My inner child is indistinguishable from any other inner me

Yep, I’m a grown-up adult (so says my driver’s license and mortgage). But it’s the comforts I treasured as a child that inevitably give me peace when I’m seeking a bit of serenity, not the more sophisticated pleasures I’ve acquired a taste for–which, while enjoyable and enervating, can’t give me that tranquility I remember taking for granted as a little girl. I’m fully convinced that we are who we were, no matter how many years we rack up. It’s the folks who suppress their childhood indulgences who are deceiving themselves.

Insight brought on by a Saturday spent pandering to my inner child, starting off with a several hour marathon of Saturday morning cartoons. Ever since I was a wee girl, I have loved spending Saturday mornings camped out on the floor in front of the TV, basking in animated goodness. Sure with the cartoon network, the Disney channel, and other cable cartoon outlets, I can (and often do) watch cartoons whenever I like, but there’s something special about waking up on Saturday for them.

Netflix sent both Madagascar and MirrorMask. Perfect inner child food.

I’d heard some questionable reviews about Madagascar, and I’m way underwhelmed by Chris Rock and Ben Stiller, so I went in not expecting much, but I ended up totally charmed. The penguins were brilliant, but even the Rock/Stiller dyad was well done. And, of course, the various homages stuck in for the parents to appreciate were gigglesome. Very much enjoyed it.

MirrorMask was gorgeous. I loved the fairy tale mood, although there was a certain “This is a metaphor! *bam bam* We’re being deep! *thump*” happening too. But aside from the ham-fisted extolling to revel in the symbolism NOW, it was absolutely lovely. Reminded me of Labyrinth, which I guess is an inevitable comparison, since the hand of Henson was in both. But MirrorMask is an older, more sophisticated movie than Labyrinth, with characters that are unnerving and alluring instead of just cute and fluffy.

And I got a package in the mail from zhai, a GoPets t-shirt for Hobkin! An opportunity to inflict “dress up” upon the fuzzwit. Mega thanks, zhai!

Now Hobkin isn’t exactly receptive to the idea of wearing clothes, so my first foray into getting him into the shirt was a dismal failure:


“You want me to do what? No way.”


“I said no!”


“No means no, woman!”

But I’m not giving up. I’m waiting to ambush him when he’s sleeping.

   


Writing Stuff

Received:
– Word from Spider magazine that “The Tax Collector’s Cow” has been slotted for their June ’06 issue. Yay!
– Email from my Aberrant Dreams editor that “Nobodies and Somebodies” is slated for their July issue, so I’ve got plenty of time to work on the rewrite.

Also a call to spread the word that they’re trying to find a local (i.e. Georgian) artist to do a color illustration for a new project they’re about to embark on. Without giving away the details prematurely, this artist would be asked to illustrate a new story written by Mary Rosenblum, S.P. Somtow, Alastair Reynolds, or me. So if you’re a Georgian artist who would like the opportunity to break into the fantasy illustration biz, drop my editor, Ernie Saylor, a line.
– A bunch more crits for “Honor is a Game Mortals Play” (thanks wbledbetter, wistling, keesa_renee, and dream_wind!). I’m now no longer classifying it as being “well received,” but have bumped it into the being “glowingly received” category. Happiness.

Editing:
Editing continues apace on “Honor is a Game Mortals Play.

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12 Responses to My inner child is indistinguishable from any other inner me

  1. yukinooruoni says:

    Have you started 10th Kingdom yet? 😀

    congrats on all the excellent writing progress! 🙂

  2. elvesforeyes says:

    I rented MirrorMask this weekend too! I share the same thoughts with you in that it was a much more sophisticated journey into a fantastical land filled with riddling cats! I wanted to start writing once it was over, but by then it was 2 AM.

    Congrats on the glowingly received crits!

  3. zhai says:

    Everyone has rented MirrorMask except me! ;__; I may have to drag out to the rental store…

    Glad you got the shirt, you’re welcome! I hope I’m not racking up bad karma with the skunk gods. 😉

  4. gentleeleos says:

    I know I don’t comment much, but I have to say, if I wasn’t reading you for a lot of other reasons, I would definitely be reading you because you have a pet skunk. One who reacts to being dressed in any kind of clothing in a fashion quite disturbingly like my dog Chloe does. Thanks for making me laugh today. I needed it.

  5. basletum says:

    I’ve always been a big fan of the Peter Pan motto, myself. Hehe, Hobkin reacts to shirts the way Loki reacts to flea collars: “Oh no, you’re not putting that on me!” Just sent my crit in this morning, hope you find my usual line-by-line nit-pickiness helpful. 😉

  6. puskunk says:

    I bet I could get that shirt on him!

  7. the little munchkin is hot so guess he thinks he doesn’t need it coz the weather is getting nicer. 😛

  8. keesa_renee says:

    Boo thanks you for the lovely skunk pictures (and, of course, the skunk giggles!), and I do, too.

    And I’m glad to hear your writing is going so well! :hugs:

  9. newroticgirl says:

    ohkay… attempted skunk dressing made me laugh out loud, especially the angry demon-red eyes in the last one. 😉

    My dogs happen to LOVE being dressed, and will actually fight over certain items. Their all-time favorite is a j crew vest my brother found in his boxes of stuff he brought home from North Carolina, must have been an ex-girlfriend’s. If we put the vest on my girl dog (duh, it’s a girl vest! it goes on the girl dog!) my boy dog will actually try to take it off her! He’s not happy until HE gets to wear something too (usually an old t-shirt, knotted at the waist in true 1980s style)

  10. Anonymous says:

    OMG, OMG, OMG. Falling down, laughing, getting fired because I’m AT WORK.

    Run Hobkin, run. Dignity before all things!

    Pat K.

  11. wbledbetter says:

    Loved the story. You have such a beautiful style.

    Poor Hobkin. I feel the same way about wearing a suit.

  12. Congrats on the pub slots. You are amazing! Can’t wait to see Hobkin in his shirt. Hope he doesn’t break something trying to get it off, though. Anguished worry over skunkoid prevails over curiosity, methinks.

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