posted
Aw, I loved the poem. I've had my cat for almost 13 years. She's not as sweet as Ezra, but I know another cat that I love dearly who is like that. Everyone is a friend. Every lap is her bed. :) I lost a beloved dog once. To this day, I can still feel that sadness. Praying for comfort for you.
Posts: 298 | Registered: Jun 2012
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posted
Condolences. My family's cat died last year. We got her when I was in high school, more than 20 years ago, so I empathize. Pets are important members of the family, too.
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I can relate since we have lost cats also. Pets, of whatever bred, really are like family. So it takes grieving to get over their deaths.
Well stated poem.
Some pro writers have found that it helps to memorialize a pet by putting it in a book. Piers Anthony did that in one of his Xanth novels. Of course you did it with a poem.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Thank you, Dr. Bob, and condolences, from one who has out-lived several dearly loved felines.
Posts: 8826 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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Dr Bob, I grieve with you. I too have loved and lost so many companions in my years. All brought joy and tenderness, and a glimpse of the unconditional love I could never express so well or so wholeheartedly to my human partners.
I would council you as I know a well known vet here in Australia would. Hugh Worth, former Australian President of the RSPCA would demand that you stop your grieving and get yourself a kitten forthwith and without a moments delay.
Love it, play with it, and remember your recently departed friend and child.
posted
Well, maybe not a kitten. Maybe an older cat that someone can't keep any longer, for whatever reason (allergies, having to move, military duty).
When my 16-year-old kitty died several months after my 18-year-old kitty died, I didn't think I wanted the opportunity for such sorrow again.
But I realized that I was sadder without a cat than I had expected.
My husband didn't want to have to raise up a kitten, so we looked at finding an older cat, and we did. She's the most civilized cat we've ever had and an absolute dear.
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I am such a woose for my cats. My last one I found abandoned while doing Home Health Therapy. It was a dark and rainy night (no, really), there she was wet, scared and trying to find warmth. All I said was, "Hi, Sweetie" and she ran and leaped onto my shoulder, nuzzing, crying, and begging . . . take me home. No silent meow with Miss Bee Bee. Needless to say, she's now in my arms while I type, under the covers when I sleep, and in my heart. Get a new one, so many need and want homes.
Posts: 96 | Registered: Dec 2012
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posted
Thank you all again. But, sadly, "no." Mrs. Dr. Bob says no new cat (for now). Admittedly, she ended up being the primary caretaker even before our daughter went off to college (Ezra was to be our daughter's cat), and my crazy work schedule as an M.D. led to Mrs. Dr. Bob being Ezra's "mom" for everything. Perhaps when I retire, she may permit me another (she did love Ezra).
On a completely different subject. How many of you have parents or siblings who write and ask you to critique and edit their work?
Respectfully, Dr. Bob (editing p.159 of 232 of his Dad's newest crime novel).
Posts: 1475 | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
Ah, me...something this morning cut out every saved "log in" I've been to so far, this site included. At one point things went so slow I had to hit the nuclear option (the off-button) to turn it off, but I've done that before without this happening. (Not that it hasn't happened before.)
Now it's just a matter of looking up my passwords and logging in all over again when I get there.
*****
I've found cats just "happen" in our family's lives...the most recent two at my parents home just wandered up, my mother started feeding them, and they live there now. (There was a third, who wandered up, but wandered away again. We named him "Dion" 'cause he was The Wanderer.)
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by History: On a completely different subject. How many of you have parents or siblings who write and ask you to critique and edit their work?
Well, I have edited my daughters' research papers and other school reports for them. They're out of school now, but the one who went to law school was selected to be on the editorial board of the school's law publication because (she says) I taught her how to write by my editing help.
Posts: 603 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by History: On a completely different subject. How many of you have parents or siblings who write and ask you to critique and edit their work?
Well, I have edited my daughters' research papers and other school reports for them. They're out of school now, but the one who went to law school was selected to be on the editorial board of the school's law publication because (she says) I taught her how to write by my editing help.
That's neat.
Nice she said it too.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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quote:Originally posted by History: On a completely different subject. How many of you have parents or siblings who write and ask you to critique and edit their work?
