Happy Blue Moon

Tonight, New Year's Eve, is a full moon. (Starting at 7:13 PM to be exact.) Not only is it a full moon on New Year's Eve, this is the second full moon of the month; the other was on December 2.

Due to the moon's cycle being 29½ days, there are occasionally - as in July 2004 - two full moons in one month (only happens on average every 2.7 years). Then the second moon of the month is called a "blue moon." (From new-age.co.uk)

The older, Farmer's Almanac definition of a blue moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. Don't think too hard about that one, it's kind of roundabout ... then again what do you expect from the Farmer's Almanac on the topic of full moons?

Over the next 20 years there will be about 15 blue moons, with an almost equal number of both types of blue moons occurring. No blue moon of any kind will occur in the years 2011, 2014, and 2017. (From infoplease)

A double blue moon -- that is two blue moons in one year -- occurs every 19 years. In 1999 there was a blue moon in January and March. And, if you didn't want to do the math, the next time we'll have fourteen full moons in one calendar year is 2018.

Given these kind of numbers you'd think that a blue moon falling on New Year's Eve would be extremely rare. I was willing to bet on it occurring once every fifty or hundred years. Nope. According to The Atlantic the last one happened in 1990.

The phrase "blue moon" has been traced as far back as 1528 to a work by William Barlow: Treatyse of the Buryall of the Masse

"Yf they saye the mone is belewe,
We must beleve that it is true."

Or, if you're a little rusty on your pre-standardized spelling English:

"If they say the moon is blue,
We must believe that it is true."

No idea what that means.

In the 19th century until a blue moon meant the equivalent of when pigs fly. It has since morphed into once in a blue moon meaning rarely.

Meanwhile, the mice from Babe sing:

[I had to snag the video off of the movie trailer and then edit it down to just the mice/credits. They sing a little bit longer in the film but not much.]

Reading

I read Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl yesterday. I thought that this "book of the Kyndred" would be completely separate from her "books of the Darkyn." I was mistaken: it's new, non-vampire characters with mostly non-vampire problems, but there's still vampires lingering around the edges calling people by name whom I don't know.

To get a good sense of this book, imagine the plot of the first Terminator movie, now cast all the characters with X-Men instead of humans.

Oh, and there's a vampire subplot which seemed completely superfluous to the main plot (likely because I've not read any of the Kyndred novels) but doubtlessly will bring fans of the old books joy and will possibly have something to do with the eventual conclusion of the series.

All I'll say is that I was really hoping that by having vampires and a Terminator in the same book, the least you can do is use 'em to kill off the Terminator. Now that would be a sweet fight.

Not Entirely Sold

I'm toying with the look of the blog -- obviously. And I'm not entirely sold on this new background. Seems like ... overkill.

I'll give it a few days and see how I feel about it then. I'll welcome comments about it as well.

Reading the Writer Not the Book

Last year about this time I state that my one New Year's resolution was to read 52 books in 2009. I've got four days left in the year; book total: 49.

What I read yesterday was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Back in the 80s the novel won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards (top of the line awards for science fiction). And while the plot is very intriguing -- one of those ones that stays with you for a while -- I found myself trying to read the writer not the book.

What I mean by this is that I would slow down (wherever I could make myself do so) and read both the words and the punctuation to myself. I would pause after a sentence and see how he divvied up the clauses; consider why and how he was able to lapse out of the third person point of view and jump directly into his character's thoughts. What I found was that, on Card's part, all of this was carefully done.

As a composition teacher, most of the time I spend on grading papers is spent unraveling the inaccuracies of prose -- many of which I can spot and fix though I couldn't tell you their grammatical names. Much of what I'm editing in my student's papers isn't grammar so much as it is style. Flip these two words, I'll tell them, so that it'll sound smoother. There's too many things this pronoun could refer to; just restate the noun. So when I got the chance to sit and unravel a published work where the author has not only a great grasp of grammar, tone, punctuation and pacing, but also a highly personalized sense of prose styling I was quite delighted.

Ad of the Week

Holiday Wishes

Merry Christmas to everyone!

I'm off being festive and hopefully full of light and joy. I'd like to wish you the same and better. Remember that this is the season of light, that we give not as a symbol of our rampant materialism but as a symbol of our caring. Let life slow down. Smile at people. Wave in that person desperately searching for a break in traffic so she can turn. It's Christmas, and even if you're on a budget you can let another car in in front of you. If there's change in your pocket or floating in the bottom of your purse, put it in the Salvation Army bucket; you'll never miss it.

