...I began running this morning.

I haven't run for a very long time. I used to run seriously when I was in grad school the first time, circa 1988. Some knee damage caused me to stop.

It was hard. I ran a big half a mile, and that intermittently. But it's a place to start. I want to find some ways to get my heart rate moving at least 3 times a week. I think I'd rather have dance class, as that's so fun, I don't mind the heart rate. I'll look into it, but right now, running's convenient.

I'm doing weights twice a week. I'm pretty sure the increased exercise will be another motivator for eating less, because it's much harder to exercise at my current weight. I want to focus on habits, though, and this is one I need to re-develop.

Wish me luck and good running shoes. Do any of you run? What shoes do you recommend?

Catherine

Anyone who wants this can have it, or just read it.

( Under here is a Spock and Uhura story called Conversation Partner )

redcrowkater makes a beautiful flier for our group's reading at Wiscon.

I know how attached some of you are to old Star Trek. I must admit to not having the attachment of many of my friends, but I have a healthy respect for the original series. I rather like Next Generation better, even if the acting isn't as good, and the crew not as two-fisted, and I adore Deep Space Nine.

So, I freely admit that I was very open to the idea of a Star Trek reboot in ways that, say, Bryon, was not. As the buzz around the film grew, I began to look forward to it.

( Now, to Boldly Go )

So, I know some of you are reluctant to see it. Don't be. There's enough real old Trek nod in there to make it satisfying, but by freeing the characters legitimately from the fetters of 25 years of history, these are bright, shiny new characters ready to entertain you, and you want to see what they do! Okay, so even if the satisfying story telling and strong references to the real series can't entice you, go and see it for fine special effects and Eric Bana's well-acted turn as a baddie.

Of course, there are so many better reasons to see it under the cut.

Mmmm, new Spock. Damn!

Catherine

Thoughtful NY Times article on Iowa, your leader in civil rights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/opinion/09thrasher.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

***

Something completely different, but I was amused enough to share with you. Click on the image to make it larger.



Back to work drama. At least it's not mine.

Catherine

Guys, I thought some of you would want to know, so I'm linking you to Writer Tamago, my author site.

http://cathschaffstump.com/archives/2009/03/12/drollerie-news-upcoming-anthologies/

You can find the same post at cathschaffstump.

***

Yes, my first published story, Sister Night, Sister Moon is coming out in Things That Go Bump in the Night, an electronic anthology from Drollerie.

I hope those of you who have enjoyed my writing in the past will pick it up.

It's very exciting. I'm stoked.

Catherine

Flash backwards to when Bryon and I were a young couple. We were poor, but we had a lot of friends, and we wanted to gift them for Christmas. Bryon's family has always been artsy and/or craftsy, and at that time, Phyllis and Neal had a kiln, so the obvious solution for us was to make for everyone. This involved many weekends of baking and painting, but a good time was had by all.

Bryon has a wacky college friend, Doc. His real name is Mike, but they used to role play Dr. Who together in college, and well, he was the Doctor, and the name stuck. Doc and Bryon used to try to get each other really odd gifts, and in the tradition of getting Doc an odd gift, we found a ceramic stuffed toy armadillo. What? Imagine a stuffed toy armadillo. Now imagine that made of ceramic, and you're on the right track.

I elected to paint the armadillo. I thought purple for the carapace, lavender for his little belly, and little white floral dots stamped on his carapace. I fell in love with it, and cooed about it. Bryon suggested I keep it, but we were poor, and it was destined for Doc.

At Christmas, I opened a box, and there was that armadillo. How could it be? We gave it to Doc, who was very bemused, a week ago? There was a solution to the mystery. Bryon and his mom had opened Doc's present, taken it out, slipped in an identical armadillo Phyllis had whipped up, and transplanted the original in a box for me.

The stuffed armadillo has a place of honor under our Christmas tree. However, Bryon also makes me purple 'dillo cards from time to time.

