I had just been thinking about Jack Shepherd because he was one of the founding members of the Actors' Company which had sparked off in 1972 with Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge, whose memoir I was re-reading last night. He'd left the company by the time of their adaptation of R.D. Laing's Knots (1970) and thus does not appear in the 1975 film which seems to have been their only record in motion, leaving me once again with strictly photographic evidence of this sort of reverse supergroup experiment in democratic theater. (Shepherd at far right resembles a pre-Raphaelite pin-up in jeans, but I like to think if I had Caroline Blakiston's arm round my shoulders I wouldn't look that brooding about it.) Then again, I missed most of his film and famous television work, too: my reaction to his death is derived entirely from his astonishing Renfield in the BBC Count Dracula (1977), who holds more than a candle to the icons of Dwight Frye or Pablo Álvarez Rubio, a heartbreakingly weird and human performance of a character who may not be entirely sane in a world with vampires in it, which doesn't mean he's not to be trusted about them. I loved how much of his lucidity is missed between his Victorian hysteria and his careful impersonation of a reformed lunatic which is not always and for good reason convincing. I loved his kiss of Judi Bowker's Mina, not his master's initatory drink, but a damned soul's benison, the offering of his life. Not just because he became my default horror icon, I thought about him more than any other character from that sometimes surprisingly faithful adaptation. His actor had such a knack for the liminal, on some level his death feels too definite for me to believe.
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PSA RE: (1) Survivialism/Survivalist (2) Cancer Survivorship Program
. . . on account of I'm tired of answering the question "What is a Survivalist?"
Those who have been with me for a little while know that back in 2020, I was diagnosed with cancer and had my left breast removed. Just about a month ago, after about 5.5 years, my surgeon declared me "cancer free," and cut me loose from her care.
This makes me a Cancer Survivor (also, apparently, "a warrior"; make of that what you will).
At the Lafayette Cancer Center in Brewer, Maine, when one has achieved 5 years cancer-free, one is given over to the Survivorship Program, which files under Oncology.
The head of the Survivorship program has been called in my hearing the "Survivalist." At the Lafayette Cancer Center, this person is a Certified Nurse Practitioner; there is also a Nurse Navigator attached to the program, and of course the backing of the entire Oncology Department.
The mission of the Survivorship Program is to provide education and support to help cancer survivors maximize their health and quality of life after having had cancer and treatment for cancer. The program is individualized, and covers such things as a yearly examination -- physical, mental, and emotional -- referrals to other specialists sometimes needed by surviving warriors, such as psychiatrists or nutritionists; connections to social services, and support groups. Advice about diet, exercise, and all those other tiresome things is available.
The Survivorship Program also keeps track of my mammograms and orders the next one for me; and is just another cord in what is, in Central and Northern Maine, at least, a Very Thin social health network.
You now know everything I know about Survivalists, Survivorship, and Survivalism.
Here ends your PSA. We now return you to your irregularly scheduled flights of fancy.
#
Managed to trim +/- 2,000 words from a section of the WIP which probably needs to lose some more words. There's an "obvious" bit that I can rip out that will lose me another 500 words, but I'm ... reluctant to do that. It's more than I just like the bit (though I do, and "kill your darlings" is not Eternal Wisdom, so nobody go there, 'k?), so the bit gets to stay.
For Now.
Did a little bit of house straightening this afternoon and will shortly be heading out in the Stygian Darkness of 4:30 pm to go to needlework.
Tomorrow will be writing in the morning, some more straightening of the house, and a bit of playing with glass.
I'll say goodnight for now, and see y'all tomorrow.
Stay safe.
Here, have a picture of Rookie overseeing my shoddy impersonation of a working writer:
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We perceive that there does not appear to be any gender-confusion, or relationships with military helmets, connected with this particular tortoise, or maybe no-one noticed: Gramma the Galápagos tortoise, oldest resident of San Diego Zoo, dies at about 141. Not quite old enough to have met that there Charles Darwin, then.
***
Reversal of Fates: Access Through Photographs can be a Counterbalance
Ongoing digitization and cataloging work not only serves the interests of scholars and manuscript communities—it also creates crucial, publicly-accessible provenance records that provide an increasingly robust bulwark against manuscript theft and trafficking.
Sing it.
***
Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy:
“A lot of that music from that era, the record companies did not keep backups. They were all destroyed, almost all. And it’s all up to the record collectors. They’re the ones who kind of saved the music from that era,”
....
