|
| | Sunday, September 24th, 2006 | Husband posting again
12:52 am: Sorry if it startles anyone. Just putting up the link for any interested parties to a public post in my journal regarding a memorial vid. | | Monday, October 17th, 2005 | | | Sunday, October 16th, 2005 | | | Sunday, October 2nd, 2005 | | | Monday, September 26th, 2005 | And this
4:28 pm: All right, people want to know where to send money in her name, how to contribute, how to honor her memory. I have been saying donate to Cancer research, which is good. But I have decided to add some options. This is the American Cancer Society link for those who do not have it. I myself will be donating as much as I can soon. This is a link to a literacy program for kids. I checked it against the IRS website, it's legit. I know how much Kelly loved kids and she would want to help them learn to do her favorite thing, wouldn't she? Lastly, her love of animals in general and her love of the Wild Animal Park in particular make it necessary to offer an option to help the fight to save endangered species. This is the place to offer help in preserving species endangered by the insanity in Africa and the Mideast. Always, I ask, that it be given in her name. | At her parents request
3:56 pm: Those of you wishing to bring something to the wake or send something to it, her parents have asked that you go to your bookstore and into the Children's section and pick out a book you think Kelly would have liked. These books will then be donated in her name to a library; either the one she loved in Huntington Beach, CA or the one in Perth, Australia. ETA: Okay, you will need to email me for the address to send the books to. I don't know of any good way to poat that info and not have it available to the whole internets. darkriver at cyberdude dot com | | Saturday, September 24th, 2005 | Here at the end of all things
12:35 pm: I have gone through the Lady's comms, checked them for activity and cross-checked against my memory for things that were important to her. Some, thankfully, had comods so nothing is needed there. For the most part, all that is needed is to remove trolls and spammers and kill flamewars - just checking it once or twice a day. The exceptions are "mespt_quotes" and "mathoms" which require real work. Mathoms is sort of quiet, but I think it is an idea that personifies what Kielle was and that it needs to continue. It's a lot like herding cats, though, so be warned. What I ask is that offers to take these comms come from a place of deep commitment. I know right now everyone wants to do something to help, but this is not about right now. This is about a year from now. This is about having to find the time to manage the comm long term. Obviously, things happen and you might need in future to hand the reins over to someone else. But that also takes commitment; knowing when it is time to go and making sure a suitable replacement is found. Basically, I just want the peace of mind that these comms will be loved like she loved them.  mathoms
braintrauma
intershards CJ?
meduseld
theglossary
bansquad
drabbles
livequotes (waivering on closing this one) metaquotes Trollprincess has been doing a wonderful job fostering the comm.. If you want it, love, it's yours. I know K had a lot of faith in you. However, if you are too busy, that's okay too. rpgquotes
oh_brothers Rohandove, you okay to run this on your own?
shardsofarda
silmfics
suequotesThese comms, happily, have mods. stickiesiconaddictsmarysuesThe following have zero activity. mespt_daycareminas_tirithonthesettrollbanstwotwelvemoodmakers has comods, I just need to get their pulse. White City is a whole other kettle of fish. The remainder of her comms are more or less inactive. If you are a member of one of her comms not mentioned here and you feel it really needs a mod, feel free to comment. I think it is okay for them to just remain as they are, frozen in time. [[x-posted]] | | Friday, September 23rd, 2005 | Next point of business
2:20 pm: I think there are a few people who read this journal who might have photos of K. I am asking for copies for a project I am working on. I have a lot of the subcon ones, but I could be missing some. Please? ( email addyCollapse ) | | 8:28 am: ETA: Idiot husband has remembered to unlock the entry. | | Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 | | | | Wednesday, September 14th, 2005 | Not fishing for replies, just posting a sign of life
8:24 pm: So. Frustrating. Literally have no energy to type. Takes longer to edit than to type, keep thinking that I already typed thing only to find that I did...in my head. And have written many posts for the Sandman's library in my brain. ARGH. More importantly, have received many beautiful special cry-worthy things from some special amazing people whom I promise will be thanked properly. Unfortunately this took an hour+ and I'm exhausted/inpain again. Hey! I can sleep on one side again! A little! *collapses* Current Mood:  exanimate | | Saturday, September 10th, 2005 | yes these are my fingers on the keys
12:10 pm: hard to type anything and have so much to say, forgive me, but: am home, and am NOT going anywhere :) Current Mood: took forever to type! | | Thursday, September 1st, 2005 | Yes this is Kielle...sorta
11:03 pm: [Disclaimer: This post was dictated to Chris, because I can't really sit up yet and typing would wear me out. You know I'm not really feeling well when I can't even get onto a computer. :) ] ( As you may know, I have been feeling like crap for pretty much months now...Collapse )One of the things Chris has been doing has been making reports in my LiveJournal and asking people for messages of support. He's been reading those messages aloud to me while I haven't been able to sit up or read or do anything for myself...I'm getting really teary here...and I want you all to know that these messages the best possible present any of you could have sent me. (Okay, I'm really tearing up here.) I'm also looking around the hospital room right now at the gifts some of you have sent me (yes, I'm talking to you,  i_aldarion, iamari, celendra, suzene) and I really don't know what to say. I'd like to say more, but I'm getting worn out and so are Chris' fingers. I'll try to post more when I can sit up and type in my own entries. Until then, you can ask Chris any questions you want, and I'm going to work my ass off on getting well enough to go home. The doctors and nurses here are the best, and they say I'm doing really well. I love you all and thank you for everything. | | Monday, August 29th, 2005 | From Mr. Kielle
10:47 pm: She got through the surgery. There is more, but I can't talk about it right now. Do us a favor? Comment here and tell us about how you met Kielle, or just a memory, something that fixed K's personality in your mind. An anecdote, you know. Something. ETA: Now open for public comment | | Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005 | Yeah, uh, okay...
