Sensorium Saturday: Terribly Awesome and Awesomely Terrible

Taste: curry
Sight: misty mornings; candled mornings - flickering candlelight; acorns; The Great Wheel at sunset on a glorious October evening; Lock, Stock & Barrel; bubbling froth; water boiling directly on the red stove in the dark
Sound: pigs nibbling grass and munching hay; rustling leaves; acorns crunching underfoot; "I don't know why I am so into pirates. It's just something in my soul."; panko
Smell: fermented white beans; sour white beans; Funnel of Love - Only Lovers Left Alive BPAL Touch: llama nuzzles; soft ears; shuffling through fallen leaves, raking and picking up leaves; a poofy dress and demon horns
Extra: a secondary world; magical; fellow traveler - hermano caminante; fearless writing horns; World Vegan Day and NaNoWriMo kickoff on the same day;

“Part of the calling of women...is to revive a spirituality of creativity that is not afraid of the strange beauty of the underwater world of the subconscious, and to help men out of the restricted and narrow world of provable and limited fact in which society has imprisoned them,” says Madeleine L’Engle in an article in the summer 1987 issue of Ms in

Grateful for: warm greetings, animal friendships; being just being, watching beings being, listening to beings being, being with beings being - peaceful presence; tofu — is a magic food — a blank slate for flavor; starting the morning with a clean coffee pot

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...

Springy Story Review: "Gestella" by Susan Palwick

Why it springs to mind: A hauntingly beautiful horror story about what happens when a woman relinquishes her power. A unique werewolf story with commentary on aging. Where read: First in Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology ( 2015, PM Press edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer) and then in Palwick's collection The Fate of Mice ( 2007, Tachyon Publications ) — both outstanding! These presses won't steer you wrong. Summary: A young woman werewolf allows herself to be dominated by a lover who takes control of her fate. Memorable: The powerful ending! The word: sportfuck. A new take on lycanthropy. Written in second person — you. Quote: "You know that your growing wisdom is the benefit of aging, the compensation for your wrinkles and your fading—although fading slowly as yet—beauty. You also know that Jonathan didn't marry you for wisdom." Personal connection: Some of my favorite stories seem to be the ones that address t...

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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