This little blogger turtle is writing again.  This time to, rather belatedly  [I have many good qualities.  Punctuality is not one of them], share the second award I was kindly given by Not Supermom– the Tell Me About Yourself Award.  Thank you, doll!

So, The Tell Me About Yourself Award requires the recipient to:

• Thank the person who gave the award.
• List 7 things that people may not know about you.
• Pass the award to 15 other bloggers and notify them. (Um… maybe not 15, ok?  How about seven. Seven sounds like a good number.)
• Post the badge on your blog.

It’s all rather flattering, really.

Seven things ya’ll may not know.  Hmmm…

Ok,

1. I really like doing old-fashioned, crafty things, like crochet and baking, sewing and gardening.  I get creative and experimental with them, making stuff for people I love.  At these times, my fella hums ‘The Little House on the Prairie’ theme song at me teasingly.  However, I do tend to do these things in spurts, though, and then get wrapped up in work and leave the hobbies for months at a time.  Hence, why the garden occasionally resembles the wild jungle of Borneo.

2. When I was a kid, I used to ride my bicycle over to the Helen B. Hoffman Library [an absolutely brilliant little town library], pack a picnic lunch, and spend the whole of Saturday afternoon there.  I’d check out stacks of books so tall that when I held them I couldn’t see over, pile them into my backpack, and then spend the rest of the week reading until the wee hours of the night.

3. I have an exorbitantly large family, with first cousins numbering more than two dozen (especially since we’re all older now and many are married with kids of their own).   Don’t get to see them very often because we’re spread out all over the US, but it’s nice trying to keep up with scads of cousins.

4. Speaking of numbers, I realized recently that since I’ve taught 9 years this January, and I’ve averaged 140 students a year, that means I’ve been a part (albeit a small one) in the lives of at least 1,260 students!

5.  I’ve recently become a fan of BBC radio show ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue.’  It’s been running pretty much forever, but I only recently discovered this bit of audio foolishness via my friends from England (Alan) and Australia (Jeffers).  Thanks, chaps!

6.  Twirling on a tile floor in socks is still brilliant fun, even now that I’m supposed to be a proper grown-up.

7.  My fella Dave is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Completely.  Let me ‘splain.  No, it’s too much.  Let’s let Amy sum up, shall we?  ”You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful and then you actually talk to them and five minutes later they’re as dull as a brick? Then there’s other people, when you meet them you think, “Not bad. They’re okay.” And then you get to know them and… and their face just sort of becomes them. Like their personality’s written all over it. And they just turn into something so beautiful.”  My Dave’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.

And now for the bloggers…. forgive the repetition, dears, but they are wonderful folks…
1. My sister, over at Life of a Tally Mom

2. Katie, over at Scandalous Kate Strikes Again

3.   The Vores, over at What We Blog About When We Blog About Love

4.  Doctor Thomas, who moderates our The Ark in Space blog

5. Ginger Doodles, over at (where else?) Ginger Doodles

6. Anita Marie, over at Irregular Bones

7. Jeff, over at Jeffrey Scott

Produced by: Big Finish

Series: Sixth Doctor and Dr. Evelyn Smythe

Summary: Evelyn arrives unexpectedly at the quarters of one of her former students, Sally, and proceeds, with the Doctor’s help, to tell a story of piratical adventure to the protesting Sally.  With each episode, this story takes another unexpected turn.

Unexpected Thing: Since it includes Gilbert and Sullivan music, I was under the impression that the story would be silly and lightweight.  I should have known better, given Big Finish’s other productions.  I can’t blow this for you, but just have some tissues nearby, ok?

Now, this my first Big Finish download, and I’m glad that I started here.  (Don’t worry if the sixth doc wasn’t your cup of tea on tv; he wasn’t mine, either.  He’s good here, and they make fun of his silly coat.)  I’ve been in love with Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas for many years, and the pastiches of their songs are what attacted me to this story in the first place; so, let’s begin with the music…

The compositions here are very, very strong.  Gilbert was a brilliant lyricist, and many writers since have been baffled by trying to update his lyrics.  The production team here did a lovely job within the second and third episodes, with the highlight being Colin Baker’s solo “I am the very model of a Gallafrayian Buccaneer.”  [That one's getting separated and going with my Chameleon Circuit playlist. ]Very clever work, chaps.  The overture (which is actually played at the end) combines the Who theme baseline with several themes and harmonies from a variety of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, including Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado.  It’s beautiful and worth the price of the download alone.

