “Norman,” by Sue Thompson. Here’s your link.