For those of us who aren’t celebrating Christmas, I would like to share a story: In a small Jewish community on an outlying planet sits a museum. At its center, a narrow plinth. Upon the plinth, a boxy container, folded from heavy white paper, its edges charred. A wire handle across its top.

The label reads: In Commemoration of the Great Christmas Alliance

This Rosh Hashanah, my thoughts kept returning to a single story. It’s the story of a soul, newly arrived at the gates of Heaven And while I’m not sure I believe in a literal heaven, with an actual gate where angels stand guard, a story doesn’t have to be factual to be true. So a woman arrives at the gates of Heaven. She is small of stature, but she stands tall before the imposing gates. A simple black robe hangs from her shoulders, and a lacy white collar adorns her neck. In her eyes, there is a gleam of steely determination.

After nearly five months at my parents’ house, I am finally back in my own apartment.

The first thing I unpacked: stuff that needed refrigeration.

Next: my laptop.

After that, books.

Here are all the books that spent time at my parents’ house. And here are the books that I read while I was at my parents’ house:

The eighth panel I attended at #ConZealand this year wasn’t technically a panel. It was a dialogue between @doctorow and @Ada_Palmer entitled “Corey Doctorow and Ada Palmer Discuss Censorship and Information Control”

I learned a lot from their conversation. This thread will include some of the things the two of them said. I’m copying this over from my handwritten notes, so assume I’ve paraphrased unless I put something in quotes.

The seventh panel I attended at #ConZealand this year was “Justice in Science Fiction and Fantasy”, with @BrentCLambert, @AdriJjy, @MMSnodgrass, and Fred Lerner, moderated by @jennlyonsauthor.

This panel gave me a lot to think about. This thread will include some of the things the panelists said. I’m copying this over from my handwritten notes, so assume I’ve paraphrased unless I put something in quotes.

The sixth panel I attended at #ConZealand this year was “Infinite Entangled Futures - Indigenous Voices in Conversation,” with @ShiningComic, @RoanhorseBex, @understatesmen and @toniwaiaroha, moderated by @sloanesloane.

This was a fascinating and enjoyable panel. This thread will include some of the things the panelists said. I’m copying this over from my handwritten notes, so assume I’ve paraphrased unless I put something in quotes.

The fourth panel I attended at #ConZealand this year was “What to Expect When You’re Ready to Query”, with @Ellethevillain, @CaseyLucasQuaid, and @englishmace, moderated by @MorganHzlwood.

The panelists shared some useful tips and information about querying. This thread will include many of the things the panelists said. I’m copying this over from my handwritten notes, so assume I’ve paraphrased unless I put something in quotes.

The third panel I attended at #ConZealand this year was “Shared Common Myths”, with @gracikim, @TheCallYA, and @IAmSuyiDavies, moderated by @manuscriptgal

This panel left me with some interesting ideas for my own writing. This thread will include some of the many things the panelists said. I’m copying this over from my handwritten notes, so assume I’ve paraphrased unless I put something in quotes.

The second panel I attended at #ConZealand this year was “Cyborgs and Society”, with @divyastweets, @sl_huang, and @erricknunnally, moderated by @BenCKinney

The panel raised and considered so many fascinating questions. This thread will include some of the many things the panelists said. I’m copying this over from my handwritten notes, so assume I’ve paraphrased unless I put something in quotes.

The first panel I attended at #ConZealand this year was “Fantasy Today: The Best of Recent Fantasy”, with @gracikim, @gaileyfrey, and @ClaireRousseau, moderated by @redscribe

The panel began with the expected book recs, then took a turn into some much deeper topics. This thread will include some of the many things the panelists said. I’m copying this over from my handwritten notes, so assume I’ve paraphrased unless I put something in quotes. There’s also a chance that some of these thoughts are attributed to the wrong person.

So, now that Shabbat is over, and now that I’ve had a few hours to catch up on what everyone is saying about the #HugoAwards, I have some thoughts I want to share. First, I want to say that there was SO MUCH wrong with the Hugos ceremony this year, and I feel terrible for each and every nominee on that ballot. You deserved so much better than the hugely problematic mess you were treated to.

