Peregrinations

Sherlock Holmes: The Review

2009-12-29T19:57:17Z

Short Version: Loved, loved, loved it. It's like the creators went into my brain and rooted around and found every single thing that I love in a movie, and then put it on the screen. Yesssss.

Longer Version: ... ah, to heck with it. Just read this review. She already said it all.

Let it Snow?

2009-12-24T15:32:43Z

Weather forecast has a pretty good snowstorm blowing through the area, just in time for Christmas Eve! Like ... for reals? A White Christmas ... in Dallas? Oh, yes please!

Merry Christmas to everyone! (And happy birthday to kiriko_moth and suburbanbeatnik too!)

Fic Recs?

2009-12-23T19:29:46Z

This may be a strange request, but I just found out about a huge fandom for Buffy/Supernatural crossover fic (which makes sense!), and I have no idea where to start. Does anyone out there know of any good fic in this category?

Any other fic recs are welcome too! I loves me some well-written fanfiction.

Thanks, guys!

Yesterday was Awesome

2009-12-19T16:18:29Z

I replaced a ton of my dried-out Prisma markers for $25! Twenty-five bucks! For ten Prismacolor markers! When the gal gave me my total I blinked and said, "Are y'all having a sale?" She shrugged and said, "They're ringing up at $2.51, so I guess so." Awesome.

Also got a haircut for the first time since July. My hair stylist is the best in the world, and I've gone to her since 1997; she laughed when she saw how shaggy I'd gotten. So now I have this cute little pixie bob (which is apparently a breed of cat. Who knew?).

Now today I just have to get caught up on about a hundred and fifty commissions I've got backlogged, because I've been killing myself with these dang Marvel sketchcards. (If you scroll down, that's my Rogue, second row from the bottom, on the left!) But I can do that now, because I have replaced my dried-out markers! (And thus we come back around to the beginning, and end.) How's everybody else doing? Anybody go see Avatar yet? Or The Princess and the Frog?

Don't Mess with Kansas

2009-12-10T15:25:11Z

One of the (many many) reasons I love Supernatural is, it gets Kansas and Kansas folk right. Dean is a Kansas boy through and through, and Sammy is a Kansas boy who tried to get away and got sucked back in (yes, it happens all the time), and the people they meet on their travels are the sort of folk you'd expect to see in the Midwestern states. I love it. Sure, you can tell they're not actually shooting in the Midwest (the episode set in "Richardson, Texas" was clearly shot by folk who had never actually seen Richardson, which is part of the DFW Metro-sprawl, and had way too many trees), but one gets used to that sort of thing in TV shows, and can accomodate.

But I do hate it when TV shows get Kansas wrong.

In a recent Dollhouse ep, when a character is asked where she came from, she responds, "Salinas, Kansas," pronounced "Sal-EE-nas." Now, folks, there's no such place. There's Salina, Kansas, pronounced "Sal-EYE-na," though. (That's one of those "Are you a true Kansan" tests, too--being able to say "Salina" right.) Now, the character in question was not who she claimed, but that would seem to make it all the more important to get it right. What if a true Kansan had been nearby? He would've smelled a rat at once, blowing her cover. Badly done, Hollywood!

Now I'm trying out the first episode of a show called Jericho, set in the little town of Jericho, Kansas. I have no problem with people making up towns in my state--I'm doing it myself, in a story I'm working on. So that's all good. But as the main character's getting close to Wichita ... are those mountains in the distance? That famous mountain range that goes through the middle of Kansas? I know what I said about getting used to scenery goofs, but ... mountains?!

I feel protective of my home state, you know? Do other people feel the same? (Part of me supposes they must; another part isn't so sure.) If you're from, say, Montana, do you freaking hate seeing Montana goofed up and derided in the media? Or Tennesee? Or New Orleans?

Fantasy Authors Quiz

2009-12-10T00:26:31Z

In lieu of content, a silly quiz! (I'm happy with who I got! XD)

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Orson Scott Card (b.1951)

-21 High-Brow, -3 Violent, 13 Experimental and 1 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are Low-Brow, Peaceful, Experimental and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.

