Today was the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. It was still light at 8:30 tonight, which is amazing. So Happy Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-Couples Day, Feast of Epona, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, Vestalia, &c. Hope you had a rootin-tootin sexy kind of day. The first day of summer was surprisingly mild here in NC, and I wish the trend could continue; I like being able to drive with the windows down.

While I was away teaching the kiddies this afternoon, Janet went through a book containing info on all the INS paperwork that she needs to turn in, and got everything ready. Once I got home, we went to Kinko's and made copies of everything. All she needs now is two painful checks from me, and we can put it all in the mail. Woo hoo!

Speaking of teaching, the little hellions, er, darlings are doing fine. I was talking with the playwriting teacher today, and we both agreed that their attention spans are starting to wane. Last week, we went over The Hook, Character, Plot, and Setting. Today I talked a bit about Dialogue, and started the first day of critiquing. I'm having them read their work out loud, then we go around the circle and each person gives a quick Clarion-style critique. We'll do this until Wednesday, and then on Thursday, since it's a shortened class period and all writing assignments will be done, I'll have them do Exquisite Cadaver (a game where you write the first line of a poem, then pass it to the person on your right who writes the second line, etc., until it goes all the way around the room) for the whole time. Since Friday will be the big YWW celebration, I think it'll be a good closer for the kiddies.

Yesterday, we took my mom and dad for Father's Day brunch at Brig's in Cary, which serves excellent breakfast food all day long. I got the Yukon Omelette, which had blue crab and asparagus, and was topped with hollandaise. Yum. Dad opened the present I got for him, and we all had a nice chat. Janet was feeling a bit faint as we were waiting in line to get in (45-minute wait), but felt better after eating something.

Last night, I finished up revisions on "Last Fare" and emailed it to the other folks going to the Strange Horizons Oregon Workshop. I was so glad to get it finally done; I hadn't worked on it since John Kessel critiqued it almost a year ago. Here are the rest of the writing goals I have for the summer:

1. Revise "Solipsister" and send it back to John Klima for Electric Velocipede
2. Revise "A Lull in the Conversation" and start sending it to academic journals
3. Finish writing "In Jurong," "Stuck" and "Wombat Fishbone" so that I can submit them for critique in Wilton Barnhardt's fiction workshop in the Fall
4. Get my thesis in good shape

Hopefully, I'll be able to get all these things accomplished.

Today's mail brought some nice surprises from the UK: The Well of Lost Plots, The Drawing of the Dark, Mother London, and King of the City. Left in my Amazon.co.uk basket is Harry Potter 5, which comes out in paperback in three weeks, and Iron Council, which will be released in hardcover this September (ironically, two months after the US hardcover, but I have the UK hardcovers of Perdido Street Station and The Scar, and want to keep the continuity of the dustcovers).

This is for all those who've wondered what Singapore looks like from space.

Behind me, Janet is working on a new story, but I don't want to disturb her. We're currently listening to Groove Salad Radio on iTunes, which seems to be stimulating the creativity in both of us. Speaking of, I need to get to number 1 on the above list, so away I go.

Now Reading:
Summerland by Michael Chabon

Stories Out to Publishers:
9

Books Read This Year:
33

Zines/Graphic Novels/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
17