You don’t need to go to another planet to discover people who are utterly alien

From an interview with scifi writer Aliette de Bodard, via the Bibliophile Stalker:

I’ve always had an interest in mythology and history, which has seeped into my writing. What I love about ancient cultures is that you don’t need to go to another planet or another galaxy to discover people who are utterly alien to you: it’s amazing to see how mankind, over the course of a few millennia, can think of so many variations on the basic blocks of society-building that you’ll have trouble apprehending everything.

It was a loooong weekend, but I survived. First, Date Night on Friday at Via Vite, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants here in Cincinnati. It has great ambiance and service, a convenient and engaging downtown location, and of course amazingly delicious food at good-sized portions. (How you like dem adjectives?!)

Then on Saturday: dance class, 9 holes of golf (in ridiculous hot/muggy weather, ugh), and the Darius Rucker/Rascal Flatts concert. Darius was fabulous! And the Rascal Flatts were pretty good. But the drunk guy next to Andy? Not so much. He kept apologizing to us (at first for nothing, but I think now that it was preemptive) and trying to engage us in conversation. He also jerked his fist wildly (AS A DANCE MOVE) causing Andy to edge away. And he smoked. And he asked if we were 17 (Andy) and 13 (me)…

But he may actually have been less annoying than the 14-year-old TEAPOT behind me. All her friends could scream at normal levels, so I’m not sure why she felt the need to practice her dog whistle impression. I mean, it was the Rascal Flatts, not the freaking Jonas Brothers. For a second or two, I really, really wished I had a taser that I could “accidentally” stun her with when I “accidentally” fell back over my seat onto her.

Sunday we had a picnic for our local Carnegie Mellon alumni chapter, which was fun but draining due to constant socializing and more heat/humidity. (I know I’m from Houston and should be able to withstand it, but look, it’s been 6 years since I really lived there. I’m out of practice, okay?!)

So with all that going on, I barely had any time to write. I DID write, but I didn’t type anything up. Thus, no word count tonight, although it’s probably around 7,500, which I know is not where I need to be to meet a NaNoWriMo pace…

But instead of dwelling on my imminent failure, go vote for my friend Joe’s funny analogies at Writer Unboxed! They are #1 and #2, although you can only vote once and currently #1 is ahead. Seriously, all 11 entries are great laughs. But Joe’s are the best. ;)