Although primarily known for his science fiction novels, Orson Scott Card is also a prominent fantasy writer. His suite of books known as The Tales of Alvin Maker are among the finest examples of how fantasy can combine page-turning narration with a discussion of deeper moral messages. The books are set in an alternate world where, among other things, the French Revolution never happened, which has made America look quite different than in the world we're familiar with. Apart from showing a different political map, the world of The Tales of Alvin Maker features functioning magic, the European settlers of North America bringing various forms of folk-magic with them to their new home. Here they confront Native Americans, who also use magic, but of a slightly different type. The protagonist, Alvin, is a seventh son of a seventh son and as such has great magic powers at his disposal. Much of the series comes forth as an attempt to discuss the birth of the US and celebrating its virtues without shunning away from the mistakes that have been made.

Card is one of the most appealing story-tellers alive today and has the ability to combine his light and easy prose with experimenting with what fantasy can be, by bringing up subjects such as racism and slavery, by using alternate world settings and last but not least by letting the "small world" of family-life (complete with sibling envy from those who weren't born with the ability to do magic) have a prominent place in his stories.

Card is also one to propagate against violence, but without falling into the trap of being unrealistic or romantically pacifist. The question of who should be reading Card, those who want to be entertained or those who want to be challenged is easily answered: They all should!

You are also a lot like Katharine Kerr.

If you want some action, try Lian Hearn.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, China Miéville.

Your score

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four diffent scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received -21 points, making you more Low-Brow than High-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, while a typical low-brow would favour the best-selling kind. At their best, low-brows are honest enough to read what they like, regardless of what "experts" and academics say is good for them. At their worst, they are more likely to read what their neighbours like than what they would choose themselves.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received -3 points, making you more Peaceful than Violent. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you aren't, and you don't, then you are peaceful as defined here. At their best, peaceful people are the ones who encourage dialogue and understanding as a means of solving conflicts. At their worst, they are standing passively by as they or third parties are hurt by less scrupulous individuals.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received 13 points, making you more Experimental than Traditional. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, experimental people are the ones who show humanity the way forward. At their worst, they provoke for the sake of provocation only.

Cynical vs. Romantic

You received 1 points, making you more Cynical than Romantic. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, cynical people are able to see through lies and spot crucial flaws in plans and schemes. At their worst, they are overly negative, bringing everybody else down.

Author picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orson_Scott_Card_at_BYU_Symposium_20080216_closeup.jpg

Click the link for license info.

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

Question for the BSG fans

2009-12-09T05:58:15Z

Why exactly is the ending so hated? 'Cause I saw it (having skipped most of season 4, which I did not find watchable), and I didn't think it was that bad.

I actually thought Roslin's death was very touching, especially given what bad shape she was in by the end. Adama's reaction was very moving. Helo and Athena working out their issues and moving forward on the new planet made me happy. I have no idea what was going on with Angel!Starbuck, but whatever. That whole Lee-Starbuck-Anders plot thread was pretty tired even when they trotted it out. But the general "having a fresh start on a gorgeous unspoiled planet" thing was quite nice, I thought. I'm not sure the coda with Head-Baltar and Head-Six was anything more than a writerly, "Hey, guyz, look at this cool idea I just had, lol," but I mean, even it wasn't awful, just not really to any particular point.

So, was it a problem of expectations? What gives with the hate?

(kokorognosis I'm counting on YOU!)

Solomon Kane

2009-12-05T17:32:05Z

How soon is "soon"?! Can it be this winter so we can have a Sherlock Holmes/Wolfman/Solomon Kane trifecta of period action movie awesomeness?

Can't Stop the Signal

2009-12-04T15:31:49Z

So those Jane Austen/Classic Monster mashups are pretty clever, right? Well there's a new one out, Mansfield Park and Mummies, and the author needs your help.

She's not asking for handouts, not even asking that you buy a copy of her book: just asking that you spread the word, so that it can reach the same audiences that made Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters successful.

Myself, I'm adding MP&M to my wishlist and hoping I get it for Christmas; it sounds fun, and vastly better than the other two!

Can't stop the signal, guys!

