From Twitter 04-08-2010

( Cut to spare the uninterested )

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Lin Yu Chun

Here's a performance which is being compared, inevitably, to Susan Boyle's. Lin Yu Chun sings, pitch perfect and deeply felt, Dolly Parton's classic "I Will Always Love You." Really splendid job. Yes, he really does sound like Whitney Houston.

New Aquisition

I saw mrissa wearing this necklace at Minicon. I liked it so much, I asked where she got it, and she kindly obliged. So I picked it up for myself this afternoon.





Happy birthday to morganmalfoy and _lindsay_!

There has been a jump in donations. Thank you, I'm very grateful! We still have quite a ways to go, though.

MyCharityWater Campaign Report:

$5,000 CAMPAIGN GOAL
$766 RAISED SO FAR
38 people served
22 donations
74 days left

Reference books of particular interest to writers

I ran across a book today that I think anyone on my list who's a writer, particularly a fantasy writer, should definitely check out. It's called Lost Crafts: Rediscovering Traditional Skills. The name on the cover is Una McGovern, but it's not clear if she's the author or an editor. ISBN 978 0550 104267. Oh my gosh, HOW I wish I'd had this book when I was writing The Wild Swans. It's part history and part instruction, and over a hundred skills are explained. How to milk a cow. How to skin a rabbit. How to sheer a sheep. How to mend a fishing net. How to make a boat. How to thatch a cottage. How to mend a stone wall. How to lay a hedge. How to make and mend a quill pen. How to whittle a brier pipe. How to make rope. How to tan leather. How to sweep a chimney. How to make cider, lemonade, butter, cheese, jam and marmalade. How to make a bow and arrows. How to make a basket. How to keep bees. How to forage for wild food. How to make bobbin lace. How to navigate by the stars. How to make hay. How to make a broom. Etc. Click on the "Take a Look Inside" and go the the second page and you'll see the whole list. It's quite impressive.

Heck, even though I'm not currently producing fiction, I may just end up buying it anyway.

There's a companion volume, called Lost Lore: A celebration of traditional wisdom, by Una McGovern and Paul Jenner. Haven't seen that one, but the description reads:

cooking with a range / counting sheep / curing drunkenness / finding water / signalling with semaphore / identifying plants and trees/ making and taking tea / natural first aid / using an abacus/ navigating by nature / preparing antidotes to poisoning / predicting the sex of a baby / repairing clothes / curing warts / weather forecasting. Lost Lore is a celebration of the time-honored wisdom upon which we all once relied. It draws on folklore, tradition and superstition, and is packed with amusing anecdotes and historical extracts which illuminate the beliefs and knowledge of our ancestors. It brings to life the wisdom and practical skills that helped generation after generation, only becoming lost with the advent of mechanization and the technological age. Following in the footsteps of Lost Crafts, Lost Lore is a beautiful book that will once more immerse you in the pleasures of the past.