Live in the Color of Your Dreams ! (Scarf knitted with two repetitions of the 10 stitch eyelet pattern; i.e., 22 stitches per row).
A friend taught me one of my favorite knitting patterns, almost 5 years ago. She had been very kind to me, taking me to knitting classes and “stitch and bitch” sessions for half a year, and I wanted to knit her a scarf for her birthday. But I wanted it to be something nice. She presented me with half a dozen patterns … and I said “but which do you want?”
“You’ll hate me; it is too hard” was the response.
“No I won’t; whichever one you want, I shall try.”
“Just remember, it is OK to give up.” She showed me the travelling eyelet pattern. Continue Reading →
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Lindsey Stirling, a musician and a composer, well known for combining dance with her exquisite violin performances. According to various sources on the internet, she has been doing both since a young child. Her family could only afford lessons for one, and she chose violin. Thus, her dance is self-taught: a testament to her strength and determination – I certainly cannot tell that she never had a dance lesson.
At this point, she has been both dancing and playing the violin for two decades: a virtuoso who is a delight to watch. And she has made quite a name for herself over the years. In 2005, she became Arizona’s Junior Miss, and went on to place first in the talent category at the national level. In 2010, she became a quarter-finalist on America’s Got Talent. Afterwards, she began making You-Tube videos with Devin Graham, and now has two You Tube channels with over a quarter billion views. Yes, “billion” with a “B”. In September 2012, she put out an eponymous CD, “Lindsey Stirling” (Word of the day: “eponymous” means “relating to the person for whom something is named”). And finally, she has been touring the US and Europe, giving performances to sell-out crowds. Busy lady!
This Bohemian did, on opening day, 6 April 2013, taking my daughter and son-in-law (who were kind enough to provide a ride). Every year, I get two free tickets, and this year my kids benefitted. They had recently moved here from Reno, Nevada (earlier in 2013), and so they have not had much opportunity to see this Faire, although they have been to others. Thus this year, when my wife did not want to go to opening day, I treated my newly arrived daughter and son-in-law to the Scarborough Renaissance Festival.
We had not eaten before leaving Waco, so I talked them into checking out another interesting site in eastern Texas: the city of West. Why is West, Texas in east Texas? I explained that the founder’s last name was “West.” I think they enjoyed the kolaches and pastries — the former being something else one does not find in Nevada. Of course, the folks in West are used to people wandering in their stores, this time of year, in Faire garb, so my circular tabard did not even raise an eyebrow.
I should quickly add that the dozen photos below were taken with my camera, thus I am responsible for the amateur photography! Continue Reading →
Imagine you are a single, female businesswoman, sitting quietly in a café, reading. You are about to have a quiet bite to eat with your book, when a dashing gentleman sits down at your table, pretends to be your date showing up late, and accidentally makes you the target of his arch-enemy. Crimes are committed, and the investigating detective also turns out to be interesting … and interested.
I always enjoy reading the works of Martha Wells — she is a compleat author – but the trio of books she recently released are an especial treat.
Author Martha Wells reading from her new opus. (Photo by Gary Lee Webb)
It is rare in the fantasy genre to see a story which does not involve elves and dwarves, “little folk” (leprecauns, fairies, domovoi, or gnomes/kobolds), interesting spirits (kitsune, daemons, jinni or efreet, or guide spirits), or talking animals. Yet Martha has none of that in her novels: she has created a world populated by a large variety of sentient species, many of which are humanoid, but not all (the Dwei could be described as large, sentient insects, for example; however, my guess is that glosses over many details which would belie the description). In particular, the most dominant race has members who can shift from groundling (i.e., humanoid) form to a scaled flying form with wings, arms and legs, and a balancing tail. These dragonesque humanoids are the Raksura, and it is a young Raksura, Moon, whom the reader follows through the three novels.
The Hugo committee wants all blogs about the Hugos to use this image.
Do you enjoy annual awards shows? Do you care who got the Emmys, the Tonys, and other such awards? Would you like to be one of the people who chooses the nominees or one of the people who votes for the winners?
In the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the annual awards are called “the Hugos,” and you can easily be one of the people who nominates and/or votes on who receives the award for the best movie, the best novel, the best short story, the best art, and the best (professional, semi-pro, or fan) magazine. In fact, there are 16 Hugo categories, including the intermediate sizes of work, the best editors, and the best new authors of the year.
One of the great treasures of Waco is the Cameron Park Zoo. As my readers know, I am blessed with a 20-month-old grandson, John Railroad Webb Wissinger, and he loves to make tracks. The zoo is an excellent place for him to do so. We went this past weekend and we went last month, and he had a blast, cold notwithstanding.