(via sartorias )

Pet Peeves

2009-12-03T02:44:08Z

How patient are you with books you read? I am not very patient, myself (life is too short for reading bad books!), and if a book fails to grab me within a decent amount of time, or irritates me with its shenanigans, I will put it down no matter how far along in it I am. Earlier this week Kathleen Bryan's* The Serpent and the Rose irked me with its slow pacing, strangely distant narrative voice, and then some asinine thinly-veiled slams against Christianity, and I stopped reading about two-thirds through. Today I have regretfully put aside The Magicians and Mrs Quent, by Galen Beckett.**

I really wanted to like this book! It is a magical Regency-cum-Gothic-cum-Victorian-epic, and the Regency and magic are two great tastes that combine for extra-super-awesomeness! Just think of The Enchanted Chocolate Pot or Mairelon the Magician! (But then, Patricia Wrede is an excellent writer, and her books have just the right mix of period manners, enchantment, and adventure.) Mrs Quent, however, failed to grab my interest; the narrative voice, a sort of inferior Jane Austen pastiche, did not enthrall ... and the author spelled "magic" with a "k" on the end.

Yes, it's a mere pecadillo next to having boring characters and a plot that hasn't started moving at all within the first twenty pages (I told you I'm not patient), but it's one of those minor little things that just drive me up a wall! "Magick," indeed! It's sort of like in the latter seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Willow's magic became "The Magicks," capital letters audible. Please! Get over yourselves! Magic doesn't need to be made more special-er with all those high-scoring letters from the Scrabble game! "Magick" is not more magical than "magic" is; nor is "majick" or "majyk" or "majyck" or whatever other goofy misspellings pompous fantasy authors are coming up with these days. Harrumph!

So now I'm on to the next book in the stack from the library haul, The Bone-Doll's Twin, about which I've heard very good things.***

*a pseudonym for Judith Tarr, whose book Queen of the Amazons, about Hippolyta and Alexander the Great, I read with a great deal of enjoyment.

**another pseudonym, this time for Mark Anthony. It's of interest to me that both books have blurbs on the covers implying that these are debut novels, when in fact, both authors have been published multiple times before. Why do that? Are people more likely to buy debut novels than novels by established authors?

***Well, Orson Scott Card recommended it on his site. Turns out he also recommended Mrs Quent, though, which gives me a little pause. Just because he's a great writer doesn't mean he has awesome taste in books...?

Dear Supernatural, Apocalypse Edition,

2009-11-20T03:10:11Z

DAMN YOU, SHOW! Why must you kill off all your awesome women characters?! Scratch that: why must you kill off all your women characters, at all, ever? NOOOOOOO!

But li'l Jo's death cemented her as perhaps the awesomest of them all, especially her unflinching rationality in the face of it. And hey, she got to go out with a bang!

Also, how the heck are they going to deal with Lucifer, since the Colt didn't work? I guess God is their only hope! (How's that for subtle?)

Also also, no new episodes 'til January?! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Well, at least it gives me time to make all my deadlines without distraction!

In sum: great episode. Thank you once again, Supernatural, for ripping my heart out of my chest and stomping it into a squishy goo.

Dear Supernatural

2009-11-13T04:28:49Z

I love you when you are meta. "It's not jumping the shark if you don't come back down!" Exactly!

Also, you made me love Sammy for the first time since ... ever. Well done, show!

Love and kisses,
Me

P.S.

CROWLEY?!?!?! And played by Mark Sheppard?!?! WTF SHOW I AM GEEKING OUT SO HARD.

Addendum to the Most Romantic Movie Moments

2009-11-07T15:25:57Z

Yesterday while I worked I was watching Terminator 3 again, and at the end there's this (the good stuff starts at 3:00):

When John says, "I am," and Kate takes his hand, I just die, it makes me cry every time, the whole ending of the movie is awesome. This is probably further proof that I am a.) not normal and b.) an enormous softie, but this movie does it right. It's all running jumping (climbing trees?) blowing stuff up (the chase through the city is unintentionally hi-larious--or maybe not unintentionally), with the romance between the two leads being little more than an afterthought, and yet it works. Is it the high strings of aching sorrow and destiny fulfilled on the soundtrack? Is it having the weight of three whole movies (+ the show if you feel like retconning that in) behind this moment? I don't know, but it is just exactly the sort of thing I can't get enough of.

Dear Supernatural

2009-11-06T03:09:20Z

Nice retcon, guys!

(Erm, I realize thumbs-up Dean makes it seem like I'm being ironic, but I'm really not! Tonight's episode was coooooool! Sam n Dean better turn their not-very-considerable intellects towards the problem of thwarting their "destiny," though, and be quick about it.)

I love this show! (Even though their theology makes no sense.)

