Hello, Hello!
Nov. 23rd, 2020 11:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse Once again, I must apologize for not keeping up on my journalling here.
It's tempting to lie and say that not much has been going on, but, the truth is, I've been really busy. I mean, again, I don't mean that I've been running around in the traditional sense, but there have been a lot of projects I've been working on.
First, I wrote a short story for a friend of mine's anthology. I actually have no idea if you're going to be able to even buy this anthology or how it's gong to work, but I said "yes," because this year (by which I actually mean 2021, the up-coming year) I am looking for ANY excuse to give myself a writing deadline. The anthology's parameters are: it's supposed to be a hopeful story and, if possible, reflect some aspect of the pandemic. So, I wrote a very low-stakes story about female friendship in isolation--a woman working alone in deep space who ends up in an accidental correspondence with a stranger. I'm personally really quite pleased with how it turned out.
I'm just finishing some revisions, but that one is done.
Kate Johnston and I just finished up our second week of the class for readers called: "Reading the (Whole) Room: Race and Queerness in Science Fiction and Fantasy." That's been... in someways a lot less work than the asynchronous class, and in some ways more? Since this class has a set time and place, I'm finding myself better able to keep class prep to a more reasonable amount of time, but I also expend a lot of energy in the actual teaching of the course, if that makes sense? Figuring out how DOES class on Zoom is it's own thing--plus, I haven't worked with a co-teacher in a long time.
But, that's every Thursday (except this one, of course, being American Thanksgiving.) It's only four weeks, so we are half done.
There have been some interesting things to come out of class, not the least of which was the joy of getting to teach "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington," by P. Djeli Clark and go over his blog about the historical references in it with a fine tooth comb. There is so much about Black history that I simply do NOT know, like anything about Colonel Tye, a freed slave who fought as a Loyalist (for the British) during the American Revolutionary War. If you've never read Clark's blog post about his research (P. Djeli Clark is a pseudonym for Dr. D. Gabriel, a PhD in the history of enslaved people among other things, who teaches at the University of Connecticut) I highly recommend that you not only do it, but also follow all the links he provides: https://disgruntledharadrim.com/2018/02/27/on-slavery-magic-and-the-negro-teeth-of-george-washington/
So, learning all that as part of teaching has been AMAZING.
But, I have also had the student who signed-up late, lost his internet connection, and wanted me (and/or the Loft) to basically photocopy the internet for him and follow-up with a personal phone call to me, in lieu of participating.... I mean, I feel VERY SORRY for him that he can no longer afford wifi, but.... this is an online course? I had to adult and tell him, "I'm sorry, but no." Between him and some of the other characters we have in class.... it's been kind of wild.
On top of all this, I am starting to outline a novella for another friend of mine's project. This one is going to be lesbians in SPAAAAACE--in my case, a kind of gender flipped Cowboy Bebop, but... darker? I mean, not as TRAGIC as Bebop, but there's going to be some space fascists to defeat because EVERYTHING IS A METAPHOR FOR 2020. But, the sort of high octane space battles and cyberpunk/terraformed Solar System with bounty hunters--a.k.a. the fun stuff of Bebop?--all that will be there, and more, because LESBIANS.
Plus, on a more mundane, day-to-day level, I've been having a grand time lately experimenting with lunches. My family has generally been trying to eat more fish, so my lunch meals have all been various takes on things to do with whatever fish Kowalski's has on sale that week. We have eaten a lot of cod, and today I tried a recipe that included Bulgar wheat... which was more experimental than I normally go in for, but I had tremendous fun making and serving it to my family. (If people want it, here is the link: https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/fish-and-seafood/cod-with-tomato-olive-and-chorizo-sauce/)
I suspect that my family now looks forward to lunch with a combination of "Could be fun?" mixed with "What fresh hell is this??" I'm sure. :-)
But, since it's lunch, it's really low-stakes. If they don't like it, they don't eat it. When there is lunch fail, I just make something hearty for dinner that has been a known favorite and everyone remains happy and healthy.
