tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.comments2023-10-03T20:58:22.216-05:00Peni Griffin - Idea Garage SalePeni R. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01781761011389542245noreply@blogger.comBlogger482125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-82736535514091344152016-11-19T15:04:13.358-06:002016-11-19T15:04:13.358-06:00Good thoughts, Peni. I've been pondering tne s...Good thoughts, Peni. I've been pondering tne same thing all week. Best wishes to you as we try to make our way through this.Victoria Phantasmagoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03130758352354501729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-11458115567045260182016-11-11T10:23:15.592-06:002016-11-11T10:23:15.592-06:00I will try...I will try...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06438075821841142515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-54803853710669430512015-10-27T10:49:59.838-05:002015-10-27T10:49:59.838-05:00You will always be an author, Peni, and so will I,...You will always be an author, Peni, and so will I, just as we will always be scientists, because we have a scientific view of the world. You and I will always be cat people, even though it happens that Kathe and I aren't looking after any cats at the moment.john_m_burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12688115748283319663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-72518058296041133782015-09-01T14:42:49.200-05:002015-09-01T14:42:49.200-05:00I love those occasions where archaeological finds ...I love those occasions where archaeological finds compel you to compose a story, even when you might be completely wrong in your interpretation.<br />One of my favorites is the burial mound near Stonehenge, judged to be contemporaneous with the raising of the first stones. It is much like other burial mounds of that culture, but ten times larger....<br />But my all-time favorite story-in-the-stones comes not from archaeology but from paleontology:<br />Two sets of hominid footprints, preserved between layers of volcanic ashfall. The depth of the impressions indicates the smaller of the two was carrying something heavy. The overpowering inference is, a father with a mother carrying a baby. Hard not to think of that first.<br />Any footprints that look human are from our line of descent. Nothing else that walks on two legs walks the way we do, so we know at once that these are our people -- if not our great-grandpappy and -mammy, then our greatity-great uncle and aunt.<br />But what really kills it for me is that in those few footprints, the smaller of the two pauses, turns to look back, and then proceeds onward.<br />A moment of thoughtful hesitation -- how human.john_m_burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12688115748283319663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-71260489572313330742015-09-01T14:22:33.356-05:002015-09-01T14:22:33.356-05:00You're going to love having the magic book tha...You're going to love having the magic book that can be any book.john_m_burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12688115748283319663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-67167120101004430262015-07-13T11:33:36.076-05:002015-07-13T11:33:36.076-05:00And I stand by it. Bujold is difficult to oversell...And I stand by it. Bujold is difficult to oversell. But, readers being the way they are, a significant number of people who read her science fiction Vorkosigan books, which get marketed as military SF though some of the books are romantic comedies, wouldn't follow her to a fantasy world, and it's a shame. Also the Vorkosigan books are "really" YA, while the Five Gods books are grown-up books. I don't normally read grown-up books, though, and I'll read these avidly.Peni R. Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01781761011389542245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-84413537165655057852015-07-12T10:32:51.072-05:002015-07-12T10:32:51.072-05:00That is quite a recommendation! That is quite a recommendation! Bish Denhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359927719391990534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-46971015608803614022015-06-14T02:33:42.303-05:002015-06-14T02:33:42.303-05:00That does indeed sound like a good first line.That does indeed sound like a good first line.john_m_burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12688115748283319663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-9283456374155539282015-06-13T20:54:43.924-05:002015-06-13T20:54:43.924-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.john_m_burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12688115748283319663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-82396924252014445232015-05-04T22:17:23.682-05:002015-05-04T22:17:23.682-05:00Hi Peni. Sorry to hear you will not be blogging mu...Hi Peni. Sorry to hear you will not be blogging much, but if your body demands that you rest, you must rest. I hope you'll feel better soon.Victoria Phantasmagoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03130758352354501729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-12033408701710688382015-04-07T08:47:33.240-05:002015-04-07T08:47:33.240-05:00There once was a man from Tarantium.
He cared for ...<br />There once was a man from Tarantium.<br />He cared for the Emperor's aquarium.<br />About his skill he lied.<br />The fish all died.<br />That's why the man left Tarantium. <br />Max Kaladinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09082956740941126635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-72889318147775660862014-12-20T04:04:20.176-06:002014-12-20T04:04:20.176-06:00It's great you had a positive experience with ...It's great you had a positive experience with music, Peni. It really could be you've formed a new bundle of neurons. Even if it's a matter of refining old connections, amazing things can come from that and I have high hopes for brain plasticity and adaptability - it's what keeps me plugging along in the face of adversity. <br /><br />I do hope your new experience with music is something that will last.Victoria Phantasmagoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03130758352354501729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-29990379781337685532014-12-19T13:06:15.912-06:002014-12-19T13:06:15.912-06:00That's very interesting. Berkley did a whole ...That's very interesting. Berkley did a whole bunch of research on musicians back in the 00s. All trained musicians process music in the language part of the brain. Which is probably why there are a certain number of composers on the classical side of things that write music for musicians. PDQ Bach's cello suites can't possibly be as funny if you don't know what he's doing.