Vacation Isn't Vacation

The holidays means a chance to get together with old friends. Because people come home to their family houses for Christmas I am getting a chance to see people whom I went to high school with. The two revelations: that work no longer ends because we are on vacation, and that we talk about our pets like they're our children.

Yes, we sat around for hours discussing the cute and strange behaviors of our animals. Even the eating and/or pooping habits. Yep. Hours.

We've all gotten animals in the past year or so and we all brought them home for the holidays. My friends were even more hardcore than me and flew the animals home with them. That's dedication. I'm not certain I'd do that. Well ... I wouldn't be allowed because it's only one pet per passenger and I would have to choose between the cats, but that's neither here nor there.

We are all young pet-parents. The question becomes how much longer will we chat about pets before one or all of us becomes real parents and we chat for hours and hours about that. Kinda scary.

During this afternoon one of my friends kept checking her Blackberry. Even when on vacation she's at work. My friend who is in grad school kept thinking of all the research she's supposed to be doing during break. Vacation is no longer vacation. Then again, we are realizing that there is no longer "a good time" for anything in our lives. There is no longer a time when things will "lighten up." And therefore I think I've convinced both of them to do a NaNoWriMo writing challenge this coming January!

They both have novels they want to write and without hope of a "good time" to write it they know they might as well write it now. There is absolutely no time like the present.

I've changed my counter over on the sidebar from NaNoWriMo (a memoir project) over to January Novel Progress (fiction) because there is no time like the present to attempt really big goals ... and by "the present" I mean "after the holidays." For me it means there's no time like the time you're an unemployed grad student to write big wonderful novels. Seriously.

Ad of the Week

The Unroasted Nut

I've been testing the smoke detector lately. That is to say I've been using my oven more often. The smoke detector -- actually both smoke detectors -- work great. They pick up the merest hint of smoke that not even I can catch when my nose is facing the open oven while pulling sheet pans off the rack.

Most of my recent mishaps have come from attempting to bake the at-home version of Chex Mix. The recipe is simply and it is easy to make; I'd just never done it in the oven before. When I was a teenager I made a batch of the stuff every time my friends were coming for a sleepover. But with my teenage attention span I always opted for the shorter microwave recipe that did not present quite the same challenges as the oven version.

So when it came time to "toss" the Chex mix baking in my oven, I opened the door, pulled out the rack, and used a spatula and tossed gently. Despite my gentleness a single Chex cereal square made a break for it and landed on the bottom of the oven. I tossed a curse word in after it, shrugged and closed up the oven.

Thirty minutes later the smoke detectors added their opinion of the situation as well.

There is a coded message in the direction toss gently every 15 minutes and that is remove pan from oven, toss gently, and then return to oven every 15 minutes. But did I listen even after the corn Chex square on the bottom did its best impression of a charcoal briquette? Nope. Just got more careful with my tossing.

As part of the recipe I bought a bag of raw peanuts on sale. On sale! I thought. Yay! No where did the more pertinent thought How is "raw" is different from "plain"? cross my mind.

Popping a handful of raw peanuts into your mouth is an unfortunate way to discover the technical meaning of "raw" as it pertains to peanuts. It is an equally awkward time to have the realization that the way a peanut comes out of the ground is not remotely the same as the way it comes out of the Planter's can. Having cracked and eaten peanuts in the shell, it never occurred to me that the infliction of heat, or roasting, on a nut made all that much of a difference other than as a way to adhere salt or other flavor, like honey to the nut.

I was so naive.

That handful of peanuts that I popped into my mouth tasted like peanut butter that had never even heard the word sugar. But with a worse texture than peanut butter. I'm making a face just thinking about it.

What I can't figure out is the reason anyone would want to buy raw peanuts at the grocery store. I'm guessing it's what you would use if you were keen on making your own peanut butter, but this store wasn't exactly a specialty store that would cater to people who care to spend their time doing such things as making their own peanut butter. Do you use raw or roasted nuts when you make candy? I don't know, but that's my best guess. Unless there are people who actually care to spend time roasting peanuts at home. Yes I did it, and no it's not that hard, but why would anyone (other than people who've misunderstood the label and now have to correct their mistake) want to spend several hours roasting their own peanuts?

Sage Advice

When deciding on what project to tackle next, I recently received this advice from a writing acquaintance I met through the internet said this:

I said to someone earlier, if there were stacks of all the latest release books in front of you, which one would you pick up first? It’s not infallible, but chances are that’s what you should be aiming for.

Great thought. Why didn't I think of that sooner?

Freezing and Reaming

When I awoke this morning it was 32 degrees. And -- as the weather man on NPR predicted -- it got colder throughout the day. At 4:45 PM it was 19 degrees.

