strange radiation: the pool of radiance archive
Adventures with an unreliable narrator.
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May 2 06: still alive
Right. Where was I? Ah, yes: informing such readers as are out there that I was going to throw myself off the roof, because it was April 5th and it was snowing outside. And then I stopped posting for a month.
I have been reminded that these sort of dramatic disappearances are Bad Form. Apologies if you were alarmed, or anything.
Here are some things I did with my April:
- Returned from the UK and the Real Live Gay Wedding. Note that Western Civ still seems to be ticking along just fine. I’m confused: where’s my Earth-shattering kaboom? I’ll post a representative photo or two shortly, as requested.
- Gave a performance of Carmina Burana, as part of the Juilliard Choral Union’s final show of the season. It was only the two-pianos-and-seventy-eight-percussionists reduction, alas, but still: what a gas.
- Signed up at last for the Gay Games. I have two more weeks to decide which events I’ll be swimming, but I imagine that it’ll be the 200 and 400 IM, maybe the 100 fly and the 200 free. I’ve been told I’ll be doing three relays as well. Long uphill slog to get in shape for this, as I’ve been lazy lazy lazy these past few months.
- Wrote entirely too many math questions for sixth-graders in New Mexico. But hey, it pays the rent.
- Spent three out of five weekends in the company of my sister’s family. The delicious Avery turned 3 yesterday. Her little brother Nathan is 7 months old. Where has the time gone? Spending time in the company of laughing little children who think you’re great is a superlative tonic for the soul, and I highly recommend it.
- Continued work on the never-ending Leo. I get to it in fits and starts, usually while riding on trains or in cars, or in little secret “just one or two rows” sessions when I really should be in bed. I’m about halfway through the front, and it’s looking vastly better than the back. The stitches are tighter and much more regular; I guess that, having put about eighty skillion loops on the needles by this point, my technique has improved tremendously. I begin to wonder if I’ll finish all the bits and decide that the back of the thing simply must be frogged out and done over. If I show signs of seriously considering this, somebody please intervene.
- Oversaw a major server migration for the swim team’s internet presence. Moving to new hosts (the fabulous tigertech.net, hosts also of this website) gave me the chance to upgrade our MT and Gallery installations, plus learn a little about setting up cron jobs and the differences between Mailman and Majordomo.
Things I did not do in April:
- Receive a response from F&SF regarding “Slow.” If a magazine famous for its sub-two-week rejection turnaround time suddenly takes a month in getting back to you, is that a good sign? Or a sign that I should have sent the thing return-receipt-requested? The suspense is starting to make me a little crazy.
- Finally let go of Optimistic Story. I’ve settled into a perpetual state of ‘one more beta reader, and then I’ll trust the thing.’
- Begin the novel, for which I blame Optimistic Story’s refusal to leave the nest. Convenient, isn’t it? On the other hand, the pile of notes continues to grow. That’s something.
So anyway, now you know I’m not dead. I do have swim practice in six hours, though, so it’s time to hit the sack.