I mentioned that I did in fact read a couple of good books in my late-June travels to counterbalance the bad ones. One of them was The Pushcart War, which I conveniently discovered in my backpack right as I was heading out to stay with the friend who'd loaned it to me a year ago.
I somehow have spent most of my life under the impression that I had already read The Pushcart War, until the plot was actually described to me, at which point it became clear that I'd either read some other Pushcart or some other War but these actual valiant war heroes were actually brand new to me.
The book is science fiction, of a sort, originally published in 1964 and set in 1976 -- Wikipedia tells me that every reprint has moved the date forward to make sure it stays in the future, which I think is very charming -- and purporting to be a work of history for young readers explaining the conflict between Large Truck Corporations and Pugnacious Pushcart Peddlers over the course of one New York City summer. It's a punchy, defiant little book about corporate interest, collective action, and civil disobedience; there's one chapter in particular in which the leaders of the truck companies meet to discuss their master plan of getting everything but trucks off the streets of New York entirely where the metaphor is Quite Dark and Usefully Unsubtle. Also contains charming illustrations! A good read at any time and I'm glad to have finally experienced it.
When I read a print book that I own, I write the date I finished the read inside the back cover. That's how I know it's been almost exactly 19 years since I last reread Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong and Dragonsinger, the first two books in the Harper Hall trilogy in McCaffrey's Pern universe.
The story is about Menolly, a musically gifted girl from an isolated fishing village who escapes from her unsupportive family and through luck and her own talent ends up as a rare female apprentice in the Harper Hall (and forms a mental bond with nine fire lizards in the process). It's classic YA "misfit kid finds their place", "modest protag turns out to have superior abilities", and "girl proves she's just as good as the boys".
As a high school student immersed in band and orchestra, I adored these books. I reread them over and over and over. I took them with me to the music camp I went to for three summers; being at that camp felt like what I thought living in the Harper Hall must be like.
Decades later, I still enjoy them. It's nice to escape into a world where people love making music together and you might Impress a fire lizard as a bonus. The Suck Fairy's treated these well; they're not free of problematic aspects, but the books don't have the dubcon/noncon/draconids-made-me-do-it material that a lot of the other Pern books have (indeed, that Dragondrums, the third in the triology has). They're adolescent wish fulfilment, overall done well.
(I don't have a copy of Dragondrums that I know of; if I did, it got purged. Piemur's fun as a side character but isn't who I want to spend a book with.)
“We’re so grateful for the response that Murderbot has received, and delighted that we’re getting to go back to Martha Wells’ world to work with Alexander, Apple, CBS Studios and the rest of the team,” Chris and Paul Weitz, said in a statement Thursday.
(I am continuing to think a lot about sensory systems; today I have mostly been discovering how many of the things I thought I half-remembered about nerves are wrong.)
Dear Eric: I am 40 and physically disabled. I need a powered wheelchair to get around both outside and inside my apartment. Recently, my tires were popped by some broken glass from a bottle thrown out of a passing car onto the sidewalk. It has been a week since I have been able to use my wheelchair, and I have another 20 days before my new tires arrive.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be infuriated that someone’s litter caused me to spend $200 on replacement tires.
My caregiver disagrees. He says that it’s my fault for continuing and not turning around. He also said that I am overreacting, when the most I have done is complain a little bit for maybe an hour total and make a joking “whoever threw the bottle on the sidewalk owes me $200” comment once.
Am I being too sensitive about this? I think being upset about having to spend $200 that I don’t have to replace something necessary for my continued function in and outside of my apartment due to litter is understandable, but I would like to ask for your thoughts on the matter to be sure.
— Tire’d
Tire’d: Let me get this straight. Your caregiver, who understands the challenges you face navigating a world that is often not accommodating, thinks that you don’t have the right to be peeved about this? Litter, particularly broken glass, is a problem for everyone and any one of us could and should be upset about having to navigate a sidewalk strewn with jagged pieces, even if it didn’t cost us $200 or a temporary restriction in mobility.
What happened wasn’t fair and it had a greater impact on you than it would on someone who could just step to the side or crunch the glass under a boot. Your caregiver needs to acknowledge that some things in the world affect you differently. This is what empathy is. One doesn’t need firsthand experience to be empathetic, but in this case he has to be able to see how hard this one battle has made your life.
I hope that this is an isolated incident in your relationship and he’s able to be supportive in other ways. Because care is about more than physical assistance. It’s also about being willing to say, “I see you. I hear you. What you’re feeling is valid.”
For the first time in forever I have been making The Famous Aubergine Dip (the vegan version with Vegan Worcestershire Sauce, I discovered the bottle I had was use by ages ahead, yay). This required me acquiring aubergines from The Local Shops. There is now, on the corner where there used to be an estate agent (and various other things before that) a flower shop that also sells fruit and vegetables, and they had Really Beautiful, 'I'm ready for my close-up Mr deMille', Aubergines, it was almost a pity to chop them up and saute them.