Over the past year, I have told my readers about legs #1 (Rapa Nui or Easter Island) and #2 (Tahiti) and #3 ( New Zealand ) of a trip my family and I took in 1985. I had the pleasure of taking my family across the south Pacific on an extended vacation. We traveled from La Serena (Chile) to Santiago de Chile to Easter Island to Tahiti to Auckland, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia and finally to Sydney, Australia. Continue Reading →
Human beings have worn clothes for over 100,000 years (there is some evidence suggesting 600,000 years). Styles have changed over the last hundred thousand years. So let’s take a look at what people wore before there was fashion, and some of the fashionable things they have worn since then. In particular, I wish to look at some classical garb, and I shall even tell you how to make some of them. This will not only prove useful the next time you are invited to a toga party, but also provide you some laughs the next time you watch a movie with actors in “period” costume.
Clothes from Ancient Cultures from “The New Student’s Reference Work”, copyright 1914 (expired).
Egyptian man
Egyptian woman
Ancient greek woman wearing a peplos
Greek man shown in “chiton”
Greek woman during Hellenistic period
Noble roman in tunic
Roman woman during the time of the roman empire
Byzantine emperor Justinian
Byzantine empress Theodora
Frankish nobleman
Frankish lady
German nobleman 13th century
German lady of nobility 13th century
Titled young lady (1400)
Titled young man (1400)
Gentleman of Burgundy
Gentleman of Burgundy
Lady of Burgundy
Nurnberg Citizen (1500)
You may ask how we know that people have been wearing clothes for the last 100,000 years. The answer is simple: for the last million years, the only significant amount of hair on the human body has been the head. Genetic testing on the head louse and the body louse tells us that they had a common ancestor, approximately 107,000 years ago, but not more recently [see citation #1 below]. The head louse needs hair to live in. The body louse has evolved so that it can make do with clothing. Therefore, 107,000 years ago, there were people wearing clothing (or the body louse could not evolve), and once some people were wearing clothing, it was only a matter of time before the idea spread widely (7,000 years is more than enough). Thus, 100,000 years ago, clothing was widespread.
Clothes were initially made from furs or leather. There really were no other options. We did not start harvesting wool from domesticated animals until there were domesticated animals, thus no knitting 100,000 years ago. By the same token, natural (i.e., unprocessed) plant parts do not make good clothes, either. Anyone who has felt a fig leaf knows that the Book of Genesis needs to be interpreted symbolically, not literally: the harsh texture of a fig leaf would quickly rub skin raw. Grass is a possibility, but even it needs to be woven. In general, plant fibers need to be processed, and it takes time to develop the knowledge and skills needed to produce useful plant fiber materials. It is not surprising that the evidence of clothing produced from either animal fiber (harvested wool) or plant fiber is much more recent.
So how did we get from furs and leathers to having textiles to make clothes from? We can only guess the dates for the first clothes, but archaeology can tell us when the textiles became available. The earliest evidence of the use of plant fibers is some flax remnants, found in the Republic of Georgia [2]. Between 30,000 – 36,000 years ago, the people of this region were spinning, dying, and knotting wild flax fibers. Knotted cloth is laborious, but people could have been making clothes out of it. The earliest domestic animal is the dog, at 30,000 to 15,000 years ago. Probably not a source of wool, however, so a more relevant animal is the sheep (the second earliest animal known to be domesticated). Sheep were domesticated 9,000 to 11,000 years ago. The use of wool for textiles undoubtedly dates from that time. Goats were domesticated “soon” (a millennium) after sheep. So by 7000 BC, someone making clothes could choose furs, leather, plant textiles, or wool. Basically all of the modern, natural materials (silk was still several thousand years in the future). But textiles required a lot of manual labor, and so they would not have been common, until it became easier to create textiles.
The “Iceman” Őtzi, found in the Alps, is a good example of what a well-dressed man would look like before textiles became common. He was warmly dressed in multiple layers of clothing: leggings, loincloth, jacket, and cape, plus hat and shoes. The leggings, loincloth, and jacket were all leather: deer and goat. The cape was made of a mixture of grass and fibers extracted from the bark of the linden tree. The hat was bearskin. His shoes had bearskin soles, goatskin uppers, and were padded with grass for warmth. Note that, other than his cape, he wore no textiles, despite living around 3200 BC, give or take a century.
Warp-weighted Loom from The History and Principles of Weaving by Hand and by Power (1878, copyright expired). Author Alfred Barlow.