Well, I have edited my daughters' research papers and other school reports for them. They're out of school now, but the one who went to law school was selected to be on the editorial board of the school's law publication because (she says) I taught her how to write by my editing help.
That is not what I meant, exactly. But how nice.
No, I was (perhaps inappropriately) venting a little as I edit/suggest revisions for my 83 y.o father's ninth crime novel. He loves to write, self-publishes, and even has got his own two dozen groupies, which I think is wonderful for him. And it is because of him I returned to writing three years ago.
Editing/revising a novel like his takes me away from my own attempts at writing for a couple months--and he writes one novel a year! ( oy ) And now he gives me deadlines. ( oy - oy )
But, he's my Dad. So ...back to work. I've another 70 pages to go.
( oy )
Respectfully, Dr. Bob
Posts: 1475 | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
Hmm...far as I know, nobody in my immediate family has ever written anything substantial for publication beyond me. (A distant former once-removed inlaw who I've never met is an editor and has written some non-fiction, but, like I said, I've never met him, and he wouldn't know me from Adam.)
Reading is pretty much the same. My relatives are known to read, sometimes quite a bit---one set of 'em loved Harry Potter---but they don't read like I read, what with piles and piles of books lying around the house growing bigger and bigger every time I make a trip to the bookstore...
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Saw my first cross dressed Statue of Liberty three days ago.
Seen two more that are the correct gender. One acted like a hippie flashing peace signs to everyone, sort of looked like one too.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Cross dressed Statue of Liberty . . . where to you live, LDW? As for family writers wanting our time, Dr. H, my niece's new hubby is writing a book on managing one's military career, but he's got a ghost writer (I'm jealous). He did pump me over the holiday's about where I'm published and how did I go about doing it. As for editing, HA, had a neurologist that used to grade my therapy notes in patient charts! Would find things circled in red, so I'm the one asking relatives and friends to edit for me. I can tell stories, it's ... writing Klingon that's hard. Giggle.
Posts: 96 | Registered: Dec 2012
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posted
Ooh, forgot to post, saw my first one last Monday. Same place as last year, in front of the Coralwood Mall. Might've made a second sighting elsewhere, but I didn't go that way on Friday like I usually do 'cause I was sick.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by KellyTharp: Cross dressed Statue of Liberty . . . where to you live, LDW?
I can tell stories, it's ... writing Klingon that's hard. Giggle.
Where a certain tax preparer has a lot of offices...Liberty.
They have people in a Stature of Liberty outfits stand on street corners. Half the time or so it's guys.
And writing in Klingon has been done. Strange New Worlds 2 through 4 I forget which one. But the last story in the book is a short story all in Klingon.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Re: cross-dressing Statues of Liberty...for the benefit of anybody who doesn't know what we're talking about...in the USA, every income-earning resident is required to make a full report of one's income to the Internal Revenue Service, and either pay the tax owed or demand a refund of money paid in excess of that tax. (I'd discuss the notion of that at length, but it'd likely be a political discussion, and weren't we all burned by a couple of them just this past week?)
Determining just what one owes or does not owe can be tricky, and many so-called "tax experts" offer their services in preparing this account. One of these, with offices nationwide, is called, I believe, "Liberty Tax Service."
To attract business---honestly, I can't believe it'd work well enough to draw many people in---and suggested by their name and logo, they hire somebody to stand out on the street and jump around while dressed as the Statue of Liberty. A more degrading entry-level job would be hard to find, though I'm sure they're out there somewhere.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Further comment on the Statues of Cross-Dressing Liberty...I mentioned missing "the other place" where I go by and there they are...well, I managed, and there were two of 'em, a guy and a girl, dancing up a storm (but not with each other).
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Okay, now know what you're talking about. We have them in Oregon. See them while out driving around doing Home Health therapy. Wondered how desperate someone has to be to jump around like the "village idiot" all day. Good cardio work out though! LD - I hear there is actually a Klingon language camp somewhere in the mid east that people can go to. I do hear a lot of it spoken at Dragon Con and marvel that someone has been so Tolkien-ishly creative. I am using Hawaiian dictionary for some of my novels as my alien warriors are actually of that ilk. Been fun learning Hawaiian, just don't ask me to pronounce it!
Posts: 96 | Registered: Dec 2012
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posted
As far as I heard someone made the Klingon language for his Doctorate work. And he was hired to do that. Roddenberry or Paramount wanted the actual language.
As to dancing, a lot of people do that these days. Sign twirlers. Some are better dancers than others. Some just hang it out, others play air or cardboard guitar. Evidently some thing it's a neat job they have what it takes to do it well.
One Statue was dancing the other day...not too badly. Not great but not bad as I said.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Saw a wizardist the other day. Just saw her for a small handful of seconds but it looked like she carried a wizard's staff. She was on the side of the road in a motorized wheelchair, one of the newer scooters with a seat or some such. But she held this long piece of wood that looked very much like it was covered with runes.
But they could have been Chinese characters or it could have been an American Indian talking stick.
She notice me staying at her for a moment.
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posted
A walking staff is a useful tool in rough terrain, say a good hike, for balance or safety or checking the depth of the water you're trying to walk through. They often make it easier not to go scrambling about on your hands, too. They've fallen somewhat out of fashion for that particular task.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
A month? Has to be the longest span between posts yet for this thread. Anyway...
Looked over the titles of previous Nebula finalist and noticed Orson Scott Card had a novellette titled 'Hatrack River' that was nominated in 1986.
Now that I know where this forum received its name, I'm wondering if anyone read it and if they could give us a quick synopsis about it.
Posts: 3072 | Registered: Dec 2007
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"... alternative history of frontier America (where) folk magic actually works—dowsers find water and second sight warns of true dangers—and that magic has colored the entire history of the colonies. Alvin, the seventh son of a seventh son, is a Maker, the first to be born in a century. He must learn to use his gift wisely. But dark forces are arrayed against Alvin, and only a young girl with second sight can protect him."
•1987 Asimov's Readers' Poll - Asimov's Reader's Poll -- Novelette (Place: 3) •1987 Hugo Award - Best Novelette (Nomination) •1987 Locus Poll Award - Best Novelette (Place: 2) •1987 Nebula Award - Novelette (Nomination) •1987 World Fantasy Award - Best Novella (Win) •1987 SF Chronicle Award - Novelette (Nomination)
Posts: 1475 | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
I was waiting for the month to pass to see and post a rant of my own, but I don't have time this evening.
*****
Actually, I've started to wonder how many people here do understand the connection to "Hatrack River" and Orson Scott Card...I hadn't read the series beyond the stories in Asimov's, but picked it up after hanging out here, and thought it was great...of course I'd read and enjoyed a lot of Card's work, though I've never been fond of "Ender's Game" and have avoided its sequels and permutations...
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Interesting--I entered a mini fiction contest, 200 words or less. Since I have been doing a bunch of minis twice in the last six months and since a 50 word story received a HM in a different contest I thought I would enter. I had to do three tries before I got one under 200 words. The first two are just under and just over 500. I put in too many of the five human senses...still have one more attempt to do another mini even though it's too late for the contest. That's not the interesting part, it's the lead up. This is: I had a dream about the mini contest last night.
I read the winning stories--actually I only got to three before I woke. Don't ask me what they were about I don't recall even though I remember actually reading three.
In the dream they placed each story on a different page. The first one was either 194 or 174 words and was third place or first. The second one I read didn't say, the third one-174 words-confused me because right in the middle of it they put in two lines. Between the lines was a statement that this person had won a life time achievement award-I don't know where he placed in the contest. But he had entered a lot of times. And afterwards I realized that there was more of the story above that announcement, After I read the whole thing I realized why he got a life time award. His story was actually two. Most words were the usual black even though a few were red. The red ones told a different story. It was 12 or so words long.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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quote:Originally posted by History: "... alternative history of frontier America (where) folk magic actually works—dowsers find water and second sight warns of true dangers—and that magic has colored the entire history of the colonies. Alvin, the seventh son of a seventh son, is a Maker, the first to be born in a century. He must learn to use his gift wisely. But dark forces are arrayed against Alvin, and only a young girl with second sight can protect him."
