Merry Christmas!

"It's 8:35 pm on Xmas Eve and our cards are still unopened on the counter. Oops. So please visit www.westonochse.com/Xmas2008.html for an interim virtual one.

Have a merry, happy, healthy and safe holiday!

Schtuff

Not much going on... yet. Holiday Chaos looms just around the corner, I'm sure. For now, The Husband () and I are trying to remain calm. One fun thing we're doing is participating in a Sierra Vista Chili Cook-Off tomorrow, as judges. Hey, they tell us to show up, we don't have to bring or sell any books, we don't have to dress up, and they feed us samples of about twenty different homemade chili? For free? Sounds like a plan to me! If you're local, this fab event takes place in the K-Mart parking lot at 3:00 p.m. (Yes, I know how small-town that sounds. It's cool.) After the cook-off comes the Holiday Parade, which starts at 5:30. That may be when the Chaos actually starts. I'm not sure.

If you're looking for an affordable copy of AfterAge, the paperback version is on eBay here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400007513844. For the very reasonable total of $4.99 you get my firstborn vampire novel. Price includes shipping, by the way. I don't know the seller but that sounds like a deal to me. It's nearing the end of its auction time (I kept meaning to get it up here, but y'all know how that goes.)

Awhile back I did an interview via email with a guy named Nicolas Fleurier from a French magazine called Neverland - Revue sur les produits derives et la culture populaire. Even I can figure out what that says. We talked at length about Species and Species II, and I even got my color picture in there. Pretty fun.

We took the dogs to the Mall on Pet Night and got their picture taken with Santa. Goblin sat on the chair next to him, while Ghost settled at his feet. Alas, Santa looks pretty darned terrified in the photograph. "Sure, boss. I can do pet night. How bad can it be?"

And for the first time in years, I have a new cell phone. It's pink. Very girly.

TGIF!

Post Turkey and General Ketchup... er, Catch-Up

The cooking/cleaning/scramble is finished. What we had:

Turkey (we found a fabulous recipe several years ago that allows us to cook a 19 pound turkey in 3 hours (yes, 3) and come out just fab)
Ham topped with Cherries (by the MIL, who does it most excellently)
Artichoke & Parmesan dressing
Pumpernickel & turnip dressing
Gluten-free dressing for Alex
Cherry Tomato-Lemon salad
Mashed 'taters made with buttermilk
Brussel sprouts w/toasted pecans
Cranberry celebration (fancy cranberry sauce a la Fry's Food Store, only thing store-bought)
Deviled Eggs (my famous recipe)
Celery stuffed with Pimento Cheese
Sliced French Bread (whoops -- that was another store-bought [bakery] item)
Gluten-free pumpkin pie for Alex
Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake Pie (came out better than I expected)
Cranberry Walnut Cake

We were, and are, very grateful for the lives we lead and the good company of family and friends. In addition to all that goodness, we stuck a single candle in the cake and sang Happy (79th) Birthday to my Dad.

I have, for the most part, caught up on the huge backload of work dumped on me last June at the office. Hopefully things go back into the realm of I-can-breathe again, and I'll have time to, say, work out once in awhile (thereby feeling better physically), use other lunchtimes to work on personal writing, etc. projects, and come home on time for a change. Coming home on time will mean I will ultimately be able to keep caught up here and get back on track with HIGHBORN, which has progressed a bit but not at the pace I want it to. I would like to have the first draft of it finished by the end of the year. That's my Big Goal.

Disabled Fan Selling Buffy Collector's Items

Hi folks. These are not my items and I do not know the person involved, but this situation was passed along to me by major Buffy fan Tim Cox, who runs a number of Buffy-related sites. I'm late in posting this, so most of the auctions end tomorrow. If you think there's something in which you might be interested, I strongly suggest you take a look right away. If you have fans in your life, there are some potentially great holiday gifts here. If you have people in your life who might buy you holiday gifts... there are some potentially great holiday gifts here! ::grin::

The auctions are on eBay at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbethodegar.

Disabled Whedon Fan forced to put her "Life" on Ebay. Some very rare items, including a Swiss Army Watch that Joss gave to BtVS crew at the Wrap Party and a number of signed items!

Ebay links are in the article link. The items are linked in the following order:

BtVS Swiss Army Wrap Party Crew Watch

BtVS Slideshow Limited Edition 12-inch The Master

Angel Time & Space Exclusive House Always Wins Lorne

(not Whedon) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (rare cover I think)

Angel Smile Time Prop Replica Vampire Puppet

Essence of Spike Statue, Limited Edition!!!

BtVS Gem of Amara Ring

Time & Space Toys Angel issue 3 Signed Exclusive Cover! Signed by Artists Franco Urro and Stephen Mooney!

Serenity Issue #1 Signed by Nathan Fillion!!

(non-Whedon) Used Flute

Feigenbaum the Bunny Plush Prop Replica from Angel

(non-Whedon) Harry Potter 1-7 Boxed Set

(non-Whedon) 100th Anniversary Teddy Roosevelt Teddy Bear with Book

BtVS Summers' Family Album with all 3 figures!

Muhahahahahaha!!!

And at page 296 of HIGHBORN, I present you with:



(Nope, I am not kidding.)

Thank You...

...to all the men and women of this great country who have served in the armed forces. Thank you for laying your lives on the line for me, and for fighting for and keeping my freedom, and all the wonderful and precious things that go with it. Our country may not be perfect-- whose is?-- but it tries, and I believe that it's the best in the world. I am a woman and I have the right to walk down the street without fear. I have the right to vote. I have the right to publicly express my opinion, even if it differs from the people who actually run my country... and I can do so without getting arrested, tortured or shot. If I fall on hard times, my country's social services will at least try to take care of me. Those are just a fraction of the privileges and freedoms I have.

