This is genuinely upsetting news for me:Locus is reporting the death of Sheri S. Tepper, who wrote the Hugo-nominated novel Grass among many others, and who was given a lifetime achievement award by the World Fantasy Convention just last year. Tepper was in her late 80s, and had an accomplished life outside of her considerable writing career, including being an executive director of the Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood in Colorado, so one can’t precisely say this is an unexpected development. But she was one of my favorite science fiction and fantasy writers, and an influence on my thinking about SF/F writing, so to have her gone on is still a deeply depressing thing.
Also a bit depressing: That Tepper, while well-regarded, is as far as I can tell generally not considered in the top rank of SF/F writers, which is a fact I find completely flummoxing. Her novel Grass has the sort of epic worldbuilding and moral drive that ranks it, in my opinion, with works like Dune and Perdido Street Station and the Earthsea series; the (very) loose sequel to Grass, Raising the Stones, is in many ways even better, and the fact that Stones is currently out of print is a thing I find all sorts of appalling.
If you haven’t read Grass, I really suggest you find it and put it near the top of your SF/F reading queue. You won’t be disappointed (and if you are, then, well, I don’t know what to tell you). It’s a stone classic. Not everything that Tepper wrote worked for me, which makes her like literally every single writer I admire; but the things of hers that did (these two novels, The Fresco, Beauty, The Visitor and others) have stayed with me year in and year out.
Aside from her considerable talents as an author, Tepper stands as a reminder that it’s never too late to write. Tepper didn’t publish her first novel until 1983, when she was in her 54th year of life; she wrote something like 40 total, the most recent published in 2014. It’s never too late to write; it’s never too late to write a classic novel; it’s never too late to be a great writer, whether or not the genre has entirely caught up with you yet.
Farewell, Ms. Tepper. Your voice will be missed. I’ll keep reading what you have left us.
by Maddie Stone on Gizmodo, shared by Adam Clark Estes to io9
In further proof that everything is stranger and more terrible in Australia, footage of an enormous banded huntsmen spider dragging a dead mouse up a fridge in Coppabella, Queensland, went viral on social media this weekend. Pizza rat has never felt so quaint.
I was recently hacked myself. All they did was release some nude pics of me. Which is nothing, because I don’t know if y'all know this about me, but I ain’t shy.
Romeo the ginger kittie was born with a deformity that makes him look a little different than other cats. That’s why he never got love and tenderness, let alone had someone to call his owner. Romeo was called ‘too ugly’ and no one wanted him. Until now, that is, because the kind fellows at Santuario Compasión Animal in Spain stepped in and gave this adorable kitty a chance to love and be loved! And so a much brighter chapter of the cat’s life began.
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“They told us that no one wanted him because he was ugly. But for us Romeo is not ugly, he’s a lovely little kitten who likes to play like the rest of the cats. And their differences make them special,” A Santuario Compasión Animal spokesperson told The Dodo.
And all this time, the ginger boy was just as good as other cats – playful, affectionate, and absolutely adorable. All it took was for some sweet people to recognize that in him.
On this very day, Wonder Woman turns 75 years old! Which is an amazing landmark all in itself, for all that she means to the superhero genre, and to women the world over. In fact, the United Nations has named October 21st Wonder Woman Day–so if you’re looking for a reason to celebrate, you now have a pretty great one. Raise a glass to a character who is strength, wisdom, and kindness incarnate because we are truly lucky to have her.
But don’t stop there–because Diana also happens to have the same birthday as two more incredible women.
Today is the day the Ursula K. Le Guin turns 87 years old. Le Guin is a SFWA Grand Master who has won too many awards to reasonably name, and inspired countless readers and writers for over half a century.
And today is also Carrie Fisher’s 60th birthday! You might remember her for leading a Rebellion and then a Resistance, all while sporting some truly unfathomable hair. She has been saving galaxies for quite some time now, and deserves a toast as well.
The fact that all three of these women share the same birthday should inspire many questions, the most important being–what magic does this day possess and how can we harness its power?
Okay, that was two questions. They are both important, though.
Happy birthday to Wonder Woman, Le Guin, and Fisher! Now go forth and celebrate Wonder Woman Day by raising a glass to all the wondrous women in your life.
If you were worried that a walkout at two Jim Beam distilleries in Kentucky was going to threaten supplies of whiskey, rest easy: striking workers voted today to accept a new contract from parent company Beam Suntory.
The president of Union Food and Commercial Workers 111D told The Courier-Journal [warning: link contains video that autoplays] that the deal is a win for all involved.
“After months of negotiation and feeling like the voice of UFCW 111D was not being heard, we had hoped that we would not have to go on strike to reach an agreement with Beam Suntory management,” president Janelle Mudd told the publication. “In the end, we made a strong statement and we were heard.”
The deal has many of the elements the union wanted included: equal pay for equal work, a limit on temporary employees, and the hiring of more full-time employees.
“We appreciate management’s diligence to reach an agreement with the Union,” she said. “They met with employees from a cross-section of departments from both the Clermont and Boston plants, and representatives talked to employees on the picket line to clarify the areas of greatest need.”
More than 200 union workers walked off the job over the weekend after voting to reject a previous contract offer from the world’s top bourbon producer, prompting concerns that a strike could affect whiskey production.
All is well now, however: employees will be back at work making whiskey on Monday morning.
hell is right-clicking to save an image and accidentally clicking ‘email image’ and having to wait forty years for some email program you didn’t even know existed to rise from its slumber like some lovecraftian ancient god, meanwhile the fans on your laptop are preparing for takeoff and you stare dead-eyed as the rainbow spirals, spirals, spirals. you wait and suffer this cosmic karma. days pass. “just a few more seconds” you slur. your laptop freezes and the concept of time is no longer comprehensible. your family and friends forget your name and you fade from existence.
I realized that “tilapia” rhymes with “stop ya” and now for some reason I feel compelled to write a hallelujah parody about fish.
Well I heard there was a secret sauce That David made and it pleased the Boss You want to try it, I ain’t gonna stop ya. It goes like this: cilantro, lime, A splash of cream, a lemon rind, And pour it over freshly grilled tilapia.
OK, but seriously, is there anything that the right cheese can't improve?
Your Friday night plans have just been validated by science: a new study finds that eating cheese with wine makes wine taste better.
French scientists, from the Centre for Taste and Feeding Behavior in Dijon, published the results of their study in the Journal of Food Science, detailing how they paired two kinds of white and two kinds of red wine (Pacherenc, Sancerre, Bourgogne, and Madiran) with four cheeses (Epoisses, Comté, Roquefort, and Crottin de Chavignol).
They then had 31 expert tasters — who were already familiar with both products — describe their experience drinking the wine before eating the cheese, and then again after sampling some dairy. Lucky.
Most of the time, tasters said the wine tasted better after eating cheese, as it boosted the fruitiness and bouquet of the beverages, and improved feelings of enjoyment for drinkers. Or, if it didn’t improve it, eating cheese at least didn’t affect the taste adversely.
Some also lessened the mouth-drying impact of the tannins, The Telegraph notes, which is in line with previous research that has suggested that wine and cheese go so well together because the fat in cheese lubricates the mouth after tannins in wine dry it out.
“Thanks to our research we learned the duration of the perception of astringency of a certain wine could be reduced after having cheese and the four evaluated cheeses had the same effect,” said lead researcher Mara Galmarini. “In short, when having a plate of assorted cheeses, the wine will probably taste better no matter which one they choose.”
the saddest thing to read in an article about parents of trans kids is “i didn’t sign up for this” like yes you did. yes you fucking did. you signed up the minute you decided to have a child and i’m fucking appalled that you even thought to say that, because having a child means loving and celebrating them unconditionally. when you decided to have a child you signed up for a trans kid, a not straight kid, a mentally ill kid, a mentally disabled kid, a physically disabled kid, and a chronically ill kid all at once and you don’t get to idealize any of that away goodbye
