With the current prevalence and popularity of videogames, as well as the surging numbers of people texting instead of typing, I have to wonder if thumbscrews will experience a resurgence as an instrument of torture.
There you go, talk amongst yourselves now.
It’s going to be a busy day, but a good one.
For one thing, I have a Compliance Hot Line call waiting for my attention (and I’ll deal with it as soon as I start work at the DayJob in a few miutes).
After work I need to stop by the Home Depot and pick up a new toilet seat, go home, and install it (actually, really easy to do).
I have a nice piece of basa that I’ll bake for dinner tonight.
Then there’s the first part of a two part webinar on hyposis that I’ll be attending.
But the real reason I’m cheering about today is because my wife returns home this evening. She’s been gone since Monday morning of last week, and I miss her very very much.
No doubt the dogs do too.
I’ve recorded the last two episodes of DaHjaj Hol, the daily Klingon podcast that I’ve been doing since January 1st. They’ll go out into the world at dawn today and tomorrow.
It’s been an interesting experience, creating a snippet of Klingon every day for a year. I have no idea how large an audience I reached, or if they’ll continue to be used as a resource by people interested in the language (the entire series will remain available via this website).
For 2012 I think I’ll continue to post a Klingon podcast, but the format is likely to change to only once a week, and the content will probably be aimed more at an intermediate level. But nothing’s definite yet, it’s all in flux.
In other news, since I’m awake, I started thinking about conventions, and realized that I hadn’t yet booked my hotel for my first event of 2012. Happily, the fine folks at Lunacon made that very easy with their website links, and I’m now all set.
If you’re not acquainted with this convention, I would encourage you to check it out (and not just because I was their GoH last year). It’s an incredibly relaxing and enjoyable convention, the programming is always entertaining, the hotel grounds are gorgeous, and I always have a wonderful time.
I’m particularly glad to be heading back this year because the artist GoH is none other than Howard Tayler, the multi-Hugo nominated creator of Schlock Mercenary and one quarter of the podcast Writing Excuses. I love Howard like a brother, and I never get to see him enough (not that I expect to manage much time with him at Lunacon, as he’ll be busy doing that whole GoH thing).
This year it looks like there will be several other Hadley Rille authors present, and we’re trying to coax the programming team to give us a slot. No guarantees, but I’m hopeful. In any case, I hope to see you at Lunacon; it’s great fun!
My wife and I have no major plans for New Year’s Eve (in case you were wondering), other than a quiet night here at home. I generally avoid traveling on the last night of the year; in my experience there are just too many people on the road with a bit too much alcohol in their systems. Thanks, but we hit our drama quotient for the year and are not looking for any last minute additions.
If your own plans take you out and about, please keep yourselves safe. If you do feel the need/desire to imbibe, designate a driver for your group and treat this person well.
A lot of folk like to make various resolutions for the new year, things they’ll try to do better in the coming months, but I’ve never understood the appeal. As that little green guy said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” That said, I have quite a bit that I intend to do in 2012. I could tell you about it now, but this post has already run on too long, and besides, why spoil the surprises?
Anyway… it’s now 4am. I think maybe I’ll try and grab another hour or two of sleep. Wish me luck!
Pay this post no mind.
We’re trying to figure out why WORDPRESS isn’t allowing commenting on my LJ cross posts.
My holiday gift to you, this simple lullaby from the Klingon homeworld.
Here are the lyrics:
tun targhoy. tuj targhoy. tugh DuchoprupchoH.
Quchchu’ targhoy. Doy’qu’ targhoy. HoH! HoH! HoH!
Here’s the literal transation:
The targgy is soft. The targgy is hot. Soon it will be ready to begin to bite you.
The targgy is clearly happy. The targgy is very tired. Kill! Kill! Kill!
And here’s a singable translation:
Soft targgy. Hot targgy. It will bite you soon.
Happy targgy. Sleepy targgy. Kill! Kill! Kill!
For those who want a bit more insight into the Klingon, here’s how the words break down:
tun – (verb) be soft.
targh – (noun) an animal presumably native to the Klingon homeworld; believed to resemble a cross between a dog and a wild boar.
-oy – (noun suffix) endearment.
Thus targhoy – “targyâ€
tuj – (verb) be hot.
tugh – (adverbial) soon.
Du- – (prefix) third person singular subject, second person singular object.
chop – (verb) to bite.
-rup – (verb suffix) readiness.
-choH – (verb suffix) change of action.
Thus DuchoprupchoH – It is ready to start to bite you.
Quch – (verb) be happy.
-chu’ – (verb suffix) clearly, perfectly.
Doy – (verb) be tired.
-qu’ – (verb suffix) emphasis.
HoH – (verb) kill.
Note: When dealing with animals, a reduced form of the language, referred to as “Clipped Klingon,” is often seen. Commands, such as Sit!, which in regular speech would require the use of an imperative prefix such as yI- as well as the verb (in this case, ba’), would be reduced to just the verb form when commanding an animal. In this context then, the simple verb HoH could be correctly seen as the command Kill!.
However, readers should not draw any association between this song and the classic Russ Meyer film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, as that would just be silly and wrong.
Thanks to Krikor for providing the plush targ, Diane for providing the photos, and Merle for making it all happen and hosting the party that sparked this whole thing in the first place.
Super colosso thanks to Tim W. Burke for spending the afternoon at my house and pulling the entire video together.
After many weeks of battling scheduling conflicts, I’m at long last set to appear as a guest on the Star Trek online radio network!
The show happens on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011, from 6pm to 9pm. It’s called “the Warrior’s Den†with DJ DeyvID.
DeyvID’s been playing some of my DaHjaj Hol podcasts on the show, so presumably there’s already some interest in having me come on and talk about the Klingon language. And he’s being gracious enough to allow me to also talk about my fiction, as well as the work of others that I publish via Paper Golem.
And it’s a call-in show, so feel free to pop in and chat if you’re around.
As you know, Bob, I write about hypnosis on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, I’ve done some research on the subject over the years. But, aside from a few minutes at a fraternity party three decades ago, I’ve never been formally hypnotized.
That all changes today!
As part of one of those Groupon/Dealfinder thingies, Valerie recently gifted me with a couple sessions with a hypnotist in Philadelphia. We’ve been corresponding back and forth for the past couple months trying to find a time slot that fits our respective schedules and that time has at last arrived.
I’m very excited to get some firsthand experience of this, and also because this particular hypnotist is a certified trainer, and I’ve toyed with the idea of learning the skills myself for therapeutic purposes, but I’ve always demurred because the timing wasn’t right, or the courses were off in Michigan or something.
Everything may be coming together for this in 2012 though, as this same hypnotist is offering a complimentary seminar in January, and I’m already signed up. Who knows, if all goes well, I may need to invest in a new watch fob!
But I’m getting ahead of myself. One step at a time. For today, I’ll concentrate on trying not to cluck like a chicken.
After several days of wretched insomnia, I seem to be back on track at last. Last night served up a fairly solid six hours (though I did awaken at several points throughout the night, I also managed to go back to sleep).
Up today a bit before six a.m., got some reading done for a novella contest I’ve been involved in, put in some time cleaning up the mess that is my office (seriously, where does all this crap come from?), and in a very short while I’ll be off to Pilates.
Valerie and I have an afternoon movie and dinner scheduled for later today, but we may end up postponing that for a week. Discussion to follow. All in all though, it’s looking like a pretty good day.
Oh, and one more thing: it’s cold out. That means I may opt to build a fire at some point. That would be nice too.
