Goat update: Alys and Pansy are back
Alys and Pansy were returned to me on Saturday morning, each with a kid in tow. Alys has a gorgeous big redheaded buckling named Sweet William. He's people-shy, but is basically happy-go-lucky in the pasture. Freaky Pansy's freaky little girl is named Poppy, and she is in charge over William.

I set the returning goats up in the shag-shack field to get a breather and reacquaint themselves with the farm while I got ready to send the big girls to summer camp. On Sunday, Achaosofkittens and LizKayl helped me load up Anna, Lerris, Lily, Fiona, Elsa, and Emma for the trip east. The theme for this year's Suburban Jungle Camp is "poison ivy." As in "please oh please eat all of this horrible plant!" When it comes time to wean the bucklings, I'm going to do a mean-wean and just send Alys and Dahlia off to camp, too.

After the campers went off on Sunday, I integrated the returning moms and their kids back into the rest of the herd with a big Goatapalloza. Hercules ran around whining his hellos and trying to sniff the new kids. The new kids celebrated their new life by running up and down the fallen tree. And Blair-baby got the worse end of a Poppy-smacking.

While small, Pansy is massively aggressive now, which made the greetings a little amusing to me. Taffy tried to beat down Alys, but kept getting rammed by Pansy. Ah, the joys of goat politics. If nothing gets in her way, Pansy is going to teach Poppy all about short-goat aggressiveness.

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Hugos: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe
The story was of a type that I like - an odyssey across expanses in the search for someone or something - and had the excellent, odd details that build a fantasy world for me. I liked the main character, an older and wiser Vellitt who thought she had settled down. I liked the setting, a fantasy land with nuance and mystery and cheery little flowers and rules that were mostly internally consistent. That said, the story was close to ruined on page 98 of 146 (epub, so your mileage may vary) when I read the line: ( Read more...Collapse )

I give it an A for story building and a C for story telling.

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quote about fathers
When she had been small, Vellitt had indulged in the fantasy all children had, that these were not her parents, that someday an Elder One, kindly, wise, and handsome, would reclaim her. It had not been until after her father's death that she realized the father-god of her imaginings was exactly like him.

- The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson

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Grand Cru restaurant in Arlington
I met DizzyLlama for dinner on Monday night at Grand Cru in Ballston, to which I had never been. http://www.grandcru-wine.com/ They advertise themselves as a "wine bar" and French restaurant. I went because the menu had ALL THE CHEESE. As I am not quiet with my opinions, let me tell you what our hundred dollars purchased in a meal for two: ( Read more...Collapse )

Despite the problems, I enjoyed the meal. In fact, now that I know they are a sneaky-spicy place, I'm considering when I might be able to go back...

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Hugos, the progress report
The progress report:

Best Short Story - DONE
Best Novelette - DONE, one abandoned (T-Rex)
Best Fan Artist - DONE
Best Professional Artist - DONE
Best Novella - 4/5, one abandoned (Census)
Best Series - 2/5, one abandoned (Craft)
Best Graphic Story - 3/6
Best Dramatic, Long - 1/6

Best Dramatic, Short - 0/6, though I'll be voting for the filk album out of general favoritism if I don't get to them.

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Hugos: Best Fan Artist
Ok, yeah, I don't know where to start with this one, so I'm just going to muddle through and see where I come out. ( Read more...Collapse )

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Hugos: Monstress Vol 1
I admit that I'm not well-read in graphic novels, but I've touched a decent portion of Neil Gaiman's work, so I know how a good graphic novel can look. (Monstress is not a Gaiman work.) This story read and appeared like something out of Books of Magic but the story was much easier to follow. It was Gaiman-esque - or perhaps troperific - in the over-the-top sadism, the spraying gore, the circles of betrayal, and even the smart-ass cat.

Since we all know there are no new stories, the craft is in the telling. And this one was decently built. I like the origin stories of the various sentients. I am glad the names are distinct because I had some trouble telling Sophia and Maika apart at the beginning before I caught the rhythm of the when vs. the where as the story moved around. I like the choices in secondary characters, including a hulking big warrior woman and the pacifist farmer woman.

And really - I want their costume and special effects departments on my team. Gravity is only in effect when it's flattering.

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Hugos: Saga, Vol 6
Pretty good. There are some odd choices in characterization, but that might just be because I'm dropping in well after the plot was established. And my little geeky heart adores that Esperanto is used as the "foreign" language in the story.

