Okay, last night’s post-midnight post was done just to kill time while I updated to Windows 2K SP4. I’ll elaborate a little more on what I’ve been reading and what I’ve been thinking.

Specifically, I’ve read the following from Harlan Ellison’s “Deathbird Stories”:

• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs
• Along the Scenic Route
• On the Downhill Side
• Neon
• Basilisk
• Shattered Like a Glass Goblin

The most influential stories from this collection apparently are the first one in the list, the title story, Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes, and Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans. This would make sense, because I really didn’t get into several of the above stories.

“The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” was good, especially once I understood what Ellison was talking about in his brief intro regarding Kitty Genovese. Maybe I’m biased, but it still read slightly misogynistic to me. I’ve already commented on “Along the Scenic Route” which left me cold. “On the Downhill Side” wasn’t a favorite either; any story with a unicorn in it these days reads awfully uni-corny. “Neon” was okay, but unremarkable, and I didn’t like the fact that there was no explanation for the central sf element, the dude with neon tubes in his chest. I found “Basilisk” to be the strongest story of the bunch I’ve read; in fact, it rocked. “Shattered Like a Glass Goblin” didn’t do much for me except strengthen my suspicion that Ellison had his troubles with the ladies.

These stories were written between 1965 and 1975, or so Ellison says in the introduction. Like a lot of Stephen King’s early stuff, the whole “groovy baby” feel to some of the stories is borderline comical. A story like “On the Downhill Side” really doesn’t age well at all, reminding me far too much of stoners staring at trippy 3D posters of unicorns under a blacklight.

Still, by most accounts, the stories I’ve read have been Ellison’s weaker efforts; the ones I enjoyed are usually praised. I might not read the whole collection (depends on what mood I’m in) but I will make sure to check out the ones that people consistently mention as Ellison’s best.

Speaking of the best, I read my first Theodore Sturgeon story the other night: Bianca’s Hands. I had to kill a few minutes so I selected the shortest story in the bunch. While I won’t say it was world-changing, it was pretty damn good. Considering how downright weird the whole thing was, I marveled at how fast Sturgeon accelerated into the story. One minute I’m in my house reading a quick story to kill some time, the next the world is completely upside down yet somehow startling familiar. Looking forward to delving deeper into yet another one of sci-fi’s biggest names who I’d hardly heard of a year ago.

I’m also reading “A Pocketfull of Dharma” by Paolo Bacigalupi from an old F&SF, 02/99 to be exact. It’s quite good, although I think I’ll end up liking his more recent stuff a bit more. What I find most interesting about Bacigalupi’s work — or what I’ve read so far — is how he tells conventional sf stories but still manages to surprise me. We’re discussing the Oct/Nov double-issue of F&SF over on the Clarion message boards, and we recently finished Joe Haldeman’s “Foreclosure,” a story I would argue is also pretty conventional sf but manages to bore me completely. Haldeman and Bacigalupi are both fine writers, adding the right amount of nifty detail and not belaboring characterization, but with Haldeman I see where we’re going and I suddenly feel tired; whereas with Bacigalupi, I see where we’re going and I’m excited for the trip. Something happens in the white space between the lines that makes one enjoyable and the other not.

Nothing positive on the writing front. A few rejections have dribbled in, but I’m still waiting on F&SF — 60 days, as of today. I should probably mention that the rejections I’ve gotten have all been personalized and encouraging (except for the form one from Strange Horizons), but I still feel that a rejection is a rejection is a rejection. I guess a lot of folks look at personalized notes as “almost sales” or “closer to a sale” but I find them marginally better than a form rejection. I mean, it’s nice that the editor took the time to write a note of encouragement and I appreciate it, but it’s nothing to turn cartwheels over.

All projects and major events are over for the summer (indeed, today I felt the first chill of autumn) so I hope that translates into more writing time. I still need to study for the GREs and take those before December and that will definitely eat into writing time, but I really need to take on some of my bigger stories. I keep saying that, and it keeps being true.

Champions League games today and tomorrow. Liverpool vs. Chelsea being the cream of the crop on paper, but Liverpool is currently stuck on stinky: 1 win and 4 draws in the league, with only 3 goals scored. This being a Champions League game against a domestic opponent, it’s likely that they’ll go in even more conservative. Usually you can say “an early goal would help this game out” but in this case I don’t think it’s true: an early goal would likely mean the team who scored would just shut up shop, and these two teams have the fewest goal-against in the league. I’m hoping it’s a wide-open affair, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Current Mood – Wishing I Was Doing Something Else|
Currently Listening To – Lonnie Johnson – “Steppin’ On the Blues”

[Post-Script: I installed some new spamming software that I hope works. I think legit comments no longer need to be moderated (unless you mention poker or viagra) and the software has been holding suspected comments in the approval queue, along with a delightful "select all" option for delete and marking as spam, making administration a breeze.]