The invention of the loom changed what we wore, by making textiles more widely accessible, but it did take some time to spread. The warp-weighted loom is a fairly simple device: a vertical frame with a bar to hold the top of the vertical warp threads, weights at the bottom of each warp thread to keep them taut, and some cross bars to make it easier to pass a shuttle cock with the weft thread back and forth. There is evidence of warp-weighted looms as far back as 4200 BC, and there were probably simpler predecessors earlier. With the invention of the loom, it was now possible to get big rectangular blocks of fabric: it just took someone passing the weft back and forth hundreds or thousands of times. Until the invention of the flying shuttle in 1733, and the invention of the power loom in 1784, that was the state of textiles for most people.
So what did the ancients make from big rectangular pieces of cloth? There is not space to cover the whole world, let me focus on a few examples.
Archaeological evidence (e.g.: mummified bodies) indicates that prior to the introduction of the loom, the most common garment was a loin cloth or an underskirt, usually leather. The style did not change immediately with the introduction of cheaper cloth. For example, the Minoan culture of the Eastern Mediterranean still used a “shanti” (loincloth/underskirt). It simply switched from leather to cloth. What did change was the length: after 1750 BC, the long skirt became more popular than the short underskirt. In addition, the women started wearing an open blouse with an extremely low-necked bodice.
In Egypt, cloth made from flax became the standard. The rich and powerful also had papyrus. Animal fibers were considered unclean and could only be used for cloaks and coats outside of any buildings. So here too, initially the common garment was the schenti (a loincloth), and eventually tunics and robes were added. Eventually a light tunic or short sleeved shirt was introduced and became popular after approximately 1415 BC.
In Israel and Judea, once again, early on the ubiquitous garment was a leather apron (the ‘ezor or hagor [ חָגוֹ ]), and eventually flaxen cloth replaced leather. Once cotton cloth became available, the new underwear was the kuttoneth [ כֻּתֹּ֫נֶת ], a tight-fitting, cotton undergarment with loose sleeves and open at the breast. The Old Testament tells us that someone only dressed in a kuttoneth was considered naked: to be properly clothed a man should be wearing a simla (translated as “sackcloth” in some versions of the Bible), which was a large rectangle of heavy woolen cloth, stitched together so that the front was unstitched and two openings were left for arms. It was a clumsy garment, taken off when the wearer needed to work in the fields (or do other strenuous activity).
The Greeks had a number of interesting clothes. We shall look at the chlamys, peplos, chiton, and himation.
Chlamys (χλαμύς)
Chlamys, from a plate in Kostumewerk (copyright 1860, expired) by Karl Kohler
The Chlamys is the simplest, and has a lot in common with the Roman toga; however, it was secured with a brooch (or other pin), which would never be allowed with a toga. The Chlamys was typical garb for young Grecian men and often made from dark wool. A himation might be added on top for warmth.
To make a Chlamys:
Take a large rectangle of cloth, wrap it around one side of your body (usually the left),
Hold the two ends of the rectangle with one hand while you pin it above one shoulder (usually it is the right side which is open and clasped above the right shoulder).
Take note that to the Greeks, male underwear was optional. The Chlamys will show the man’s body to good effect.
Peplos (πέπλος)
The body-length peplos was the typical garb for Grecian women; a himation might be added on top for warmth. Initially made from wool, the fabric changed to linen, cotton, and silk, as they became available.
Making a Peplos:
First, measure out the needed material:
Width: Stretch out your arms and measure elbow to elbow. Double it.
Height: Your height plus 18”
Take a large rectangular piece of cloth: (twice your elbow to elbow) x (height plus 18”).
Fold the top 18” down … this will be on the outside.
Wrap the width around you, with the folded material out, holding the two edges with one hand. You might want to overlap the loose edges a little for decency.
Fasten the top with brooches (or something similar, like safety pins) above the shoulders.
Tie a rope around your waist (or belt).
Pull extra skirt up through the rope (belt) until the skirt is only ankle-length, and drape the excess material over the belt, so that you do not trip.
Earlier this year, I told my readers about legs #1 (Rapa Nui or Easter Island) and #2 (Tahiti) of a trip my family and I took in 1985. I had the pleasure of taking my family across the south Pacific on an extended vacation. We traveled from La Serena (Chile) to Santiago de Chile to Easter Island to Tahiti to Auckland, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia and finally to Sydney, Australia.
