This year has been off to an incredibly busy start--so busy that I haven't had time to do much posting here or on Facebook, though I did revive my dormant GoodReads account.
Of more concern, though, is the fact that I've been getting horrible computer headaches lately--it's mostly what's been keeping me off the computer when I don't have to be. I mean, I was never great about checking Facebook before, but now that being on for a half hour triggers the first feelings of a headache behind my eyes, well, it's not exactly fun times. There was one night my head hurt so badly that I couldn't sleep for hours.
This weekend, however, I deliberately left my computer behind when I went home to see my parents, so I'm working on borrowed non-pain.
So what have I been up to?
Most exciting for me is the fact that I've been doing a bit of writing. I'm working on a short story right now about dragons in space. I finished one rough draft and I'm redoing the story as an annotated transcript of the conversation in the cockpit as two space "truckers" encounter non-human life for the first time. I'm enjoying it, and I hope to share it...but I'm really not looking forward to typing it up on the computer.
I was loosely inspired to start working on this project because I've started watching Battlestar Galactica. The first season was a revelation--great character building, a fantastic ensemble cast with real women characters (though there's little other diversity), a good survivalist story. Starbuck is fantastic--easily one of my favorite characters. I did just start the second season today, though, and I'm not as in love with it as I used to be. A few too many of those lovely characters are straying from what the arc that seemed to have been set up in the last season. Some people do change abruptly, but most take time. And time will tell if this show stays great for me.
In the real world, I've done a bit of traveling.
First I went to Philadelphia to spend a day at the American Economics Association/Allied Social Sciences Association convention. I got to meet some authors I'd worked with and some that I have since started to work with, and get my toes wet in the conference-going experience.
My dad, youngest sister, cousin, and I all went up to Killington, Vermont, for a long weekend of skiing and had a fantastic time...even if I lost a game of hearts rather spectacularly.
In February I went back to Muhlenberg to give a talk about the University of Denver Publishing Institute, which I attended in the summer of 2012 after I graduated college. It was great to get to do this, since it was an alumnus-hosted session like this that got me interested in the program in the first place. A couple friends and students, and even one of my teachers showed up to say hi (and, of course, I spoke with some professors of mine before that).
Then in early March I attended the Eastern Economic Association conference in Boston. I was only there for a day, but I'd arranged to meet with some potential authors to talk with them about publishing. I heard a lot of great ideas, though I'm still working on them. Unfortunately, work has been so busy that I haven't been able to devote as much time as I'd like to follow-up.
Work. Work, work, work. There's been a lot of it. I was getting burned out...so my mom suggested that I go to Florida with her and my sister to visit my grandparents. The trip just happened to include my birthday--so why not? I had a great time soaking up some much-needed vitamin D (maybe even a bit too much), going for walks on the beaches with my feet in the waves even when it was really too cold to be doing it, talking with my grandpa, being with my grandma, being shown around flea markets, thrift shops, artists collectives, and great restaurants by my mom and sister... It was a great birthday and a much-needed break.
When I've not been working, I've tried to get back in the swing of volunteering--I'd stopped while I was looking for an apartment in November, and then I was just trying to recover and feel moved in come December. It felt good to realize that some people remembered me, and quite a few have started noticing that I show up most weeks.
Except this one... After a late night dinner with the business, finance, and economics team on Thursday, I went home to spend Friday evening and Saturday with my parents and visiting great aunt and uncle. Two weeks after my birthday, I had a cake with a candle in it! We spent Saturday exploring the Thomas Edison lab and house, then came into New York City for sushi and a play--All the Way. It was definitely a fascinating play, with excellent acting and a great, clever set. I enjoyed it...even if I often find political stories depressing. No in-depth analysis, since this is a long catch-up post.
Oh, and we had another free book day at the office! Another 25 new books:
The King James
Conspiracy – Phillip DePoy; Fathom
– Cherie Priest; Tooth and Claw – Jo Walton;
Moloka’i– Alan Brennert; Green – Jay Lake; Song of Ireland – Juilene Osborne-McKnight; Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson; Deathless
– Catherynne M. Valente; Three Princes
– Ramona Wheeler; I Capture the Castle
– Dodie Smith; An Elephant in the Garden
– Michael Morpurgo; Johannes Cabal : The
Fear Institute – Jonathan L. Howard; The
Marlowe Papers – Ros Barber; Nightwatch
and Daywatch – Sergei Lukyanenko; The Hummingbird Wizard – Meredith Blevins;
The Dragons of Babel – Michael Swanwick;
The Illuminator – Brenda Rickman
Vantrease; God’s Demon – Wayne Barlowe;
Beast Master’s Planet – Andre Norton;
Outcast – Rosemary Sutcliff; Hurricane Dancers – Margarita Engle; Father Gaetano’s Puppet Catechism – Mike
Mignola & Christopher Golden; The Boy
from Ilysies – Pearl North; Forgotten
Country – Catherine Chung
Once again, though, I celebrated the arrival of the new books by reading something else. This time it's Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, lent to me by a coworker. It's good, but I'm already planning to bomb through a couple short and easy books after this.
I'll wrap up this *thrilling* post with a few lovely pickley things I got for my birthday:
