Day in the Life of an Idiot

Image: Some cool a$$ books! (including mine)

From my editors...

THE 2025 PRIDE BUNDLE

The 2025 Pride Bundle  - Curated by Catherine Lundoff and Melissa Scott

It's Pride again, and time for another queer-themed bundle! At a time when the community is once again under threat, we felt it was more important than ever to showcase the work and the writers that celebrate us. We looked for books that show queerness in all its complexity, with stories that range from pure adventure to profoundly serious, and from across the range of identities that make up our whole. We looked for stories that showcased the many and complex forms that queerness takes — the many ways that we have chosen to be. We looked for stories that engage with threats to the queer world, and for stories that imagine what we might be without threats, for stories that celebrate our joy and our resilience.

And we're pleased to say that we have found those stories, and more. If anything, the hardest part of curating this bundle was narrowing down the field: there are so many writers out there creating intelligent, nuanced, queer science fiction and fantasy that it's incredibly hard to choose among them. This is not to claim that this is a definitive LGBTQIA+ collection —given the ever-growing amount of stellar queer writing being published, we're not sure that's even possible. Instead, we thought of the bundle as a sampler, or perhaps a tasting menu. It includes novels, novellas, single author collections, and anthologies; the genres range from fantasy mysteries to cyberpunk to far future to post apocalyptic fantasy. There are newer works and writers, and some older work you may have missed when they first appeared. It's your chance to read work by some of the best writers working today.

StoryBundle has always allowed its patrons to donate part of their payment to a related charity, and this year we're once again supporting Rainbow Railroad, a NGO that helps LGBTQ+ people escape state-sponsored persecution and violence worldwide. Their work is needed now more than ever, and if you choose, you can pass on part of the bundle's price to them— a gift that can save a life. 
– Catherine Lundoff and Melissa Scott

* * *

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in .epub format—WORLDWIDE.

• The Map and the Territory by A.M. Tuomala
• We're Here - The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2023 edited by Darcie Little Badger and series editor Charles Payseur
• Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett
• These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $25, you get all four of the regular books, plus TEN more books, for a total of 14!

• Be the Sea by Clara Ward
• Fallen by Melissa Scott
• A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert
• Luminescent Machinations by Rhiannan Rasmussen and dave ring
• Fairs' Point by Melissa Scott
• So You Want to be A Robot by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
• Price of a Thousand Blessings by Ginn Hale
• Reforged by Seth Haddon
• Welcome to Boy.Net by Lyda Morehouse
• Power to Yield by Bogi Takács

This bundle is available only for a limited time via  http://www.storybundle.com . It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get a DRM-free .epub for all books!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can
redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of
StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

• Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
• Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.
• Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.
• Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to Rainbow Railroad!
• Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you'll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers.
StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle,

Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at  @storybundle  and like us on  Facebook 

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I would love for this to be a huge success for all our authors (and for Rainbow Railroad) so even if it's not for you, please consider passing this information/link (https://storybundle.com/pride) on to someone who you think might enjoy it!  

 When I signed up for the OutFront MN Zoom event called "Drag Queen Cookies with It Gets Batter," I initially thought I would be making cookies WITH drag queens, which, frankly, sounded like the epitome of fabulous.

However, it turns out that I had signed up to learn how to make a five-minute fondant that would be designed to look like drag queens.

Alas!

But, it was still a pretty fun event.  They sent along a recipe for a sugar cookie and asked us to make the "blank faces" ahead of time. I happened to have an egg-shaped cookie cutter (for Easter Egg cookies, I think, though this MAY be the first time I have ever used that particular cutter.) So, I made those Friday afternoon. They were pretty yummy on their own and since I had way more batter than I figured I'd need for a hour long event, I made the rest into the usual assortment of dragonflies, dinosaurs, cows, and chickens.  

At 7 pm, I dialed into the Zoom. The OutFront folks had us use a password, because Zoom bombing is a thing and this was "queer youth" led, so I mean, yeah, safety first.  Even so, we still had one guy who did no cooking, but just watched the event. Creepy or sad? Hard to know.

