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The many advances in the life of Dee
So, wow, it's been a while, hey? I'm not even sure who's still around on these platforms (posting to Dreamwidth and Livejournal both) but if you're not following me on Twitter or Tumblr here are the big ticket items:- I had a baby. She's pretty much adorable, and she's even getting ok at sleeping now, so life is starting to settle down.
- Around the ( Read more... )
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All the reasons why not
So here's an interesting sidenote to start with: My work internet blocks absolutely no websites or web apps except LiveJournal. Baffling as this lone exception is, it's also tremendously annoying, since the only time I have to journal and comment-respond is in five-minute gaps between work things, and then I can't respond to LJ comments. I have ( Read more... ) -
Shelving zen
We moved into our house ("to the country", Mr Dee calls it, mostly because there is now grass instead of road and pavement, the sound of lawnmowers on the weekend, actual pets; ignoring the fact that we are still in zone 1) nearly two years ago now. When we first sat down with the designers to start planning the house, some two years before that, ( Read more... ) -
Confessions of a detail addict
One of the most marvellous things about travelling - to my mind - is finding out the details of how life is lived differently in other places by other people. I find the really little things absolutely fascinating. How chairs are arranged at outdoor cafes in Europe. That in America the standard electronic account is cheque, not savings. The ( Read more... ) -
The deft touch of worldbuilding
Here's a thing about writing fantasy (or speculative fiction of any kind, really): it relies upon a contract between you and the reader that you will build a world different from the one they know, and if they follow you there, you will tell them a really interesting story ( Read more... ) -
It's the trivial problems that make me laugh in the middle of the street
I have a problem, of the quintessentially "...and?" variety that is sometimes (slightly problematically) defined as "first-world ( Read more... ) -
Summertime and the music is thick on the ground
My summer musical itinerary is currently looking something like this:(Warm-up)
11th October - Husky* at the Corner Hotel
12th October - Regurgitator plays Unit and Tu-Plang at the HiFi Bar
RADIOVEMBER
9th November - Radiohead in Brisbane
17th November - Radiohead in Melbourne
(Intermission)6th December - Spiritualised at the HiFi ( Read more... ) -
Where did you come from?
I have this very vivid memory from my childhood, probably somewhere around the age of 10-12, or thereabouts, of my mother and I getting ready to go out. It was a Queensland summer day, so pretty damn sweltering, and Mum lamented that she was going to have to put on pantyhose in this.
"Why?" I asked. She paused, and the obvious answer was, Because ( Read more... ) -
Beer and books - a condensed summary of my life
- Did the Minotaur run last night, which I try to do every couple of months so I can paw over their "new releases" shelves and find shiny things to add to my GoodReads to-read queue (which often leads to me pestering my libraries to buy them, but I figure that's good for everyone, right?). There were a few interesting candidates last night, but I ( Read more... )
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Weather. We have it.
There's a thing oft-lambasted in stories where a sudden storm springs up (often "magical") and forces some plot point. The really lambasted bit is when the storm suddenly blows over and there's sunshine and birds singing ( Read more... )