Around Balboa Bay

Sometimes the pelicans that show up on the pier seem disoriented. This one was in full possession of all of its senses and begging shamelessly.

I often admire the gardens along the walkway as I visit Balboa. This one particularly caught my attention. Isn't it stunning?

The blue herons are back!I first saw them nesting outside the Balboa branch library last year and wondered how I'd never seen them before. There are, I think, three active nests there. No hatchlings yet, as far as I can tell, but if you look carefully, you can see a bird sitting up on the nest.

More on Bartlett Park

A few months ago, I noticed tree-cutting equipment and bulldozer-type stuff out in the park and wrote about that. Later, I saw it after the rain and the valley floor was one big mud puddle. No pictures--I do occasionally try to protect my non-waterproof camera from the elements--but it did finally get me to call the Park Services to ask what was going on.

The next day, I got a message on my phone explaining that Bartlett Park is a flood plain and part of the flood control system in the area, so the Park Department isn't allowed in that often but has to get special permission to go in and only goes in about once a year for "weed abatement" and for removing dead trees.

Interesting, though it raises more questions--like what, exactly, is a "park" anyway? Why can the general public go into this one any time the please (albeit at their own risk--and, honestly, that is why most of the pics here are taken from the edge), while the Parks Department can't? And one of these days I may actually phone and ask. Really, the only delay is me not getting around to it--any time I have phoned the Parks Department, they've been perfectly willing to answer questions.

Anyway, whatever a "park" is the plan of the moment is to leave Bartlett Park as it is, which should make the people who bike there happy.

Right now, I can't really imagine anyone wanting to go in--it's pretty jungly and most of what is growing there seems to have spines. There are some interesting bugs, though.

The weeds on March 14.

By March 22, the weeds are even bigger.

And they all have spikes.

Would you walk this path?

Neat bugs, though.

'V' Promises More Interspecies Affairs, Relationships | Airlock Alpha

Hm. I'm delighted V is back. I've been looking forward to a remake/sequel for forever, enjoyed the brief partial season they gave us months ago, and have been watching for its return.

On the other hand . . . More hybrid human-lizard babies? Really? I'm still not sure how they're going to handle one--Elixabeth is far from my favorite character from the original.

And I'm not all that thrilled about the new production team/new direction thing; I know that's been in the cards forever, but since I liked the introductory episodes promises of change don't thrill me (Then again, promises of change seldom do).

Anyway, we shall see. Oh, and what prompted this? Look below:

'V' Promises More Interspecies Affairs, Relationships | Airlock Alpha

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More Fifth Season Goodies from Doctor Who

The first minute of the first episode (TheEleventh Hour):



And something from Vampires of Venice



I love the way they're playing out the teasers! Also love the Doctor's delighted response to meeting vampires. That's the Doctor I like!

Still haven't seen The End of Time. My copy finally came in at the library--during Holy Week. While my sister (not a Doctor Who fan) is visiting. So, I returned it & put it on hold again. We'll probably be well into Season Five, maybe Season Six by the time I get around to it.

Status of the Talbert Lake Diversion Project

So I finally got my act together and did some phoning. Someone suggested Public Works, and they put me through to Terry, the engineer in charge of the project as of January of last year. She told me that the project had, as I suspected, been put on hold, as had all grant projects.

They had recently gotten permission to restart grant projects, but in the meantime, examination had shown that the project would need another 3.7 million, plus which the original end time was this month--not feasible now, for obvious reaons--so she was applying for a five year extension. So, there is hope, but for now, it is on hold again.

I'll keep watching. I would love to see Talbert Lake year round, but can certainly see why it might not happen.

Neil Gaiman 'Doctor Who' = Awesome! | Airlock Alpha

I don't seem to have posted this here yet, and I can't think why. Neil Gaiman is writing an episode for the Sixth Season. That I am looking forward to, no matter what else happens in the seasons (and the new trailers have me feeling pretty optimistic):

Neil Gaiman 'Doctor Who' = Awesome! | Airlock Alpha

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BBC America Trailer

Couple of friends sent me this link to another trailer for Season Five.

Looks fun, even if it is missing the manic grin from the other trailer I linked to.

BBC Renews 'Doctor Who' For Sixth Season, Report Says | Airlock Alpha

We don't even have Season Five yet!

BBC Renews 'Doctor Who' For Sixth Season, Report Says | Airlock Alpha

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Doctor Who: Season Five Trailer

Oh, I like the look of this one:

Television - News - The second 'Who' series five trailer! - Digital Spy

Love that grin while Amy is flying outside the TARDIS.

