throw another bear in the canoe - home again home again like a turtle to his balcony

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home again home again like a turtle to his balcony

Jul. 11th, 2009 at 11:50 PM

Tired now. That was the shortest week of my life, and one of the most fun. I miss you guys already, and I hope you're having a good time with Nalo.

Today was devoted to travel home from Seattle. Along the way, I finished an ARC of

cmpriest's Boneshaker, which I enjoyed greatly. I thought the start was a little rocky, but once it settled down into present-day narrative and got its legs under it, it barely slowed down for breath ever. At Clarion West, I finished Sean Stewart's Nobody's Son, which was beautifully written but seemed to me to be another one of those stories where the primary conflict is men dealing with problematic relationships with their fathers, and while I realize that this is a common issue for my XY compatriots, it's not one that gets its squids in me.

Anyway, those were books # 34 and 35, and I'm nearly done with 36.

Tomorrow, the deathmarch through Chill begins again, as I really need to send it back to Anne as soon as possible, both to meet my deadline and so she will pay me. Yay, money!

Mood: exanimate

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Comments

( 23 comments — Leave a comment )

truepenny wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 03:56 am (UTC)

Glad you're home safe!

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almightychrissy wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 03:59 am (UTC)

Thanks for the kinda-rec of Nobody's Son. I'm shamefully addicted to Stewart's Cathy novels, because it's sickly thrilling to pretend like you're actually hacking into someone's voicemail. I was interested in checking out some of his adult work, and that seems like a good starting point.

Also, the last time I was at my local library, it had All the Windwracked Stars! I may or may not have done a little dance by the shelf.

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silenceleigh wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 04:08 am (UTC)

Glad you got home safe and sound. We went rock-hopping at Snoqualamie Falls today, and a couple of people mentioned that you might have enjoyed coming along. :)

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rikibeth wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 04:19 am (UTC)

Welcome home!

We should get together and eat pho sometime soon.

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mac_stone wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 05:23 am (UTC)

Hated missing you, your last night here. Glad you're safe and home and are reunited with household.

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cleothyla wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 05:34 am (UTC)

Hope you enjoyed our fair city and glad you are home safe. :)

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dichroic wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 07:22 am (UTC)

What I really like about Nobody's Son is how the princess leaves the court life she despises to go off adventuring and finds out, hey, waitaminute, this stuff is *hard*. And normal people don't have gear as nice as hers, and work doesn't magically get done unless someone goes and does it. And marriage doesn't succeed without a lot of work and accommodation and the poor boy made good can't do court politicking as well as those who were raised to it and maybe when someone loves you you should try to deserve it.

(The father relationship didn't do much for me either. But though Stewart may think that's mostly what he was writing about, apparently I experienced a whole different book.)

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matociquala wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 03:03 pm (UTC)

I think you did. *g* I kind of hated the way the princess was portrayed, honestly, because she started off being supercompetent and then it was like, no, she's just terribly spoiled and doesn't even realize she's spoiled.

That made me sad, because I liked her a lot more than the posturing protagonist.

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graethorne wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 07:35 am (UTC)

Your icon breaks brains...

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matociquala wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 03:05 pm (UTC)

*g* It's a quote from the awfully funny

scott_lynch.

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csinman wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 05:42 pm (UTC)

Every time he says something, I like him more.

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criada wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 07:54 am (UTC)

I'm glad you had a good time. It was great meeting you at the parties. Remember that anytime you come to Seattle, you'll likely draw a crowd of Bellinghamsters down to see you.
-Elizabeth, she of the really long hair.

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annafdd wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 08:41 am (UTC)

The one thing I wish most in my life is to be able to go to Clarion West again. Sigh.

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csinman wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 10:08 am (UTC)

I'm glad you had fun while you were here. Your students seem like great people. Hopefully the fond memories will lure you back for subsequent visits. ;)

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matociquala wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 03:10 pm (UTC)

*g* By the way, the contents of the Secret Package were much adored. There may have been squealing.

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csinman wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 05:01 pm (UTC)

Oh good! :) I wish I would have gotten more details correct, but I hadn't read the story in awhile. It's still one of my very favorites, though.

(On an unrelated but amusing note, the ads in Gmail that popped up next to the notification for this comment start with, "Quantum Jumping Works / Learn How to Jump Into A Universe Where Alchemy Works.. ")

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akashiver wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 04:52 pm (UTC)

We miss you already! I'm glad to hear you had fun.

Somebody once said that "the plot of every American movie can be boiled down to a sentence: 'I love you, Dad.'" NS certainly had more going for it than that, of course. I remember really liking the opening, but the father-thing didn't do much for me either.

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sfmarty wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 04:57 pm (UTC)

I read NS quite a long time ago. Did you look at the published date? Outlooks change.

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cmpriest wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 05:01 pm (UTC)

Hey, I'll take it -- thanks!
And I'm glad it didn't make you want to punch a hole in the plane to discard it somewhere over a big square state :)

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matociquala wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 05:25 pm (UTC)

Highly unlikely. *g*

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oktober_ghost wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 08:30 pm (UTC)

Blood-blood-blood Says the Chorus

Thanks for a week of awesome, Bear. Glad you made it home safely, and best with the Chill revisions.

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jlapp wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 11:02 pm (UTC)

Miss you too, Bear! Thanks for the laughs! You're one heck of a Mafia moderator!!!

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tsubaki_ny wrote:

Jul. 12th, 2009 11:59 pm (UTC)

LOL -- am I the only woman alive who LIKES (nay, actively seeks out, even?) father-son angst in literature? ^___^

Somebody needs to start capitalizing on the untapped father-daughter angst reservoir...

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( 23 comments — Leave a comment )