Published February 24, 2003 | 
But They Do Teach You How to Read, Which Can Teach You All the Rest
I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school. They don’t teach you how to love somebody. They don’t teach you how to be famous. They don’t teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don’t teach you how to walk away from someone you don’t love any longer. They don’t teach you how to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. They don’t teach you what to say to someone who’s dying. They don’t teach you anything worth knowing.
—Neil Gaiman, Sandman
Published February 23, 2003 | Published February 21, 2003 | Friday Five
1. What is your most prized material possession?
My writings. I have everything from Zip disks backing up yesterday’s work to old 5.25 Apple IIe floppies holding 1985’s journals and stories, plus dozens of paper journals, typed and handwritten.
2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest?
Probably Lullaby. I don’t know who gave her to me, but I have had her since I was born. Lullaby was toy designed to look like a baby in a hood — basically a little plastic face peeking out of this soft-bodied yellow cloth doll. Originally she had a key on her back. You could wind her up, and she played Brahms’ Lullaby.
Unfortunately, when I was 3 or 4, she fell victim to Lisa’s passion for dissecting toys that made interesting sounds. She cut open the doll and removed the music box. The formerly plump doll grew emaciated as she lost her heart/voice and then most of her stuffing. She still has a slit up her back. My mother always promised to sew her up, but she never did.
I say “probably,” because I don’t know if I have her. I am still unpacking from the epic move to the west coast. Between the damage in storage, the things my husband kept, and the stuff I sold, I literally don’t know what I have and what I don’t.
3. Are you a packrat?
Yes. There’s a phrase from Pratchett, I think, about poor women hoarding: “powerless to replace, they could only save.”
4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum?
I like to have a house that’s clean, warm, welcoming, and comfortable. Not too formal. Books stacked on the coffee table are fine. I feel like a house that’s too rigidly clean can be hostile, but so can a house where people are leaving dirty dishes around.
5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there?
The theme is: “Four people from three households, plus three cats, plus we’re all too busy to get the pictures hung properly.”
Published February 21, 2003 | Published February 21, 2003 | Published February 20, 2003 | Published February 20, 2003 | Published February 20, 2003 | Published February 20, 2003 | Yes, I Owe You E-Mail
I admit it. I am evil. I haven’t written a California Report (e-mail home to my family) in weeks. Plus, I have stacks of unanswered e-mail, which I promise I will get to when I have some spare time and energy. I also have several posts I need to write.
I’ve been dealing with too much Real Life lately, including:
- tight deadlines for fiction that I hope may eventually get me some cash
- heavy workload, short deadlines, and emergency copywriting at work
- weirdness with Gabriel (she’s OK, but still miffed)
- the physical and emotional fallout from two allergic reactions in the space of three days
- plus all the usual time demands
I’m actually doing well. I’m happy, too. I just don’t have much of anything to spare. And it’s always the thoughtful replies that end up getting skipped.
I’m sorry. I will improve. I will become virtuous. Honest.
Published February 20, 2003 |