not much happening today. i went into town, to see if i may have missed any shoe shops. i had, but still didn't find any boots i like. oh well. i'm thinking of giving up on the whole boots thing and just getting a ds instead.
i'm making sushi for dinner tonight. we have miso - we didn't know what ingredients to buy for that, so we just got a packet. i hope it's nice.
are you male? if you are you should be ashamed reading something a girl dosn't want you reading. lordkilljoy, you are allowed because i will probably tell you all this anyway.
i got a new bra yesterday. i'm quite happy with it. it's got wires, which i usually can't stand wearing because they dig in in all sorts of uncomfortable places. but yesterday i got fed up with never being able to find a bra that fits properly and has a decent amount of support. so i went online and read up on bra sizes and how to know what to look for when you are trying on a bra. then i went to dunnes (because it was close and handy) and tried on about 5 different sizes. and that kind of guaranteed that i found the right size for me.
and i did find the right size for me and bought 2 new bras, a cute blue sort of one and a nice black one - both underwired, but the cool thing is that both of them are quite comfortable and supportive. yeay :) so i've been wearing the blue one today and it's working out well. the wires do poke in a bit (just right at the base) when i sit down for too long, but that has more to do with my bad posture that anything else (i think).
i'm still not sure if i'm going to go out tonight. i'll see if lordkilljoy and penelope_stone want to do anything. the mutton lane could be good, but will be absolutely packed on a saturday night. anyway. i'll see.
30 August 2008
29 August 2008
Eire for the Eiresh
What follows is my entry for this month's . I'm somewhat uncertain about the quality of this story... well i'm certain it's not high quality. But i'm not sure how far from the mark it has fallen. The genre this month was alternative history, but i don't think i portrayed that in the story. I left the setting kind of vague. In fact, everything this kind of vague, except for the end, which i like (what does that say about me?). Anyway, enjoy, and comments are very welcome.
(Actually - i just want to add that i'm thrilled at actually getting my genre challenge done this month. I gave up on the last three i attempted.)
... ... ...
People danced their not quite carefree dances and smiled their not quite joyful smiles. Skirts twirled, blazers swooshed, canes rapped against the ground. All signs of a happy party, but I could see that it was forced. These people were not comfortable.
I watched them from my hidden vantage on a high-up window ledge. I looked down at their not quite merriment and nodded to myself. These people were ready to break and I would be the one to push them. I had no idea how wrong I was.
But I shouldn't begin here. This is now. We need to go back a little bit. To then. A few hours behind now. Back to a conversation.
"Let me go tonight," I said.
"Why tonight? It's too early. You'll spoil the surprise." Keerda said, harshly. Not in those words, but in his thick-accented Eiresh. I speak it well enough and understand it better, but I don't write it. I write in English; the language of my former country.
"What surprise?" I said. "They've been expecting an attack for months. The surprise is that we haven’t attacked the Pale before now."
His permanent frown deepened. "We're low on resources. With this big war happening overseas, all the guns have been snapped up by who knows what army."
It was his typical excuse. I think Keerda’s problem is that he lacks the balls to actually pull off a big raid.
“Do you want to live under Britain’s rule forever?” I said. “If you want to have Eire for the Eiresh, you’ll have to stand up against them. This is the time. They are distracted by their pointless war with Deutschland. If we strike now, while their resources here are low, we can weaken them to the point of retreat. The strongest city in the country will be yours. Let me go. Let me get a feel for the mood in Dubhlinn.”
Keerda looked at me, a special look he reserves for times when he doubts me, or doubts his decision to recruit me. He's waiting for a double cross, it's as clear as silver shining in the sun. But it will not happen. The British Empire owes me too much hardship for me to turn my coat. I want to see the great nation brought low, brought to suffering. I have no illusions that our humble plans for Dubhlinn will cause this downfall, but it is a start.
And that was how things began. With a short conversation, no positive outcome. I took his silence for agreement, and I left. Took a horse and headed southeast, to the coast just south of the barrier.
Dusk gave way grudgingly to night. The last few fingers of colour streaked across the indigo sky like the struggles of a dying man as I reached the Pale.
The Pale. It was like an entity, mystical and deadly. It was said that even to breathe its name would bring ill luck and disaster upon you and your whole family. A superstitious lot, these people of Eire. The Pale was nothing more than a few stakes, a bit of sharp wire, and men with guns patrolling their watchtowers.
I came to this particular place because the closest watchtower was over two miles away and sneaking past it was easy. I didn’t even have to sneak. I strolled casually along the beach, leading my horse, keeping the low dunes between the watchtower and me. If I jumped up onto the bank, I could see the lanterns burning at the top of the tower, ready to be flung into a pyre to signal a warning in case of invasion by the “savage” Eiresh.
“Get a feel for the mood in Dubhlinn,” I’d told Keerda. And that’s exactly what I did. The city felt tense. All the popular clubs harboured wary patrons who whispered in dimly lit corners. Words of dark deeds and darker intentions flitted from the booths and slunk around the well-appointed furniture.
For all the talk of the big war, it was news of a party at the Viceroy’s lodge in the Royal Hunting Park that followed me into and out of every club I visited. It was something big and everyone who was anyone would be there.
And that brings us up to now. The not quite smiling and not quite merriment. Their discomfort was palpable, like smoke blown into your face. I listened to the sporadic conversation that drifted up to me. Nothing enlightening, just the prattle of people trying to waste time.
I’d had just about enough, was ready to chalk this down as a waste of time, when the Viceroy took a position in the centre of the room.
“Welcome,” he said. “Most of you have been aware of correspondence between our small outpost and the crown, but none of you have been aware of details. The Eiresh have been scheming for years to invade the Pale and would have continued to do so without achieving anything. But things have changed. They now have the help of an Englishman.”
I almost gasped in shock. How could they know about me?
The Viceroy continued speaking. “We had eyes of our own in the Eiresh camp. The Englishman is riling things up for them, pushing them for invasion. The crown will not stand to be undermined in such a way. His Majesty has come up with a solution to this problem. A very permanent solution.”
He outlined a project that the colony in New England had been working on for the last few decades. Atomics, he called it. The unfamiliar term meant nothing to me, and seemingly little to most of the people in the room. But the Viceroy’s words frightened me. He spoke of a bomb so powerful it could level a whole city. A whole city. I needed to get back to Keerda and warn him.
I turned to sneak out the window I had come in, but the Viceroy’s next words froze me in mid-turn.
“We will test this bomb on the Eiresh tonight."
The ice released my muscles and, flinging open the window, I dashed through it and leapt to the ground. A cry of shock went up behind me, but I didn’t care. I ran to the stables, knocking over the stable boy who came out to see what the fuss was about. Grabbing the first horse I could, I hauled myself up onto his back and kicked him into a gallop.
