Rosemary Kirstein

Yes, it’s been almost three weeks…

I’ve been holding off, mainly because there were some really excellent posts I wanted to post, but they would take thought and consideration, instead of just nattering off the top of my head. In other words, be actually written, and merely not chatted.

Well.

That would require time, wouldn’t it? Yes. You see my quandry.

Actually I did have some time: the entire Thanksgiving four-day weekend was mine, all mine, as my sister headed up to New Hampshire to hang with friends, giving me the entire house to myself. I got some very nice writing done, and de-stressed myself.

Because of the situation at the evil DayJob, I had been previously too shell-shocked to get much done on either of my projects, and it was a great relief to know that it’s all still there, and I have not lost the ability to connect with the deeper core of my creativity.

But I determined that Steps Must Be Taken to sort out the work situation — but also that Temporarily Nothing Can Be Done Yet, because of the holidays. Seriously, no one is going to make any great changes in organization or job assignments right now. Most people are just hunkering down and getting into the holidays in their outside life. At work you just keep on keeping on until things settle down.

So, after Thanksgiving I once again made my issues known to my superior (who is in pretty much the same boat as I), and we’ll see what happens in the new year.

Meanwhile, it’s overtime all the way.

Seriously. As in: Think it can’t get worse? It’s gotten worse.

But let’s not go there.

— Except, I must say: I’m really tired of people at work breezing out the door at 4:30, or 6:30, or 8PM depending on their shift, and seeing me still there, and making comments like: “Hey, it must be great to get all that extra overtime pay!”

They are rather surprised when I don’t do the socially expected thing of smiling sweetly, and making some tritely positive comment. I’m prone instead to say things like: “No, it’s not nice. I don’t want money. I want my life back.”

Because I already went through the phase of putting a good face on things, and after four months I’m unable maintain it.

So, here we go, back into the fray tomorrow.

But, hey, some good things have also happened!

Like: Hello, I went to a Broadway play!

And: OMG, I saw Jake Shimabukuro live, and it was unbelievable.

Which I will tell you about, both.

But not right now. Because I’ve already gone on too long, complaining again about the freakin’ DayJob.

The Wind Horses are still in place.

I’m still wearing a different Darlene scarf every day, attempting to keep myself sustained and inspired as much as possible.

And I startled my boss by putting in for two weeks off in January (immediately after my vacation days reload for the year). Still waiting to hear back.

And now, for your elucidation, education and inspiration, here’s a video from TEDx, wherein John Bohannon suggests an alternative to the inevitable-yet-dreaded Power Point presentation.

Hey, the latest novel by Delia Sherman (of the Fabulous Genrettes) is out!

The Freedom Maze is a book for Young Adults, and it’s getting rave reviews all over, as well it should. I remember reading it in manuscript, through various iterations, with the writer’s group.

It is lovely and rich, and never takes the easy way out. And it deals with race — which is possibly why finding a welcoming publisher took some time.

Check out the reviews!

From Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing. (Slight spoilers for early parts of the book.)

Or you can go to Tor.com, everybody’s go-to site for what’s what in SF and Fantasy. (Also spoilers, but they warn you!)

And here’s the publisher’s own site.

If you have a young reader in your life, or like to read YA books yourself (as I sometimes do), you should pick up this book.

And actually, you can read the first chapter free on Delia’s website.

I am definitely going to buy it.

In fact, wait a sec….

Yep. Just got the Kindle version. Right there. Twenty-first century, see?

Now, you would think that I’d already know all about the book, from when Delia brought it to the Genrettes, over many sessions. But the fact is, it’s gone through some rewrites and editing post-Genrettes, and I’m yearning to know what remains of what I read before, and what has changed. Plus: it was long enough ago that even the material I saw before will feel fresh. And Delia is really such a lovely writer. Can’t wait.

(Just read the acknowledgements at the end, because I had a suspicion, and yep — I’m listed. Aw, that’s nice!)

Oh, and there’s a party.

Here’s the announcement on Facebook.

But if you don’t want to log on to Facebook to read it (for which I don’t blame you, as Facebook is a bully about such things), here’s the info:

When: Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 6:30 to 9:30.

Where: The Center for Fiction, 17 West 47th Street, New York, NY 10017

The party will have music, from both time periods of the book. And punch! And a cake-baking contest (no, you don’t have to bake, if you’re not so inclined).

(I don’t see how I could possibly manage to go, darnit. Unless Evil Dayjob were to magically let me out early. It’d take me a couple of hours to get there from here… I’ll see, I’ll try, but alas, I doubt it…)

Oh, where, oh, where shall I deploy him for most satisfying reaction?

Hm…

That’s such a Steerswomanly thing to say!