Another particular bit of loveliness, given my love for words, is the nature of the meta-narrative (these elements are strongest in the first episode, but resonate throughout).  Evelyn is telling the story, but she keeps getting confused and having to go back and change bits.  In addition, we soon learn that she also is hiding something.

If you don’t wish to know any more, go to the Big Finish site and download it now.  http://www.bigfinish.com/43-Doctor-Who-and-The-Pirates

**** Here there be spoilers****

Soon, the story spirls out of control, as Evelyn gets in too far before realising that she can’t escape the story without finishing it, including the parts she doesn’t want to remember.  Only after listening to the entire story does the subtitle (common in G & S works) carry its meaning and impact : The Lass That Lost a Sailor.

Speaking of Young Jem, Doctor Who as a program is rather known for its high body counts, especially of nameless soldiers, guards, and townsfolk.  Just look at Resurrection of the Daleks, for heaven’s sake!  After a while, as viewers, we come to regard these deaths of nameless guys as blasé.  In this story, though, the author writes a very powerful argument against our callous attitude towards the death of extras and minor characters.  The name games that Evelyn plays with the sailors first establish them as fairly interchangable, but this comes to an unexpected fruition in the deaths as the story continues.  Each murder builds in power, until Jem’s death becomes unbearable.  We don’t even hear/ see it, but Jem’s murder forms the crux of the story and lends it heart-breaking strength.  In fact, the tone change as we approach it provides such glaring contrast to earlier episodes that it reveals them to be Evelyn’s attempts to whistle in the dark.  It also gives us a glimpse, perhaps, why the Doctor gallavants with such jocularity around the universe, even though he carries with him the weight of constant death and evil.

Following up on the lessons we and Sally learn as we hear the story, the Doctor’s final scene alone with Sally provides a capstone to the adventure.  It could very easily have descended to preachiness, but it rather neatly side-steps this.  Instead, it just reinforces what we are all thinking, as we muse with Sally.

Overall– a strong story that unexpectedly stayed with me.  I’d definately recommend it for anyone who likes radio drama, G & S, or the Doctor.

http://www.adventuresofnotsupermom.com/2011/09/dave-and-elizabeths-happy-ever-after.html

Here’s the direct link to our Chip-In.  And thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

Dave and Eliz’s Happy Ever After

As I hear that the beginning is a very good place to start, Ginger LaRue over at Ginger Doodles honored me with the Liebster Award.  She’s a firecracker, is our Ginger, with sweet caramel at her heart.  Right now, she’s blogging her way through December with beautiful music.  I’m proud to call her my friend.  How to describe Ginger?… Well, let’s put it this way, if this were the 1940′s, any pilot, including Lord Flashheart!, would be proud to name his plane after her.

She thinks I’m a Disney character come to life, bless her.  I may dance about the house barefoot and gather flowers from the garden, but Disney princess?  I mean,  teach the woodland creatures to waltz just that one time…

So, the  Liebster Award (German for Friend, doncha know) highlights up-and-coming blogs, those with less than 200 followers. I don’t know about the less than 200 of some on my list, but as that’s math, I’m just going to ignore it anyway.

The Rules:

Upon receiving the Liebster Award, you must do the following:
1.  Show your thanks to the blogger(s) who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

My 5 Bloggers of Brilliance are:

1. http://www.adventuresofnotsupermom.com/  Because she kicks it up to levels unknown to blogger-kind! Seriously.

2. http://lifeofatallymom.com/ Because she is my sister and I love her.  Also she is a frugal-living genius and a great mom.

3. http://jefflaneaudiobooks.com/ Because he’s a fantastic up-and-coming writer who shares his novels as free weekly podcasts; I had the chance to interview him about his first novel for the podcast

4. http://scandalous-kate.blogspot.com/ Because she is Scandalous!  and she makes people snort beverages. On purpose.

5. http://www.talulahmankiller.com/ Because she’s brilliant, she’s back to writing, and her cats do not obey the laws of this universe

Also, a very special mention to http://thearkinspace.wordpress.com/ where the rather wonderful Doctor Thomas posts the Special Features to our podcast.  Check it out– it’s great fun!

Passing on the love.

