Signs of Life

After many tears and headaches, much tea and chocolate, I've finally managed to overcome the stupid researcher's block which has plagued me for most of this week. Yay! (Now let's hope that the migraines will disappear, too!)

Here's a clip I found while following the link azteclady provided (thank you!!!). Isn't it fun?



Speaking of "The Sound of Music," did anybody else cry when Hollie Steel sang "Edelweiss" last night?

Doodle Birdie

"Kommt ein Vöglein geflogen, setzt sich nieder auf ... my napkin." :)

The doodle birdie was inspired by Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching. Check out her embroidery folder on flickr - her work is amazing & soooo cute!

Baby Duck Cuteness

After Mama Duck survived the shock of stupid, cooing human storming into the backyard, the babies were allowed to come out again for another round on the pond.

And now let's all say it together: Awwwwwwwwwwwww!

The baby ducks are incredibly tiny and fluffy.

They're so tiny and fluffy that all you want to do is to pick them up and kiss them and love them and never let them go.

"Now, babies," says the Mama Duck, "I'm going to show you where you can find food."

Almost there ...

"Mama, there's a big monster!"

"Hush, sweetheart, it's only taking pictures of us to share your baby duck cuteness with others."

"FOOOOOOD! Foodfoodfoodfoodfoodfood - oops."

"And now, duckies," says the Mama Duck, "it's time for a nap."

Duck babies!!!!

The duck babies have just come out of the nest for their first swim. The fish were curious, Mama Duck was agitated, then stupid human (me) came storming down to pond because I thought she was hungry. Didn't see little ones, cooed "Mamaente!", stomped towards garden shed were we keep the fish food. Mama Duck fled across the pond, loudly quacking, nearly getting a nervous breakdown right before my eyes. Poor Mama Duck. Stupid human!

:)

Light-bulb Moments

Beyond the fishpond in our backyard there stands a garden shed. A rather large garden shed with a porch with a table, bench and two chairs. Perfect for summer tea parties! (Well, of course I had to mention tea parties. That's all my mind can focus on these days: dragonz and imaginary tea parties.) But the overall look is somewhat rustic, which means I'll need to doll it up with fabrics to make it "girlier." More fluff and flowers, that's what this porch needs!

As the June issue of Homes & Antiques contains instructions on how to make a lovely summer quilt, I thought I might want to make a quilt for the bench. Not that I've got time to make a quilt right now, mind you. But then I don't have time for tea parties either, so there. We're talking about future possibilities here! Still, I don't have a sewing machine, which would turn quilting into a really time-consuming affair even if I would use large squares.

Then I leaved through the current Ikea catalogue and spotted the pretty, pretty, oh-so-pretty Alvine bedlinen. Hmmm, I thought. How about I stuff the batting into a duvet cover, tie it in place and sew the whole thing shut?

Sounds good, eh?

But THEN I had an even better idea for I stumbled across the very, very, very cheap, very, very thin duvet in the Ikea catalogue. Very, very, very cheap duvet + lovely (and cheap) bedlinen = fantabulous cover for bench on the porch of the garden shed. Pair it off with cheap white tablecloth and pretty china, and you've set the stage for a summer tea party.

Have I already mentioned that I can't wait to finally finish the dratted diss????

Awwww!

There are some things in the world only a woman can properly appreciate. The sight of a cowboy with a small child on his arm is definitely one of them. :)

Geographically Restricted Ebooks

I've just wanted to buy Jane Graves's Tall Tales and Wedding Veils and Sandra Hill's The Cajun Cowboy on Fictionwise, both of which were released through Hachette Book Group.

And guess what?

I wasn't able to buy them because they're geographically restricted.

Yes. Geographically restricted. Because apparently Hachette doesn't want readers from outside the USA to buy their books. If anybody thinks I'm going to buy the print versions of these books instead, think again. This is an outrageous way to treat potential customers.

Tea Sets, Tablecloths, & What Comes Next?

Aprons. :)

I found these two pretties for 5,50 and 6,99 GBP on ebay.

The first is just perfect for baking an old-fashioned Victorian sponge cake, isn't it? And it will look great with jeans!

And this darling ... well, it's obviously been made for baking cupcakes. :) It's a feel-good, happy-happy, what-a-glorious-day apron.

Wii-velations

1. It's entirely possible to sweat through your tee-shirt while jogging in front of the TV.


2. I can jog for 30 minutes if I divide the time into 10 minute-snippets.


3. The doggies know all the best routes!


4. Wii-doggies sitting on the wii-grass and watching the wii-ocean make me laugh.


5. In wii-world you can jump off a 20-metre cliff and not hurt yourself. Amazing!


6. Miis cheering you on while you're sweating through your tee-shirt are indeed encouraging.


7. A world full of people (even if they're only miis) is much better than a world without any people whatsoever (Myst, anybody? Those empty landscapes freak me out!)

I've just realised ...

It's been ten years since I found the article which inspired me to write a seminar paper about dragonslaying and gender roles. And then I found more and more and more and even more material on the topic, so that it eventually became the topic of my dratted diss.

Ten years!

Wow.

Oooops, I did it again ...

Since I knew I had to cancel the registration for RWA National this week and since I knew I would therefore get a nice stash of money back on my credit card, I saw no reason to withstand temptation. After all I needed something to cheer myself up, right?

Something ....

Something ....

Something white.

And black.

And round.