At any rate, there were probably no more than a dozen of us on the call. Basically we watched our host make fondant and tried to follow along as best we could. It was not the most organized Zoom event I've ever attended? But I'd say my results were fairly fabulous, nonetheless.


Image: cartoonish face with large hair, all of which is easy to do with fondant because it basically functions like sugar-based play dough.

I was also aided in this process by the fact that I happened to own baking markers. Yeah, like magic markers that you can safely eat. I did all of the "eyeliner" with these markers.


Image: windswept-hair and sultry-eyed cookie.

The fondant itself is not especially tasty, I must say. It is made with marshmallows and powdered sugar and two tablespoons of water. So, I mean, it takes like sugar? I feel like you could add something--lemon, peppermint, or even boring vanilla--and make it more tasty. 

If you are a fan of the local drag queen/king scene in Minneapolis/St. Paul, It Gets Batter is doing a fundraiser for out-of-work drag kings and queens in which they make cookies specifically for your favorite performer, which seems like a nifty charity.  I personally wouldn't have a clue, though I did like watching the Gaylaxicon event with Queens of Adventure.

I enjoyed the baking thing enough to sign up for a Gay Twin Cities virtual walking tour (it is also free)  later this month, which is TWO TIMES as many Pride events than I normally attend in June.

I am one of those old queers who grumbles about how commercialized Pride has become. I don't usually complain very loudly, honestly, because I definitely prefer a world where I can buy my Pride gear at Target rather than having to hand make it at home, hide somewhere to change into it, and then be terrified to wear it in public. And, I do remember those days. They were NOT the good old days; I'm just not fond of crowds.

Of course, no crowds this year, regardless. 

One of the things OutFront is sponsoring tonight that I'd really like to go to is a candlelight vigil for black, trans and gender non-conforming voices at Elliot Park.  However, if I am reading Google right, this park is the one near former Augustana nursing home and parking around there is nightmarish. I still have some time to decide, but I will be there in spirit. If nothing else, I may light a candle on my altar at 7:30 pm in solidarity.

Otherwise, the big excitement of this weekend was that on Saturday, a package arrived from Taiwan. jiawen sent along a care package of bits and bobs of stationary and fun pens and erasers and pins and tea and just a whole lot of lovely things. It was like Christmas in June. I am only sad that I did not think to get her on jitsi BEFORE I opened the box, so that we could have opened it together, but we did chat and I basically squeed happily for a half hour straight. So, that was desperately fun. If you are a pen pal of mine, expect some fun new stationary in your next letter from me.

Friday afternoon, Shawn and I also hazarded a trip to the fabric store which is exciting in these days of the pandemic. Shawn was able to browse pretty well, but that was because I volunteered at tribute and stood in the line for cutting. I was a bit shocked to discover so many people without masks. My friend naomikritzer and my wife both suspect there's some kind of Republican/Trump-supporting bent to the crafters who shop at JoAnne's and I suspect they're both right, though I wish I understood why that's true. Shawn suggested that it's a "homemaker" bent. Like, the kind of woman who learns to sew is more likely to be the sort to stay at home to support her man?  I dunno. I want it to change. Surely, I shouldn't have to go to a more expensive store just to hang out with the other liberal crafters.

I did pick up some more quilting fabric, though, including some Avengers fabric. So, that was worth it.

Today (and most days, if I'm honest,) I also dithered around the garden and discovered a baby native pollinator. 


Image: a striped "parsley worm" nomming my parsley, probably to the ground, but she will transform into a native pollinator: the black swallowtail butterfly so she gets to have all the parsley she wants.

How was your weekend?

 I have to leave for work in a half hour. Normally, I wouldn't take a Friday afternoon shift (or try not to) since Fridays is now the day that the women of Wyrdsmiths+ meets. (The plus is because the group now includes other women writers who have never been Wyrdsmiths.)  BUT, everyone had to cancel for various reasons, and so when Maplewood called while we were out shopping for dress pants for Mason, I agreed to come in today.

We were at JC Penny's trying to find dress pants that fit our ridiculously tall and skinny young man BECAUSE Mason has a job interview on Saturday!  