A little while ago I mentioned being solicited to Give A Paper to a society to which I have spoken (and published in the journal of) heretofore. Blow me down, they have come back suggesting the topic I suggested - thrown together in a great hurry before dashing off to conference last week - is Of Such Significance pretty please could I give the keynote???
Have been asked to be on the advisory board for a funded research project.
- As of July 6th, I'd written more words this year than I had in all of 2024. Mostly this tells you how much 2024 sucked creatively, but also damn, that's a pretty good pace! I'm currently working on something for Summer of Horror and daydreaming about that Liam/Liam/Noel time travel fic that I may finally go back to working on.
- H/C Exchange finally went live! I got Re-Animator mpreg, which was DELIGHTFUL, and I wrote... something completely unexpected, literally on the day of the deadline after I finally gave up on all previous plans.
- I did end up signing up for Battleship. I'll participate for the eight days of it that happen before I leave for vacation. I also prompted a variety of forever OTPs (Liam/Noel) and rarepairs I haven't thought about in ages (Dawn/Illyria). Hopefully someone will be inspired.
- I picked up a couple of things in the summer Steam sale, and thus have done basically nothing the last 2-3 days but play Cult of the Lamb, the cutest little cosmic horror game you ever did see.
When you see a possibly terrifying mythical creature, is your first thought, I’m totally gonna pet that? If so, then Sara Omer, author of The Gryphon King, might have something in common with you.
SARA OMER:
At its core, The Gryphon King is about a horse girl on a quest for vengeance versus a man with cat-related PTSD. But before I can get into the infernal horse and lion biology at play, I have to gush about the monster-riding story more generally.
Just as children wish for puppies, children reading fantasy books wish for dragons. The unbreakable bonds between fire-breathing beasts and reluctant heroes populate epic fantasy stories, but if giant flying lizards aren’t your style, there’s any number of mythic monsters that might be mountable (monster romance implications of that statement aside). I love a dragonrider story as much as the next person, probably more than most people, but there’s a whole ecosystem of underutilized fantastic monsters out there that deserve some time in the spotlight. In the empire of Dumakra in The Gryphon King, there is at least one stable full of flying horses that didn’t ask to be ridden into battle or form lifelong bonds with power-hungry morally gray disaster princesses, but we can’t always fight the fate we’re dealt.
Growing up, having my own horse was as much a fantasy as having my own dragon, but I like to think I lived a tangential horse girl experience. I wasn’t yet in kindergarten when I learned to ride horses, taught by the grandfatherly carriage driver Mr. “Grandpa” Clint, who drove his carriage around the town square. After learning how to drive a carriage at an age that was definitely not road legal (to the chagrin of many other children), Grandpa Clint taught me how to ride a horse at his stable. The horse for the job was an ancient old white gelding living a life of comfort in retirement, and who I enthusiastically urged to a flying gallop my first time on the trail. I had a wonderful time as my mom and Mr. Clint raced after, concerned I would be terrified or die, probably. Surprise, I lived. I think everyone should experience that exhilaration, and a few hundred feet off the ground while you’re at it.
I had a formidable collection (army) of Breyer horses, although unlike Nohra in The Gryphon King, I didn’t grow up with an imperial stable. But some family friends had their own horses and boarded them nearby. Sometimes I would get to go ride or hang out at the stable and in the pastures. Rambo, their stubborn paint gelding, was barely tall enough to even be considered a horse rather than a pony, and I vividly remember a time he got kicked, presumably for being an asshole, and the bloody branding of the hoof that slowly healed. For this and other reasons, I’m convinced every horse is a little like a dragon.
There are multiple breeds of mythic horses I added to the bestiary that is The Gryphon King. Because why stop at sky horse when you can have water horse? And when I really got to thinking about the biology of pegasuses, I wanted to explore their avian side. What better way to celebrate the incredible Eurasian horses and the birds of prey in the region than combine them into one omnivorous monster that has an appetite for blood? As if horses weren’t already dangerous enough, now they really, really want to eat your fingers and the barn cats. And—oh, look—the battlefield became good grazing once the fighting’s quieted down. Really, pegasuses are a little terrifying, and they’re not even the most threatening strain of horse in Dumakra.
The moral is that if you make a bird big enough, humans begin to look like the small animals scurrying through the tall grass, evading tooth and talon. And what’s more terrifying than horse-eagle? Lion eagle.
I have utmost respect for anyone who can make a big cat with a massive wingspan seem docile and friendly; I just think, considering the injuries a falconer could incur and compounding those with what might befall your average lion tamer, you should have to sign a few release waivers to approach a gryphon.