It's tempting to lie and say that not much has been going on, but, the truth is, I've been really busy. I mean, again, I don't mean that I've been running around in the traditional sense, but there have been a lot of projects I've been working on.
First, I wrote a short story for a friend of mine's anthology. I actually have no idea if you're going to be able to even buy this anthology or how it's gong to work, but I said "yes," because this year (by which I actually mean 2021, the up-coming year) I am looking for ANY excuse to give myself a writing deadline. The anthology's parameters are: it's supposed to be a hopeful story and, if possible, reflect some aspect of the pandemic. So, I wrote a very low-stakes story about female friendship in isolation--a woman working alone in deep space who ends up in an accidental correspondence with a stranger. I'm personally really quite pleased with how it turned out.
I'm just finishing some revisions, but that one is done.
Kate Johnston and I just finished up our second week of the class for readers called: "Reading the (Whole) Room: Race and Queerness in Science Fiction and Fantasy." That's been... in someways a lot less work than the asynchronous class, and in some ways more? Since this class has a set time and place, I'm finding myself better able to keep class prep to a more reasonable amount of time, but I also expend a lot of energy in the actual teaching of the course, if that makes sense? Figuring out how DOES class on Zoom is it's own thing--plus, I haven't worked with a co-teacher in a long time.
But, that's every Thursday (except this one, of course, being American Thanksgiving.) It's only four weeks, so we are half done.
There have been some interesting things to come out of class, not the least of which was the joy of getting to teach "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington," by P. Djeli Clark and go over his blog about the historical references in it with a fine tooth comb. There is so much about Black history that I simply do NOT know, like anything about Colonel Tye, a freed slave who fought as a Loyalist (for the British) during the American Revolutionary War. If you've never read Clark's blog post about his research (P. Djeli Clark is a pseudonym for Dr. D. Gabriel, a PhD in the history of enslaved people among other things, who teaches at the University of Connecticut) I highly recommend that you not only do it, but also follow all the links he provides: https://disgruntledharadrim.com/2018/02/27/on-slavery-magic-and-the-negro-teeth-of-george-washington/
So, learning all that as part of teaching has been AMAZING.
But, I have also had the student who signed-up late, lost his internet connection, and wanted me (and/or the Loft) to basically photocopy the internet for him and follow-up with a personal phone call to me, in lieu of participating.... I mean, I feel VERY SORRY for him that he can no longer afford wifi, but.... this is an online course? I had to adult and tell him, "I'm sorry, but no." Between him and some of the other characters we have in class.... it's been kind of wild.
On top of all this, I am starting to outline a novella for another friend of mine's project. This one is going to be lesbians in SPAAAAACE--in my case, a kind of gender flipped Cowboy Bebop, but... darker? I mean, not as TRAGIC as Bebop, but there's going to be some space fascists to defeat because EVERYTHING IS A METAPHOR FOR 2020. But, the sort of high octane space battles and cyberpunk/terraformed Solar System with bounty hunters--a.k.a. the fun stuff of Bebop?--all that will be there, and more, because LESBIANS.
Plus, on a more mundane, day-to-day level, I've been having a grand time lately experimenting with lunches. My family has generally been trying to eat more fish, so my lunch meals have all been various takes on things to do with whatever fish Kowalski's has on sale that week. We have eaten a lot of cod, and today I tried a recipe that included Bulgar wheat... which was more experimental than I normally go in for, but I had tremendous fun making and serving it to my family. (If people want it, here is the link: https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/fish-and-seafood/cod-with-tomato-olive-and-chorizo-sauce/)
I suspect that my family now looks forward to lunch with a combination of "Could be fun?" mixed with "What fresh hell is this??" I'm sure. :-)
But, since it's lunch, it's really low-stakes. If they don't like it, they don't eat it. When there is lunch fail, I just make something hearty for dinner that has been a known favorite and everyone remains happy and healthy.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-24 12:21 am (UTC)