Stuff That's Great

"Intertropical Convergence Zone", by Nadia Bulkin, here (http://chizine.com/intertropical_convergence_zone.htm). It's up for a Shirley Jackson Award, and it should be...just a gorgeous, dreadful little modern-day fairytale, of the very blackest sort. With that innate writer's selfishness, when I most desperately wish I'd written something, that's when I really know it must be something ultra-fine; this is, indisputably. Yet more evidence that the ChiZine bunch have monumentally discerning taste, too.;)

Also: Fantasies, by Metric, which I got yesterday (again, via nefarious means, along with the Decemberists' Hazards of Love and Who Killed Amanda Palmer?). I was already in love with "Gimme Sympathy", but "Help I'm Alive" and "Blindness" are climbing up fast from behind. I look forward to falling for everything else, piece by piece.

Re my vaunted trip to Career Planning, meanwhile--the chick I dealt with had never actually met anyone who wanted to do appliance repair before, though we did eventually locate it on the Category B schedule. Looks like school, plus a four-year apprenticeship; I'd have to do all the research (no big surprise), then wait for the government to approve me for up to $28,000 in funding. Some of that can apparently be allocated for living expenses. The trick would be to do it while still keeping up-to-date with A Book of Tongues, but other people face far worse challenges. And it's my fervent hope that Surrey Place will eventually kick in by the end of this year, before the money for Rod runs out...that'd take a lot of our current debt-load off the table, for sure. I guess we'll, as ever, see.

Today we saw the Catholic School Board's Autism team, and got a first-hand look at the one-on-one therapy they have Cal doing each JK session. Was reminded that because they want him to get as much out of the time he does spend with the other kids as possible, I should make sure he actually gets to school on time, something that's very much fallen by the wayside. I promised I would. Getting up earlier in general would be a smart idea, much like not staying up so late. And working out more, obviously (I missed BodyCombat yesterday, because I felt like even miming punching with the pizza-hand--particularly for one hour straight, while sweating effusively--might not be the best idea. Now my shoulder's puffed from inaction rather than over-use, and I'm genuinely not sure what's worse; fuck knows, it stings either way).

Okay: On to the notes-hammering, try to hook up section two, Chapter Eight. Crack 45,000. Company, march!

It Was A Very Good Year

I was just informed that I can now blog about co-winning The Vaike and Erich Rannu Fund for Writers of Speculative Literature's first official prize for fiction, earlier this morning. The winning entry on my part was "Hell Friend"; my co-winner is Nick Stokes, who won for "As Promised". (Some of my poetry also got short-listed, which is nice...and Nick and I now get to split $500.00 CDN, which is even nicer.;))

The Rannu fund was established by Sandra Kasturi and Brett Savory in honour of the 30th wedding anniversary of Sandra’s mother and step-father, and their contributions to the arts and education both in Canada and Estonia. The fund will continue to offer two $500.00 awards per year, one for fiction and one for poetry, to writers of speculative fiction of any nationality/place of residence, at any stage in their career. Check it out!

P.S.: Did you know that Amanda Palmer's "Strength Through Music" begins with a huge sample of Strindberg & Helium? "I have been working all day over these hellish flames..."