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”
Category Archives: SF & Fantasy
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”
Camp NaNo: April Fool’s Edition
If it’s April, this must be Camp NaNoWriMo! I began work at midnight on this National Novel Writing Month challenge. Yes, it’s true that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is November, when participants attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. But twice a year, we also have Camp NaNo, a more flexible versionContinue reading “Camp NaNo: April Fool’s Edition”
LetterMo Update
I mentioned earlier in the month that I’m taking part again in the Month of Letters, or LetterMo, the annual challenge to write and send a piece of mail every day the post office operates in February. After having neglected to post since then about what I’ve been mailing, I guess it’s time for anContinue reading “LetterMo Update”
Tea With Hagrid
I just finished having Tea With Hagrid. This was my Harry Potter group’s annual (roughly) get-together for an English tea, with Hagrid’s Hut as this year’s theme. But there’s still a pandemic on, so we had tea in our separate homes, shared together via Zoom. Of course, we each had to have appropriate refreshments. IContinue reading “Tea With Hagrid”
The Petrini Page 