Writer's Block: Here's looking at you

2009-11-05T21:28:00Z

What is your all-time favorite, romantic movie scene? What about it speaks to you?

View 1073 Answers

Unlike pariahsdream I thought I would have a hard time answering this prompt: romance is not my favorite thing in any movie, and for years I told people that Tim Burton's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was my favorite romantic movie in the world. (It was even true for a while! Jane Austen and age have mellowed me, so I can enjoy movies that are more explicitly romance-centric, so long as they don't star Meg Ryan or Tom Hanks. Possession was pretty good!) But then immediately popped into my head this sequence from The Village: (The good stuff starts around 2:30, but The moment is at about 3:23)

It just kills me, I tear up every time I watch it. That right there, with no words and no explanations, symbolizes their relationship, their love, the reason they work. She trusts him to come for her, and he does. The violin and the slo-mo don't hurt, either.

I don't like a lot of talking in my romance, or a lot of swooning and pining. Twilight is bearable as a book because one can read it fairly quickly; on film all those yearning glances, full of passion, take forever (and also look like the actors are suffering upset tummies). Most of the time, I'd rather the characters carry on with the business of what the film is really about (hunting down ancient mummies, smuggling stolen goods from planet to planet, seeking fantastic treasures by following clues left by ancestors of the Knights Templar, battling undead pirates, or VR agents of sentient machines, or killer robots from the future, or what-have-you) and leave the romance almost entirely unspoken.

The kiss towards the end of National Treasure is pretty good too. And I think we can all agree that Pirates of the Caribbean 3 had the best wedding sequence in any movie, ever.

Oh and then of course there's this:

I could talk about the awesomeness of Labyrinth for ever and ever, but I won't. I can't count how many times I've watched the movie (several times a year since I was twelve?), but that moment around 2:02 where he steps forward and takes her into the dance still gives me shivers. Now there's a weird romance. He wants her, and courts her through cruelty; she's too young and naive to understand what he's about. The whole romantic subplot is not something I understood the first time I saw the movie (when I was, like, twelve), but now I can't get enough of it, and David Bowie's Jareth is still the form of dark sexy bad guy, for me. (Note that Sarah ultimately rejects him, however, turning her back on the fantasy world he offers and choosing to become an adult in reality. MAN, that movie is just all kinds of awesome!)

Runners Up include: Belle's "I love you" at the end of the Disney Beauty and the Beast; Mal and Inara's conversation at the end of Serenity; and the final charge at the end of The Last Samurai. What do you mean that's not romantic? :D

What about you guys? *iz curious*

Font Help

2009-11-05T16:55:56Z

Hey everybody,

I don't suppose anyone can ID the fonts in this picture? I used them pre-computer crash, and now the client needs to know what they are. I have no idea!

If you recognize either of them, please let me know!

ETA: "Wonderland" font is Vintage. Still trying to figure out that crazy script for "Alice", though. I thought it was The King and Queen, but it isn't.

ETA II: VICTORY! The other font is OLHO DE BOI, which has a teeny preview in Photoshop, which is why I couldn't figure it out. Whew!

splat

2009-11-02T15:16:18Z

So, we bought a house.

And, we moved all our stuff in.

Also, we have a fridge. But no stove, and no hot water.

Also also, I thought one of the cats escaped when the guys brought the fridge, panicked, and then burst into tears when she was found amidst a stack of boxes.

Am exhausted, will write more later. But! We have a house!

SPLAT.

book nerd meme!

2009-10-20T00:56:29Z

X-posted from my dA journal, because: hey, actual content! Books are always a good subject!

A LIT MEME FOR ALL THE BOOK NERDS:

. So, you can read! Congrats!
Are you reading a book right now? How far are you into it and what do you think so far? If you're not, what was the last book you read and how did you feel about it?
I just started Georgette Heyer's Charity Girl, and am about two chapters in. Heyer is my go-to author for fun sparkling witty feel-good un-put-downable light reading, which is about all I can handle at the moment. Like many of hers it has a slow start, but once the wacky hijinks get going I know I won't be able to stop reading it.

. Do you have a favorite book? Do you have... a book you really liked, at least?
Yes! And no! I have many favorite books, books I love, books I believe make the universe a better place just by existing and being read by people, but I can't think of any of them right now. No, that's not true: there's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, for starters, and the full awesomeness of The Lies of Locke Lamora. I would try to think of more impressive, you know, like "literary" books, but I can't. I love books that are fun and cool! Ooh, I just thought of another! Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. Brilliant! Oh! And Sunshine by Robin McKinley--possibly the best vampire book ever! And Moby-Dick, which is genius! And--and--and--!

