Rants About New (and old) Things
I was up this past weekend visiting family in Connecticut. Small towns and other suburbs are always interesting because everything is so close together that things should be walkable, but the sidewalks disappear so clearly they don't really expect you to walk. But I noticed when at my relative's house that the trains sound different. I can't quite come up with how to describe it but it's almost…
I went to take in some tennis as part of the DC tennis tournament last weekend. I had originally meant to buy a ticket for one session this weekend but forgot and it sold out so I opted for a quiet weekend. As it turned out, there was a lot of shuffling Sunday because there was rain predicted, and even with only three finals left to go, they needed to get through them and the awards ceremonies,…
I saw the live capture of "Hadestown: The Musical" Sunday during what was initially going to be a 5 day run in theaters. It has now been extended. Since I reviewed the live show, I'm just going to make a list of things I like and didn't here. Love: Eva Noblezada, Patrick Page (on a ruptured achilles, shout out to the costume designer for that sparkly leg brace), Amber Gray, Andre De Shields, Reeve…
Hello there! Today (July 28th, 2026 in case you are reading this on a different day) is Romance Book Blast. Over 950 authors have made their romances free in ebook forms. Including my Repeated Burn which you can find on the short reads page. If you need a few or a few hundred more romances, there are lots of choices. Go forth and get ready to read! www.romancebooklovers.com Also, as of early this…
Some days it's really tough to think long term. Right now I have a trip coming up and I want to take a new knitting project on the trip with me. Except, I haven't finished the last three projects I'm working on. Two are sweaters that are bulky and not great travel projects. Though both would be super helpful in my cold cold office. One is a sock weight shawl where I've finished the colorwork,…
I don't use AI to write. AI has in fact illegally used me to write. Sure, sometimes the entitity hosting my words have permission, but I haven't and they are my words. For me drafting is fun. I love the surprise when a few stray plot bits coalesce. I love when characters says things I didn't consciously know they were going to say. But if I wanted to read something someone else wrote, there are…
I like heat. I even like humidity. (Dry air send my throat, eyes, nasal passages into a panic.) I also like watching tennis which around here happens in the dead heat of summer. My favorite social media comment ever was a guy yelling at the tournament account that they shouldn't hold tennis tournaments when it's going to rain. And well, we really need that rain when the heat index is triple…
It is the Romancing the Vote auction, raising funds for voting rights here in the US and I have two items I am going to get a little long winded about, even though they already have descriptions. First, I love quotes. I used to have a box of index cards, just with quotes from various books I loved on them. And last auction I felt bad about not being able to offer international shipping, so tried…
Note: I am, of course, going to include my books in this. I skipped a few I don't have suggestions for. Character smells like fresh cut grass Song Lyrics: Oh hello, both I Belong to You and Presented with Love would work for this. I Hate Everyone But You: Zomromcom by Olivia Dade National Park: Hello again, I Belong to You fits here as well, with Rock Creek Park. Of Kings and Queens also mentions…
Content note: discussions of pandemics "A Fine Madness" in being staged in multiple locations across DC. I saw it at the Hamiltonian Gallery on U Street. "A Fine Madness" is technically a one person show, although it is interactive, so the audience is part of the show, to the extent they wish. The show is a few things. It's a little bit autobiographical. It's a little bit reflective. It's a little…
Happy Kings bad, but Lei pretty day, or as it is more commonly known, King Kamehameha Day. As newsletter subscribers already know, my two books that mention King Kamehameha Day are on sale. Aloha to You has a very brief mention as Adriana does a whirlwind of lei making. Of Kings and Queens has much of the action taking place on King Kamehameha Day. Aloha to You is a little bit snarky dude, anxious…
The Tony's were last night, and not all my faves won. Sure, very many of my faves were up against each other. One could also argue that I have too many faves for someone who has not yet seen these particular shows. But in the end, just being nominated is an honor. There were only six eligible musicals this year and the nominations don't even fully reflect that. Don't get me wrong winning is cool…
