I'm with Seil in the sense that I'll make a more convincing case for my nominees with pictures, though I admit I don't have photos of some that are true contenders. Like Kate, I left the Austins for the OGR list, and there are plenty of moderns to compete for the spots: Apricot: AARGGGH - this was my (second) toughest category...Abbaye de Cluny? Polka? Bonita Renaissance? My beloved Versigny? Since I've posted one of Versigny recently, and the others are more Austin-like, I'm going with Celeb that I rarely see mentioned here on GW. Bicolor: OK, for a lover of weird roses this is the only category that could be harder than Apricots. Heart 'n' Soul - already won my "best of Shrub" award. Edgar Degas - heartbreakingly lovely en masse and not too shabby individually. Red Intuition definitely but I don't have a photo. I'll have to go with the kind of rose that anti-modern rosarians hate, that's garish contrast, stiffly formed petals, and virtually indestructible lasting blooms. This could be either Love & Peace or Dream Come True, but my photo was better of Dream Come True. Mauve: Poseidon would be my vote simply for the health and vigor of the plant, with very nice blooms too, but I don't have a photo. Elizabeth of Goshen and St. Elizabeth of Hungary were in the running but their pictures were blurry. I'm going to go with Pillow Talk below, which is much more purplish than this photo shows, though Nimbus will always have a special haunting place in my heart (but is it really mauve?) Orange: OK, I thought about sneaking in Oranges and Lemons or Andre Willemse since they're orange stripes, but in the spirit of the thing I stuck with the solids. It came down to Buffy Sainte Marie, Liverpool Remembers, or my final selection that's something indefinably lovely more than orange, Gilbert Becaud: Pink, warm/light: Aloha and Savoy Hotel are definite contenders for me here, but Spiced Coffee allows me to squeeze in a color blend without exactly cheating on the bicolor category: Dark/cool pink: Wayyy too many contenders here, as half of the roses seem to be some variety of pink. So once again I'll cheat and put in a lovely eye-catching pink that has an intriguing contrasting flip side (not exactly a bicolor in my strictest interpretation of that term), Shades of Autumn Red: As much as I love the modern reds and particularly the deep dark burgundy reds, there were only two serious contenders here for me. One is the elusive Messire Delbard, who arrived in mail order with the most heart-stopping intriguing quartered blooms in a deep romantic dark red. Being a climber, he's of course a diva, and so far this summer he's sat in his corner and sulked like the four-year-old he is, refusing to bloom. I'm swayed by a pretty face, so he stays in hopes of future glory. The winner anyway probably would have been Nigrette. I first saw it in a rose garden in Goteborg Sweden when I was on business there in late May. Not the best time for a rose garden visit - almost the only thing in bloom was Nigrette, but my jaw dropped and I resolved I simply had to have this rose. It really is this deeply sensuous dark burgundy red purple black as in this photo, which makes up for it being a scrawny, gluttonous, blackspotted knee-high mess of a diva as it is (thankfully, it's hardy or I might have to bash my head against something hard to stop planting it every year) White: I have quite a few whites but none that excel over the others. Cream Flower Circus would probably be my pick, but it's too pink to be exactly white. I have PJPII and Bolero, but I couldn't catch them being good, so I'll put in a photo of Lorise that has hints of pink on the petals that are NOT officially bicolored (ahem), so I'm not cheating Yellow: Sutter's Gold was jumping up and down to get my attention and I almost succumbed, but it's sort of a bicolor, and you know I wouldn't dare to put a bicolor in this competition outside of its category (snort). I'll go with Michaelangelo, who lives up to a rather ambitious name quite well. Russet: See, I'm not even cheating with bicolors in my bonus category - here's a solid color russet that has earned its favorite spot not just for deeply saturated russet double blooms, but for sheer tenacity in the face of my zone 4 pocket and several clematis that have threatened to strangle it, and nearly succeeded some years. This is Terra Cotta. Of course it's impossible to pick the most beautiful roses, and my undying loyalty is absolutely swayed by the fantastic choices here, well, all but Nigrette. I guess I have a weakness for scrawny mutts with big dark pleading eyes. Cynthia

Oh crap...I miss read it! LOL IMHO, those award shows are nothing more than an opportunity for the stars to once again pat themselves on the back and say aren't we wonderful. It's no longer about the quality of a movie or the artistic beauty of it, it's all about how well known and popular the actor in it is. Most movies these days are just awful with no depth or thought to them. I got so tired of buying into the hype of the trailers and walking away disappointed, I stopped looking to the theaters for entertainment quite a while ago and watch whatever I can find in Hulu plus or Netflix. The only reason I saw the Descendents is because DH wanted to rent from Redbox and asked if I'd choose a movie too. Next time I'll just save the money.

I finished Plainsong (Haruf) yesterday. It was just as I had hoped. I loved it. I thought that I had a copy of Evensong, which is a continuation of some of the same characters but a cursory look around hasn't produced it. Available at the Library though, which I'll get soon because it's an older book and the new Library Director is a mad culler. Grab it now before it disappears - just like a flea market. (many classics have met this fate too, much to my chagrin) Speaking of elephants, I'm trying to track down The Eye of the Elephant by Mark and Delia Owens. An older book that I'll try to get via interlibrary loan.

Now that my brain has emerged from lockdown dullness, I have been reading Hugo nominees as fast as I can. I have just started on the final novel*, and am about halfway through the short stories. I have not yet read the other short form fiction - novellas and novelettes. I'll vote on them if I get to them. Here is my opinion so far of the novels, always the most important category for me. The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan) It turns out that I read this book months ago, and had completely forgotten it. Guess I'm not going to vote for it. The Light Brigade, by Kameron Hurley (Saga; Angry Robot UK) Military SF in a future ruled by some very nasty tyrant corporations. I found it to be very well done, a complex net skillfully woven, and resolved to sense by the end. So far I am considering it and one other. A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK) This is the other one I liked a lot, complicated political infighting and plotting in a future empire. I love this stuff. Again, very well done. Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing) I began this book and very quickly disliked it enough that I did not finish it. If I were a professional critic I would have to push myself to read on to the end, but I am not. Definitely not voting for it. The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK) I enjoyed, but did not love, this novel. An interesting but not compelling story. Both The Light Brigade and A Memory Called Empire engaged me to the point I could not put them down. This one did not. But the author was also nominated for the short story award and so far I like her short story the best. I do like her writing. Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing) Hated it. Think Gormenghast with necromancers. If we were required to rank them (we can if we want to), I would place this one dead last. * Since I first posted this, I read as much of Gideon as I could stand, and knowing I would never vote for it, quit.