Leg #3 of the trip was half of a week on the northern island of New Zealand. We landed in the city of Auckland, rented a car, and looked around a little. Unlike the previous leg (in Tahiti), I had no need to close my eyes to prices. For example: we had the same hotel chain in both places. In Tahiti, our room was costing $200 per night. In New Zealand, $36. As I said, the same hotel chain; I even think the room in New Zealand was slightly larger! And likewise, all of the other prices were much cheaper in the land of the Kiwi.
When people ask what it was like to have Christmas in the middle of Summer in Chile, I point out that Christmas Eve was the best time to go to the beach. Two reasons: it was beautiful weather (true any day around Christmas); the beach was deserted other than the occasional tourist. Why? Because Chileans are much worse procrastinators than Americans when it comes to Christmas shopping: they are all crammed into the stores !
That said, this year I find I am almost as bad. I shall be mailing my mother’s present tomorrow (Christmas Eve). None the less, recently I have bought both musical and literary items which would make great gifts.
This week I have had the pleasure of my cousin Kay’s company. She lives in the California central valley, raising almonds, organic sweet potatoes, and various herbs. She is also taking care of our almost-94-year-old aunt (Helen), which means that it is a very rare thing when she can get away to come see us. So I took vacation from work and have been enjoying her presence.
However you like to communicate, three weeks ago, I was in the right place. I was taught how to pick my words carefully to present information in the best light. Then I learned how to tell great stories, keeping the audience’s rapt attention. And a third hour exposed me to the art of acting. All three hours were lead by a master of their respective craft. If I did not learn from these gurus, then the fault lies in this poor student, for the teachers knew their stuff, but it does take two to educate.
As any storyteller knows, the first thing an author needs to do is grab the audience’s attention. The medium does not matter: whether the story is presented audibly, as a written work, on TV, stage, or in the theatre, grab the audience’s attention. Author Rachel Coles has learned this well. In the very first page of Pazuzu’s Girl, the protagonist – a teenaged girl named Morpho – has an interesting if strange argument with a field of grasshoppers, which (after she leaves) coalesce into her father, Pazuzu, the ancient Mesopotamian demon of plague and pestilence.
Thursday, I posted a story about a breakfast of thanksgiving, but considering it was set in a land far, far away in both time and distance, it clearly was not an American Thanksgiving, even though it featured a typical American recipe from 200 years ago.
So where does this holiday, “Thanksgiving” come from, only celebrated by the US (in November) and Canada (in October) ? Continue Reading →
The elven boy looked at his sleeping father’s face. The poor man looked so exhausted when he arrived home, his long ears drooping, barely enough energy to give the boy a hug before his slender form collapsed into the sleeping furs. The boy had carefully wrapped those around his father’s long body: winter had come early, and it would be a cold night. But that gave him time to work on his morning surprise.
It had been a long month, home alone. But at 72, the boy knew he was half an adult, certainly capable of taking care of himself for a few weeks, even in the City. He thought back … Continue Reading →
In recent years we’ve lost some very talented singer-songwriters. One of the best was Illinois-born Dan Fogelberg, a mostly “soft rock” lyricist/performer whose nine albums are characterized by poignant and sometimes achingly dark lyrics. His career spanned more than three decades (1971 to 2003). Dan Fogelberg died from cancer in 2007. He was 56.
Fogelberg’s most commercially successful piece was the 1980 love song, “Longer”. Its lyrics are tender and sweet, but it is simplistic and (in my opinion) not his best work. The full lyrics can be found at this link http://www.elyrics.net/read/d/dan-fogelberg-lyrics/longer-lyrics.html (I have copied the first couple of stanzas below).
Longer than there've been fishes
in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there've been stars
up in the heavens
I've been in love with you.
Stronger than any mountain cathedral
Truer than any tree ever grew
Deeper than any forest primeval
I am in love with you.
Fogelberg’s first real “hit” came in 1974, with the single, “Part of the Plan.” Its lyrics are more to my liking:
Something I very much like to do is disappear into the past. I put on a circular tabard a friend made me 30 years ago, and I disappear. Gone is Gary Lee Webb, modern software engineer. In his place is Friedrich von Holstein, one of the thousands who answered Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont with “Deus Vult!” ([God wishes!]). One who went on an armed pilgrimage at the end of the 11th century – you’d call it the First Crusade – reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Not one of the Frankish hordes that the (Eastern) Roman historians described as an Army of Locusts, but one of the Knechte who provided his own equipment, tried to learn the local languages as he went, and paused to discover whether the people he met were friend or foe, and did not simply attack anyone who looked wealthy (the Peasant’s Crusade was notorious for stealing from everyone in their path, and gave the Crusaders a very bad reputation). My personas tend to have this in common: they speak many languages … badly!