Random Trivia

The ¶ is technically called a pilcrow.

And More on The Broken Hourglass

I am still writing for The Broken Hourglass (and I write on days I don't post--you know how boring one-line "I'm writing" entries would get?). The last few banters were, quite frankly, ghastly, but they do each have a couple of lines in them that are worth saving, and I'll build new and better banters around those. Sometimes, you have to write the really awful stuff to get to the good stuff. I wish that were not the case--I wish that the rough drafts were always at least decent, but, there it is.

I've also been revising a lot--mostly cutting words and lines out to make for tighter banters, occasionally switching words around or removing repeats.

And on another note: Jelena Jovović has some samples of artwork from The Broken Hourglass up on her website. It's down under "Commercial Work" at the bottom. Included are character portraits and some icons.

Girl Sleuth by Melanie Rehak

Since I'm reviewing Not a Girl Detective, it seemed like a good idea to dig up my old Amazon.com review of Girl Sleuth by Melanie Rahak (and mine is still the lone review there. Come on, it's a good book!) and repost it here, with maybe one or two comments added.

Girl Sleuth is, as the title says, a history of the Nancy Drew series. It focuses primarily on the 2 women who did most of the writing for the first several books--Harriet Adams and Mildred Wirt.

If you're like me, after learning that Carolyn Keene didn't exist (and being terribly disappointed by this; I can't remember finding out there was no Santa Claus; I can remember learning there was no Carolyn Keene and being very unhappy), you learned that Nancy had two "mothers"; the "good" mother was Mildred Wirt, who wrote an independent, confident heroine; the "bad" mother was Harriet Adams who rewrote the books to domesticate Nancy Drew.

It is, of course, far more complicated than that. Mildred Wirt was a splendidly independent woman herself, and she had a lot to do with the creation of the Nancy we all know and love. Harriet Adams, however, was also quite independent: She was, after all, running the Stratmeyer Syndicate in a time when women just didn't head companies.

Making these matters clear is one of Rehak's strengths. She's also clearly a dedicated and careful researcher and--more rare--someone who can write prose you want to read.

Not a Girl Detective by Susan Kandel

Finished it yesterday. Overall reaction: Decent but not outstanding.

Not a Girl Detective was a pleasant enough read; it's a good concept: Cece Caruso writes biographies of famous mystery writers and then finds herself involved in mysteries that in some way relate to her subjects lives and/or characters; in fact, the concept might get me to read another book, despite this one's drawbacks.

I mostly liked the main character, loved her clothes, and appreciated the strong friendship portrayed in the book.

Still, it was a book that felt longer than it should have.

One reason for this is that Kandel frequently gives into the temptation to provide undigested chunks of information, bits that she apparently found fascinating but that don't really relate to the mystery itself. With the Nancy Drew segments, this was largely forgivable: The main character is writing a book on Carolyn Keene, after all, so the topic is bound to come up. Even here, though, it comes up more often and in more detail than is necessary; I can't imagine anyone coming up and just rattling off the first appearances of every animal in the Nancy Drew books, unasked, not even at a Nancy Drew convention. There are also wanderings off into other directions, only a few of which turn out to be relevant and many of which are similarly awkwardly placed--Cece sits down to read and tells us what she is reading, for example, or, again, another character wanders up and rattles off a string of information for no particular reason.

A more general note: Female amateur sleuths need to stop dating policeman almost as much as romance heroines need to give up vampires.

To give Kandel credit, it is not the handsome male policeman who saves her from the gun-toting criminal as he details his crimes, and the policeman in question also has the grace not to forbid Cece to involve herself in crime ever again, nor does he ever sit down and obligingly list of clues for Cece to pluckily piece together--so the worst pitfalls are avoided.

Conclusion: Looking for a light read? Check the paperback out of the library.

Book Reviews Galore: Another Blog!!

If you're interested in reading well-crafted book reviews by someone who reads a tremendous range of books, check out The Bibliophile's Book Blog.

She's gotten off to a great start with a collection of her Amazon.com reviews and promises to add more reviews and also bits and pieces about books and authors.

Another McKillip Book!

Whew! There is one, The Bards of Bone Plain coming out in December. Mind, it would be nice to have some details, but I'll try to wait patiently.

Wondering

Why is the ice cream truck playing Christmas carols in March?

The Broken Hourglass: Serials

If you're looking for something to do while waiting for The Broken Hourglass, do be sure to give the serials a try if you haven't already.

There are three up and finished a the moment: "On the Fly," by Bonnie Rutledge "Moonshine," by Sonja Littell-Trotter, and "Fetish," also by Sonja Littell-Trotter.