To all the brave soldiers, male and female, who have fought and been injured or fought and died on my behalf, to my relatives, to my friends, to my Dad, and to The Husband ()-- to all of you who have served in the military to keep me free, I love you and I appreciate you and I thank you with everything I have. This is your day to be appreciated, and you rock!

HAPPY
VETERANS' DAY!

TusCon Tomorrow!

The Husband () and I are TusCon bound tomorrow, and as usual, I'm overrun with things to do and posting my schedule late late late. We'll have a Dusty Stacks table in the dealers' room, with the equivalent of a fire sale-- it's time to sell off as much of the books and figurines inventory as possible. I have too much going on ethics-wise to join the ranks of the Internet "booksellers" on eBay, Abebooks, and the like. You know the ones-- they aren't legit booksellers, but people who sell "guaranteed" books for one cent (yes, ONE CENT), or even a quarter, and then charge $6.95 or $8.95 for shipping and handling. If you don't like your book, which may very well arrive bent, moldy, ripped, waterstained or worse, they'll be happy to refund your quarter, but S&H charges aren't refundable. Anyway, I can't compete (and the darned postage is no longer affordable anyway) and what the heck-- we're moving toward downsizing anyway. So look for $1.00 hardbacks, $3.00 signed books, fifty cent paperbacks, $1.00 DVDs, $2.00 t-shirts, and cut-rate prices on the figurines. The holiday season is coming and there's some stuff here that would make great gifts.

My TusCon Schedule:

Friday

5:00 - What is urban fantasy today? Where did it start? How has
it evolved? Panel Participants: Pamela Lloyd, Jill Knowles, Yvonne Navarro, Lee Simner

7:00 - Meet the Guests

Saturday

8:00 - Blurring Genre lines - Is it mystery? Horror? Romance? Historical fiction? Suspense? What are readers (and editors) looking for in each? If you read it, where do you find it, and if you write it, how do you sell it? Panel Participants: Ed Bryant, Will Shetterly, Dennis
McKiernan, Yvonne Navarro

Sunday

12:00 - Story vs. Craft - what's most important? And what the hell is Voice? Panel Participants: Emma Bull, Dennis McKiernan, Yvonne Navarro, Lee Simner

I have to caveat that 5:00 Friday panel -- I'm not sure I'll make it. The teenager doesn't get out of school until 2:30, and we may not be able to leave the house TusCon-bound until 3:30 or 4:00. Alas it's 80 miles away, so only if we had wings. My fault -- I did not take into account a school day; at the time, we weren't sure she was coming along. Anyway, hope to see everyone there!

YAY FOR AMERICA!!!

WELCOME TO THE WHITE HOUSE, SENATOR OBAMA... AND CONGRATULATIONS,
MR. PRESIDENT!

Von's Last Thoughts for Those Who Have Not Voted Yet Today

First and foremost, the following is my opinion. I have the right to express it, and I will. This is the United States of America and a lot of brave soldiers have died over many, many centuries so that I, and others, can have this right. I work for the government, I work on an Army Post, and I see soldiers every day who are still willing to do just that. Voting is not a duty. It is not even a right -- at least to my mind. It is a PRIVILEGE. Use it to have a say in your future, and in the future of those who can't vote for themselves -- your children, the elderly, and others.

Those of you who read my journal know my opinion of John McCain. If not, please take a moment to read it here. I believe to my soul that a man who can justify to himself and to the public that it is fair and right to impose inequality on one group of people for ANY reason, be it gender, race, religion, relationship preference, age or whatEVER, will never think twice about doing the same thing to all other groups of peoples he considers to be, for reasons he will keep only to himself, lesser than him. To put it bluntly, and repeat myself in simpler terms, if John McCain believes women are not equal to men, then subconsciously he is just as biased about about other groups. He will never admit this publicly because it would be political suicide. Inequality is inequality, in ANY form.

If you have not yet voted, I beg you to get out there and exercise your privilege. I hope you will do it wisely. I hope you will vote for fairness and equality and change, and help move this country into a new, positive and prosperous era.

A Message for all my Sisters in the United States of America

A few weeks ago I received an email about women and voting. After some thought, I've taken that email and modified it to reflect my own thoughts. Read the following, please. It is a bit different from the email making the rounds.

These few paragraphs retell a story about our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. It was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women of which I speak were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.

Forty prison guards wielding clubs and with their warden's blessing went on a rampage against 33 women convicted, for lack of a better charge, of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women. Realistically, it's not hard to imagine the things that were left unsaid in those same affidavits.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on November 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food-- all of it colorless slop-- was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, tell me again, why some women won't vote this year. Because we have car pool duties? We have to get to work? Our lunch hour isn't long enough and we have other errands to run? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

If you get the chance, watch HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that each and every woman in America can pull the curtain at the polling booth and have her say. Listen as Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she
could be permanently institutionalized. And be inspired when the doctor refuses. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. "Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity," said the doctor. Do we need this film to remind us of the value of voting? Of the cost? Sadly, yes.

Don't ever let the act of voting become something impersonal, something you take for granted. It is not an obligation. It is a privilege. Treat it like one. Treasure the fact that you can vote, revel in your American freedom. 91 years ago, the women in the United States did not have that right, and now we do. When you assume this is the way it should be, or when you think that taking the time to vote is inconvenient, look at the women today, right NOW, in the Middle Eastern countries, in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq. Then look at us. Be grateful, and use that right well.

Do not make what our foremothers suffered be in vain. Honor them, honor yourselves, and honor your daughters by going out next Tuesday and casting your vote. Because while this is, indeed, the story of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, ultimately, this is the story of US.

Both photographs courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The first photo is of Alice Paul, circa 1901. The second is of Lucy Burns during her imprisonment in the Occoquan Workhouse, November 1917.