"I'll but seem a silent dream, standing on the secret ground"
How about this prettiness? And the lilacs?
"Lavender's BLUE, dilly-dilly
Lavender's GREEN!
When I am QUEEN, dilly-dilly
You shall be KING!"
I was thinking this morning that as soon as I see the rest of the Top Seekrit ToC for SteamPowered II, I should like to write a Popular Steampunk Carol for EACH of them.
Why, you ask?
Because I started one for Patty Templeton yesterday, and it got me thinkin'.
It's called RAISING HELL, and it's sort of about her AWESOME STORY. A TEASER, if you will.
(To the tune of JINGLE BELLS)
"Dashing out the brains
Of a mean old sheriff man
Find yourself in chains?
Pick what locks you can!
Drink that moonshine down
Belching spirits bright
What fun it is to work those stills in the Rotgut Woods tonight!
OOOOOH!
Raising hell, raising hell
Raise it all the way!
Oh what fun it is to junk
All those steampunk tropes today -- HEY!"
I mean, obviously, I'd have to finish the song. And smooth it out. But would it be a hoot? I could call the collection "A Steamy, Dreamy Christmas."
Of course, I should probably make it secular, eh? Jingle Bells is pretty secular.
Anyway, it was just a thought!
***
In other words, yes, my story Canary of Candletown was accepted into SteamPowered II. Which is VERY EXCITING!
***
Yesterday I went to buy tennis shoes, and ended up buying a brazen red dress and fishnets instead! D'OH! (Among other things.)
...But the only kind of shoes they had were those rock-a-bye walk-on-water BOAT SHOES, and I wanted a little more... choice... before I committed money. Plus, they only had them in half sizes. And while I GENERALLY wear a half size, one wants something a half size LARGER for tennis shoes, don't one? Payless it is to be, then!
Spending money like I had it. Bah.
But, oh, it's nice to have something new!
I am wearing something new today, in fact. It's a flirty little summer dress, sort of ivory with tiny little fl'rs on't, well-spaced so that the pattern isn't dizzying or annoying. I like it. It shows LEG, may all the Pantheons help me!
HALLO, LEGS!!!
***
I had brunch with Gene and Rosemary Wolfe on Sunday. Port Edwards again -- with the pirates and the koi and the cannon. Gene told me a bit about anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. They used to probe for the mines in the grass, go out a distance, and then shoot the mechanism to pieces. That was for the anti-tank ones.
For the anti-personnel ones, there'd either be trip-wire, or they'd be buried very shallowly. He said one way to do render them harmless was to drive a herd of pigs through the minefield (well, not harmless to the pigs.)
"I don't think the United States ever did it, but some armies use civilians. The Germans used the Poles, for example."
Well. War.
I remember studying in Medieval History about the battles, wherein they'd hurl the arms or heads of all the enemy dead over the walls or into the camp of an enemy. Demoralizing, to say the least. One thing I remember -- but not when or for which battle -- was when one army had slaughtered a whole branch of another, and sent their minstrel to climb a tree that overlooked the enemy camp (the other branch I guess) to sing, in mockery:
"Wake up! Wake up!
You've slept too long!
They all lie dead
At Mortimer!"
I say that to myself sometimes in the morning, when the alarm goes off. The weirdest earworm.
***
I didn't get much writing done yesterday, but I did read Caitlyn's new (AAAAUUUGGGH SOOO GOOD!!!) story and talk to her on the phone about it, and hear the first chapter of her novel, and read her my "Canary." And I mocked up a blog for Black Gate by my friend Mr. Hyatt (his FIRST, due out tomorrow). And I made a lovely stir-fry, and also talked to my mother, and also went on a long walk AND watched the old Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. I'd seen it once in early high school and forgotten most of it except that thing with De Burgh at the end.
DID YOU KNOW THE SCREENPLAY WAS PARTLY BY ALDOUS HUXLEY??? Sometimes I can tell, too. It's a great adaptation, I thought -- not too married to the text, but not wanting to be a Bronte film either (like the latest version, which I liked for many reasons, including Macfadyen's butterfly eyes and whiskey voice). It was pretty witty -- I laughed out loud several times. I thought Jane was a bit of an idiot. I mean, she's often insipid but not... like a lobotomized 3-year-old! And I wasn't convinced I liked Garson at the start, but she grew on me.
I remembered why I had such a crush on Olivier as a kid. HIS VOICE! VOICE! VOICE! VOICE! VOICE! And his hands, and the way he uses them. O, if I were a man, I'd EAT HIS VOICE in the marketplace!
***
Then I got a text from Samu, saying only, "Moon."
So I went outside, barefoot and hooded, and I chased it.
Then, at last, I had to turn around and come back to the house. Then the Moon chased ME!
***
I love living with the Tibbettses. Something harried in me is settling. I can feel my feathers smoothing back down. I hadn't known they were QUITE that ruffled. They must have been very much so, because I'm not quite wholly unharried yet. But I am getting there. And I am happy.
And it's SO PRETTY TODAY!
And CRABAPPLES! And CATALPAS! And RED BUD!
Yours Truly,
C.S.E. Cooney
"Lavender's BLUE, dilly-dilly
Lavender's GREEN!
When I am QUEEN, dilly-dilly
You shall be KING!"
I was thinking this morning that as soon as I see the rest of the Top Seekrit ToC for SteamPowered II, I should like to write a Popular Steampunk Carol for EACH of them.
Why, you ask?
Because I started one for Patty Templeton yesterday, and it got me thinkin'.
It's called RAISING HELL, and it's sort of about her AWESOME STORY. A TEASER, if you will.
(To the tune of JINGLE BELLS)
"Dashing out the brains
Of a mean old sheriff man
Find yourself in chains?
Pick what locks you can!
Drink that moonshine down
Belching spirits bright
What fun it is to work those stills in the Rotgut Woods tonight!
OOOOOH!
Raising hell, raising hell
Raise it all the way!
Oh what fun it is to junk
All those steampunk tropes today -- HEY!"
I mean, obviously, I'd have to finish the song. And smooth it out. But would it be a hoot? I could call the collection "A Steamy, Dreamy Christmas."
Of course, I should probably make it secular, eh? Jingle Bells is pretty secular.
Anyway, it was just a thought!
***
In other words, yes, my story Canary of Candletown was accepted into SteamPowered II. Which is VERY EXCITING!
***
Yesterday I went to buy tennis shoes, and ended up buying a brazen red dress and fishnets instead! D'OH! (Among other things.)
...But the only kind of shoes they had were those rock-a-bye walk-on-water BOAT SHOES, and I wanted a little more... choice... before I committed money. Plus, they only had them in half sizes. And while I GENERALLY wear a half size, one wants something a half size LARGER for tennis shoes, don't one? Payless it is to be, then!
Spending money like I had it. Bah.
But, oh, it's nice to have something new!
I am wearing something new today, in fact. It's a flirty little summer dress, sort of ivory with tiny little fl'rs on't, well-spaced so that the pattern isn't dizzying or annoying. I like it. It shows LEG, may all the Pantheons help me!
HALLO, LEGS!!!
***
I had brunch with Gene and Rosemary Wolfe on Sunday. Port Edwards again -- with the pirates and the koi and the cannon. Gene told me a bit about anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. They used to probe for the mines in the grass, go out a distance, and then shoot the mechanism to pieces. That was for the anti-tank ones.
For the anti-personnel ones, there'd either be trip-wire, or they'd be buried very shallowly. He said one way to do render them harmless was to drive a herd of pigs through the minefield (well, not harmless to the pigs.)
"I don't think the United States ever did it, but some armies use civilians. The Germans used the Poles, for example."
Well. War.
I remember studying in Medieval History about the battles, wherein they'd hurl the arms or heads of all the enemy dead over the walls or into the camp of an enemy. Demoralizing, to say the least. One thing I remember -- but not when or for which battle -- was when one army had slaughtered a whole branch of another, and sent their minstrel to climb a tree that overlooked the enemy camp (the other branch I guess) to sing, in mockery:
"Wake up! Wake up!
You've slept too long!
They all lie dead
At Mortimer!"
I say that to myself sometimes in the morning, when the alarm goes off. The weirdest earworm.
***
I didn't get much writing done yesterday, but I did read Caitlyn's new (AAAAUUUGGGH SOOO GOOD!!!) story and talk to her on the phone about it, and hear the first chapter of her novel, and read her my "Canary." And I mocked up a blog for Black Gate by my friend Mr. Hyatt (his FIRST, due out tomorrow). And I made a lovely stir-fry, and also talked to my mother, and also went on a long walk AND watched the old Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. I'd seen it once in early high school and forgotten most of it except that thing with De Burgh at the end.
DID YOU KNOW THE SCREENPLAY WAS PARTLY BY ALDOUS HUXLEY??? Sometimes I can tell, too. It's a great adaptation, I thought -- not too married to the text, but not wanting to be a Bronte film either (like the latest version, which I liked for many reasons, including Macfadyen's butterfly eyes and whiskey voice). It was pretty witty -- I laughed out loud several times. I thought Jane was a bit of an idiot. I mean, she's often insipid but not... like a lobotomized 3-year-old! And I wasn't convinced I liked Garson at the start, but she grew on me.
I remembered why I had such a crush on Olivier as a kid. HIS VOICE! VOICE! VOICE! VOICE! VOICE! And his hands, and the way he uses them. O, if I were a man, I'd EAT HIS VOICE in the marketplace!
***
Then I got a text from Samu, saying only, "Moon."
So I went outside, barefoot and hooded, and I chased it.
Then, at last, I had to turn around and come back to the house. Then the Moon chased ME!
***
I love living with the Tibbettses. Something harried in me is settling. I can feel my feathers smoothing back down. I hadn't known they were QUITE that ruffled. They must have been very much so, because I'm not quite wholly unharried yet. But I am getting there. And I am happy.
And it's SO PRETTY TODAY!
And CRABAPPLES! And CATALPAS! And RED BUD!
Yours Truly,
C.S.E. Cooney