spill yourself at her feet

Happy September, all. And happy Mabon! That's technically tomorrow but we all know that entries two days in a row on this blog never happen.
Mabon: This is the second harvest festival, and celebrates the balance of light and dark. At Mabon we celebrate the abundance on our table and in our cupboards for the coming winter.
Vacation was . . . well, it was hectic. It was great to see my family and great to be out of the city, but it was a little stressful as well. I'm happy to be back in New York and settled back into my routine.
I have books to discuss!
23) The Kingdoms of Dust by Amanda Downum. This is the third in her Necromancer Chronicles, and I love this series. I love how flawed her characters are, and how vibrantly her settings come alive, and how the choices the characters have to make are never easy or black and white. Amanda, when are you going to write more books so I can devour them?? If you're a fan of fantasy, check out Amanda's work. She's a great writer.
24) Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire. This is the first book in her Incryptid series. As you all know, I ADORE her October Daye series, so I was excited to give this a shot. And I love the idea here. I love the story, and the cryptids, and the two opposing groups of the Covenant and the Price family . . . but I have to be honest, this didn't quite do it for me. I felt like the book was winking at me, a "Look how clever and funny I am!" sort of feeling. And there were a couple jokes that I felt were overused. Don't get me wrong, this is a well-written book, just like her other work. It's just not quite my cup of tea.
25) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. People have been recommending this book to me for a couple years. Last year a friend pressed his copy on me, telling me I should read it. So I finally did. And you know what? It's a well-written book, with great characters full of depth. You know what else? It's depressing as all hell. Why didn't anyone warn me about THAT? It's cancer fiction! Which there's nothing wrong with, it's just not the type of thing I like to read. So I just powered through it. And really enjoyed a lot of the character interaction, and the sense of humor, and etc. But I knew form the beginning who was going to die, and spent the whole book tense, waiting for that. I can't enjoy books like this. It's extremely well done, and if you like books that make you sad, then check this one out. As for me . . . Well, I'll definitely read something less sad next.
I'm plugging along on editing my novel, thankfully. With the exception of the first half of chapter three, it's gone pretty well so far. We'll see if I can shift that into high gear so I can get through it and move on to the next novel(s). I also found a writing workshop that I want to attend next June; cross your fingers that I can manage it!
It's noon on a Saturday. I'm seeing a play at 3 p.m., which will be nice. I also have a list of things to get done, so I should probably get moving. Enjoy your Mabon weekend, everyone!

Mabon

Happy Mabon, everyone! This is a time of balance and reflection, when there are equal amounts of light and dark in our days. Mabon is the second harvest festival; it is a time to enjoy the bounty that the earth has given us and to prepare for the coming winter. This is a good time of the year to conclude unfinished business.
Tonight we'll be celebrating with a bean and sausage soup, roasted carrots, and corn bread. And wine, of course. A quiet ritual, just three of us. I'm not sure yet if we'll do it in the backyard or in the apartment. Either way, it's going to be a good celebration.
This holiday is the beginning of my drawing-inward time. I'm a winter witch at heart, and with the days finally beginning to carry the crisp snap of autumn on the air, I want to be home more. I want to be in the backyard. I want to start baking again. I want to cleanse my apartment and then spend a lot of time there, reading and writing and making magic.
What are you all doing to celebrate the harvest?
Blessed Be!

Mabon

Happy Mabon, everyone! (Yes, I know I'm a day late.) Mabon is the second harvest festival, so we had a great dinner: an entire chicken, stuffed bell peppers from our garden, and a sweet potato puree with fig goat cheese on top. Top that off with a bottle of red, and it was perfect. After dinner we did a really nice ritual with our friend A. Even though we were all up way past our bedtimes, it was a lovely evening.

What did you all do to celebrate Mabon?

Mabon

Happy Mabon, everyone! Yes, it's Harvest Festival time again, the second of the year. Now the days and nights are roughly equal in length; we give thanks for the sunlight and pay respect to the impending winter. This is a time of balance, and a time for recharging your personal battery. It's also a time to have a feast with close friends and good wine!
Last night I dreamed that I was on a big boat of some sort; my partner-in-crime was there too, along with an old coworker, S, who was pregnant in the dream, and man other people. Our boat had been taken over by pirates, and we were being treated as slaves, being forced to do their bidding and fighting with each other for scraps of food. It was terrible. But gradually they began to treat us better, and eventually they let us go somewhere (not home, of course) where we established a town. The kids were happy playing in the dirt streets in packs, S's pregnancy was just fine (I took pregnant pictures of her with a digital camera she hid from the pirates, and she was so happy she cried).
A separate dream last night; I was made to enter a dark room where a body had been laid to rest. I had been washed and dressed carefully for this. I entered the room and laid down with the body, pillowing my head upon his chest and placing my feet across his ankles. There was a hanging sculpture made of many small bones hanging over us in the shape of some sort of bird or reptile. I wasn't sad or distraught. I stayed there, in the dark, alone with this body, willing myself to die so I could accompany him on his journey, but couldn't make myself follow him. After what seemed a long time, I got up and snuck out of the room. I knew that if anyone found me my life was forfeit. I snuck into a small room in the back of the house (a bathroom, I think) to hide and get some water. My friend A found me and, while she was very happy I was alive, decided she needed to get em out of the house as quickly as possible. Somehow, she got my parents to arrive very quickly in a car that I then crept into the backseat of when no one was looking, and we drove away. I mostly remember feeling both guilty and relieved that I didn't make myself die.
More books:
49) New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear. I just love Bear's work, and this one is no exception. A sort of noir detective/steampunk/vampire novel, I enjoyed the cross-pollination of genres and ideas quite a bit. Definitely recommended to anyone who likes any of those genres!
50) Runaways #1 created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. This is the first graphic novel in a series, originally comics then collected into book form. I really enjoyed this. I thought the premise was different---a group of teens discover their parents are supervillains and run away, discovering their own powers in the process---and entertaining. The art is great, too! I can't wait to find more of these books to read. A keeper, for sure.
51) On Writing by Stephen King. This was an interesting read, more so for the craft of writing stuff than the memoir sections, although some of the memoir stuff was fun. I particularly enjoyed reading about how he approaches his writing; that was definitely the most memorable part of this, for me. Of course he talks about his childhood, and about the accident in 1999. He also spends a lot of time on the mechanics of writing--- the "toolbox," as he says. All of which is somewhat interesting. The section relating his opinion of writing workshops is amusing, too. I'm glad I read this, but if it were my copy I'd read, it wouldn't be a keeper. This is not the sort of thing I would revisit. Worth reading, though!
Anyway. I should probably get to work. Things to do, as always. Happy Mabon, again!

Mabon

Happy Mabon, everyone! This is another harvest holiday. We celebrate the bountiful harvest, and keep in mind the aging of the Goddess as well as the God's preparation for death and rebirth. Spells centered around balance are appropriate, as this equinox marks the equality of day and night. I plan on celebrating with a hearty dinner, a nice bottle of red, and a quiet ritual.
Blessed be!