. What would you say is your favorite genre to read? What do you tend to steer away from?
Nautical fiction and fantasy are my favorite genres, although blending the two together usually ends in wailing and gnashing of teeth; all I've read so far is incompetently written and badly researched, "badly" here having the meaning of "not at all", which is enough to drive an armchair sailor up a wall. So I should stay away from nautical fantasy, but I can't, because hope springs eternal and all that. Other than that I will read just about anything so long as it is good (you know, according to my own idiosyncratic tastes), but graphic sex and violence make me put the book down quickly.

. Do you read more fiction or non-fiction/information books?
Definitely fiction, although you should see my nautical reference library!

. How about a favorite author, or perhaps a few?
If Scott Lynch fulfills the promise of Locke Lamora and its sequel, he will definitely be one of my all-time favorites! I think it's so cool that authors being published now are my age, and have the same influences and background that I do: Locke Lamora is named after a Final Fantasy character! How cool is that? Erm ... that geekery aside, I also love Robin McKinley and Patricia McKillip, Georgette Heyer of course, P.G. Wodehouse, Patrick O'Brian (the form of nautical fiction as far as I'm concerned), Diana Wynne Jones, Patricia Wrede, Jane Austen, and I'm sure there are more but as I mentally run my eyes over my bookshelves I can't come up with any more at the moment. I don't know if Orson Scott Card counts as a favorite author, but everything I've read by him has been excellent, and I would unhesitatingly recommend him to anyone!

. Have you read any terrible books? Something you'd recommend staying away from?
Have I ever! I can't remember the titles of some of those aforementioned horrible nautical fantasies, because I couldn't finish a page of them! So many books are not readable not because their subject matter is disgusting or anything like that; the craftsmanship is just so far below acceptable I can't endure it long enough to see if there's a good story hidden in there.

. Do you reread books, or is once enough? Any exceptions so far?
All the time! A beloved book is worth coming back to time and again. Not to mention, I have such a hard time finding new books to read, I'm often forced to fall back on old favorites just to be reading something.

. What were some of your favorite books as a child?
Dominic by William Steig (I didn't know the name of the author for the longest time; it was just Dominic, and I checked it out of the school library roughly a gajillion times), the Bunnicula books by James Howe, Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones, and the whole gamut of tear-jerking animal books like Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe and Where the Red Fern Grows. I didn't discover fantasy 'til sixth grade, when my friend Shane lent me Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown. I was instantly hooked.

. Do you usually pick books from the kids, teen, young adult, or adult books? How old are you, if you don't mind?
I don't mind. I pick books from any and all sections; if a book sounds good, I will read it; I don't really care where it comes from.

. Do you buy books much or mostly just borrow?
Mostly borrow these days, but only because I'm too broke to buy!

. Have you read any books after seeing them in movie form? Which did you enjoy more?
Erm, it's usually the other way around, actually. But I would like to read Possession, having seen the movie. And I would like never to read Atonement, having endured that movie!

. What about reading the book before there was a movie? How did you feel about the movie? Did you even bother seeing it?
I used to be pretty maniacal about reading the book before seeing the movie. Like, I made sure to read The Hunchback of Notre Dame before the movie came out: and let it be noted that I enjoyed both very much, although they're very different. I've stopped watching the Harry Potter movies because they actually detract from my enjoyment of the books. I watched Twilight after reading the book, because of pure vulgar curiosity. They were almost identical, although I enjoyed the book more because it went faster!

. Do you read any other forms of literature aside from novels? Such as graphic novels, comics, (fan fiction???) etc.?
I love comic books too, although I haven't read any in a long time (see above re: broke); I have a couple of web comics I follow, The Dreamer and Fey Winds, and I will happily read fanfiction so long as it's good: bad or amateurish writing puts me off right away.

. What is a book you want to read, but haven't yet? What intrigues you about it?
I have a list somewhere around here ...

. If you could rewrite the end of one book (or any other part, I suppose), which would you choose? If you were satisfied with every book you read's end, yay.
No... I can't think of anything. If the book is good and well-crafted then the ending is an inextricable part of it, and if the book is bad then changing the ending won't save it.

