Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

These are the questions triggerhappy asked me.

1) What thing (book, movie, toy, song etc.) takes you back to childhood?
Doctor Xargle's book of Earthlets, something about the colours and drawings of it that immediately transfers me back to that state of being a kid. It makes me feel the wonder, the curiosity and the faint traces of fear that defined childhood in so many ways.

2) What is your current go to/can't get enough song?
This question requires a three-step answer. Firstly the intentional "can't get enough" is O+S' Lonely Ghost. Simply can't get enough of this gorgeous song and I listen to it almost daily. Secondly we have the song that's been stalking me, Beyonce's Halo. This song follows me around like a faithful puppy-dog, and the thing is, I kinda like it. I'd never put it on intentionally, but still I've got a weak spot for it. Thirdly we have the song that currently will not let me go no matter what, I wake up with it dancing through my mind and it sings me to sleep at night, Dolly Parton's Touch Your Woman.

3) How many languages do you speak/read/write?
When it comes to all three (speak/read/write) I only master Swedish and English fluently. Danish I understand in both speech and writing, but I thoroughly suck at speaking it. Other than that I have basic Spanish knowledge, to the point where I can more or less pick up the gist of a conversation/text, but far from feeling any security in my knowledge. Then I've got rudimentary French, just able to pick up a few words and phrases here and there. Hopefully one day I will be able to feel both comfortable and secure in my Spanish and add some more Japanese to my repertoire (currently it is very limited to weird anime phrases/exclamations).

4) What subject would you really like to study that you haven't been able to in school?
I think I've studied more or less all subjects I've ever wanted to. If I find something that interests me I just make sure that I will be able to incorporated it into whatever else I am studying at the time. But I wish I would have had the time/opportunity to truly learn Latin.

Opposite of that would be 5) What subject did you have to take that you wished you wouldn't have had to?
Home Economics. Hated it with a fierce vengeance, from the first lesson to the last. I can take pleasure in cooking or playing around the house, but never through the fascist methods they used to teach the classes in school. I did not particularly care for learning how to make sausage stew. And I really did not care for the forced two-some the made us take part of. Each term you were assigned a "kitchen-mate", always of the opposite sex, and you were forced to perpetuate some kind of demented fantasy of domestic bliss while your scones burnt and your pancakes fell to pieces. As if that wasn't bad enough it was as if Home Economics brought out the worst in everyone and I've never seen as much explicit bullying as in those classes. Yeah, I could definitely have done without Home Economics.

1. Write only using Write or Die.
2. Keep the screen covered while writing so I'm not tempted to correct/rewrite anything.
3. No re-reading.

It's Day 8, and my current word count is a whopping 3,014. I'm over 10K behind. My motivation is at an all-time low. I'm not giving up, though. I did it once, and if I follow these rules (and avoid the NaNo website like the plague so everyone else's insanely high word counts don't make me want to kill myself), I can do it again.

And now for something FUN! Yay!

( Meme questions from elsieaustin )

Argh. I keep forgetting to add books here, or not having time...

Book 98: Sunrunner's Fire, by Melanie Rawn. More politics, and settling down the last pretenders to the throne.

Book 99: Stronghold, by Melanie Rawn. Invaders and a shocking death.

Book 100: The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Finally here, lots of Egwene and Rand. Looking forward to what's next.

Book 101: Small Favor, by Jim Butcher. They blew up the Shedd! Bastards!

Book 102: Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher. Now all the threads are coming together; be interesting to see how this latest conflict turns out.

If you didn't hear the news, we got a call on Wednesday informing us that THE GATHERING STORM had hit the number one spot on the New York Times hardcover Best Seller list. This was accompanied by hitting number one on the independent bookseller's list and being the bestselling hardcover fiction book at Barnes & Noble and at Borders. (And at the last one, I believe, we were the overall #1 book regardless of genre, which is impressive.) We did, in fact, knock Dan Brown out of the #1 spot—by a wide margin.

How do I feel? Relieved. When I first began this project, my largest fear by far was that I would disappoint the fans. As I have stated before, I consider this your book and not mine. That doesn't mean I'm writing it to please the fans specifically—I'm writing these novels to be the best blasted books that they can be, narratively, structurally, and characterizationally. (Is that a word?) My goal is not to produce fan moments, per se, but to produce the best story possible, if that distinction makes any sense.

Either way, the last four Wheel of Time books had all hit #1, and I worried a lot that it would be on my watch where we failed to do so. It is a testament to the beloved nature of the series, mixed with the ardor of the readers, that we have weathered a change in authors without a dip. We actually outsold KNIFE OF DREAMS' first week, which is amazing.

The thing is, I don't feel I can take much—if any—credit for this. The reason this book turned out as well as it did (and thank you all for your kind emails, posts, and reviews) was because of the work Robert Jordan did before he passed away. He literally lay on his deathbead dictating scenes for you, too weak to write. He loved his readers dearly, and those of you lucky enough to meet him know that he was a truly kind and generous man.

Beyond that, the strength of this book is directly tied to the excellent storytelling that came before it. It doesn't take much experience with construction to realize that the foundation of a building is far more important—structurally—than the roof. Robert Jordan's skill with worldbuilding, characterization, and plotting was amazing. Working on these books has only increased my respect for his abilities.

None of you ran out to get the book because of me. My job was, and continues to be, to stay out of the way and let you enjoy the story that Robert Jordan wanted you to have. I am honored and humbled that so many of you have enjoyed the book. Thank you for what you have done in giving me a chance to prove myself to you.

Somewhere, Robert Jordan is smiling.

[The following post may contain traces of nuts as well as spoilers up to the end of season 8 of Los Hombres de Paco.]

I found myself once again engaging in some wrestling!Spanish and suddenly it felt like I had hit a wall, my language skills simply had to be expanded beyond what Willie Urbina and Hector Guerrero could teach me. So after a bout of haphazard browsing I decided to finally give Los Hombres de Paco a chance after having bumped into it all over the internet for ages. Thanks to the lovely that is fangirls it is up on YouTube and is featuring an English sub, which despite my best intentions of learning the language is very much needed.

Mindlessly I began watching, and to begin with the adventure consisted of trying to work out all the relationship, blood and otherwise. I was watching the Pepa & Silvia compilation vids which only feature Pepa and Silvia and doesn't start until season 5, so it took me a while to sort them all out. The short of it, everyone is related to everyone and everyone has slept with everyone, give or take. Your basic soap.

And while figuring out relationships I was treated to some proper Ladycops scenes, there was stake-out-ing with enormous amounts of sexual tension, plus there was over the top crime fighting and dialogue. For that alone I had to continue watching. It was also around that time I was treated to Pepa and Silvia chasing criminals at a strip joint wearing nothing but lingerie, guns and faint traces of modesty. So clearly I had to continue continuing.

Then I began falling for the characters around them, they were dorky and they were endearing. And as I was busy falling for the ensemble, the budding relationship between Pepa and Silvia began to blossom and I had to stay to see how things panned out. Then there was so much corny adorability in their new relationship that I had to stayed just a little longer.

And before I knew it I had passed the point of no return and was freakin' hooked (on a Spanish freakin' soap!). I found myself actually caring for these characters and not even the interrogation of ventriloquist dummies could make me stop pressing play.

So here I am, balancing on the edge between me and the final PepSi episode and I can't seem to make up my mind. I know perfectly well how their story will end (you'd have to be blind and illiterate not to pick up on that from around the web), but do I want to actually watch it with my own eyes? The thing is, in theory I'm really not that against the ending, given the circumstances it's a kinda cool ending. However that is in theory. Do I really want to feel the heartbreak of actually watching it? Yet there might be beauty in the pain, something I will miss if I don't watch it. Yeah, I just can't make up my mind which way to go on this.

Either way I was thoroughly entertained by this cheesy and corny Spanish soap/crime-show/comedy. It was fun and refreshing to see something new, something rather different from what I am used to. It was also very refreshing to see a same-sex couple get as much open affection and sexing time on a mainstream show as the hetero ones. But what will truly stay with me is the fact that they didn't cover up the torso when they autopsied women. We got to see dead boobs, and that doesn't happen every day.

And who knows perhaps I've managed to pick up some more Spanish along the way, though I doubt it.

So the posting every day in November only lasted, what, 6 days? Honestly, that was a bit longer than I expected. I'm not good at doing something every day. Every other day generally works just fine for me. I'm going to continue to make the effort to post every day however.

I didn't write yesterday. I probably could have found the time, but I had a sinus headache all day and quite frankly didn't feel great. Still felt good enough to go out and see friends, however, so that may say something.

This morning I woke up with a migraine, which is unsurprising given the day long headache from the day before. This morning, though, I will write.

( Today's thinky thoughts: Discipline )

I need both -- that fire to write, as well as the discipline. What about you? When the fire thins, how do you rev it back up? How much do you write on sheer discipline?

I know I've been slacking, but hopefully I am back.



ETA: **MAY CAUSE SUDDEN SHORTNESS OF BREATH. PROCEED AT OWN RISK.**


( This week - a tribute to female masculinity )
***


Second to last cap snagged from paget_daily which is well-worth watching.

Hey, look, I'm a giant Care Bear! CARE BEAR STARE!!!!!! (No, I will never grow up.)


( Read more... )

This morning we discussed how, if you're going to be a serial killer, right next door to a head-cheese making facility isn't a bad place to be. People blame the smell on the head-cheese. (I do feel sorry for the sausage guys in that grisly story. There's no way you can scrub your factory clean enough to compensate for a serial killer next door.)

Then we discussed how nice it must be for a company to go to extra effort for a customer (in this case, sending an extra photo print to the customer because the size they asked for was "not easily frame-able," and then discovering that your customer was the Wall Street Journal, secret shopping you).

Tomorrow's conversation will almost certainly be how long it has been since the military has executed a soldier following a court martial, and what modern-day method could be expected for a soldier these days. To quote a friend's elderly uncle ... it sure seems like lethal injection is a "slap on the wrist."

High-quality leather books (aka "pretty books"), hardbacks, paperbacks, Kindle, and iPhone -- I really like them all, but not for the same reason. I wish there were one version that didn't have a flaw.

I didn't think that I'd like the Kindle enough to justify the money, but the fact that it has an instant-access dictionary is a huge thing in my world. I don't have to guess from context ... and something like "zareba" doesn't really carry a whole lot of contextual imagery unless you actually know what the heck it is. The ability to change the size of the text is great. So is ... and this is almost embarrassing ... the ability to get all cozy in bed and be able to easily manipulate the book with one hand.

I didn't think I'd like the iPhone reader, but it's just dandy. It's easy to read, easy to manipulate, and it's always with me when I have to wait an extra 5 or 15 minutes. I'm grumpy that it doesn't have a dictionary, though. That's now my baseline requirement for an e-book reader.

I enjoy reading paperbacks, but I really hate how short their lifespan is. I have multiple series that I've had to replace one or more times because the book's lifespan is a dozen years or half a dozen reads, whichever comes first. And I begrudge the space a paperback takes if I never read it again.

Pretty books ... yum. I wish there were more titles offered in archival-quality, leather-bound, permanent ribbon bookmark format. Usually only tried and true literature gets bound in leather ... but there are all sorts of titles I'd love to have on my "top shelf." But then there's the price. Le Sigh.

I really wonder what the book industry will consider standard in twenty years.

The plan last night was:

1. Write on the plane
2. Take the bus home
3. Respond to comments once I got home.

What happened:
1. Slept, read and crocheted on the plane
2. Indulged myself and took a shuttle
3. Vegged on the couch watching Top Chef

Being in the office exhausts me. I frequently forget this, and try to do too much.

( More thoughts on exhaustion and recovery )

So after you get through the exhaustion, what do you do to recharge?

Yay! It was fun. Yay! It's over. :P ( play by play )

To celebrate having handed in all assignments I decided to picspam a little. This time in the from of a Top 10 Fictional Characters. Feel free to treat this as a meme, cause I would really like to know about your top 10 and the reasons why you love them.

***

10.) Fury Leika (Dr. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG-BLOG)



She might only appear for 2 seconds, if at that, but the character bio is just too good to not add her to this list. She’s like the ultimate super villain that never happened, thoroughly geeky and way out there. One of these days I will write her a proper homage, because she really needs to be developed. She and her incendiary rice are just crackling with potential.

9.) Zoe (FIREFLY/SERENITY)



A stoic warrior with a regal touch. She had a calm over her that really made her the best second-in-command you could ever ask for, it also makes her a very impressive character and human being. She’s the kind of character you know your life would just improve if you were around her. The mother, the warrior and the goddess all wrapped up into one.


8.) Tick (THE TICK)



Quite possibly the greatest superhero ever created. His world is so simple yet he lives in complex and gorgeous poetry. Each sentence out of his mouth is better than the previous. He is the William Shakespeare of superheroes and as a writer and manipulator of words he gets under my skin, in a most pleasant way.

7.) Sam Vimes (DISCWORLD)



A man down and balancing on the edge of being out, finds himself, and finds a purpose. With a single-minded determination and through encouragement and support he finds himself, he re-invents himself and becomes a better man. He becomes one of those men who stand behind his belief, but at the same time understands the subtleties of the world. I admire that, and I am always entertained by the adventures of Sam Vimes.

6.) Maud Lilly (FINGERSMITH)



I’ve never been a fan of the psychotic lesbians, this is my exception. Maud Lilly and especially the Maud Lilly of the book is so deliciously manipulative and broken. Her world, and her mind is such a dark place, such a complex and sticky web of darkness and shame. Yet in the midst of all that there might be more, there might be a core of love, something bright she desperately tries to quell. Good writing.

5.) Stewie (FAMILY GUY)



He might be a living (as far as a cartoon can be a living) stereotype, but there’s something more to him. Despite all his hatred and resentment you can’t help loving him. He’s a toddler bent on world domination, but there is something strangely real about him at the same time. I know it sounds completely crazy to use a word such as real in reference to anything featured on Family Guy, but Stewie is. Full of self-loathing and bouts of embarrassing enthusiasm he is hard not to feel for, or relate to.

4.) Laura Holt (REMINGTON STEELE)



Laura Holt introduced me to feminism. Or that isn’t completely true, 9 to 5 introduced me to feminism, but it was Laura Holt who thoroughly educated me in the concept. She is one of those incredibly strong and determined women that you would be a fool not to admire. Not only did she know what she wanted, but she made sure nothing, not even other peoples’ expectations could or would stand in her way.

3.) Emily Prentiss (CRIMINAL MINDS)



If I had to describe Emily Prentiss I would use the words insecure and determined. The fact that those two are in direct conflict with each other is why she stands out. She’s this cold and hard exterior behind which you can almost sense the lost little girl who is desperately trying to make the world love her. She goes around waving a gun, kicking down doors and takes a beating without as much a blink of an eye. But when you do look into those dark eyes there’s a storm and there’s a depth that stays with you and makes you want to explore the character beyond the show.

2.) Faith (BUFFY the VAMPIRE SLAYER/ANGEL)



Another broken girl growing up into a searching woman. Faith was a monster, but she was an utterly human monster. Wrong decisions, unfair events, all of it resulting in a broken and bruised psyche that it took another monster to heal. Faith just blew my mind when she stepped on the show and her journey was one of the most interesting tales they told. Plus her attitude was infectious and somehow made you feel a bit stronger, a little rawer and in general she just made you feel…more.

1.) Gabrielle (XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS)



Xena might be my childhood hero, but it’s the character of Gabrielle that is most interesting on XWP, and she is way interesting, downright fascinating. Hers is a story of spiritual and emotional growth and maturing, and it touches you in many ways. She made so many mistakes, but she never stopped getting up. She tried to help, she tried to find herself. She never stopped trying. No matter what. It was a pleasure seeing her grow and become a complex and morally ambiguous three dimensional character and she will probably always be one of my absolute favourites.

***

I was cleaning up amongst all my picture files. I found this old screen shot taken from one of the message boards on IMDb. Can't remember which actress, but that's really besides the point cause the hilarity is undeniable no matter.

HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL MOTHERFUCKING BASTARDS THEY JUST WON THE GODDAMN FUCKING WORLD SERIOUS I AM NOT FUCKING KIDDING MAN AND IT IS FUCKING AWESOME AND YOU KNOW AFTER THEY ALL SPRAYED THEMSELVES WITH CRISTAL OR WHATEVER THEY ALL KISSED AND HUGGED EACH OTHER EVEN MY PRETTY PRINCESSES A-ROD AND DEREK BECAUSE THEIR LOVE IS FUCKING CANON NOW AND IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL GODDAMN FUCKING THING.





"Oh mah Gah, we won! Now at last we can start rehearsals for West Side Story! Damn it, Joba, arms to the side! One, two, three...."

ETA: Photos from SI.com.

ETA #2: Some really cool drawings of Matsui & other players.

ETA ##: Misspelled "canon"! Oh no!

Today was just an all-around really good day.

( Read more... )

I'm taking a bit of a break from livejournaling. Except for posting the meme prizes and my Halloween pictures -- I'll do that on Friday. And I'll be back. But right now -- I just feel like it's more important to concentrate on the individual people in my life than to post essays in a more - or - less public forum. I'm way behind on reading, and I still have not posted anything substantial on XOC since getting home. So although my responsibilities have increased, if anything my ability to do several things at once has decreased -- I find I'm having so much fun talking on IM that I'm not concentrating on anything else on the screen, and my email inbox is out of control again. :) So it's mostly due to lack of time. I am also still figuring out how this community works. I mean, unlike me (I do have this tendency to monologue... :) ) most of my f-list sticks to shorter posts, about events and such, current events, articles, etc. I've been driving myself crazy wondering why there weren't more comments, when I've had so many really cool IM discussions about some of the things I've been posting ... and I don't know what I expect, really. I'm still figuring out how online communities work in general. I kinda plunged in with both feet on XOC, and when I first started talking with lavender_jane, somehow it started to seem like it was the expectation for friendship that you'd post back and forth, send emails, talk on IM and text all the time -- and I adapted to that, so I'm still trying to understand how it works. It's too easy to get overwhelmed, and if this wasn't fun, we wouldn't do it. Sometimes I'll open up my lj to try to work through something, but I think I'm going to try starting to use my private journal again and see what happens...what I find out when I just start writing, with no expectation of others reading it. So I'll be back, I can't promise when. In the meantime, I solemnly swear I will do better leaving comments, and catching up on all the posts I missed.

I will lift my eyes to the Maker of the mountain I can't climb
...I will lift my eyes to the Healer of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, I will lift my eyes

Same meme -- this time, I would be glad to ask you questions (please indicate in your comment if you'd like to be interviewed, or if you're just commenting) -- I'm going to be taking a break from livejournaling for a little while just 'cause there's so much to be done online!

Here's the questions I got from plaid_slytherin:
( Read more... )

My sister's statement "Well, maybe I got confused, because tomorrow was such a long day" reminds me of the worst job I ever held.

At that company, the rules were arbitrary and VERY strictly enforced, and I was expected to perform duties I had no idea how to do. The head boss yelled (YELLED!!) at any and every mistake. I was a temporary receptionist for two months there and just about had a nervous breakdown.

At one point I was trying to make copies (you have no idea how stressful that can be until your boss screams at you for doing it wrong) and when I got back to my desk there was a man sitting in my chair.

I gave a little shriek.

The guy looked at me in surprise, and I said, "OH! It's you! Thank goodness! I thought it was me sitting over there, and that would be scary because I know I'm still in the copier room."

Yeah. That place had me rattled.

(The end of the story is that when my two-month tour was over, the company tried to hire me permanently. I mean, they tried really hard ... up to and including an executive from Italy talking to me on the phone. Turns out the longest anyone else had stayed in the position was three days. The shortest was half a day ... that receptionist called her doctor, described her heart attack-like symptoms, and was told "Get out of there, now.")

Hey, Philip Roth is doing Nano Ono. Well, not really. But gosh, that sure does sound like every book he's ever written.

Some midweek mood music: