Oh god, I won.

2016 Pegasus award, Best Filk Song: "Creatures of Dream."

I ... have a lot I want to say about this song and this honor, but there's one thing I really should have said upon acceptance, and that's gotta come first. "Creatures of Dream" wouldn't exist without Jesse Dangerously, who introduced me to nerdcore and told me that there was no reason I couldn't write rap and said super nice things about the first lyrics I sent him, and cobbled together the original beat for this song in a cave out of a box of scraps. (Said scraps including Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer's "Shadows of Evangeline", and voice samples from the late greats Jim Henson and Gene Wilder.)

The other really important thing is what I did say on acceptance, and that's that if you don't usually like rap but you like this song, then I guarantee you: there is other rap you will like. And over the next week or so, hopefully with Jesse's help, I will be putting together a long list of tracks and artists you should check out, because without all of these other brilliant lyricists and rappers I couldn't have written anything like this.

And, well ... I also couldn't have written it, or had any faintest notion of performing it for anyone, if it weren't for the filk community. Because this song is quite possibly the most viscerally autobiographical thing I've ever done -- and I knew, the whole time I was writing it, that there were people who would listen to it because in filk we listen to everybody, and who would both sympathize and understand. That these things I was saying, that were fundamentally true about me, were also fundamentally true about a lot of you too. You know where I've been, because you've been where I am.

(As evidenced by the fact that "Creatures of Dream" and one of the other nominees this year, Vixy and Tony's "We Are Who We Are", are basically twins.) (-- and while I'm on that subject, can I just say? There was not a single song in the category this year that I would not have been proud to lose to. Such a great, great ballot this year, you guys; I fully intend to nominate all of these songs again until they win.)

I'm still a little overwhelmed and I don't see that passing anytime soon. To the filk community: thank you. Thank you all so much.

If anybody would cross-post or link to this on Facebook, wherever filk people will see it, I would be most grateful.

Thing the first: As the Pegasus Awards Nomination deadline draws closer, I've been signal-boosting elsewhere on the internet, and realized I should probably do the same here. Go check out the brainstorming poll! And then nominate! Nominate like the WIND! (I also embarked on a project of compiling audio links of the brainstorming poll results, but there is seriously not going to be enough time to do it. But go check out the list anyway!)
(also: "Creatures of Dream" made the brainstorming poll aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh)

Thing the second: I have just reposted a bunch of short-short ficbits I wrote on tumblr to my AO3 account, including the "Blue Food" one that some of you have heard me talking about recently.

Thing the third: my lost phone has been found and returned to me by a kind and helpful stranger! Now I just need to copy all the old phone numbers into the new phone. Unless I can just get the SIM card transferred. Note to self: look into that.

Thing the fourth: the kidney stone saga continues, very boringly. As of a week ago today I have had ~*laser surgery*~ on one of them, and I am assured that at this point I should have a bunch of fine sand-to-gravel where the biggest stone used to be. Sadly, neither the lasers nor the earlier sonic blast treatment appear to have conferred any superpowers.

Every so often I remember that (a) most of you here don't follow me on tumblr, and (b) I don't post the kind of personal stuff on tumblr that I used to post here all the time, and what that means is that people aren't getting updated about important stuff in my life. For instance I don't think I've actually posted about it here at all since my relatively recent health troubles started. WOOPS. Some of you already know bits of it; I think I've sort of been stalling on saying anything here until I could put together a coherent and cleverly worded post about it? For some reason?

1. OKAY SO HI EVERYBODY it turns out I've got kidney stones. Have known this for roughly six months, ish, and have been getting various forms of tests and treatment, punctuated by exciting visits to the emergency room -- most recently last Thursday night, just into the last two days of Pesach. I was able to go home Friday afternoon, after another visit to ambulatory surgery to have some new hardware installed; I already had one on the right and now I've got a matched pair. Whee. I'm really hoping to be able to step up the further procedures to finally get rid of the stones (and thus also the hardware, which isn't terribly comfortable). I am assured by my doctor that this is not-repeat-not in any way likely to be a life-threatening issue, and given successful treatment, shouldn't have any long-term impact on quality of life either. I really hope he's right.

2. Unrelated to my health, another thing I really wish I'd posted about sooner: being the Interfilk guest at FKO last month was an honor and a delight, and I hope we get to go back on occasion in future. Phil Mills got some lovely photos of my concert, along with many others; there's also a video of Mark Bernstein leading and directing a choral performance of "Green Hills of Earth." (If anyone here has video of my concert, or knows anyone else who does, please let me know.)

3. This is neither particularly coherent nor particularly cleverly worded, but if I don't just sigh and hit the Post To button anyway, it'll never go up.

Ugh, you guys, I have gotten so bad at posting to LJ/DW. And even at staying caught up on flist. I blame tumblr. In part at least. (Though I'm also currently failing at NaNoWriMo, so I dunno.)

Posts I should be making:

• A poll: should I link tumblr posts here the way some people do tweets? Is this a thing that might interest people?
  
• Belated OVFF con report
  
• Chessiecon anticipation (I've got one co-moderated song circle with Tom Smith, one concert with ladymondegreen as The Funny Things, and one solo concert)
  
• Recent recipes successes: sugar-free plum jam with rosemary, chicken with peaches and balsamic vinegar, gluten-free bread made with flaxseed meal and oat flour, tomato-and-red-lentil crock-pot soup
  
• Why I'm failing at NaNo

Maybe I should try this December Talking Meme thing. Or a variation on it.

It is a momentous day in my personal history, friends.

Yes, today is the day I finally won at 2048.

Today I am a math god.

(Tomorrow I will go back to squinting in abject bafflement at household finances, but TODAY I AM A MATH GOD.)

"Iiiit's that time again!"

"Time for the next Quarter Quell?"

"Time to find out what frozen things do in summer?"

"Nooo. It's time for another New York / New Jersey area housefilk!"

Sunday, February 2, at the home of Deb Wunder. Details here. Feel free to boost the signal!

"Iiiit's that time again!"

"Time to build a Jaeger out of a box of scraps?"

"Time to figure out rules 37 through 62?"

"Nooo. It's time for another New York / New Jersey area housefilk!"

This coming Sunday at the home of Ray Arnold. Details here. Feel free to boost the signal!

"Iiiit's that time again!"

"Time to throw candy?"

"Time to wax the cabbage?"

"Nooo. It's time for another New York / New Jersey area housefilk!"


Alas, I can't make this one on account of my niece's bat mitzvah, but: housefilk! Details and RSVP here. Feel free to boost the signal!

I don't post here nearly often enough, lately. So you know what I'm going to do?

I'm going to share some of the AWESOME DELICIOUSNESS that we enjoyed this Thanksgiving weekend. :D

Appetizer: Baby spinach salad with za'atar vinaigrette (olive oil, toasted sesame oil, ume plum vinegar, za'atar)

Main course:
( Herb-roasted chicken )

( Mashed turnips-and-taters )

( Cornmeal pudding )

( Sourdough bread stuffing )

Steamed string beans

Cranberry-raspberry relish, brought by my mother-in-law

Dessert: Apple pie made with this almond-flour pie crust, served with whipped coconut cream



ohmygodIatesomuchtoomuch

(Reposted from here.)

We have friends who live in Long Beach, NY. Many of you know them. And their apartment building will be unlivable for the next two to three months thanks to extreme flooding. Thus they are looking for an one bedroom apartment to rent till their regular home is ready. They would like to find something on the island or close to it, but will look into anything that comes along.

If you have any information about anything, please pass it to me and I will pass it along to our friends. Thanks.

November 25, ETA: Our friends have been able to return to their apartment!