We celebrated Hobkin’s 2nd anniversary over the weekend. It’s been two years now since the wee fuzzbump came to live with us. I can’t imagine life without him.
Hobkin got Sara Lee carrot cake again, which he gobbled up enthusiastically, then went bouncing through the house on a skunky sugar buzz, before crashing out on my lap, paws and muzzle sticky with cream cheese icing. We also bought some summer peaches, which he’s also quite enamored with. I gave him a slice with breakfast and watched him lick the plate clean, going after every last drop of peach juice.
The blackberries are beginning to ripen in the backyard. Matthew and I waded through the weeds and brambles and picked a dozen or so berries. It’s still going to be a while before they really come in, but it promises to be a bumper crop. Those things really do take over quickly. And goodness they’re pointy! Matthew paid his sacrifice of blood to the blackberry gods.
Writing Stuff:
Heard from the editor of Abyss & Apex that “Inside the Witch’s Oven” is slated for part ii of issue #9, which is the very next issue. According to the website, part ii will be going up any time now, so I’m eagerly awaiting it. Also eagerly awaiting the contract and check.
Wrote maybe 100 words yesterday on a brand new SF short story concept. Normally that’s not even enough to count as progress, but considering my current dry spell, I’m inclined to acknowledge any new wordage I can.
Also did a Critters critique. And fiddled around some more with Excel spreadsheets. Plugged in the numbers for the hardcopy submissions I’ve mailed out thus far in 2004. Total postage costs: just shy of $80. That’s fairly comparable with last year’s and 2002.
I feel terribly unproductive on the writing front. Makes me angry with myself.
Happy Birthday, Hobkin!!!
Ooops, I meant Happy Anniversary, Hobkin instead. I’m sure I missed his birthday also though so I won’t delete it. :p
Hobkin says “thank you!” Or he would if he weren’t comatose on my lap . . .
yay, happy anniversary to the fuzzy one! 🙂 hearing about his antics always manages to brighten my day.
Thanks!
What would it take to get your surplus blackberries? One has a desire to make blackberry jam again and the prices at the Farmer’s Market are downright extortionistic.
Matthew’s a blackberry fiend. He would inhale them all if I let him. Ergo, no surplus. Sorry.
Do you have any sort of garden/yard area? The things grow totally wild around here. We didn’t plant ours, they just sprouted into existence last summer. They’re threatening to take over, but we don’t want to cull them back because they give us free berries!
Sadly, no… I am in an apartment complex and even if I were to find a spot to put down some blackberry bushes where the groundskeepers wouldn’t find them, it’s a sure bet that the local kids would.
Oh, well… back to the drawing board.
Ah. Apartment, groundskeepers, local kids, all a bad combination for wild blackberries. We’ve got a six foot privacy fence around our whole backyard, which keeps the kids out.
Hey did you get the email i sent you about the network guy for your department?
Yes, I got it. THANK YOU!! I’m slow on doing anything about it ’cause I’m in a bit of a procrastination mindset. But I’ll get my act together soon. Really I will . . .
Slaaaaacker! And here Foster gave me hell for not returning his email immediatly! =P
Hey, don’t drag me into that, now! Any hell-giving between you and my hubby is your own affair
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First, happy b-day to Hobkin!
Second, I could e-mail you a copy of my thesis if you wanted to learn a bit more about the folkloristic nature of the “retold folktales” published in Cricket. I wrote it for a non-folklorist, so I define all my terms in a user-friendly manner, and, I dunno, I just thought you might be interested. Who knows, maybe I’ll resume the project later and try to cover more than just the stories in the issues from 1990-95 that I had sitting around in my closet from my childhood, in which case I’d probably ask to interview you and review your work! 🙂
Happy graduation to you! I would love to see a copy of your thesis. I’m still waiting for a publication date on the several stories that Cricket has bought, but I’m hoping it’s soon!
Also, I’d be delighted to be interviewed if you revisit this in the future!
Cool! I didn’t want to be forcing my paper on you, so I’m glad you’re interested. 🙂 And I keep thinking to myself, damn, when I start writing again, I’ll totally have that market cornered! 😉
hurray for Hobkin!
Good for Hobkin. He’s a lucky fella. And yeah, I love blackberries. I would’ve sacrifice blood to the blackberry gods as well. 😛
Hobkin’s a sweetie. He loves blackberries too!
Make sure you tell us when your story is up. I want to read it!
~Maggie
P.S. Happy 2nd Anniversary Hobkin!
Oh, no fear! As soon as it’s published, I’ll be callooing and callaying.
Best wishes to Hobkin. Hope he came down from his high without a hangover 🙂
BTW, June 1st is not the middle of the year. That would be July 1st (or, even more precisely July 3rd/4th). Just a nitpick from a maths geek…
Picky picky picky!
I have a weird question… where’d you get the picture embedded in your message done – the full body one?
It’s the same folks who did the head ‘n shoulders icon picture, the Abi-station people. Just a different one of their applications. Here’s a link to it.
Thanks for the link!