Sensorium Year in Review: Best of 2018!

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.

Sight: I just loved the cover of Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers!

Porg Solo--Sam got me a stuffed porg and I'm kind of obsessed with it.
One of the dogs I walked had a tail like a mountain lion.
Mud, mud, muddy dogs!

Sound: All about dogs! Barking, howling, snoring, whining, snarling, growling, squeaking!

Smell: Dorian Hair Gloss--someone actually told me I smelled nice because of this (which considering how much I must smell like dog/duck or other kinds of poo was especially nice).

Touch: Speaking of ducks: I love helping with waterfowl checks — the soft and smooth duck feathers, strong wings and chests, duck squirms and the webbed feet, rubbery paper, tiny toenails.

Quotes: Hey, this year these are my own quotes:

It's made for snot and anarchy.
and
Sleep is a wordless place.

Comments

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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.

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