shakes and stirs head

Many happy wishes for b-day!Aimee!

I, too, have a kittylump. Fortunately she only weighs 6.5 lbs. I heart my kittylump.

Am bored. Want to go home now.

Chiming in late with a happy birthday for the Empress!

Cindy, glad your son's OK ... and hope the doctor has raked the staff over the coals so that they will never, ever take something like that lightly.

Gerald Durrell is funny ... and he can be funny about himself. I remember reading one of his books from when he was young and his family was living on (I think) Cyprus. There was something about looking after a pet deer for someone, they were expecting Bambi and got The Stag at Bay ... scared his brother half to death (Lawrence Durrell).

And in regard to dialect, I once read a book by Josephine Tey in which one character, a young boy, chooses to speak - and write - in what his mother calls "clotted Perthshire". After one sample, the author reverts to standard English on the grounds that it's as hard on the eye as it is on the ear.

OK, so I got my scoresheets back for one of the three contests I've been waiting on...and landed the dreaded non-commenting judges! This particular contest is unusual in that it's judged by booksellers (mostly owners of independent bookstores AFAICT) instead of writers, and rather than a series of questions evaluating various aspects of craft and storytelling, the scoresheet asks them to rank each entry on a scale from 1 to 7 on the following 5 statements:

I would recommend this book to any customer who liked this type of novel. (both judges gave me 6's)

I would hand sell this book. (one 6, one 7)

I have customers who would enjoy this book. I believe it would sell. (both 6's)

This is an excellent beginning, and I want to read more. (one 5, one 7)

I want to read more of this author's books. (both 6's)

Then there's a place where they're asked to say what, if anything, would keep them from recommending the book to their customers, and what they enjoyed most about the entry. One judge didn't comment at all. The other, the one who gave me both the 7's, said, "Great start--I want to read the rest of the story."

So, high scores, on the whole, which is good, but I sure wish they'd explained what it would've taken to get straight 7's...

Mostly compliments, though. Sounds like it.

True. And I know myself from judging how hard it is to explain sometimes why I'm giving something a 4 out of 5 or a 9 out of 10 or whatever. With a lower score I can usually point to something specific and fixable, but when something is almost there it's a lot harder to identify the flaw, and I'm left spouting vagaries like, "The characters just didn't come alive for me," or "The pacing feels just a trifle slow, but I can't put my finger on where to tighten it up."

Gerald Durrell is funny ... and he can be funny about himself. I remember reading one of his books from when he was young and his family was living on (I think) Cyprus.

Corfu. Yeah, My Family and Other Animals was one of my favourite books growing up. The scene where he's left an entire family of scorpions inside a matchbox while eating dinner had me rolling around on the floor.

Happy Birthday, Aimee!!

Stephanie, is there any chance you could e-mail me a copy of this picture? Even though your album is public, it won't let me do a capture. I'm collecting photos of all the buffista babes for my screen saver and I want to add one of Ellie.

Oh, fuck if I know. I just know you can't write it without the accent and not have it look supremely alien.

I think the biggest problem with patois isn't that the words themselves are that far in pronounciation or even usage than what most North Americans are used to, it's all in word order and the rhythm of the speech. I went to boot camp with two girls from Trinadad-Tobago and it took me nearly 6 weeks out of the 8 we were there before I even recognized the language they were speaking was a form of English. It had a very British pronounciation, but it was the syllabic emphasis and word order that had thrown me most for a loop. Once I realized that and quit trying to "translate" in my head, I found I could understand them pretty much all the time. But, I don't think you can translate that effectively to the printed page because we tend to write more formally than we speak and it all comes out sounding very stilted.

Stephanie, is there any chance you could e-mail me a copy of this picture?

This is like asking a little kid to look for a lost puppy, but way less sinister.

Insent momentarily.

Sail, I'd be honored if you included Sara -- even though she's not quite a Buffista baby, she is the baby of an often-lurking, still-kind-of-new Buffista. I can email you a picture if you like.

So, high scores, on the whole, which is good

Those are great scores, Susan! Way to write.

Cindy, sounds like you and the ped. worked it out -- he sounds like a good guy whose office had a bad day. And, of course, the best news is that Chris is fine. {{{Cindy}}}