The night was already well along and it was a few hours’ hard ride to Keerda’s camp. I headed straight west. The soldiers at the Pale were paid to stop people going into the city. They would comment on a rider pelting into the bogs, but they would not stop me.
The horse was strong under me, fast and steady, he seemed like he could gallop the whole night. And I was happy to let him go. I reached the Pale easily and without pursuit. A tiny portion of my mind knew why they had not bothered giving chase. My friends were dead, even if I reached them on time, I could not save them.
Confused shouts followed me through the Pale; guns traced my flight through the camp and my wild leap over the sharp wire and the trenches that came after. I did not dare stop. I had to warn Keerda, get him and his men away from the danger.
I was still a good distance out when the sky before me brightened. It was like watching the sunrise, only a lot faster. White light spread across the horizon, up and out, silhouetting the trees lining the path and the birds that fluttered from them. Silently, the light increased, creating an almost blinding contrast against the black sky.
I failed. I knew it before I fully registered what was going on. I was too close and I was about to die. The earth beneath my feet shook, setting up a clatter of small stones rattling along the path. Hard light cast solid shadows away from the explosion, the shadows quickly shortening as the light flared up into a terrifying and beautiful cloud.
I wanted to turn and run; I wanted to stay and watch the beauty of such massive destruction. I didn’t want to die. But at the same time I accepted fully that my death was upon me, and somehow the acceptance calmed me.
Silently, the light engulfed me.
(Actually - i just want to add that i'm thrilled at actually getting my genre challenge done this month. I gave up on the last three i attempted.)
... ... ...
People danced their not quite carefree dances and smiled their not quite joyful smiles. Skirts twirled, blazers swooshed, canes rapped against the ground. All signs of a happy party, but I could see that it was forced. These people were not comfortable.
I watched them from my hidden vantage on a high-up window ledge. I looked down at their not quite merriment and nodded to myself. These people were ready to break and I would be the one to push them. I had no idea how wrong I was.
But I shouldn't begin here. This is now. We need to go back a little bit. To then. A few hours behind now. Back to a conversation.
"Let me go tonight," I said.
"Why tonight? It's too early. You'll spoil the surprise." Keerda said, harshly. Not in those words, but in his thick-accented Eiresh. I speak it well enough and understand it better, but I don't write it. I write in English; the language of my former country.
"What surprise?" I said. "They've been expecting an attack for months. The surprise is that we haven’t attacked the Pale before now."
His permanent frown deepened. "We're low on resources. With this big war happening overseas, all the guns have been snapped up by who knows what army."
It was his typical excuse. I think Keerda’s problem is that he lacks the balls to actually pull off a big raid.
“Do you want to live under Britain’s rule forever?” I said. “If you want to have Eire for the Eiresh, you’ll have to stand up against them. This is the time. They are distracted by their pointless war with Deutschland. If we strike now, while their resources here are low, we can weaken them to the point of retreat. The strongest city in the country will be yours. Let me go. Let me get a feel for the mood in Dubhlinn.”
Keerda looked at me, a special look he reserves for times when he doubts me, or doubts his decision to recruit me. He's waiting for a double cross, it's as clear as silver shining in the sun. But it will not happen. The British Empire owes me too much hardship for me to turn my coat. I want to see the great nation brought low, brought to suffering. I have no illusions that our humble plans for Dubhlinn will cause this downfall, but it is a start.
And that was how things began. With a short conversation, no positive outcome. I took his silence for agreement, and I left. Took a horse and headed southeast, to the coast just south of the barrier.
Dusk gave way grudgingly to night. The last few fingers of colour streaked across the indigo sky like the struggles of a dying man as I reached the Pale.
The Pale. It was like an entity, mystical and deadly. It was said that even to breathe its name would bring ill luck and disaster upon you and your whole family. A superstitious lot, these people of Eire. The Pale was nothing more than a few stakes, a bit of sharp wire, and men with guns patrolling their watchtowers.
I came to this particular place because the closest watchtower was over two miles away and sneaking past it was easy. I didn’t even have to sneak. I strolled casually along the beach, leading my horse, keeping the low dunes between the watchtower and me. If I jumped up onto the bank, I could see the lanterns burning at the top of the tower, ready to be flung into a pyre to signal a warning in case of invasion by the “savage” Eiresh.
“Get a feel for the mood in Dubhlinn,” I’d told Keerda. And that’s exactly what I did. The city felt tense. All the popular clubs harboured wary patrons who whispered in dimly lit corners. Words of dark deeds and darker intentions flitted from the booths and slunk around the well-appointed furniture.
For all the talk of the big war, it was news of a party at the Viceroy’s lodge in the Royal Hunting Park that followed me into and out of every club I visited. It was something big and everyone who was anyone would be there.
And that brings us up to now. The not quite smiling and not quite merriment. Their discomfort was palpable, like smoke blown into your face. I listened to the sporadic conversation that drifted up to me. Nothing enlightening, just the prattle of people trying to waste time.
I’d had just about enough, was ready to chalk this down as a waste of time, when the Viceroy took a position in the centre of the room.
“Welcome,” he said. “Most of you have been aware of correspondence between our small outpost and the crown, but none of you have been aware of details. The Eiresh have been scheming for years to invade the Pale and would have continued to do so without achieving anything. But things have changed. They now have the help of an Englishman.”
I almost gasped in shock. How could they know about me?
The Viceroy continued speaking. “We had eyes of our own in the Eiresh camp. The Englishman is riling things up for them, pushing them for invasion. The crown will not stand to be undermined in such a way. His Majesty has come up with a solution to this problem. A very permanent solution.”
He outlined a project that the colony in New England had been working on for the last few decades. Atomics, he called it. The unfamiliar term meant nothing to me, and seemingly little to most of the people in the room. But the Viceroy’s words frightened me. He spoke of a bomb so powerful it could level a whole city. A whole city. I needed to get back to Keerda and warn him.
I turned to sneak out the window I had come in, but the Viceroy’s next words froze me in mid-turn.
“We will test this bomb on the Eiresh tonight."
The ice released my muscles and, flinging open the window, I dashed through it and leapt to the ground. A cry of shock went up behind me, but I didn’t care. I ran to the stables, knocking over the stable boy who came out to see what the fuss was about. Grabbing the first horse I could, I hauled myself up onto his back and kicked him into a gallop.
The night was already well along and it was a few hours’ hard ride to Keerda’s camp. I headed straight west. The soldiers at the Pale were paid to stop people going into the city. They would comment on a rider pelting into the bogs, but they would not stop me.
