The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for less pain!

And I have an air cleaner in my room, which helps a little. I do not have an air cleaner outside...

Sunday afternoon continues to exist. Need to get some exercise in, I suppose, and walking around the yard is out. Maybe it's a foot pedal day... should queue up something to watch with that, because it helps make the time go faster (and because I've tried reading while foot pedaling and it doesn't work great).

 

[E.F.B.]

We've been dealing with chilly early autumn weather and the (very mild) remnants of the hurricane/now tropical depression.

I think all of our ruby-throated hummers have left for the year, except one that I'm pretty confident, given his shape and size, is a young male who's so young he hasn't gotten his red throat feathers yet. I've heard that hummers can occasionally winter over, but here's hoping his instincts kick in and he goes south soon. If he stayed, we'd keep the feeder out for him and do our best to keep it unfrozen, but we'd also feel bad if he didn't survive.

 

[Brightdreamer]

I've read about people who overwintered late humms in greenhouses. (Not something for the casual birder; if you're the sole food source they need more than the usual juice to keep them going.) Around here, we have year-round Anna's humms these days (didn't used to, but their ranges are shifting); so long as there's food, they seem okay with cold.

Heading toward Sunday evening, still smoky out there. Managed over an hour of foot pedaling. Started Netflix's adult animated series Dota: Dragon's Blood, which is apparently based on a game. The first ep was a series of shallow fantasy cliches stitched together without anything particularly interesting or noteworthy; The Dragon Prince, an animated series aimed at a younger audience, had more originality, more promise, and more engaging and rounded characters even it its somewhat-clunky opener... heck, Arcane was a video game adaptation, too, and not quite my cup of cocoa, but even that felt ten times more solid out of the gate... But the dragons were suitably awesome, even if the overall animation felt kinda dated and meh beyond the dragons. Not sure I'll bother continuing with Dota unless I hear that it picks up and does something I wouldn't find in a forgettable 1980's D&D knockoff. (It was even glaringly white, on top of being soaked in testosterone and objectified women. It's animation, for cryin' out loud, and nobody could even try drawing a nonwhite person, even in the background?) So I kicked over and rewatched the first ep of Sandman again because it was the first thing I landed on and I didn't feel like trying something new. Anyway, that's how I wound up foot pedaling for over an hour...

 

[CWNitz]

I've read about people who overwintered late humms in greenhouses. (Not something for the casual birder; if you're the sole food source they need more than the usual juice to keep them going.) Around here, we have year-round Anna's humms these days (didn't used to, but their ranges are shifting); so long as there's food, they seem okay with cold.

Heading toward Sunday evening, still smoky out there. Managed over an hour of foot pedaling. Started Netflix's adult animated series Dota: Dragon's Blood, which is apparently based on a game. The first ep was a series of shallow fantasy cliches stitched together without anything particularly interesting or noteworthy; The Dragon Prince, an animated series aimed at a younger audience, had more originality, more promise, and more engaging and rounded characters even it its somewhat-clunky opener... heck, Arcane was a video game adaptation, too, and not quite my cup of cocoa, but even that felt ten times more solid out of the gate... But the dragons were suitably awesome, even if the overall animation felt kinda dated and meh beyond the dragons. Not sure I'll bother continuing with Dota unless I hear that it picks up and does something I wouldn't find in a forgettable 1980's D&D knockoff. (It was even glaringly white, on top of being soaked in testosterone and objectified women. It's animation, for cryin' out loud, and nobody could even try drawing a nonwhite person, even in the background?) So I kicked over and rewatched the first ep of Sandman again because it was the first thing I landed on and I didn't feel like trying something new. Anyway, that's how I wound up foot pedaling for over an hour...

I don't know if you've already seen Centaurworld, but if not, it's pretty amazing.

 

[MaeZe]

I wanted to find out what the Anna's ate in winter and found this fascinating article on their history, migration and what they eat in winter.

https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/species-profiles/annas-hummingbird-our-winter-hummingbird/

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for interesting articles and fun new shows! (Started Centaurworld, and this one's a keeper... and still, silly as it is, it makes me care more than about anyone in Dota... anyway, thanx for the rec!)

