Hilary Moon Murphy

June 2000

So what's up with the new color? I guess that I was tired of my old look and wanted a change. Something to make it obvious that new content was being added to this site.

But why pink? I don't really know. If you asked me a year ago, I would have told you that I abhorred pink. I bought baby clothes for my child in bright reds and greens and blues... anything to avoid the dreaded pink. But I'm starting to mellow towards the color. Perhaps it's because of all the compliments that I have received on my cute little son (I have a daughter.) Perhaps it's because I've discovered my little girl actually looks good in pink... Perhaps it just that I'm mellowing as I get older.

Of course, I don't want to overdo the pink, so I'm considering another color for the new journal entries. I'm not sure what yet, so you may see me trying out a number of possibilities.

Baby update

Everything that you have ever heard about parenthood is true. It is the most challenging and time-consuming thing that anyone can do. It is also the most worthwhile. Cassie is six months old, and simply delightful.

One friend nicknamed her "little Miss Average" because she is fiftieth percentile in all her measurements -- she's the only baby I know who actually wears the size baby clothes that are specified by her age. She also has been hitting all her milestones right on their target dates. New skills include: sitting up, rolling over, eating solid foods (and wearing them!), and scooting backwards on her tummy. She also babbles incessantly.

But to me as a parent, she is extraordinary. Like all parents, I am convinced my child is gifted. And I'm not talking about overreaching intellect, or superior athletic ability. Cassie's not yet ready to read Kant or dance with the Bolshoi. Her most extraordinary talent is a gift for joy. She is an incredibly happy baby. When she wakes up in the morning, we hear a cheerful "Lalala" sound come over the baby monitor. (To the chagrin of her father, Cassie has turned out to be quite a morning person.) Her laughter and smiles are infectious. Truly, we have been blessed.

Some of you may be wondering if she has kept her pre-natal sense of rhythm, mentioned in my last newsletter. The answer is yes. She will bang and jump to music, sometimes babbling in time to it. Is it a musical gift? Too early to tell. But it is fun to see.

Killer Mutant Web Robots

I changed the color of this site a few days before I managed to get the new content up. No biggie, I thought. No one is reading my journal any more anyway. Then I got this note in my e-mail:

Well, updating the background color is a start. New Year, new look and all. Is the resume section new? I didn't remember that. I just wanted to encourage you to keep doing more... your audience awaits.

And no, I'm not surfing your web page anxiously every day looking for updates-- I have a robot that does this for me and sends email when there are changes.

Wow. People are tracking me with robots. And since my count suddenly spiked up again, more than one person is likely doing so. I find the thought both frightening and reassuring. It's frightening that as a science fiction writer who posts on the web, I had never really ever considered web-scanning robots before. The reassuring bit is that I have not entirely lost my readership despite over six months of silence.

So, if you are reading this, could you let me know? I have no idea who my readership is in these post-Clarion, baby-filled days. And, if you are tracking me with web robots, let me know that, too. I promise to publish a tally of the number of roboteers that I hear from in the next week!

Hmm

Editor's Note (written 12/12/00):

I never did keep the promise to publish my tally of roboteers, but judging from the response that I got to this entry I had maybe three readers during this period. Oh well.