If you can think of one, name a book that made you:

- cry: HAHAHAHA, just one?! I am a waterworks when I'm reading! The one that sticks most in my mind is Les Miserables, though; Jean Valjean takes like a hundred pages to die, and the whole death scene was so moving, I would be reading with tears streaming down my face, pause to blow my nose, recover a little, start back in, and immediately be bawling again.

- laugh: Anything by P.G. Wodehouse, Patrick O'Brian, or Georgette Heyer is sure to bring the lols.

- think, in a deeper sense than the obvious: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow absolutely short-circuited my brain.

- feel pure happiness: Anything by Patrick O'Brian, but especially The Unknown Shore which is just pure delight from start to finish

- become so addicted you put off everything in order to finish it: The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. Absolutely could not put them down for anything: if the Last Judgment had started before I got to the end, I would have politely asked God if he could wait just a little while longer, until I finished those books!

- die of boredom: If I'm bored, I stop reading

- learn something new: Richard Zacks' The Pirate Hunter was a really excellent book about William Kidd, which contained all kinds of things I hadn't known before!

- squirm with squickiness: Not so much. I avoid Clive Barker's books for just that reason.

- squirm with glee: Yes! What was it..? Something I read recently, but I can't remember what. Although Locke Lamora and Red Seas had me whooping out loud! (Yes, these books are THAT AWESOME.)

- very embarrassed to be reading it: One time I was stuck in an airport without reading material, so I bought the least-likely-to-be-awful book I could find ... which was a vampire romance, in which plot, characterization, and everything else only existed so that the main characters could have lots and lots of sex. I wanted to shrink into my chair, especially as I had a very dignified-looking old lady sitting next to me when we finally got on the plane!

- angry: Idiocy makes me angry, as does sloppiness or laziness. The easiest way to get me ranting and frothing at the mouth is to have badly-researched nautical stuff in your book. TANITH LEE, I'M LOOKING AT YOU! At least take the time to find out the difference between a sheet and a sail; two seconds on Google is all it takes! Tanith Lee's not the only culprit, of course, but her Piratica books got lazier and lazier, until Piratica III (yes, its actual title: see what I mean about laziness?) was just unreadable. Look, if you don't know something, look it up. Research is not optional! (One of the things that filled me with glee about Red Seas Under Red Skies was how good the nautical stuff was! "This man did his research!" I exclaimed in delight. And it has the best and clearest description of some manouevre--tacking, I think--that I've read in any book, even straight-up nautical fiction. THAT IS HOW IT'S DONE!)

Looking back over what I've written, I see it could be taken as a paen to Scott Lynch as much as anything--but yes, guys, he really is that good! Also I find it interesting that most of my favorite authors are women, but most of my favorite books are written by men. I don't know that it's indicative of anything, but it's interesting if you like meaningless statistics!

Packing

2009-10-19T17:05:33Z

We're getting ready to move out of our current ramshackle apartment, and I don't know what we've accumulated more of in the last two years: books, or dust! *waves featherduster*

Bachelor cooking

2009-10-17T18:17:02Z

My husband is the chef in our household; it's not that I can't cook, it's just that when I go into the kitchen either flour goes everywhere or things catch on fire--sometimes both! When I was living in Japan, we'd talk on the phone every Saturday morning (his Friday night), usually when he was cooking his supper. He'd say things like, "Oh, yeah, I'm just making something simple: braised beef tips with roasted asparagus and a simple rice pilaf," or what-have-you. "... I had ramen," I would invariably reply. If the household cookery were up to me we'd be eating ramen every night, except for when we had spaghetti or mac-n-cheese.

I do have culinary skills, however! Besides my mean ramen-making abilities, I have the power of bachelor cooking! You know, where you look through the cabinets and find a grand total of three ingredients, none of which seem to go together, and through some magical alchemy turn them into food. (I also make really great scrambled eggs.)

Yesterday was Friday, which means no meat. I had a can of tuna, some leftover rice, and an apple. Yeah, Apple Tuna Fried Rice!

Folks, it was delicious! So much so that I totally recommend it as food, not just crazy bachelor-cooking!