Three weeks ago, after some careful social distancing, I traveled to my parents' house (by car) for Pesach. I knew I'd be staying beyond the end of the holiday, so I brought along some books: (The pile on the left is library books; the right pile is books from my shelf) I also placed an order to an independent bookstore - @volumesbooks - and had three more books waiting for me when I arrived:

On Friday night, I lost a family friend to COVID-19.

I found out last night that she passed away. I say family friend, but in some ways, Deborah (whom we called Debbie) was part of the family. I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t a part of my life.

She was one of my mother’s closest friends.

It still doesn’t feel real that she is gone.

So my parents live one town over from my sister and her family - including my niece, who is five and a half. Both households are trying their best to avoid all extra social contact. They'd be socially distancing together though - except that my brother-in-law works in healthcare. So my parents have been driving by my sister's house, dropping off gifts like food and toys, and not setting foot inside. They've been talking through doorways and meeting on Zoom.

But yesterday, my mother had an idea.

So I'm having the sort of evening where I hear something clatter into my bathtub and it turns out to be a small screw and I spend a while figuring out where it came from, then I go to find the screwdriver, and while I'm looking for it, I knock over the huge pile of mail... ... and the screwdriver isn't even where I thought it was and now there's mail all over the floor. And then, I find the screwdriver in the first place I looked before I knocked over the mail, so I clean up the mail and I bring the stepladder to the bathroom and climb up on it...

Up until today, here is how my commute looked:
- put on jacket
- put on backpack
- walk to the subway
- ride the subway
- walk to work
- arrive at wok

But, beginning tomorrow, here is what my commute will look like instead: My new commute:
- put on jacket
- put on backpack
- walk to subway
- turn around and walk back the other way
- arrive at my brand new office (a.k.a. my desk in the living room)

#CovidCommute

How my quiet Shabbat went: an update.

I tweeted on Friday about how all the synagogues were closed, and how we were encouraged to practice social distancing. Well, I succeeded... mostly. On Friday night, since I couldn't go to shul, I decided to do Friday night services on my own. But my apartment didn't feel special enough, and it was warm out, so I decided I would daven outside.

This Shabbat, all of the synagogues/congregations I would generally attend have canceled services. We are being enouraged to practice social distancing.

I am a household of one. It is going to be a very quiet Shabbat.

But I am okay with this. Because it's the right decision. My plan for this evening:

- Dress in Shabbat clothing - even if it's my more casual Shabbat clothing
- say Kabbalat Shabbat (Shabbat evening prayers) on my own, even though I often don't say them at all
- Maybe go for a walk before it gets dark out
- Eat dinner
- Read

Um. So. It just occurred to me to wonder how COVID-19 will affect the census. Especially because I live in a city that is just now beginning to feel its effects, and the census starts in a week.

https://twitter.com/JoAnneSimonBK52/status/1237109545211740165

Apparently, I am not the only one who has wondered about the potential impact of COVID-19 on the US Census.

citylab.com/equity/2020/03…

As someone with a bad knee and a cranky digestive system, I’m used to being excluded sometimes. But yesterday, I experienced a new kind of #accessibility fail: I participated, but a lack of access affected my ability to do so with competence. The congregation where I attended Shabbat services yesterday had to send its Torah scroll out for repairs. (It only has one.) In the interim, we’ve been using borrowed Torahs. This week’s Torah was really, really small. (The size of a toy Torah, basically.)

I just saw the list of Nebula finalists, and while I can't vote on the Nebulas, I'm so excited to see so many amazing works and amazing authors getting recognition. A few particular congratulatory shout-outs below: First, congratulations to @SarahPinsker. If I could nominate for the Nebulas, A Song for a New Day would have been the first book on my ballot. It left me so satisfied and so filled with hope, and really spoke to me as a writer. (And the Jewish stuff was an added bonus.)