The horse was strong under me, fast and steady, he seemed like he could gallop the whole night. And I was happy to let him go. I reached the Pale easily and without pursuit. A tiny portion of my mind knew why they had not bothered giving chase. My friends were dead, even if I reached them on time, I could not save them.
Confused shouts followed me through the Pale; guns traced my flight through the camp and my wild leap over the sharp wire and the trenches that came after. I did not dare stop. I had to warn Keerda, get him and his men away from the danger.
I was still a good distance out when the sky before me brightened. It was like watching the sunrise, only a lot faster. White light spread across the horizon, up and out, silhouetting the trees lining the path and the birds that fluttered from them. Silently, the light increased, creating an almost blinding contrast against the black sky.
I failed. I knew it before I fully registered what was going on. I was too close and I was about to die. The earth beneath my feet shook, setting up a clatter of small stones rattling along the path. Hard light cast solid shadows away from the explosion, the shadows quickly shortening as the light flared up into a terrifying and beautiful cloud.
I wanted to turn and run; I wanted to stay and watch the beauty of such massive destruction. I didn’t want to die. But at the same time I accepted fully that my death was upon me, and somehow the acceptance calmed me.
Silently, the light engulfed me.
A Warm Place
I was so sure i'd posted about this song before, but maybe not. I really love this song. It makes me think of the death of the world - a death through sterility and clean technology. A place where no one lives any more, everyone just is alive. And a harsh sun beats down on the concrete and glass, casting hard shadows, but harder light.
But behind all that there is still hope, a living heart beats somewhere in this world of broken dreams.
Yea, i love it. I love any artist that can get such imagery and emotion into a piece of music. It's why i like deftones - they can do the same thing, and bring up similar imagery / emotions, even though they are not at all like NIN.
yea...
anyway. i got over my earlier bout of snarky, snarly emotions. thank god! i hate when i get like that. i went shopping (of the grocery kind) with davidnarby. and by the time we were done i felt normal again. yeay :)
But behind all that there is still hope, a living heart beats somewhere in this world of broken dreams.
Yea, i love it. I love any artist that can get such imagery and emotion into a piece of music. It's why i like deftones - they can do the same thing, and bring up similar imagery / emotions, even though they are not at all like NIN.
yea...
anyway. i got over my earlier bout of snarky, snarly emotions. thank god! i hate when i get like that. i went shopping (of the grocery kind) with davidnarby. and by the time we were done i felt normal again. yeay :)
things
damnationfvente. i was learning japanese out loud and i missed a call on my phone. (my learning of japanese involved much laughing and music and stuff.) the number was blocked and i couldn't call the person back. i think the universe has it out for me. it totally dosn't want me getting a job.
but to cheer me up, i just got a happy birthday email from home of poi. awh :) more websites should do that. send a short email saying happy birthday.
so apart from having fun learning japanese and getting a nice and unexpected birthday wish, it's only been an ok day. i had a strange dream last night. lordkilljoy had gotten me a skirt for my birthday and i didn't know how to react. then guinness and ginger were there, but guinness was really vin diesel, only as a cat. it was so odd.
so i woke up kinda not exactly in a good mood this morning (i blame nature). i've not really felt like doing anything, and fun japanese took my mind off it :)
yea - i'll be better tomorrow.
but to cheer me up, i just got a happy birthday email from home of poi. awh :) more websites should do that. send a short email saying happy birthday.
so apart from having fun learning japanese and getting a nice and unexpected birthday wish, it's only been an ok day. i had a strange dream last night. lordkilljoy had gotten me a skirt for my birthday and i didn't know how to react. then guinness and ginger were there, but guinness was really vin diesel, only as a cat. it was so odd.
so i woke up kinda not exactly in a good mood this morning (i blame nature). i've not really felt like doing anything, and fun japanese took my mind off it :)
yea - i'll be better tomorrow.
27 August 2008
the weekend (my brain is tired)
ugh, google reader seems more like a chore than a hobby at times. i think i need to un-add egl again (116 new entries in that comm in 4 days. not funny). i have 205 new entries. i'm so glad i got to check my Lj on (whatever day it was - 24th oh wait that was sunday - not so bad then). i had a page of entries since then. not too bad at all, actually. twitter was another matter. i stopped reading after 3 pages of random replies.
ok. enough of complaining about getting home after a weekend. the weekend was really good. very domestic - relaxing at home, not really doing anything major, cooking together in the kitchen, but it was good. i got to play psychonauts. it's a very strange game, but fun. i didn't get very far with it (about half way through the second mind-area).
i went looking for boots in dublin and i found a pair with a nice shape (chunky: boots must be chunky) but they were black (boring) and they didn't come in my size (which was 3.5 for this particular company). so that was a little disappointing.
i've been awake since 6:30 this morning and up since 7:11. way too early, but i did it to myself. i wanted to see what lordkilljoy would be like getting up on a work morning. he made it sound like the biggest struggle ever, but i think most of that is just messing. once he made the decision to get up things seemed to go very well. unfortunately it takes 4 alarms to get him up, where it takes me half an alarm, so i was eight times awake and there was no way i was getting back to sleep. but that's ok. it's not like i had to do anything productive. now, if i'd had work, things would probably have been disastrous. i was totally falling asleep on the bus on the way down. i never fall asleep in transit (unless i've been awake for over 20 hours). so it will be bed early for me tonight.
tomorrow i think i'll go into town and look for boots in cork. hopefully i'll find something nice. meh - i'll see. i'm guessing the whole half-size feet thing is going to depress me, so i'll just psyche myself up for depression and rack my brain to figure out where boys' boots hang out.
i'm sure i'm forgetting something. oh well. there are infinite more entries, and i can make one if i feel the need to divest my brain of more stories and random bits of info.
ooh - i got to see a bit of flight of the conchords. it is very random, but funny. we also finished watching avatar. great series. i think i liked the fact that it ended, and didn't just turn into a sprawling 7 season epic where everything falls apart around season 4 and just drags after that. i like that they had a story to tell and they told it well.
ok. enough of complaining about getting home after a weekend. the weekend was really good. very domestic - relaxing at home, not really doing anything major, cooking together in the kitchen, but it was good. i got to play psychonauts. it's a very strange game, but fun. i didn't get very far with it (about half way through the second mind-area).
i went looking for boots in dublin and i found a pair with a nice shape (chunky: boots must be chunky) but they were black (boring) and they didn't come in my size (which was 3.5 for this particular company). so that was a little disappointing.