Baby's first job interview!

This is a job he's tried for before--it's some kind of work with the Science Museum that I honestly don't entirely understand, but which appears to be a program that's offered to science-focused teens?  Washington Tech gets the notice about this every year. Last year, Mason applied but didn't get to the interview state. Likewise, his girlfriend applied last year, got an interview, but didn't get the job---so it's HIGHLY competitive. He's really going into this with the attitude of, "Well, no matter what happens, the interview is good practice." As part of that, Mason wanted to be sure to dress appropriately and, OF COURSE, he'd outgrown his previous set of dress pants.

It's been a good start to the year for Mason, actually, as we got a notice from the school a couple of days ago to inform us that he will be letting in Academics. I have no idea of letter jackets are still a thing, but we're totally getting him a jacket because BABY NERD LETTERED IN ACADEMICS.

I think the closest I got to something like this during my high school years was drama? I'm not sure you _could_ letter in drama, but I nearly won a school/drama club award for... well, basically participation, but it was more: you've been in x many plays, done x amount of stage hand work, etc.  The thing I remember about that is being DEEPLY BITTER about the award going to someone else because there was accounting for regional plays/theater done outside of school. So, I wasn't in the spring musical two separate years because I was performing with adults at the Community Theater in downtown LaCrosse.  

There's not a lot I remember about high school, but that feeling stuck with me.

The other big Mason news is that he's decided to rearrange his room and so we moved out one of the big bookcases in order to make room for an oak desk we found (on his request) through the neighborhood group.  He very SPECIFICALLY wanted a solid wood, antique desk of some sort. We'd been thinking we might luck out at an estate sale, but Shawn just happened to surf through our neighborhood group and found a guy offering his son's old desk with the promise of "free delivery." Given the size of our car, we were like, "SOLD!" He probably would have helped us wrestle it up two flights of stairs, but it's currently parked in our foyer waiting for Mason to finish getting his room ready.  And... for someone with muscles to volunteer to help us. Shawn would do it, but she shouldn't. The will is there, but her back is not strong enough. But, once all the various Jewish holidays are over, we've got a call out to our friend Sean M. Murphy, who has promised to be our "dude." We have often used Murphy in this function. He's the one who helped Mason pick out a good razor for his face, so... Murphy has long been our substitute "man around the house."

Ah, the trials of being a non-traditional family, eh?  :-)

Right, so I'd better go get dressed for work.

I'm mostly over my rant about the Super Seminar. It helps that on Saturday, Mason and went and had a fabulous time with our local folks. No one yelled at me for making all "drama" noises in the middle of our sparring excercise, even though I think at one point I even made the "buzzwhum" noise of a lightsaber. :-)

Plus, talking to another KSW friend at a mutal friend's kid's birthday party I got a real emotional boost. She said, "You know, don't you, that you're a real asset to the dojon?" and she was talking about my goofy happiness, and how infectious it can be. This was made particularly awesome and profound because this is a person with whom I've had a dubious past in the writing community. Not terribly long ago she was on my list of "do not put me on a panel with this person." On Saturday, I told her how awesome she is and offered to help her get her short stories out into circulation.

How times change, eh?

And, it also reminds me that, while I go through these... huh, what I need here is a word that's the opposite of an "emotional crush", something like a brief, intense, passionate hatred... anyway, one of those with various writers in the community, they are, in point of fact, temporary, and even the worst of them can mend in time. So, while I *am* an evil Scorpio bastard, my Leo Rising generously allows for people and myself to change.

On Sunday morning, I got up early and rewrote the first chapter of SAMURAI HIGH. I'm currently waiting on a fencing friend to vet my swordplay, and then I'm going to let a couple of othe friends check it over and then it's off... to hopefully seduce an editor into buying the whole thing. Fingers crossed. It would be nice to be rewarded for all the engery I've put into my fanfic. Think of it! All sorts of samurai research ALREADY DONE! Dude, ask me anything about Edo period toliets!

