kaleidotrope

Not a sunny Sunday

Today was cold and wet and nasty…and I couldn’t be happier about that.

I was able to turn the air conditioner off today and act like it’s actually fall. I spent the time, inside because of the rain, doing the crossword puzzle, watching the latest episode of Supernatural, and sending out a hundred or so rejection letter e-mails for Kaleidotrope.

That last isn’t much fun, though. It turns the crushing of some poor writer’s dream — or at least hope — and turns it into soul-crushing tedium. I try not to send out form letters — try to give people some kind of constructive feedback, since I think that benefits us both — and when there are more than a hundred of those, and even when it’s not a lot of individualized feedback, it eat up the hours. And I still have some 200+ submissions to get through.

At least I’m closed to new submissions until January. (I’m making an exception for art, of which I have run out.)

Anyway, no long weekend for me, and the temperatures are predicted to rise back up into the 60s during the week. But I’m hopeful that we’ll get at least a little bit of fall before the first big snow storm.

Movie sign

Last night I watched Dr. No. Tonight, I watched From Russia With Love. (I recently bought — well, bought months ago, but it only recently arrived — the 50th anniversary James Bond Blu-Ray set.) And this morning, I went to see Looper, which I really liked.

Beyond that, and reading some Kaleidotrope submissions — I’ve mentioned that the new issue of the zine is up, right? And that you should visit it? — it was a pleasantly uneventful day.

Autumn is the new summer

If you’d told me that, near the end of the first week of October, I’d still be complaining about it’s being summer…well, I’m not sure I’d have believed you. But the weather has been ridiculous this whole week, disgustingly humid and with temperatures in the high seventies or higher.

I have the air conditioner on high as I type this.

Again, it’s October 5th. I was kind of hoping we’d have some kind of fall.

Meanwhile, the Long Island Railroad isn’t making the commute through that nasty humidity any easier. This morning, they told us all to move up the stairs and across to the opposite platform, when my train was running late, only to have that train stop on the original platform instead. This evening, I got to Penn Station only to discover crowds of people emptying out of my evening train. “I don’t know,” somebody said. “They told us to get off.” The train opposite us was going to the yards, not taking any passengers, so it’s possible there was a mix-up. Or it’s possible the LIRR was just being its usual self.

But it’s not all bad. I was finally able to launch Kaleidotrope’s autumn issue, with lots of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories, poems, art, and horoscopes for your reading delight. Check it out, won’t you?

Sunday

Except for short breaks to do the crossword puzzle — not terribly fun, as it happens — and watch the latest episode of Doctor Who — about which I actually do intend to say more later — I spent the whole day working on Kaleidotrope. Oh, okay, I also played a little of Infinity Blade II, with which I am slightly obsessed, and way too many rounds of computer solitaire. (And you know, I get that there are some hands of solitaire that simply can’t be won, but it’s annoying that the Windows version includes so many of them.) But lots of Kaleidotrope. The Autumn 2012 issue is very nearly done.

Completely done would make me happier, but it’s getting there.

Enter title here

I wish I could tell you something more exciting than my getting a little rained on this morning had happened this week. But you wouldn’t want me to lie to you, now would you?

I am planning a short (business) trip to Maryland next month, and actually have a whole lot I want to get accomplished this weekend. (Like maybe a new issue of Kaleidotrope? There are a few elements there that still need to be squared away.) But until then, there’s not much to report.