Writing Wrongs

Time for a haircut. Maybe tomorrow.

Almost didn't go to work this morning, I was up way too late, 'cause when I buy a DVD I am compelled to watch it, even though I've gotten a late start because of band practice.

Checked in via VPN, there was actually some email with something for me to do, so I got motivated and did the morning routine and got there at about 10:30. Email was from Automation Guy, when I talked to him about it, he said he had already fixed it, because it was his minions' fault. So nothing to do.

I found a few things, but also had time to watch the news, and found a link to a company which manages a dozen mobile home parks in the area, many of them 55+. That link had a link to another page which shows what's for sale, including prices, sizes, floorplans and snippets about the park, but there is  no mention of how much the lot rent is.

Reply from CU Loan arranger saying how to finish filling out the application, so when I got home I did that, printed it, signed it, scanned it and emailed it to him. Yesterday I sent more finance-related pdfs than I knew existed. Looking at my 2011 tax return reminded me that I was fired in February and didn't find another job till July. And I quit in September to take my current job.

Lunch was at Carl's Jr because it was close and I wasn't very hungry. Paid for it with a touch of Montezuma's.

Home for a while to let traffic subside, and to do the mortgage stuff. Next stop, 7-11 to pick up a CD from the amazon locker. The London original cast of Matilda, which I figured it was about time I listened to, because someone I was onstage with in 1986 is starring in the Broadway cast, and has been Facebooking about their recording the OBC album. Word is she came very close to being nominated for a Tony this year. Maybe next year.

Thence to New Wing Yuan Market for makings for Thai Yellow Curried Chicken drumsticks, which is what I'm making for the Sunday band potluck. But it was 8:05 and they closed at 8. Strange - what kind of supermarket doesn't stay open till 9? Time to punt. Of course I could wait till tomorrow, but Lucky's usually has a goodly selection of Asian food, so I went there. They had what I needed, but I pretty much bought two of everything in that section, it's now a very small section.  

Back home I had dinner while watching Restaurant Stake-out which you would think would be getting old, since it's very formula, but they manage to find a wide range of personality disorders, so that's something I can identify with.

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Listening to the news, there's a pair of women who went to CA to get married, then moved back to Mississippi. One of them wants a divorce, and when the judge said in MS their marriage was not recognized, so they couldn't get a divorce, she sued. Idiotic. When I was a kid, the routine was people routinely went to Reno to get married or divorced, because the laws there were (and still are) liberal. Lenient. Loose. Pick a word. She claims that she needs the divorce to protect her financial standing (Social Security, etc.) but as long as she lives in MS she doesn't have that. She doesn't really need a divorce because where she lives she isn't married. But if she really wants one, there's always Boston or go back to SF. She's already spent more on lawyers, I bet, than it would cost to make the trip. The Supreme Court has already ruled that people living in states where their marriage is not recognized don't get Federal recognition.

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While we're on politics, I listened to the UN speech by Iran's prez live the other day, and was completely blown away. One by one he blew off the things his fanatical predecessor ranted about, and talked like a reasonable person who wants peace and a return to normality. It's worth listening to:

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In other news:
Probably the most important entertainment news of the month

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Where was I? Oh yeah, relaxing at home, watching TV, Kaan jumped up on my lap and after about 30 different poses, settled in for the rest of the night in the crook of my left arm, with his face buried. By the time he got settled it was time for me to turn off the TV and write this. :-(

FB has finally added the ability to edit original posts, if you're using a browser. AFT, as they say in French.

Plans for tomorrow:
Try to find the crock pot. Looked almost everywhere, can't remember where I put it. If I can't find it I'll make the chicken in the big flat-bottom wok. That probably will be better anyway.

Hopefully the maintenance guy will visit in the morning. The air conditioning vent is leaking, and apparently has been all summer, I just never looked up at the corners to see the blossoms of mold before. What clued me is when I moved the cats' dry food tower aside to clean up what looked like catpuke, it wasn't catpuke at all but a tiny Grand Canyon eroded into the carpet by slowly dripping water from above. Maybe a drop an hour, or less.

Maybe visit a mobile home park or two.

I kinda sorta am now a Hugo award non-winner, because the issue of The Drink Tank which was nominated for Best Fanzine (the 300th issue) included many of my photos plus an article by me. It also had articles and art from something like 200 contributors, and really, IMHO,deserved to win.

Looking at the list of winners on the most excellent Hugo Awards web site, here's how my favorites fared:

Best Novel I did not vote on because I read too slowly to absorb 5 novels in a month.
Best Novella The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson (Asimov's, September/October 2011) was my first choice
Best Novelette Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders was my second choice. I thought it was cute, and moderately well-written, but not as compelling as Brad R. Torgersen's Ray of Light.
Best Short Story The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu is an excellent piece of writing, but he lost me at the end when he got all egocentric and a little bit whiny. My first choice was, far and away, Mike Resnick's The Homecoming. And I am oh so very happy that the horrible, IMHO, mis-categorized April Fool's entry by John Scalzi, Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue was not chosen despite the author's well-deserved fame and Toastmaster role at the con.
Best Related Work The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Third Edition edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, and Graham Sleight is the one I figured would win, but I don't think a 3rd edition of a standard reference deserves a Hugo, and was hoping good sense would prevail and give the rocket to the excellent compendium of sci-fi movie reviews and commentary, Jar Jar Binks Must Die... and Other Observations about Science Fiction Movies by Daniel M. Kimmel.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) Game of Thrones (Season 1) I totally disagree with, since it was not readily available to the general public. My vote went to the movie Hugo, both for the high quality of the film production, the acting, the script and the score, but also the irony of Hugo winning a Hugo.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) The Doctor's Wife (Doctor Who), written by Neil Gaiman won mostly on NG's overblown fame. I, of course, voted for "The Drink Tank's" Hugo Acceptance Speech,” Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon. Again, for the irony, but also because it was much more fun to watch than any of the other nominees.
Best Fanzine SF Signal edited by John DeNardo I have already talked about which zine should have won. Meh.
Best Fan Writer Jim C. Hines was not even on my list. James Bacon got my vote, Chris Garcia was a close second.
Best Fan Artist Maurine Starkey is my dear friend, and I was thrilled to see her win. But I have to confess I voted for another friend, Spring Schoenhuth, because she creates wonderful sci-fi-themed jewelry, and the Hugo art awards have stagnated into only recognizing  2-D, hand-rendered art. I wish photography, jewelry, sculpture and other art could get a foothold here. Or their own categories.
Best Fancast SF Squeecast, Lynne M. Thomas, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, and Catherynne M. Valente was my vote too. What an outstanding line-up!
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer E. Lily Yu. I don't remember if I voted, but she is very deserving. I loved the ideas in her short story entry The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees, and her writing style.

Those are the only categories I cared about, I leave the rest as an exercise for the reader. :-)