<br />Maybe, in all your tons of spare time (that you don't have) formal music instruction would be helpful in listening to music. 'Cause if you naturally hear it as we hear it, but you don't know what you're hearing, it has to be about the same as listening to people talking in a foreign language.<br />Hope you get to feeling better soon. Brains not working the way we expect them to are one of the most terrifying health things to deal with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-7460861211098008462014-11-27T13:41:27.660-06:002014-11-27T13:41:27.660-06:00This is Satina, and you just randomly discovered t...This is Satina, and you just randomly discovered that I played Widespot awhile back and wrote a blog about it, and I got your email today. Thank you, and I think you are meant to see this: http://theindigomission.wordpress.com/ When you do, you will see why I didn't email you back! Namaste!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-73543664204515960242014-11-25T23:47:36.465-06:002014-11-25T23:47:36.465-06:00amen!!amen!!Tammy Theriaulthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13128574900510175415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-25951491448327972412014-10-28T08:30:43.037-05:002014-10-28T08:30:43.037-05:00Most nightmares you just get over. This one gets w...Most nightmares you just get over. This one gets worse every time I remember it because I understand it better as I get older.Peni R. Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01781761011389542245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-11550588168021135762014-10-26T15:29:07.178-05:002014-10-26T15:29:07.178-05:00Ooooo... if I wrote horror that would be a good pl...Ooooo... if I wrote horror that would be a good place to start, indeed.Bish Denhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359927719391990534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-75399227509744370142014-08-10T11:30:46.164-05:002014-08-10T11:30:46.164-05:00It'd have to be a really big score to be worth...It'd have to be a really big score to be worth blowing the only shot with it? On the other hand, if the family members in question are none-too-bright...Peni R. Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01781761011389542245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-16649482038275801172014-08-03T10:17:44.692-05:002014-08-03T10:17:44.692-05:00There are some excellent possibilities for "t...There are some excellent possibilities for "the perfect crime", assuming the family in question is short of cash and not over-burdened with moral sensibilities. The gizmo could be used for a life insurance scam, of course, or to create an unbreakable alibi (you couldn't have committed the crime if you'd just been cremated. could you?). It would help if at least some of the family members are none-too-bright (and/or plagued by mutual suspicions), allowing the whole scheme to backfire in some spectacularly entertaining way.Andrew Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-49767553501533427662014-08-01T14:48:58.443-05:002014-08-01T14:48:58.443-05:00Don't have to understand; don't have to qu...Don't have to understand; don't have to question, because it always works! I just got off it, having quite unexpectedly gotten a lot of backstory into the dialog that I'd been worried about - it's a complicated secondary world, with lots of backstory, much of it counterintuitive for those of us raised in the patriarchy, so I've been worried about infodumps, and also about terminally confusing the audience. Should there ever be one. A little wrung out, but it's satisfying.Peni R. Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01781761011389542245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-3122376462152163732014-07-31T16:07:53.545-05:002014-07-31T16:07:53.545-05:00What's always so fascinating and miraculous is...What's always so fascinating and miraculous is how the solutions come and the story comes together. it's a process I don't understand and don't question. Bish Denhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359927719391990534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-78102801450538850482014-07-08T07:56:24.563-05:002014-07-08T07:56:24.563-05:00I know, right? That'd fly off the shelves! And...I know, right? That'd fly off the shelves! And the only problem, really, in writing it would be to pick which ten. From Mary the Jewess to Rosalind Franklin, you're spoiled for choice.Peni R. Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01781761011389542245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-33130884406533500112014-07-07T14:45:59.968-05:002014-07-07T14:45:59.968-05:00I really, really like that title, Ten Scientists Y...I really, really like that title, Ten Scientists You Never Heard of (Because They were Women).john_m_burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12688115748283319663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-89497778132741823832014-06-18T23:54:29.641-05:002014-06-18T23:54:29.641-05:00I've read your Widespot shorts, and I'm no...I've read your Widespot shorts, and I'm not sure how much of what I think of Penny is based on that and how much is in game.<br />The young man I know/knew was fifteen-seventeen at the time (home school group in former town). I don't think he'd quite figured out that romance was a thing yet, though he was obviously intellectually aware that people married, had kids, dated, etc. so in that area he was different than Penny, but I'm not sure that's autism, that could just be normal child development.