vacation post

Long overdue, I know, but I'm finally going to tell you all about my trip to Oregon, which was July 1-9. . . .

We flew in late Friday night. Saturday my partner-in-crime ran away to a day-long bachelor party (yes, we were home for a wedding, didn't I mention that?) while I went shopping (hurray, Saturday Market!) with family and then headed to my parents' place to assist in last-minute wedding prep, as the wedding was going to be held on their property. What I actually did for the rest of the weekend mostly was kid wrangle while everyone else did the remaining landscaping, etc. I did manage to dust all the bookshelves though, and if you've been to my parents' place, you know that's impressive. So, I had loads of playtime with my almost-four-year-old niece and my approximately-fifteen-month-old nephew. Monday was more last-minute prep, followed by getting ready, followed by the wedding! It felt a little like a high-school reunion. It went smoothly, and a good time was had by all. There was dancing on the carport, including a gaggle of children who were all under the age of five. My godchildren were in attendance. The weather was perfect.

Tuesday was cleanup, and then late in the afternoon my sister and I went to The Parlour and got new tattoos! She got a scarab on her arm; I got a hamsa on the back of my neck. It's all blue line work, and I'm really happy with it. After the tattooing, my partner-in-crime and I had dinner at the home of a married couple we're good friends with in Eugene. It was really lovely to catch up with them, especially since we hadn't seen them during our previous couple visits. And a shout-out to them for making AMAZING chai liqueur! Someday I need to do that.

Wednesday was a bit scattershot. We slept in, then visited my partner-in-crime's grandmother in her assisted living home. After that we went to my favorite local cemetery so I could take a ton of pictures as research for my next novel. (Also, I just love that cemetery. It's always felt a little like home to me.) Following that, we went to my godkids' house so I could see everybody and say hello to their grandfather, whose health was severely failing. It was a little intense but I'm glad I got to see him. Then dinner with my partner-in-crime's parents and best friend.

Thursday morning I had a little alone time, so I went to my favorite used-CD store and my favorite used bookstore. Yes, I bought a couple items at each place. No, I didn't go hog wild. After my shopping, it was time to do some grocery shopping and then head to my parents' place again for a pig roast. We did a thirty-five-pound piglet. There was SO MUCH FOOD at this party, leftover from the wedding and supplied by my parents and other people. It was great. And really just a good party! Lots of good company. We slept in a tent that night, in the field below the house, which was fun but very damp. The next morning we threw ourselves together, picked up my oldest goddaughter, and hit the Oregon Country Fair for the day. If you've never been . . . well, it's hard to describe. If you've never been, I suggest you click on the link and go flip through the photo gallery. There were eight or ten of us all loosely wandering the fair together, and we really had a great day. I got a new hoodie with art from Trumbly Designs, who I adore. I ate good Fair food. My goddaughter and I went on a quest to find her a necklace with a fairy on it. (Yes, we found one.) We saw the married couple from Tuesday evening. We also saw my partner-in-crime's good friend K and his girlfriend, who we only see once every couple years, so that was a fantastic surprise. Ran into a college ex of mine; he was as intense as always. It was nice to catch up. And I had a brief moment of reconnecting with my friend P, who I was pretty close with before I moved to NYC. After all that, we found my friend/ex-boss/mentor who I see on nearly every trip home, and had a quiet beer with him at his tent before his band performed. Then we all headed back into town. We took my goddaughter home, and then went for another ramble in the cemetery (this time it was me, my partner-in-crime, my sister, and her boyfriend) before heading home and collapsing into bed.

Saturday morning we had breakfast with my parents and my partner-in-crime's best friend at the airport, and then spent the whole day flying back to New York.

There you have it; the vacation in full. I'll be back soon to talk about more books, and possibly about the next novel I'm about to write. Happy Thursday!

post-vacation blues

That's right, everybody. I've got 'em. Not terribly; I'm just a little blue around the edges. My partner-in-crime and I have determined that we need to get our hippie on much more than we have been. It might help with the happy factor out here in the big city.
So yes, I do have a vaction to blog about, but I'm not going to do so today. Today, I'm blogging about books. If you'll remember, in the beginning of June I blogged book number twenty-four for the year. I've read several more since then, and just haven't taken the time to discuss here. So, without further ado:
25) A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I read this for my book club, and you know what? I liked it enough to keep going with the series. It's good, solid epic fantasy. I like some characters more than others, which is inevitable. I think my favorites so far are Jon, Arya, and Dany. (Have any of you read this series? Which characters do you prefer?) My only complaint is that there are a ton of characters to keep track of. But it's good reading. And I've heard good things about the TV show, too!
26) Kin by Holly Black. This graphic novel is about a girl whose mother disappears, and she comes to learn that she's not as human as she thought she was. It's a fun first book in a series; I like the artist's work, and Holly's a really, really solid writer of urban fantasy. I've got to get whatever other books are out in this series.
27) Forever by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the concluding book in the Mercy Falls trilogy. And it was perfect. I love this entire trilogy; the story is beautiful and heart-wrenching, and the writing is lyrical and so perfect that it hurts. If you're a fan of YA or urban fantasy or just plain great storytelling, please read this trilogy. This book made me cry. I was so happy to finally learn how things resolved with Sam and Grace, Isabel and Cole, and all the other characters in those pages. Oh, this was just so good. . . .
28) In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss. This is an interstitial short-story collection that I picked up at the library because I'd read one story in an anthology a few months ago. Goss is a really good writer, but in reading this, I discovered that interstitial writing isn't really my thing. I distinctly enjoyed a few of the stories, but overall the collection was hit-or-miss for me. Still, Goss is a writer worth checking out.
29) When I See the Wild God by Ly De Angeles. This is a fun book about Celtic/Wiccan spiritual practices. I read it as research for the novel I'm going to write soon, and there was a bit of interesting information in it. It's a fun read, but not a keeper for me.
30) The Magician King by Lev Grossman. This book doesn't come out until August 9, so I won't say anything spoilery. I will just say, I liked The Magicians better. I was glad to see more of Julia. I'm DYING to have someone to talk to about this book. If there's a third one in this series (which their should be, given the ending of this one), I will read it, but I wasn't entirely happy with the direction this one went in. If anybody who's reading this has read the book, please let me know!
So that's that. Thirty books so far this year. Not bad at all!
I promise a vacation post soon. But now, I need to go and do some brainstorming for my novel. Happy Wednesday, everybody!

Vacation!

Sorry for the two weeks of radio silence. Too much freelancing and dayjobbery and social life. But now, I am home for a nice long week of relaxing, and friends, and family, and good food, and godchildren. Thank goddess. My partner-in-crime is here too, running around with his best friend somewhere. The flight was long, but it all worked out okay, and now . . . relaxation. Well, and a wedding. And a pig roast. But relaxation. I mean it. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of commitment, and now I need some time to recuperate, to refocus. To finish fleshing out Emmelina and start writing my next novel. July, I guess, is turning into a month of rededication. Which is pretty okay. So happy July, everybody. I may or may not blog again before I head back to the big city, but next time I do, I've got three more books to talk about, and I'm sure I'll have some vacation conversation as well.
Blessings!