Have you purchased, or been made aware of, the official Aubrey/Maturin dictionary, “A Sea Of Words,” yet? I got it as a present and I almost never actually used it as a reference, but it looks very nice on the shelf next to the books proper. “Mizzen” usually means “ass,” I’m almost positive—so the mizzenmast would be the mast on the ship’s ass. I can confirm this with the dictionary if needed.
hello, may I be the first to point you to the book Precious Little Sleep, which you should purchase and keep in the bedside table like a hotel Bible for the next year, and if you're anything like my partner & I, reference every couple days at least.
Every baby is different and what worked for me might not work for you, but it has lots of tips on: what is actually normal/can be expected for infant sleep at various stages, and why is it like that (not intuitive!! til someone explains it), and what are some different things you can try to move things in the direction of more sleep for everyone for longer stretches, with progressive levels of how hard it may be for anyone involved.
Always remember that O'Brian could not sail a boat to save his life, which makes his writing all the wilder. I love those books. My first job out of college was working for his agent. I got to read the Master and Commander script in a rickety Georgian attic office with a gale blowing through the bricks and under the carpet. It was atmospheric.
Re: the baby waking up thing, there's a thing called the 4 month sleep regression, which happens once their brain develops enough that they start coming a bit awake between REM cycles, the way non-babies do. They have to learn how to put themselves back to sleep when this happens, basically. My kiddo woke up like clockwork EVERY 50 MINUTES for 3 weeks. It was hell. I had already gone back to my 9-5 and I nearly lost my mind. But it passes on its own in time. Some people say not to pick them up/feed them every time, since ideally they will learn to go back to sleep on their own, but just to rub their back and sooth them within their sleeping receptacle. My baby slept in a bedside bassinet at that point so I probably did some of that but I also did pick her up and nurse her sometimes, she always did go back to sleep quickly but wowwwww it was disruptive while it lasted. The main thing I think is not to make a lot of drama and give them a complex about it, but just to keep things low key so they can feel safe enough when they do wake up that eventually they'll just stare at the ceiling for a minute and drift back off on their own. Good luck, it'll be okay!
Have you considered that perhaps the best use of one of those lengthy passages where, say, Jack is trying out the points of sailing of a vessel and exhorting the crew to scupper the mizzen proper, might be to read it to induce drowsiness in a baby?
Me neither but I wanted to bring both parts of this post together.
I am not a baby expert alas. I am only here to mention Maturin-Aubrey. I too let my eyes just slide over all boat descriptions; in fact, I take it as a personal battle between myself and Patrick O'Brien in which I refuse to learn a single thing about boats despite him trying to make me. I think I got through 3? 4? books before I had to give up because I simply was not interested in the boat, but was more into the guys ON the boat, and he didn't seem to give a fuck what I cared about. Godspeed to you in this journey, and I'm looking forward to finding out what excitements happen later!
"Roughly every fifty pages Captain Aubrey bursts below decks having just found a new violin, or befriended an enemy French captain who has been honourably captured, or climbing a mainsail, to find Stephen elbows-deep in creaturely gore, which is the best kind of friendship I can think of. They have nothing in common, and they are in love."
What a wonderful post! The books are new to me, and curiousity is now peaked. Having been an aspiring entomologist as a youngin', these book bits are especially delightful within the character of the Spock doppëlganger. 😂
Yes! Not least because the first book actually came out a year or two after Star Trek debuted! Although I very much doubt O'Brian was a Trekkie. But the similarities are there!
Sailors? And a sale? I am going to subscribe; pipe me aboard.
As soon as our baby realized she was born in Miami, she started partying all night…gurgling, cooing, singing, and then at eight months, talking.
My mother said to ignore her, but that didn’t feel right. Sometimes it was colic, and our Edwardian great-grandmother told us to try Gripe Water, which I thought was baby snake oil, but worked at times. My husband danced her around while playing dub music and The Clash. It worked at times. I read to her from the complete works of Shakespeare, which worked at times. We tried night walks, rides in the car, special diets, French lesson tapes, little lullaby music light contraptions, lavender baths, all pretending to go to sleep at the same time, etc. but many nights one of ended up asleep in a chair holding her, which got us a well rested baby and a cranky parent. Once she started walking we could tire her out more easily, but she didn’t really sleep through the night until she was over 2. My husband says he’s still trying to catch up (the baby is in college). We found out much later that she does have minor digestive issues that cause reflux, which perhaps had something to do with it.
Our situation was extreme. I hope yours is just a brief adjustment to the hypnic jerk.