i've been awake since 6:30 this morning and up since 7:11. way too early, but i did it to myself. i wanted to see what lordkilljoy would be like getting up on a work morning. he made it sound like the biggest struggle ever, but i think most of that is just messing. once he made the decision to get up things seemed to go very well. unfortunately it takes 4 alarms to get him up, where it takes me half an alarm, so i was eight times awake and there was no way i was getting back to sleep. but that's ok. it's not like i had to do anything productive. now, if i'd had work, things would probably have been disastrous. i was totally falling asleep on the bus on the way down. i never fall asleep in transit (unless i've been awake for over 20 hours). so it will be bed early for me tonight.
tomorrow i think i'll go into town and look for boots in cork. hopefully i'll find something nice. meh - i'll see. i'm guessing the whole half-size feet thing is going to depress me, so i'll just psyche myself up for depression and rack my brain to figure out where boys' boots hang out.
i'm sure i'm forgetting something. oh well. there are infinite more entries, and i can make one if i feel the need to divest my brain of more stories and random bits of info.
ooh - i got to see a bit of flight of the conchords. it is very random, but funny. we also finished watching avatar. great series. i think i liked the fact that it ended, and didn't just turn into a sprawling 7 season epic where everything falls apart around season 4 and just drags after that. i like that they had a story to tell and they told it well.
23 August 2008
some small things
i changed the covers on my bed today. i went back to my old covers - the green, navy and red ones. i love those covers:
so colourful. but i'm off to dublin for the weekend, so i won't get to sleep in them until i get home. i'll have something to look forward to going home.
penelope_stone and i watched tomb raider last night. it's a fun film, so silly in places.
ooh - i finished luck in the shadows this morning. it's such a good book. i love seregil so much. some of the banter he comes out with is so funny. i can't wait to get on to the next book, him and alec :)
yea, you can tell that i have absolutely no news of merit, at all... i'll just go now.
so colourful. but i'm off to dublin for the weekend, so i won't get to sleep in them until i get home. i'll have something to look forward to going home.
penelope_stone and i watched tomb raider last night. it's a fun film, so silly in places.
ooh - i finished luck in the shadows this morning. it's such a good book. i love seregil so much. some of the banter he comes out with is so funny. i can't wait to get on to the next book, him and alec :)
yea, you can tell that i have absolutely no news of merit, at all... i'll just go now.
22 August 2008
sushi
penelope_stone and i made sushi for dinner tonight. it turned out well, considering that we didn't have a mat to roll it with - we just used our hands. i'm so full now :)
21 August 2008
2 days by the sea :)
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My parents are in Castlegregory for the week, on holidays and penelope_stone and i went down to visit them on tuesday, just for one night. The crazy thing about going away in ireland is that, even if it's just for 2 days, you have to bring 3 jackets, a change of pants, warm clothes and summery clothes. It's kind of a nightmare for packing because you just have to bring so much stuff because you have no idea what the weather is going to be like. So anyway, we got up early tuesday morning (6:55 for penelope_stone, 7:45 for me), packed up the car with our way-too-much stuff, and headed off at quarter past 8. We got down in good time, got our parents out of bed and went out for a walk. the peninsula has four beaches, all of them excellent for walking along: you have a choice of wading (no thanks - just a bit too miserable), walking on sand, clambering over the rocks or just walking on the grass or road beside the beach. diversity is always good to keep spirits up. |
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we did a five hour walk the first day, along two of the beaches. |
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we stopped off for lunch in spillanes (it's kind of an institution by now - you can't stay in castlegregory without going for lunch / dinner in spillanes). |
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we headed back to the house after lunch, |
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to take a break and watch some olympics. (ahhh, being on holiday in kerry while the olympics are on - how traditional!) |
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we went for a walk into castegregory village afterwards - to get biscuits and juice and i got bread because i was hungry, but more importantly - penelope_stone and i got to fly our kites along the beach on the way there. yeay :) |
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i've not been kite-flying in ages - we just don't get the right kind of wind where i live. that was good fun, |
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but my eyes were fried by the light of the clouds by the time we reached the end of the beach. |
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by the time we got back to the house it was almost time for dinner. |
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back up to spillanes ( i told you it was an institution) for dinner. we arrived early and there was a little confusion with our table (which we'd reserved) but that was ok. dinner was amazing. i got shank of lamb. i was having trouble deciding between a burger and chips (traditional, fun for a change while you're on holidays), cod with spuds and veg with hollandaise sauce (fish at the sea - it's kind of the done thing, and i wanted to do it, but it just didn't appeal completely) or shank of lamb with mash, veg and gravy (now this sounded really good, but doesn't enter into the beachside holiday feel). anyway - i went with the lamb and i was so glad i did. it was the most delicious thing i've eaten in ages and ages. the meat was perfect, the mash was yummy and the veg were veg, but that was ok. all the next day i kep saying "dinner last night was so good." so dinner ended and we went back to the house and then me and penelope_stone went out for another short walk. it was getting dark, and a little cold, but it was still a nice walk. |
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wednesday: more walks - on a different beach this time, |
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and across the peninsula. |
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we brought a picnic along and ate in in the dunes of the west beach. i got really comfortable lying on coats with a sand bank propping up my head and back. it was lovely - out of the breeze, the sun shining on me - wonderful. |
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but we headed on eventually |
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back towards the house, overshooting the way off the beach. |
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so we got to tramp through some dunes on the way back. that was so much fun. |
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penelope_stone and i found a really big one. |
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we climbed up and ran back down and laughed and didn't fall and got sand in our shoes, |
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but that was ok because it was great. |
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after that we got dinner and then we got on the road home. we stopped in at manor west in tralee. just for a look and a pit stop. we stopped again in kilarney, for tesco petrol. yea. then it was back to life as usual. ah well. it was a fun two days. it was a whole week's worth of fun squished into two days and that totally made it worth it. |
18 August 2008
just a quick post
i took our sewing machine apart today. i like doing that - taking machines apart. it needs oiling, but i don't have the right kind of oil, and i'm a bit scared to go putting oil into it. but right at the moment, i've a grid of screws, a casing, screw drivers and the opened sewing machine on my floor. it's a bit of a mess. using your small (2.5m²) bedroom as a workroom isn't such a good idea. ah well. i'll get oil (and grease) and then all will be well.
off to kerry tomorrow with penelope_stone. that should be good. i hope the weather is clement. i doubt it will be, but what can you do. nothing. exactly.
i moved my room around a bit today. i finally got my printer off the floor. i moved my dvds to my wardrobe. i lost my red dusting rag too. i made a new one, but i really liked the shape of the old one. the new one is fat looking.
i broke today and had ice-cream and a bit of chocolate (kinder bueno - yummmmm). i blame the moon; how am i supposed to help myself when i have a craving that lasts three days. my will can only hold strong for so long. and since we're on random food things: we had mahi-mahi with teriaki sauce for dinner today, with cous cous. it was so yummy.
i don't have much else to say, now. i'll go. bye.
off to kerry tomorrow with penelope_stone. that should be good. i hope the weather is clement. i doubt it will be, but what can you do. nothing. exactly.
i moved my room around a bit today. i finally got my printer off the floor. i moved my dvds to my wardrobe. i lost my red dusting rag too. i made a new one, but i really liked the shape of the old one. the new one is fat looking.
i broke today and had ice-cream and a bit of chocolate (kinder bueno - yummmmm). i blame the moon; how am i supposed to help myself when i have a craving that lasts three days. my will can only hold strong for so long. and since we're on random food things: we had mahi-mahi with teriaki sauce for dinner today, with cous cous. it was so yummy.
i don't have much else to say, now. i'll go. bye.