Gary Lee, Sharon, and Linda Webb at the Texas Renaissance Festival, 2009. [photo taken by John Wissinger]
And yes, once he reached his destination, defeated the infidels, and prayed at the church in the Holy City, Friedrich had a few too many wineskins to drink celebrating the victory. Managed to drink from the fountain of youth while he was at it … although he cannot remember where it was [Losing track of where the fountain is that gives you eternal youth ... now *that*is drunk].
There are flags flying up and down my street, and I would guess that a majority of my readers do not know why we do that on 11 November. “It is because it is Veterens’ Day” most would reply … no it is not. Veterens’ Day has been moved around by Congress, and will probably be moved again – for 7 years it was the fourth Monday of October. And it will be celebrated tomorrow by some states and many organizations.
But 11 November is the anniversary of the armistice which brought peace after World War I, the War to End Wars. The last designation is ironic, since the reparations which the French insisted upon after the war were so severe that they sowed the seeds of the second world war. Be that as it may, in 1918, the folks were jubilant, and there was some great artwork to celebrate the end of all war. And until after World War II, November 11 was Armistice Day in the US (changed in 1954). It is still Remembrance Day within the British Empire (and former British Empire). Continue Reading →
Why do we procrastinate? Generally, it does not save us time; in fact, it can cost us time. It can cost us money. It can even cost us the opportunity to do something important. Yet I do it, and I suspect we all do.
My family and I, and several friends, took advantage of the ComicCon event in Austin last weekend to socialize, shop, see the stars, and even learn a little. Of the people I know, the happiest was my old chess buddy, Mario Leal and his son, Miles of smiles, seen here with many of the actors of several Star Trek series. But my family and their friends enjoyed the many events and shopping, not to mention watching the thousands of Con goers. And I thoroughly enjoyed meeting such folks as Dr. Rebecca Housel and comic legend Ken Levin.
Mario and Miles, with the crew(s) of the Enterprise, Cheryl Gates McFadden was kind enough to provide Miles a seat. Mario is between Jonathan Frakes and Patrick Stewart. Photo courtesy of Mario Leal.
Sandy was a big, ugly, nasty witch. And grotesquely fat, too — 900 miles wide! She was powerful enough to whip up the ocean and turn it against the land, flooding anyone who wasn’t on high ground, carrying away SUVs and boardwalks, grabbing up homes and tossing them upside-down, filling up tunnels with freezing water, turning roller coasters into metal pretzels, demolishing famous vacation resorts, unearthing 200 year old graves, taking out electrical grids all along the coast, burning up an entire neighborhood, and forcing a huge hospital to evacuate the most vulnerable of victims in the pitch dark fury of that storm. Sandy was even big enough to make the governor postpone Halloween!
NASA image of Hurricane Sandy [29 Oct 2012]
Many people say that the best thing to do around a witch like Sandy is to stay as far away from her as possible. Those people are absolutely right. But there are always those who demonstrate foolish bravado: “No witch is gonna make me run away from my home!” or “What can one puny witch do to a huge city like this?” There are also “first responders” who cannot leave. And, unfortunately, some folks are simply too old or too sick to run.
This year, I published my first two fiction stories and I have been accepted for a third. One will be the first chapter in my novel about Pollonien the Elf. It is entitled “A Dish Served Cold” and talks about how my favorite elf became an adult. The second is “A Ghostly Blessing” and is the tale of how La LLorona, the crying ghost, kept a band of pirates from raiding a city. Both are in Bohemia Journal, on page 38 of the July 2012 and pages 34-35 of the Fall 2012 (October) issues respectively. The third will be “The Awakening” to be published in the Winter (December 2012) issue. I am planning another Pollonien story for the January 2013 issue. So why wasn’t I always a fiction author? How did I become one? Why now ?? Continue Reading →
For those of you looking for a one of kind vacation – I have a fantastic idea. How does a weeklong vacation in the Czech Republic sound? This central European country was formerly known as Czechoslovakia is a magnificent hub of cultural history, brilliant views and its connections with neighbor Germany. And if you are in the Czech Republic, how can you afford to miss Prague – the capital city of Bohemia?
The recent announcement that our closest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centaurus (also known as Rigel Kenturis, the Foot of the Centaur, and abbreviated as α Centauri), has at least one earth-sized planet makes stories (such as Cry from a Silent Planet, which I reviewed 13 October) much more interesting. That book assumed an advanced, technical civilization only 50 light-years away. The first question most readers will ask is: “What are the odds?” Continue Reading →
Human behavior is an interesting thing. Sometimes we definitely act in ways that are against our own best interests.