So what did I decide to do during freezing temperatures and light snowfall? All my Christmas shopping, of course!

I even braved the mall.

My father wanted something we thought was called a lemon juicer. You know, the pointy thing you stick in a lemon to get all the juice out. Turns out it's called a lemon reamer. As in whoa man, that lemon just got reamed! I'm still amused.

Icons for Forums

NaNoWriMo: Post Mortem

Some people refuse to let go of their NaNoWriMo energy and come December 1, they immediately embark on NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month), where those pesky little things like endings, transitions, and all of chapter five are written.

Others engaged in NaQuRejMo and immediately query agents about their brand new NaNoBabies

My biggest goal at the end of any crazily intense period of writing is to keep writing consistently even if I'm not writing at the previous quantity. It's been a goal I had to abandon this month. With the end of semester, the holidays, and all the things I put off in November [edit of earlier post where I said December although it's beginning to feel like a Freudian slip], I had no choice but to plunge back into real life and take care of shit before shit took care of me.

I'm saving up my thoughts and hopes and energy for writing starting the week after Christmas/January. I have many a writing friend who has decided that 2010 will not only be the start of a new decade but the beginning of a new chapter in her life: publication. I too am throwing my hat in the ring and going for it with gusto.

Yes, I've been submitting short stories regularly for the past eight months, but, as of yet, nothing has come of that. What I plan to work toward in 2010 is seeing a short story in print and getting a novel to the point where I can query it ... and the agent can, of course, say yes!

I am also hoping to rid myself of my proclivity to using exclamation points in blog entries and responses.

Those are my 2010 goals -- not resolutions, but goals. Although, truth be told my one 2009 New Year's Resolution -- to read 52 books this year -- has almost been fulfilled! 44 books read and nearly two weeks of vacation coming up before the year ends. :)

[edit: as of Sunday night, 45 books read so far this year.]

Ad of the Week Returns!

It's been a while since I posted a pick for Ad of the Week. This is airing on the Discovery Channel now:



I tried to find the one where the guy from the Cash Cab is singing, but, alas.

Survival Mode

Today I had 15 student conferences.

More papers to comment on tonight and email back to students. I picked up short story reading from the magazine's slush pile as well. I want to finish ten submissions tonight so that I can pick up ten more when I go into the office tomorrow.

Yes, into the office on Saturday.

I've spent the past week walking to school because walking, no matter how cold or slippery, seemed safer and faster than driving there.

I've done absolutely zero Christmas shopping.

The conferences end on Monday. The grading will end in 11 days when semester ends.

Assuming I make it to Wednesday, I can get my swine flu vaccination.

In preparation for the nasty winter storm I knew was going to hit, I went grocery shopping Monday and did a great job preparing meals that I could eat for the entire week without return trips for supplies.

Four days later, supplies are running low.

I will have to dig out my car on Saturday and venture forth on the not-so-clear roads to the grocery store.And , even if the roads are fine, the parking lots will get ya. Given Michigan's economic situation, businesses, as well as the state/city government, have been cutting back the amount of money they spend on snow removal. We still get the same amount of snow, we just can't afford to remove it.

Closed and Waiting

The snow storm has trapped me indoors today. There's something like 8 to 12 inches of snow on my car and I won't be clearing it off any time soon. Schools are closed, civic groups are closed, libraries, even businesses are asking employees not to report. We are waiting. Waiting for the snow to pass, the plows to come. Waiting and watching as another four inches fall during the day. A blizzard, of all things, threatens us for the rest of the day.

Luckily, I still have power and a computer. Working from home--as long as I have those two things--seems like a blessing. Particularly when a head cold is threatening.

O Where O Where Has the Good Coffee Gone?

I am struggling with my current coffee situation.

I have a bean grinder and so I like to buy whole bean coffee when I can and then grind just enough each morning to make a pot. This is -- as far as I know -- the freshest way to make coffee at home. And usually it means that I am happy with the joe coming out of my coffee maker. Lately, not so much.

Last year I collected many a gift card to Starbucks. My coffee loving disposition was such that everyone thought of me and then thought of America's leading coffee retailer. Problem is, I don't like Starbucks coffee. Sure, their froufrou drinks are nice, but I rarely have a latte or cappuccino now that I don't work in a coffee shop. And I tend to like the local shops better if I'm going to sit and work inside the coffee shop. So I decided to spend my gift card money on whole beans that I could take home and grind then brew in the morning.