Today we are not going out for Valentine's Day. We've been out a lot recently, and we celebrate our love pretty much all the time. If we'd wanted to go out, we would have, but today we just didn't feel like it. He's making cashew chicken for me tonight, one of his best dishes, and I'm so looking forward to it.

This morning, in the pocket of my robe, I found a card with an armadillo on it, making cashew chicken. I laughed happily, deeply, hard. I feel really good. I thanked Bryon. I love my husband, and I love his 'dillo cards.

Happy Valentine's Day. May your loved ones make you feel as good as mine do. May you laugh happily, deeply, hard.

Catherine

I've been tagged a couple of times. So I'll answer these 18 questions and tack on 7 more things, thus killing two memes with one stone.

1. How do you style your hair?: I blow dry my medium length hair and comb it out so it's straigh..

2. What are you wearing now?: I a the denim express.

3. What's your occupation?: College Professor and Novelist

4. What should you be doing?: Napping

5. Who was the last person you hugged?: My husband

6. What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction?: I'm rabid about Battlestar Galactica at the moment.

7. Have you ever felt you were truly going insane?: This last week, actually.

8. What was the last text message you received?: I've never received a text message. OMG!

9. What websites do you always visit when you go online?: livejournal, gmail, my college mail, American Cosplay paradise.

10. What was the last thing you bought?: an Italian sandwich for lunch.

11. What are you listening to right now? gaming.

12. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?: This is the song that doesn't end...by Brak.

13. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?: Invulnerability.

14. What is your favorite weather, and why?: autumn. Very pretty.

15. If you could play any musical instrument, which one would you play?: the harp

16. What is the last movie you saw 1. Slum Dog Millionaire. You should too.

17. If you had the chance to live one day over again, to change it, would you? Yes. I would have human services take my brother and myself away from my parents at the first sign of trouble. That would make all the difference.

18. Say something to the person who tagged you: I think you are full of responsibility and common sense. Yeah.

Other facts:

1. I like Dostoevsky a lot.

2. I've begun my love affair with diet Mt. Dew again.

3. I was stung by a jelly fish when I was 3.

4. Russian is the hardest language I've ever attempted to learn.

5. I avoided low rise pants forever, but now that they populate the second hand shops, I kind of like them.

6. In Japan, I am known as "the Singing Sensei" among our JIKEI associates.

7. I have bionic lashes.

Azkatraz is looking for well-dressed wizards, particularly those outside of the Victorian era, for which they have more than a few entries already. If you are planning on attending Azkatraz in San Francisco, this might be a cool event to costume for.

For more information on Azkatraz, go here:

http://www.hp2009.org/

And feel free to post this wherever interested costumers will be found!

***

Join Project: Wizard & AZKATRAZ’S Next Top Witch

In wizarding fashion, one decade you’re in, and the next decade… well, you never really go “Out.” But wizard fashion has advanced and reflected the times since those old, early days of cotehardies and supertunica.

Do you have a set of dress robes in the back of your wardrobe that your grandmother handed down from 1890? Or have you kept your vintage 1962 robes with the pillbox pointed cap and “Jackie O” sleeves? It’s time to dust off those antiquated (and not-so-ancient) outfits from your cupboards and trunks, and bring them to the AZKATRAZ “History of Wizarding Fashion” Show!


We seek costumers and models to present a complete look from various periods in Wizarding History, including but not limited to the following:

Years Ages, Eras, Periods Included
Pre-300AD Antiquity
1100-1500 "Founders' Fashion," Medieval "Classic," Middle Ages, Imperial era
1558-1603 Elizabethan era, Renaissance
1607-1753 Colonial era, Reformation
1754-1789 Revolutionary era , Enlightenment
1790-1837 Napoleonic era, Regency period, Romantic period, Empire period
1837-1914 Victorian era, Edwardian era, La Belle Époque, Gilded age, Gay Nineties, Art Nouveau
1920's Jazz age, Roaring Twenties, Art Deco
1940's Atomic age, Prêt a Porte, Hollywood Glamour
1960's Space Age, British Invasion, Hippie movement, Psychedelic period
1970's Punk, Studio 54, Peasant Look, Glam Rock
1980's New Romantics, GenX, New Wave, Valley Girl, Preppy, Miami Vice
"Fashion Forward" – the Witches and Wizards of Tomorrow
Each designer is only responsible for one look. Designers do not need to model their own creations but may do so if desired.