Here's what I did:

Heat sesame oil in a skillet (any oil would work, but sesame adds a nice flavor, which other oils might not)
Fry up the tuna, so it's hot through and a little seared
Add the rice; same business
Add cut-up apple bits; ditto (I used a granny smith, which gave a nice sharp, tart contrast to the tuna and sauce both in taste and texture)
Smother with sauce: I used miso paste, a ton of soy sauce, and a healthy dollop of rooster sauce, because pain is good.
Fry everything a bit longer just to make sure it all comes together
Devour

NOM NOM NOM. Bachelor cooking FTW!

How about you guys? Any awesome ad hoc cooking experiences you'd like to share?

Anniversary

2009-10-13T17:36:25Z

So today is my anniversary! Eight years ago this evening, my husband and I were married. I had a bunch of thoughts in my head, about marriage in general and marriage to him in particular, but they all went away as soon as I sat down to write, so I'll just say: I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Still. :D

(P.S. I know this song is a couple years old, but I just got the album and cannot stop listening to it. And is it just me or is John Rzeznik starting to look like a cleft-chinned David Bowie?)

omg awesome!

2009-10-06T02:47:29Z

So we just finished watching the final episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles. I want to go right back to the beginning and watch it all over again; it was like a novel that you just can't put down, one that you know you're going to be coming back to again and again.

And now I can't decide: is it better to torture myself by speculating fruitlessly about what might have happened in the future (as it were, haha) if the show hadn't been cancelled, or to torture myself by reading interviews with cast and crew about the same?

(There needs to be Supernatural/TSCC crossover fic! Dean hits on Cameron, and then she punches him through a wall! Sam and John compete for the title of most emo main character! John Winchester and Sarah compete for the title of worst parenting skills! It will be epic!)

How I Spent (My Husband's) Summer Vacation

2009-10-04T22:40:00Z

So ... I realized I really haven't posted anything since May, and now it is October! The end of May, but still, that's a pretty long while. Long story short, internet time was eating into productivity time, so I basically blocked myself from access to time-waste-y sites except on Sundays. Did it work? Welllll ... I'm not much more disciplined about being productive than I ever was, but at least I've been wasting my time reading books and, er, reading more books, instead of idly browsing dA or playing Robin Hood on Facebook.

So here's what's been going on with me:

Got hooked on Supernatural. Mega-hooked. I haven't been this into a TV show in … ever.* Oh, Sam and Dean, with your tense and fraught brotherly relationship, and your damaged childhoods, and your kick-ass car, and your arsenal, and your mad monster hunting skillz! I don't even care that the show has some of the goofiest most made-up-est ideas about eschatology, theology, angels, demons, etc. It hits all my buttons. And the best part? They're from Kansas. Carry on, wayward sons!

*Firefly comes close, but since then … I haven't really even watched TV. Now I am actually eagerly tuning in every week to see what happens next. That hasn't happened since Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on the air!

Read a ton. (Am now out of books. Anyone have any good recommendations?)

Shopped for agents, and been rejected by all so far. But, never say die! (Not having a synopsis is holding me up; loads of agents require one, and I haven't had time to write one yet.)

Started (re-started?) work on a new (old) story (novel?). (I guess you'd call it a revision/new draft? Except the first draft is about ten years old and dreadful, so it's more of a total reworking. It is hard work!)

Visited the family in Kansas.

Had a birthday. Dyed my hair pink. (It is now a weird orangey-blonde, and way too long.)

Worked on a couple really badass awesome projects that I will be excited to talk about in more detail when the time is right. One of them is called Tin-Star Tex, and it's the brainchild of Benjamin Glendinning. You can find more info, as well as some artwork from the book, at his website Skulljammer.com.

Got rid of my old car, and am now car-less. In Dallas. Which sucks.

Enjoyed a summer vacation with my husband, and am now sad that he's back in school and busier than ever. However we are enjoying Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles S2 together on DVD ... why was this show cancelled? (Not a rhetorical question! It is an excellent show!)

And how is everyone else doing these days?

Napoleon Total War

2009-10-04T00:47:56Z

I don't play strategy games as a rule, but boy howdy this looks sweet:

www.totalwar.com/

I'm not dead yet!

2009-09-04T03:10:10Z

*waves*

*gets crushed by pile of projects*

Seriously, I realize I haven't posted in ... a while. Where does the time go? I have a "How I Spent My (Husband's) Summer Vacation" post written, which I will post up ... eventually. Behold the awesome power of vagueness. But now, it is time for sleep.

How is everybody?