Nothing Exceeds Like Excess

Just a thought...

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:51:29 GMT

Is it so very wrong that I think the perfect, ideal pick-up line, the one that would work on me irresistably, is:
"Does this rag smell like cloroform to you?"

I think I'll move to Carthage

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:24:50 GMT

Stolen from interactiveleaf
Alexander the Great and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Very Bad Day
http://everything2.net/title/Alexander+the+Great+and+the+Terrible%252C+Horrible%252C+No-Good+Very+Bad+Day
Here are the opening paragraphs:

I left the battle with blood in my helmet and now there's blood in my hair and when I got out of my armor this afternoon I tripped on a dead soldier and by mistake I dropped my sword in the catapult while the thing was launching and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.

At dinner Aristotle found a fat juicy rabbit in the tall overgrown grass and Demetrius found a striking young buck in the tall overgrown grass but in my tall overgrown grass all I found was tall overgrown grass.

I think I'll move to Carthage.

In the march my bodyguard told Homer to have the left flank. Plato and Hephestus were told to take the right flank. I said I was being scrunched. I said I was being smushed. I said if I don't get a place on a flank I am going to be homicidal. No one even saluted.

I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.

Welcome to the future!

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:33:33 GMT

Hotel in space set to open in 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091102/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_space_hotel

I wish Papa Heinlein were alive to see this...

Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:20:18 GMT

Book View Café, the Internet's only professional author cooperative, announces the creation of Book View Press. Book View Press will expand the Café authors' mission of bringing the best online fiction to the readers by bringing new work ready-to-read on the most popular ebook devices, including the Amazon Kindle, the Sony eReader and a variety of cell phones.

Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls

“Fasten your seatbelts and brace your tentacles. These all-star tales of epic wonder from the genre’s masters will sizzle through your mind like a spaceship on re-entry burn.”

— David Williams
Author of The Burning Sky

Aliens, technology, humanity, exploration, loss, transformation, and a title only the Internet’s original author’s cooperative could imagine.

An anthology of classic and favorite science fiction stories by the BVC authors, never before gathered in a single collection, Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls is the premier title from Book View Press.

Vonda N. McIntyre — Brenda W. Clough — Katharine Kerr
Judith Tarr — P.R. Frost — Pati Nagle — Madeleine Robins
Nancy Jane Moore — Sarah Zettel — Amy Sterling Casil
Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff — Jennifer Stevenson — Sylvia Kelso

Ready to read on the Kindle, Sony eReader, B&N Nook, iPhone and most other ebook readers and smart phones (with reader app.)

Available formats: PDF, EPUB, MOBI, .prc, .lit, .lrf

http://www.bookviewcafe.com/

This anthology features TWO Judith Tarr stories, so get your copy now!

Quote for the Day

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:02:11 GMT

"Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."
--Samuel Beckett

A Wind in Cairo 20th Anniversary Edition

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:22:17 GMT

Christmas is coming, my dears, so may I recommend something that would make a wonderful gift, either for yourself or your loved ones?

The 20th anniversary edition of Judith Tarr's brilliant book A Wind in Cairo is the perfect gift for any readers on your list. The new edition has a gorgeous new cover, bonus material, and a new introduction.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/a-wind-in-cairo/5524136

This edition was a labor of love for many people, and it far exceeds even our high expectations. Those of you who are familiar with Judy's work know that any book of hers is a treasure and a treat...this one, I think, is one of her very best.

Please, my dears...go buy yourself a copy of this book. It's a great introduction to Judy's work, and a story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Buy copies for all of your friends, and support a wonderful author and great human being in the process. I swear, you won't regret it. (Also available as an e-book!)

A Wind in Cairo by Judith Tarr

THE PRINCE: Spoiled, reckless, heedless of any wants or needs but his own, sentenced to a terrible fate for his sins against man, woman, and God

THE STALLION: Equally spoiled, equally reckless, bound until death to a bitter servitude

THE TURK'S HEIR: Fiercest of rivals, most devoted of enemies, whose armor hides a secret

Come into the world of the Arabian Nights, where magic and mystery meet; where justice lays a sinner low, and the magic of the heart turns hate to love.

Includes the full text of the original Bantam edition, slightly revised, with a new introduction and a bonus short story.

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:25:49 GMT

The owls are not what they seem.

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:11:41 GMT

Matthew Gray Gubler, the actor who plays Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds, has made a series of short films which he's posted on YouTube under a pseudonym. I never knew self-deprecation could be so damned hilarious...I hurt myself laughing.