Superior to a random recording uploaded to YouTube with no accompanying information, the database includes things like where the song was recorded and when, as well as lists of musicians and composers who worked on the songs.
***
I think I may have mentioned at some time the phenomenon of the 'monkey walk': Before Tinder, there was the Monkey Parade… . Though some recent works read for review incline me to think that one reason for the decline not mentioned in that piece was the rise of the coffee-bar - indoors in the warm with a juke-box, and the site of massive 50s moral panic around The Young.
***
Statue to 'remarkable' woman who escaped slavery:
A statue to a "remarkable and brave" woman who fled slavery and torture in the US has been unveiled in the fishing town in northern England where she found freedom.
Mary Ann Macham spent weeks hiding in woods in Virginia before stowing away on a ship, eventually arriving in North Shields in the early 1830s.
She was taken in by a Quaker family, married a local man and remained in the town until she died aged 91.
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Great interview about Murderbot:
Bifurcating Character with Incisive and Witty Inner Monologue: a Masterclass with ‘Murderbot’ Co-Showrunners Paul Weitz and Spirit Awards Winner Chris Weitz
Since SecUnits issued by the Corporation Rim (a group of mega-corporations ruling the galaxy in the distant future) are sentient, complete obedience to human orders is guaranteed by the “governor module” in each unit. However, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård, who nabbed an Emmy for his intricate and chilling performance in the HBO series, Big Little Lies), figures out how to disable its module to gain autonomy. “Murderbot is sentient from the get-go — it’s basically a slavery narrative. It’s important to Martha that Murderbot was always sentient,” Chris says of the close collaboration with consulting producer, Wells. “All the SecUnits are under human control. They can think for themselves but can’t act for themselves. So, they experience this torture of being at the disposal of others.” In addition to exploring themes of humanity and free will, the series also calls into question the issue of personhood, as Paul notes: “To what degree are we going to grant personhood to non-human intelligence?”
https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/bifurcating-character-with-incisive-and-witty-inner-monologue-a-masterclass-with-murderbot-co-showrunners-paul-weitz-and-spirit-awards-winner-chris-weitz/
***
I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after basically three weeks of travel in October, catching up on household stuff, trying to get ready for the holidays, getting back into working on the current book. I think I was more mentally exhausted than physically, but it was still a lot.
I didn't stay more than a day in any one city (except for two nights in Allentown, PA, which was lovely) and I was mostly leaving before most of the hotels started to serve breakfast, so I was living on a lot of airplane food. I did get to ride the train for the first time in the US (the Acela Amtrack) which was fun. I've ridden trains in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Scotland, but never here.
There was a lot of emotional overwhelm, seeing so many people, but also it felt really good, because they were all people who cared about books and art and creativity. The smallest crowd was in New York, about 40-50 people, the largest was in Seattle with around 300. The Texas Book Festival in Austin was like an encapsulation of the whole trip, being in a giant crowd of people (the largest in the festival's 30 year history) who were all "books, books, books!" I've heard that people seemed to be going to more arts-related events lately, and that was what I saw on my trip.
Bifurcating Character with Incisive and Witty Inner Monologue: a Masterclass with ‘Murderbot’ Co-Showrunners Paul Weitz and Spirit Awards Winner Chris Weitz
Since SecUnits issued by the Corporation Rim (a group of mega-corporations ruling the galaxy in the distant future) are sentient, complete obedience to human orders is guaranteed by the “governor module” in each unit. However, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård, who nabbed an Emmy for his intricate and chilling performance in the HBO series, Big Little Lies), figures out how to disable its module to gain autonomy. “Murderbot is sentient from the get-go — it’s basically a slavery narrative. It’s important to Martha that Murderbot was always sentient,” Chris says of the close collaboration with consulting producer, Wells. “All the SecUnits are under human control. They can think for themselves but can’t act for themselves. So, they experience this torture of being at the disposal of others.” In addition to exploring themes of humanity and free will, the series also calls into question the issue of personhood, as Paul notes: “To what degree are we going to grant personhood to non-human intelligence?”
https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/bifurcating-character-with-incisive-and-witty-inner-monologue-a-masterclass-with-murderbot-co-showrunners-paul-weitz-and-spirit-awards-winner-chris-weitz/
***
I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after basically three weeks of travel in October, catching up on household stuff, trying to get ready for the holidays, getting back into working on the current book. I think I was more mentally exhausted than physically, but it was still a lot.
