Archive for March 13, 2020

Rainy Weekend at Home

Most of my weekend plans have either been canceled, or I’m canceling them, which means I now have a rainy weekend at home. I have a lot of reading to do, so that will be my plan for the weekend.

Tonight’s movie night is going to be the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, mostly because I just read a book on the economic system of pirates back during the prime age of Caribbean piracy, so I’m in the mood. It was fascinating seeing how they operated as a constitutional democracy long before the Declaration of Independence, and they had profit sharing, healthcare, and disability pay long before that became a thing — not because they were wonderful people, but because that was what was most profitable. They were also really good at marketing, so they probably weren’t nearly as bloodthirsty as the stories make them sound. They made a point of spreading that reputation so that the crews of ships they captured would be quick to surrender and they didn’t have to risk their lives or their profits in a battle (since battle damage and payment for injuries suffered in battle were taken out of the prize before the profits were divided among the crew).

Anyway, that made me think about pirates, so that’s tonight’s movie. I scored some pizza crusts on the bakery overstock rack at the grocery store yesterday, which means pizza tonight without having to make a crust. The urge to “quarantine bake” is pretty strong, especially on a rainy day, and I’ve found a brownie recipe I want to try.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to read as much as possible from the Nebula Awards ballot so I can vote by the end of the month. I still have several books to read and a bunch of short stories, novellas, and novelettes.

And I’m trying to come up with titles for the books in the mystery series I’m working on, which means coming up with the pattern for titles, since those kinds of books tend to have some kind of pattern that ties the series together. I’m drawing a complete blank so far.