I LOVE hearing that people have started this series. I wish I could forget about it entirely and discover it fresh! Everything about these books is so human. The characters want things so fiercely and feel so deeply, even when they're trying to convince themselves that isn't what's happening. And yes Jack and Stephen are in love and I'll die on that hill. I once heard their relationship described as "a man's relationship with himself." Fine but S O U L M A T E S
"a man's relationship with himself" is how I'm going to describe the next obviously homosexual archaeological find or conservative sexual scandal I hear about
I have rarely taken such delight in any word as does O'Brian with the word "froward." I recently was in a bar reading one of the novels and a man came up to me having noticed I was reading it, and gushed about how much he enjoyed them. Give you joy of it!
Congrats on a few months of good sleep! I have no advice except don’t let him cry it out. I tried that (against my own judgement) one night and it turned out she had a stomach flu with a fever, so she really did need me. Baby said, “Not on my watch!”
Anyway, as to the technical jargon! My dad loved to sail and for my 6th grade end of quarter project, we had to make a lexicon for an area of interest we had (excellent idea). I chose sailing terms and it was one of the favorite things I did in school, ever. But I lost that little stack of notecards! Wish I had it. I need to read these books. You’re doing a wonderful job selling them!
I would like to very much! My publisher isn't covering any of my travel (not a complaint, that's pretty standard), so I'm trying to plan things either within (roughly) a day's drive or tack it onto trips I was already taking. Maybe I can see if there are any universities in Austin that could host me and cover transportation and try to make a week out of it...
I've read the entire series twice and "keep going till I reach something I can comprehend" is the best possible description of how.
I highly highly recommend the audiobooks as read by Patrick Tull- his performance brings some clarity to scenes that I couldn't fully appreciate in print. They are the most entertaining audiobooks I've ever listened to.
We had a lot of luck with sleep sacks; we wildly speculated that they went at least part way to imitating the safety and security of swaddling. Something like this:
Have you purchased, or been made aware of, the official Aubrey/Maturin dictionary, “A Sea Of Words,” yet? I got it as a present and I almost never actually used it as a reference, but it looks very nice on the shelf next to the books proper. “Mizzen” usually means “ass,” I’m almost positive—so the mizzenmast would be the mast on the ship’s ass. I can confirm this with the dictionary if needed.
Thank you, this is important.
hello, may I be the first to point you to the book Precious Little Sleep, which you should purchase and keep in the bedside table like a hotel Bible for the next year, and if you're anything like my partner & I, reference every couple days at least.
Every baby is different and what worked for me might not work for you, but it has lots of tips on: what is actually normal/can be expected for infant sleep at various stages, and why is it like that (not intuitive!! til someone explains it), and what are some different things you can try to move things in the direction of more sleep for everyone for longer stretches, with progressive levels of how hard it may be for anyone involved.
Always remember that O'Brian could not sail a boat to save his life, which makes his writing all the wilder. I love those books. My first job out of college was working for his agent. I got to read the Master and Commander script in a rickety Georgian attic office with a gale blowing through the bricks and under the carpet. It was atmospheric.
Re: the baby waking up thing, there's a thing called the 4 month sleep regression, which happens once their brain develops enough that they start coming a bit awake between REM cycles, the way non-babies do. They have to learn how to put themselves back to sleep when this happens, basically. My kiddo woke up like clockwork EVERY 50 MINUTES for 3 weeks. It was hell. I had already gone back to my 9-5 and I nearly lost my mind. But it passes on its own in time. Some people say not to pick them up/feed them every time, since ideally they will learn to go back to sleep on their own, but just to rub their back and sooth them within their sleeping receptacle. My baby slept in a bedside bassinet at that point so I probably did some of that but I also did pick her up and nurse her sometimes, she always did go back to sleep quickly but wowwwww it was disruptive while it lasted. The main thing I think is not to make a lot of drama and give them a complex about it, but just to keep things low key so they can feel safe enough when they do wake up that eventually they'll just stare at the ceiling for a minute and drift back off on their own. Good luck, it'll be okay!
Have you considered that perhaps the best use of one of those lengthy passages where, say, Jack is trying out the points of sailing of a vessel and exhorting the crew to scupper the mizzen proper, might be to read it to induce drowsiness in a baby?
Me neither but I wanted to bring both parts of this post together.
I am not a baby expert alas. I am only here to mention Maturin-Aubrey. I too let my eyes just slide over all boat descriptions; in fact, I take it as a personal battle between myself and Patrick O'Brien in which I refuse to learn a single thing about boats despite him trying to make me. I think I got through 3? 4? books before I had to give up because I simply was not interested in the boat, but was more into the guys ON the boat, and he didn't seem to give a fuck what I cared about. Godspeed to you in this journey, and I'm looking forward to finding out what excitements happen later!