And ...

... bowly (though that's no real word, but who cares? It's what they call artistic license. And I'm a writer, so there.)

Can you guess what it is? ;)

I finally did it ...

I've just cancelled my conference registration for this year's RWA National. I've known for several weeks now that I would have to cancel the trip to Washington, but I guess I was still holding out and hoping for some sort of miracle. Which unfortunately never happened. (Talk about feeling glum.) I so looked forward to the conference, but as none of my workshop proposals have been accepted, I won't be able to take time off from university. After all, we still have classes in mid-July.

*sigh*

Of Wells & Virgins

Going back to the source:

The welle was of swich vertu:

A virgine wonede in that londe,

Hadde bathede in, ich understonde;

That water was so holi,

That the dragoun, sikerli,

Ne dorste neghe the welle aboute

Be fourti fote, saundoute.

This text (it's "Bevis of Hampton"; so this tried and tested dragon-repelling method is even older than 400 years; got my texts confused yesterday) doesn't say anything about taking a pure virgin and dipping her into the well. But if you think about it, it's not really likely that any virgin would work, is it? Or dragon-repelling wells wouldn't be so very rare. So I guess it only works if it is a very virtuous virgin, pure of heart and all that.

Just a word to the wise: The dragon-repelling wells should not be confused with other magical wells such as those in Ranma 1/2. If you jump into those it won't keep the dragon away, and instead you'll turn into a panda bear. (If you're lucky. If you're not so lucky, you might turn into a piglet.)

Oranges are probably safer, after all. And you can always eat them if the dragon doesn't show up. :)

How to Keep away Dragons

Don't worry if you don't happen to have a magical sword or a St George at hand! Simply take one pure virgin, dip into a well (several times), and the well will become the best dragon-repellant you've ever seen.

If you don't have a well or have run out virgins, plant an orange tree instead. Orange trees will keep dragons and other monsters away. Guaranteed. It's a tried and tested method, which already increased people's general happiness 400 years ago. You can also try to throw oranges at the dragon.

Let the Tea Parties Begin

Okay, not really. Not yet. Still working on the dratted diss. But I'm already preparing for the tea parties to come (and we're not just talking about my slight dishaholic tendencies here!). First I'm going to metamorphose into a domestic goddess:


Then I'm going to bake delicious muffins in adorable what-cha-call-'ems:

And after that I'm going to organise a big office/hallway tea party. And after that I'll give regular tea parties at home. Week after week after week after week until everybody I know is sick of my baking and runs away when s/he catches sight of me.

And after that I'm going to make jams. *g*

So please, dragonz, drop dead, will you?

People are saying nice things about my books

I like it when people are saying nice things about my books. Especially when I find these nice things while proofreading a horrible chapter from the dratted diss in which the dragonz bite me in the butt. (Bad dragonz!)

Posted on the amazon boards in the thread "Big, strong, powerful and protective heroes":

Sandra Schwab's book THE LILY BRAND is A MUST! I believe you'll enjoy it, and it doesn't push the envelope too hard. It's very, very touching at the end. If you buy one thing off this list, let it be this book. Seriously. I think everyone should read it, and it makes a great surprise gift because few have. I gifted it to my snooty-goth neice and even SHE loved it, lol.

:-)

Burleigh Is Evil

Yes. Evil. Eeeeeeeehvuul even!

How could I resist?

The Battlefield

This is it.

The place where all the dragonslaying takes place. Do you see the piles of books? I'm surrounded by piles of books. The multiply over night. They have book-pile sex and make book-pile babies and eventually they'll pounce on me and devour me and there'll be nothing left of me.

Moral: Do not write dissertations on dragons or other kinds of monsters. It only gives your pile of books unholy ideas.

New, Kitteh-Improved Armchair

Remember my search for an armchair for the library earlier this year? The chair I ordered several weeks ago has now finally arrived -- and it looks gorgeous! And teh Kitteh loves it. *g* (She doesn't yet know that eventually one of her baskets will have to make room for an itty-bitty small table where I can put a cup of tea.) (Don't worry, she's got plenty of baskets left!)

Before the chair arrived on Wednesday, I suffered from acute buyer's remorse. I was sure it A) would look absolutely horrid in the library, B) would be utterly uncomfortable, and C) would turn out to have been an utter waste of money. Luckily, I was wrong on all three accounts. The chair is as pretty as can be, and very comfortable, too (curling up one's legs is perfectly possible on this chair, at least when you're my size) (taller people will never reach the chair anyway, because they'll most likely bash their brains out on the chandelier before they even get near the chair *ggg*).

Giggles

[...] so stepping in, he with his inchanted Wand struck the Rock again, and the Rock closed her in, and there was the End of that famous Inchantress [...]

Poor Mr Norris. He didn't know how much amusement he would unwittingly provide for future romance readers/writers when he published The Illustrious and Renown'd History of the Seven Famous Champions of Christendom in 1719... *g*

Real Life Romance

From The London Encyclopaedia, edited by Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert:

In 1536 Anne, the baby daughter of a clothworker, William Hewett, fell from [London Bridge] into the river but was rescued by an apprentice named Edward Osborn. By the time Anne was of marriageable age her father had become a wealthy man. All her suitors were discarded in favour of Osborn who eventually became Lord Mayor of London.

:-)

Found during a search for Thomas Norris, printer and bookseller, who had his shop on London Bridge.