Blog Holiday

Quick note for you all. I’m offline for the next two weeks, trekking in Nepal. The next time I’ll be near a computer is April 8 — horrors! So the blog is going on a two-week holiday (I hope it enjoys the break). Books-and-media posts will resume April 13, with more travel blogging/photos and life blogging starting April 15. See you then!

Blogiversary the First, Part Two

Last week I shared the top five posts from the first year of the blog. The next five were an interesting bunch as well, so I’m sharing them this week. Numbers 1-5 are those with broad appeal, posts you might happen upon by googling a popular topic. But numbers 6-10 include some that are much more personal. I’m glad they’ve connected with people.

Here, without further ado, are the runners-up from the blog’s first year.

• Book Nostalgia: Trixie Belden. When I wrote this, I wasn’t sure if Trixie Belden would be too obscure. In fact, the opposite turned out to be true — Trixie-lovers keep popping up to comment, and I’ve been introduced to a whole Internet community that I didn’t know existed.

Happy Blogiversary to Me

First off, apologies for not blogging yesterday. I ran into technical difficulties — the travails of blogging on the road (and, ahem, not prewriting and scheduling posts)….

Second, this is a special week here on the blog. I’ve been “author blogging” for a year tomorrow. (Shout-out to Kristen Lamb and the WANA112 crew, who finally got my butt in gear to start this blog!) It’s been a fun ride as well as a challenge, I’ve met a lot of wonderful people, and I like to think it’s been good for my writing, too.

To celebrate, here’s a recap of the top posts on the blog so far….

• Defining Steampunk. I wrote this in the first month of the blog’s life, but it’s had enduring popularity. Guess there are a lot of you out there who want to know what steampunk is all about!
• Book vs. Movie: The Hunger Games. When I saw the film, the book was fresh in my mind, so all the little differences and choices made in each medium really stuck out. I wrote the post because I wanted to think more about those choices…and clearly I wasn’t the only one.

The Best Christmas Stories Ever

What are your favourite Christmas stories?

Even leaving aside the ones in the Bible, plenty of stories have been written about this time of year. Not surprising that it would be an inspiration to writers, given all the folklore and family traditions and emotional associations that are tied up in December 25.

I remember a pile of children’s books that my parents used to bring out every year. They were about shepherd boys and woodcarvers, drummer boys and miracles. Tomie A. de Paola wrote picture books based on The Legend of Old Befana and The Friendly Beasts. Barbara Robinson wrote The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. One picture book that I found as an adult, and bought because I liked it so much, was The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski.

Link: Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions

I’m under deadline at the moment, finishing up edits on the new anthology we’re putting out at Turtleduck Press (release date December 1!). So today’s post is just a quick one to point you to my blog post over there. Here’s a teaser:

Back in high school, I was a huge Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, so I would dress up in uniform (gold, like Data) and go to get autographs from Star Trek actors and buy memorabilia. I have Wil Wheaton’s autograph from back when he was (in)famous for being Wesley Crusher and not for being an internet personality. (Side note: It’s very strange to see these actors becoming famous again for something completely different. Case in point: George Takei.)

Read the rest!

(Yes, I’m talking about books and media and fandom on a Wednesday. So sue me. )

 

Weekly Link: A Toothbrush Saves the International Space Station

My mother pointed me to this wonderful article about the International Space Station. It starts with a sentence I never thought I’d read:

Astronauts used a toothbrush to conduct repairs outside the International Space Station, ending a marathon 6.5 hour-long spacewalk Wednesday.

Yup. Read the rest at CBC News.

Next week I’ll be buckling down on some writing, so I’m taking an Internet hiatus. But I’ve got an exciting guest blogger lined up for you on Wednesday. You can still comment, too — I just won’t see it until I’m back online next Sunday. Enjoy your week!

 

It Takes a Village: Being Good Neighbours

This week I’m blogging over at Turtleduck Press about the people in my new neighbourhood, and our early relationships with them:

I’m also conscious that so far, we’ve been recipients, not givers. As former apartment-dwellers and also introverts, we have a habit of keeping to ourselves, turning inwards. Suddenly I’m finding that I don’t like that habit anymore. Sure, we’re young and inexperienced, but we have talents and resources that could be shared.

Read the rest.

What I didn’t mention was the state of our home’s exterior. The whole backyard is soil, for the former owners were avid vegetable gardeners. We took possession in May and moved in at the end of June; we’ve planted a little, but it’s mostly weeds now. We’ve done our best, but we just haven’t had time to take proper care of the yard this year, and I’m conscious that it looks terrible. The front yard isn’t much better. It’s yet another way that we could — and will — be better neighbours in future.

What experiences have you had with good neighbours — either being them or having them? Go comment at Turtleduck Press!

Labour Day

What are you still doing here? It’s a holiday!

Copyright Siri Paulson, 2010

Happy Labo(u)r Day. We’ll return to our regular posting schedule on Wednesday.

Convention Report: Fan Expo 2012

Usually Mondays on this blog are devoted to books, sometimes movies. But in my head, the theme is “Media Mondays”, so today I’m going to write about something media-related that hasn’t been featured on this blog before.

Photo by Louise K. (link at bottom of post)

I’m talking about a con — a science fiction/fantasy convention.

First, a brief primer on cons. There are two main types. The first is literature-oriented, focusing on books and book-related discussions. Guests tend to be authors and editors. The second is all about visual media — movies, TV, comics, anime/manga, gaming. Guests tend to be TV stars and comic book artists. This is the kind of con where people dress up in costume (cosplay). It’s much larger than the first kind.

I’ve been to both kinds over the years. The con I’m writing about today is of the second type — Fan Expo, an annual convention held in Toronto.

Friday Link: Colour Photos from 1939-1943

Happy Friday!

I always love looking at really old colour photographs. I tend to imagine the pre-1960s world in black and white, so it boggles my mind when I run across images from those times in full colour…makes them feel much closer to the world I live in now, the divide much smaller.

These photographs, courtesy of the Denver Post blog, capture facets of American life during WWII, though many of them aren’t about the war but about rural life. There’s immense poverty, there’s pride, there’s beauty. If you’re a steampunk fan, you might find inspiration here. If you’re a lover of history, or of rural life, or of photography…click through and have a look.

That’s it for this week. I’ll see you back here on Monday. Go forth and enjoy your weekend!