The Lunar New Year started yesterday. Welcome to the Year of the Rabbit! People born in the Year of the Rabbit are supposed to be tender, modest, charming, and lucky, if you believe that sort of thing. I don’t, but it’s a good excuse to post this:
Category Archives: SF & Fantasy
Postcards From the World, Siriusly
It’s time to share another Postcrossing card. This one came to me from what is, in Postcrossing terms, practically next door. The sender, Cindy, lives in here in Virginia, in a rural area about 75 miles from me. Postcrossing is work-related for Cindy; she is a rural mail carrier. But she says she is closeContinue reading “Postcards From the World, Siriusly”
The Relentless Moon: A Book Review
The Relentless Moon, the latest book in Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Lady Astronaut” series, is a page-turner, the kind of novel that makes you say, “just one more chapter” over and over again, until you look up and realize it’s 4:00 a.m. In this alternate history, set in the 1960s, Earth is dying. An asteroid strikeContinue reading “The Relentless Moon: A Book Review”
Still the Brightest Witch of Her Age
My favorite Harry Potter character, Hermione Granger, has a birthday today. Hermione was born on September 19, 1979, which would have made her one of the oldest students in her class at Hogwarts. (Harry, born June 31, was one of the youngest.) So Hermione is now 43 years old!!! I am still trying to getContinue reading “Still the Brightest Witch of Her Age”
A Vividly Imagined Post-Apocalyptic World
Today I finished reading Catherynne Valente’s book, The Past Is Red. In the future, Earth’s landmasses have been inundated by flooding, and Tetley lives in Garbagetown, built on and from a mass of the floating detritus of our civilization. It’s a grim life, but Tetley takes it in stride and even believes she is luckyContinue reading “A Vividly Imagined Post-Apocalyptic World”
SCOTUS Fails Us
“The moment of betrayal is the worst, the moment when you know beyond any doubt that you’ve been betrayed: that some other human being has wished you that much evil.” -The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood The Supreme Court this morning issued the decision overturning Roe v. Wade. We’ve known it was coming when theContinue reading “SCOTUS Fails Us”
Gallery Show
A few weeks ago, I submitted one of my photographs for a juried art show at a local gallery. The theme of the show: “Drips, Lines, Splatters, and Splash.” The organizers were seeking artwork that celebrated the artistic ideals of the Washington Color School art movement. My photo was accepted. When I saw the theme,Continue reading “Gallery Show”
Photo Friday: Shire Night
The nights were dark in the rural Virginia area where I stayed in a Hobbit House this week. But that made the lit windows of the dugout look all the more homey.
In a Hole in the Ground, There Lived a Hobbit…
Greetings from Middle Earth, where it was snowing as I arrived here in the Shire on Monday. This was after a 75-degree day on Sunday, and temperatures in the 80s for several days before that. Bob and I had driven down to Harrisonburg on Saturday to spend Easter with Jon Morgan at JMU. I bookedContinue reading “In a Hole in the Ground, There Lived a Hobbit…”
Reflections From a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Last night I submitted a photograph to a juried art show. The theme of the show is “Drips, Lines, Splatters, and Splash,” and the curator is seeking artwork in all types of media that show exceptional use of color, line, movement, and space. I submitted work to this gallery once before. It was rejected forContinue reading “Reflections From a Galaxy Far, Far Away”
The Petrini Page 