12:00 pm: ...Chris was as good as his word in my last post's comments (which I didn't see until later) and dragged me to the emergency room again last night. I guess me coming straight home and crawling into bed (without even glancing at the computer, OMG) was the final straw on his worrymeter. Long story short, we were there for a very long time. You know how those places are: unless you're actively gushing blood all of the floor it's a long wait between checks and prodecures. e.e I got an x-ray, and a lot of questions, and they had to stick me three times to get the blood they needed for various arcane tests. *whimper* Angie, can I have your veins please? Mine suck. On the bright side, my stomach feels better today; still kinda queasy and nervous, but not bad. On the other hand, sometime while we were there my right shoulder knotted up like a bitch, and it still hurts despite much Tylenol. *glares at it* You do NOT need attention too, you! Completely randomly, I have to say that "Party Monster" + "Velvet Goldmine" would make a really fun double-feature. Current Mood:  loved | | Monday, August 22nd, 2005 | I. Am goddamn tired. Of being. IN PAIN.
9:54 am: It's my stomach, except it's not exactly my stomach...it's like it started there, but migrated out until my entire gut hurts, so gulping down Pepto Bismol or something won't do a damn thing but make me want to vomit. It feels like someone's punched me in the stomach a few times, hard. And it's worse if I eat, much worse. I don't even want to swallow anything. But if I don't eat, then I can add clawing hunger pangs to the mess. fhjhglhfgla! I can't fucking win!!! It's been acting up for a few weeks now, but it's been pretty constant since Friday afternoon. Yeah, all weekend. The last time it was anywhere near this bad I went to the emergency rom, except I don't have that option this time. I only got half the work done I wanted to on Saturday, and today is looking like a lost cause too, which is nightmarish because I have SO MUCH WORK TO DO. I can't get any more behind. I can't afford to go to the doctor again right now, in time or money. I just want to go home and sleep. :/ So...yeah, if you've been looking for me online, I haven't been on. I don't even have the energy or the focus to chat, and I'm sorry. I feel like an utter heel about it, especially after weeks of slacking due to heat and general stress, but I just can't. :( Current Mood:  drained | | Friday, August 19th, 2005 | Small and mildly amusing picspam
10:52 pm: [Note: I'll probably crosspost a chunk of this to the house journal for any family out there who might be reading (yeah, right). Bear with me if you please?] I missed getting a shot of a small child being mobbed by Canadian geese. Woe. But! Here's a few other things... This is Grond. If you don't know already, Grond is our eBay-bought workhorse. He got us up here alive and now he's making Chris's work possible, hauling supplies from Home Depot and junk to the dump. (For instance, we were able to fit a washer and a dryer into the back, in the boxes, easy as pie, without having to shove or fuss.) Here he is loaded with more drywall that it appears -- those are huge sheets, it took three men to load them up. Grond is freaking enormous. We love Grond. :) ( Now THIS is a real man's SUV, you Explorer-driving pansiesCollapse )When I say you can see Grond from orbit, I wasn't kidding. That's him in the top circle. The bottom circle is the building that burned down a week ago, and the red X is where I stood to take photos of the whole mess. They're tearing the place down now...a shame, as it was a huindred years old apparently. :/ ( I can see my house from here!Collapse )This may amuse some of you -- as in "Anyone who read 'The Witching Hour,'" which I still say is the only Anne Rice book you can own up to having read without having to apologize too much for having no taste whatsoever. I saw this sign on the way to a doctor's appointment last week and almost swerved off the road -- when I went back yesterday you bet I took the camera this time! ( I think it's trying to tell us somethingCollapse )And while I had it, I had to get this shot of a most unfortunate spelling error. These painted bear statues are all over town and some of them are quite pretty (there's a gorgeous one at a car dealership north of here, I may have to make an outin just to get a photo of it, that's how pretty it is)...but I guess you can see why this one has been relegated to inside the downtown bus station. Whoops. ( Ummmm...what?Collapse )And and and! While I was mourning the loss of the above-mentioned Geese Attack photo-op, I did luck out into having my camera turned on when we passed this fountain they've been building ever since we got up here. I've been seeing it go up piece by piece day by day, and until now I had no clue how it was going to work. I wasn't even sure it was a fountain; that's just the rumor passed along by another passenger. Turns out the rumor was right, and they were testing it yesterday morning. Everyone on the bus ooohed and ahhhed -- it was really something! Screw work, I wanted to go home to grab my bathers...  ( How I actually saw it at the time (yay for high dpi!)Collapse ) Current Mood:  accomplished | | Sunday, August 14th, 2005 | One last bit of fire news
1:55 am: Aha, here's the news on that fire the other night. There's some video too. It was still on fire around midnight last night (I saw/heard it over the rooftops when I went out looking for meteors, no luck of course) and they were still dousing the ruins this morning. Wow. ... I still say it was meth-related. *ducks* Current Mood:  sleepy | | Saturday, August 13th, 2005 | I've got a theory-- DON'T START SINGING, YOU LOT