Designers must contact fashionpageant@hp2009.org no later than November 15th with the era they wish to present and a proposed description or sketch of the design. Photographs of outfits already constructed are also acceptable.

Models must contact fashionpageant@hp2009.org no later than November 30th with a picture and your measurements, so that we can match you to a designer and design.

We will contact the chosen designers and matched models no later than December 31st. Designers and models MUST be registered to attend AZKATRAZ or they will not be eligible for selection.

There will be time for fittings on Friday and Saturday, but designers will be responsible for bringing their own supplies, including any equipment or materials needed to finish their garments. Models may be asked to provide footwear, accessories, or other sundries needed to complete the look. You must consult with your designer after you are matched and before the event!

Regrettably, AZKATRAZ cannot reimburse for expenses for this activity. However, if your work is selected, it will be shown at the Fashion Show, may be featured on our website, and will be eligible for a prize. Sketches and designs, whether selected for the Fashion Show or not, may be displayed in the Art Gallery. Models will also be photographed in their outfit and may be eligible for a prize. All designers and models will receive a commemorative token.
Still have questions? Post on our message boards or contact us at fashionpageant@hp2009.org.

As with last year:

( Watching: 167 )

( Reading: 96 )

( Writing: 15 )

( Sewing: 8 )

( Academic Projects: 34 )

( Personal Projects: 3 )

Close this journal? Keep as costuming journal?

'Cause most of the folks who want to know still what's going on with me read writer journal, I suspect, as well, and most of the people who were here when I started journal are elsewhere?

And I don't know if I really need two journals. I gotta keep author journal.

Should a costuming journal be a Grandis journal? In which case I just change name?

Decisions, decisions. Input welcome.

Catherine

Have you seen this?

http://www.change.gov/

I've never seen anything like it!

Catherine

I talked about happiness and a great swelling of my heart last night, but I didn't really get weepy until this.

http://palinaspresident.us/

Thanks to pinkfinity for pointing it out. Really. Go there. Nothing shows so clearly the end of the political circus our country has been disgraced with since Reagan.

Catherine

It is over. He has projected 284 with California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii.

*weeps* My soul rejoices.

Catherine

Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. hfleming8 borrowed this from someone else, and I borrow it from her. And I am touched.

To you, President Obama. We from be_bold have waited for you for a long time.

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man; decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you.

Sheenagh Pugh, Selected Poems, p. 128

Iowa projected for Obama. My job is done here.

Catherine

Ironic quote of the night.

"Obama is performing well among college educated whites."

Ya think? Apparently we went as a demographic for Bush in 2004, if memory serves, marginally.

It is interesting that many college educated whites of all political leanings are picking Obama, conservative and liberal. I see that as a path to unity.

Catherine (why yes, I *am* playing at writing)

Today, win, lose, or draw I vote for a great man.

I vote for my ideals.

I vote for the future of my country.

I vote for the good of the world.

How could anyone do any less?

Copy this sentence into your LiveJournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage, and you don't want it “protected” by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.

Love is precious wherever it occurs. How dare anyone judge? If you believe in the divine, you know that's not your place. If you can judge, you're obviously not a Christian.

If you don't believe in the divine, what have you got against two people sharing the greatest gift they can give each other?

As for ourselves, Bryon and I are wonderful, and it enhances our relationship when we see other people in love.

This post, by the way, dedicated to my friends lord_vandemort and canellaphile, who just tied the knot. Many years of felicitous happiness to you, my good friends. I can only wish you the happiness that Bryon and I have felt these 21 years.

Catherine