I suppose I need to make an announcement about this instead of belly-aching all over Twitter, so here goes: My dominant hand needs surgery.
I found this out on March 9th when I went to a hand doctor about my finger (middle, right hand) acting funny. They diagnosed it as a "trigger finger" about to lock up and gave me a shot that had a 50/50 chance of clearing up the problem and possibly alleviating some of the pain. Not only did the problem not clear up, the pain increased and the condition spread to the next finger over (ring finger).
I wanted to get surgery as soon as possible and bounce back right away, but two problems stood in the way of that: one, my insurance wouldn't let me have surgery until April 9th (for horrible, no-good reasons) and two, apparently my hand will have stitches in it for two weeks. Cue screaming because I honestly do not know how to go two weeks without writing and survive.
What does this mean right now? Well, from now until May I will be less available to blog, tweet, write, email, comment, moderate, or otherwise exist online. (I know about voice transcription and yes I will try it again, but previous forays have indicated that it is not conducive to my creative process.) I am hoping that this doesn't affect my book publishing plans and my patreon schedule, but I mean. That's... we'll have to see.
And that's all, really. Sorry to bear bad tidings!
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Metapost: A Short History of My Dominant Hand |
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Open Thread: Below the Surface |
The past is always lurking there, less than two inches away, and in places where the roads aren't maintained it even comes out to play.
Beneath the modern asphalt exterior the roads of Portland are all cobblestone and trolley tracks.
In other news, I am perpetually annoyed by the fact that the wonderful phrase "what lies beneath" was taken by a mixed review horror film
We have a special open thread set aside for discussing the movie Black Panther (including plain text spoilers.)
Friday Recommendations! What have you been reading/writing/listening to/playing/watching lately? Shamelessly self-promote or boost the signal on something you think we should know about - the weekend’s ahead of us, so give us something new to explore!
And, like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!
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Open Thread: Shopping Cart |
Seen on the South Portland side of the Fore River.
We have a special open thread set aside for discussing the movie Black Panther (including plain text spoilers.)
And, like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!
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Time Quintet: Nobody Suffers Here |
[Wrinkle Content Note: Fascism, Hypnotism, Captivity]
A Wrinkle in Time, Chapter 8: The Transparent Column
In the first half of chapter 8 there was a lot of ineffective grabbing that felt weird and awkward; in the second half we're going to Use Our Words instead. It still won't work, but points to the heroes for recognizing when a strategy isn't working and trying something else. I like that.
What I like less is Calvin continuing in a series of "hush, Meg" and "shut up, Meg". I remember liking Calvin when I was younger and thinking he was a perfect boyfriend, but I like him much less now. He hasn't had any better ideas than she--the "hold on to Charles" plan was his and it went nowhere and accomplished nothing--but he sure does feel confident telling her to shut her yapper.
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Time Quintet: Holding Charles Tight |
[Wrinkle Content Note: Child Abuse, Fascism, Hypnotism, Captivity]
A Wrinkle in Time, Chapter 8: The Transparent Column
We left off with a chapter cliffhanger last time, which is a really shitty thing to do when you're not going to update for a year. I apologize for that--life has been hectic. Now we're here approximately 10 months later and there's a movie out! It's getting very mixed reviews! I haven't seen it yet but I plan to! I will report back when I do and there will be a thread for that! No spoilers in this one, please!
As you may recall, Charles and Calvin and Meg entered a very tall building, were soon after taken prisoner, then tormented and threatened until Charles Wallace agreed to submit to a telepathic mind-meld with their captor (known as "IT"). Charles first extracted a promise that he would be able to "get out" from the mind-meld and IT said he would be able to; it's unclear whether that was a lie or not.
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Open Thread: Tree |
As is by now well recorded, because of internet problems I've been having to go to the Dunkin' Donuts down the road to connect.
