I actually got sequel writing done. So glad.  I think things are making sense.

Here's a tiny piece:

The animal handler pulled the ram’s head up by its horns. The oath taker plunged a heavy knife deep into the creature’s throat. The ram kicked as its blood sprayed across the altar. With practiced ease the oath taker opened the ram. He heaved the entrails on the altar, rummaging through them. Blood and slime dripped down the priest’s arms and naked torso.

He declared the signs acceptable.

A hush, a pause deeper than mere quiet fell. Everyone stepped closer to the altar, extending their hands over the hot mess of organs.
The oath taker intoned, “We come before you Zeus, basileus of the gods, to investigate the death of the man Andreas of Rhodes, ships carpenter. Do you plaintiffs swear that if you fail to prove your charge you forfeit 2,000 drachmae to Linos and the physician Tamris?”
Hektor and the sunburned man affirmed the oath. Dorkas remaned silent, her arm outstretched.

Turning to the defendants, the priest said, “Do you defendents swear that if you fail to prove your innocence, you accept the magistrates’ sentence, knowing that your life and goods could be forfeit as a blood fee?”

Eutychios and a pale Linos affirmed. Tamris, her palms sweating nodded a heartbeat behind them.

 While Tamris believed Andreas didn’t die from his dislocated jaw, did that mean Linos was innocent? She bit her lip, grateful for the concealing veil. A lot could’ve happened between the accident and when Andreas died. What did she know about these men, after all?

The ten men approached with raised hands. The oath taker said, “Magistrates, elected representatives of Alexandria, do you swear by Zeus and all the gods to listen impartially and to vote according to the laws of the city?” The men agreed.

Shaking a sprinkler at the assembly, the oath taker said three times, “You are bound by your oaths before the gods.” Blood rained upon Tamris’ outstretched arm. Looking down she saw droplets bleeding purple into her blue peplos. She hoped it would wash.

Zenon led the procession into the darkness of the marble dikastrion. Trial could begin.

Better than expected, not as good as hoped.

Housecleaning. Seriously. Well, some got done. Well, I cleaned off the coffee table I work on.  That's a start.

Outlining sequel. Again. I didn't outline, but I did get some work done, so that's something.

Knitting real slippers. Nope. No knitting today.

Clarion West Norwescon ad.  Yay!

Connie's reading at U Books (1:00 if you're in Seattle) Yay!

The usual dog walks (Kai is limping, so easy dog walks for him today) Yay! and Mark took bonus good photos.

Writing up review of Land of Marvels and The Graveyard Book Yay!

Adding another shelf to LT Up to 800 books now, and ready to start on the other bookshelf in the living room.

Checking archeology links to see what fun things have happened  Done and done.

So it was a total loss on cleaning and knitting. But Mark and I had lunch at a new Thai restaurant, so that counted as quality time and good food plus leftovers.  And I got Connie's new book.

The bog woman of Jutland seen again.I love this reconstruction stuff. I am sad I could not find a picture of the reconstruction, although I bet one will show up eventually.

NASCAR of its day.  Roman race track in Colchester. I love the theory about the crash against the wall. Maybe, maybe not, but it's the stuff that makes history come alive.

Shackleton's Antarctic spirits saved. Amazingly, this is not about  ghosts, but whiskey.  Mackay's is already hoping to recreate the recipe and reissue a "Shackleton's brew"

If I had only one country to visit, it would be a tough choice between Egypt and Turkey. I was born yearning for the Hagia Sofia. An odd yen for a New England factory town girl to have. And Ephesus! Miletus! The astonishing history and civilization(s) of Istanbul, the golden horn. Don't take my word for it, here are ten reasons for Turkey.

During the last season, the many different teams, from many different countries, discovered a wealth of history in Syria.  I wish there had been more information rather than these little teasers, but something is better than nothing.

A shrubbery for stonehenge, and no, I am not the first to make that joke.  Archeologists have discovered evidence that Stonehenge was enclosed by a complex shrubbery series of hedges. I wonder if they will replant.

Darwin descended from Cro-Magnon man.  I wonder who the rest of us are descended from. Yes, I'm being snarky.

Although this link isn't archeology, I thought some of you might be interested in this cross-cultural view.  This is a blog about how to dress fashionably and properly in your hijab. I loved it because we are all women and we all care about our clothes being cute. Me too!