We also spent a lot of time on Sunday dong a ton of errands, including a trip to Uncles to deliver the last of my Fallen Hosts, and getting a massive amount of yard work done. It was also, apparently, Pride Weekend. I haven't been to a Pride in years, partly because I find I miss the frightened huddle we once were, compared to the huge commericalization we've become. My friend who did go told me that she didn't even get many condoms or lube hand-outs. WTF! That's not my Pride! *tease*

Driftless Organics rules.

First, I'm incredibly happy that we decided to do the half-share, although given the quality and variety of things we're getting, we might consider upping to full next year. I just finished the last of the spinach from our first box. A few days ago the potatoes were starting to look ready to sprout, so I quick made up a big pot of mashed potatoes for dinner and then made the rest into kattofel knepfla (potato dumplings, a traditional German dish.) The recipie is a bit nit-picky, but the results are worth it. Especially fried in bacon fat. Yum.

The only item I have left is one green garlic bulb. I had a bit of trouble knowing how to use the green garlic. We make tons of recipies with garlic, but the green garlic isn't quite the same as traditional so... but I did manage to use it mostly up.

But, check this. Get a load of what we're getting next (with any luck. They can't 100% promise):

All Red Potatoes
Broccoli
Chard
Cilantro
Fennel (only one bulb - sorry...)
Garlic Scapes
Green Zucchini
Parsley
Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Strawberries
Yellow Summer Squash

No one in my family is particularly fond of cilantro or fennel (I know, we're complete rubes, with unsophisticated taste,) but strawberries!!??? Whoot! Holy happy eating, Batman!

Like, this is all real food. No bok choy! (No offense, Ger... but I STILL don't quite know what to do with it.)

In other news, Shawn got "Outlander" from Netflix over the weekend. It stars the guy who played Jesus in Mel Gibson's Aramaic film, and can best be described as "Vikings versus space aliens." Shawn read a rave review on Boing-Boing or Gizmoto or one of those cool geek sites, but I have to say it was surprisingly entertaining. Next up? A Norwegian film (in Norwegian) with zombie Nazis. Whoot!

When I have more time I may write a review of "Outlander." The squish morality in it is kind of fascinating.

Also, Mason is home for the week. No, he's not sick again, this is just one of those random weeks off at the year-round school has. Of course, Mason and I planned to go hiking and swimming and it must be sixty degrees outside! (15 C to our internatoinal friends.) It's light jacket weather! Very strange for nearly the first week in July. July is traditionally one of the hotest months. Mason was born in July, on a day in the 90s (32 C.)

I stopped by Pride for a few minutes on Saturday (the not-as-incredibly perfect weather day), and wandered around a bit. Honestly, normally I skip Pride. Shawn hates crowds to the point where she faints if it gets too busy, and Mason isn't really quite old enough to care terribly much (plus there are still the ocassional "Oh My!" bits out there, which I think he could probably wait to see.) I went because True Colors (formerly Amazon bookstore) asked me to stop by and sign stock, which I did. I like them, so even though I had to park a million miles away and hoof it in, I did.

This weekend I'll be at CONvergence. We were going to go to our friends' cabin, but with the convention it's a bit too much driving for me. I'm bummed because Siren supposedly has some awesome small town 4th celebrations, although I'd miss most of them anyway thanks to the convention. Anyway, when I remember I'll hop over to their site and grab my schedule. It's nothing spectacular, but if you're there and want to find me that's where I'll be.

Otherwise, I'm sort of feeling down. The cold gray weather? Or the fact that, out of the blue (not precipitated by a fight) Mason casually said, "You know what I've been thinking? I like Mama better." Okay, I know he's just a five year old, and he doesn't mean it to hurt me, but WTF? And then he says, "Hey, let's go to the park! You can chase me!" and wonders why I look at him like he's a space alien (and not the fun kind that Vikings hunt.) I did explain to him that even if you feel a certain way, you don't always have to tell people. Especially if you think what you have to say might hurr their feelings. This never occurred to him. (However, this isn't the first time he's told me he prefers his mama.)

Anyway, I'm off to the park! To chase Mason! Whoot.