Also known as I really need a haircut I’ve just gotten a haircut, but the image is a bit older… it was taken on 27 April by Miklós Nagy, who asked me completely out of the blue to accompany him to an event where his photos would be shown. So, after a long ride – surprise visit to Budapest! – I ended up in a room full of Famous People(TM) including my favorite Hungarian contemporary painter, and the task of fixing a computer.

Thinkgeek has a T-shirt for this occasion but unfortunately I have yet to own an exemplar. (Donations welcome! )

So if you’re interested in a prezzey in its natural habitat (ie fixing a computer), click here and scroll down a bit – I come after two shots of an elderly lady.

It’s not visible in the photos but I’m wearing a Space Invaders-themed T-shirt under a half-open black shirt, and an ankle-length black skirt. Modesty! Layering! Etc! I also have a long overdue post in WIWT_Modest…

Just a small post -

First of all, Expanded Horizons has a new issue out, I just finished uploading the content. Make sure to visit! It also has an autism-related story.

Second, I registered on Playstation Network, my username is “prezzey”, add me and I’ll probably add you back – if I don’t have the slightest idea who you are, first send me a message, leave a comment here, etc. you get the idea. (BTW I have the same username on Xbox Live.)

Third, I was very angry to see when I came online after the chag that the Pesach robots video has been removed – here is a writeup of the contents in case you were wondering. This video has been online for a year and I had no idea it would disappear over the holidays… *sigh!*

Pesach starts in an hour (at least in my time zone), I hope everyone who’s been preparing is more or less prepared! (I could fall asleep standing. ) I’d like to take the time to wish a kosher Pesach for my Jewish friends, a joyous Easter for my Christian friends and a happy spring holiday for everyone else!

To mark the occasion, here is a really cute Pesach video from Israel… with robots!

I’m sorting through my books and I have quite an amount of duplicates, books I want to sell, etc. I only used to swap books, but these days I get more and more queries from people who want to buy my books. So I priced some of them… here you can take a look at the catalog. If you speak Hungarian, you can also try here (registration required, but you can also read my short descriptions of each book including minor dents, etc).

Most are in English and Hungarian, some are in German. Prices are kindasorta negotiable and I also accept trade-ins if you have something cool (books, used games, cheap DVDs of arthouse movies, etc. you get the idea).

There will be more coming on Thursday IY”H, and the missing prices will also be updated. (I just don’t have those books here with me right now so that I could accurately set their prices.)

Prices include tax but do not include shipping.

I prefer to ship to Hungary and Austria, but I can ship anywhere. If you live anywhere else it’s probably not worth it (especially since the prices are adjusted to the Hungarian market), unless you absolutely need that vintage Hungarian copy of The Chrysalids…

(In case you lose track, this post is about the SF webzine I help run. I have little to do with the content, I’m just the tech side of things… I volunteered to help out because I love the mission of the magazine – to strengthen the presence of underrepresented groups in SF – and tend to enjoy the stories. No, I won’t make your website for free. But I am available for hire )

The new double issue of Expanded Horizons is out, if you see any technical issues, let me know! I’ve only read 7 stories out of the 8 so far (before the launch; I also helped out with proofreading) but there were some real gems in there. Miss Lonelyhearts has to be the best zombie story I’ve ever read and I normally don’t even like zombie stories! It also reminded me of Fallout 3 in a good way (if you’ve played it, you’ll see what I mean). And Silver Veins is autism-related. Really, I could list half of the new stories as ‘do yourself a favor, read this now’.

We decided against having downloadables at launch, because every month there are a few minor after-launch changes  (authors find typos, formatting issues etc.) and it’s just inconvenient to reexport and reupload everything every time someone finds an extra comma. So we’ll probably upload the PDF and ODT files next week, and until then you can read the stories on the web… oh and if you find any typos, let us know

So, go off and read, I think this is a really strong issue. And if you have something to submit, send it in – I think at the moment EH is especially looking for essays, poetry and art. (yes, it is a paid venue.)

When I last promoted the magazine, some people asked me whether the following “count” as underrepresented groups in speculative fiction – I asked our editor and the answer is yes to all, so keep those submissions coming:

* Women authors
* People from Hungary
* People from the Balkans
* Jewish people
* Otherkin
* Occultists / Neopagans in general / Wiccans in particular

Note that this is not a “checklist”, so if you send something about Croatian Jewish otherkin that misrepresents these groups and is not well-written in general, it won’t stand more of a chance…  or any chance, really. (Also note that I’m not the editor. I don’t even see most of the slush pile, I just format and upload the content and wrestle Wordpress into submission.)