Even getting the lightest roast the barista could show me (breakfast blend, or something morning-ish), I couldn't deal with the darkness of the roast after a few days. [this is my main issue with Starbucks: the roast is so dark that it's nice once and a while but not every day.] So I've been cutting it with cheap grocery store beans. The result hasn't always been pleasant.

Actually the best combination is grinding out enough Starbucks beans for 4 cups of coffee and then adding a heaping tablespoon of Target brand decaf flavored coffee (already ground) to smooth it out. I've been using their "vanilla cinnamon nut" which is fabulous. It's also sort of crazy.

Here I am with my $10 bag of Starbuck whole beans that is meh, and a $5 bag of ground Target coffee which is wow!

The stuff in the bulk bins of my local grocery is just. plain. awful. I grab a few ounces of that any time I think I'm about to run out and I need something to hold me over ... and it never ends happily no matter what roast or flavor I pick to purchase. I think they don't sell enough coffee and that it just sits in the dispensers. Or else there's something else off with their storage system.

I've also had really good luck with Folgers flavored coffees. But there are two problems with those: (1) it tends to be stale by the time I get to the bottom of the canister (even the small one) and (2) they don't come in flavored decaf.

My new issue in life is incapacitating headaches, so I'm trying a bunch of changes to my life style and diet to try and get them to go away. One of which is cutting back on caffeine. Damnit Folgers, can't you work with me on this?

Stayed Up Reading

Last week I stayed up half the night reading Soulless by Gail Carriger. Loved it!

I first heard of the novel on Pubrants -- a blog I frequently read by the woman who agented this novel. At the time she was saying something about how it just so happened that this book launched just after Pride and Prejudice and Zombies did and that was fortunate for the novel Soulless.

Now, I haven't read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- although it did make Amazon.com's top cover designs of 2009 -- but the word I'm hearing about that novel is that the zombies don't add much to the story. Soulless, however, is majorly cool.

[Yes, I did just get all teenage-fan-girl over it just now.]

Soulless is a comedy of manners set in Victorian England. That is, a Victorian England where werewolves and vampires are part of respectable society, judged not by their fangs but by how well tied their cravats are.

Despite solving mysteries and slaying the occasional vampire, the main character, Alexia Tarabotti, won't be going rogue like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Karate chops and flying kicks are impossible to do without ruining one's bustle, after all. And that is Carriger's great success in this novel: the sensibilities are spot on Victorian and yet the gentlemen werewolves and lady vampires are still instinctual beings who have occasionally awkward impulses and behaviors. The narration views the supernatural elements not as feral and fearful, but as lapses in decorum. The dry humor is fabulous.

Also, the novel doesn't follow the pattern of one of Austen's so it's full of its own twists and turns and -- yes -- action.

There's set to be a second novel out this spring. I'll be adding it to my bookshelf as well.

It Snowed

On the west side of Michigan we're well past due for our first snow of the year, but it certainly doesn't feel that way. We've had a very warm fall. I believe November was, on average, warmer than October. And now, suddenly, snow.

We didn't even get a "warning" snow -- the kind that falls but sticks to nothing. Nope. Yesterday at noon I noticed that the "rain" had a certain amount of substance to it but it was gone when I went outside. Then by the time I was leaving the building I teach in we'd seen every type of snowflake imaginable float by the window, from tiny ones that hurt when they hit to big fat ones that don't fall straight down because they catch the wind too easily. When I got outside I discovered that the snowflakes were of the giant variety that splat when they hit you.

The newsman predicted up to 5" by morning but there's not that much on the ground. From inside where I am nice and toasty warm, not to mention dry, there appears to be 2-3" caked on top of my car.

Snow. Wet, heavy, uncomfortable snow. Sigh.

Although I guess it's a reminder for some people of what time of year it really is: I just saw a tiny Christmas tree drive by on the roof of a compact car.

Oh, and it's still snowing.

Other Blogs

Just found this lovely story of life changes and realizations over on Elizabeth Twist's blog. I hear ya sister.

I can see the finish line ... now what?

I've been floundering a lot trying to figure out what to do with myself. Floundering isn't the right word. Thinking, is, perhaps, the right word.

In just three weeks I will be DONE with both semester coursework and grading. I will have two weeks of total and utter freedom (with the exception of spending the holidays with my family). But even after that I will not be teaching. So I keep thinking what would I do if I could do anything I wanted? The answer, it seems, is everything. I keep thinking that I have "free time" and so I now have a three foot long list of things to fill that supposedly free time. Yes, many of them come with the tags "must" but more and more and more of them come with the tags "should" ... and it's sorting out all those "shoulds" that's getting me stuck.

But for right now this is only day dreaming. I have lots, and lots, of teachery grading to do in the next three weeks.