Mark said I should explain. And janetl hits it out of the park again, even if it isn't baseball season.

I became curious where February, which means nothing to me, originated.

February came from the Latin Februum for the ritual purification, or Februalia, that was held the 15th of February. Not seeing much of that going around any more.  So I checked out some other historical options.

There's olde English Salmoneth, for mud-month.  Pretty good, I thought.

Charlemagne liked Hornung. Eh.

The Finns prefer Helmikkuu, or Pearl month, for the melting snow on tree limbs. Very poetic, not very northwestern.

Ukrainian (can't do cyrillac, sorry) has Ice month. I can see that.

My favorite is the Anglo Saxon Kale-Monath. Yes. Kale Month. There's tons of Kale now. If we had to live on what we grew, we'd be eating boiled kale, fried kale, baked kale and kale in a pie. So Kale Month it is. Besides, I like Kale.

I wonder what I'll do to March. I don't march to Mars.

Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth The Ottoman Empire was vast. It lasted from the 13th century to the 20th century. What western empire can say the same? At its height, it encompassed much of southeastern Europe, western Asia and north Africa. Science, literature, the arts flourished during what was known in Europe as the "dark ages." But like all things, it ground to its end in the early 20th century and the vultures gathered to pick the bones.

Land of Marvels is the story of events leading up to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire on the brink of WWI, in one small corner of its holdings. It's also the story of human greeds, emotions, and blindness. Beautifully written, the story captures perfectly the multiple viewpoints of its characters without making any of them sound too villianous (although clearly there are some good possible villains).

The writer's use of parallelism among characters and events as well as the layers of meaning brought in by both the characters and the reader, who knows what must have happened to the region (more or less). The ending took me by surprise and was a heartbreaker in many ways.

I highly recommend it for an insightful view of a region that in some ways, never had a chance to determine its own future.

As a northwesterner, it had one bloop that stopped me in my tracks. Clearly, Unsworth isn't familiar with the history of this part of the country, but I forgive him.

The Graveyard Book by Nei Gaiman  I loved the Jungle Books as a child, and I loved The Graveyard Book. A quick read, and delightful, with its cemetary protagonists, it neither tells too much or too little, and it's restraint is just right.  If you look too closely this ball of fluff might disappear with the morning sun, but why would you want to hurt something so lovely and so delightful?  Enjoy it for a quick and joyful read. Gaiman at his best.

Thanks to janetl  I just want to say, yes, yes, it's all true. This is exactly how I will go about today trying to get everything done. And let me tell  you, that curtain rod is a pain!

Thank you for everyone who was concerned.  After over 12 hours of sleep, I feel better.  I'm only sorry that the wonderful dream I had of the house being clean did not turn out to be true upon waking.

And that I missed Connie Willis's party at Nancy Kress's. Mark says it was grand. That too, I'm sorry for.

But today is another day, I'll put on my Scarlett O'Hara face and try and get done at least some of the things.

Here's my list.

Housecleaning. Seriously.

Outlining sequel. Again.

Knitting real slippers.

Clarion West Norwescon ad.

Connie's reading at U Books (1:00 if you're in Seattle)

The usual dog walks (Kai is limping, so easy dog walks for him today)

Writing up review of Land of Marvels and The Graveyard Book

Adding another shelf to LT

Checking archeology links to see what fun things have happened

Do you think I'll get all this done in a day?  Me neither.  Let's see how far I get.

Today I have not felt well. I know, how non-descriptive is that?  Woke up with a headache and hot. Not feverish, hot. Couldn't find eggs in the fridge (Mark had to show them to me) and had trouble remembering how to scramble eggs. After breakfast, still felt strange, so I went back to bed.

Slept for four hours with Kai at my side.

Finally got up, still headache struck and feeling like water.  We went out and walked. Beautiful sunny day, nice slow walk along Alki, We stayed out quite awhile, Mark taking pictures, Kai doing Kai things, or huddling up against me. My headache abated but have never lost the feeling that the world isn't quite real.

Home again, and I feel like a blank. Many things have crossed my mind to do, and they all seem too hard. Require too much concentration. And my head hurts. And I'm tired.