6:52 pm: (Huh. The irony of the fact that I'm sitting here chugging Orange Crush has not escaped me. ;) Seriously, I've been thinking. I know it's a natural human tendency to say "back in my day, etc and so forth" -- it's called "euchronia," the belief that there was once a "golden age" of sorts, or at very least that it was better when you were younger. So I'll be fair and state clearly, for starters, that fandom has always been batshit crazy at heart. Gamers, writers, artists...we're inherently all just a little bit insane, really. As far back as you'll find media fandom you'll find tales of flamewars and freaks, of malcontents and the maladjusted. But I think I can honestly say that fandom is really taking the cake for teh crazeh over these last few years, culminating in this mindboggling geyser of psychosis triggered by the new Harry Potter book. Death/abortion wishes directed at the author...racial slurs sent to the family of the girl slated to play Cho Chang...holy mackeral. It's getting to the point that people like me who merely like the books are saying "I'm not a Harry Potter fan" in the way many outspoken liberated women nevertheless tend to preface certain sentences with "I'm not a 'feminist' but..." LOTR fandom, mainly the actor side, probably comes in second for the wacky, though at the moment it's a pale ghostly second as most of LOTR's loons are fading out as the lack of new movies has taken the wind from their sails. (Thank Eru.) Third would probably have to be Full-Metal Alchemist and any other anime that has recently made the leap to English mainstream via Cartoon Netwark and the like. (I'll leave that up to someone who understands the genre better, because quite frankly after watching all of Revolutionary Girl Utena anime tends to run together in my brain into a sticky gooey mess of bright colors and speed lines.) I've read some fascinating essays on the subject of late, two of which are must-read. yourlibrarian describes the echo chamber effect, which is a phenomenom I've been aware of for ages now but never had the right terminology to work with. The other is, of course, angua9's brilliant dissection of the persistant Harmonian Delusion, in which she is ever so much more deft and clever than I could ever hope to be. Good reading. One question is left unanswered, however. This is how they are, but why? And this is where I've been thinking, and where my theory comes in. Please note that I am about to start using broad and possibly biased generalizations; I'm not newbie-bashing, and I am not saying all nufen fall into this category. But I believe it accounts for a broad stroke of the real crazies. (Also keep in mind that I shouldn't be waxing essayish while sleepy and working.) ( My thoughts run like this...Collapse )I suppose what I'm trying to say that the popularity of Harry Potter and the LOTR movies (and, to a degree, Cartoon Network) has brought a huge influx of new people into the fandom...but I hesitate to call them "fans" in the geek sense of the word. They're people who wouldn't even be fans otherwise, who expect something entirely different (and erroneous) from the source material which was not written with their desires in mind. I don't mean to sound elitist about it; obviously some have actual talents or are intelligent enough to find other reasons to stay and other fandoms to enjoy, and I say good for them and great for us! But I think the fact remains that if the Harry Potter books weren't popular (and easy to read), if the LOTR movies hadn't been so prettily cast, these wannabes would never have stooped anywhere near the fandom "fold." They're not really into fantasy, or fandom, or even reading -- all they honestly care about the pretteh pretteh bois or Who Ends Up With Whom because that's what they've been raised to expect from life. They're only here for the eye-candy and the squee. And quite frankly, they're wearing out their welcome. * Yeah, well, I'm upset that Frank Herbert died before writing the last Dune book, and that Chris Tolkien butchered his father's life-work. Suck it up, kiddies -- at least your author's still alive to give you more canon! Current Mood:  thoughtful | What a day... (aka HOLY CRAP FIRE)
12:54 am: For starters, yeah, another long one, only nine hours but I've been hurting again -- the same thing that landed me in the hospital a couple weeks ago, only now I'm learning to ignore it as I still don't know how much the last visit cost, they weren't sure what it was, and I can't miss any more hours. Ugh. BUT. Please do not mistake this for a whine-about-work post! For starters, how could I possibly be upset when there's chocolate waiting at home? (If you don't read my other journals, suffice it to say that there was a generous anonymous donation on the porch yesterday. I have amazing friends.) For second, there was another package awaiting me -- this time it's from one of my relatives. It's the photocopy of the family history I've been dying to own! *squee* And look! She included a nice copy of two photos of my great-grandfather (the direct-line one from whom I got my last name) and his wife my late great-grandmother (the beloved family matriarch while I was a kid). This was taken about 1919, around the time they apparently eloped to be married. Apologies for the waviness, I have no scanner, this is a photo of a photo and it wouldn't lie flat... ( Allan & Susie, c'mon, loooookCollapse )Add to that the fact that Chris not only made dinner but has packed surprise lunches for me for all next week (!!!) and...gah. *loves so much* So we settled in for food and an episode of "Dead Like Me," and we were almost through when I noticed the clouds outside the window were moving awfully fast. As in, they weren't clouds. They were smoke. Thick black ugly smoke. Very close by. Me, staring out the window: "Uhhh, Chris? Something's on fire..." He was out the door in a flash and I was soon after with the camera. I took a series of photos on my way down to the street; as it turned out, the top story of a three-story antique store two blocks away was burning. I think there were apartments up there, though it seemed there was nobody there at the time...actually, the word used was "flophouse." I wouldn't be surprised if somebody's evening meth casserole went wonky. Then again, it's also possible rain sparked dust on the transformer, which as you'll see was also on fire... You'll also notice it was a bit of a neighborhood event. Everyone was very well-behaved and curious. I met several very nice neighbors. :) ( Crossposted: the pics I did get...Collapse )It actually got a lot more dramatic after this -- all of the windows eventually exploded out in flames, and that tree in the background went up like a torch right after dusk -- but by that point Chris had taken the camera and never returned with it. Bother. I watched for a while longer, until it was clear that the top story was a loss but nothing else was going to explode, then I walked home. There was cat-petting en route. It's a very nice night, and I'm going to go see if I can spot any meteors now. :) PS: It also rained today, in the midst of all this heat. How weird is that? Rain! And I got to see where Spokane is building a skybucket system from town down the river gorge -- sleek purple skybuckets, on cables, I shit you not. How wacky and goofy and cool is that? I love this town, I swear to god I do! Current Mood:  surprised | | Thursday, August 11th, 2005 | So a giant and an elephant walk into a bar...
11:02 pm: This is so amazing I have to post it. Don't stop there -- make sure you go to the photo galleries and the sites linked (like this one)...it's simply incredible. The technical pages are especially impressive, IMHO. Apparently it's to commemorate the anniversary of Jules Verne's death. WOW. Go French! ...and go Chinese, too. Why can't we have this holiday? EDIT: More and other "shows" in the comments of this link Current Mood:  impressed | A nice surprise, for once
11:25 am: So yesterday was a simply awful day all around. On my part, I'm getting so snowed under at work that there's no foreseeable way out, and that's the short version (yes, yes, I know, job security, but whew). On Chris's part, well, the good news is that the kitchen cabinets arrived but the bad news is that they wouldn't fit through the door so he had to tear out a window which had been a nightmare to install in the first place. Which of course he then had to rebuild and re-install. In this heat. You can imagine. BUT. The point of this post is not to whine but to thank. Because when I got home, there was a completely unexpected box on the porch from greenbriar. If I've never mentioned Briar, I should have; I met her at a horse summer camp when I was 16 and she was a tad younger. Her family moved to Virginia a few years later and we haven't been close in a while, but I adore her long-distance as she's one of the most darling people I've ever known. Anyhow, there was this unexpected box on the porch. It wasn't quite solid and it made odd muffled clanging tinkling noises when moved. Turns out that it contained not one but two wonderful windchimes, both in shades of blue (*squee*) and both with lovely distinct sounds: one metal, one glass. I swear I almost started crying, it was so sweet and thoughtful and perfect. I owe you an enormous hug, dearheart, and I promise to get them hung up ASAP! There will be photos. *snugs* PS: I want to make something clear to anyone reading this journal: no matter how much I whine and moan and grumble and piss, no matter how tight the money gets or how many time this house attempts to murder us in our sleep, I am glad we moved up here. 100%. I miss my family and Kitarra and sushi and Tommy's burgers and Comics Unlimited, but other than that I do not miss California itself one freaking iota and I loooove our cranky old moneypit and I'm still excited about our longterm plans. So don't worry about that. Just it's not going to be easy. There's going to be bad stretches and, well, I'm a worrier. :) Current Mood: loved | | Tuesday, August 9th, 2005 | | | Saturday, August 6th, 2005 | You know you're up too late when...
3:02 am: ...phrases like "Holy shit, it's Zane Gray! Aim for the head! AIM FOR THE HEAD!" make perfect lucid sense... I want to share my Spicy Ricy recipe, if I haven't already. It's super easy. I invented it when I was on a no-fat-on-pain-of-death diet, and I couldn't get out for sushi. It goes like this: Steam one cup of rice.
Mix in one can of tuna.
Mix in a few spoonfuls of salsa to taste, something hot and not too chunky. (I use Pace Picante Hot, nothing else works right IMHO.)
Dish out and top with melty shredded cheese (optional decadent step, otherwise salt a bit instead).
Serve.
Also, as long as I'm on the subject of good ideas: we've been saving empty water jugs and filling them with various flavors of Kool-Aid. It's cheap, it's convenient, and in this heat it's a lifesaver! (And no more jockeying for the flavor-of-the-moment, either.)
EDIT: Harley's songs make everything better. *G*
Current Mood:  awake | | Thursday, August 4th, 2005 | Of kitties and contusions
10:59 pm: First off, I again apologize to anyone who reads this journal and the house journal. I won't often make crossposts like this, and I'll try to keep them from cluttering your Friendslist too much. Stuff that's purely house-related, like photos of the construction of the wild fauna, will only be posted over there, so it's still worth keeping them both Friended. (PS: If you like my photos and my ramblings, honestly, you ought to be reading the other journal too. ;) Anyhow, I had to bring over the Samantha report! Sammie has been spayed and she's doing great. In fact, she seems to be taking over the entire house, much to the other cats' chagrin. ( You know you want some SammieCollapse )Completely unrelated: if you read my tale of needle-inflicted woe at the doctor yesterday, here's the aftermath. I did promise photos... ( EwwwwwwwwwwwwCollapse ) Current Mood:  complacent | | | Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005 | OMFG THAT HURRRRRTTTTT
5:32 pm: Let me get something clear up front: I'm afraid of needles, and I have good reason. It seems that my veins are nearly impossible to find -- and this has nothing to do with being fat, I remember the first instance was when I was about eight or ten, and I was not fat then. They pricked my little sister's thumb for blood, but me? Oh hell no, they rooted around in BOTH ELBOWS. I clearly remember walking back out to the car with my mom and my sister, holding my suntanned little arms out straight and trying not to whimper and thinking "That's it, I hate needles now." I'm better than some, to be fair. My ex hated needles too, and he was a viable threat to any medico who came near him with a sharp object. I can't blame him. Me, I learned to hold still and be very, very good so they'd only have to do it once. Well, in my case, only three or four times. *twitch* That, and a horrid three-day experience with a misplaced IV taught me that no matter how long the injection takes, it's shorter than three days. So I put up with it, and I smile and I banter with the tech, and I warn them right up front that I'm going to be difficult. They never believe me, but I always win: they invariably end up having give up and call in an expert or send me to another department. Last Friday's hospital visit involved two jabs from a tech followed by one almighty impressive display of IV PLACEMENT FU from a medical black-belt they brought in especially for the occasion. (I almost didn't want them to take that IV out, it would have been so convenient in future...) ( Veins 1, Nurse 0Collapse )( And here's where you might want to cover your ears, O Best Beloved...Collapse )No, nothing really exploded; it was a nerve thing, I was sure of it two instants after it started. (For the first blindingly-painful instant I irrationally thought that she'd somehow in stuck a second needle simultaneously. Or a razor.) But I never want to do that again. Never. Ever. I guess I'll have to add that to my litany to medtechs: "You won't be able to find my veins, and you'd better wear protective headgear because if you stick me there I will shriek and go for your eyes..." Current Mood:  sore | | Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005 | The worst joke ever told
11:14 am: ...isn't the Aristocrats joke currently making the rounds (which is, I must say though, pretty damn amusing). No, the worst joke ever made -- I should clarify, the Worst Joke Ever Told, as it was deliberate and an art-form in itself -- was told by my seventh-grade science teacher Mr. Duvall. I believe that was his name; I suddenly find my senile old brain a little foggy on that, but I remember his face and I remember the damn joke... Mr. Duvall was one of those teachers you utterly love and are terrified of at the same time. He was a teller of tall tales; you never knew for sure if he was pulling your leg or not. For example, he'd tell lavishly disgusting stories about how when he was a kid they had to use butcher paper in the toilet. He owned the dreaded Gum Jar; if he caught you chewing gum in his class, you'd have to put your piece in, take another piece out, and chew it. (Everyone knew a friend of a friend who'd been forced to carry through on this threat, of course.) I was standing in line for his class when I heard the Challenger had exploded. And once a semester, to every new class, he'd tell the Worst Joke Ever Told. ( It goes like this... (worksafe)Collapse )Now RUN LIKE THE WIND. Trust me. You'll have about three stunned seconds to giggle madly and RUN. They will not love you for this. In fact, they may never let you tell a joke again. I have managed to pull off this performance precisely twice in my life, and I have been forgiven for neither occasion. Vouch for me on this, Kit... God bless you, Mr. Duvall. I may not remember your science, but your Gum Jar and your hideous joke live on. *salutes* Current Mood:  nostalgic | | Monday, August 1st, 2005 | Feeling rotten
10:55 pm: Acid attacks again, Friday and today -- as always right around 5 am, so by the time I can breathe again it's time t stagger off to work. A year ago an attack tht bad would lay me out for the day; now I have no fucking choice, I have drag myself in and hunch at my desk trying to be productive. Something I'm having trouble with right now even when I feel fine. *whimpers* Anyway, I've made an appointment for Wednesday morning, which is of course more missed time at work, but hey: it's either that or miss lots of days to being so sick I can't even breathe. Dammit. I guess this is me apologizing to anyone whom I've "flaked" on recently; between the heat and the job and this, I've been useless. *hugs* Current Mood:  sick | | Sunday, July 31st, 2005 | Sharing the shinies
3:05 pm: I have been privileged to read two astoundingly good webcomics this weekend: Irrational Fears by Ursula Vernon
Spiders by Patrick Farley
The first is simply as wonderful as anything from Ursula's pen -- how does she make a chupacabra cute?! -- and has really gotten me to thinking about how all children know, instinctively, that A) there's something under the bed and B) you're safe from it if you get under your blanket and tuck it in all around. Think about it: nobody told you that, did they? But it's true. You know it is.
The second, like last year's still-wonderful Dionaea House, is (to me) an example of how storytelling can (and should!) evolve to take advantage of this new environment, with the preconceptions of the comic page and the three-panel strip. It sidescrolls, it's animated (in small tasteful places that further the story), there's mock messageboards and AIM windows and appropriate Flash components...there's even a Java pop-up the made me scream with delighted surprise when it happened. It won't make sense out of context. You'll know it when you see it. :)
Totally unrelated, Sky High was loads of fun.
Current Mood:  enthralled | | Saturday, July 30th, 2005 | | | Wednesday, July 27th, 2005 | They won't let me on at work, but I scribble things down anyway
9:59 pm: So I get home last night to find that Chris has ripped out the entire kitchen ceiling. WOW. I took photos, but they won't do it justice -- there's at least another foot of clearance now, and it makes a huge difference. He also uncovered some weird things, like signs of what must have been a pantry or cold-room, and an old bell that got walled up when they lowered the ceiling. It looks like something you'd ring for kitchen service. He thinks the room that got turned into a bathroom/bedroom, the one he's been ripping apart to turn into a bathroom/pantry, might have been one big dining room a long time ago. The house doesn't strike me as big enough to have required hired help, but he's pretty convinced there might have been at least one servant in residence a long time ago. Very odd. Random jots and thoughts as the day goes by: ( The usual ''stupid people'' part of a typical post from meCollapse )( Movies and videos and such things -- ooo, Carnivale!Collapse )...totally randomly, is there a "teachers' lounge" at Hogwarts? Or do they eat in the main hall with the students? I can't recall. And tangentally from that, I have an evil theory: we've seen little witch-kids doing wandless magic, right? What if forcing all magic-users to go to school where they're taught to be dependent on spell-words and wands is a way to limit their abilities? Wouldn't it be clever of the Ministry to dupe their potentially VERY POWERFUL constituency into being controllable as necessary? It's awfully convenient to be able to muzzle any witch or wizard by gagging them and taking away their wand, isn't it. And if it's been going on for a very long time, it's possible even the Ministry doesn't know any more. It's just "what's always been done." It's tradition. Nobody questions it, and nobody would dream of refusing the "honor" of going to Hogwarts or Beauxbatons or whatever... Something to think about. Current Mood:  busy | | Sunday, July 24th, 2005 | "Daddy, I want another pony." <-- My quote of the week, heehee!
6:21 pm: Wow. Nothing is prettier than a brand-spankin'-new stack of blank CDs in their little spinny container thingie. 50 of 'em! Which means I should be able to coax, oh, maybe ten non-coasters from the burner. Hurrah. I also want to mention, belatedly, that McDonalds up here sells Dippin' Dots. Mmmph. I AM NEVER MOVING BACK TO CALIFORNIA. EVER. I'm feeling fine today, thanks to those who asked...I'm really hoping that was a one-time thing. The hospital nice enough to give me drugs also called the next day to see how I was doing, which was just incredibly nice. I think we once again lucked out into a winner on the first try. We did finally end up seeing "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory" last night, and you know what? I liked it! Yes, Johnny's Wonka was a little jarring at first, but he was obviously having so much fun playing him that he was wonderful to watch once that initial WTF?! factor subsided. It was just fun. And how much do I love Deep Roy OMG? A LOT! Speaking of which, to everyone squalling that the movie somehow destroyed their childhood: did these people even read the book?! With the exception of the flashback subplot (which didn't bother me) and the ending that did away with the confusing need for a sequel (also find with that), this adaptation was almost spot-on. I applaud Mr. Burton & Co. for that! ...omg the burner is working. It just fit two DW eps onto a CD. It's never done that before... In closing, Chris is a huge meanie for not letting me put one of these into our new bathroom. (Thanks for the link, neonnurse!) Current Mood:  happy | | Friday, July 22nd, 2005 | I have a new best friend, his name is Demerol
8:22 pm: So about 11 pm last night I crashed offline, and quite frankly my stomach was giving me problems, so I went to bed early figuring hey, I have a lot of work to get done tomorrow right? So a good night's rest was a good idea. Instead, I spent most of the night curled up whimpering as something kept trying to claw its way out of my gut. (No, it wasn't Feminine Difficulties; short of TMI, just trust me on this.) And whenever it abated I'd doze off into screaming nightmares about the work I had to do the next day. (Not that the work was that scary, but add the thought of having to do it all while in pain and I was not a happy camper.) So obviously I didn't want to miss work today, but by nine I had to give up the thought of going in until things settled down in my gut...and when by noon they hadn't, I finally bit the bullet and asked to go to the emergency room. They took me pretty seriously, actually, which was both nice (eased my guilt a bit) and unpleasant for Chris, who got left in the waiting room for Five. Hours. Yeah. Five. I won't trouble you with the details; suffice it to say that those five hours consisted of long periods of waiting (albeit with access to Cartoon Network) inspersed by violations on par with what was in all likelihood committed upon the nubile body of Agent Dana Scully in a thousand lurid fanfics. Except I'm cuter. ^_^ In the end, they really couldn't find anything, though they had some theories which are again TMI so I'll spare you those too. I should do a follow-up appointment at some point, but the bottom line is I should be okay. I do have three bandages where they had to hunt for my veins (and you wonder why I hate needles?) and I now know what it feels like when Demerol kicks in. Woo. Why didn't they do that to begin with? Bastards. ;) Current Mood: sore | | Thursday, July 21st, 2005 | There's no real excuse for this post
10:11 pm: They've cracked down on Internet usage at work. Yeah, I'm losing my mind, but I need the job very much so...yeah. The result is, however, that I still keep jotting down notes then neglecting to post them, so this post is simply a big disjointed snarl of things I've seen, like, and played with over the last few days. I'm not bothering to tidy it up or make it pretty. Maybe you'll enjoy some of it anyway. :)
OMG OMG OMG new Serenity trailer. New to me, anyway. OMG! In the "Too Lazy To Make Pretty Links" department: http://www.lecielestbleu.com/media/pateasonframe.htm = Turn on your speakers and play with it, you'll figure it out. Yes, it's cute and harmless.
http://aaronherm.blogspot.com/2005/07/bud-light-salutes-real-men-of-genius.html = All of them, hurrah! I heard one of these today that destroyed me laughing, but it's not in here...I wonder if it's just new or if it was a parody?
http://bestiary.ca/beasts.htm = Now this is fascinating stuff...
http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/features/20moviethings.htm = All quite true, you know.
http://www.pwned.nl/ayb -- the All Your Base Rhapsody. I can't believe they DID this.
"When I opened that, I said, 'Does she think we’re stupid?'" Lady, you're the one who paid $2,000 up front for "publishing costs." Yes...yes, we DO think you're stupid. Sometimes I think there should be a minimum intelligence barrier for legal action against scam artists: if the jury decides you were incredibly dumb for getting duped in the first place, you don't get to sue. Next!
I also have issues with this article. On the one hand, I agree that it's really neat that they're rushing to get these HP books out in Braille at a loss in time for the release. On the other hand, hang on a moment. For one, blind folks can read ordinary text just fine with an opticon, which (IIRC) are provided gratis by the government and are probably much improved since I last saw one in the late 80s. For two, the book could be scanned in then read on-screen as a blind person reads anything else on their computer. So really, this is a lot of fuss over very little. (Yes, I know some might prefer Braille, but my point is if you're that desperate to read the book when everyone else does, this is 2005 -- there are other ways.)
On the topic of HBP spoilers: this is impossibly funny. And spoiler-free!
Ever wonder what gets left out of PR blurbs...? Ouch.
This is a nifty use of a search engine. I'm tempted to try it myself. Actually, somewhere on my drive I have an AI program you can load with quotes then do something similar...I should dig it back out and mess with it some more. Maybe feed it a few days' worth of my Friendslist or something.
Oh my this is cute. Harry Potter camp! Get this bit, I love it: "Campers were required to sign an oath swearing they would talk about the newest book only with those who had finished it. Anyone who violated the oath would find his or her house docked 1,000 points, a major setback in the quest to win the House Cup awarded at the end of the program." Awwww. And I bet they weren't shrieking bloody murder about "sunken ships." Yay for kids!
(Seriously, that "Witherwings" thing? Insanity. Pure and simple. And yet still more sane than the serious H/D shippers. Yikes...)
( And here's the MindMap I requested ages ago and forgot about entirely -- isn't it cool?!Collapse )
Current Mood: random | | Wednesday, July 20th, 2005 | | | Sunday, July 17th, 2005 | | | Saturday, July 16th, 2005 | Thoughts on communication, badly communicated
1:23 pm: Something got me thinking the other day, about how we communicate these days -- and by "we," I mean us, you and me. And about how I think, these days, as shaped by the Internet. What got me thinking was the other day when I was on the phone with my mom (whom I love to death, seriously) and I mentioned that my ex had visited my journal with all the grace and manners of a grizzly bear hopped up on meth. (Well, I didn't use that phrase exactly, but you get the point.) She listened to me stew for a bit, but I came away from the conversation with the distinct feeling that I'd just broken into Greek and she was being politely bewildered -- that the idea of someone "entering my journal" made no cognitive sense in the context of an invasive...uh...thingie. I'm not blaming her. It's another world, it really is, now that I'm taking time to THINK about it. My journal -- and by extension my Friendslist, the comms I follow, and so forth -- is an actual place as far as my psyche is concerned. I get online, I come here. It's my homepage and my hub. It's my Bronze social life and my library and my spotlight, all in one. Nonono, I'm not losing my mind, I can certainly still separate reality from fantasy, but the intangible "world" encompassed by LJ and Trillian has definitely become, for lack of a better word, my territory. It's where I spend 90% of my social life, it's where everything happens -- friendships, news, gossip, announcements, entertainment, fights, break-ups. When I want to know what my friends are doing or how they're feeling or what they're working on or how their day went or if they're around tonight to talk or do something or whatever, I just "reach out" and check their journals or ping them on AIM. Except for calling my family and my best friend (two things I very much enjoy, no worries) the phone is practically obsolete. Face-to-face is unnecessary, and frankly just awkward. ;) ( Just an exampleCollapse )Anyway, this isn't about him, hence the LJ-Cut there -- it's just to illustrate what got me thinking about how I now view communication. Just talking to people aloud these days feels stilted, because you can only have one conversation, there's all that fuss about eye contact and timing, you can't pause between exchanges or take time to find the right words, you can't look things up online to express yourself better, you can't amuse them with links when the convo gets slow, and you can't make a sneak detour to see what else you should be talking to them about! ( Tell me you haven't had an AIM convo like this...Collapse )Obviously not everybody writes about every horrid (or happy!) event that crosses their lifeline, but this happens a lot. It's like having a handy reference guide to your friends on tap -- including their interests and habits at a glance, shortcutting some of the social fumbling. (And let's not even get into the "not having to put pants or shoes on" bit. *G*) It's not just conversation, either. I've found that watching TV episodes on computer is vastly superior because at any point I can pause and go look up things about what I'm watching -- like who's playing who or what that line was or, well, stuff. I've gotten adept at the key combinations that let me pause/minimize so I can hit the IMDB and answer a few AIM tags in the process. I know sometimes I take on more than I can chew, but I hate doing only ONE thing at a time either, and the web is brill for that... Anyway, I thought I could capture this in writing but I don't think I'm doing a very good job, and there's a thunderstorm going on that deserves my full attention out on the porch in my bare feet. I'll be back. You know I will be...I can't stay away! *waves cheerily and runs* Current Mood: thoughtful | All I'm going to say so far about the apottercalypse that has struck fandom
12:40 pm: I hate you all. How could you have ALREADY READ IT?! Goddamn it. I read fast, but I don't want to feel like I'm racing against the spoiler clock, and anyway I gotta wait until Chris is done, and like hell I'm going to rush him. And anyway I'mprobably too busy to read anyhow. Feh. *sulks* We did end up going to Barnes & Noble last night to see the kids get their copies, and here's where Chris's friends need to chime in with their LJ names, because I've got ashkitty and moonlight69 but I was so tired I missed the other two. And I really wish I'd brought my camera because their costumes were fabulous. (And I wish I had a costume because they were missing a Hufflepuff, dangit. *badgerpride*) ...oh look, people are already stomping out of the fandom. GO JKR, RAH RAH RAH! Oh they'll be back. Pussies. ;) And because I can't stay on topic to save my life: don't watch this in the dark. Current Mood:  amused | | Friday, July 15th, 2005 | Thoughts on Disneyland
10:21 am: So I'm noticing ol' [really crude insider's pun on the place's name] is turning 50 right about now. I grew up near there -- not close enough to go hang out there every day or anything, but close enough that it was an easy day trip and a real treat. I'm also old enough to still be baffled and slightly uncomfortable about all the additions: the California Adventure, the shops, all that which used to be parking lot. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't belong. Which makes it really weird to think that to kids growing up now, all that will be old-school nostalgia stuff. ( Rambling and memoriesCollapse )Anyway, I think I'm just about all nostalgia'd out...I'm sure I'll keep thinking of and remembering things if I keep this window open, and I've been boring enough already, and I have to get back to work here. In conclusion: growing up near Disneyland = yay. :) Current Mood: nostalgic | | Thursday, July 14th, 2005 | | Of birthdays and pets and Harry Potter and armageddon and, and STUFF
2:09 pm: Happy belated birthdays to iamari and mice! And massively majorly happy birthday (today!) to my mom, whom I love very much and plan to call tonight when I'm more or less sure she'll be home. I'm looking forward to it, actually. Though we don't have long-distance so I'll have to use 10-10-220, and I have NO idea what that's costing, but buggerit, who cares? (Nono, I mean that, I really truly don't care. It's like, if I don't know, then it's free right? La la la laaa!) ...and after that it feels weird to move on to mass extinctions and HP gripery, but, well, call me eclectic. :) I love me some good end-of-the-world scenarios. (Oh TrollPriiiincess...) Hell, I'd hold a pool on it, except, well, winning would suck. My own rather boring bet would be on a rather dull combination of economic collapse, starvation, and disease, but the failure of the Atlantic conveyor belt is already happening (yes, it is!) and the supervolcanos are RIGHT THERE, so it's a hard toss-up... (And now I have new words: "magmageddon" and "Verneshot." Woot.) And tangentally from that site: zombies! I recommend pressing "+" until it won't go up any more -- it's faster, and watching the terror spread like wildfire is oddly addictive. ( On the Harry Potter hype, or ''Why You're ALL Wrong''...Collapse )More reality-based, Chris finished the drywall! Well, there's a few patches left, but essentially the bathroom and the pantry are now separate rooms. I'll go into more gushy detail about that and how pretty our porch looks like all the lanterns lit up later, in the other journal -- there's photos, of course. ( The Sammie update, past and presentCollapse )Not to sound like we're neglecting our other new pets, though. Marshall somehow managed to get out his cage, twice, so we moved him to the more escape-proof cage with the older budgies. Then Skittle moped without him, so now all the 'keets are in the same cage and getting along surprisingly well. Angel has fixated on Hansel, and Gretel doesn't care as long as nobody disturbs her nest, so the "flock" has reached a pretty good accord-- OH! Sorry, this just came up on my Friends list: _rabia_ wrpte me the cutest damn drabble about her teapot-shaped cat icon. Go on, go read, it's adorable. And funny. And...eee. :D * You think I'm joking? Have you SEEN our dandelions?! Current Mood:  rushed | | Wednesday, July 13th, 2005 | Oooo shiny
7:58 pm: <pimpmode> Go here for an utterly wonderful Doctor Who vid -- and mind you, I'm very picky about this sort of thing. But this one knocked my socks off. 'Ware spoilers. To be honest, it's hot and I'm tired and other than that I don't have much to say. I'm reading Stephen Fry's autobiography, and he's a lovely amusing ballsy man. There's a passage about three pages long I'd love to share with you but I'll be buggered if I want to type it all. EDIT: Ugh. Okay, okay, I know the idea of slash bugs some of you still, and the idea of slash about historical figures even more so, but I think even you can agree that watching "Fangirly Drek In Nineteen Parts" go up piece by painful piece on historic_slash is a trainwreck by any standards. ("Liek OMG AU Ardeth/Orlando so hawt squeeeee!" Kill me. Kill me now.) Current Mood:  hot | | Tuesday, July 12th, 2005 | Mmm. I've had a few hours to cool off now...
11:45 pm: ...and really, in the end, three pages he'd never bother reading anyway (except to spend six pages arguing every tedious detail) boils down to three words: Fuck off, Greg.PS: No, you don't get the last word. Goodbye. *click* Current Mood: finished | I'm thinking I might try to write a book
11:57 am: I don't want to jinx it, though. I've tried to write things like this before and I just don't have the stamina -- I don't know how to fill pages and pages with characters and plotlines and whatnot. I write short encapsulated stories that tell exactly what I want them to tell. No "fat," no large red herrings, no extraneous characters. I even check my words individually to make sure there's as little repetition as possible, something you can really only control accurately in a short story. And the other thing is, I'm not sure why I should bother. After all, thanks to that bloody NaNoWriMo nuisance, everyone churns out "books" these days. What's the point? Why should I even try? It's more fun, more gratifying, and more suited to what little writing ability I have to stick to fanfic. ( But what kind of ''writer'' am I if I don't even try?Collapse )As for this new book idea itself...well, I'm not going to force it. I have a vague idea so far that appeals to me, and I'm just going to daydream on it for a while. No pressure for plot, or character -- just world-building. Ie. " Here's the world I want, now let's go back and guess how it logically developed that way..." If the back-logic spins in a new direction, I'll follow it and let the idea adapt. I'm still not sure if I'm up to this, but it's a fun mental exercise... ...and for once I'm not telling anyone about it. Not Chris, not Kit, not you. Because time and again, if I discuss ideas, they die. It's like, once the tale is told (even verbally!) my muse things her work is done and moves out. So while it might drive me nuts to not say anything, I'm going to try to have some freakin' discipline and bite my tongue and let these thoughts brew in peace. Wish me luck. Current Mood: thoughtful | | Monday, July 11th, 2005 | GIP(s)!
7:15 pm: All right, so it's tacky and somewhat epileptic-fit-inducing, but I had to tinker with video capture software ALL NIGHT, so...yeah, I like it. For now. Also GIP, but not one I'm adding to my line-up because my parents actually DO read my journal, so, uh, it'll just be awkward. Still, the quote made me giggle. ( Yeah, it's rude -- Bill Hicks via Preacher via Scans_DailyCollapse ) | A meme I rather like...
11:45 am: 1) Tell us something about yourself, something small and odd and uniquely you. 2) Tell us a lie about yourself that's also small and odd and uniquely you. 3) Tell us something you've never done but that you'd like to do. 4) Now the same again, only this time make something utterly, flamboyantly impossible. No, I'm not fishing for comments. I genuinely think this sounds like fun. :) Current Mood:  curious | | Sunday, July 10th, 2005 | Bwee? Firefly news?
1:48 am: Apparently, Sci-Fi has picked up Firefly! Now, personally, I have a deep deadly grudge against Sci-Fi. BUT. The additional rumor, according to something called "Sci-Fi Insider," says if the movie succeeds they're considering a second "season" of one-shots set within the FF universe. This is third-hand rumor, mind you, but it's an exciting thought anyway! I might actually forgive them. IF this happens, and IF Joss is allowed full control. PS: Caught the Fantastic Four movie tonight and actually quite liked it. PPS: Zombies! Graaarrr! EDIT: Oh this is fun. Though my younger self disagrees violently. SHE knew how to draw a horse! Current Mood: hmmm! |
|
