Word of the Day
decathect, v. : to withdraw one’s feelings of attachment from (a person, idea, or object), as in anticipation of a future loss
…?? There’s a word for this?? Oh, I see, it’s young: “Decathect originates from a combination of the Latin prefix de- implying an undoing or removal, and the Greek term kathek meaning “to keep, hold on to.” It was originally used by Freud in the 1930s.” Talk about an excellent example of a not-so-good coining leading to abandonment. It sounds more like a word about counting. :P
Oops
I queued Thursday’s Earthrise episode for… today, apparently. That’s what I get for scheduling half-asleep. No harm done, though, you just get your episode early! Enjoy!
Daughter at 5 Years
Sitting in my lap in the morning with her head resting against my chest…
“So,” I said. “Did you get back to sleep after you woke up?”
“Yes,” she said. Then added, “Do you know why I woke up?”
“No,” I said, and on that count I was curious; at 4 in the morning I’d found her quietly arranging things in her dollhouse, admired her handiwork and reminded her to turn off the light and go back to sleep when she was done.
“Because I had a bad dream while I was sleeping,” she said. “And when I wasn’t sleeping, I didn’t have a bad dream. So I didn’t sleep.”
“Ahhhh,” I said. “Makes perfect sense to me.”
And it does, and yet how astonishing to see psychology at work, the little flinches we develop in response to pain and fear.
“Did you have a bad dream?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “Mommy doesn’t have bad dreams very often anymore. You know why?”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I tell myself before I go to sleep: ‘Okay, me… don’t have bad dreams.’ And you know what? It works almost all the time.”
“Oh!” she said. And I let her think about that while we watched the morning light glimmer through the window.
Creative News/Plans
Three Jaguars updated today! Last night I scanned, lettered and uploaded another 16 pages, and the website is now auto-scheduled all the way into the second week of March. I still have another ten pages scanned that need to be lettered, so I will probably do that this week. Once I’m done, I’ll set aside the comic until mid-February or so (at which point I’ll start building backlog again).
That means next week I’ll be sitting down to the Ai-Naidari Guidebook. I’ve been working on Bloom every day but sort of half-heartedly… 3-6 pages a day instead of 10-15. But I’m doggedly continuing on that, as well as setting in motion the Jokka trilogy re-packaging project (new covers, etc).
Audiobook stuff continues! The Godkin audiobook is over half done, and so is Rosary. I finished popping notes back to the actor for “Unknowable,” too. My time for audiobook stuff has been limited lately though… I’m almost thinking of getting someone to help me with the vetting process (which involves listening to each chapter for recording errors).
Elsewhere (The “Of Interest to Ai-Naidari” Edition)
• A Very Very Very Delicate Balance. Cynthia sent me this artist who balances rocks as probably of interest to Ai-Naidari. I think she’s right!
• Ringing Finally Stopped But There’s No Button to Stop The Shame. Someone got reprimanded by a conductor in the middle of a concert for their cellphone going off… this is about the aftermath of that.
Quote of the Day
If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are? ~T.S. Eliot