Parts 2-5 under the cut

Art

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:05:17 GMT

My friend thanfiction is a brilliant writer and artist, and an all-around wonderful person. He is still trying to raise money to facilitate True Love, and help a group of people to get to a convention.

thanfiction is so talented his fanfiction has become its own fandom. This is a group of marvelous, generous people who support each other through thick or thin. If you love great fiction, great people, and have ever wondered what that year at Hogwart's was like when Harry was running around out in the world, stop on over. Read the stories and get hooked. I did.
daydverse

thanfiction's art can be found here: thanart
This post tells you how to commission art from him. Please, if you have any spare ducats, do so. The money is going to a very worthy cause, and his art is amazing.
http://community.livejournal.com/thanart/

I commissioned a piece of my own...I wanted him to create his interpretation of the luscious Dr. Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. And here it is:

Commission for Idiomagic by *thanfiction on deviant ART

Here's his gallery on Deviant Art:
http://thanfiction.deviantart.com/gallery/

Go. Buy. Commission. Tell him I sent you. ;)

Catching Up

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:47:26 GMT

Hello, my dears! I'm sorry I've been incommunicado for so long, and I'm aware I owe a great many of you emails and suchlike, but I've been busy. Really, really busy.
Doing what? you may ask.

*Taking care of Mike. He had major dentistry last week, so I've been doing my best to take care of him and monitoring his meds and such. There's been a lot of blood, which has been very triggery for me. As a result, I'm in a serious sleep deprivation fog...can't get to sleep. Can't stay asleep. Nightmares galore when I do sleep. I'm averaging about an hour and a half of good sleep each day, which isn't anywhere near enough.

*Working sporadically on Sekrit Project Number Three. Technical difficulties are making this a pain in the ass, but progress is progressing.

*Working at putting together a new volume of my poetry. Scanning in old poems. Revising them. Writing new ones. This project is going to have to wait a bit at this point...I have quite a few things going on that are time sensitive. I'm hoping to have a book available in the early spring. ::fingers crossed::

*Teaching myself HTML so I can put together a semi-professional fan site for Judy's work.

*Trying to find folks willing to donate their airline miles in the cause of promoting True Love of the finest kind. I can't say any more than that without breaking a promise of secrecy. If any of y'all are Hopeful Romantics with extra air miles, please let me know...you have my word that this is a Good and True thing and will earn you major karma.

*I'm currently taking commissions for original poetry in the style of your choice. You pick the topic, I'll write it, you donate $10 to the True Love Fund. PM me for details...

*My friend Andy is an amazing, incredibly talented artist. He is also taking commissions for the cause. His art can be found here:
http://community.livejournal.com/thanart/

*Andy has written and illustrated entire novels of fanfic, set in the Harry Potter universe, but much, much better than Rowling's. I am now involved in fandom for the first time in 40 years entirely due to his genius. Check out his work here: daydverse

Briar Rose: Draft Two

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:19:37 GMT

Thanks to everyone's excellent input, here's the first revision of Briar Rose:

Briar Rose

Once when I was a child
I pricked my finger
on that mythical spinning wheel.

That’s the story I told myself,
that I was just sleeping here
and someday a prince would come
and kiss me awake.

I knew better, of course.
That shape bending over my bed
was no prince.

I was pricked, all right,
but there was no fairy godmother
to save me from that curse.
No christening banquet.
No gifts.
That secret kiss in the night
was not my savior.

Now, long years later,
maybe a hundred or so,
here I am in my armor of thorns.
I can’t bear the smell of roses
of honeysuckle
sweet and rancid like my father’s breath,
the reek of the satisfied monster.

I live awake,now,
dreading night,
dreading sleep,
that kiss in the darkness,
the prick.
The wound.
My blood on the sheets
red
as a briar rose.

Icarus- Second Draft

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:02:37 GMT

Icarus

He could not accept the heaviness
of earth, of flesh.
The sun drew him like he was born for it.

Obedient to laws, ignorant
of the power of true flight,
the father chose safety. Chose weight.
Rejected the lure of immolation.
Gravid.

For the son, drawn to Sol,
to soul,
blinded by his own fires,
wings broken,
he sang as he fell.
The waves beckoned, tempering
the flames, covering him.

Knowing that a fall was inevitable, still
he rose.

Briar Rose: First Draft

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:22:36 GMT

This is just a first draft...if any of y'all have any suggestions or criticism, I welcome it.
xoxoxo

Briar Rose

Once when I was a child
I pricked my finger
on that mythical spinning wheel.
That’s the story I told myself,
that I was just sleeping here
and someday a prince would come
and kiss me awake.
I knew better, of course.
That shape bending over my bed
was no prince.
I was pricked, all right,
but there was no fairy godmother
to save me from that curse.
No christening banquet.
No gifts.
That secret kiss in the night
was not my savior.
Now, long years later,
maybe a hundred or so,
I live here in my armor of thorns.
I can’t bear the smell of roses
of honeysuckle
sweet and rancid like my father’s breath,
the reek of the satisfied monster.
I’m insomniac now,
dreading night,
dreading sleep,
that kiss in the darkness,
the prick.
The wound.
My blood on the sheets
red
as a briar rose.

