Book View Cafe

A few years ago, I started reading Judith Tarr's horse-related posts at a site called Book View Cafe. I followed the blog, and noticed other interesting people were associated with it: Chaz Brenchley. Sherwood Smith. Ursula K. Le Guin.

This, I thought, looked like a good crowd of people.

Which is why I'm very pleased to announce that I am a newly-minted member of Book View Cafe. It's more than just a blog; it's an authors' collective, doing ebooks and other ventures, all through shared labor. So far I'm still finding my way around, getting a feel for how they do things -- getting lost in the (massive) behind-the-scenes infrastructure -- and so at the moment you won't see much from me on the public-facing side of the group. But I hope to have some very interesting things to show you all in a few months.

In the meantime, I'm very grateful to the membership, and hope I can measure up to their fine example!

things that are needed

Two for me, one for somebody else. If you have suggestions for where to find these things, please share in the comments (or e-mail me).

1) A convertible duffel/backpack. Which is to say, a bag that opens like a duffel (down its long axis, rather than on top), but whose straps are intended to be worn as a backpack. I screwed up my hip recently because my karate bag (a duffel) is kind of heavy, and it isn't good for me to wear it across my body; I can carry it like a backpack, but the straps aren't designed for that, so they're less than ideal. I need a replacement.

2) Music from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The TV series, not the movie which tragically never got made. (Wouldn't it have been awesome, if there were a movie? I'm sure it would have been awesome. What a pity it didn't happen.) I know there was never a CD release, but I'm told they made a lot of the music available online. I've only been able to find it streaming, though -- not anything I can download. This is probably because I am pig-ignorant as to how one searches for such things.

3) Beard cover. (This would be the one that isn't for me.) A friend of mine needs recommendations for a suitable way to cover up beard stubble, that (I quote) "doesn't feel like spackle."


. . . with a motley assortment of requests like that, my comment thread is going to look rather interesting. :-)