Here’s the latest from Symphony of Science, featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson (whom I love), Carolyn Porco (whom I love), and Brian Cox (who is new to me, but I now love).

What a beautiful thing to wake up to, just when you thought the day was going to be especially difficult! Inspiration on tap.

Symphony of Science: Best use of auto-tune ever! Check out the website — they’re all wonderful.

Actually got out of work early, due to a scheduled yearly physical. So, off to the Monkey!

I find there’s a reading by local writers about to commence. Shall I stay? Shall I go? A bit curious, but I actually came her in order to write, not listen to others!

Well, that’s all the scarves.

But I realized that when I showed you the first one, I didn’t give it a name yet, so I thought I’d show it again…

This is actually the one that first brought Darlene’s work to my attention, because it happens, by sheer coincidence, strongly resemble a painting I made when I was 18 years old.

The painting was 1.5 feet wide by about, oh, 8 feet long.

The idea was a slice of sky, starting from the sunset west, arcing up across the zenith, and all the way back over to the moonrise east. As a result, you could view it two ways: sunset at the bottom (putting moonrise upside down on the top), or moon at the bottom (with upside-down trees and lake with sunset then on the top).

I was never a particularly good artist, but I have a good graphic sense, and the painting worked pretty well, being simple of execution.

Plus: hey, cool idea! I used to flip it around according to the season. Fortunately, my parents’ house had an open stairway in the foyer, with a tall wall perfect for the painting.

And that’s what I saw with Darlene’s scarf, a sort of shock of recognition.

The painting could only hang in one place — but if I bought that scarf, I’d have the image with me whenever I wanted it!

Thus began my obsession.

The date on this scarf is blurred, so I don’t even know when she made it, or for that matter, when I bought it. A while ago. But this is the one that I first noticed.

And I definitely AM inspired by being able to have these images with me when things get rough. And have them be as beautiful as the versions in my mind.

You should look for Darlene in the dealer’s room at Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions. Best place to see her work; her website doesn’t quite capture the drama.

Oh, and she has paintings, too!

I believe this is the last of the Darlene scarves I have to show you…

The quote from Galileo — he’s my guy!

[UPDATE: The quote is actually from the poetry of Sarah Williams, The Old Astronomer to His Pupil, (Thank you r2 for setting me straight.) Galileo’s still my guy, but now I want to know more about Sarah Williams…]

Though, perhaps for me it’s really: I have loved the night so fondly, how could I not love stars?

I’m happier at night. I operate better at night, in general. I’m actually smarter at night. Don’t know why.

Given that I can’t be a night-dweller, with this DayJob, I try to bring in the night as much as possible. My screen-saver at work cycles through NASA images.

Today is truly unpleasant at the DayJob, and more to come with overtime… Plus: weekly confab with my Boss.

This is one of the oldest by date, and oldest by how long I’ve had it. It’s a bit faded.

It reminds me of the covers of old science-fiction books, back before elaborate, representational paintings were used, back when the iconic stars and galaxy were enough to communicate: wonders inside.

It’s all I need today…

In other news…

The Wind Horse has made its appearance at the DayJob, to everyone’s delight and envy.

I tried to get to the local store that might have a chance of carrying Wind Horse flags… but the whole town was blacked out all week from the storm.

So, Amazon to the rescue.

There’s a whole Variety Pack, to cover all your Wind Horse needs.

We hung the big ones outside.

Now, let’s review:

Yes, I am an atheist.

No, I do not think that the Wind Horse will magically, mystically help me through my hard times. That would be religion. Which I don’t have.

But, like the people who put up the Wind Horse before climbing Mount Everest, I’m embarking on an extremely difficult task. I need all the determination I can muster.

By flying the Wind Horse, I’m declaring to myself that I intend to prevail. And I’m reminding myself of that commitment.

It is far too easy to allow a bad situation to become the norm, and to simply plod through your days, enduring. It becomes second nature — and then first nature.

I need to prevent that happening, and keep my focus on the goal (Take action to sort out the insane situation at work; continue to be creative even while it’s going on).

And that’s why the Wind Horse. It’s a declaration, and a reminder. It stands out from the white-noise visual background of my surroundings as something new, remarkable, and significant.

And I also have to admit (as a full-grown adult woman who used to be a twelve-year-old girl, just like every other twelve-year-old girl), that a part of me is going:

Did you say, HORSE?
Did you say, wait — WIND horse? As in, horse that FLIES?

OMG!

This is my favorite nebula:

.

Now, if you were to live on a planet orbiting a star inside that nebula, what would you see?

Maybe this:

We lack only actual individual stars — but probably the brightness of the Veil would render the stars invisible.

It’s another “Color test” of Darlene’s, and it’s the only scarf I have that’s satin.

When I wear this, I’m a Dweller in the Veil. I’m not from here; I observe you with interest…