The feed of updates to TAMARAndom
And this site became as quiet and full of good intentions that never got past intention just like the rest of 2025. Hello if you’re reading this afterward. It was not my best year, but if it is any consolation I was hardly alone in that experience. So far, 2026 does not look to be shaping up to be any less stressful, but it still has a chance to smarten up. This afternoon I learned that there was…
It’s already half past February. We had a giant ice storm followed by about a day of thawing and then a second ice storm. As a result, once again, Portland shut down for a week. Thankfully I was able to get by with what I had in the house, though the pantry ended up completely empty, and I slipped on the ice trying to get even to the neighborhood store when I eventually ran out of caffeine…
I’m working on two different books at the moment, and have decided to ask for help to get to the finish line with both of them. If you’re interested in some old-school patronage for ancient Egypt related publications, the (long) information about how you can take part is here .
Somewhere in the next world, Dorothy Parker is (allegedly) demanding an explanation . They’re having another year. Here’s hoping Gregorian 2024 is more kind and provides a better pleasant to unpleasant ratio than the last few years have managed for so many. I am of course stating this much more politely than I, or Dorothy, would like, but that’s also because I know better than to tempt fate. Since…
The publisher finally gave me the okay to share the cover for the encyclopedia. It won’t be formally released for a bit yet (current date is April 2024), but it’s available for preorder now at their website (llewellyn.com) and should start appearing in other bookstores for presale relatively soon as well. We’re one step closer to the book being in people’s hands, and I couldn’t be happier about…
Friday the gallbladder left the body. Due to a pharmacy short staffing I was unable to get any of the medication the surgeon suggested would help me through the pain of the first few days and spent the weekend with over the counter Tylenol and a lot of praying that I wouldn’t have to go back to the hospital. Seem to have made it through only slightly worse for wear and with five rather…
More bookends. After another review the conclusion is that I have gallstones, so that will have to be resolved in the near future. Ouch. On the plus side: treatable, even if painful. I find myself deeply relieved to have an answer I can do something with for a change of pace. Otherwise I am continuing to do all the things, waiting on answers, completing edits for the big encyclopedia project (my…
Today’s entry is a bookend to the last one . The good news is that today is a year since Seamus of the Million Toes (this is a real name that the vet gave him I promise and not something I plucked out of an Irish history) came home with me. He continues to be a great roommate, even if he does chew on my sleep mask at 4am. The not so good news relates to the medical tests; the CT scan concluded…
It seems to be that time of year for me to do a bunch of medical tests to find out what’s wrong since we can’t seem to figure it out from the tests we already did. I have a CT scan tomorrow, and follow up will depend on what is seen. The best possible answer is something awful, and I find myself in a weird place for the first time in my life where I’m wishing for that best possible awful because…
My personal website at https://www.tamarasiuda.com got a complete revamp this week, with the addition of a bookstore ( https://www.tamarasiuda.com/shop ). There is also a new book (well, a new edition of an old book!) to be found there, a translation of an important ethical text contained in the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Not bad for also juggling massive numbers of doctors appointments,…
Today marked the end of the significant changes my editor asked for on the encyclopedia. All that’s left now is to clean up all the small bits, like making sure certain words are italicized and others aren’t, double checking an appendix, inserting the foreword, etc. I started this project with a Kickstarter five years ago this month. It does not feel like it’s been that long - probably at least a…
So yes, we are going to reboot this thing for Gregorian 2023. I’ve signed up with the Bring Back Blogs! Project to get some encouragement as well: https://bringback.blog/ Join us, it’ll be fun to talk about things again, right? And it won’t be 2022 anymore….
I posted a snippet of a story related to June 7 on my Patreon this afternoon. My intention was to share a meaningful event as part of my writing warmup today. June 7 has a specific meaning to me related to something that happened to me when I was 15 years old, and subsequent revisiting of the things and people which that event made me think about each year afterward. In sharing it, it was just a…
Yesterday I moved furniture (gently!) so I can install the portable air conditioner in the office. Seamus, my new feline companion who arrived in March after Zigzag left me in February, is absolutely livid that the room layout has changed. He has spent most of the afternoon running around the house at full speed meowing about how wrong it is. I have no idea if it’s making him feel better, but…
Small bit of exploratory surgery on the 20th. Nothing was found. This is both good news (who needs more problems?) but frustrating news because it means I still have no answers for some health issues we’ve been checking into for a while now that I mentioned in my previous post. Mixed Feelings in general about this and so many other things going on in the world right now. Worrying about family who…
I’ve not posted here in an age, although thanks to the extraordinary time bend which has been the Years of Our Pandemic it simultaneously feels like yesterday when I was angsting about my manuscript. I did not make that deadline, in fact, nor did I make the one afterward. 100 Gods of Egypt finally made it to the editors in October, not June. It is even now still in edits, though now it’s in edits.…
50 days to go until the 100 Gods of Egypt manuscript is due. Not at all pleased with my pace or what I’ve been working on, but I’m also in the “ get it written then get it right” camp. So writing happens even if I end up redlining most of it at some point. It is gratifying, and even fun, to revisit these topics after years not being able to spend as much time with them because my work carried me…
September must have gone to keep August company. At least here in Oregon, it pretty much went up in smoke.
where did August go?
Sunday evening I marked my 51st birthday quietly, after a hot day in coronavirus lockdown, and a disappointing dinner which I cooked incorrectly. Last year I had intended to celebrate this year, since I’d not had any chance to do anything nice on my 50th birthday due to being at a conference. This year, I was supposed to be in Belgium - I would’ve completed a conference on Friday, and had planned…