Virtual Members' Nights (and Day)

One of the many family traditions we weren't able to perform this year was visiting the Field Museum for Member's Night. This event is normally held in May over two nights (usually Thursday and Friday) and allows members to see some of the research being done at the museum and learn how new exhibits are designed. Fortunately, the Field Museum came up with a new way to participate this year: virtually over Zoom. They set up three sessions last week, each with several short presentations on different topics. I attended all of them, though I didn't watch every presentation. (My husband had to work during the presentations. I did share the Zoom link with my son, though I don't know if he watched any of the sessions on his own.) Here are a few of the presentation topics:

Totem poles (cleaning and imaging)

Hats and headgear (ancient hats mostly from Asia)

Green River fossils (see below)

Gems (Victorian household items made from gems; we got to guess what they were used for)

Artifacts from Kish, one of the oldest urban areas

Meteorites

Fossil prep (we got to see two of staff members actually doing this at their homes)

Fish specimens (we saw some of those at Dozing with the Dinos in March)

Dinosaurs (of course!)--the oversize collection

Some of the presentations I didn't get to see involved birds, moccasins, and mummies. There were a couple of presentations from Thursday night that aren't coming to mind at the moment.

The presentation I enjoyed the most was the Green River fossil presentation, which focused on ancient bird fossils. They showed a very nice fossil of a 155-million-year-old bird with impressions of feathers visible. Dr. O'Connor, Associate Curator of Reptile Fossils, explained that contrary to what you might expect, they found evidence of soft tissue preservation in these fossils. By demineralizing and staining a sample from another ancient bird fossil, they were able to find evidence of ovarian tissue in the fossil. Most birds have only one ovary (probably an adaption for flight), so this work showed that the ovary reduction happened very early in bird evolution. I thought that was fascinating work that could change how other fossils are studied, which would allow us to learn more about prehistoric life.

We did visit the Field Museum when they reopened in July, but unfortunately, the Chicago museums had to close down again last week. It was good to reconnect with The Field again, even if it was just virtually. Hopefully next year the whole family can attend a Members' Night in person. In the meantime, please support your local museum(s)!

General Update 7/22/20

1. Remember how I was talking a couple weeks ago about the difficulties of uploading my stories to the Apple Store? I figured out how to convert them to the right format. Although I don't have Apple devices, I do have an Apple ID. I was able to use that to log onto iCloud and access the Pages app. That allowed me to convert my files to EPUBs the Apple Store could accept. I was able to upload my books to the Apple Store.

2. Another part of getting my publishing ducks in a row was updating my universal book links. I took care of that last Friday, which was a vacation day for me. Some of it was automatic, but I had to copy/paste links too. At least I don't have to update the links in my books just yet.

3. My cozy mystery novel is close to 48,000 words. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of the month, though I expect it to be less than 60,000 words. Some sites say cozy mysteries should be around this range, while others say between 70,000-80,000.)

4. I also started an unrelated short story. I don't want to go into detail, but it's a new twist on an old fairy tale. Hopefully I haven't jinxed this project for myself by discussing it.

5. Hopefully once the cozy mystery and the short story are done, I can return to the last book of my urban fantasy trilogy. I left my hero under perilous circumstances.

6. Other projects I've been working on include sewing masks, baking, and making ice cream. Maybe I can host an afternoon tea when there's a vaccine.

7. While we haven't gone out much this summer, we were able to return to the Field Museum on Sunday. It was strange seeing the main hall (pictured above) so empty on a Sunday afternoon.

So, what's new with you? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Dozing with the Dinos 2020

This year was the final time my son was able to participate in the annual Dozing with the Dinos event at the Field Museum. The event is for kids age 6-12 and their adults, but my son will turn thirteen at the end of May. Although I've enjoyed going behind the scenes at the Field Museum, I will not miss the poor sleeping conditions.

Saturday afternoon, Alex and I took the Metra downtown to connect with my husband.Since my husband works on Saturdays, it's easier for us to do this instead of making him drive back home to pick us up before we go to the museum. We ate dinner, then drove to the museum. We got there early, which made check-in easier and allowed us to pick a prime spot in the evolution exhibit.

After orientation, we had a special behind-the-scenes tour of the lab where they prepare fish specimens for study. We don't get to choose in advance which tour we take. We hadn't been in this part of the museum before, and since Alex likes fishing, this was a good match for us. We got to see many specimens prepared in different ways. Some were preserved in formaldehyde, while others were treated with special stains to make different parts of their bodies visible. We saw several sharks, a puffer fish, and my favorite, a coelacanth.

After snack time and buying a few souvenirs, we explored the museum, both with and without flashlights. By the time we were done, we were so exhausted we went straight to bed. Unfortunately, our air mattresses all had leaks, despite my attempts to patch them. My mattress was so bad I just deflated it completely instead of having to deal with a rocking mattress. At least it was ready to pack in the morning. We had breakfast, then left. We may not able to sleep over again, but we'll always have the memories.

IWSG: Family Traditions and Stories

Whether or not March came in like a lion or a lamb in your area, it brought in another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. You can learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook, or Twitter account.

This month's hosts are Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence.

Our question this month is Other than the obvious holiday traditions, have you ever included any personal or family traditions/customs in your stories? 

One of my short stories, "Bugged Out at the Museum," was inspired by our annual tradition of attending Member's Night at the Field Museum. Members are allowed to go behind the scenes to see how exhibits are set up and how research is conducted. One of the biggest attractions of the night is the "Insect Petting Zoo," where members can hold hissing cockroaches and other creatures. I drew on this to write "Bugged Out at the Museum." It was originally published in a bugs-theme issue of Indie Writers Monthly and republished last in my fantasy short story collection Ordinary Wonders.