National Poetry Day

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:20:50 GMT

Here's an oldie but a goodie. I wrote this back in the late 80s, I think. Hope you like it...

Poet as Chalice

I arch over the bed
like some marble triumph,
whimpering, blind, drunk on you.
I grip you with secret muscles
you can only know by proxy,
explored with fingers and tongue.
My hands know you,
every shape of you.
The taste of you is imprinted,
primitive,
on my every cell.
You make me sing...
syllables drawn from some ancient well.
I am deep water.
I am your Grail.
Drink your fill,
this wine is yours.

No Actual Content to This Post

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:19:39 GMT

I've finally recovered from the damned flu. *knocks on wood*
What have I been doing for lo, these many weeks? Watching way too much television.

NCIS is still one of the best shows on tv, but somebody really just needs to put a bullet in Ziva's head and be done with it.

NCIS:Los Angeles is painfully, shamefully bad. No redeeming qualities. Cancel that shit and bring us NCIS:Sunnydale.

Glee is insanely awesome while still being undefinably bad. Guilty pleasure.

The Forgotten is pretty damned good. It's nice to see Christian Slater doing useful work and not chewing on scenery.

Flashforward I'm still ambivalent about. Interesting, could end up awesome, but...the biggest problem I see is that the flashforward is only six months into the future. What the hell are they going to do then? Turn it into a standard drama in "real time"? Meh.

I'm not watching Survivor this time. After the first episode where the idiot pretended to be a Katrina survivor to get sympathy...well, I don't need to be throwing things through my television screen in a frothing rage. That's a hobby that could get expensive real quick, and I really don't need more frustration and rage in my life.

Ghost Hunters will always have a small place in my heart, but...it's getting kind of old for me.

What are you guys watching these days?

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:46:26 GMT

Sorry I've been absent...I'm on day three of being sick. I would be happily asleep, zoned out on cold meds, if it weren't for the damned leafblowers.

I haven't been posting about Iran lately, mostly because everything that's going on there right now is happening in the political arena and is being covered fairly well by the mainstream media.

If I've missed any emails, or if you've posted something you want me especially to see, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll be back online in a few days.

In the meantime, here's the leafblower song.

Ahmadinejad Will Deliver Message of Peace at UN

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:48:34 GMT

(That is, peace on his terms, for those who agree with him. Torture, rape, murder, and assorted brutality for those who don't. I hope all of the delegates wear green that day and walk out on the bastard...)

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who sparked outrage last week by again calling the Nazi Holocaust a “myth,” will bring a message of peace to the United Nations General Assembly, an aide said.

Ahmadinejad’s “most important message this year is to have peace and friendship with all nations and exchanges that are based on justice and mutual respect,” Mohammad Jafar Mohammadzadeh, an information deputy in the president’s office, told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

The Iranian leader will leave Tehran tomorrow to attend the General Assembly meeting at the UN in New York, the aide said.

Ahmadinejad was re-elected in the June 12 election, which the opposition says was rigged. The president and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who endorsed him for a second term, deny the allegations.

Ahmadinejad disregarded today anger over his comment on the Holocaust, according to an IRNA report. “The anger against us of nations who commit crimes in the world is a source of pride,” he was quoted as saying.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFQbzOfNjqT8

Need I Say More?

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:46:26 GMT

Ahmadinejad proud of holocaust denial.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090921/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

Eowyn the Cat! In Pictures!

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:46:06 GMT

It's been a very long time since I posted pictures of my beloved Eowyn Cat, so here you go.

Sleepy kitten

Funny face

This one is just begging to be a lolcat...

Here Eowyn demonstrates the leg position of a horse at the canter:

Qods Day: Massive Protests in Iran

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:48:42 GMT

The Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, in support of the Palestinian people, is observed on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. This year, the rallies were particularly tense, following the unrest over Iran's disputed presidential elections in June.

Near Tehran University, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a crowd gathered for Friday prayers, opposition supporters faced off against pro-government groups and chanted competing slogans just a few feet away from one another, witnesses said.

Opposition supporters chanted "death to the dictator," witnesses said. Others shouted "liar" as they listened to his anti-Israel speech.

During the speech, Ahmadinejad repeated caustic statements about Israel and the Holocaust in a speech he delivered Friday to mark support for the Palestinian people.

"The existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to human dignity," Ahmadinejad said. "They just try to support the myth of the Holocaust and at same time they hoist the flag of supporting the Jews."

Security forces blocked off the streets leading from Revolution Square to Tehran University. Witnesses reported heated moments, but they said the rallies had not escalated into the kind of violent clashes seen in the aftermath of the June 12 election.

Early reports from reliable sources say there were dozens of arrests, and isolated incidents of beatings.