My wife and I have been married 36 years. Early in our marriage, we were on a short budget. This was long before there was a Fuddruckers selling burgers made from a variety of exotic meats. This was before any grocery store considered selling something more exotic than lamb chops. Sell buffalo? Are you crazy? Buffalos are endangered animals (one might get tarred and feathered for even suggesting it).
Do you like Angry Birds — the Finnish cartoon game where you put birds in a slingshot and use them to attack pigs?
I don’t. I’d be angry, too, if someone did that to me! Birds are smart and creative; they should never be treated like they’re mindless and and have no feelings. It’s cruel to buy a bird just for home decor; birds need things to do. No, I don’t go out hiking with my bird atlas in one hand and binoculars in the other. I enjoy being around wild birds, but my favorite ‘fowl creatures’ are part of our family. Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago I commented that Friday was not only date night for us, but had been the Day of Love for millennia. I went on to explain that that was where the Spanish word Viernes came from. That was news to the people I was talking to, so let me share more widely.
I had the pleasure of reading a book from an author new to me: John Rowland of the United Kingdom. The book, Cry from a Silent Planet, is intended to be one of a trilogy; the inside cover says it was first released in paperback in 2005. A South African website shows a pretty cover and gives the date as 4 July 2005. The sequel, The Sands of Hetranova, apparently has not been published yet; the third book is not yet named. Thus while I am looking forward to reading the other two, it may be a long wait. Continue Reading →
Let me make this perfectly clear: I am a fan of Lindsey Stirling. And I truly enjoyed Bohemian Dominik’s blog on the young violinist (“Lindsey Stirling: No Ordinary Violinist”) .
But he seems to be fascinated by the fact that she dances around the stage. Yes, she is very impressive, but she is not the first to do so. Let me introduce you to Máiréad Nesbitt, the violinist who plays with the group Celtic Woman. Máiréad also knows how to high step and dance all around the stage. Continue Reading →
The Texas Renaissance Festival runs 8 weekends in October and November. This is the first weekend, and it will continue through Thanksgiving. The venue is near Todd Mission, Texas.
The Beefeater taking tickets at the TRF Gate [unless otherwise indicated, photos by Gary Lee Webb]
They say that the path to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and so this journey to the past begins and ends with a trip to the Kaiserhof, which in my estimation is one of the best German restaurants, located between Montgomery and Lake Conroe, on Route 105, just north of the Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF). The trip from Waco is long enough that I like to overnight close to the faire and this trip was no exception. Continue Reading →
You may have seen the photo of Kenneth Krause circulating around. He’s the well-muscled Wisconsin personal injury lawyer behind that ugly email to Jennifer Livingston, a morning show anchor with WKBT-TV in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Krause’s email was so critical of Jennifer Livingston’s weight that it prompted her to respond on-air, and the incident made national headlines. He even suggested that she should consider another career because, at her weight, she wasn’t a good role model. Continue Reading →
I had the pleasure of reading a new book by Central Texas author Stina Leicht. And Blue Skies from Pain is the second in a series beginning with Of Blood and Honey, which I have not read. I normally do not like second books … but this one stands on its own, and I enjoyed it. It is a rather gritty, noir tale, set during the IRA conflict in Northern Ireland. It is, however, a Northern Ireland with a few more sides, for both the fey (the Sidhe) and the Fallen (those of demonic descent) are in the mix.
My youngest daughter, Michelle Merrie Webb, is building an incredible work history. Among other things, she has interned for the Disney resorts in Orlando, Florida. She spent 6 months working in the country of Georgia, between Turkey and the Russian Federation, teaching children how to speak English. And most recently, she was in Alaska, working for Princess Cruise Lines. She visited us last weekend; her next stop is Las Vegas. Continue Reading →
September has been an interesting month for me, combining family, the best of Bohemia, and the best of Toastmasters. Of course, normally I see my family, go to Bohemia meetings (4) or write blogs (weekly), and go to Toastmasters meetings (7). I also attended a couple of meetings of the Heart of Texas Spinner’s and Weaver’s Guild, finishing a scarf for my wife, and as a Toastmaster, I presented 6 original speeches and a canned one. But let me concentrate on the unusual. Continue Reading →
I have had a very interesting two weeks, both Bohemia and Toastmasters. During that time, I have both judged at a speech contest in Temple and helped run one here in Waco. The latter event occupied much of Saturday just past (22 September). Please let me tell you about it, in this blog. Later that day I went to the Poetry Slam at Indian Springs Park (part of the Waco Cultural Arts Fest) … more about that and the other events of the last two weeks in the next blog ( A Bohemian Month).