17 August 2008
note to self:
do not put things where they don't usually live. to put that in a positive frame: put things back where they live, not in some arbitrarily selected place that just happens to be handy.
i just spent the morning looking for my faber-castell mech pencil (the lovely one that i've blogged about before). i distinctly remembered that it was with my notebook - the motherboard one - slotted down in the ring binding. because that's where it's been for the last few weeks. so i got the notebook for taleweavers later, but no pencil. i searched my shelf, my bed, around my computer, the windowsill, my bookshelves, my study desk... no sign of the pencil. i even checked in the bag i bring to dublin, because lordkilljoy was the last person to use it. it wasn't anywhere.
it turns out that lordkilljoy was not, in fact, the last person to use it. i was - writing a note late at night and i put the pencil back up on top of my stack of notebooks and notepaper. which is usually a good place for it, because it used to live there, but it has recently moved house... i just like to give myself reasons to get confused. but all's well :) i found my pencil and it's back in the ring-binding of my notebook.
i finally got started on my alternative history yesterday. i have no idea how the story will work out - i just started writing and will rely on my imagination to come up with something suitable as i get further along. i really hope i get this month's finished. the last 3 i gave up on.
i read a good book yesterday - called "thief with no shadow" by emily gee. i enjoyed it - nice simple story, characters you could feel for. it was well contained, didn't ramble like a crazy thing, only 3 characters that you had to keep track of, 2 supporting characters and a handful of extras. possibly a bit too much sex for my taste, but i'll forgive that.
i'm reading lynn flewelling's nightrunner series at the moment. i want to read the first three again so that i can read shadow's return.
i just spent the morning looking for my faber-castell mech pencil (the lovely one that i've blogged about before). i distinctly remembered that it was with my notebook - the motherboard one - slotted down in the ring binding. because that's where it's been for the last few weeks. so i got the notebook for taleweavers later, but no pencil. i searched my shelf, my bed, around my computer, the windowsill, my bookshelves, my study desk... no sign of the pencil. i even checked in the bag i bring to dublin, because lordkilljoy was the last person to use it. it wasn't anywhere.
it turns out that lordkilljoy was not, in fact, the last person to use it. i was - writing a note late at night and i put the pencil back up on top of my stack of notebooks and notepaper. which is usually a good place for it, because it used to live there, but it has recently moved house... i just like to give myself reasons to get confused. but all's well :) i found my pencil and it's back in the ring-binding of my notebook.
i finally got started on my alternative history yesterday. i have no idea how the story will work out - i just started writing and will rely on my imagination to come up with something suitable as i get further along. i really hope i get this month's finished. the last 3 i gave up on.
i read a good book yesterday - called "thief with no shadow" by emily gee. i enjoyed it - nice simple story, characters you could feel for. it was well contained, didn't ramble like a crazy thing, only 3 characters that you had to keep track of, 2 supporting characters and a handful of extras. possibly a bit too much sex for my taste, but i'll forgive that.
i'm reading lynn flewelling's nightrunner series at the moment. i want to read the first three again so that i can read shadow's return.
16 August 2008
the change of seasons is upon us
you can almost feel autumn in the air outside. cold, with promises of winter. the light not quite as strong as it was a month ago; the difference between sunlight and shade lessening; the heat failing to warm all the way into your bones.
it's a sad sort of air, filled with broken dreams and wishes unfulfilled. nothing left but to plod on towards the darkness and wait, and hope, for the light to return next year. it sighs through the trees and moans around the buildings, insulating every element from every other one; giving you a feeling that there is no life left in the world. only the acceptance of death and waiting for the end.
you can hear voices on the wind, but they are so distant, so flattened by the death in the air that they do not reassure you that life goes on. they seem more like pleas from the underworld. "let it be winter; we want our freedom." and the air sees no reason to hold their desire from them because it has given up. it has already embraced autumn and it wishes to lie with her brother, winter.
but for one short moment it stops, and mourns for summer.
it's a sad sort of air, filled with broken dreams and wishes unfulfilled. nothing left but to plod on towards the darkness and wait, and hope, for the light to return next year. it sighs through the trees and moans around the buildings, insulating every element from every other one; giving you a feeling that there is no life left in the world. only the acceptance of death and waiting for the end.
you can hear voices on the wind, but they are so distant, so flattened by the death in the air that they do not reassure you that life goes on. they seem more like pleas from the underworld. "let it be winter; we want our freedom." and the air sees no reason to hold their desire from them because it has given up. it has already embraced autumn and it wishes to lie with her brother, winter.
but for one short moment it stops, and mourns for summer.
15 August 2008
wasps come out in august
i've always been wary of wasps, well perhaps a bit more than wary. i think they are the most awful species on the planet - right up there next to humans. wasps are worse, i think. they have no compassion, just viciousness - they'll sting with no provocation just because they feel like it. so yea - my hatred of wasps goes back a long way. if someone gave me the power to get rid of one species, wasps would be utterly vaporized this instant. i don't see what function they serve on earth, besides terrorizing humans.
anyway - today i had my window open (as you do in summer) and a wasp flew in. (this is where my story starts to get really stupid). i leapt out of my chair and ran screaming from the room. the wasp followed me out into the hall and was flying around. so then i really freaked out and went screaming down the stairs, like some kind of bimbo girl who's just broken a nail or something. revulsion of my pathetic reaction warred with my quite real panicked terror. but i wasn't about to calmly accept that there was a wasp flying about upstairs. i needed to close my bedroom door and shut my windows and turn my room into a wasp-free haven. i snuck (sneaked?) back upstairs. no sign of icky venomous terrorist wasp anywhere. i hesistentaly pushed my door open and looked carefully around. no wasp, so i ran to the window and shut it and closed my door and was happy :)
hah. my window is still closed (not so good for oxygen levels, oh well) and i think the wasp has left the house, but you can never be too sure.
