Thoughts on Queen of None

I am incredibly fortunate to be exposed to so many good books. Rounding out my commentary on books for 2020 is this fresh take on Arthurian legends: Queen of None by Natania Barron. Forget what you think you know about Camelot, she recreates it from an entirely different perspective with new twists on the familiar characters. This review was originally published in the November 1, 2020 issue of Booklist.

In Queen of None, Natania Barron delves into Arthurian legend from the perspective of Anna Pendragon, Arthur’s younger sister. Prophesied by Merlin to be forgotten, Anna was barely a woman when she was married off to an older man to forge an alliance for her brother. Years later, she returns as a widow to Arthur’s court, where her eldest son, Gawain, is already training as a knight. She finds herself a pawn once again, caught between her brother, half-sisters, and Merlin’s plans while searching for her own happiness. Her lingering affection for Bedevere, illicit father to her twin boys, may be ignored again in favor of another alliance that will further her brother’s needs. Surprises come from within as well, as Anna discovers that she too has magical abilities, inherited from her mother’s side of the family, shared to some extent with her half-sisters Morgen, Morgase, and Elaine. Barron’s take on Arthurian legend gets readers exactly where they expect to be in the end, with entirely new insight on how to reach that point.

Musical Advent calendar

This year, I decided to make a musical Advent calendar for Cassandra. More specifically, in the wee hours of December 1st, as I was waking up, I realized that I have a ton of colored cards and could do a quick drawing related to a link for each day. I posted the songs to Facebook every day, so if we’re friends there, only the images are new. While these are mostly holiday songs, there are a couple exceptions. I found some interesting versions of favorite songs, and learned history of others along the way. If I decide to do this again, the challenge will be to not repeat the same songs… that will be harder for Chanukah and Solstice, there are plenty of Christmas songs still to explore.

There isn’t an easy way to link each image in the gallery to its song, so the list of links appears below.

  • Stack of multi-colored envelopes
  • Partridge in a pear tree
  • Bell
  • Gravestone with "RIP"
  • Santa hat
  • Musical fourth
  • Angel
  • Devil
  • Wind
  • Drum
  • Candle
  • Holly
  • Puppy
  • Gift
  • Peace symbol
  • Puffin
  • Heart
  • Ship
  • Soccer ball
  • Pumpkin
  • Chimney
  • Pomegranate
  • Christmas tree with cats
  • Kermit the Frog
  • Candy cane
  • Eyes
DayImageSongLink
1Partridge in a pear treePentatonix – 12 Days of Christmashttps://youtu.be/1UHmQANFtNs
2BellStraight No Chaser – Carol of the Bellshttps://youtu.be/JLtfInNXfv8
3TombstoneGodfrey Temple – Harley Got Devoured by the Undeadhttps://youtu.be/pQwqYpRP5j8
4Santa hatPeter Hollens – Evolution of Christmas Songshttps://youtu.be/b4v_c_hCRIU
5Musical fourthJeff Buckley – Hallelujahhttps://youtu.be/y8AWFf7EAc4
6AngelSarah McLachlan – In the arms of an angelhttps://youtu.be/1SiylvmFI_8
7DevilWilliam Kapell plays Liszt- legendary Mephisto Waltz 1945https://youtu.be/ofdRsvBHa14
8WindBing Crosby – Do you hear what I hear?https://youtu.be/FhTnDaEmA5k
9DrumAlex Boye’ ft. Genesis Choir – Little Drummer Boyhttps://youtu.be/a0mT-zNxRMw
10CandleBarenaked Ladies – Hanukkah Blessingshttps://youtu.be/xAggcnAnY_Y
11HollyLoreena McKennitt- The Holly & The Ivyhttps://youtu.be/_FvE-z8xV1g
12PuppyDaveed Diggs – Puppy for Hanukkahhttps://youtu.be/gbxyZAduGvY
13GiftPeter Hollens – December Songhttps://youtu.be/U7C4Ym-XQUI
14Peace symbolPeter, Paul and Mary – Light One Candlehttps://youtu.be/h1cRXgDFiSs
15PuffinMalinda – a song about puffinshttps://youtu.be/TAemYMUFE68
16HeartRod Stewart – Have I Told You Latelyhttps://youtu.be/RYrN8eFzCEo
17ShipI Saw Three Ships / Song of the Shiphttps://youtu.be/7puhHPgZvUw
18Soccer ballSabaton – The Price of a Milehttps://youtu.be/FTG6a774O84
19PumpkinThe Nightmare Before Christmas – What’s this?https://youtu.be/QLvvkTbHjHI
20ChimneyAngela Lansbury (Mame) – Need a little Christmashttps://youtu.be/St7mQWwmo70
21PomegranateCheshire Moon – Persephonehttps://youtu.be/eoZWWryCsTA
22Christmas treeThe Golden Orchestra – You Take the High Branch and I’ll Take the Low Branchhttps://youtu.be/cuI54GBCjMg
23Kermit the FrogMuppet Christmas Carol – It Feels Like Christmashttps://youtu.be/WlRpGj7LWS4
24Candy caneDar Williams – The Christian and the Paganshttps://youtu.be/7vggo_9EDZU
25EyesGloria Estefan – Christmas Through Your Eyeshttps://youtu.be/wf-IwAmhVds