This has such Mulder & Scully energy:
"Roughly every fifty pages Captain Aubrey bursts below decks having just found a new violin, or befriended an enemy French captain who has been honourably captured, or climbing a mainsail, to find Stephen elbows-deep in creaturely gore, which is the best kind of friendship I can think of. They have nothing in common, and they are in love."
What a wonderful post! The books are new to me, and curiousity is now peaked. Having been an aspiring entomologist as a youngin', these book bits are especially delightful within the character of the Spock doppëlganger. 😂
Yes! Not least because the first book actually came out a year or two after Star Trek debuted! Although I very much doubt O'Brian was a Trekkie. But the similarities are there!
Makes even more interesting now!
Sailors? And a sale? I am going to subscribe; pipe me aboard.
As soon as our baby realized she was born in Miami, she started partying all night…gurgling, cooing, singing, and then at eight months, talking.
My mother said to ignore her, but that didn’t feel right. Sometimes it was colic, and our Edwardian great-grandmother told us to try Gripe Water, which I thought was baby snake oil, but worked at times. My husband danced her around while playing dub music and The Clash. It worked at times. I read to her from the complete works of Shakespeare, which worked at times. We tried night walks, rides in the car, special diets, French lesson tapes, little lullaby music light contraptions, lavender baths, all pretending to go to sleep at the same time, etc. but many nights one of ended up asleep in a chair holding her, which got us a well rested baby and a cranky parent. Once she started walking we could tire her out more easily, but she didn’t really sleep through the night until she was over 2. My husband says he’s still trying to catch up (the baby is in college). We found out much later that she does have minor digestive issues that cause reflux, which perhaps had something to do with it.
Our situation was extreme. I hope yours is just a brief adjustment to the hypnic jerk.
DANNY I don't know what a mizzenmast is BUT I want to take Mizzen as my new honorific.
Just read that it might mean "ass" and now I must have it as an honorific.
I LOVE hearing that people have started this series. I wish I could forget about it entirely and discover it fresh! Everything about these books is so human. The characters want things so fiercely and feel so deeply, even when they're trying to convince themselves that isn't what's happening. And yes Jack and Stephen are in love and I'll die on that hill. I once heard their relationship described as "a man's relationship with himself." Fine but S O U L M A T E S
that kind of description is so weird to me. no they are literally two people! well not literally. they are imaginary. but you know what i mean, i hope
"a man's relationship with himself" is how I'm going to describe the next obviously homosexual archaeological find or conservative sexual scandal I hear about
I am besotted with these books and read the whole canon about every 24 months. Masterpieces!
I have rarely taken such delight in any word as does O'Brian with the word "froward." I recently was in a bar reading one of the novels and a man came up to me having noticed I was reading it, and gushed about how much he enjoyed them. Give you joy of it!
Congrats on a few months of good sleep! I have no advice except don’t let him cry it out. I tried that (against my own judgement) one night and it turned out she had a stomach flu with a fever, so she really did need me. Baby said, “Not on my watch!”
Anyway, as to the technical jargon! My dad loved to sail and for my 6th grade end of quarter project, we had to make a lexicon for an area of interest we had (excellent idea). I chose sailing terms and it was one of the favorite things I did in school, ever. But I lost that little stack of notecards! Wish I had it. I need to read these books. You’re doing a wonderful job selling them!
Are you coming down south at all? We'd love to have you at BookWoman in Austin (Women's Hotel at a women's bookstore, it makes good sense...)
I would like to very much! My publisher isn't covering any of my travel (not a complaint, that's pretty standard), so I'm trying to plan things either within (roughly) a day's drive or tack it onto trips I was already taking. Maybe I can see if there are any universities in Austin that could host me and cover transportation and try to make a week out of it...
I've read the entire series twice and "keep going till I reach something I can comprehend" is the best possible description of how.
I highly highly recommend the audiobooks as read by Patrick Tull- his performance brings some clarity to scenes that I couldn't fully appreciate in print. They are the most entertaining audiobooks I've ever listened to.
We had a lot of luck with sleep sacks; we wildly speculated that they went at least part way to imitating the safety and security of swaddling. Something like this:
https://www.carters.com/carters-little-planet/194135983410.html?cm_mmc=pla.lp.us.visitation.Little+Planet+-+US+-+Shopping+-+PMAX+-+All+Products.71700000106122175...google..pmax&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwooq3BhB3EiwAYqYoEjx-Gw0Psxh98GtjTCUG1IDLatnkpdA5_QgpdIyruHog5pYyBhxn5BoC9skQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds