Journal

Wednesday, May 16, 2001
 
 

I got my first review the other day, for "The Ant King", and I'm quite pleased with it. Gordon Van Gelder, that prince among editors, mailed it to me and the other writers involved, which was very nice of him. The reviewer got what I was up to, I think, and he liked it. That makes me happy.

I am dictating this with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, having written it down earlier (or, if you prefer, I am writing this down, planning to dictate it later). This program is amazing: after two days of training, I can speak normally and at a pretty fast clip, and it transcribes almost everything correctly. I'm trying to ease the load on my hands: with programming, writing, and rugby, I use my hands intensively for almost everything I do -- I don't want to wear them out.

I finished "Droplet" and sent it to RMCrit. No responses yet. What is strange story that was. Some things I still really like about it, but the end got ugly -- even quite unpleasant. I didn't plan this, but the constraints and games that the beginning of the story set up ended up demanding a violent resolution. It's also way too long for the anthology whose requirements inspired it. Will see what RMCrit says -- I'm not even sure if I want them to love it or trash it. Confusing.

Aviva giggles, grabs accurately, and chews on everything in the world. She basically wants to eat everything -- balls, rags, rattles, people, Cadillacs, trees, the moon -- and is convinced that if she can open her mouth wide enough and pull them toward it, she can manage. She's gotten heavy, too! We had a newborn over last night and the comparison was fascinating -- Aviva has at least doubled in size. 

And now for the pictures:

Vacuuming with Esther:      1  2   3  4   5
In a little nest:                    1   2  3
With the Duck:                  1   2
Sleeping in with Daddy:      1  2
With her uncle Jonas:        1

One of the wonderful things about where we live is that it's a real neighborhood. Aviva has her own friends already -- three kids from next door, Arta, Amire, and Amir, who come over to see her all the time. They ring the doorbell and say, "Is Aviva home?" just as if they were picking her up for a soccer game. (I always have to check and see that she is in fact still a baby, and I haven't missed five or six years somehow). 

On April Fool's Day, the first sunny day of the year, we went outside to sit in the garden in front of our house (the one with the roses). The kids came over to play April Fool's Day jokes on us ("April april!", they said after they had suckered us) and to play with Aviva. Our friends Caroline and Patrick happened to ride by on their bicycles and we had lunch. It was like a spontaneous block party. I love Basel.

A non-writing goal for this summer: I want to be able to do 20 pull-ups in a row again, by the end of Clarion. They've got a gym.