I actually saw people yesterday

In conversation a few days ago, cattitude asked if I thought I wasn't seeing enough of him. And I realized that no, the problem was that I wasn't seeing enough of other people.

So yesterday I went to the gym in the afternoon, so I could conveniently go to the NYRSF meeting afterwards. We read manuscripts, we tossed spelling questions and similar manuscript-related questions at each other, and we had delightful absurd digressive conversations based on those questions. I suspect womzilla was disappointed at how little work got done, because we were too busy having fun talking to concentrate, but the camaraderie is all the pay we get. Well, unless you count the galley of the new John M. Ford collection, Heat of Fusion and Other Stories that pnh handed me after I poked my head into his and tnh's offices to say hello. Oh, and the first five people I saw in the Tor office--including both T and P--commented favorably on my hair before saying anything else.

I had a pleasant dinner with drcpunk and mnemex at Khyber Pass: the food there is still good, but they've raised their prices significantly in the few months since I was there last. stakebait was going to join us, but it got late enough that she decided to head straight home. But at least we got her company for the walk.

( thoughts, details, and numbers about an upper-body-focused workout )

I actually saw people yesterday

In conversation a few days ago, cattitude asked if I thought I wasn't seeing enough of him. And I realized that no, the problem was that I wasn't seeing enough of other people.

So yesterday I went to the gym in the afternoon, so I could conveniently go to the NYRSF meeting afterwards. We read manuscripts, we tossed spelling questions and similar manuscript-related questions at each other, and we had delightful absurd digressive conversations based on those questions. I suspect womzilla was disappointed at how little work got done, because we were too busy having fun talking to concentrate, but the camaraderie is all the pay we get. Well, unless you count the galley of the new John M. Ford collection, Heat of Fusion and Other Stories that pnh handed me after I poked my head into his and tnh's offices to say hello. Oh, and the first five people I saw in the Tor office--including both T and P--commented favorably on my hair before saying anything else.

I had a pleasant dinner with drcpunk and mnemex at Khyber Pass: the food there is still good, but they've raised their prices significantly in the few months since I was there last. stakebait was going to join us, but it got late enough that she decided to head straight home. But at least we got her company for the walk.

( thoughts, details, and numbers about an upper-body-focused workout )

Walking in the park

I took a nice walk up in Inwood Hill Park just now. I had to backtrack a few times, because some of the paths are still unnavigably icy. In particular, one steep way up into the hills ("The Clove" on the Parks Department maps) looked difficult to get up, and dangerous to try coming down again; fortunately, the other path that goes up from that spot near the soccer field was fine.

The hills still say winter, though the periwinkle leaves are whispering a dark glossy "Spring." I saw no interesting birds, and almost no people. A few squirrels, and two dead mice on one bit of path. At the first, I thought "We're not asked to report dead mice"; the second, a minute later, was "That's two" and I started looking for patterns, or more dead mice, but found neither. Okay, one pattern, but not about mice: the higher spots are mostly clear of snow, while the area between the two ridges is still very white when viewed from above. Not surprising: that pair of hills combine to block several hours of direct sunlight every day.

I also had a nice chat with a woman I met next to the water; she pointed out the swan to her daughter as "ganso" and I thanked her for the word, and gave her the English when she asked. She said she knew "a little English," and I admitted to knowing a little Spanish. She said something in Spanish, and when I said "Por supuesto, lo estudie en el colegio" ["Of course, I studied it in high school"] we were in Spanish for the rest of our chat. She told me her name, and her daughter's; I told her mine; we discussed feeding the ducks. A pleasant chat, and while I remembered "ganso" long enough to write it here--in part by making simple sentences about the swan on my way home, things like "el ganso es grande" and "el ganso nada en el rio"--I've already forgotten her name.

One goal of the walk was to make my menstrual cramps go away. It worked: for as long as I was walking. They've already come back, a little, now that I'm inside and sitting down. Even if I wanted to, I can't walk sixteen hours a day; I guess I'll have to fall back on ibuprofen.

Walking in the park

I took a nice walk up in Inwood Hill Park just now. I had to backtrack a few times, because some of the paths are still unnavigably icy. In particular, one steep way up into the hills ("The Clove" on the Parks Department maps) looked difficult to get up, and dangerous to try coming down again; fortunately, the other path that goes up from that spot near the soccer field was fine.

The hills still say winter, though the periwinkle leaves are whispering a dark glossy "Spring." I saw no interesting birds, and almost no people. A few squirrels, and two dead mice on one bit of path. At the first, I thought "We're not asked to report dead mice"; the second, a minute later, was "That's two" and I started looking for patterns, or more dead mice, but found neither. Okay, one pattern, but not about mice: the higher spots are mostly clear of snow, while the area between the two ridges is still very white when viewed from above. Not surprising: that pair of hills combine to block several hours of direct sunlight every day.

I also had a nice chat with a woman I met next to the water; she pointed out the swan to her daughter as "ganso" and I thanked her for the word, and gave her the English when she asked. She said she knew "a little English," and I admitted to knowing a little Spanish. She said something in Spanish, and when I said "Por supuesto, lo estudie en el colegio" ["Of course, I studied it in high school"] we were in Spanish for the rest of our chat. She told me her name, and her daughter's; I told her mine; we discussed feeding the ducks. A pleasant chat, and while I remembered "ganso" long enough to write it here--in part by making simple sentences about the swan on my way home, things like "el ganso es grande" and "el ganso nada en el rio"--I've already forgotten her name.

One goal of the walk was to make my menstrual cramps go away. It worked: for as long as I was walking. They've already come back, a little, now that I'm inside and sitting down. Even if I wanted to, I can't walk sixteen hours a day; I guess I'll have to fall back on ibuprofen.

Memos to self

1. Don't order French toast at diners, or any kind of restaurant for that matter, it never works out: you have a kitchen.


2. You cannot run the Turbo APA.

Memos to self

1. Don't order French toast at diners, or any kind of restaurant for that matter, it never works out: you have a kitchen.


2. You cannot run the Turbo APA.