It’s November! That means EVERYTHING is happening!

Posted by: Redhead on: November 3, 2019

• In: Uncategorized
• 13 Comments

Hello and happy November!    I hope everyone has recovered from eating too much candy  on Halloween, and that your yards are full of beautiful autumn leaves.  Even when it’s cloudy and gloomy,  the sherbet oranges, pear-y yellows, and luscious crimsons in my front yard make every day this  time of year feel technicolor.

 

What’s all going on, you ask?  Only everything!   The hardest part is deciding what to say Yes to! (actually, you don’t have to say Yes to anything. You can be like me this year, and lurk!)

 

November is Sci-Fi Month, hosted by Dear Geek Place (twitter: @deargeekplace )  and Always Room For One More (twitter: @imyril).  I’ve know these bloggers for years, and everything they do is fun, engaging, and no pressure.  Looking to meet more bloggers who like talking about the same things you do? Sci-Fi Month is a great way to do it.  Follow all the fun @SciFiMonth.

SciFiMonth has not one, but two read alongs planned!  Dear Geek Place and Jorie Loves a Story are co-hosting a read along of Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers,  and Imyril at Always Room for One More is hosting a read along of The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.  The Sparrow is one of my all time favorite books – the only problem with that book is that you can only experience it the first time once.  That said, no matter how times I have reread it,  the ending never loses it’s power to knock me flat.  I WILL be lurking in the read along of The Sparrow!

 

You’ve got the month of December off,  for family holiday stuff,  24 hours Christmas movie marathons and such, and then it’s time for Vintage Science Fiction Month in January! (twitter:  @VintageSciFiMonth)

I’ve been involved with Vintage Science Fiction month for I have lost track of how many years now.  Thank goodness for Jacob at Red Star Reviews for being my co-host again this year!  Jacob has tirelessly promoted Vintage Science Fiction Month on Instagram and Youtube, saving this elderly blogger from having to learn yet more social medial platforms.

 

My involvement with Vintage Month this year will involve a lot of short opinion pieces, links to Vintage goodies around the ‘blogosphere, and links to articles that can give some context to the whole thing, including this guest post I wrote a few weeks ago.   And if you prefer your science fiction a little on the scary side, there’s an excellent post over at Kaedrin’s blog about the intersection of horror and vintage scifi.

 

So, that should keep you busy for the next few months!

 

What have I been up to lately?

It’s been slow going with Steven Brust’s The Phoenix Guards.  it’s not the book, it’s me. I just don’t have the patience for this particular book right now.  Also? I think I’m just not that into The Three Musketeers.  #sorrynotsorry

 

Looking for something scifi-y, but not dark and terrible, I picked up The Visitors by Clifford Simak.  Huge Black boxes from space (monoliths.  they’re monoliths) land all over North America.  They mostly just sit there, doing nothing.  A bunch of them start eating trees,  a few cars get eaten.  but the aliens don’t interact with people, don’t seem to want to interact with people, but will defend themselves. Some of the monoliths have baby monoliths.  This book is very peaceful.  The plot follows some government advisors to the President, some local newspaper reporters, and a grad student who gets a little too close to one of the monoliths.  It’s just so very peaceful.  It’s exactly what i need in my life right now.

 

I’m enjoying the “This Podcast will Kill you” podcast.  it’s about poisons? and biology? I think?  I like the two ladies who do the ‘cast,  they communicate high concept science stuff in a way that I can understand.  Listening to this podcast helps me feel smart.  I think if I had a chance to be 19 again, and decide a college major again, I’d choose the biology one that teaches you how the inside of your body works.  Cuz, like, I really like understanding more about that!  Why do I get bloated? when my tummy is “rumbling”, what’s really happening in there?  Why does a pulled muscle hurt? how does a paper cut heal?  when I’m sick, where the hell does all this snot even come from?

 

On that gross note, yes, there has been tons of delicious food happening in my house lately!  Husband made me an amazing Avgolemono soup, it is Greek lemon chicken and rice soup that is thickened with egg.  The whole thing came together in about 30 minutes, and it was amazing!

 

there is gluten free bread in the oven right now, I’m trying a recipe from this America’s Test Kitchen Gluten Free cookbook.  We were wanting a multi-grain GF bread that had lots of flavor, seeds, and was low salt. and who knew?  with yeast breads, the less salt you have, the higher of a rise you’ll get!  Bread should be ready to eat at dinner time tonight, i’ll let you know how it turned out.

I’ve got a whole chicken sitting in the fridge, waiting to be covered in butter, herbs, and spices. I can’t decide if I want to go the traditional parsley, celery, salt route, or go the Chinese five spice with star anise route.  I do have all that star anise.   We might end up with with PSL chicken for dinner.

And I’ve been thinking lately, instead of asking myself “what do I wanna eat?” I should be asking myself “how do I want to feel in an hour?”

 

What reading, cooking, and autumn-y activities have you been up to lately? What fun stuff is on your schedule? What are you reading? Watching anything cool on TV?

 

What’s with all this lurking about?

i’ve been lurking online lately. Barely blogging, not posting formal book reviews, not participating in read alongs or themed months or really anything.  What the hell is that all about??  Put plainly, my life is busy these days.  I love my day job, and it’s busy AF. I have a long commute.  Yes, yes, I am aware that i have the same 24 hours in every day that Beyonce has, but 11 of those hours are spent working/commuting to work, 7 of those hours are spent trying to get some damn sleep.  With other things going on in my life, I am spread too thin to be saying Yes to everything under the sun. What it comes down to is that I’m putting me before you, and saying “yes” to literally as little as possible.  #no_regrets.