I didn't stay more than a day in any one city (except for two nights in Allentown, PA, which was lovely) and I was mostly leaving before most of the hotels started to serve breakfast, so I was living on a lot of airplane food. I did get to ride the train for the first time in the US (the Acela Amtrack) which was fun. I've ridden trains in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Scotland, but never here.
There was a lot of emotional overwhelm, seeing so many people, but also it felt really good, because they were all people who cared about books and art and creativity. The smallest crowd was in New York, about 40-50 people, the largest was in Seattle with around 300. The Texas Book Festival in Austin was like an encapsulation of the whole trip, being in a giant crowd of people (the largest in the festival's 30 year history) who were all "books, books, books!" I've heard that people seemed to be going to more arts-related events lately, and that was what I saw on my trip.
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A utopia (of sorts) is endangered by a discontented, powerful, malcontent.
Aristoi by Walter Jon Williams
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Tuesday. Chilly and dim. Trash and recycling at the curb.
Breakfast was cold pizza. A milestone. I had what I believe to be my first pizza since Steve died on Sunday night, post-interview. It would have been something we might have done. This being so, I had cold pizza for breakfast, also for the first time in more than a year. ... It was good. Pairs well with Scottish Morn tea.
Woke up this morning with a short story in my head, so I need to map that out before I hit the WIP.
I have finished writing the Holiday Letter; it is now cooling before I reread and (probably) revise. Firefly helped me find the cards, and then we all had to sit around and explain to Rook about cards, and let him sniff them. He got green glitter on his nose.
Still reading The Thursday Murder Club (yes, yes: slow reader). One of the things I'm especially enjoying is the acknowledgement that all of the club members had Done Stuff -- even a lot of stuff. They did not just manifest one day as Old People, their pasts either irrelevant or a blank.
And of course, it's wonderful to see them manipulate the "clueless and helpless old people" perception.
I'm a little scared of Elizabeth, though.
So! This evening is needlework. This morning is writing.
I'm gonna need more tea.
What's on your schedule today?
Today's blog post brought to you by David and Linda LaFlamme, "White Bird"
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If I had a dollar for every time I've read a science fiction novel about a female protagonist who travels to another planet and discovers she's being manipulated by an infectious alien hive mind, I would have at least three dollars (four, if I include the book where another member of the crew is taken over by the aliens but the protagonist herself is IIRC never directly touched by them).
IDK but in context that feels like kind of a lot of dollars.
IDK but in context that feels like kind of a lot of dollars.
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The cashew butter cookies are good, but these are better. I plan to make some once I get done with planned travel. Posting so I can find again. Original recipe
1 3/4 cups [230g] flour
1/2 tsp [2.5g] baking soda
1 1/2 cups [240g] chocolate chips
1 stick [115g] salted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup [100g] granulated sugar
1/2 cup [100g] brown sugar
1/2 tsp [3g] salt
1 large egg [50g]
1/2 cup [125g] tahini
1 tsp [5g] vanilla extract
2/3 cup [90g] sesame seeds
Combine the flour and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Add in the chocolate chips into the dry ingredients.
Beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes, until a little lighter and fluffier. Scrape down the sides, and add the egg, tahini, milk, and vanilla. Beat at medium-high speed until silky-smooth and lighter in color (about 1 minute).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix at low speed just until it all comes together. Stop mixing once it’s combined.
Fridge the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Shape the dough into scant-1/4-cup blobs [50g]. Roll one between your hands until smooth, then roll in the sesame seeds, and then place on a prepared sheet pan. Gently press the dough ball’s top down slightly so it’s just a little flattened. Repeat with the remaining ones, leaving space between each cookie.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are set, but the centers aren’t completely set
1 3/4 cups [230g] flour
1/2 tsp [2.5g] baking soda
1 1/2 cups [240g] chocolate chips
1 stick [115g] salted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup [100g] granulated sugar
1/2 cup [100g] brown sugar
1/2 tsp [3g] salt
1 large egg [50g]
1/2 cup [125g] tahini
1 tsp [5g] vanilla extract
2/3 cup [90g] sesame seeds
Combine the flour and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Add in the chocolate chips into the dry ingredients.
Beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes, until a little lighter and fluffier. Scrape down the sides, and add the egg, tahini, milk, and vanilla. Beat at medium-high speed until silky-smooth and lighter in color (about 1 minute).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix at low speed just until it all comes together. Stop mixing once it’s combined.
Fridge the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Shape the dough into scant-1/4-cup blobs [50g]. Roll one between your hands until smooth, then roll in the sesame seeds, and then place on a prepared sheet pan. Gently press the dough ball’s top down slightly so it’s just a little flattened. Repeat with the remaining ones, leaving space between each cookie.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are set, but the centers aren’t completely set
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Only a day or two late, I saw a classic new moon in the old moon's arms as I walked around the neighborhood just after sunset, the reflection-white crescent and its charcoal-colored cradle like an eclipse in monochrome. The sky was its usual clear apple-blue in the east and then sank. I am not sure I have ever had this much difficulty with the early dark between the clocks falling back and the solstice. I am awake most of the days and there still doesn't seem to be any light in them.
I slept last night. I would like not to have to record it as a milestone. It feels a little unnecessarily on the nose that I was woken out of some complex dream by a phone call from a doctor's office. Most of them lately have some unsurprising insecurity in them: slow-motion cataclysm, as if it makes much difference from being awake. Last night, something about a house with tide-lines on its walls, as if it regularly flooded to the beams.
Describing the 1978 BBC As You Like It to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spatch made me realize how few of Shakespeare's comedies I have actually seen when compared with the tragedies, the late romances, the history or the problem plays. A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night would be the predictable exceptions in that I am verging on more productions of either than I can count without thinking about it, but I am three Winter's Tales to zero Comedies of Errors. I've seen Timon of Athens and not All's Well That Ends Well. One Richard II and neither of the Two Gentlemen of Verona. It begins to feel accidental that I caught The Merry Wives of Windsor in college.
I really appreciateasakiyume sending me Hen Ogledd's "Scales Will Fall" (2025) and ashlyme alerting me to the trans-Neptunian existence of the sednoid Ammonite.
I slept last night. I would like not to have to record it as a milestone. It feels a little unnecessarily on the nose that I was woken out of some complex dream by a phone call from a doctor's office. Most of them lately have some unsurprising insecurity in them: slow-motion cataclysm, as if it makes much difference from being awake. Last night, something about a house with tide-lines on its walls, as if it regularly flooded to the beams.
Describing the 1978 BBC As You Like It to
spatch made me realize how few of Shakespeare's comedies I have actually seen when compared with the tragedies, the late romances, the history or the problem plays. A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night would be the predictable exceptions in that I am verging on more productions of either than I can count without thinking about it, but I am three Winter's Tales to zero Comedies of Errors. I've seen Timon of Athens and not All's Well That Ends Well. One Richard II and neither of the Two Gentlemen of Verona. It begins to feel accidental that I caught The Merry Wives of Windsor in college. I really appreciate
asakiyume sending me Hen Ogledd's "Scales Will Fall" (2025) and ashlyme alerting me to the trans-Neptunian existence of the sednoid Ammonite.Monday. Bright and cold.
Breakfast was two eggs scrambled with leftover cauliflower and broccoli, with sausage, and a piece of whole wheat toast. A Big breakfast, but it's a biggish morning.
Trash and recycling are in the garage, preparing themselves for tomorrow's journey to the curb. Dishwasher is doing its thing. Cats suspect that Something Is Up.
I'll be getting on the road to the cancer center and my chat with the Survivalist as soon as I finish my second mug of tea. I'll be early, but I don't have Steve's genius for split-second timing, so better early than late.
I'm having a lot of fun with the Thursday Murder Club, and having never seen the show, only read complaints about how it "did not live up" to the books, despite the excellent cast -- I have Some Thoughts About that.
The voice of the book -- aka "the narrator" -- is hysterical and unless the show (again, never seen it) has a voice over telling you what, oh, Ian's thinking, and how he's thinking it, viewers are missing an important facet of the story, and expecting the actors to carry the whole weight themselves isn't really fair.
. . . and that's my second mug empty, so I'm off.
I hope everyone's having a good morning. I'll see you on the flip side.
Back, having gone the long way home -- through Bar Harbor. I had somehow expected the town to be open. I mean, people live on the island. To be fair, some things were open, for instance the Village Green Cafe, where I got my lunch (grilled ham and cheddar on multigrain with blueberry ice tea), but I hadn't expected the relative emptiness.
