Recently I posted of a desire to write some short stories. This is unusual for me; I’ve always found them completely impenetrable from the writing perspective. Said I, “my goal is twelve short stories this year that I would be comfortable submitting for publication somewhere.”
Thus far, story the first, ‘The Tape’, completed in first draft (and fired off to some feedback volunteeros).
Story the second in progress and going well. This pleases me.
In related news, the Grizzled Dog decided he was going to do a Novel Writing Month on his own, and he hit his target and knocked it off on the weekend. Nice work!
Author:
Schmap’d!
“Hi Morgan,
I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has been short-listed for inclusion in the sixth edition of our Schmap Southampton Guide…”
So began a letter from Emma Williams of Schmap, which is basically Google Maps with further data built right in. How exciting, I thought, one of my silly photos has struck a chord with someone!
The photo in question is of Winchester Cathedral. From the back. With most of it missing. Not exactly my best piece of photography ever; the caption I gave the photo was Not the most dramatic view.
“Hi Morgan,
I am delighted to let you know that your photo has been selected for inclusion…”
And there it is as promised: my photo of a Cathedral’s backside. How… bemusing.
How It Went Down
It’s been a busy week. Back into work today, and will try to chip away at the big list of emails and such waiting reply. But here’s something of a roundup of the day.
It was a pretty relaxed day, all told. There was setup of the venue in the morning, with assistance from many lovely and generous people who shifted fridges and set up chairs and so on. We got that done much faster than I thought possible, which was great. Thereafter I lurked about as Dan set up some lights and Damon set up some sounds, and then I just lurked about. Strange to spend a while sitting all alone in the venue on your wedding day.
I ducked away with Billy to clear my head, then went home to get kilted up; Ado and Frank joined me for this and a whisky or two was drunk. Then to the venue again, where I hid out the back waiting for the go signal. Soon my parents appeared and we got the word, and Cal and I entered the hall from opposite sides and went up the front at the same time.
Then we got civil unioned. It was pretty cool. Here’s the 2-minute highlight reel prepared by Steve Leon:
Afterwards there were many photos, a couple of speeches (but no more because acoustics were rubbish), a haphazardly hilarious ceilidh, and dancing to DJ Malc’s tunes to finish on I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).
And yes, the face was sore from smiling by the end, but that was great. It was a very happy day. Memorable, you might say. And now I’ve got a ring on my finger and, y’know, it actually feels really quite different.
A number of people wondered why we went for a civil union over a marriage. There’re a bunch of reasons – it’s more inclusive, for a start, which is something quite important to us. Most of all, though, the CU allows us to sidestep the long shadows of tradition and preconception and make our formalised relationship exactly what we want it to be. I feel quite privileged, actually, that we can join in a formal union using a structure that has virtually no baggage attached to it; it’s a special position to be in. (Respect also to starlajo and Thomas, and Evie and Jarratt, for going the CU route before us and showing the way.)
Here’s something of a linky roundup. Have I missed anyone? I still need to reply to all these people:
The Alligator
Not Kate
Susan
Karen
Dave S
Gametime photo
Matt C (with photos)
Debz (with photos that aren’t of me!)
Damon’s gearbox analogy
Maire
Fishy
JB
Damon’s collective naming exercise
Dan
Hottieperm
elderflower’s photos
Off-Black
lostperdita
buzzandhum
And there’s a heaping helping of photos up on Facebook too, if you are part of that collective. (Some of them may be public-view, I haven’t checked.)
Post-Wedding Linky
She owns half these linky.
El Gorgo issue two! In which the erudite Mexican wrestler who is also a gorilla takes on Lovecraftian cultists who are alien dinosaurs who are in the FUTURE! Bonus: he says Khaaaaaan when he is struck down! Free to read online, and you can order the print copies too.
40-minute interview with Chris Onstad of Achewood. I haven’t watched this yet myself.
Frederik Pohl has a blog! That would be Frederik Pohl, aged 89, science fiction legend and winner of countless SF awards for his writing and editing. Awesome.
An episode of the Bill & Ted cartoon voiced by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, with George Carlin in the Rufus role! WYLD!
An extraordinary oral history of the Bush years courtesy Vanity Fair.
And finally… the most convincing ad for D&D ever published.
Civilised!
Cal and I tied the knot yesterday! (This photo is from Jenni on Facebook – thank you!)
Shortly we go to my parents for the post-bash BBQ (2pm until fallover o’clock). I hope everyone remembers that it’s on and they’re all invited… or we’ll have lots and lots of sausages left over…
Wire and Request
First thing, cross-posted from my LJ:
“Wellington – buy The Wire now.
If you are in Wellington, and if you like The Wire, stop queueing to borrow it. Get yourself along to Borders Lambton Quay where you can get seasons 2, 3 and 4 for the princely sum of $9.99 each (down from $59.99 each).
You read that right. Borders goes a bit wacky with their pricing sometimes and no doubt this is a system error of some sort, but there was a whole display with 9.99 Wire seasons. They’ll probably fix it in a day or two, like they did when I bought Under The Mountain for $7 (down from $30) but it is entirely legit while it lasts.
I bought ’em.”
Second thing:
If anyone going to the big wedding party on Sat is free during the day and can lend a hand setting up, drop me an email. We’d love to have a couple extra bods…
The Horror, The Horror
They were penned up and set out for purchase by huge beasts who wanted to chop them to pieces and devour their corpses. Before they could be eaten they staged a daring breakout and fled into the night. Finding a safe place to stop running, they established their own hidden sanctuary where they created a new society of their own, where they would hopefully be safe from being eaten. They named their community in memory of that threat, so they would never become complacent. They were… the Munch Bunch.
The whole terrifying tale retold as a jaunty song.
These characters were important to me when I was little, particularly the Banana Bunch. The all-knowing Wikipedia has an entry that mentions the special New Zealand series of characters. I remember these fondly, and I remember being pleased that there were NZ characters in the books (even if they never turned up on the television show).
President Obama
Man, that does feel good to say.
Much better than whatever that last one’s name was.
Comes Great Responsibility
Previously
Now: Barack Obama writes to his daughters
“And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.”
Hee.
BIZ-E
Final week before the big day. Final week being engaged. Loads to do.
Was in a shop the other day with Gregor, Malc and Liz. Gregor nudged me and pointed at a t-shirt showing a bride-and-groom symbol, and I read aloud the words above it: “Game on!” Gregor shook his head and flattened the shirt so I could see that it really said “Game Over”. But he insisted that it was a good omen that I misread it so positively…
(If y’all want to come, give me an email. Yes, you *are* invited.)