Weather in the Tries: Winds, diminishing tears, now and then clouds, and a bit of sun now and again. I’m not joking about the tears. One of my bestest friends died unexpectedly last Sunday (7 Nov), James Walter “Jim” Fiscus. I’m still crying. But not as much. You do know I lie a lot, don’t you?
Jim:
I first met Jim something like 35-40 years ago. Whenever I started attending the SFF Cons (conventions) About 5 years after we met, we started drifting into friendship. We kept it at friendship until last Sunday when he ruined it for all of us. Which is a good thing, because he met a young lady who became the light of his life, Shawn, and they have been happily married for several years. And Shawn and I are friends.
I cannot even begin to guess at how badly Shawn feels. I know it is a lot worse than I feel, and all I can say is the edges of the hole through my life are if not healing, at least scabbing over. It takes time. But one thing I do know about Grief—you will grieve. Best to do it when appropriate, because if you stuff it somewhere, it will come to visit later, usually at a most inappropriate time.
If you are, or were, in the SFF community on the West Coast, you probably knew Jim. If you attended OryCon, you for sure knew Jim. If you belong to SFWA, you undoubtedly knew Jim. He was a photographer who was seldom, if ever, without his camera. He had a set up out his office window to shoot birds. His shots (photos) were amazing.
Have you ever wanted the release of crying, but just couldn’t cry? Every so often, I would play Who Will Answer? by Ed Ames and that would make me cry, but someone has added a religious blurb at the end of the video that is not in the song and is a great detraction. I found a different song that brings tears when I need them, The Sound of Silence by Disturbed. Kind of a heavy metal rendition of the gentle Simon and Garfunkel’s recording. Great fun to sing along with, though. 😉 Incidentally, I understand Paul Simon loved Disturbed’s rendition!)
Library Cards:
Remember the old Library Cards stuck in a glued-on envelope on the inside cover of the books the librarian let you take home and read? When you checked it out, the librarian put your name and due date on it and put it in a file and put another card with the due date in the book. And if you were late returning it, well, there went your allowance for the fines. And a stern warning from the Librarian.
In a conversation with a friend a couple days ago, she mentioned she had a stack of books she was getting ready to ship me so I could sign them and ship them back to her and she could then wrap them and ship them to whoever and wherever. I suggested she buy some bookplates, send them to me, with a sticky note on each one telling me who was getting the book, and their favorite color. I will sign the bookplate to the person, in colored ink, and mail them back to her. Much faster, and less expensive than mailing books.
So, I went online to find some blank bookplates, and found a packet of the old-style library cards. If you want to send someone one of my books, signed by me, send me a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with the name of the book and the name of the person to receive it, and their favorite color, and I’ll send you a signed library card, which you can then tape into the book with a piece of double sticky tape. The cards are 3”x5.” I can just sign them, or personalize them, just tell me what you want. (Obviously, if you want special bookplates signed, send those.)
If you don’t have my address, either email me or use the “contact me” form requesting same. My books can be ordered from Amazon.com or your favorite bookseller. Please do not order from me, it will take too long for me to order them, sign them, and ship them on, and cost you a whole lot more money.
Photos of the Week:
Entertainment:
TV News: Stephen K. Bannon got two criminal indictments. Finally, some good news!
And how I hope there is at least one mother on the Kyle Rittenhouse jury to explain to the rest of the members that the tears were a great spectacle, but that’s all they were! It was Tantrum on Demand. Been there, seen that!
Facebook:
If you’ve missed me on Facebook, I’ll be back in a week or two. I’m just processing a helluvalot of hurt right now.
Quotes of the Week:
“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” —Rabindranath Tagore
Mole asked Raven “…what happens at the point of death?” // Raven sat silently for a while, then said, “I give away my belongings.” —Zen Master Raven by Robert Aitken
And there you have it, another week gone, another week closer to Winter Solstice (Summer Solstice if you live Down Under), and another blog. Sammy is some concerned over my crying, so he’s hiding in the bed. In the meantime, remember, Books always make good gifts. One size fits all. And if someone end up with two copies of the same book, they will have one to cherish and one to loan 😉