It's a Day
May. 17th, 2021 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse I'm a little distracted today because when I was going through my email this morning, I found a open mic invite to a digital event called, Cymera 2021.
I have a vague memory of asking to be on the mailing list. It's Scottish, but, you know, virtual, and they were looking for five minute readings. I thought to myself, "My UK publisher would probably really love it if I submitted something to this, eh?"
Thus, I spent the morning recording and editing this thing and sending it off along with a short bio, etc. I have never been more grateful that, early in the pandemic, I just broke down and bought myself a video editing program. I initially bought it to make recording lectures for my remote classes the Loft easier, but this will be the second--maybe third time?--I've used it to send off recorded readings for various online events.
There was nothing particularly difficult about this? But, it still managed to eat my morning. I'm sure you know how that goes.
I don't know if anyone else is planning on going, but I signed up for the low-key gathering WisCON: https://wiscon.net/2021/05/08/announcing-visioning-wiscon/ I had fun last year? And I kind of enjoy these digital events? If you are, I'll see you there. I am technically also signed up for the Nebula weekend, the same weekend, but that's the joy of virtual, right? I can be in two places at the same time.
Speaking of lowkey, the big thing we did this weekend was go rummage sale-ing. Hamline-Midway does one of those big neighborhood things. After being reminded about it by a friend, Shawn and I hit the road. I normally love these kinds of things because I'm easily amused by sifting through other people's detritus. Twin Cities Geek had posted about one that looked promising, too, so we headed there. I was excited by the look of that one because two neighbors had joined together and had both front yards were full of tables. The geeks had mentioned it because the corner house had a bunch of geeky collectibles. I pawed through those, but I'm not big on action figures? There were some Hello Kitty pins? But I'm only moderately a fan of Hello, Kitty. But, from there we were able to walk over to another sale, and from that one we could see another down the street.
Unfortunately, that was the closest cluster I found? And a lot of people seemed to actually take the GARAGE part of garage sale seriously, which was a bummer? Shawn and I like to do the slow cruise past the address to see whether or not we can just tell by looking if it's going to be tables full of baby clothes and nothing else, you know? And, you can't always do that in alleys. The first couple of times we parked and walked down to the alley only to find it to be a bust, we decided that with everything so spread out, alley ones weren't worth the minimum effort it took to park somewhere and walk. We're lazy garage salers, what can I say?
I did end up bringing a Chinese ox shaped butter dish home...
image: My garage sale find: cow/ox shaped butter dish, in classic blue and white china colors.
...and Shawn found a weird (but compelling!) cat statue for our collection of oddities on the porch. So, it wasn't all a bust. How was your weekend?
I have a vague memory of asking to be on the mailing list. It's Scottish, but, you know, virtual, and they were looking for five minute readings. I thought to myself, "My UK publisher would probably really love it if I submitted something to this, eh?"
Thus, I spent the morning recording and editing this thing and sending it off along with a short bio, etc. I have never been more grateful that, early in the pandemic, I just broke down and bought myself a video editing program. I initially bought it to make recording lectures for my remote classes the Loft easier, but this will be the second--maybe third time?--I've used it to send off recorded readings for various online events.
There was nothing particularly difficult about this? But, it still managed to eat my morning. I'm sure you know how that goes.
I don't know if anyone else is planning on going, but I signed up for the low-key gathering WisCON: https://wiscon.net/2021/05/08/announcing-visioning-wiscon/ I had fun last year? And I kind of enjoy these digital events? If you are, I'll see you there. I am technically also signed up for the Nebula weekend, the same weekend, but that's the joy of virtual, right? I can be in two places at the same time.
Speaking of lowkey, the big thing we did this weekend was go rummage sale-ing. Hamline-Midway does one of those big neighborhood things. After being reminded about it by a friend, Shawn and I hit the road. I normally love these kinds of things because I'm easily amused by sifting through other people's detritus. Twin Cities Geek had posted about one that looked promising, too, so we headed there. I was excited by the look of that one because two neighbors had joined together and had both front yards were full of tables. The geeks had mentioned it because the corner house had a bunch of geeky collectibles. I pawed through those, but I'm not big on action figures? There were some Hello Kitty pins? But I'm only moderately a fan of Hello, Kitty. But, from there we were able to walk over to another sale, and from that one we could see another down the street.
Unfortunately, that was the closest cluster I found? And a lot of people seemed to actually take the GARAGE part of garage sale seriously, which was a bummer? Shawn and I like to do the slow cruise past the address to see whether or not we can just tell by looking if it's going to be tables full of baby clothes and nothing else, you know? And, you can't always do that in alleys. The first couple of times we parked and walked down to the alley only to find it to be a bust, we decided that with everything so spread out, alley ones weren't worth the minimum effort it took to park somewhere and walk. We're lazy garage salers, what can I say?
I did end up bringing a Chinese ox shaped butter dish home...
image: My garage sale find: cow/ox shaped butter dish, in classic blue and white china colors.
...and Shawn found a weird (but compelling!) cat statue for our collection of oddities on the porch. So, it wasn't all a bust. How was your weekend?
no subject
Date: 2021-05-18 01:52 am (UTC)Even though R and I text and talk on the phone quite a bit, it was so fun to just burble and chatter at him and with C.
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Date: 2021-05-19 04:07 pm (UTC)Also, I love wandering peacocks. I would have also been delighted. Their calls always sound to me like they're saying "Help!" which adds to the surreal vibe of peacocks in general.
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Date: 2021-05-18 12:46 pm (UTC)I am looking forward to an expedition to Thrift for AIDS in order to pick out some decorative saucers for my plants. Haven't decided yet when I will go.
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Date: 2021-05-19 04:06 pm (UTC)I swear this is why I was vaccinated. So, that I can thrift again and... someday, browse a bookstore.
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Date: 2021-05-19 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-18 03:27 pm (UTC)High point of the weekend? Going to church in person for only the third time since last March (the other two times were Christmas and Easter).
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Date: 2021-05-19 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 03:29 pm (UTC)WisCon announcing that they weren't having a virtual convention, and then...lowkey having a virtual convention is rather confusing. I've been tracking the virtual conventions for my markets newsletter, and I totally took their word that they weren't having one.
My weekend was a lot of virtual stuff: virtual church, virtual MinnSpec meet with Bryan Thao Worra (pretty good! recording should be up sometime), virtual SFWA worldbuilding panel, virtual SFWA writing date (they're doing these weekly, as part of their Nebula/SFWA events!).
no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 04:02 pm (UTC)Also, I love the idea of the SFWA writing dates, I LOVE the MinnSpec one, as you may have discovered, but I can not for the life of me make 4 pm on a Sunday. It just never happens.