Displacement

[desperance]

If cat- or other hoovering is what occurs when one is displacing work, what does one call those distractions that tumble into play when one is displacing the hoovering?

'Specially when they're work-related?

I pause in my endeavours, simply to point out:

(a) that I have been interviewed for the little magazine "Visionary Tongue", which is now out, contact visionarytongue@hotmail.co.uk (there is a website - www.visionarytongue.co.uk - but for some reason I can't get past the first page); and that my interview therein sits back to back with a story by m'friend'n'publisher Ian Whates, which is convenient, because it acts as a prompt for

(b) which is the most oblique plug you may yet have seen for a book, because I don't want to pre-empt any public announcement, but I do feel entitled to murmur that two stories from Ian's "DisLOCATIONS" anthology have been selected for a major year's-best antho. Which for a slim volume from a tiny publisher in a very competitive global market is damned impressive. (In the interests of clarity and ego-unboo, I should point out that my own Terminal is not one of them; but it's still not too late to nominate it for a BSFA award! Act now!!)

Oh, and

(c) the third "Phantoms at the Phil" volume of ghost stories - two each by Sean O'Brien, Gail-Nina Andersen and me - is now available for sale, for a mere ten quid. Beautiful hardback volume, bargain of the century. Buy now. While I hoover. I need some reward, damn it...

Comments

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I can't make that Visionary Tongue page work either: try this link direct to their News page instead.

I assume the title refers to the requirement that readers be visionaries, or at least have good enough eyesight to cope with red on black print?

*exit muttering*

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

OK, got it! You don't click where it says the address, you click on the big red image-thing. D'uh!

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Aha! Thank you! Also, this is a link to the contents of the current issue (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jamiespracklen/visionarytongue/current.htm). Which acts as a handy reminder (I do need these things) that the selfsame issue also contains a review of "DisLOCATIONS", which does also ascribe the word 'beautiful' to my own story. Bless...

[durham-rambler.livejournal.com]

What inspired their webmaster to code cursor: crosshair; when you are hovering over a link I cannot begin to imagine. Elegant variation is quite a good idea in writing, but in websites people expect to see a hand when they move the pointer over a link and if they don't it baffles them, as it has these two experienced surfers.

If he want more visitors to the Visionary Tongue website then the code needs to be changed pronto!

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Weirdly, "elegant variation" is actually pejorative, when applied to writing (dating from a time when "elegant" meant over-refined or precious: it refers to that writerly anxiety that never ever lets you use the same noun twice, even when referring to the same object.

My favourite example from the Wiki page on this:

'Another bad example in a newspaper was "the red-headed non-driver" to avoid repeating the name "Mrs. Thatcher".'

PS

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Please assume a closing bracket - ) - after 'precious' in the comment above. It seems to have wandered off into this one.

[wishus.livejournal.com]

(to commenters)Okay - I'll pass those comments on to our webmistress. We aim to please.

Thanks for the mention, desperance!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Chaz,
Can you email your story from Phantoms at the Phil? Also, btw, the Sidereal link's dead as a doornail.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Stories are on their way; let me know if there's a problem.

And, yes, so it is (Sidereal link); damn, John's just left my party, so I can't tell him. I'll try to catch him tomorrow. Thanks...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Thanks for getting me the stories...a party and I wasn't invited? tsk tsk ;-)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course you were invited! Just, in absentia, as it were: I take invitations (and refusals) for granted, cross-Atlantic. Let me know when you're this side of the pond, and I will have a party in particular for you...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Why, thank you --I was only kidding.
You live in Newcastle right? I think that's a bit far from London, which I regularly visit--but thanks for the thought :-)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Newcastle, yup - but seriously, it's only three hours from London; and if you can't come up, I can likely come down. One of these days...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I'll be in London Feb 4-16 staying in Camden Town.

Visionary Tongue Website

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Gentle Reader,

Thanks for all the constructive comments about the website...by the way we are also selling printed copies of the magazine (£2.50), in case you would like to support this 'little magazine'. On our browers, when the crosshair hovers over the title artwork on the front page, a message comes up with..you guessed it 'click to enter.'!

Bests
Jamie
VT Editor

Re: Visionary Tongue Website

[desperance.livejournal.com]

when the crosshair hovers over the title artwork on the front page, a message comes up with..you guessed it 'click to enter.'

Not in my browser, it doesn't. I dunno, might that be Windows/Explorer specific, or something...?

Visionary Tongue Website - Annoyances Updated!

[(Anonymous)]

I've set the cross-hair cursor back to default and put instructions on index page to click the image to enter.

I hope this helps with your enjoyment!

VT Web Mistress

Re: Visionary Tongue Website - Annoyances Updated!

[durham-rambler.livejournal.com]

One of the many faults of Internet Explorer is in the way it handles alt text. The W3C standard states that this is an alternative to be displayed if the image is not available. Standards compliant browsers (which is what desperance, shewhomust and I have along with everybody who uses Firefox, Safari, etc) do not display this if you hover over an image, but Internet Explorer does. There is an alternative, title, which you might want to think about using as it does display a message on hovering.