The internet has been very unreliable in Iran today, so the news is coming out slowly. I'll post more when I have more details.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090918/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

My Grandfather in the News

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:11:54 GMT

CBS did an interview with my grandfather, honoring his 100th year and the 100th year of his company ABM.

They talk about all of my grandfather's contributions to the city of San Francisco, and a little bit about his life as a whole.

It's a wonderful interview. I can't figure out how to embed the video, but here's the link if y'all are interested.

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=55130@kpix.dayport.com

Invisible Illness Week

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:28:09 GMT

1. The illnesses I live with are:
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Chronic Depression, Anxiety Disorder, Migraines, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Stage IV Endometriosis, Chronic Insomnia

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:
I was diagnosed with chronic depression in early childhood...my first serious suicide attempt requiring hospitalization was when I was 8 years old. IBS and endometriosis, somewhere in the mid-80s. PTSD and the anxiety disorder were diagnosed after Katrina, though I have had symptoms since early childhood. I've only had migraines since Katrina. I'm self-diagnosed with the insomnia, though it's affected my life in a serious way since I was about three years old.

3. But I had symptoms since:
Pretty much forever. I can't remember a time when I felt 'normal'.

4. The biggest adjustment I've had to make is:
Realizing that this is my life. There will be good days and bad days, but it's never going to go away completely.

5. Most people assume:
That none of my ailments are serious or debilitating, that I should just suck it up and get a job, already.

6. The hardest part about mornings is:
Having to get out of bed and face another day.

7. My favorite medical TV show is:
M*A*S*H. The balance between tragedy and laughter is just right.

8. A gadget I couldn't live without is:
The internet, if that counts as a gadget. I'm pretty reclusive, so I live my life through electrons for the most part.

9. The hardest part about nights is:
The nightmares. The night terrors. The inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. The guilt I feel when I accidentally kick the cat off the bed in the throes of a nightmare.

10. Each day I take [?] pills & vitamins.
I don't. I can't afford any sort of health care or medications, and the "services" provided by the government have failed me over and over again.

11. Regarding alternative treatments, I:
I would really, really love a good massage.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness and a visible one, I would choose:
To be healthy, whatever that is. I think I'd prefer something visible...as things are, people simply assume I'm weak and lazy.

13. Regarding working and career:
I can't have one. My good days are rare at best and come unpredictably. I would have to work from home, and have no real useful skills to parlay into any sort of income. Unless someone wants to pay me for the songs I make up and sing to my cat...;)

14. People would be surprised to know:
How damned hard it is to just make it through the day.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality is:
This isn't a new reality. It's the only reality I've ever known.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness was:
Laugh about it. Still working on that.

17. The commercials about my illness:
There are none, except for depression. Cymbalta has taught me that depression hurts the dogs.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed:
I don't miss anything, since it's always been this way.

19. It was really hard to give up:
Hope.

20. A new hobby I've taken up since my diagnosis is:
Playing connect-the-dots with all of my scars and naming the constellations thus created.

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again, I would:
I don't know what normal is.

22. My illness has taught me:
That it's possible to keep living and fighting even when I dream of giving up.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say (about my illness) that gets under my skin is:
That all happened years ago. Just get over it.

24. But I love it when people:
Buy me books out of sympathy. ;)

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:
The Litany Against Fear. It really works. Sometimes.

26. When someone is diagnosed I like to tell them:
You can make it through this. You can live with this, and find some sort of happiness. Just don't ever give up.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:
How damned hard it can be sometimes to just get out of bed and face the day.

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn't feeling well was:
Many people have given me books, and encouragement, and so much love. You all are the reason I'm still here and still fighting.

29. I'm involved with Invisible Illness Week because:
I'm the poster girl. ;)

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:
Like you maybe have too much time on your hands...;)

Commission a Story From Judith Tarr!

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:06:21 GMT

Some of you know I got the best birthday present ever this year...a short story from Judy of my very own featuring my favorite characters and with a cameo from my sweet cat Eowyn.

Judy is now offering to write stories on commission. You name the genre, plot, whatever. She'll write it for you, and send you a signed hard copy of it.

Be the envy of all of your friends, and get your own story today!

If you're a writer, Judy also offers mentoring. She'll help you out with plot points or characterization if you're stuck, or edit your finished work.

Here's the link to the relevant information:
http://dancinghorse.livejournal.com/187431.html

Tell her Gwyndyn sent you. ;)

*crossposted to judith_tarr_fan

Pro- Ahmedinejad Cleric Assassinated

gwyndynalexander@yahoo.com — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:28:55 GMT

A cleric who worked on Ahmedinejad's campaign was assassinated after leading Friday prayers. This comes immediately after a failed assassination attempt on a Revolutionary Court judge.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=106055§ionid=351020101