yea - i've never been stung by a wasp or a bee (only ever stung by nettles) and i'd kinda like to keep it that way.
anyway - today i had my window open (as you do in summer) and a wasp flew in. (this is where my story starts to get really stupid). i leapt out of my chair and ran screaming from the room. the wasp followed me out into the hall and was flying around. so then i really freaked out and went screaming down the stairs, like some kind of bimbo girl who's just broken a nail or something. revulsion of my pathetic reaction warred with my quite real panicked terror. but i wasn't about to calmly accept that there was a wasp flying about upstairs. i needed to close my bedroom door and shut my windows and turn my room into a wasp-free haven. i snuck (sneaked?) back upstairs. no sign of icky venomous terrorist wasp anywhere. i hesistentaly pushed my door open and looked carefully around. no wasp, so i ran to the window and shut it and closed my door and was happy :)
hah. my window is still closed (not so good for oxygen levels, oh well) and i think the wasp has left the house, but you can never be too sure.
yea - i've never been stung by a wasp or a bee (only ever stung by nettles) and i'd kinda like to keep it that way.
14 August 2008
books, beaches and bad music
i finished ender's game last night. it felt very short - i read it in 2 days. it seems books these days take me at least 3 weeks to read and even at that i don't get them finished. ah well.
so - i enjoyed it, but i did feel that he slipped during the second half. it stopped being so much about ender's emotions and struggles and became a bit more general, more about the setting and the people around him. actually, i got the impression that card stopped showing us the story and started telling it to us. so the second half was more like a recap on events than events actually taking place. but i still thought it was excellent. i really empathized with ender. he reminds me of me a lot, and not just the hard time i had in school, but the way i fear that if i accept help off people i'll never be able to do anything for myself again. and obviously his loneliness and the way he holds himself away from people resonated - but perhaps not quite as strongly as it would have a few years ago. (what's this - is ria possibly coming out of her extreme enforced lonership?! shock, horror. yea, now i just have to get over a lifetime of avoiding people. sometimes it's hard.)
penelope_stone and i went to the beach today. her car only has a radio or a tape-player, so i got to bring some of my old mix tapes along. one was from 1997. woah - that's 11 years ago. seriously - i should be a DJ. i love making playlists and putting songs into an order where every song blends well with the next one and they coast along through different emotions. it's fun. anyway. we listened to one from 2000 (i think it was my last mix tape - i got iTunes after that, when i went to college). but god - there were some dodgy songs on there. a lot of good stuff that i still listen to, but some seriously bad chart music that i cringed to hear. penelope_stone was greatly amused by it all.
the beach was good - sunny, a bit warm and we bounced along the coast - jumping across the rocks and testing the grippyness of our trail shoes.
i applied for a job as a meteorological officer today. it seems like interesting work and you get to work outside. i would endure quite a lot to not be stuck in some dull office all day every week. so yea - i'm so hoping i get called for an interview. maybe i shouldn't though, because then i just get to be even more disappointed when they tell me i wasn't suitable.
so - i enjoyed it, but i did feel that he slipped during the second half. it stopped being so much about ender's emotions and struggles and became a bit more general, more about the setting and the people around him. actually, i got the impression that card stopped showing us the story and started telling it to us. so the second half was more like a recap on events than events actually taking place. but i still thought it was excellent. i really empathized with ender. he reminds me of me a lot, and not just the hard time i had in school, but the way i fear that if i accept help off people i'll never be able to do anything for myself again. and obviously his loneliness and the way he holds himself away from people resonated - but perhaps not quite as strongly as it would have a few years ago. (what's this - is ria possibly coming out of her extreme enforced lonership?! shock, horror. yea, now i just have to get over a lifetime of avoiding people. sometimes it's hard.)
penelope_stone and i went to the beach today. her car only has a radio or a tape-player, so i got to bring some of my old mix tapes along. one was from 1997. woah - that's 11 years ago. seriously - i should be a DJ. i love making playlists and putting songs into an order where every song blends well with the next one and they coast along through different emotions. it's fun. anyway. we listened to one from 2000 (i think it was my last mix tape - i got iTunes after that, when i went to college). but god - there were some dodgy songs on there. a lot of good stuff that i still listen to, but some seriously bad chart music that i cringed to hear. penelope_stone was greatly amused by it all.
the beach was good - sunny, a bit warm and we bounced along the coast - jumping across the rocks and testing the grippyness of our trail shoes.
i applied for a job as a meteorological officer today. it seems like interesting work and you get to work outside. i would endure quite a lot to not be stuck in some dull office all day every week. so yea - i'm so hoping i get called for an interview. maybe i shouldn't though, because then i just get to be even more disappointed when they tell me i wasn't suitable.
13 August 2008
ooh. i totally forgot to say. lordkilljoy signed me up to twitter over the weekend.
it's ok, but i have one (ok, maybe two) problem(s) with it. i think the @ sign is the least aesthetic thing i have ever seen on a messenger / blog type thing. so i may boycott it, except that it happens automatically when you reply to another persons micro-blog.
i don't really like the name; it makes me feel like the butt of some kind of sadistic joke. ha hah - you use twitter. you are a twit for being pulled into that one. and that makes us all twits for following the crowd and posting like lemmings about all the things that we think each day.
for all that, it is a kind of neat idea - mini posts that let people know the little intimates of your life without having to read through a massive rant.
it helps with being precise - you have to cut out all the ramble, which is definitely something i need practice with. i like to ramble - a lot (if you hadn't noticed). even the way i phrase my sentences: they hold a lot of excess words. so that's good.
but i do miss a structured reply system - like the comments on livejournal. people reply to a particular post and you can just see them all and don't need to remember what went before, because you can just scan up and see. but i guess this is something to improve my focus and memory.
hhmmm, the goods are more like placations than definite positive arguments. oh well.
oh yea. for anyone who's interested: i'm zarkia over there too.
it's ok, but i have one (ok, maybe two) problem(s) with it. i think the @ sign is the least aesthetic thing i have ever seen on a messenger / blog type thing. so i may boycott it, except that it happens automatically when you reply to another persons micro-blog.
i don't really like the name; it makes me feel like the butt of some kind of sadistic joke. ha hah - you use twitter. you are a twit for being pulled into that one. and that makes us all twits for following the crowd and posting like lemmings about all the things that we think each day.
for all that, it is a kind of neat idea - mini posts that let people know the little intimates of your life without having to read through a massive rant.
it helps with being precise - you have to cut out all the ramble, which is definitely something i need practice with. i like to ramble - a lot (if you hadn't noticed). even the way i phrase my sentences: they hold a lot of excess words. so that's good.
