by Kai | Apr 5, 2013 | Mental health, diet and lifestyle, For Fun..., Free for all, Mental wellness, Personality
I bet everyone can tell what this post is going to be about.
Yep.
Cats!
I love my cats. We recently lost my adorable girl, so after we got everything cleaned (she had a permanent URI) and grieved, we adopted the girls.
The grey girl in the photos is Haley, the little mountaineer, Eiryss.
Both are nine months old – Haley’s fairly placid, Eiryss quite skittish, but they’re settling in really well.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
by Kai | Apr 3, 2013 | Books, Novels, A to Z Challenge 2013, Reading and Reviewing, Writing, writing habit, writing well
Well…B is for a lot of things actually. I’ll be doing ‘B is for Books’ over at AlexandriaPublishingGroup later today, but for now I wanted to touch on the books, and some other stuff that B is for.
In our house, B is for something we just can’t have yet. Not because we can’t afford it, or because we don’t want one – in fact, as long as I remain fairly successful as a freelancer, money really isn’t a problem, neither will be taking maternity leave.
And there, with that one word, you’ll know that I’m talking about babies. I’ll be doing a full post on it in ‘I is for infertility’, but I prefer the sound of babies to ‘infertility’, so there you go.
As I’m talking about this on my mostly personal blog, I’m going to say only this – it’s been one of the toughest things I’ve had to deal with in our relationship, so when Kushka died earlier last month, I think it just all got to me – not that I’d have grieved less if we’d had a baby – but she WAS our baby in many ways. And yep, we’ve got a pair of kitten(ish) cats now, who are slowly settling right in, but I’d still give anything to have my girl back. Even though I love the two new ones, Kush really was one in a billion.
But, we move on. Humans perceive time in odd ways – and I still cry looking at the photos, but there’s two new bundles of fun to snuggle, and I’m sure, given how spoiled and loved they are, adding a baby to that mix, if we ever manage it is going to be fine.
So, I can’t have babies right now – it’s not the end of the world, right? Well, no, actually in some ways it really is. I feel like a failure – not that we can’t conceive (oh, look, c is for knocked up), but because we can. My body just has a conniption, gives me all of the fun stuff that early pregnancy has – exhaustion, nausea, throwing up, peeing like there’s no tomorrow, then, after about a week, if I’m lucky, I lose it.
If that weren’t traumatic enough, it’s my other half’s first baby. I have two children from a previous relationship, but wouldn’t you know, I’ve been in this one for nine years (twice as long as my relationship with the father of my children).
And also for…
B is also for Iain Banks – he and Dan Abbnett told me (separately, but in the same month) that if I didn’t write, it would be a crime, or sentiments to that effect – having lost several greats this year already (James Herbert, Dave Silva and Rick Hautala) I’m really beginning to feel like I should be publishing, and be dammed with the rest of the stuff that occupies my life. I was 17 when they told me, half a lifetime ago.
B is for Bah.
My favorite word this month – Camp Nanowrimo is upon us. You might want to hop on over to Author interrupted to find out about that one.
B is for bombtastic
Bit of a spoiler here, sorry guys, but after Glass Block launches (I hope on Friday), there will be some A-Z challenge posts appearing on DarknessPD. Items like E is for Elliot, M is for Morrigan, C is for Clones and B is for…well….bomb blasts.
🙂 Ain’t I a stinker?
B is for Blogging
I’ve been asked what it is about me and blogs. I guess I’m not very good at explaining that, but I love keeping blogs. I mean…almost as much as I love reading and writing. I’m trying to rework my blogs though, so that they’re more regularly updated – alongside B is for Blogs, be is also for Bi-polarbears, the mental health advocate site I run which was 10 last month.
And finally….
B is for Books. I love books. Almost as much as I love my cats. I’m an avid reader – I’ve got a lovely Kindle, and an Ipad so I can read no matter what, and it’s something I really miss. I was going to start a film review blog later in the month, but i may add recommended book reviews to that too. Not that I’ll review books, but that I’ll recommend books with a review, on my terms :).
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
by Kai | Apr 2, 2013 | A to Z Challenge 2013, Featured, For Fun..., Gaming and hobbies, Geekery, memes and errata, and more
So. I signed up for the ‘Blogging A-Z‘ project, and though I thought that I’d be doing something else by now, I thought I’d go with this idea.
A is for Allonsy.
I think I’m really showing the geek streak for this first one. Allon-sy is what the 10th Doctor (Dr Who) said when he ran off to do stuff. And of all the Doctors, David Tennant was my favorite of the most recent ones.
It’s not the reason a lot of people think of.
Dr Who was something I loved growing up – like many other geeky kids, I have fairly unfocussed, but vivid memories of hiding behind the couch when the Cybermen came on TV, or the Daleks. So having Dr Who back was great. And it came back as my life began to change for the better. By the time the 10th incarnation came onto our screens for the first time, I was deeply into the relationship I’m still in now (it’s our 9th anniversary this month), I was settled, and I was writing. By the time the catchphrase ‘Allon-sy’ came up as often as it had, it was 2007, and I’d moved house, and was about to start Uni. So that specific catchphrase is something I associate with some of the happiest and most settled times of my life.
The fact that it was David Tennant probably helped though. And given the BBC produce one of my absolute favorite programs (Sherlock – I’ll talk about that later), I’m just glad that some of the writers that are now doing the stuff I really love had a hand in the show.
The thing about Dr Who is though, when you think about it, is that you’re getting great storytelling, drama and interest in a sci fi show that has become cult. And though I disliked one of the writers and felt his shows were weaker when watching, some of the absolute BEST things I’ve seen have come from there. I loved ‘Blink’ (and am making a little cubee for my desk of the Weeping Angels), I loved all of the library episodes, and I really REALLY enjoyed the first of what I hope will be many Neil Gaiman episodes. Though, I know that was the 11th Doctor 😉
A is also for…
Alexandria Publishing Group. That’s the writing and publishing co-operative I’m involved with. We keep a blog and lots of great content appears on the site – but there’s also some of the most amazing indie books that you’ve maybe never heard of on the site itself – we’ve got some incredible writers, so if you want to, go over and explore !
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
That sounds like so much fun! I love games, especially RPG. Haven't played with a group in a few years.…