Archives
Posted by Justine at 11:14, July 5th, 2004 under Musings, Sport |
This is Not a Blog
Nor is it a pipe.
I ran into an aquaintance recently who told me how much they enjoy my blog—except for one thing: I don't update it anywhere near frequently enough.
I thanked them for the compliment—every writer longs to be told they're being read—and then set them straight on the blog thing, which may not have been such a good idea because who adores a pedant? I don't know if they'll continue to read these humble musings. Nevertheless . . .
...
Posted by Justine at 15:14, June 20th, 2004 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Musings |
It's a less than three days until the Memorial Day weekend, so me and Scott, we're all set to head off to
WisCon, the greatest convention in the known universe. We've turned down a bunch of invites here in Manhattan and our explanation for saying no has, as usual, raised eyebrows. Most of our NYC friends aren't part of the sf or publishing world and some are puzzled by our disappearing periodically to attend conventions. Disappearing to Sydney for months and years at a time they understand (sort of—do New Yorkers ever really understand people who live anywhere but NYC whenever they possibly can?), but sf conventions? In the Midwest? Huh?
The short answer as to why we go to ...
Posted by Justine at 11:16, May 25th, 2004 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Musings |
Like many writers, I'm fascinated by natter about writing and publishing. Whenever I'm online I check out
bookslut and a large smattering of writers' and editors' blogs, curious to know who's being published or not published by whom, how big other writers' advances are, and what the latest
Martin Amis gossip is (scroll down—got to love the London publishing scene).
The internet overflows with such talk. There's a great deal of angst-ridden discussion about who can call themselves a writer. Do you have to be published to qualify? And if so, what kind of published? Do short stories and poems count or does it have to be a book? Do they have to be professional publications? If you're paid ...
Posted by Justine at 11:17, March 25th, 2004 under Musings |
Posted by Justine at 11:07, March 15th, 2004 under Musings |
making the world a better place
Posted by Justine at 23:04, February 22nd, 2004 under Musings, Words & Language |
a pared-down, embarassingly easy introduction to the world's holiest game
Posted by Justine at 23:03, February 16th, 2004 under Best of Blog, Cricket, Musings, Sport |
Justine's intemperate response to the readers' responses to her Being Dumped musing
Posted by Justine at 23:02, January 27th, 2004 under Musings, Ranting, State of the World |
and only five weeks left
Posted by Justine at 23:01, January 26th, 2004 under Magic or Madness trilogy, Musings, New York City/USA, Scott's books, Sydney/Australia, Words & Language, Writing life |
Justine moves beyond first grade primers (¡Mira Juan corre!) and reads a whole novel in Spanish
Posted by Justine at 22:59, January 22nd, 2004 under Cricket, Musings, Reading, Sport, Travelling, Words & Language |
Raymond Chandler would lock himself in a room for four hours every day. In that time he didn't have to write, but he wasn't allowed to do anything else. Not write letters, do crossword puzzles, play solitaire, read the newspaper; he could only write. Eventually boredom forced him to it.
A writer friend of mine claims there is no such thing as writer's block, only writer's procrastination. "Writer's block," she claims, "has taken on a kind of mythic status for writers and wannabe writers, and become this curse or disease the hapless writer catches. Crap. It's laziness pure and simple. Anyone can write any damn time they want to.
"If I'm having difficulty getting going I just type ...
Posted by Justine at 22:59, January 9th, 2004 under Excuses, Listening, Magic or Madness trilogy, Musings, Travelling |
split infinitives, double negatives and other grammatical idiocies
Posted by Justine at 22:55, January 6th, 2004 under Musings, Travelling, Words & Language |
an incoherent rant against romantic love
Posted by Justine at 22:02, December 31st, 2003 under Best of Blog, Musings, Ranting, State of the World |
Seven Days in San Miguel de Allende
Posted by Justine at 22:12, December 8th, 2003 under Food, Musings, New York City/USA, Travelling |
Justine starts to get some of her Spanish back
Posted by Justine at 22:11, December 8th, 2003 under Musings, Travelling, Words & Language |
The Algonquin, Andrea Marcovicci, Frank Loesser, and lots of diamonds
Posted by Justine at 22:14, November 19th, 2003 under Listening, Musings, New York City/USA, Praising |
The train went over a bump. Scott shuddered. He said it felt like something had gone through the whole train. I felt nothing, too absorbed by
Holly Black's Tithe.