but i do miss a structured reply system - like the comments on livejournal. people reply to a particular post and you can just see them all and don't need to remember what went before, because you can just scan up and see. but i guess this is something to improve my focus and memory.
hhmmm, the goods are more like placations than definite positive arguments. oh well.
oh yea. for anyone who's interested: i'm zarkia over there too.
my weekend in a backwards chronology
ok - i wrote this entry and then decided the last paragraph was most interesting and put it first and then flipped all the paragraphs around. so now the last paragraph makes no sense, but this post gets so dull by then that i don't expect anyone will get that far.
i started reading ender's game yesterday. i've been kinda wanting to read it for a while. i'd heard good things about it. i'm enjoying it. i have no idea how it's going to end. i have no idea where it's going to go from scene to scene, which makes it the best thing i've read / watched / played in ages. because it's rare to find something that isn't predictable. actually, now that i think of it: watchmen wasn't really predictable. but anyway - with ender's game, i don't trust the narrator at all. which always makes for a fun read. yea - i stayed up until 3 reading last night. i just couldn't make myself stop reading and go to sleep.
on monday we got shelves and put them up. i say we, but it was lordkilljoy did most of the work. i let him, simply because he was faster than me. (indeed!) but his sitting room looks good now. his new tv unit thing looks really good, especially with all the stuff in it. it's like a shrine to technological entertainment. then i stayed up until just before 3 playing assassin's creed. i didn't mean to. the time just sort of passed me by, like a stealthy ninja.
sunday was a special day, because i got to play assassin's creed. :)
assassin's creed, for all the snarky reviews it got, is quite a fun game to play. and it's so pretty. and there is so much to do. ok, a lot of it may be repetitive collection things or objective things but free-running across the rooftops of cities is so much fun.
saturday, deluge day, we spent in an attempt to look around the shops of dublin, but the irish monsoon got in the way of those plans. we got the entire rainfall of august in 6 hours. drains were overflowing, roads were buckling and the rain was so heavy you got wet through in seconds. it was fun to watch, though.
but it didn't disrupt plans for sushi in goblin_insane's. the food was good, the games (transEurope and german trading game) fun and we got to watch some olympics.
my weekend in some short words would read: a rainy party with making shelves and having fun playing games.
hmm, that may not make much scene to anyone who wasn't there. i had an excellent weekend. it started on friday when i spent the entire length of the olympics opening ceremony on a bus to dublin. but that was ok - i had music and "order of the stick" for company.
i started reading ender's game yesterday. i've been kinda wanting to read it for a while. i'd heard good things about it. i'm enjoying it. i have no idea how it's going to end. i have no idea where it's going to go from scene to scene, which makes it the best thing i've read / watched / played in ages. because it's rare to find something that isn't predictable. actually, now that i think of it: watchmen wasn't really predictable. but anyway - with ender's game, i don't trust the narrator at all. which always makes for a fun read. yea - i stayed up until 3 reading last night. i just couldn't make myself stop reading and go to sleep.
on monday we got shelves and put them up. i say we, but it was lordkilljoy did most of the work. i let him, simply because he was faster than me. (indeed!) but his sitting room looks good now. his new tv unit thing looks really good, especially with all the stuff in it. it's like a shrine to technological entertainment. then i stayed up until just before 3 playing assassin's creed. i didn't mean to. the time just sort of passed me by, like a stealthy ninja.
sunday was a special day, because i got to play assassin's creed. :)
assassin's creed, for all the snarky reviews it got, is quite a fun game to play. and it's so pretty. and there is so much to do. ok, a lot of it may be repetitive collection things or objective things but free-running across the rooftops of cities is so much fun.
saturday, deluge day, we spent in an attempt to look around the shops of dublin, but the irish monsoon got in the way of those plans. we got the entire rainfall of august in 6 hours. drains were overflowing, roads were buckling and the rain was so heavy you got wet through in seconds. it was fun to watch, though.
but it didn't disrupt plans for sushi in goblin_insane's. the food was good, the games (transEurope and german trading game) fun and we got to watch some olympics.
my weekend in some short words would read: a rainy party with making shelves and having fun playing games.
hmm, that may not make much scene to anyone who wasn't there. i had an excellent weekend. it started on friday when i spent the entire length of the olympics opening ceremony on a bus to dublin. but that was ok - i had music and "order of the stick" for company.
06 August 2008
news for a slow day
i just had warm scones fresh from the oven, topped with melting butter and blackberry jam. yummy.
made a start on my alternative history. i've been trawling through wikipedia to get a better idea of what sort of works make up the genre. and then i got on to looking up technological singularity and reading about how humanity may have made itself extinct by 2045. i'll still be alive to see that. amazing! it's funny the way thoughts of the demise of humanity don't frighten me any more. i guess after watching a whole season of documentaries about extreme destructive forces, you kinda become desensitized to the whole idea.
anyway.
i finished watchmen last night. it left me feeling neutral. i can see why it ended the way it did, and i respect the author for ending it that way; but really, it left me with nothing at all, not even disappointment. i felt more at the end of the pirate comic that ran inside the graphic novel than i did at the end of the actual thing.
ugh - i have absolutely no other news. the weather's been bad. i didn't go outside once yesterday. that's kinda bad.
made a start on my alternative history. i've been trawling through wikipedia to get a better idea of what sort of works make up the genre. and then i got on to looking up technological singularity and reading about how humanity may have made itself extinct by 2045. i'll still be alive to see that. amazing! it's funny the way thoughts of the demise of humanity don't frighten me any more. i guess after watching a whole season of documentaries about extreme destructive forces, you kinda become desensitized to the whole idea.
anyway.
i finished watchmen last night. it left me feeling neutral. i can see why it ended the way it did, and i respect the author for ending it that way; but really, it left me with nothing at all, not even disappointment. i felt more at the end of the pirate comic that ran inside the graphic novel than i did at the end of the actual thing.
ugh - i have absolutely no other news. the weather's been bad. i didn't go outside once yesterday. that's kinda bad.
