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The Wind is High Chapter 1
Riley did not wave back at her father’s men as she burst across the bridge and under the towers. She nearly ran her horse into a carriage in the courtyard, a black shadow in the autumn twilight. She hauled on the reins, and Sugarsnap skidded to a stop. Vaulting off her mare, she landed in…
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Novel Announcement
Andrew and I finished our first novel together. The name is The Wind is High. We have worked ourselves raw for six weeks, and yesterday sent the manuscript to the first beta readers. I am happy to give it to anyone who asks. I will post the first chapter (the weakest chapter, unfortunately) soon, here. We finished the first pass…
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Acts of Hope
I have been thinking a lot about how to defend myself against despair. During the pandemic, I realized that I needed a sense of self and a philosophy that was not tied to a certain future or stable external systems. I read books on happiness, neurology and Man’s Search for Meaning. I rode my bike…
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Communication or Representation
I think I am just starting to realize how much my art is separated from my source material. There is a particular effect I’ve experienced that makes me think I may be drawing from my own mental model just as much as from a reference. I have no trouble drawing portraits in most circumstances. But I have…
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Antibodies and Relationships
I am currently learning about specificity in binding between proteins and I can’t seem to think of it in any other terms than relationships between people. They are like puzzle pieces that fit together in more or less limited ways. Some of us have one very strong binding site – like a favorite hobby or a…
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Just Wasting Time
My husband asked last night if writing our book was “worth it.” I asked “Worth what?” He said “You know… Our time?” I just laughed and said “Definitely, our time is worthless!” Which, I know, seems like a flippant response for a moment of vulnerability. However, I don’t think it’s helpful to give feelings of doubt…
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Birnham Wood Report
In Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton I have read, realized in text, the flaws inherent with the current state of progressive ideology as well as the flagrantly evil billionaire that embodies all that the progressive fears. It is a cautionary tale of the failures of trust, as well as giving a boogeyman puppet master villain. The…
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Technology In Nature
My thoughts turned to the interconnectedness of our world today. The opinion of ecologists has long been that humans are an inherently unnatural destabilization of the natural balance. However, when I consider the entirety of the landscape—avoiding the division of structures into categories like ‘non-human’ and ‘development,’ the purpose of destabilization becomes clear. In my…
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Me and My Shadow
Under the sun, she’s down at my feet Sitting there, all tiny and neat Slowly she grows, then taller still Longer, in fact, than I ever will Following me, as fast as I run Multiplying, I’ve never won In twilight she walks through the trees Cutting me off, right at the knees Then in the…
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Creation Without Magic
What is Creation without Magic? Mere craft? Decoration? Assembly? When I was a teenager, I’ll never forgive my art teacher for breaking my concept of art. To be fair to him, it was all in the best intentions. And it wasn’t all his fault. I didn’t have to listen. I had many flaws in my…