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May. 16th, 2013
03:36 pm - adjustment #20
Ooooh, we mean business now! Orthodontist seemed quite put out about those little spaces between my lower fronts. This time we put a short four-link chain across those teeth, and then the full twelve links across the entire arch. So my four lower incisors are effectively double-chained. And we upped the ante on the elastic too, from a "B" to a "C", quite a bit heavier.
And since I'm a slacker and posting this entry a week after the fact, I can tell you that those little spaces closed up by the following morning. Everything feels super tight and even and lovely. Again, we're only waiting three weeks before my next appointment, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Apr. 23rd, 2013
03:33 pm - adjustment #19
This one was also very boring. Again with the "soon, very soon" predictions. He did seem a tad irritated that some little spaces were developing between my lower front teeth. The exciting part is that he said I should come back in only three weeks!
May. 22nd, 2013
11:19 pm - making monsters in walkinston & ballyfermot
It's been fabulous seeing monsters popping up all over Dublin! Or, as Dubliners seem to say, it's 'deadly'. It was deadly getting to see the huge display Dublin's oldest bookshop, Hodges & Figgis (1768!), had made of the monsters I drew. Wow! (The Dublin Writers Festival posters are a combination of drawings by Niamh Sharkey, Hervé Tullet and me.)
Photo by CBI Director Mags Walsh
And I had a great time taking monster making to schoolkids yesterday, starting at Walkinstown Library.
The teachers at St Damian's School were absolutely brilliant, the kids had been so well prepared for my visit. They had read my books, thought of questions and were absolutely pumped up with enthusiasm when I came in. A real model of how teachers can help kids get the most out of an author visit. 
I couldn't believe it; by the time I came back to my home at St Patrick's Lodge that day, they school had ALREADY posted a write-up and photos on their blog. I was absolutely astounded. St Damian's, you totally rock. 
I couldn't help but laugh at what one kid said. He was asking about what writers and illustrators earn, and I replied that it could be anything from less than nothing (if they self-publish and have to print the books themselves) to a very modest advance like €2000 or even a rare €200,000. He nodded sagely when I gave this last figure and said, 'Ah. That's why you can afford that kind of hat'.
( Click for more under the cut!Collapse )
09:43 pm - Phoenix or Bust!
Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'm heading out for Phoenix Comic Con! And though the trip itself will be long and boring, the weekend promises to be a blast. So come out and see me! Here's my schedule.
Also, here's my Twitter feed. I link it here, because the odds are very high that I won't be doing any blogging - just snapping selfies and other assorted shenanigans, and uploading it all for your amusement.
So! Tune in, show up, be amused. That's my suggestion.
And for now ... I'm outta here!
[:: zoosh ::]
02:19 pm - Don't Know Much about history
It's a good thing Julian was super-excited and super-organized for our trip, bc I did a rubbish job of prepping. ( Books I sorta almost readCollapse ) but I'm glad I did, because otherwise I'd've had absolutely no idea who San Marco was.
We started Friday in the campanile, getting an aerial view of the city. Then we took a quick walk around the basilica itself. I wish I'd known more about the Fourth Crusade before we went, bc otherwise the reliquary is just a creepy room full of bones. I'd also have known to wonder if the art we saw in the Treasury was Venetian or Byzantine; probably the latter, I guess. Both Julian and I were much more impressed with the gilt work we saw than by the paintings in the Academia. About a particularly exquisite crystal Virgin Mary, Julian commented, "It blows my mind that by the fourth century, they could make that, but they didn't know how to draw a nose." I think it was Roger Crowley who talks about how the basilica was a combination of propaganda and treasure house, displaying all the loot stolen from fellow Christians. ur doin' Christianity wrong.
Next was the "Secret Itinerary" tour of the Doge's Palace, mostly a ploy to avoid the line into the site, but also filled with amusing factoids about the Council of Ten and Casanova. I'm surprised Julian and I didn't spend more time talking about the Republic's philosophical impact on the Founding Fathers. Instead, we discussed what kind of play party we'd throw and whether the strapado stand would be a good place for a suspension *facepalm* Also, I'm beginning to suspect I like first millenium Islamic architecture, although I like the Venetians' interp better than, say, the Alhambra, so when I am queen, my palace will probably bear a distinct resemblance to the Doge's Palace.
Julian had to work, so he missed Museo Correr, which is one of the coolest museums I've ever visited. ( a private collection from a unique timeCollapse ) It'd be a great place to take a clever tween.
We had Friday night dinner in Il Ghetto at L'Anice Stellato. ( deliciousCollapse )
10:02 am - Gout
Fuck. Yesterday I thought I was in the clear after a weekend of wine tasting, but woke up this morning with an all-too-familiar pain in my right big toe. Wonder if I ate a trigger food or ingredient last night that contributed.
09:34 am - In Which I Emulate Reddit: Ask Me Anything
Once again, we come to a rushed day where I cannot churn out a full blog entry. And yet I feel like interacting! And so I return to the gift that keeps on giving:
Ask me one question, on any topic. I shall answer truthfully.
(Please. No woodchuck questions. Someone always asks, and it’s never gotten a good response.)
Cross-posted from Ferrett's Real Blog.
This entry has also been posted at http://theferrett.dreamwidth.org/304147.h11:46 am - Grand Opening
"I love that he's pictured standing under a sign saying Grand Opening. What a grand opening he is."
This entry was originally posted at http://marnanel.dreamwidth.org/277909.ht
10:10 am - If I had a spinneret
If I ever meet the Wizard of Oz, I'll ask him to turn me into a spider. Here's a song about that.
I would hurry to the kitchen
with pedipalps a-twitching,
to see what I could get.
And when there I would eat all
the insides of every beetle,
if I had a spinneret.
And that's only the beginning;
it sets my head a-spinning
to see them in my net.
To the edge I would scarper
where I'd pluck it like a harper
if I had a spinneret.
Oh, I could catch the fly
that ventured near my web,
then another as the hunger starts to ebb.
I'd be an arthropod celeb.
And I'd tell the tale with recaps
from more than seven kneecaps
to everyone I met.
And I'd be the provider
of a web for every spider
if I had a spinneret.
This entry was originally posted at http://marnanel.dreamwidth.org/277391.ht
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