Addendum: Yon Ginger above sent me a pretty awesome Christmas present!  Her delicious snickerdoodles and a mug from The Bloggess!

cookies and a sassy mug

And do check out some of her frugal ideas for living on a budget while you’re there.

My fella's favorite picture of me

I do still want to share some of my marvelous experiences, though, so I’ll write them up a few at a time– with some pictures that Dave took (as my camera battery died almost immediately upon arrival and my adaptor went caput. Ah well, he’s a better photographer than I am anyway.) 

 So, stay tuned, folks.   

I know, it’s been a long while.  How’s everyone?

Me, well, I’m two weeks into my summer vacation, and I admit to enjoying a few extremely lazy days lately. 

However, here’s the big news, are you ready?  In four days I get on a plane to visit England for two and a half weeks!!!  I’ve been planning the trip for the better part of a year now, and have been actively counting down the days since February.  Now it’s finally here, and I’m nearly ready to crawl out of my skin with excitement!  I’ve never been out of the US before. I’ve always wanted to visit England, as do most of my friends, given the number of them who’ve begged to stow-away in my suitcase the past few weeks.  There’s the Flashing Blade podcast picnic on the 2nd of July, where I’ll get to actually meet many of the people with whom I’ve only tweeted or Skyped or Facebooked or such [my inner grammar nerd is really rebelling at turning all of those words into verbs, but as I'm on vacation, I shall tell her to shush].  Incredibly looking forward to seeing friends in person!

And, most importantly of all, I’ll have over two weeks together with my fella. You know, on the same continent, which will make a nice change.  Yes, *blush* as pretty much everyone knows by now, my co-host Dave and I are a couple.  Have been for quite awhile now.  I can see the knowing grins of our PDAIS listeners from here.  Yeah, you were right, guys   Though we’ve tried to be a bit discreet, as long-distance is hard enough without everyone watching, I suspect this will come as a surprise to no one at the picnic… or on the twitters. 

We’ve got such adventures planned!  In addition to the picnic, there’ll be Shakespearean theater [Tennant and Tate in "Much Ado About Nothing"!], touristy wanderings, the Doctor Who Experience, and all kinds of wonderfulness.  Hence the update here on the blog.  I’m going to try to write down some of my England adventures– partially so I don’t forget how marvelous they all were amid the whirlwind of what I know will be a blazing fast two weeks, and partially to let my friends enjoy vicariously, the second best thing to stowing away.  Our goal is to do a few podcast discussions together and put those up on the PDAIS feed, so these might act as a supplement to those as well.  Anyway, adventures await!

So… since December… what’s been going on? 

We’ve just finished our Spring Break– which was the first Spring Break (since what, 1996?) I’ve not spent with my family.   My mom came to visit at the beginning and the end of the week, though, and it was really nice to see her.  Becoming adult friends with my mother is a great joy, really.

Most of my creative energies these days are going into preparations and recordings of our podcast, Professor Dave’s Ark in Space– PDAIS, for short– http://profdais.libsyn.com  My co-hosts (our team has grown to 5 people now:

Professor Dave, Doctor Thomas, Viki the Vixen, International Sensation Danielle, and me!).  I so much enjoy our discussions!  I’m earning my comic book nerd card at the moment, as Doctor Thomas introduces me to graphic novels.  In this latest one, we talked all about the Asterix books.  I now understand the reference in the Eddie Izzard routine about Mister Dog.   

Oh! Oh!  And I really want to tell you about, though, are tongue-in-cheek radio serial episodes Our newest escapade is our PDAIS Presents: http://pdaispresents.libsyn.com/  Right now we’re Superheroes.  Doctor Thomas writes our scripts.  If you laugh even just half as much as we do while reading and recording them…

Work-wise, well, it gets intense this time of year. A mixture of calm and relaxed days (like today) and really difficult and frustrating days (like yesterday). I’d tell you some of the shenanigans, but you wouldn’t believe me!  [Here's just a snippet.  I had to say the words, "'He threw it at me first' is not an acceptable reason for throwing books across the room." And that was before 9am in the morning. Le sigh.]  Three weeks until our big state test, so the pressures to make the kids perform is ramped up to 11.   I’m up to my ears in grading most of the time.  Starbucks becomes a bit of a second home, as massive amounts of solo venti peppermint java chip frappachinos are required to deal with the hundreds of weekly journals. 