Three months ago, I told my readers how in Spring 2008, I had finally learned to knit, 12 years after going temporarily blind due to euthyroid Graves’ Eye Disease. I talked about the fact that in the list four years I had knitted 33 scarves, and provided pictures of several in my blog, “Old Dog Knitting.” Meg Miller has also written about knitting (“ Process vs. Results “): it seems to be a popular topic. Continue Reading →
I have to admit, I leave things to pile up. Part of it is a lack of time, part of it is my bad eyesight. I have file cabinets to put paid bills in, but I cannot read the tabs on the file folders. So I tend to wait until I can cajole someone into helping. Continue Reading →
“Oh, you live in Chile? I bet you get great Mexican food!”
It may come as a shock, but Mexico is not the only country south of the border.
During the 15 years I lived in Chile, I heard all kinds of misinformation and bad assumptions. I tried to correct and educate, not always successfully. I hope to do a better job here, and then *you* can correct and educate.
A couple of weeks ago, I told my readers about leg #2 (Tahiti) of a trip my family and I took in 1985 (Vacation in the Pacific II by Gary Lee). I had the pleasure of taking my family across the south Pacific on an extended vacation. We traveled from La Serena (Chile) to Santiago de Chile to Easter Island to Tahiti to Auckland, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia and finally to Sydney, Australia. Continue Reading →
I admit, I rarely cook. But when I do, I go all out. My father and two uncles were very good in the kitchen (one was a Las Vegas chef). Me, I am only as good as my recipes, but I have some very good ones (one of which I authored). And down in Chile, I had two maids to help.
So for my wife’s 33rd birthday, the maids and I prepared 33 courses for 33 people. Continue Reading →
I recently wrote a post about Tahiti, mentioning such places as Fa’a’a. The immediate question is how do you pronounce that without choking on it? It is easy for me to say, “the apostrophe is a glottal stop,” but only a linguistics nerd like me knows what that means. So let me explain, first by analogy and then literally.
Map of Tahiti and neighboring Moorea. All images from Wikipedia.
In 1985, I had the pleasure of taking my family across the south Pacific on an extended vacation. We were living in La Serena de Chile at the time, and the 57th World Science Fiction Convention was held in Melbourne, Australia, 2-6 September, that year. From Chile, Australia is not as far as Europe and not much farther air-mile-wise than the US, so why not go? Continue Reading →
1917 cover for “A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
I have been bitten by the writing bug. During July 2011 – June 2012, I wrote three stories submitted for publication in Bohemia (4,200 words) and about 68,000 words delivered orally. Since July 2012, the oral component is even larger, and I took 5,000 words with me to a writing workshop two weeks ago. After two weeks, that 5,000 words is now 10,000 words and growing. At that rate, this year I expect my written output to exceed my oral work. Continue Reading →
One of the questions I get asked is how I manage to write so much, given my small amount of free time. I do have a job that keeps me busy, yet I am prolific and intent on learning how to become the best writer I can be. When I am not working, I write speeches, stories, and blogs.
My readers know I recently spent three days learning to write better, by attending the ArmadilloCon writer’s workshop. Each student (including me) had submitted up to 5000 words of unpublished material, which we looked over and attempted to come up with suggestions for improvement. Professional writers likewise did the same for the students. Moreover, there were many panels and discussions on how to write, the business end of the profession, and related topics.
Teachers take breaks too: here are three from the ArmadilloCon Writer’s Workshop.
Why would I do this? Why would I spend three days on self-improvement?
The answer should be obvious: my name is not Asimov, Shakespear, Dickens, or Faulkner. I know I have much to learn, and I wish to improve. I have been writing since high school, but only started seriously attempting to improve my communication skills, five and a half years ago. It was then that I joined Toastmasters International, an organization focused primarily on speaking, but communication is communication. I have improved from a speech every 2 months to being able to do 68 last year. Moreover, I have brought home some trophies. And before you say “But that is only oral”, please consider that each of those speeches is a thousand words written before I ever deliver them orally. So for over five years, I have been improving my *writing* skills by scribing original speeches on diverse topics in different formats. One piece of advice during the workshop was “to learn to write, write a lot.” I am proud to say, I am already doing that.
I just had a wonderful weekend: writing, artwork, and poetry. Every year, Austin hosts a literary science fiction / fantasy convention called ArmadilloCon. This year’s venue was the Renaissance Hotel in the Arboretum. Almost 400 people attended this year; there were also several dozen authors and poets; and over 30 artists including John Picacio (see http://www.johnpicacio.com/ ).