It is the Tony's this Sunday and so we revive the annual tradition of me describing Tony nominated plays and musicals in a single sentence, aka badly. It should be said, I tend to amuse myself describing them so succinctly you can't really tell what it's about. But these are great works, and trust that I have been scouring interviews with everyone, and and so excited to see more of what this…
I am currently editing a novel that has taken much longer than expected to edit. So a musical about trying to finish a musical is both entirely on point, and perhaps something I am not in the best place to analyze. Aguardiente is primarily in Spanish. I do speak some Spanish, but not enough to keep up with a musical. There were captions, so I was following along quite well, but when a few people…
I went to the Gaithersburg Book Festival this weekend, and bought more books than I planned. (I always think I am less susceptible to paper books and then I remember I can give them as gifts and well, things escalate.) I decided to not set an alarm. Well, Friday night me decided not to set an alarm. A prior me had set one, but put it at 8pm not 8am so it was not very helpful. But while there were…
It is Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage month here in the US. I've been writing about this for years, and each year it gets a little easier to find titles to talk about. I'm a big fan of reading diversely. Different genres, sure, but different viewpoints and perspectives also. No, that doesn't mean you need to read books by or about anyone who thinks you or the people…
As the weather gets warmer I get so excited about the increase of things to do an see that sometimes I forget to have a day or two where I can just be. Or play silly phone games. Hang with my cat. Knit. Read. Just kind of be. Where the plan is no plan. Productivity is great but what if sometimes I didn't focus on that. Sometimes creatives call this filling the well, and yes, that too. But I think…
This past weekend was Independent Bookstore Day and Local Yarn Store Day (the weekend before Maryland Sheep and Wool too, someone hates my wallet). I roped a friend into doing the DC Bookstore Crawl with me. I had, because I apparently like to stack a day, also planned a vet appointment for my cat. So we did that in the morning and then headed out around lunch for books and yarn. The DC area is…
It was an odd year to be a Caps fan. After they exceeded expectations last year, they of course got rewarded with higher expectations, and did not quite live up to them. There's a business adage about under promising and over delivering, and it's because if you say it will be done Friday, but deliver Thursday, people will be pleasantly surprised. They sort of never talk about how next time, they…
Wikipedia has an entry on relative Risk that I find fascinating. We all, for very good historical and biological reasons, factor in our own experience when calculating risk. So sure, there's research and evidence, but you also are gonna say, nope, I got food poisoning last time I went there, so never again. It also means when something happens near you, in a place you visit all the time, you…
I went to a men's college basketball game earlier this year (My sports superstitions for basketball are basically non-existent unlike other sports.) It reminded me of a story. I went to a family wedding up in Connecticut. As we arrived at the reception, the person next to me grabbed my arm and said, "Oh my God that's Geno. Look, it's Geno!" I said, very sincerely, "I don't know who that is l,but I…
There is a thing people say about how the word no is a complete sentence. As in, no I will not be doing that. Or no, if you do that, I will not be applauding you or supporting you. It of course doesn't mean you always get your way. There are moments when it is useful to be in brainstorm mode. To say, oh great idea but what if we did this instead. If everyone is trying to figure out where to eat…
"As You Like It" is one of Shakespeare's comedies, which basically means everyone doesn't die at the end. It uses two setting the court and the forest of Arden where folks who have been banished from court have gone to hang out. Basically there's a disgraced Duke, the younger son of a deceased Duke, whose brother has refused to look after him, and then we add the daughter of a disgraced Duke, and…
Content note: discussions of grief There was a movie version of this first. I have not watched it, though I am now intrigued. I basically read the description of the show, which boiled down to a classified ad seeking a time travelling partner and including the titular line, safety not guaranteed, and I was in. The cast is only six, plus the band, and there are a few moments where the cast…
Content note: off stage death. We read "Inherit the Wind" in high school and I adored it. I described it to a coworker as a story about a teacher who gets in trouble for teaching Biology, which is both true and taking a side. The program note mentions that the show is talking about bigger issues than who is right and who is wrong. So me taking a side in the court case is sort of beside the point.…