So today is a waste. I could compose a list of all things I meant to do, and have not, but that just seems depressing. Instead I sit here and type because it is easier. blah blah blah.

Last night I felted a slipper. It was an experiment (which is why it was just one) as I've never made felt before. There are these gorgeous slippers I want to make, but it seemed wise to do a practice run first.

I learned some things. 1) The finished knitting looks unbelievably huge,  2) If you don't use a recommended yarn, the felting can take a long time.

Here's what it looked like to start:

  

You can't really tell, but my toes are at the top of the slipper opening. I thought I was making Frankenstein slippers. The soles are triple stranded, the sides/tops are double stranded. These were knitted for a size 7/8.

Here is the finished product:
 

What a difference 3 washings in 140 degrees with a couple of sneakers for agitation makes. It is still a little too big. I think it could use one more wash. Since this is a sample, I'm letting it go.  The yarn I used was a standard 100% worsted weight wool. The specific recommendation is for Cascade 220 or Lamb's Pride Worsted. I'll likely make my "real" slippers from Lamb's Pride, although I do have some Cascade 220 that might be interesting as it's variegated.

It was fascinating to see how pliable the damp felt was from the washer. I can see how moldable it is, and if put on a form and dried, how awesomely sculptural it would be.  I can see the appeal of making felted sweaters. Fun!  Also, a project like this would be great to decorate post-felting with embroidery or needle felting.  There's a whole wonderful world of felted projects, particularly from recycled sweaters. This blog is a felters dream. Everything from practical felted boots, cup holders from sweater sleeves, to a whole recycled felted typewriter!

There is so much imaginative excellence in this burned brooch. I can smell the peat, and marvel people still burn peat. I can see the priest, walking home through the night woods. He hears a noise. Bogles haunt these trails. Fear hastens his step. A tree tugs his cape. He runs, knowing the bogle has grabbed him, never noticing his fine bronze brooch dropped to the woodsy path. A sacrifice worth making to save a man's soul.

What a lovely day in Caesaria.I just know this person who rested in this sarcophagus loved the theater. What a fine park this would be to visit.

First the Archimedes Coex, now the Codex Gregorius. Let's check out the bindings on all those crappy old Christian hymnals!

And so does an ancient culture die. It makes me sad. Who will speak for the Andamanese now? Who will remember the cadences of Bo?

The Ka'ba of Zoroaster is as much a world treasure as the Vatican, albeit small and modest. It should not be allowed to fail.

What stories there must be in the City of Brak. I admit, this whetted my appetite to know more about the earliest people. Snake and lion seals. Mass murders. The meeting of nomad and urbanite. Wow.

Thinking about plotting tonight. Meant to work on sequel, but stoving took up my evening. Instead I thought about plotting.

I am reading a book with the same skeleton as another book I read last year. More complex design, but the essence is much the same. One of the triangles. Obsessive scientist. Unsatisfied wife. Stranger comes onto scene. The predictable happens. The endings vary. What I'm reading now is less pared down than the previous. Both excellent books.

It makes me wonder how many ways we write the same story.

I, too, am writing another ancient story.  I have to pare it down to let the bones show through more. Later. For later. It helps to know the essential story. It gives me focus.

We have stove. It is currently stinking up the house as the oven does that burning off thing it's supposed to do before you use it.

My goodness, this thing is a computer. I knew that.  I didn't realize I'd need to download a 64-page instruction manual, which was silly of me. Or that it would come slathered with WARNING!s, which was also silly of me.

My favorite so far is "WARNING! Keep small children away from open oven to avoid burn risk."  Who knew?

As with everything, it wasn't as easy as hoped. The gas that was supposed to have been plumbed to the stove when we installed the furnace, was not.  It was installed to the ceiling of the downstairs. *sigh* Now it is installed to the stove for a few additional mumble mumble and annoyances for Mark and Kai.

Now our doors are open and our fan is on, blowing nasty chemicals out into the West Seattle air. We have read how to set the clock. I think I can boil water. Not sure about baking a cake or drying fruit, or any of the 5 million other things it claims to do perfectly.

And, it appears to be a great place to store our plutonium.

   

I'm very grateful to Mark for spending lots of time tonight futzing around with it. He is wonderful.

A short story was sent off.  I expect it will be, as my best beloved says, "ejected" and then I will send it out again.  But we shall see.