•1987 Asimov's Readers' Poll - Asimov's Reader's Poll -- Novelette (Place: 3) •1987 Hugo Award - Best Novelette (Nomination) •1987 Locus Poll Award - Best Novelette (Place: 2) •1987 Nebula Award - Novelette (Nomination) •1987 World Fantasy Award - Best Novella (Win) •1987 SF Chronicle Award - Novelette (Nomination)
I've seen that one and thought seriously about buying it...can't recall why I didn't. Something to do with this Seventh son of a Seventh son maybe.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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quote:Originally posted by Robert Nowall: I was waiting for the month to pass to see and post a rant of my own, but I don't have time this evening.
*****
Actually, I've started to wonder how many people here do understand the connection to "Hatrack River" and Orson Scott Card...I hadn't read the series beyond the stories in Asimov's, but picked it up after hanging out here, and thought it was great...of course I'd read and enjoyed a lot of Card's work, though I've never been fond of "Ender's Game" and have avoided its sequels and permutations...
Well, some people come here by link, I came the hard way by looking through the larger OSC forum.
And I too aren't that interested in the Enders Game sequels, etc. I thought I read the book but if I did I seem to have forgotten certain details.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
I was going to post a random musing about productivity being inversely proportional to the amount of free time available, but this current topic is far less pointless.
I enjoy OSC's science fiction more than his fantasy, so I'm all about the Ender Universe. Nothing wrong with his fantasy though; it's just that I like his style of writing science fiction much more than others I've come across. And I always find some truths in his work that open my eyes a little more to the world. His writing has played a part in shaping who I am as a person.
Posts: 252 | Registered: Feb 2013
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posted
I should say, back in the days when I was an avid reader of the SF magazines, I looked forward to seeing Card's short fiction when it appeared---and, once, as I occasionally do with writer, I dug through all my old issues and read and reread every story I could find. [Learning experience? Not certain...]
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Wonder about some people and what they know.
Our cat has collar complete with noise maker. A neighbor made a comment about it and I said "Yeah, we belled the cat." She just stared at me for a moment.
She wasn't that young either.
Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Ah, yes. I saw part of the movie Despicable Me with my niece and nephew (I'd seen it before by myself), and pointed out that the newscaster seen in a couple of scenes was probably a parody of Keith Olbermann, then on MSNBC. They had no idea who Keith Olbermann was. (Heh-heh-heh.)
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Yesterday I popped my Blu-Ray disc of The Hobbit, just bought the day before, into my player, and prepared to settle down and watch it. But the damned thing wouldn't play!
At first I thought it was the disc, brand-new but defective, but then I noticed a high-pitched faint whine from the disc player. Suspicious character that I am, I popped in several other Blu-Ray discs, ones I'd played before---and none would play!
That means a trip to the electronics store, first chance I get, for a decent player. (I've got a cheaper one, still in its box, but I'd planned to put that on my bedroom TV---once I got a cheap HDTV in there.)
I'll just have to wait it out and make due with DVDs---which, to pile another indignity on, will still play in my Blu-Ray player.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I thought I got it relatively late in the game, much like computers. However, nothing lasts forever, and these high-end electronics things are worse than most at lasting. (I had (still have) a VCR that could have been fixed with one simple plastic part---a part the company did not stock.)
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Robert Nowall: I thought I got it relatively late in the game, much like computers. However, nothing lasts forever, and these high-end electronics things are worse than most at lasting. (I had (still have) a VCR that could have been fixed with one simple plastic part---a part the company did not stock.)
Flea markets and pawn shops are the friend of the traditionalist. Until/unless the Supreme Court rules that we don't own our own property.
Posts: 884 | Registered: Feb 2012
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posted
Matter of time. I've got one working VCR, not plugged in or connected right now, and a buttload of tapes lying around not being watched.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I am very tired of weekend snow. This is the third time in five weeks that I will be driving to work in a snowstorm.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
Can I please have that snow? I will give you an 88 degree Monday complete with overbearing sunshine, clouds sold separately.
Posts: 252 | Registered: Feb 2013
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