Well, I'm back (yet again)
... not that anyone would notice when I'm gone for a while, since I'm only active every other week anyway. But hi! I was on vacation.
I didn't actually make a New Year's resolution to keep better track of Real Life (TM) at least once per month, but as it's the last day of the month, I may as well use this post to catch up with January events.
So in January...
- I did write an article about the micro-pilgrimage. Actually, I wrote three, in different genres. One is pretending to be live coverage, one is a matter-of-fact report, and one is a sort of cross-over between the two styles. I sent the latter two to the magazine that asked me to write the article. That was a bit of a risk, as it might make me look indecisive, but I honestly don't know what exactly they're looking for. (I figured that the live coverage was too long for their purpose - they were looking for something concise for their website.) Fortunately, they took it as proof of my versatility and enthusiasm (since I wrote two articles for the price of none) and took me on board as a freelancing author. So I can officially call myself a journalist now. Cautious yay.
As I'd already written the lengthy "coverage" and didn't want it to go to waste on my virtually unread blog, I sent it to the pilgrim's guide, who got very excited and posted it on his website. So I can use it for my publication history, at least.
Doing more than requested for exactly zero pay: Ladies and gentlehobbits, this is why I will never be rich.
- Having been taken on board, I got to do two very short articles for the next print issue of the magazine. They managed to greenlight the topics precisely three days before deadline day, so it was real fun to try and phone and e-mail the responsible people and gather enough information to satisfy the magazine's standards. Not. Especially as on one of the three days, I had agreed to meet a guy who breeds bisons (well, currently he just feeds them, but they'll hopefully start breeding soon). Also ostriches, but they already did a feature on the ostriches a few years back so I was only asked to write about the bisons. But not for the print magazine, only for the website, so that wasn't deadline relevant. I figured it would look awkward if I cancelled the appointment on short notice, though. Stomping around in the snow to photograph real live bisons and talk to their owner while ostriches watched us curiously mistrustfully obtusely was genuine fun, but it was an afternoon missing for working on the deadline articles. On the other hand, the people I tried to reach weren't calling back in that time, anyway, so I probably couldn't have worked on those articles anyway. FWIW, I got them handed in on time. Exept for one photograph. Which is a pity, because photos pay better.
Damn it, Lyra, when did you get so obsessed with money?
On the plus side, the bison research really was awesome, and if one or two of them should be in calf (it was too early to tell, but the farmer was hopeful), this year would see the first locally born bison calves since the 15th century (OK, those were European bisons, these are American bisons, but whatever), which would warrant print publication. (Also, ADORBSLE LITTLE BISON CALVES?)
- So yeah, we got a bit of snow after all. A very little bit, but along with a relatively harsh frost (for these parts), so we got to feel it was actually winter! For a week.
- So we may have nine planets again. I hope we do. If so, I hope they call it Proserpina, not just in the interest of planetary gender equality but because that would be appropriate on so many levels. Yesterday I read that there have been suggestions that it may get called Persephone, which is all Greek to me is fine, I guess, though I'm not entirely sure why they'd use the Greek form, since the overwhelming majority of planets have Latin names. Uranus is an outlier and shouldn't be counted. Eh well, I guess quod licet Iovi, non licet novo or something? Oh God, I'm trying to pun in Latin. Someone stop me.
Then again, I read this on Tumblr, so it should probably be taken with a grain of salt anyway. -- Well, by now I've seen that there are asteroids named Proserpina and Persephone. Bah. Rename the asteroids, this is more important.
- Christmas tree is still up. (Germans normally take their Christmas trees down around Epiphany, which is January 6th.) On January 6th, I felt that our very pretty tree hadn't yet been appreciated enough, so I wanted to keep it up for another couple of days. Then with one article and another, I just didn't get around to taking it down. Oh well. In Austria, where I spent the last week, they leave their Christmas decorations up until Candlemas, which is on Groundhog Day, which is Not Yet. So I'll pretend that I did that on purpose, waiting for Candlemas.
I also notice that my LJ is still sporting its Christmas default icon. WELL THAT CAN WAIT UNTIL CANDLEMAS ALSO.
- So yeah, Austria. Very barely Austria, almost still Bavaria, but officially Austria. My parents go on a skiing/hiking trip to the Achensee with my father's "sports" club every last week of January. (I put "sports" into quotation marks because they're not exactly exerting themselves. Mind you, it's a sports club for people who've had heart attacks, so they shouldn't exert themselves anyway. My father is accompanying them as a doctor, not as a patient. So far.) My brother and I used to tag along when we were kids, and my parents invited Jörg and me and the kids along this year. For Jörg, it was the first time skiing in 13 years. For me, it was the first time skiing in 8 years. It didn't matter much, since the region got only marginally more snow than home, and on our second day, most of it had already turned into muddy slush. So from the third day we could nurse our sore muscles in relative peace. We tried to interest Felix in bobsleighing, with varying success. (The first hour was Grand Tantrum Central; the next three days were fun and excitement; then, as the song goes, he got into a drifted bank and got upsot, which upset him so much that he hated bobsleighing henceforth. We managed to talk him into one last try, which was a success, so I hope on the long run he'll remember that rather than the accident.)
At any rate, it was fun to see the hotel and the region and all the places I regularly visited in my teenage years again, and it was relaxing to share child-care duties with my parents. Also I was talked into a rather pretty traditional dress, the price of which had been lowered to "only" a hundred bucks, which is really cheap for traditional garb it's probably two seasons out of fashion, but what do we Bergians know about traditional Austrian fashion?, so we bought it. Jörg talked me into it! I would have been more thrifty!
- Two days before leaving, my father complained about an ache in his leg muscles; the next day, he broke out in a fever and could barely walk, so he put himself on meds; the next day he was marginally better, but still needs meds to function semi-normally. So it seems to be more than the bug some other folks caught. But what? I have no clue, but I hope they'll figure it out and figure out how to treat it, too.
Yesterday also happened to be his 61st birthday, but what with the meds and the driving, he didn't care to celebrate.
- There was one particular mountain which gave me a lot of Himring-related thinky thoughts. So I may break my resolution to first finish my published WiPs before properly starting on the sequel to TTS, because currently my brain is all AVALANCHES! THE MOUNTAIN PRACTICALLY DEFENDS ITSELF! BUT WHAT IF IT'S CLOUDY AND YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT'S GOING ON BELOW! THAT'S WHAT PALANTÍRI ARE FOR, N00B! BUT HOW WOULD YOU EVEN GET ALL THE BUILDING MATERIALS UP THERE! CURUFIN CAN INVENT A TREADMILL! WELL NO MORGOTH PROBABLY INVENTED THAT FIRST BUT MAEDHROS CAN GIVE CURUFIN A SUFFICIENTLY USEFUL DESCRIPTION. BUT WHAT DO THEY DO WHILE THE FORTRESS IS BEING BUILT? AND WHAT DO THEY HAVE FOR DINNER? These things need to be explorrrred. Possibly.
Also, no, Lyra, the world doesn't need 36 Views Of Himring Hill, and you don't have the time for it, either. STOP MEEEEEE.
- On the other hand, all traces of winter have gone around here, so I may disappear into the garden soon instead of writing (or painting) anything non-work-related. Or maybe winter will come back. (The American Blizzard (TM) is supposed to be sending its brother here next week, but you never know how much of it will actually arrive?) We'll see.
Will there be pictures? Who knows! There might be, but I've learned better than to promise anything. For the same reason, I'm not promising to catch up with the f-list. WE WILL SEE.