Personally, well… let’s just say that I’ve got a really wonderful fella and am silly happy.  *blush* 

Also (and not unrelated to the previous point), I’m planning a trip this summer [end of June/ early July] to London, England– actually finally bought my airline tickets this week, which left me dancing about the living room with excitement and glee! 

Well, that’s about that.  I’ve updated my Library Bag links along the side, and after tomorrow’s library trip I’ll try to remember to update them again.  Tonight, I’m curling up with the new Carrie Bebris book.    I’d like to blog about the Kat Atkinson novel, as it had quite a few interesting points.  Oh… and in a few months I might have a really cool short story collection by a fantastic to review for you.  I should also blog about ‘Blue Box Boy’ by Matthew Waterhouse, as that was pretty special too.

Right. Calling it a night, ya’ll.

Author: Rob Shearman

Pub: Big Finish, 2009

Genre: Short Stories/ Novellas

Awards Won: Shirley Jackson Awards, Edge Hill Short Story Readers Prize,  2010 British Fantasy Awards

 The first thing you should know about this book is that it’s exactly what a short story collection should be– rather like expensive chocolate truffles.  The best way to enjoy is to slowly nibble just one at a time, savoring the flavors  and the artistry.  Then, put the book down.  Wander off, cook, feed the cat, mail the letters, or do the laundry.  As you do, the memory of the story, the ethereal taste, will ghost just along with you.  Then, sometime later… an hour, a day, just as the flavor fades… you’ll come back and taste another– different from the first and yet just as exquisite.

The second thing you should know about this book is that it’s apparently impossible to review it without resorting to lyricism.   

Shearman’s narrative style is deceptively straight-forward.  No flowery flights of language.  He creates a world in just a few deft strokes, that we completely recognize as our own–

–just to pick one, the opening of ‘Your Long, Loving Arms’ introduces us to Steve: “In the end, it was the afternoons that were killing him.  The evenings were fine.  The evenings, he could cope with.  He wasn’t working in the evenings, it was true, but that was okay, lots of people didn’t work in the evenings. He’d play with Ben a bit, like a normal dad, might read him a bedtime story if Ben fancied it. Like a normal dad, and in a normal family too, he’d cuddle up with Cheryl on the sofa and they’d watch a spot of telly, and at last Cheryl would say that she’d best go to bed, she had to be up early in the morning. And he’d go with her, though he didn’t have to be up early, not any more” (87).   Simple enough, right?  and heart-breakingly recognizable in these days of unemployment and redundancy–

– then Shearman slips our world just a little bit sideways with a word, but ever so gently that it seems the only natural way to be.  So, our Steve, in an attempt to stem the tide of those lengthening afternoons, enlists in the Tree Scheme: ”It was funny– after an hour or so you didn’t feel the stiffness in your arms.  First they numbed, then felt like something detached from the body altogether.  And when the breeze fluttered his leaves, Steve thrilled to it– the wind just teasing them, they didn’t seem so much blown about as stroked” (92).  You need to read it now, don’t you?

Hence why, though his stories are often nominated for Fantasy and Horror awards, they’re not really either, in the traditional sense– but in the sense that we are amazed and terrified by ourselves, reflected back in one of those mirrors where it’s just twisted enough that you recognize a stranger’s face in your own.  Plus, what the labels tend to set aside is the humor woven deftly into the fabric of these stories.  Not the burst into laugher in public kind– though you might, as I did, get asked what you’re grinning about, which you will find yourself utterly unable to describe– but that kind of communal recognition that life is a funny old thing, after all, but it’s ours.

Sitting here, writing this and flipping through the book to find my favorite to tell you about, I keep finding one favorite and then another and then another, but all for different reasons.  Each story’s narrator is unique and both exactly like someone you know and completely unlike anyone else at all–some through the delicacy of third person [including "Love Among the Lobelias," "Roadkill," and "Love in a Time of Sharing"] and some through the intimacy of first [including "Not About Love," "Be of Good Cheer," "14.2," and "At the Crease"].  Tenderness, shyness, loss, loneliness, hope, cynicism, yes, and longing too– the stories are about love, after all.  And, along the way, perhaps just a tinge of that fear of love gone a bit (well more than a bit really, a very very lot) wrong, there’s “George Clooney’s Mustache.” 

The third thing you should know about this book is that picking a favorite story is too hard.

Go on then.  Here you are: http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/love-songs-for-the-shy-and-cynical