Shel Graves' Sensorium

Hey, I read 108 books this year. I did the Goodreads reading challenge for the first time and made my goal. Bookishness of the Year:  Fiction: These are the books I keep talking about, thinking about and recommending. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers An Oath of Dogs by Wendy Wagner Short stories: Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers Non-fiction: No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin Poetry: So Far So Good by Ursula K. Le Guin, another wonderful book published by Copper Canyon Press Luna Station Quarterly : I've been a volunteer editor for this speculative fiction magazine featuring stories by emerging women authors. I loved that we did a Crones theme issue . And this dog story  brought me to tears. Quote of the Year:  "There is no truer animal in all creation than a dog. A dog’s heart beats so steadfastly you could set the clock of the universe to it." — Wendy Wagner, "An Oath of Dogs...

Keeping it personal, the worst thing that happened this year — My car was rear-ended by a semi-truck on I-5. Fortunately it was stop and go traffic. I was fine but Parthen ("ogenesis, big black nemesis") was totaled. Now I'm driving the The Hawkline Monster, so that's an upswing. Taste: dry mouth Sight: A water spray!; the officer's reflection Sound:  Crunch!, fast talking, small cutoff scream  Smells:  pavement, rubber, heat, fuel Touch: aching wrists Quotes: Keeping it political, the worst thing that happened this year was just about everything. But I love these quotes: “That which is hateful unto you do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah. The rest is commentary. Go forth and study.” — Hillel  “I know that many men and even women are afraid and angry when women do speak, because in this barbaric society, when women speak truly they speak subversively - they can't help it: if you're underneath, if you're kept ...

This year, the legendary writer Ursula K. Le Guin died on Jan. 22. My little dog, Trooper, died on Aug. 13. I worked my first full year at Pasado's Safe Haven as a dog caregiver. My story "Watch Out, Red Crusher!" was published in Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers. My best of reflects this — lots of dog, solarpunk, and Le Guin. Taste: A new vegan restaurant opened on the Mukilteo waterfront —   Sage and Cinder's  dates stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in vegan prosciutto. I got to try it opening weekend. GoMacro Bars : Um, I ate a lot of these this year. The peanut butter ones are now my favorite. I first tried them because they were a giveback bar for Farm Sanctuary, .  Wayward Vegan Cafe added a breakfast poutine to their menu. I ordered this often. At home, I made gluten-free cornbread and really liked macadamia and oat milk. In drink, it was all about the Reign in Blood (I just love the name of Highline Bar's bloody mary) at Mechanismus. S...

Taste: latkes and homemade applesauce Sight: mud, mud, muddy dogs!; sparkles; bleach spots Sound:  a branch hitting the windshield; Bark!; Bork! Smell: vanilla hair gloss Touch: soft paw upon face; shake it off; sore toes-aching, red, puffy, numb Extra: "I'm not getting old I am time-traveling slowly."; Shake it off.; "Why should I flail about with words, when love has made the space inside me full of light?"  -Kabir; sushi underwear Grateful for: libraries; dogs; comic books; actors, artists, dancers, directors

On the 17th of December we gathered in Craigdarroch Castle. Having ferried to Vancouver Island, the capital, Victoria. Boughs decked the hall, he well-suited with a green velvet bow, Mr. Bell. Holding our breaths, she appeared rosy-gold hues and petals, Ms. Cannon. Later we celebrated the marriage, Mr. and Mrs., dining at the hotel Magnolia. Night-filled ceremony, lit bright over the city, our happiness a single star. A year gone by and think of the light streaming from that star, A light year to reach us, our home and castle, Yet stands a 150-year old monumental magnolia, A tree reminds us we've no escape from time and tension. Queen Victoria, Reigned sixty-three years and seven months. Reach for a cannon, Consider the heavens, shot full of mind, searching for the lingering ring of a bell. He has been working for travel and learning the ways of fatherhood, Mr. Bell. In the Underdark, games with Crows—ridiculous movies with death stars. She has since grown a human i...

Taste:  pistachios and cardamom creme Sight: a funeral pyre with flowers; tooth protruding from jowl-a fang Sound: siren, a firetruck; the purr of her voice Smell: juniper, citrus, evergreen, clove Touch: soft head; tense stiff body; clean sheets; cold toes, frozen Extra: waiting; impatience; holiday blues Grateful for: Copper Canyon Press; poetry