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Mar. 13th, 2007 09:21 amFirst, the interview I did with Elizabeth Bear is now online at IROSF. (Yes, you must subscribe, but it is free. Come on, how can you not love a magazine in which Jay Lake and I are regular contributors?)
Secondly, well, okay, I don’t have an official second point, but I just wanted to comment on a couple of things in my life. One, octopuses are cool. Mason and I are members of the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America and we went yesterday to watch the octopus feeding. The marine biologist reminded us of all sorts of fascinating things about octopuses, including the fact that they can squeeze through any hole that is large enough to fit their “beaks” (there’s some great video of this out on the internet, kids,) and they can carry enough water in their gill sacs so that they can easily wander about “on land” for several minutes. Plus, they’re at least as smart as your average four-year old human…. Which means there have been lots of mischief reported by various scientists who study octopuses, including the one where the octopus decided s/he’d had enough of the scientist and stretched herself across the doorway so he couldn’t come in in the morning.
My parents were in town last weekend and my dad and I got all a twitter about various “weird” things in nature, and I got a kind of shot in the arm about my own sense of wonder. I’m anxious to write science fiction again, and I’m looking forward to when Mason starts school. Shawn and I have talked about how difficult it would be for me to find a part-time job that would conform to his school schedule, so I get one more year of freedom from wage-slavery. I’m really hoping that I can step up production and write whatever novel I might have under contract as well as something “for myself.” Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, Mason has really discovered music. He’s been watching Fantasia, and quizzing me about the various instruments that are playing. “Ima, what’s that?” “Uh,” I say, “A bassoon?” The problem is that I don’t really have a clue. I’m actually fairly terrible at distinguishing instruments from one another unless they’re obvious, like, say the crash of a cymbal. I asked my friend Harry, who is currently studying drama therapy at a school in California. He originally went there because he was planning on doing music therapy, so I figured he might know someone who knows of a good software program, book, CD, something that might help me help Mason appreciate the various instruments. The advice he got from the student email list was okay – although I’m not terribly fond of Baby Einstein, and, more to the point, I think Mason may actually be too advanced for those videos (at least the ones I’ve seen.) Maybe, however, I should check at the library and see if they have a CD or other companion piece that’s not visual – Mason is very shy about NEW videos. For instance, it’s taken him months to watch the beginning of Fantasia, and there are still many Backyardigan videos we own that he’s never seen because they’re “too new.”
Shawn and I have been dragging out all the myriad and sundry instruments we own for Mason to listen to and play with. I got a violin from a friend (I actually traded my Apple IIe for it – I got the better deal, for sure,) which I’d always intended to get lessons for. Shawn plays flute and trombone, both of which she still owns. We have, of course, various drums around the house (of course, being because we’re practicing Wiccans, and what self-respecting Witch doesn’t own a few drums?) We also have bells and pennywhistles and an upright piano. Mason has been having a grand-old time “conducting” Mama and I as we try to play our various instruments.
I also dug up some CDs that have symphonies on them. Mason’s not terribly fond of Beethoven because he’s “too loud.” But, he loves a CD we bought for him when he was just and infant when “Sue” the T-Rex was visiting the science museum here in Minnesota. It’s called the “Cretaceous Concerto.” Mason loves it so much he’s memorized the liner notes.
So that's my life. You?
Secondly, well, okay, I don’t have an official second point, but I just wanted to comment on a couple of things in my life. One, octopuses are cool. Mason and I are members of the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America and we went yesterday to watch the octopus feeding. The marine biologist reminded us of all sorts of fascinating things about octopuses, including the fact that they can squeeze through any hole that is large enough to fit their “beaks” (there’s some great video of this out on the internet, kids,) and they can carry enough water in their gill sacs so that they can easily wander about “on land” for several minutes. Plus, they’re at least as smart as your average four-year old human…. Which means there have been lots of mischief reported by various scientists who study octopuses, including the one where the octopus decided s/he’d had enough of the scientist and stretched herself across the doorway so he couldn’t come in in the morning.
My parents were in town last weekend and my dad and I got all a twitter about various “weird” things in nature, and I got a kind of shot in the arm about my own sense of wonder. I’m anxious to write science fiction again, and I’m looking forward to when Mason starts school. Shawn and I have talked about how difficult it would be for me to find a part-time job that would conform to his school schedule, so I get one more year of freedom from wage-slavery. I’m really hoping that I can step up production and write whatever novel I might have under contract as well as something “for myself.” Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, Mason has really discovered music. He’s been watching Fantasia, and quizzing me about the various instruments that are playing. “Ima, what’s that?” “Uh,” I say, “A bassoon?” The problem is that I don’t really have a clue. I’m actually fairly terrible at distinguishing instruments from one another unless they’re obvious, like, say the crash of a cymbal. I asked my friend Harry, who is currently studying drama therapy at a school in California. He originally went there because he was planning on doing music therapy, so I figured he might know someone who knows of a good software program, book, CD, something that might help me help Mason appreciate the various instruments. The advice he got from the student email list was okay – although I’m not terribly fond of Baby Einstein, and, more to the point, I think Mason may actually be too advanced for those videos (at least the ones I’ve seen.) Maybe, however, I should check at the library and see if they have a CD or other companion piece that’s not visual – Mason is very shy about NEW videos. For instance, it’s taken him months to watch the beginning of Fantasia, and there are still many Backyardigan videos we own that he’s never seen because they’re “too new.”
Shawn and I have been dragging out all the myriad and sundry instruments we own for Mason to listen to and play with. I got a violin from a friend (I actually traded my Apple IIe for it – I got the better deal, for sure,) which I’d always intended to get lessons for. Shawn plays flute and trombone, both of which she still owns. We have, of course, various drums around the house (of course, being because we’re practicing Wiccans, and what self-respecting Witch doesn’t own a few drums?) We also have bells and pennywhistles and an upright piano. Mason has been having a grand-old time “conducting” Mama and I as we try to play our various instruments.
I also dug up some CDs that have symphonies on them. Mason’s not terribly fond of Beethoven because he’s “too loud.” But, he loves a CD we bought for him when he was just and infant when “Sue” the T-Rex was visiting the science museum here in Minnesota. It’s called the “Cretaceous Concerto.” Mason loves it so much he’s memorized the liner notes.
So that's my life. You?