Today was a painting day with scarlettina and shellyinseattle and we had a great time.  Everyone did wonderful work and the day flew by.  I will post pictures of art work and more about it later.  It is past bedtime as I am being reminded.

We spend much time watch Mr. Deity tonight and laughing. Highly recommended.

Adios.

I frogged the earlier one I knitted for Mark in the hospital. It was too big and didn't fit right.  I finished knitting this last knit, and took it off the needles this evening.

Mark says he looks like he ought to be holding a card with a string of numbers on it. I say pish tosh. Not with them purty blue eyes.

Our old stove works perfectly well. Sort of. But it tilts. And the oven doesn't heat evenly. And it's electric.

A few years ago, when we put in a gas furnace and had the old oil stuff taken out, we had the kitchen plumbed for gas, and waited.

When Mark got out of the hospital, some things happened and we had some extra money and I thought I would reward myself with a new stove.

Alas, the car needed pretty major repairs, and so we spent the money on the car instead. 

Now, we have saved up our pennies (well dollar bills really. What good do pennies do anyone but scarlettina  (and even she won't take my post-1982 pennies)? So last weekend and this weekend we went stove shopping.

Today we got this. Pay no attention to the list price. We bought a floor model for a discounted price, and it's last year's model, and it has a rebate. I am happy with a new stove and a deal all in one.

It's a computer as well as a stove. it has a Sabbath Mode and a Bread Proof mode, and a Perfect Turkey mode so you can buy any crappy old turkey and it will be perfect for those two times a year you buy turkey.

And lots of other programmable choices, including a "my favorites" just like my iPod does.

But best of all, and perhaps the deciding factor, the inside of the oven is a beautiful blue. Not gray like all the others. Cobalt blue.

Super cool photos of Roman coins in Britain. You coin enthusiasts won't want to miss these!

Pig pasture hides ancient Roman aqueduct. The photos are really extraordinary. Only aliens could have done work this fine. Whoops! My sarcasm slipped! Ignore me and check it out anyway, it is definitely worth a look. A marvel for sure.

We get around: Indo-Europeans in Mongolian tombs. I found this particularly interesting since, according to a Chinese study, my mitochondrial DNA ranges back to Mongolia. How, no one knows.

Stone age amputation. Regardless of the occasional smarmy tone of the article, it's clear these people were capable of good medical care. Cleanliness, anesthesia, wound care. Pretty high standards.

Who is Mona Lisa? And is it worth exhuming a corpse that may or may not be Leo da V to find out?

Today, you can't even take a cupcake into the Theater. Not so in Willy the Shakes day. The Rose gives up her foodie secrets.

I am not a metal worker, nor am I inclined to be so, but these creations are so marvelous they almost, almost inspire me to try.

Particularly wonderful are the photos and vids that describe each step of the way in creating the item.  I think I have a particular love of the Altoid tins, simply for their use of the mundane into  fantastic artwork. However, the other objects are so splendiferous, it's impossible for me to choose just one.


The world of Steampunk Workshop is a wonderful place indeed.  Take your time. Wander the halls. View the bus transformations, guitar amps, fashion, photography, artwork, computer reimaginings.  What splendid things we create!

We had a lovely dinner with shelly_rae  who is going to fit me out with a big red bike. Well, it's a big red bike to me, a too-small red bike for her.  The goal is a good bike for me to take Kai for bike rides, which I think he will enjoy quite a bit.  S's mountain bike with fatty tires is too small for her, so she figured if it fit me, it could be mine.  And lo, it did!  It's bright red with fenders.  I particularly like the fenders.  It reminds me of the bike I had as a kid.  Soon, soon, Kai and I will romp along paths together with him attached to bike by a cool dog attachment device. At last we will be able to move at a pace he will find a little more challenging.

Cold is still in situ. I don't feel as bad, but it sounds annoying to others.

Sunday I have a date with the lovely scarlettina which promises to be big fun.  We will be going to spend the day being artists with Jocelyn Curry, who will teach us drawing and book making skills.  I'm really looking forward to this.  Tomorrow I will check through my possessions to make sure I have everything for the date.  This was my holiday gift, and what a wonderful one it is! More about it after Sunday's excursion.

Now I shall take my sneezly self off to sneeze.