The narrative voice is an older incarnation of the four-year-old Hazel around whom the plot revolves. The commentary is a mostly-thoughtful juxtaposition of philosophy against the various conflicts this story is following. As far as I can figure out, Hazel's parents are on different sides of a galactic war. There are intergalactic tabloid writers on the hunt for an exiled prince whose guardian knows how to break Hazel out of prison camp, as requested by Hazel's parents. And there are a bunch of other characters and happenings that appear to be intertwined but aren't central to this volume.

I don't mind being dropped into the middle of a story when the characters are complicated but not opaque and the graphics make it easy to remember who is who and where is where even when I can't keep up with the names. And I appreciate that scent is important to at least one race in the story.

"... anyone who thinks one book has all the answers hasn't read enough books."

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Hugos: Paper Girls graphic novel vol 1
Pink and blue and weird all over.

I'm not a visual learner, and I am more distracted than informed by images much of the time. For this reason, I read a lot of comics but not a lot of graphic novels. So a simple art style with distinct features and forms is a good way to go for me. As such, the drawing in Paper Girls gets a strong nod of approval for its "readability" by me.

The story is obviously just getting started. We've established our core characters, the three sides to the plot/argument, and a couple of initial questions/quests. The main characters are female Goonies, but the trope doesn't completely flip because the All Knowing Elder is still male as are most of the random encounters with representatives of both of the other two sides. So while it passes the Bechtel test, it still feels at lot like t'ween girls vs. frat boys.

I give this volume a distinct "meh."

Also, as a sneak peek at Saga Vol 6 - The "foreign" language on the first few pages is Esperanto. *geeky little swoon*

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the day's Hugo progress
Yesterday evening, I spent time during a crashing thunderstorm reading the rest of The Ballad of Black Tom. It was a horror story that crept up on me slowly, gently, luring me with a vivid juxtaposition of the rich and gritty Harlem with fantastical otherworld dimensions. The end was shocking, lurching, abrupt.

Nicely done.

I also read "A Taste of Honey" which had fascinating world-building and decent characters for the most part. But wow that ending was... disappointing.

Best Novella (progress: 4/5, with 1 abandoned) ( Read more...Collapse )

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reading progress for the Hugos
Ok, with reading "The Jewel and Her Lapidary" yesterday over lunch, I've read all of the Hugo short stories and novelettes. And I liked many of them. The novellas are the next set to conquer over lunchtime at work, at allergy shots, etc.

For long-form fiction, I tried to start Three Parts Dead last night (nominated for Best Series), got exactly three chapters in, and decided I would rather read something else for the evening thanks. I had a lovely palate-cleanser of the second half of Ashes of Honor. I don't know if I'll go back to that first book in The Craft Sequence immediately or try something else. I only have ABOUT THIRTY BOOKS* from the Hugo packet to read in the next two months.

Thank goodness I've already read all of October Daye and most of Vorkosigan or I'd be really intimidated. Ha.

ETA: I'm 51 pages into This Census-Taker and I'm ready to try something else. The narrator isn't interesting, the world-building is flat, and there isn't any noticeable plot yet. I did learn a new word: "pinchbeck." It means cheap imitation.

ETA2: The Ballad of Black Tom is good so far. The narration is lyrical, the characters interesting, and the setting narrowly focused around the characters.

My reason for loving or giving up on stories is usually the same at the root. I need at least two out of three things to be good to enjoy a story: world-building, plot, and characters.

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The Hugo Voter Packet is out!
Alright, all you indoor sports fans, get your Hugos on! The Hugo packet has been released, and I'm now in the progress of downloading huge zip files onto my laptop so that I can unzip the packets and send the individual files where they need to go to live.

In case you might be interested in a large pile of good books on the cheap, consider that your supporting membership ($40) will purchase a crapton of ebooks, graphic novels, magazines, and other categories. According to Seanan McGuire's Twitter feed, her contribution to the Best Series category download has EVERY OCTOBER DAYE story ever written (up to the end of the nomination year), including 10 novels and 14 short stories. Thank you to Tor publishing house!

... My first goal is to get through the rest of the short stories and novelettes by the end of the week. (ETA: DONE!) Note that I've read *none* of the nominated novels, so I've got a mountain to climb in two months.

Edited to add the progress report:
Best Short Story - DONE (6/6)
Best Novelette - DONE with all I'm going to read (5/6)
Best Novella - 2/6
Best Novel - 0/6
Best Series - 2/6, just started The Craft Sequence

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llama alarm
Hercules hit his alarm six times this morning during chores. None of the goats mustered for the defense, and even the dog blew him off.

Hi, neighbor cat!