<br />He was very, very smart. He was not very far on the autism spectrum: he could function in the normal world without doing much more than making people think he was weird, unlike his older brother who couldn't function without an intermediary. He had rules for social interaction, like look people in the eyes when you're talking to them, which he followed very carefully. Unfortunately, they were over-generalized, which tends to come across as weird or creepy. (Try having a five minute conversation with the only break in eye contact being to blink. It's not what neurotypicals mean by eye contact.) This young man couldn't tell when he was way over the rest of our heads--he was taking calculus and was fascinated by it and couldn't see that we weren't following what he was saying, but were simply being polite listeners. From what I understand, this is very typical for high functioning autistic folks: they do okay following a set of rules for social interaction, in that they can get along well enough to live independently, hold down a job, etc, but they struggle with interpersonal relationships because they don't interpret, don't see, or something the social cues the rest of us follow.<br /><br />Having Penny be profoundly gifted (IQ 180+) might also work. Those kids tend to process the world in very different ways as well.<br /><br />I would think in the situation of a foundling Skye would lie. "Yes, this is my child. Her mother abandoned her." Homer might've coached him on what to say. If she's of a darker ethnicity than he is, it takes a few days for a baby's melanin to come in: my kids are all as pale as me for the first week or so. Sure, they have brown hair and eyes from the start, but their skin tone is very pale. (In fact, when my husband took off his wedding ring to get it resized his skin was absolutely white underneath. Paper white.) Maybe you know all this, but you've said that you don't have kids, and it is during the time frame when moms generally don't want visitors or to take baby out and about. You know you can tell me to shut up and I won't be offended.<br /><br />Anyway, there are a lot of families dealing with autism and other issues that affect education among home school families, so I'd suggest asking around for resources among the local home schoolers. Especially since you're likely going to be picking their brains anyway about the situation in the sixties if you stick with having Skye educate the kids. Texas has this reputation nowadays for having good laws and bad officials who try to make up rules, home schooling always being a state regulated thing. (Just as well, considering what Californians and Pennsylvanians have to put up with--wouldn't want their legislators messing up our laws.) No idea what it was like back then, except probably worse. Most states were.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9052050523351394.post-23199684100517731342014-06-16T18:23:57.831-05:002014-06-16T18:23:57.831-05:00I'd have to look into the specific laws Skye&#...I'd have to look into the specific laws Skye'd have to negotiate if Penny is a foundling. I have actually done a little playing with the idea that Skye even knows the mother - not, obviously, in the Biblical sense; it's important to me that BookSkye be asexual - but perhaps a sister (so I could keep the family nose), perhaps someone he was once institutionalized with - because Skye's not in a comfortable part of the bell curve, either.<br /><br />I think this is something I have to do a big infodump into my head for, from which The Truth will emerge naturally (or not). I'm putting off the research primarily because I remember how researching the child "welfare" system for Switching Well affected me - I could only read a little at a time, because I'd get sick to my stomach and tense all over with rage at the sheer consistent stupidity with which this country has always treated the those who can't advocate for themselves. <br /><br />The mother being somebody Skye knows, and would protect if he could, but can't, beyond seeing to it that her children are cared for, has a number of implications for Penny's (and Woody's, if he makes the cut) story, some of which get easier and some of which get harder. I'm pleased to know you know somebody with a condition that would be consistent with Penny's character, as it gives me a place to start. Does she remind you of your autistic friend on the basis solely on her behavior in game, or have you read the "No Excuses" and "Crushing Scenes" and seen it there, too? The neuroatypical people I know personally tend to have actual disorders (depressives, paranoids, learning disorders) rather than nonstandard modes of functioning, so I haven't even been sure the autistic spectrum was the place to start.<br /><br />My working assumption has always been that Skye fell completely in love with Penny the first time he held her, and - having himself been raised in the kind of judgmental, harsh environment that makes hiding in the woods and watching the stars seem like the best possible life choice - he always assumed that anything that was wrong in her life or development was his fault, not hers. Penny herself was just Penny and whatever Penny was, was wonderful. While Skye's job is to keep her safe from all the cruelties of life that beset him. If he knows Penny to have been abandoned by someone he personally couldn't save from being sexually exploited, that amps up his reaction to Rhett quite a bit, and positions him to see consent issues where there aren't any. If he doesn't know the mother he will assume her to have been abandoned like a kitten or puppy, callously, which will entail an entirely different reaction to Rhett, closer to jealousy. <br /><br />Anyway, I am right at the beginning of this road. Even if it goes anywhere, it can take an astonishingly long time.<br /><br />There are no stupid questions. The trouble with indie publishing is that its success or failure hinges on the entrepreneurial abilities of the author - and I have none. (Frustratingly, if I did, I'd almost certainly have an agent by now; the cost-benefit analysis of taking me on would look very different.) And as often as I tell myself that I can learn, I find myself unable to do so. It's like doing a pull-up. I've been forced to try to do a pull-up as often as any other kid who went through school when I did, and I have never done one. Not once. Sometimes I think I don't have the upper body strength and other times I think it's because no one has ever tried seriously to teach me how the hell it's supposed to work - but in the event, the result is the same. It's not a matter of not quite getting to the bar; it's a matter of being incapable of bending my arms while hanging there. And the whole business of promoting a book to the point that people go actively looking to give me money for it feels exactly the same as that.Peni R. Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01781761011389542245noreply@blogger.com