Word of the Day
oneiric, adj : of or relating to dreams : dreamy
From the Greek oneiros, “dream.” Apparently in the mid-17th century “English-speaking scholars” got hold of the Oneirocritica, a book about dream interpretation by 2nd-century Greek soothsayer Artemidorus Daldianus, which led to a spate of word-creation, including “oneirocriticism,” “oneirocritical” and “oneirocritic.” Serious mouthfuls there…
Daughter at 5 Years
While brushing her hair, I am telling her a story, because the only way she’ll let me brush her hair without howling her outrage at every tug and stroke is if I distract her, and in this story I am asking her about what she’d do with a bunch of animals, which she decides to host a Christmas party for. This she proceeds to do despite all the playful obstacles Mommy tells her she has to work around, from animals arriving late to too many animals arriving for the food she has… poor kid. Mommy is giving her secret crash courses in social graces. Anyway, she does such a great job I tell her that, “a dragon appears! A friendly dragon!”
“A friendly dragon?” she asks, squinting at me in the mirror.
“A friendly purple and blue and green dragon,” I say. “And he offers you… three wishes! What do you wish for?”
“Well,” she says, still apparently pondering the logistics of her holiday party, “more cups and plates for the animals.”
“Okay,” I say. “That’s very generous, thinking of other people first! The dragon says: “POOF!” and lots more cups and plates appear, enough for every animal. What else?”
“Um…” She eyes the heap of hair things on her bathroom counter and ventures, “More barrettes?”
“Sure!” I say. “The friendly dragon makes more and beautiful barrettes appear! What’s your last wish.”
She blinks, then says, “Another dragon?”
At which point she gets probably her fondest wish, which is for Mommy to stop brushing her hair for a little bit… and this she does, long enough to stop laughing anyway.
After I catch my breath, I ask, “Why did you ask for another dragon?”
At which point she surprises me by saying, “Because I want more friends!”
“Oh!” I say. “Not because you wanted more wishes?”
“I want more wishes too,” she says, but she’s already playing with some other hair thing on the counter and it’s obviously the furthest thing from her mind.
I finish up with her hair and can’t help imagining the arrival of that second dragon, surprised and jaded, expecting to have been summoned by a child gaming the system to get more out of it… only to find a little girl with a plate of cookies, who only wanted someone else to come to her party.
Bet he would have given her every wish. :)
Creative News/Plans
Let’s see. If the money comes in, there will be an Earthrise today! Otherwise, I finished part 1 of Jokka-Book-3, which clocks in at 119 pages. It’s really rough, probably because there’s so much going on in it, but I’m pleased with it because I get to write people who love one another who aren’t Doomed or in Desperate Travail, and that’s nice. They love one another, trust one another and work well together; it’s a little like writing a happy married couple, and if you’ve read any of the Jokka oeuvre you know just how rare that is. I’ve also vetted the first three chapters of the Rosary audiobook, which are stellar, though I admit going from Dorse’s Ai-Naidar to Dorse’s modern-day priest and high school kids was a bit of a brain-bender…
I’m also slowly getting through the Kickstarter mailing. I just have to print out the backer letters and stuff the envelopes and I’ll be done with that until next year. Go go jaguar…
Elsewhere (The Wonderful Photos Edition)
• How He Got That Photo. My friend varjohaltia won a photo competition! Here’s the winning piece.
• Photo of Officer Giving Boots to Barefoot Homeless Man Warms Hearts. Good story, just right for the season.
Quote of the Day
Madness does not come by breaking out, but by giving in… by being tamed. ― G.K. Chesterton