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Presenting the 2017 vegetable garden
As of yesterday, the entire vegetable garden has been planted for round one. (Round two won't be until the onions are pulled up and their places are taken by bush beans.)

The post is behind cut tags because of illustrating photos. ( Read more...Collapse )

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Books: Black Wolves of Boston
Black Wolves of Boston, by Wen Spencer. Urban Fantasy. Hardback, 480 pages. keeping it.

Joshua was trying desperately to fit into his social group at high school in a small town in upstate New York, so volunteered to join the prom committee prior to the Halloween dance. He regained consciousness in the hospital with questions from the police about weapons and violence. He broke out of the hospital and ran to Boston on the force of a nightmare, there to figure out how to be a werewolf and control his new fight-flight-feast impulses.

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I picked this up as a recommendation from IndigoRose99 and recommend it to Kate Daniels fans who don't want to have to think today.

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Smithsonian: Cultivating America's Gardens exhibit opens today
http://library.si.edu/exhibition/cultivating-americas-gardens

American garden-making has evolved over time, shaped by history, social attitudes, the environment, and new ideas. Illustrating this history with books and other materials from their vast holdings, the Smithsonian Libraries and Smithsonian Gardens take us on a special kind of garden tour.

Location: Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition Gallery, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 1 West 14th St and Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

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Books: Sing the Four Quarters is free today
Tanya Huff's novel Sing The Four Quarters is free today on Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, and Google Books, in the US.

Admittedly, I never got through it. I didn't read it when I was of the right age to love it (hi, Valdemar!), but I keep saying that someday I will go back and sit under the trees and try to bring that mindset forward again.

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pondering MDS&W
This weekend is Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. The weather report is for "decent" (cloudy and 60) which translates to "the whole mid-Atlantic packed into one venue." The fair organizers are actually charging admission this year (a whole $5) which will likely not impact the population boom at all.

Do I plan to go? Which day? Do I offer rides? Do I go hunting for someone else to carpool/drive instead? Do I bring a crate in case any spare PHF Angora goats need new homes?

If anyone is seriously trying to help me out here, consider that driving *to* the show is going to take over 2 hours with traffic, and coming home will be about 1:45.

I'm tired and would love to sleep in some time this weekend.... but... yarn!

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Nothing says "thinking of you!" like a quart of ladybugs
The weekend was full and busy, and we still managed to get at least some gardening done. Achaosofkittens planted the herbs and some carrots in his new VegTrug (tm), so all that is pending for that bed is a pepper plant or three. He also put carrots inboard of the onions in the artichoke bed, so that bed is done, all but for mulching. And one of the artichoke plants has a wee little artichoke flower already. So cute! So hopeful! While he did the fun stuff, I hauled barrow after barrow of fill for the new raised bed. And there is a LOT still to fill.

I've done nothing about the half-containers of bulbs (glads, freesia, liatris, and a box of phlox starts) still sitting in the dining room and the mud room. It's getting on towards wishful thinking time if I don't get them in this week or next. And I am vastly tardy in getting grass seed out onto the pastures, too. I may just wait until summer rains and use the seed for patching only.

Thankfully, the garden is definitely springing forth regardless of timing and weather. My tardy potato planting did not fail completely (yet): I have tiny little potato plants poking up out of four of the six pots. I have no idea if I will get any good potatoes this late into the spring, but hey, at least the plants are making an effort to show. And the onions and a few pea sprouts are showing as well.

As far as perennials go, the daffodils in the octagon did their random daffy thing; the last two groups are just finishing now. Next to them, the bleeding heart are doing great and making us proud. One little hollyhock has made an appearance so far (reseeded from forever ago) and some random aster are popping up. The iris have nearly completed their takeover of their side of the bed, so I expect a good showing from them. Over in the triangle bed, the mini-daffs were fabulous, the white daffs were green but barely bloomed (so probably need dividing) and the columbine are coming up in four places, as anticipated.

I took some samples of problems to Merrifield Garden experts on Sunday. One answer was, kid you not, "plant bug." The solution was to spray the lemon tree with insecticidal soap. The other problem was mildew on overwintered pepper plants, and the solution was to move the plants back outside into the sun for a good, natural wash-n-dry. And while I was there, I decided to buy a quart container of ladybugs for Achaosofkittens (and me, and the garden). 'Cause nothing says LOVE YOU! like a big transparent carton of bugs!

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LJ Scrapbook
Does anyone have a decent tool for exporting the LJ scrapbook photos to anywhere? Or do I have to pull them all down one by one?

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