Interview with Seshat
We're not sure if Seshat writes her blog with her mind or types it out on one of the myriad devices she's got working at any given time. It's hard to keep track of her technology. Either way, here it is, in all its glory.
July 19
Wep Ronpet (Egyptian New Year)
Happy New Year! I love it when the calendar starts over. Not only does everybody get to give and receive great gifts, but we get to count more time. And nobody loves counting time more than I do.
Every day, I write down everything that happens on the leaves of a tree that's standing in Ra's garden. In the morning, he'll read everything I wrote, so he can keep track of what everybody is up to. It's an important job, and I'm really proud of it. Of course, sometimes it's a sad job or a funny one, depending on what you crazy mortals are up to. But most of the time, it's just interesting. There are so many people and so many histories happening at any one time!
Thoth gave me a big box of ink for New Year again, like he does every year. He's so very thoughtful. Not having to take the time to go make my own ink means I have more time to write things down. Efficiency is a virtue. I'm so pleased with him that I think I'm going to name the first month of the year after him.
Hope you get everything you want this year and then some!
November 1
To NaNoWriMo or not to NaNoWriMo
I thought about joining NaNoWriMo this year, but I've already written six entire novels. Just this morning.
Do you think people would be upset with that? Would I seem like a goodie-two-shoes?
November 20
Mysteries of Osiris
Today I had to do something I hate doing. I had to take a leaf off of Ra's tree. Osiris was murdered by Seth—can you believe it?—and so his leaf was removed. I couldn't bring myself to bury it, so I gave it to Isis. She stopped crying long enough to say thank you, but I feel terrible about the whole thing.
Ra noticed the leaf was missing, first thing, but he didn't ask me about it, nor did he seem all that surprised. Thoth said something about Osiris needing to die so the dead people would have a king. That makes sense and all, but Horus is just a little boy. It just seems so unfair.
March 30
Cord Stretching Day
Pharaoh Usermaatra Ramses started building another temple today. I guess when you have as much gold and time as he does, you can build whatever you want, but he sure has been busy with the monuments. None of the gods are complaining at all, though I wish he'd build more libraries.
One of my official positions is to be the divine overseer of buildings. So I got to attend the groundbreaking and help Ramses stretch the cords to show where the foundation bricks would go. He stood across from me holding the sticks to stretch out the cord. Then we both waited for the sculptors to make a good drawing, so that when the wall goes up for good, they can carve a picture of us making the cord-stretching ritual on it. That way, people will always know about what we did. Too bad nobody's invented the camera yet.
When we finished, Ramses gave me a big hug. Beginning to understand why he's got a few dozen wives and several hundred kids now. What a hottie! (Just kidding, Thoth. You know I only have eyes for you.)
May 20
Feast of the Valley
This week, everybody's headed to the necropolis for the Feast of the Valley. Here in Egypt, that's how we celebrate the Day of the Dead: for a week, by camping in the cemetery and having a huge party. I like it because it's a festival of history and family. I also like it because it's a great time to do some stargazing.
There's nothing better than sitting in some tall grass, staring up at the stars and planets in the cool night. Okay, maybe it's a little bit better when you have your best guy sitting next to you. Though if he's my best guy, you have to ask him to head out before dawn, because turning into a baboon to sing to the rising boat of Ra at sunrise can really give a girl a headache. Ever heard a baboon sing?
July 3
A Plea For Order
Next time you go into a library, could you please do all librarians and me a favor, and make sure the books are in their proper places on the shelves? It makes us a little twitchy when we can't find the books we want to find because some smart aleck decided to switch them all around.
It's not funny. We have lots of things to do, and making sure the alphabet is properly arranged takes away from our important library time. Please. A library is a sacred thing. I ought to know. I'm the goddess of them!
Leave the gum at home, too. And don't even think about bringing those books back late.