I'm back

I'm back in Oakland, sitting at my desk, letting the bright morning light filter in through the window. I just finished making some quick revisions to my end-of-the-month assignment (I went over word count). Soon I will call back the temp agency that contacted me the day after I left for Wisconsin.

I have too much going through my head to sort out right now. I shouldn't even be awake now, much less productive and accomplished. So this is just a quick note to say, hi, I'm back!

In other news, I think I am going to lose my thumbnail.

sorting the mail

Waiting in the mail for me when I got home: a check, a contract, and an assignment. Not bad!

WisCon in books

One of the reasons I love WisCon is that, fundamentally, it's all about books. We spend the weekend talking about books -- in panels, in the halls, during parties, at breakfast and lunch and dinner. And the specificity of WisCon's focus -- feminism -- means that we've often read a similar set of books, and thus have a basis for discussion in the first place. (I like the way that Potlatch accomplishes this with its Book of Honor, too.)

So I thought I'd take a look at my Wiscon through books. None of thse are in any particular order.

Books read:

Sewer, Gas, and Electric by Matt Ruff

(Usually I read at least 3-4 books between the time I leave for the airport and the time I get home, but I spent some of that time writing this year instead.)

Books brought but unread:

Mortal Companion by Patrick Califia
In Praise of Antiheroes by Victor Brombert

Books bought (including our tour of the used bookstores on Tuesday):

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice by Mark J. Plotkin
Shopping for Buddhas by Jeff Greenwald
Cutting for Sign by William Langewiesche
Looking for Lovedu by Ann Jones

(Now is the time to insert a comment on how many travel books are apparently titled using the "x for y" phrase formula.)

Summer Food by Judith Olney
City of Nets by Otto Friedrich
Girls Who Bite Back ed. Emily Pohl-Weary
Women Pirates by Ulrike Klausmann, Marion Meinzerin, and Gabriel Kuhn
Trash Sex Magic by Jennifer Stevenson

I would have bought more -- I am jonesing for Inventing Memory by Anne Harris -- but we're on a strict budget.

Nobody in the Dealer's Room had a copy of 1610 by Mary Gentle, the other book I am jonesing for (and currently only available in the UK), or I would have bought that, too.

Next: WisCon in food. (You thought you'd had that already? Ha!)

(no subject)

My friend mattblakk is trying to raise money for a service dog for his autistic son. (I babysat this kid for a short time, so I have an extra reason to push this on folks.) Feel free to repost:

http://www.mattblakk.com/dog.html

http://www.cafepress.com/mattblakk