Happy birthday to
time_shark!Happy early birthday to
marmota and stickferret, both of whom advance a year over the weekend!Hello to new reader
bahgoutireuz!Medical
Doing okay. I got the nap yesterday that I'd desperately been needing all week.
Wind Tunnel Dreams
February's story starts today, and is not Shayara! And is also not prewritten, because January killed me. At least I have a single-sentence "outline" for each of the seven days.
This month's goal: Funding for Viable Paradise. It's only appropriate that I should write my way there, after all! Tuition is $850, so... that will likely take more than a month.
Disclaimers: If my car needs pricey repairs and not just an oil change, that's where this month's money will have to go. If I don't get into Viable Paradise (they only take 24 students), the money will go to the me-and-Elayna train trip this summer.
Shayara
Artists should expect a list of needed art today, and poke me if they don't see it. We have a month to build a city, and I have to write while I'm doing it!
More Cyberfunded Creativity
haikujaguar has begun the Admonishments - the flipside of the Aphorisms.Starting in February, The Admonishments of Kherishdar tells twenty-five stories of the redemption of Ai-Naidar at the hands of Shame, in their own words. A new story will be posted with each $15 donation. At the end of the twenty-five story run, the Admonishments will be collected into a hard copy volume, companion to the stories of the Calligrapher.
You have seen the privileges of Kherishdar in The Aphorisms. Now you will know the duties.
Click here for more information and the preface, and here to read the first.
Bit of Beauty
The Explorers.
Link Soup
* New elephant shrew discovered!
* Strangers in Paradise: the TV series?
* The word of the day is smallicious.
* Zooplankton in a drop of water!
* "Instapaper: Bookmarking Elegance for Webworkers"
Daily Science
This is a big Holy Crap one re: possible future treatment for chronic pain.
As vulnerable as naked mole rats seem, researchers now find the hairless, bucktoothed rodents are invulnerable to the pain of acid and the sting of chili peppers. A better understanding of pain resistance in these sausage-like creatures could lead to new drugs for people with chronic pain, scientists added...
After probing their skin, Park and his colleagues unexpectedly discovered the rodents lacked the chemical Substance P, which causes the feeling of burning pain in mammals...
Specifically, Park noted this research adds to existing knowledge about Substance P. "This is important specifically to the long-term, secondary-order inflammatory pain. It's the pain that can last for hours or days when you pull a muscle or have a surgical procedure," he explained. "We're learning which nerve fibers are important for which kinds of pain, so we'll be able to develop new strategies and targets."
Plans
Holy crap, dude. **heavy sigh**
Writing: Wind Tunnel Dreams, possible paying gig, expanding "Ondine", and oh yeah, Shayara
Web backend stuff: Shayara
Household: Paperwork, tax stuff, packing stuff to mail
Friday Memage!
Wearing: Mismatched pajamas, as there have been Adventures in Laundry this week. Comic-style pop-art top, Tigger bottoms.
Reading: Rewired: the Post-Cyberpunk Anthology, edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel. Actually my only book right now.
Planning: Writing and house stuff today, taxes and a party tomorrow, Girl Scout conference or brunch on Sunday.
You?