A New Aunt Dimity

Since I'm being highly distractible today, I may as well stop and point out that there is a new Aunt Dimity out (has been out since February, but I only just remembered to check; I miss Amazon's new-book-by notification, dead these many (two? three?) years). The two reviews I read said it's more travelogue than mystery, but that is ok; I don't really read the Aunt Dimity books for their suspense quotient. Anyway, I've now put Aunt Dimity Down Under on hold at the library. I'm something like third or fourth on the list, so it will be a little while until I get to read it, but that's ok. It isn't the only hold I have.

Also, I'm supposed to be reading Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire by Marcus Rautman (verdict so far: Informative but not scintillating--you have to already have an interest in Constantinople to keep going), and am actually reading Not a Girl Detective by Susan Kandel (verdict so far: Mildly interesting, prone to I-did-my-research infodumps and a bit longer than its story seems to warrant).

Noisy Birds

Dunno who these guys are, but they were busy flirting and showing off in the hundreds.

And, yes, I *did* get some of the reading for The Broken Hourglass done. Honest! I was just a bit . . . distracted from time to time.

Shipley Nature Center

I finally went today after a long time away. Blackbird Pond had water, so I thought I'd hunt for turtles. The person I talked to in the Center said there should be turtles there--that they liked to rest on "the log" in "the middle" of the water. As you can see, there are more than a few logs there.

I didn't find any, but I did see hummingbirds, an egret, a heron (can you see it?), lizards, oddly shaped trees, and some grumpy ducks.

Technically, the ducks were not at the nature center, they were further out in the park proper, out in front of Breakfast in the Park. They like to rest on the warm walkway there where it's warm. They'll get out of the way when approached, muttering all the while.

I wonder what they'll do when Breakfast in the Park isn't there to be a gathering place and source of bread?

Look closely. There is more there than mud.

How Doth Your Garden Grow?

Very well, thank you!

The nasturtiums have been reseeding wildly. They spent most of the winter months growing slowly; with the arrival of the sun and cool weather, they are in their glory.

I love these daisies. We've had them for years. They try to take over if they are allowed, but starting around now, I work to keep them trimmed back.

All the roses seem to have survived my pruning attempts and some are beginning to bloom.

Ducks in Talbert Lake

 

"DUCKS' DITTY."

All along the backwater.
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling.
Up tails all!

Ducks' tails, drakes' tails.
Yellow feet a-quiver.
Yellow bills all out of sight
Busy in the river!

Slushy green undergrowth
Where the roach swim —
Here we keep our larder.
Cool and full and dim.

Everyone for what he likes!
We like to be
Heads down, tails up.
Dabbling free!

High in the blue above
Swifts whirl and call —
We are down a-dabbling
Up tails all!

Kenneth Grahame (from Wind in the Willows)

Spring is Sprung!

Talbert Lake is back, the cherry trees are blooming, and all is well in the park.

I haven't been since the latest storm hit, so I went yesterday for a visit and had a great time getting reacquainted with all my favorite bits. Not only was it a good walk on a perfect day, but I ran into someone who showed me where the hawks nested last year, so I will watch for them as well as the owls.

I did not spot the owls, but I do not know they are there to look for, and finding them requires knowing they are there, being sure they are there, and staring for a long time to see them in the trees since the spend much of their time pretending to be bumps on logs.

Talbert Lake

I was very excited to read about a plan to restore Talbert Lake to a year round feature. It sounded exciting and worthwhile. Unfortunately, the linked article (October 2008), is the last I've heard about it.

I tried calling the HB Park management, and they were very prompt in answering, and said they'd liked what they had heard of it, too, but they didn't know of any further developments.

Too bad. Talbert Lake looks great now, spread out across a wide area of the park and full of ducks, herons, egrets, and grebe. It would be wonderful to have it the full year, to have the water properly cleaned, and to see some of the water used to water the park and to help keep Blackbird Pond at the Shipley Nature Center full (rumor has it that was part of the plan, anyway; I've been asking around here & there & people have heard of it but don't actually know anything).

Anyone know if this is still ongoing?

Edit: Ok, here's a 2009 blurb that sounds hopeful. Hm.... I'll keep hunting!

Edit2: It seems to be called the Talbert Lake Diversion Project. There are a couple of useful looking phone numbers that might help this lazy reader make sense of some very long documents to see if it is a "yes" or a "no." Then I can decide whether or not to read the very long document (no point if it's a 'no' is there?)

Edit3: Last edit! I found this: Like the first, a 2008 article, but it has neat diagrams and color pictures. Bringing life back to Talbert Lake