The art show boasted 595 works of art: somewhat over a quarter of the con-goers bid on the art, with prices from $1 to $1000. My wife actually bid on 7 of the cheaper items, winning 5, and looked longingly at another four before deciding to not spend the money. A hundred of us voted on the art and artists we liked best. Julie Dillon did quite well at the Art Show, winning three awards including Best in Show (see www.juliedillonart.com for examples of her work). Victoria Shipman and David Pancake also won awards.
The 2012 Writer’s Workshop had 28 students enrolled (all photos by Gary Lee Webb).
My major interest was in learning to write better. So Sharon and I went a day early, and attended the writer’s workshop: 28 students being taught by 18 pros. Each student had submitted up to 5000 words of unpublished material. In my case, I submitted the immediate sequel to “A Dish Served Cold” (Page 38 of the July 2012 issue of Bohemia; see http://www.bohemia-journal.com/electronic-copies to check it out on-line). Sharon submitted the first 5000 words of an 8000-word story called “Adoption”. We spent the morning discussing generic advice for new writers and participating in various exercises. We then spent a working lunch and afternoon split into smaller groups: 4-5 new writers and up to three pros.
Two weeks before the workshop, everyone in the smaller group had received the submissions from each of the students in the group. These we were tasked to review. I was amazed at the depth of the comments I received: approximately 2500 words, generally quite positive. It *will* take me some time to assimilate all that, but I can already see ways I may improve my writing. I appreciate the time spent by my fellow students (Thomas Burbridge, Aaron DaMommio, Leigh Berggren Reinhart) and the professionals leading us (Melissa Tyler and Martin T. Wagner). One advantage of this approach is that I received five stylistically very different reviews, and while they were often making similar comments, they focused on different aspects.
Experienced con-goers know to visit the Con Suite: good food and interesting people. A tri-corder is useful if you are watching your weight.
Besides the writer’s workshop itself, I attempted to get to as many panels on writing as I could . I also caught readings by several authors, visited the Con Suite and some of the evening bid parties, and bought several things in the “huxter” room (a/k/a, the dealer’s room). Some panels I just attended for fun, but even those turned out to be interesting. For example, there was a panel amounting to an hour of poetry readings by six poets, led by Juan Perez. Talking with Juan afterwords, I found out that he is looking for poets to fill 8 hours of time at the 2013 World Science Fiction Convention: is anyone interested in having a *large* audience, next year?
In short, I had a blast, and I think I learned a lot. I spent some time with old friends, and met some new ones. While I am looking forward to the much bigger convention in 13 months (25 times as many people at the world con!), I am also looking forward to future writer’s workshops and the annual ArmadilloCon.
L-R: Poets Juan Perez, David Chang, Tess Mallory, Jamie Lee Moyer, Steven Utley, and Rie Sheridan Rose read their work for us.
As anyone who has been to my house knows, I have a house full of books. My living room is lined with books; I have back to back shelving in the den, and various other rooms have book cases. Moreover, I have books in English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Dutch, Qartuli, and Latin (not all of which I currently read), not to mention dictionaries and grammars in several other languages. Why do I love books so?
Some of my doubly-stacked bookshelves in the living room. Even the chess table is covered !
I was blessed to grow up in a house full of books. I grew up believing that we should all read, and read a lot. After all, my parents did. Moreover, when I was five, my eight-year-old cousin Diana gave me 300 “Little Golden Books” that she had outgrown. I was delighted: I had books of my own! That day a bibliophile was born, and I have been one ever since.
Imagine being off in a tropical paradise with friendly people and animals, a beautiful horseshoe waterfall twice as big as Niagra less than a mile away (an easy walk), and of course a resort hotel to retire to in the evenings. That was our tenth anniversary and 6 years later with the whole family. Sharon and I decided to take a trip to Iguaçu Falls on the Brazilian-Argentine border, and after hearing us rave about the trip, our four daughters insisted on going the next time.
A view of the center islend (left) and Iguassu Falls shot from downstream. Photo by Gary Lee Webb.
The Iguaçu river flows north along the border and then west to join with the Paraná (which marks the edge of Paraguay). Just a few miles before it hits Paraguay, it spreads out into a huge horseshoe and dives into “the Throat of the Devil” (la Garganta del Diabolo), spume rising into the sky amidst the jungle. My friends that have seen both say that Niagra does not hold a candle. I am told that the best time to go is April when all of the orchids are in bloom; we did it in February and May. Both sides of the river are a national park (different countries) and you can wander around at your leisure: enjoy the flora and fauna – especially the Coati.