Maybe I made all my animals ferocious because nature is ferocious and dangerous, and when people play at power, they don’t come close to the might of beasts. But their actions have often irreparable impacts on nature nonetheless.
Fear and respect can coexist. Add a little human curiosity, and I would never fault anyone who decided to ride a murder horse. The Gryphon King is for the readers who would go out of their way to pet a man-eating monster, who would risk it all to bond with a creature that could kill them a few different ways on purpose or by accident—I’m a little scared for your wellbeing, but I respect the drive and share the dream.
I guess I will write a notepad entry while I wait to be able to do my job again?? Last night we had one of the craziest storms I've ever been in; the trailer was straight up shaking from the force of the thunder alone for about half an hour at its worst. The power only went out once, and just for an instant (long enough to be annoying because while my computer did not turn back on on its own, my bedroom lights decided to for some reason?? I WAS TRYING TO SLEEP), but whatever happened clearly hit the dealership, too, because we have been without internet all day.
I literally can do no part of my new job without the internet!! At least the techs have work to keep them busy (although from what I'm hearing through the door, they're mostly just playing around with their personal vehicles right now), but sales is going to be completely up my ass about all of their pressing concerns that I can't do shit about just yet.
So I've mostly just been reading Emily Climbs outside in the sun for the last few hours and trying not to think about how much shit is piling up in my inbox on the other side of this! The bodyshop gave us chocolate bars, which was nice. I'm thinking about ordering a burrito the instant Mucho opens for delivery, as long as they still have the special red ghost pepper burritos (since they still don't have shrimp on the menu anymore and I REFUSE to frequent them without extra good cause as a result). The only issue with that is that I haven't tried ordering food here before, and I feel like the building is going to be really difficult for drivers to locate. Maybe I'll just stand outside and wave my arms when they get close. Or just tell them to deliver it to the bodyshop, because GOD KNOWS I get a ton of people just strolling into my office thinking the big unmarked building they've wandered into must be that. I don't even know what my address is!!
Finally going to the movies tonight, after more than a weeklong break (but we saw like four the week before last, so it balances out). The Godfather! My mom's never seen it before! Exciting!
The burrito has been ordered. My fate is in god's hands now.
God's name is Harshdeep today.
Anyway, I wrote all of that yesterday morning, and then when I finally got some scraps of internet in the afternoon, I forgot to post it because holy shit so much to do, so enjoy this MISSIVE FROM THE DISTANT PAST. Doing better today. My goals today are to stay on top of my inbox, figure out exactly what is happening with all thirty-something vehicles under my purview, and draw up a chart for the upcoming G1 Climax tournament. The Godfather was fucking sick on the big screen. Let's go!!!
28. Are You a Perfectionist?
I try to be. Real life gets in the way most of the time, though.
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods?
My grandma grew raspberries. She had a lovely square patch of canes, and I often helped pick them, which was a great way to sneak extra raspberries into my mouth instead of into the bowl. Delicious berries. And they remind me of my grandma, which is never bad.
FIL also grew raspberries. Back when he had two allotments (!!) and a respectable back garden, he used to make raspberry jam, which was *excellent*. However, he also used to freeze raspberries with so much added sugar that they tasted more like sugar than raspberries, which was a practically criminal waste.
I have my first serious raspberry harvest this year! Picked a good bowlful on Sunday morning, and my Boy came round for lunch and interview prep. We had a generous portion each (fresh raspberries! from my garden!) and there was still enough for me to enhance my breakfast for a couple of days afterwards.
There are more on the canes. \o/
Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes.
Hmm. I spent two hours yesterday drawing people, in the final class. Copying a photo is so much easier than drawing from life! We spent half an hour on the photo (an elegant Black woman in profile), then drew one another for five-ten minutes using pencils, graphite sticks, charcoal and oil pastels, then one final 'portrait' in whatever medium we chose. It was actually easier to do the 5-minute ones, because there was no expectation that we'd do it well....
All this to say, I'm out of drawing today.
As far as summery food goes, I guess I eat more salad in the summer and more soup in the winter, but salad merely involves cutting/tearing and throwing into a bowl a selection from: lettuce and similar, from a head or a mixed bag or both, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, spring onions, feta cheese, salted cashews, sprouting beans, mushrooms, anything else I have that seems reasonable.
I am, however, inspired to create a Summer Pudding. Nigella has a recipe here https://www.nigella.com/recipes/summer-pudding but all you really need to know is: pudding basin, slightly stale white bread, mixture of berries, sugar. Line the basin with the bread, fill the centre with lightly heated berries and sugar, saving some of the delicious juice to coat all the bread. Cover the top with more bread, and juice that, then put a weight on top and leave it in the fridge overnight. Serve slices with double cream.
Eton Mess is good, too, with the additional benefit of not mattering what it looks like.
Icon is Pedro Pascal because he is also delicious.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marthawells
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