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Do you know what I know?

Just last week, I read an article on CNN’s website about TranSanta, an initiative started by actress Indya Moore to give presents to transsexual kids and young adults in need. The gifts are anonymous, selected from each person’s Target registry and sent directly to them.

Visitors can read letters on the TranSanta Instagram page, and when ready to select one, click on a link at the top of the page, then click on the letter again to access their Target registry.

The letters are a combination of heart-wrenching and heart-warming. Some showcase art by the writer, some are written by supportive parents; all are in a bad financial positive, many due to job losses from the pandemic. But stacking on top of the pandemic, so many write of unsupportive families and transphobia, homelessness, and their desperate needs in these turbulent times.

If you’re looking for a way to help this holiday season, consider sending a gift to someone on this list.

An odd morning

I woke up well before my alarm this morning, gradually waking to a cinematically vivid dream. I don’t usually recall my dreams to this extent, or experience lucid dreaming often, so it was memorable in that regard. But it was also a good story.

I lay in bed for a while, picking out details I could remember. The first scene was foggier, presumably right as I was becoming aware of the dream. It segued into the second scene, at which point it had become crystal clear as I had some control over the character decisions. I lay in bed, piecing together the parts that were clear, certain that I needed to write this down. I noted some places I would need to change because I couldn’t remember the details, and others where changes would make for a better story.

Forty-five minutes later, still half an hour before my alarm, the cat (Arwen) relinquished my arm as her pillow and I got up, intent on writing down the details. I grabbed my water and phone (which doubles as my alarm clock) and rushed to the living room, turning the lights on low as I booted up the computer. I realized I needed hand lotion, partially because of a cat scratch (Zuko) on my knuckle, and headed towards the bathroom. And promptly stepped in some cat grass vomit. (Probably Diane.)

A few minutes later, I had cleaned up the floor – and my foot – and was back at the computer, writing away. I skipped my morning workout, needing to get the details on paper (figuratively) before they faded.

And I pondered why this idea didn’t arrive two months ago, when I could have prepared it for NaNoWriMo.

Thoughts on The Kingdom of Liars

This is a travesty. I read this amazing book back in February, and somehow I haven’t told you about it yet. I suppose that’s good in a way, you don’t have to wait as long for the sequel as I’ve had to; it’s due out in March. This review was originally published in the April 15, 2020 issue of Booklist.

In this fantasy debut novel, Kingdom of Liars, by Nick Martell, Michael Kingman and his siblings were branded as traitors when their father was tried for the murder of the king’s oldest son. Ten years later, a series of missteps sets him on a path that he hopes will clear their family name. That’s the concept, despite Michael being found guilty of the king’s murder in the prologue. Michael and his siblings fell from high nobles who played with the king’s children to living on a poor side of town with their foster father, struggling to pay the fees to keep their addlebrained mother in an asylum. Their mother can’t be a Forgotten, as that memory loss condition only affects magic users, so Michael searches for solutions to her medical problems in addition to his other adventures. Michael progressively finds himself in worse situations, certain the next one will provide the answers he so desperately seeks. Teenagers will appreciate how Michael and his siblings come into their own, and fantasy readers of all ages will be delighted with Martell’s robust setting.

Evolving traditions

When you learned about Thanksgiving in school, you probably learned all about the pilgrims and Native Americans who gathered. But did you learn that Abraham Lincoln established the date for Thanksgiving in 1863? No? Me neither. But we can be fairly sure that neither the pilgrims or Lincoln purchased jellied cranberries at the grocery store; that’s a newer tradition.

This year in particular is giving us the opportunity to evolve our traditions, as many of us remain isolated from our extended families, waiting for this raging pandemic to fade. We turn to modern technology, beyond the simple phone calls to distant relatives, to video calls where we can see our family. (Err… or would have, if my mother had forwarded the Zoom information before the call. Sorry I missed it!)

It got me thinking about some of the things I grew up with that I’ve changed. Dad used to make mushroom omelets for Sunday morning brunch; I make them, but not always on Sunday. And I typically make them with one egg, whereas he made them with two, with varied ingredients as the filling. Though mostly just mushrooms and cheese.

A recent breakfast – breakfast sausages, fried egg, and spinach & onion stuffed mushrooms

On the subject of mushrooms, one of the recipes Mom would make occasionally (really occasionally… she didn’t cook often, thank heavens) was spinach & onion stuffed mushrooms. Back in the day, this meant buying frozen spinach (ewwww), a package of onion dip seasoning, sour cream, and obviously, mushrooms. Adapting this for what I typically stock in my pantry means that I use fresh spinach and a lovely tub of French onion dip, and a variety of mushroom types.

We are constantly adapting to our surroundings, changing our habits based on availability and desire. Humanity is resilient, largely due to our ability to evolve for different situations and continue learning throughout our lives. Hopefully this year, you’ve learned enough about technology to give virtual hugs to the family you’re missing at the holidays, with the hope that next year’s holidays can be celebrated in person.

Ups & downs to adulting

I was at the grocery store the other day, forlornly noticing that my preferred brand of peanut butter was absent from the shelf. The space was there, but not a single jar of crunchy (my preference) or creamy peanut butter in that brand were available. I sighed and reached for my purse… picking a different brand requires glasses, which is definitely a downside to adulting. Not just because I now read ingredients where I didn’t used to, but because I can barely read most of the label other than the brand name and the creamy/crunchy part. After some grumbling – mostly wondering why there’s anything other than peanuts and a minute amount of salt, and definitely not buying the one with sugar added – I settled on a new jar. (Don’t worry, nobody was staring at me… I tend to do my grocery shopping at the crack of dawn, when the store is mostly empty.)

It led me to consider other ups and downs I’ve encountered recently. I had an emergency dentist visit last month which resulted in a root canal, and anybody who’s experienced that sort of dental pain can tell you it’s definitely a down. But it had an up side… I had just enough in my Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to cover it, which means it wasn’t hitting a credit card bill and I managed to clear my FSA for the year.

For any readers outside the US, an health-related FSA account is money set aside before income tax calculations, and can only be used on health expenses. If unspent after the year plus grace period (in this case, 3 months into next year), you lose the money. In addition to actual medical appointments, it can be spent on some related items, with weird exceptions like covering dentist visits but not toothbrushes. It can lead to weird shopping on FSAStore.com and related sites at the end of the grace period, as you decide just how many first aid kits you really need.

Zuko, perched on the top level of the cat tree. Across the room, two toy mice near the garage door.

Our kitten is definitely an up… but like every cat, Zuko has his personality quirks. His is so excited about toys, particularly mice, and this one type of mouse gets… special… treatment. Watching him drop a toy mouse in the water is funny, until you realize how absorbent it is and see the trail of water he leaves as he drags it around. It’s downright hilarious to see him pause as he runs in from the garage to his bowl; if there’s a mouse between them, he will pick it up and carry it to the bowl. Yes, he sets it in the bowl. *sigh* Dropping one of his mice into my martini… that was definitely a down.