About a minute later the train stopped. The announcement that followed made no sense: something about a "trespass incident" and there being "no immediate danger" to the passengers. Not the most calming statement in the world.
"I think we hit someone," Scott said.
The man behind agreed, said he'd felt the train lurch. Someone else said there'd been four suicides on this stretch of track in the past month. One woman had been on the ...
Posted by Justine at 22:15, November 3rd, 2003 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Musings, New York City/USA, State of the World |
Halloween Weekend 2003
Kelly Link and Lena DeTar look on as Justine Larbalestier and Gwenda Bond argue over who the real mastermind is.
Steve Pasechnick, Gwenda Bond, Cecilia Tan, Scott Westerfeld and Christopher Rowe dissect strange matter on the bed.
Tragically, Gwenda Bond and Kelly Link are unable to resolve their differences.
Kristen Lindvahl, Rick Bowes and Bill Shunn discuss their shared mormon past.
Posted by Justine at 11:00, October 31st, 2003 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Musings, Sport |
Because everytime I forget and call them "Americans", I get in trouble from my Mexican and Canadian friends. I hate being in trouble.
The Mexicans tell me I should call them "gringos" or "yanquis", but then it turns out that they'd also call Canadians or English people or me a gringo (okay, gringa, whatever), thus limiting the usefulness of the term. I have a Texan husband who points out that yankee does not apply to the people of the southern states of the USA. (Though from my brief sojourns in the south I noted that Southerners more commonly use the term "damnyankee" to refer to USians from the northern states.)
I'd love to call them sepos, but sadly the word derives from ...
Posted by Justine at 22:16, October 22nd, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, State of the World, Words & Language |
Justine can't get "Goin' Home" as sung by Mel Tormé out of her head
Posted by Justine at 22:17, October 9th, 2003 under Musings, Sydney/Australia, Travelling, Whingeing |
Hour of the Wolf interview postmortem
Posted by Justine at 22:18, September 13th, 2003 under Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Musings, New York City/USA |
because
Jonathan Strahan said it was only fair
Posted by Justine at 22:20, September 7th, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia |
all about WorldCons
Posted by Justine at 22:22, September 4th, 2003 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Musings, Travelling |
Justine does her bit to educate the USA
Posted by Justine at 22:24, August 26th, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Ranting, Sydney/Australia |
hastily written notes from the blackout
Posted by Justine at 22:25, August 17th, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, State of the World |
handing out voter registration cards
Posted by Justine at 22:26, July 27th, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, State of the World |
because people keep asking, Justine is forced to make invidious comparisons and start an ever-growing list (most recent additions: 25 July 2003)
Posted by Justine at 22:28, July 25th, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, Sydney/Australia |
Justine's first memories of Elvis
Posted by Justine at 22:39, July 19th, 2003 under Musings, Sydney/Australia, Viewing |
all about the religion of women's basketball
Posted by Justine at 22:40, July 8th, 2003 under Basketball, Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, Sport |
Seeing Angela Carter read her story "Peter and the Wolf" on the eve of my twenty-first birthday at the now-destroyed Harold Park Hotel in Glebe, Sydney. In one of the noisiest pubs in the world, you could've heard a pin drop. My favourite writer in all the world turned out to be the most wonderful reader in all the world. She was jaw-droppingly extraordinary.
Posted by Justine at 10:21, June 29th, 2003 under Musings, Praising, Reading, Sydney/Australia |
Scott and Justine get up way too early in the morning
Posted by Justine at 22:41, June 21st, 2003 under Listening, Musings, New York City/USA, Scott's books |
why Justine is afraid of readings
Posted by Justine at 22:51, June 19th, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, Reading |
all the things Justine loves and hates about Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Posted by Justine at 22:52, May 30th, 2003 under Musings, New York City/USA, Praising, Ranting, Viewing, Whingeing |
an account of watching a conversation between two of the most inspiring women in the universe
Posted by Justine at 22:54, May 25th, 2003 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Feminism, Musings, New York City/USA, Praising |
a partial account of Justine's research into Judith Merril and co. in New York City in the 1940s and 1950s
Posted by Justine at 21:59, November 28th, 2002 under Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Musings, New York City/USA, Research |
how a long-distance relationship can melt the space-time continuum
Posted by Justine at 22:02, October 28th, 2002 under Musings, New York City/USA, Sydney/Australia |
all about the excellence of archives, libraries, librarians and archivists
Posted by Justine at 17:39, August 19th, 2002 under Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Musings, New York City/USA, Reading, Research, Sydney/Australia |