 
Do you write about your family's customs or traditions in your stories? Feel free to share your answers in the comments.

Dozing with Dinos--and Porgs

Saturday night was our third Dozing with the Dinos event at the Field Museum. I don't think I blogged about it last year, but this year we brought Porgs in addition to Stan (the T-Rex), Rex (the brachiosaurus named after clone trooper Captain Rex), and Oscar (the stuffed orca we adopted on our honeymoon). The original trio may be a bit jealous of the porg, but surprisingly they all behaved when we got to visit the Fossil Prep area and the dinosaur storage area. (The first three pictures are from the fossil prep area outside the Evolving Planet exhibit, and the porg is checking out dinosaur eggs in the storage area.) They also checked out some other exhibits, as you'll see below.

Studying porgs' relationship to other birds.













I think the porg were a little too curious when they examined this cast of a T-rex skull.

 The boys check out Sue's new digs.

















The boys try to offer the porg to the Egyptian dead.
















Did the Egyptians have a porg-headed god?

 Off to all go exploring together!

The News You Missed

April was obviously an active month for blogging, but my family and I were busy with other activities too.

We dozed with the dinos again at the Field Museum. (This time, we found a better spot to sleep--though Alex didn't get to spend the night on his favorite bed in the Egyptian marketplace.)










We also got to go behind the scenes and see dinosaur fossils that aren't on display. They have so many some are still in their field jackets, waiting for preparation.

 I marched for science in Chicago. Due to poor weather, lack of energy, and my plantar fasciitis, I skipped the climate march.

 The March for Science was the same weekend as C2E2. I hunted droids, including this oddly shaped one that was looking for a doctor. I walked over 19,000 steps on April 22nd, my second highest distance since I started tracking my steps. No wonder my feet are so sore!

My husband and son had a blast getting blasted at...











So I awarded Alex the Dark Side Cookie Award. I'm wearing my Imperial Staff Officer costume, which was just approved by the 501st Legion.

Here's a better view of the costume. (Humm, maybe next year I'll do Star Wars Costuming A-Z.)

Oh, and I finally finished the developmental edit of Summon the Seasons. Now to format it and maybe give it a quick sentence-level edit before I send it to the beta readers.

So, what did you do this April? Feel free to share in the comments.

(Not) Dozing with the Dinos

My son, Alex, has always enjoyed museums. The Field Museum is one of his favorites, so we go there every few months (we're members, which helps). The Field Museum has a special kids overnight program called Dozing with the Dinos. When I checked the schedule last July, I noticed they had a Saturday date in April, so I bought tickets right away. After months of waiting, we finally got to attend this event this weekend.

We ate an early dinner and arrived at the Field Museum shortly before six. The majority of attendees were groups such as Boy/Girl Scouts and church groups. After checking in, we staked out a spot in the Hall of Dinosaurs, close to this sauropod bone. We paid extra to sleep in the Evolving Planet exhibit and go on a behind-the-scenes tour.

After orientation, we went on our tour with Dr. Crystal Maier (I hope I remembered the name correctly). She's the curator of the insect collection at the Field Museum and an expert on a small beetle that lives in clear water. She showed us several types of beetles and butterflies, including this case of morpho butterflies below.

 Following the tour, there was some time left to attend a few workshops. Alex got to dissect an owl pellet, see dinosaur bones, and handle some live insects. Then we got a snack, which was big enough to qualify as a bag lunch. The snack included a half sandwich (two types to choose from), an apple, a cookie, and a juice box. After snack, we had time to roam the museum on our own. Alex enjoyed going through the exhibits with a flashlight. We also bought some souvenirs and watched staff prepare a (fake) Egyptian mummy. By that point, it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night.

 We all brought inflatable air mattresses with us, but unfortunately Alex's had a leak. We also discovered that our location was next to a well-light hall. As Eugene put it, we had the brightest nightlight in the museum. I think I managed to get some sleep, but I was out of bed before the official wake-up time. We packed everything up before heading downstairs for breakfast: muffins, bagels, cereal, juice, and milk. Although we were entitled to free admission once the museum officially opened, we had other things to do. So we left and arrived home by 9:30, at which point I promptly went to bed for an hour. Eugene took a nap later as well.

Alex has already asked if we can go again next year, so I'll get tickets as soon as they're available. And next year, we'll all have better air mattresses and pick a quieter, darker location to sleep.

Three Stuffed Animals Visit the Field Museum

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you may already be familiar with Stan, Rex, and Oscar, three stuffed animals we bring with us on trips, photograph in unusual locations, and give funny lines. Oscar, the orca, is the oldest; we got him on our honeymoon when we started this tradition. Stan (the green T-rex) and Rex (the brachiosaurus) were adopted from the Field Museum for Alex. The three stuffed animals got to come with us to Members' Night at the Field Museum, and they had a blast (or should I say we had a blast with them.) Here are a few highlights:

 Stan: "I am Stan, the God of carnivores! Hear me roar."

Rex: "Should we bow?"

Oscar: "Are you kidding? He's got a big enough head as it is!"

 Stan: "What? How could it go on without us?"

Rex: "It probably wasn't as fun."













Oscar: "Yes, I am a prime example!" 














  Stan: "NOT funny!"

Rex: "Not funny at all!"

Stan: Murderers!
Rex: Wrong meteorites, Stan.









Stan: Recognize anyone?
Rex: Nope.

 Stan "Hey! This wasn't on the agenda today!"

Oscar & Rex (laughter off screen)