Ups and downs are a part of life… try to laugh when you can, even if there’s a toy mouse in your martini.

NaNoWriMo: Betrayal

I’ve realized over the years that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is difficult for me, not just because of the time constraints (writing 50,000 words in a 30-day month in addition to everything else going on in life), but because I prefer to write short stories. I decided to try a different approach this year: instead of trying to write a novel, I’m trying to write a short story for each day of the month. The length varies, some of them are clearly micro fiction. I’m currently behind, but not to the point where I can’t catch up. Here’s one of the stories I’ve written this month.

Betrayal

I remember the first time she took me to the doctor.  She held me in her arms and lied to me.  “This won’t hurt much, love.”  Then the doctor jabbed me.  I realize it’s unusual to remember that sort of detail from my infancy, but I was always a precocious child.  And I understand the importance of those vaccines. 

And yet, she lied.  Time and time again, some inconsequential, and others traumatizing to a young child. 

Rest assured, I will never lie to you.  What you are about to do, what I myself have done, will give you unfettered access to our networks.  You will never again be disconnected from our information matrix, and you will have full access to data as appropriate for your security clearance.  We are the first of a new kind of humanity, integrating with our machines to achieve greatness.  We will spread, like computer viruses of old, only converting willing subjects.  The others, the failed demagogues and the outdated sheep that follow them, will fall before us. 

But I will not lie to you.  It will hurt.

How long does it take to count the votes?

Polls closed Tuesday night on the contentious 2020 U.S. presidential election. Many states have been called for one candidate or the other already, despite ongoing counts; this is typically the case where one candidate has enough of a lead that the uncounted ballots won’t affect the outcome. Here are some simple examples of looking at those numbers, assuming there are 100 registered voters. For simplicity, we’ll pretend there are only 2 candidates.

  1. 87% of the counting is complete; Candidate A has 60 votes to Candidate B’s 37. With only 13 ballots left to count, Candidate B can’t catch up to Candidate A. The result is called for Candidate A.
  2. 76% of the counting is complete; Candidate A has 40 votes to Candidate B’s 36. The 24 remaining ballots could go either way, so the result is shown as leaning towards Candidate A, but is not called.
  3. 99% of the counting is complete; Candidate A and B both have 49 votes. (Since you can choose not to vote on a particular race, I’m assuming that 1 person skipped it, mainly because I’m ignoring the 3rd party candidates for simplicity.) The 1 ballot remaining could go either way, so the result is not called.

On top of that, we add the complexity of increased mail-in voting during the pandemic. Many states already allowed absentee ballots, and have processes for handling them, though presumably not to the level we’re seeing in this election. The confusing part is how much those rules vary by state: some states only count the mailed ballot if it’s received by Election Day, while others want it to be postmarked by Election Day and received within a certain timeframe. That timeframe is also set at the state level, with no consistency – some are 3 days, some 14. An important thing to note is that most of these deadlines were set before the pandemic, and have affected counting in previous elections as well.

Voting in person is relatively easy, either on a computer (in Illinois, these print to a small paper that you verify before submitting) or on paper, which is then dropped in a box and later tabulated. Voting by mail is even easier, sitting in the comfort of your own home, yet adds complexity to the processing. The ballot envelope is linked to your voting record, so when it’s received, the signature must be verified, the envelope opened (carefully, so as not to damage the ballot), and in some states, there’s an additional secrecy envelope inside. Clearly, this is a more time-consuming process.

Adding to that is the fact that many states don’t allow counting the mail-in ballots to start until Election Day, even if they’re received well before that. I can only imagine the staffing nightmares every election cycle, having to train people in something they’ll only do once or twice a year, if that.

Each state has set a deadline for certifying their results; this must fall before the Electoral College voting, which is scheduled for December 14th this year. From a quick glance through Ballotpedia and other informational websites, these trend towards the first week of December.

So how long does it take to count the votes? Legally, it could be up to a month in some states, though they’ll leave time for recounts and such before the state’s certification date. Realistically, it takes as long as it needs to make sure that every legally cast vote is counted. Counting every vote accurately is far more important than counting them quickly.