Also, I had not come dressed for ocean-side chill, so my window shopping was limited. However, I'm glad I did not just go Straight Home like a Good Do-Bee. And, besides, I need to keep in practice with driving longish distances (that was, eh, 220 miles on the day). She said virtuously.
The Survivalist is a dream. We have a yearly check-in plan in place, as well as an agreement that I may call upon her for various things, and reassurance that I had NOT screwed up by wearing my compression gloves when my hands hurt. And I got points for asking a good question.
I believe I have all my Stuff for Thursday in-house (well, except flowers. I forgot flowers. Oh, well.), so that's good. I haven't gotten a wreath, either, because I just can't make myself buy a wreath before Thanksgiving. It's just ... wrong.
The cats inform me that I missed three -- or possibly four -- check-ins today and that they are not disposed to be lenient. I was immediately tasked with rubbing Tali's ears, and scrubbling Rook's belly, and picking up Firefly for an All-Grown-Up Hug. I draw the line, however, at moving Happy Hour up by an hour and a half.
What did y'all do today?
Today's blog post title comes from The Eagles, "Seven Bridges Road," which I can never resist singing along with the acapella parts, though I really ought to always resist singing.
I wanted tahini chocolate chip cookies and couldn't find any more tahini in the pantry (I'm blind, there were two more containers down there), so instead I searched for cashew butter chocolate chip cookies because I've been haunted by a jar on our shelves for a while. The recipe I found uses 3 times the amount of cashew butter than I have, but thankfully all the ingredients (including the egg) were easily divisible by 3. Bonus, I also only had 1/3 the recipe's amount of cashews. So here's the smaller version.
1 egg
1 cup cashew butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup cashews
Sprinkles of kosher salt
Whisk egg lightly in a small bowl. Add egg, cashew butter, brown sugar, baking soda and salt to stand mixer and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips and cashews. Preheat oven to 350 F, portion out large spoons of dough on lined baking sheet, sprinkle on kosher salt and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Edited to add
Original recipe
1 egg
1 cup cashew butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup cashews
Sprinkles of kosher salt
Whisk egg lightly in a small bowl. Add egg, cashew butter, brown sugar, baking soda and salt to stand mixer and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips and cashews. Preheat oven to 350 F, portion out large spoons of dough on lined baking sheet, sprinkle on kosher salt and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Edited to add
Original recipe
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Bundle of Holding's 13th annual feast of top-quality tabletop roleplaying game ebooks.
Bundle of Holding: Cornucopia 2025
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I think I have arranged to transfer the inherited IRA money from my mother's account at BNY to a new account in my name at Fidelity. It's at Fidelity because they were willing and able to do this, rather than telling me that I would have to go somewhere else to get a medallion signature.
A couple of weeks ago Adrian's advisor at Fidelity said that they could provide the medallion signature, and would do it for free because she has an account there. When she called this morning to make an appointment, they told her that they couldn't do that for her partner, but if I created an account today to transfer the money into, I could go there tomorrow and get the medallion signature. So, I called Fidelity to set up the account.
That went more smoothly than I expected. Someone walked me through the process of creating the new account, and setting up the transfer. He said the Fidelity back office people will take care of moving the money, and he didn't think I would need the medallion signature, meaning I don't need to go to their office. The website said the "estimated completion date" was Dec. 16, and the man I was talking to said it would probably be sooner than that.
I want this to be done before the end of the year, so I can take the 2025 required minimum distribution.
I am hopeful that this will work, even if they call me and tell ne to come in and get the medallion signature guarantee.
A couple of weeks ago Adrian's advisor at Fidelity said that they could provide the medallion signature, and would do it for free because she has an account there. When she called this morning to make an appointment, they told her that they couldn't do that for her partner, but if I created an account today to transfer the money into, I could go there tomorrow and get the medallion signature. So, I called Fidelity to set up the account.
That went more smoothly than I expected. Someone walked me through the process of creating the new account, and setting up the transfer. He said the Fidelity back office people will take care of moving the money, and he didn't think I would need the medallion signature, meaning I don't need to go to their office. The website said the "estimated completion date" was Dec. 16, and the man I was talking to said it would probably be sooner than that.
I want this to be done before the end of the year, so I can take the 2025 required minimum distribution.
I am hopeful that this will work, even if they call me and tell ne to come in and get the medallion signature guarantee.
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