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knibber: a male deer when the antlers first appear

Did you always want to do what you're doing now? Did you know, growing up, that you always wanted to do [whatever it is you do now]? When I was little, I wanted to be an NFL quarterback for a while, or maybe play violin professionally in an orchestra. I never reckoned I'd be a marketing manager - in fact, because that's been my dad's deal for so long, I fought tooth and nail against it.

I also never reckoned I'd write. I came to fiction writing five years ago, at the ripe old age of 31, and it was a serious surprise. So, what about you? Have you always thought of yourself as a _________?

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erubescent: blushing

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loganamnosis: a mania for trying to recall forgotten words

We watched the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven over the weekend, and I really enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed the theatrical release as well, but the director's cut is outstanding. No, Orlando is not a great actor, but he did quite well in this (and yes, he's pretty, shut up). The music and cinematography were excellent and I think I'm a little bit in love with Saladin in this. And King Baldwin? How can you not love a movie with a badass leper? I mean, really?

We also caught Tombstone for the 2,348,583,584th time on Encore. How I love that movie. No, it's not a great movie. But it's incredibly entertaining. It's one of those movies, like The Dirty Dozen and Ferris Bueller's Day Off that are like my kryptonite - if they're on, I *have* to watch them. The point of all of that, though is that we searched out the "true" history of Doc Holiday, and it's actually even more interesting and shocking than the movie version.

Wow, I got rambly today. OK, nose, meet grindstone.

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horaphthia: a neurotic preoccupation with one's youth

Jack London Writers Conference was...well, I don't know. I saw the breakfast keynote but had to leave for personal reasons right after that. What I do know is I saw pretty much the same group of people I saw there 2 years ago (same thing happened at SFWC) and that was very depressing for some reason.

Also? I had a shockingly rude and very disappointing interaction with a Famous Author.

A note to those of you who will be famous authors someday: don't be a dick.

Another note to those of you who will be famous authors someday: we're not curing cancer here, people. We're writing, and it is important, but YOU are not any more important than anyone else.

/bitter

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etiolate: to bleach by lack of sunlight

Heading up to the Jack London Writers Conference tomorrow. The sessions look pretty good, but I'm primarily going because Christopher Moore is the lunchtime keynote and we all know how I feel about Lamb....

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twistical: not quite moral; used in New England (John Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms, 1849)

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energumen: a person supposedly possessed by an evil spirit; a fanatic

Inspired by Thalia Took's goddess website, a new character wandered into my head last night. Now I've got 3 short stories and a novel on the burners, and I feel too flighty to bear down and finish any of them. Just flow with the river, right? One of them will grab hold again sooner or later.

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dolorifuge: something that relieves sadness

Happy (almost) spring! While spring came to NorCal in mid-February with the first blooming of the plum trees (as it always does), I still enjoy marking the first day of spring. The Japanese cherry outside our bedroom window is starting to push out its pink buds, the acacia outside the dining room window is greening like crazy, and we're due for cool weather and rain today. A perfect spring day!

It's a day to clean your house - physical, emotional, spiritual. Throw open those windows, clear out those mental cobwebs, toss out that which no longer serves you spiritually.

Check out this site - a great place to learn how the coming of Spring is celebrated, and has been celebrated, around the world.

A link in the EndicottBlog this weekend reacquainted me with Thalia Took, who creates gorgeous mythical art. She created the image below, of Eostre, the Teutonic goddess of Spring and the Full Moon.

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gridelin: "a colour mixed with white and red, or a gray-violet" (Imperial Lexicon, 1850); "the name of a colour, a pale purple or grey violet" (New English Dictionary, 1901)

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hodiernal: pertaining to today

Myths, symbols, and folklore
Ouroborus: "the serpent swallowing its own tail, infinity, the descent of spirit into the physical world and then its return"

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jubate: fringed with long hair, as a mane

Wow, it's amazing how much perspective a year can give you. I started a short story last February about a woman whose father, with whom she had a very complicated relationship, died. A month after I started writing that story, my mom died unexpectedly at 62. I couldn't even look at that story again until late last summer, and made a half-hearted attempt at editing. Then another short story took up my brain, and then my aborted NaNo attempt, and then my third novel.

I finally opened the file on the story again this week, and the time spent away has really been useful. I'm seeing things I completely missed the first time, and I can actually deal with the subject matter without getting too emotional. My perfectionist, type-A, INFJ personality likes to get things done, settled, finalized. I hate leaving things open ended. But in this case, it was a good lesson for me about patience and the practice of editing.

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galeanthrophy: the delusion that one has become a cat

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glaucous: green with a grayish-blue cast

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hirsutorufous: red-haired

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kopophobia: fear of physical or mental exhaustion

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pollyfox: to equivocate

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anacreontic "a poem in imitation of, or after the manner of, [Greek poet] Anacreon; an erotic poem; convivial and amatory"

Took yesterday off for my birthday and had a lovely day - spent the morning over at the beach, had lunch on the patio at a cafe in Davenport overlooking the water, came back over here and got a massage. Plus, my very smart husband gave me a honkin big box of Zena Moon candles. It was a good day :)

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partheniad: a poem in honor of a virgin

I'm terribly blocked at the moment on my third novel. Got 30K words in and completely lost steam. So, to the back burner dear Oleanna goes for the moment, and I'm reworking a short story that wandered into my brain just before NaNo last year. Super short story - only 2500 words or so. But I think there's some potential there, so it should be fun to play with that for a while.

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motatorious: constantly active

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philosophaster: a pretender to philosophical knowledge

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ephemerist: one who keeps a journal or diary