Said Dunkin' Donuts has actually moved significantly farther down the road, all the way to the edge of town (the "Welcome to South Portland" sign is in the next lot over), which means that there are rather more trees between myself and it than there were in years gone by.
This is one such tree.
We have a special open thread set aside for discussing the movie Black Panther (including plain text spoilers.)
Friday Recommendations! What have you been reading/writing/listening to/playing/watching lately? Shamelessly self-promote or boost the signal on something you think we should know about - the weekend’s ahead of us, so give us something new to explore!
And, like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!
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Narnia: Reformed Characters |
[Narnia Content Note: Racism, Ableism]
The Horse and His Boy, Chapter 15: Rabadash the Ridiculous
We started The Horse and His Boy in 2015, which feels like a lifetime ago. I was trying to work out this morning whether my slower pace at blogging represents a drain in enthusiasm and realized that the spirit is as willing as it ever has been but the flesh is just so very weak. (It's been an introspective weekend over here; my pain meds aren't working and one of my cats is ill.)
But today at very long last we finish this book and I find myself with melancholy feels. It has been a sort of anchor over the last 2.5 years. There are still more Narnia books to read and indeed plenty of problems to deconstruct but this was the one I had fixed as a goal when I began Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe. "If I can get through Horse and His Boy, I will have done something special," I told myself. Now we're here. Let's do this?
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Open Thread: Tugboat |
I was walking to an appointment, everything was normal, and all of a sudden this thing burst into existence beside me.
There's really no way to put into words how much the experience felt like a boat (and they're pretty big, look at the ladder for scale) suddenly materializing from nothing, and doing it right next to me.
A bit later her brother came under. Well . . . I don't know it was her brother, but they looked like siblings to me.
We have a special open thread set aside for discussing the movie Black Panther (including plain text spoilers.)
Friday Recommendations! What have you been reading/writing/listening to/playing/watching lately? Shamelessly self-promote or boost the signal on something you think we should know about - the weekend’s ahead of us, so give us something new to explore!
And, like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!
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Open Thread: Ducks on Ice |
Two ducks, standing on ice, as seen in South Portland on the last day of February.
We have a special open thread set aside for discussing the movie Black Panther (including plain text spoilers.)
Friday Recommendations! What have you been reading/writing/listening to/playing/watching lately? Shamelessly self-promote or boost the signal on something you think we should know about - the weekend’s ahead of us, so give us something new to explore!
And, like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!
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Writings: Sister's Sword (Accidental Hero) |
Note: This was previously published on my Patreon.
I'd planned another story for January but was touched and surprised by how many of you loved Harken in the Accidental Hero post. I put that story up feeling (at the time) like I was posting something incredibly self-indulgent. A Breath of the Wild fanfic with a trans boy hero who steps into the role of the Chosen One because it's the right thing to do? Who would love this character except me? As comments came in asking for more, I cried; I had not expected anyone to love my little trans boy hero except me! How wrong I was, and I have never been so happy to be wrong!
Taking a short story piece and expanding it into a chapter book is an art I'm not as familiar with as I'd like to be. I sat down to write "what happens next" and ended up with a chapter in which Harken returns home with the spoils of his labor. I wanted to add a source of conflict to the story besides the overarching Cataclysm, something that will be part of what drives Harken and Teagan away from home on their journey. I'd already mentioned the financial woes they experience, and so Lorccán was created as a sort of creditor waiting in the wings to pounce.
There is strongly implied misgendering in this section, as Lorccán does not see Harken as the man that he is, and Harken experiences misogyny as Lorccán uses their debts to sexually pressure Harken. This story was written while a prominent Twitter feminist told me that no one who isn't a woman--no trans man or enby, for example--can experience misogyny. Like Harken, I am not a woman. Like Harken, I experience misogyny. The misogyny in this story is there to be pushed back against, yes, but also to represent my experiences to people who do not understand the life of a transmasculine person and how we are dwelt with by cis people.
Hence a trigger warning for misogyny, sexual pressure, and misgendering here applies.