You should see us in the shade
Like everyone else, my niece has been having a tough time lately, so I ordered her a plush Tiktaalik from the Paleontological Research Institution, makers of the Paleozoic Pals. It arrived this afternoon ahead of schedule—all hail the USPS, dammit—and my mother sent me the visual evidence in the form of photos and a few brief seconds of my niece on her way to bed with a 37-million-year-old fishapod, saying, "Thank you," while she makes its finny tail wave gently. It has an even sweeter face in person than on the website.
1.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thisbluespirit has made an excellent quantity of gifs for Count Dracula (1977), which I now wish I were rewatching. I can't believe I had managed to forget that its Renfield and Mina actually kiss.
2. Back sometime before the Cambrian radiation, I had ordered Emily Tesh's Silver in the Wood (2019) from Porter Square Books; then the state shut down and my friendly local independent bookstore with it. They finally just delivered the book to me this week and I very much enjoyed its charming, Victorian-ish, old weird m/m (I am tempted to write m/tree) romance; it suffered a little from the difficulty I am having lately with a lot of published novellas, namely that I would have enjoyed them even more as novels, but it contained elements reminding me by turns of Robert Holdstock, Peter S. Beagle, Greer Gilman, and (mostly because I can't see a quartered circle in a context of British myth without thinking of) Susan Cooper, and still felt like itself. I am entertained that one of the characters was exactly the sort of person whom I normally like best and then I liked his mother even better. I am fascinated that it is now possible to jump from AO3 to Tor. The sequel coming out this summer is called Drowned Country, so of course I've preordered it.
3. I can't wait for there to be used book stores again so that I can hunt for my own copy of the published script of Aki Kaurismäki's I Hired a Contract Killer (1990). Actually, I can wait as long as it takes to be safe, because I have a lot of opinions about that.
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thisbluespirit has made an excellent quantity of gifs for Count Dracula (1977), which I now wish I were rewatching. I can't believe I had managed to forget that its Renfield and Mina actually kiss.2. Back sometime before the Cambrian radiation, I had ordered Emily Tesh's Silver in the Wood (2019) from Porter Square Books; then the state shut down and my friendly local independent bookstore with it. They finally just delivered the book to me this week and I very much enjoyed its charming, Victorian-ish, old weird m/m (I am tempted to write m/tree) romance; it suffered a little from the difficulty I am having lately with a lot of published novellas, namely that I would have enjoyed them even more as novels, but it contained elements reminding me by turns of Robert Holdstock, Peter S. Beagle, Greer Gilman, and (mostly because I can't see a quartered circle in a context of British myth without thinking of) Susan Cooper, and still felt like itself. I am entertained that one of the characters was exactly the sort of person whom I normally like best and then I liked his mother even better. I am fascinated that it is now possible to jump from AO3 to Tor. The sequel coming out this summer is called Drowned Country, so of course I've preordered it.
3. I can't wait for there to be used book stores again so that I can hunt for my own copy of the published script of Aki Kaurismäki's I Hired a Contract Killer (1990). Actually, I can wait as long as it takes to be safe, because I have a lot of opinions about that.
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Thank you. I sent her the sticker, too. I love that she loves fossils and I want it to be safe for me to take her to museums again.
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I loved their scenes. I've realized I care a lot about how a version of Dracula handles its Mina and Renfield—the half-brides of Dracula.
I really need to do a rewatch.
If you find it streaming anywhere, please let me know. I rented it from the library in 2011!
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YAY.
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And as for Silver in the Wood reminding you of Susan Cooper, I have to do a double take every time I see that title mentioned and think hard to understand we're not talking about Silver on the Tree. Not that I remember very much [read: anything, really--the only book I remember in the series is The Dark is Rising]. Still, the two titles get tangled in my mind! But I do love the title, and I love the title of the sequel even more!
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I hoped she would like it—it was a surprise—and she did. She has a trilobite and a buzzsaw shark already. But a Tiktaalik just seemed like a good thing to have right now.
And as for Silver in the Wood reminding you of Susan Cooper, I have to do a double take every time I see that title mentioned and think hard to understand we're not talking about Silver on the Tree.
Understandable! And I would be surprised in the extreme if the author hadn't read the books.
Not that I remember very much [read: anything, really--the only book I remember in the series is The Dark is Rising].
The sequence holds up. There's one element of the ending I have never liked and fortunately
But I do love the title, and I love the title of the sequel even more!
I can't speak to the sequel yet, but I do think you would like the book.
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Everyone ought to have a fishapod.
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And I'm glad you had fun with the gifs.
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The existence of the Paleozoic Pals makes me very happy and the fact that my niece likes them makes me even happier.
And I'm glad you had fun with the gifs.
I really appreciated them. It's been a rough week.
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I support this plan.
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I will tell my mother, who took it!
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We thought so!
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I adored the Susan Cooper books. My BA is in writing for children, though I'm sure no one would believe that from what I write these days!
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I like my niece a lot.
I adored the Susan Cooper books. My BA is in writing for children, though I'm sure no one would believe that from what I write these days!
That's wonderful! In the creative writing sense or the sense of scholarship on children's books?
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Nice!
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I'm glad!
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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/first-spinosaurus-tail-found-confirms-dinosaur-was-swimming/
>>I am fascinated that it is now possible to jump from AO3 to Tor. <<
Maybe. Included in the recent MacMillan layoffs were several editors from Tor. I can't find the thing now, but it didn't look good.
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Oh, nice. I know someone who may need that news, too.
Maybe. Included in the recent MacMillan layoffs were several editors from Tor. I can't find the thing now, but it didn't look good.
That is not nice at all.