And dinner existed, dishes existed, and microwave popcorn also existed. Also got my masks washed and dried today, so that's done. Need to make sure I have my shopping list ready for tomorrow, then probably get back to writing stuff.

Sibling's feeling not great, but still plans on going to work. Could be the abysmal air quality, or a bug, or just plain fatigue and stress, but she's been having lung Issues for a while now, even though she tests negative for COVID. Starting to think she needs to get seen by someone for antibiotics, if nothing else; whatever it is sure isn't letting go, and Primatene Mist isn't touching it... but, that's on her.

Mergh...

 

[Friendly Frog]

I've been hearing about the smoke for a while now. Maeze, BD, is there anything left in your neighbourhood to burn by now? Or is all the smoke blown in from a distance?

Boo for malevolent millipedes! (And if you need a pick-me-up, Neon Pegasus usually works for me...)

Heh, that's cute.

I'm slightly overdosed on cats right now, but at least that generated some endorphines.

 

[Brightdreamer]

The wildfires aren't right here, but there's at least on in the state, and more on the coast; the wind brings its gifts from all over...

And Monday morning, air might be a bit better for now but still not great, but shopping day waits for no one so we'll be heading out for that soonish.

Otherwise, not a ton on the agenda, but today's the day one of the sub targets I was hoping to hit theoretically opens the doors (unless they bump it back again because 2022).

 

[Cobalt Jade]

I've read about people who overwintered late humms in greenhouses. (Not something for the casual birder; if you're the sole food source they need more than the usual juice to keep them going.) Around here, we have year-round Anna's humms these days (didn't used to, but their ranges are shifting); so long as there's food, they seem okay with cold.

My Anna's have been sheltering over for at least 15 years now, in Seattle. I keep the feeder going throughout the winter and if it's frozen overnight, I thaw it by running hot water over it. A few times I have heard them cheeping in an irritated way, discovered the frozen feeder, and defrosted it for them. They're smart little birds. I've heard they can put themselves into a hibernation-like sleep to conserve energy in cold weather. As for where they lair, there's an attic vent not far from the feeder and they're small enough to get access and pillow down in the insulation up there.

 

[Brightdreamer]

We have those humm feeder warming lights (the kind that hook underneath with elastic hooks) for winters that work decently except in deep freezes (though in milder temps one has to beware of candification). And I think it was about 15ish years ago we started seeing Anna's here after the Rufous/Allen's/whatever-the-heck-we-have-that-does-both-dive-patterns left (though I'd heard about them by the Sound and other water bodies long before that). Then they lingered through the start of Rufous season. Now they're year round and the Rufous leave earlier and earlier, which doesn't say good things about the health of the Rufous population...

Later on Monday, about noon, and finished off a ham breakfast wrap thing for a slightly early lunch. Got shopping dealt with, dumped off another mouse while we were out. Now I need to get my gumption up to check on sub options again.

(ETA - Bit the bullet and subbed a story. We shall see if anything comes of it, but at least that was the "bravery test", as Bob Ross put it...)

 

[CobraMisfit]

Evening gang.

Whut up?

 

[Unimportant]

Halfway through another workday at the despised Day Jobbe. Tired, dispirited, and fed up.

I'm keeping my office door shut to keep out the stench of nepotism (new occupant in the office next to me: a lovely young lady who did her undergrad degree in the department run by her mother and father. Then she did her Masters under the supervision of her mother. Then she did her PhD under the supervision of her mother, by which I mean her mother had the technicians do most of the work for her. Now she's been hired as a postdoctoral fellow -- with her supervisor being, yes, her mother, who I'm told pretended to interview a couple of other candidates for form's sake.)

It's an endless list, the things I hate about my life.

Sorry for the derail.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for nepotism and despised jobs!

Monday evening, still somewhat smoky, and I skipped exercise because I overdid it a little yesterday and because lazy.

Finished off the first season of Centaurworld. Fun, but with a solid heart (even if it leaned a little on fart jokes now and again), with some lines clearly slipped in for the adults in the audience. Reminded me a bit of Over the Garden Wall, which I sorta want to rewatch now that it's October and all. Looking forward to the second season, but taking a break first.

Dinner existed. Tomato soup with grilled cheese and ham.

And we got our oil delivery today. (Long story involving crudtastic customer service where you have to schedule through the website now, only it didn't work when Mom logged in so I had to because - for other reasons that are long story time - my credit card's the one on file, and nowhere did it offer a way to schedule a time... so they showed up today when Mom and I were out shopping.) Turns out we weren't quite as low as we thought, even though the stupid online thing made us guesstimate how low we were; I erred on the low side because I'd rather they have too much oil in the truck than not enough. Anyway, at least we're topped for the fall and the start of winter now, and we got to it before we're dead out.

So that's one more thing off the plate.

Tomorrow is going to be a Day because Mom has a thing in the evening (not related to her previous scan - which came back clean, if I forgot to mention, the recheck for thyroid cancer). And we have to go out early to shop before that, and probably after that to pick up something for dinner...

Then Wednesday kicks off two weeks of extra hours at work.

Gah. I'm sick of weeks that are Those Weeks.

 

[Fi Webster]

Ugh, sorry to hear that, Unimportant (Fran?). Jeez, I hope you don't have to deal with that mother on a day-to-day basis. She sounds even worse than her lazy kid.

I'm takin' the late shift tonight for my volunteer shrink job. So far, so good, But I'm cold. =brrrr= Even with plenty of layers on and a blanket over my legs. Darn this time of year, when the inside temp falls into the mid-60s, and my stupid old body reacts as if it were freezing. I miss my home town of Houston.

What is it with old bods in temperate zones bein' f—kin' cold half the year? Lousy circulation, I suppose.

Oh well. For tomorrow night's shift, I'll add a hat 'n' gloves.

 

[Alessandra Kelley]

Evening gang.

Whut up?

Oooh! Hiya! How have you been?

 

[Unimportant]

Ugh, sorry to hear that, Unimportant (Fran?). Jeez, I hope you don't have to deal with that mother on a day-to-day basis. She sounds even worse than her lazy kid.

I think the kid was bullied into all this.

She does seem like a nice young woman, but her ambitions don't match those of her parents, who are both professors. Like, she married a nice bloke who worked as a cook at a local pizza restaurant. Her parents, for their wedding gift, bought them the restaurant. Which they now run and work at, and she seemed really happy working there whenever I ate there. But I'm guessing that wasn't impressive enough for mummy and daddy, so now she's back in university life further advancing the science career I doubt she wants.

The mother, on the other hand -- lying, devious, manipulative, prone to hysterics where she screams and cries and throws things at people....I think there's something undiagnosed there, but regardless she's less than delightful to work with.

I almost got put into her department, a few years back when we got restructured, but she refused to have me. She told me it would be okay if I had coffee and socialised with their group etc, but the students in her department "couldn't be exposed to my toxic and profound ignorance in the classroom" because I don't have a degree in her exact speciality. (Despite the fact that three other people teaching into her programme similarly don't have degrees in that exact speciality.) As you can guess, I was not deeply disappointed by that refusal.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Oh, yeah... there's totally not going to be a horror story in there about a daughter - pushed into a degree and career by a mentally unstable mother, when she truly loved working in the pizzeria - teaming up with her husband and formulating deadly pizzas with Evil Science (TM) to exact vengeance on her parents and various faculty members...

 

[CobraMisfit]

Oooh! Hiya! How have you been?

Living the dream!

What's shaking in the Cantina these days?

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for dreaming cobrashakes! (I may have skimmed...)

Tuesday morning, and we have both fog and smoke, so while it's theoretically slightly less scuzzy outdoors, we can't see most of the mountain across the valley anyway.

Not much on the agenda today except looking at other sub spots. (What is it with me writing unplaceable unicorns? The ones I feel most confident about are the ones that seem to fall too far outside submission asks to go out... Yeah, I know that's my problem, not theirs, but still...)

ETA - Anyone in the US and Canada, Tor's current free ebook-of-the-month is Nghi Vo's Empress of Salt and Fortune, first in the Singing Hills cycle set in a fantastic Asian-inspired world of shapeshifting tigers and mammoth riders and a traveling monk recording histories and tales of the world with their hoopoe companion. Can strongly recommend.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Bought some plants at a plant fair, that always cheers me up a bit. Bought two dozen Dutch blue irisses bulbs. I don't actually know where I should put them yet, but... blue irisses, about my absolute favourites. Van Gogh knew what was pretty.

