Sensorium Saturday: The City of Angels in horror

This is my usual writer's journal to keep track of the senses and not part of the Space Explorer 365 story (365 words of story for 365 days from March 20, 2016 to March 19, 2017) ...
Taste: maccachino; hot maca; rich Chateau du Vampire; green tea cake; cauliflower tacos; Dr. Jekyll's Bio Beer
Sight: the Santa Monica Pier; Guillermo del Toro's books; Eyvind Earle Landscapes, 1970-96
Sound: Tactical Sekt; Ivardensphere; traveling by bus; a Serbian accent
Smell: forests; autumn leaves; rainfall
Touch: vibration, bass
Extra:

"They blow the souls of the trees about the sky like clouds." — Algernon Blackwood, The Man Whom the Trees Loved

"When a novel gets going and finds its necessary course, its momentum carries me along like a boat on a river. If I’m the writer, I’m the pilot, steering the craft the best I can; but I’m also free, because I’m carried by the power and following the way of the water." — Ursula K. Le Guin in Publishers Weekly, Four Questions for...Ursula K. Le Guin

"The point of being over forty is to fulfill the desires you've been harboring since you were seven." — Guillermo del Toro on his Rain Room, LACMA Guillermo del Toro Exhibit

Grateful for: genesis of an idea; a spark of inspiration; ease of transportation

Comments

Thoughts on "Depression Hates a Moving Target": What I Mean by Relatable

Relatable — I used this word in my reviews of Depression Hates a Moving Target by Nita Sweeney on Goodreads and Amazon . It's a nice word, but overused of late. So, it feels lazy. What do I mean? I connected with this book. It made me reflect more on my own first marathon experience. It made me want to put on my running shoes and head out the door again. In fact, I did. Now, typically, my mental health doesn't hinder my ability to do the stuff I want to do and my body flies under the radar. Still, I also felt goofy stepping out in my running gear a lot of the time. I didn't see myself as a "runner" or an athlete. And, I had no idea if I could run 13 miles let alone 26.2 when I started. More to the point, could I stay moving for the 4+ hours straight it would take to complete the marathon? To do the training mileage, I knew I'd have to run through streets and trails on my own and that made me nervous, too. Waves of grief wash us to strange shores. Whe...

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Springy story review: "State Change" by Ken Liu

Why it springs to mind: You'll never look at an ice cube the same way again. Where read: In the 2014 Hugo award-winning Lightspeed Magazine , August. Length: 5,194 words Summary: A woman has an ice cube for a soul. Memorable: How the story invites us to think about the shape of our soul, how it (or our perception of it) influences us and how it changes. What ordinary every day object would your soul be? A silver spoon, a beech stick? A great party conversation starter, this. Quote: “All life is an experiment." Notable: The protagonist Rina is an avid reader (always a good choice). Pairs well with: T.S. Elliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay Origin: The story was written in 24 hours based on a writing prompt. (See Author Spotlight: Ken Liu ) About the author: Ken Liu’s debut novel, The Grace of Kings , the first in a fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, is due out from Saga Press ( a new Simon & Schuster imprint ) in 2015.

Shel Graves' Sensorium

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