I'll find a spot, one way or the other, even if I end up potting them all up and putting them in front of my window.

Living the dream!

Without being flippant, I'm glad somebody is! Too many people around me are having trouble (often worse than mine and that gives perspective) but it makes for depressing living. So it's nice to know things are working out for someone somewhere.

ETA - Anyone in the US and Canada, Tor's current free ebook-of-the-month is Nghi Vo's Empress of Salt and Fortune, first in the Singing Hills cycle set in a fantastic Asian-inspired world of shapeshifting tigers and mammoth riders and a traveling monk recording histories and tales of the world with their hoopoe companion. Can strongly recommend.

Ooh, sounds cool. Not in US or Canada, but taking note of the title.

The wildfires aren't right here, but there's at least on in the state, and more on the coast; the wind brings its gifts from all over...

Sounds scary. Must be very bad over there if the air is unhealthy where you are.

 

[Cobalt Jade]

Can't figure out if it is just foggy in my nabe right now, or smoky.

 

[Brightdreamer]

What would really help with the smoke (and the fires) is a good bout of rain, but there's none in the foreseeable forecast...

The smoke level here is back down to "Moderate" (from "Unhealthy for sensitive groups" this morning), but the fog lingers. And I just did another sweep of my bookmarked submission targets, and don't think I've got anything aside from the one I already sent out that'll work. May go back to poking the prompts from the contest that would be due on the 13th, but first I'll probably grab something lunchy.

Also need to figure out when Mom wants to head out this afternoon; she wanted to swing by a hardware store before going to her appointment. (Got some roof Issues on a shed that she wants to get sealed before rain comes.)

 

[CobraMisfit]

Without being flippant, I'm glad somebody is! Too many people around me are having trouble (often worse than mine and that gives perspective) but it makes for depressing living. So it's nice to know things are working out for someone somewhere.

It's a perspective thing, I suppose. I could focus on having to set aside a completed novel that I love to my bones due to my agent saying it's not sellable right now, the gray from the past week of rain, etc. OR I can focus on the fact that I have some whiz-bang WIPs in the works, good health, and a kick-ass wife and daughter.

I choose the latter.

 

[Brightdreamer]

And wrappin' up Tuesday; have to feign sleep an hour earlier than normal because early start tomorrow at work. (And I have to hit Costco tomorrow, too, because that's how it works out.)

Did the hardware store and scan thing with Mom. Picked up chicken strips at the store deli for dinner, with potato salad to make it slightly less lazy.

Going to poke at a bit of writing, then maybe read until Dad's done with his nightly phone call with his friend; can't go to bed until then. (That's also about when the sibling leaves for graveyard shift and I have to turn the porch light off after she's gone, or it shines in Mom's room.) Really need to try getting something shorter polished, dang it; nobody really wants my 11K or 19K monstrosities...

 

[E.F.B.]

Morning, Cantina. Hiya, Cobra! *waves*

Dad's twin brother spent a day in the hospital due to breathing problems but is back in his home now.

In craft news, I've been working my butt off to schedule out social media content for the entirety of the holiday shopping season. Scheduling is really nice, I like scheduling instead of having to wait until the day of. The downside is that it gets tedious after a while, but if there's any chance it will help things when the shopping season kicks in in earnest, it's worth the effort.

In writing news, I haven't had a lot of time to write anything but Instagram captions while I'm doing all this scheduling, but am hopeful that the anthology I got accepted into will stay on schedule and be released this month as stated. Will update when it does. I do feel frustrated that I don't have a set date for the launch as I feel that I should be talking about this on my socials, but how can I hype this thing up if all I can say is, "It launches this month! Hopefully! Assuming lack of delays! I don't have a specific date yet!" I'm not worried that it won't happen at all since they got all 4 previous anthologies out and you can find them on Amazon, they have decent reviews, etc, etc. And yes, the contract covers that, if the anthology for some reason didn't release within x amount of time, all rights revert back to me, etc, etc. But I do feel that there could be more communication than there is, and I don't know whether to email and ask if there's a set date yet, or just be patient and wait for more news.