05 August 2008
so much for writing
this is bad. i've not done any writing in about a week (perhaps - not entirely sure how long it's been) and my novel has fallen off the recent documents list. this has never happened before. it's always been there. so i had to go open it manually and i couldn't exactly remember where it lives on my pc. i knew it was in my documents, after that it was a bit hazy. and considering that i have 18,583 files and 1,672 folders in my documents, being a bit hazy isn't exactly the best thing ever. but i found it ok - yeay for organization. i have a folder called writing and it was a little buried in there.
so yea - i'm finally getting back to my novel. it's procrastination for genre_challenge. heh - that excuse might actually work and everything.
i went to see the dark knight again last night. me, barry, adrian, dee, craig and john all went. so it was like a big d+d reunion, because john hasn't been around at one of the games in ages. anyway, the film was absolutely excellent the second time. everything pulled together in a graceful symmetry (that phrase just popped into my head). the other cool thing was that it didn't drag at all the second time.
i had a really wierd dream last night. it started off with me in hospital. i can't remember what was wrong with me, something serious or mental or something. anyway, it was daytime and we were having lunch. it was in a dingy, dark corridor just outside my room. there was a spread like a four year old's party - a colourful (but drab) tablecloth, plastic drinking things, paper napkins. it had this kind of sordid atmosphere but i enjoyed myself anyway, because it was more fun than being poked and prodded by doctors and nurses. so then the meal (don't actually remember any food) was done and there was some juice left to be drunk. a nurse filled a glass and dropped a fizzy tablet into it. me, thinking it was vitC, took it willingly and drank it all - because vitC is good for you. a few minutes later i couldn't hold my head up and i realized that it had been some sort of sleeping tablet thing.
skip some, and i'm out of hospital, walking home. but i missed the turn up a road and ended out in front of a big grassy area. a scruffy looking guy came up to me and i knew he was bad news. he took out a knife and told me i was to go see the cappa (this word comes from the lies of locke lamora - means leader of a group of thugs). so i went along, not wanting to risk my life. i met the cappa up the road a little and he was as charming a scallywag as you could imagine. i was honoured to meet him and i told him so. he wanted me to infiltrate somewhere for him (the hospital maybe?? can't remember). so we walked on a bit - out into the countryside and across some train tracks. i didn't know how to get home from here, but wasn't all that worried. the gang hadn't killed me, so that was good.
there was a lot more, but it had faded now. i think there was some bit in the city centre, involving the outside of a shop and me being unable to fulfil the task the cappa had set me. but i could be remembering an old dream...
not much else news - lordkilljoy got me into "time to pretend" by MGMT. it's good, but has a somewhat depressing vibe - nothing overt, just something underlying - like paranoia during a trip or revelling in the knowledge that nothing can be good forever, because everything dies and everything ends. but it's still a great song, possibly because of that, rather than in spite of it.
so yea - i'm finally getting back to my novel. it's procrastination for genre_challenge. heh - that excuse might actually work and everything.
i went to see the dark knight again last night. me, barry, adrian, dee, craig and john all went. so it was like a big d+d reunion, because john hasn't been around at one of the games in ages. anyway, the film was absolutely excellent the second time. everything pulled together in a graceful symmetry (that phrase just popped into my head). the other cool thing was that it didn't drag at all the second time.
i had a really wierd dream last night. it started off with me in hospital. i can't remember what was wrong with me, something serious or mental or something. anyway, it was daytime and we were having lunch. it was in a dingy, dark corridor just outside my room. there was a spread like a four year old's party - a colourful (but drab) tablecloth, plastic drinking things, paper napkins. it had this kind of sordid atmosphere but i enjoyed myself anyway, because it was more fun than being poked and prodded by doctors and nurses. so then the meal (don't actually remember any food) was done and there was some juice left to be drunk. a nurse filled a glass and dropped a fizzy tablet into it. me, thinking it was vitC, took it willingly and drank it all - because vitC is good for you. a few minutes later i couldn't hold my head up and i realized that it had been some sort of sleeping tablet thing.
skip some, and i'm out of hospital, walking home. but i missed the turn up a road and ended out in front of a big grassy area. a scruffy looking guy came up to me and i knew he was bad news. he took out a knife and told me i was to go see the cappa (this word comes from the lies of locke lamora - means leader of a group of thugs). so i went along, not wanting to risk my life. i met the cappa up the road a little and he was as charming a scallywag as you could imagine. i was honoured to meet him and i told him so. he wanted me to infiltrate somewhere for him (the hospital maybe?? can't remember). so we walked on a bit - out into the countryside and across some train tracks. i didn't know how to get home from here, but wasn't all that worried. the gang hadn't killed me, so that was good.
there was a lot more, but it had faded now. i think there was some bit in the city centre, involving the outside of a shop and me being unable to fulfil the task the cappa had set me. but i could be remembering an old dream...
not much else news - lordkilljoy got me into "time to pretend" by MGMT. it's good, but has a somewhat depressing vibe - nothing overt, just something underlying - like paranoia during a trip or revelling in the knowledge that nothing can be good forever, because everything dies and everything ends. but it's still a great song, possibly because of that, rather than in spite of it.
03 August 2008
a good weekend
i've been having a very good weekend. it started out on friday night, with some birthdays (delichan and irirshmadcat and possibly someone else?) that were celebrated by raucous karaoke followed by mad dancing in the crane lane (which plays rock / alternative and has a dance floor - who would have guessed). i had so much fun: singing, dancing, good fun people - what more is needed for a good night out.
last night, we went out again. this time for "a few quiet drinks" in the slate. fluffworld is home for a bit, and last night was her night out. it was good... quiet, but once again good company and fun conversation.
then this afternoon was taleweavers, where we talked about alternative histories and getting back into writing, and more dreading of the swiftly approaching nanowrimo.
i'm just a little tired now, but i thought i should take the chance to update, since it has presented itself so nicely. i think this evening is set aside for chilling out watching dvds and not really doing anything that takes up much energy.
last night, we went out again. this time for "a few quiet drinks" in the slate. fluffworld is home for a bit, and last night was her night out. it was good... quiet, but once again good company and fun conversation.
then this afternoon was taleweavers, where we talked about alternative histories and getting back into writing, and more dreading of the swiftly approaching nanowrimo.
i'm just a little tired now, but i thought i should take the chance to update, since it has presented itself so nicely. i think this evening is set aside for chilling out watching dvds and not really doing anything that takes up much energy.
01 August 2008
the dark knight
penelope_stone, a bunch of her friends, and i went to see the dark knight last night. i hate hearing anything about a movie before i go to see it, because my brain naturally goes about making up ideas and scenes in my head, so when the actual film dosn't match those expectations i get very disappointed. i've found that the best way to go into a movie is as a blank slate, knowing absolutely nothing, not even that other people thought it was good. so let's just say that as hard as i tried, i failed to not have expectations about the dark knight. i had heard from people that it was really good. like exceptionally good, like everyone who went to see it thought it was great. hah, so much for expectations. so now you know my background, you may not be quite as shocked by my opinion of the movie.
i thought it was a good movie, but i didn't think it was the most amazing thing ever. i didn't even think it was the best movie this summer. ironman and wanted are still at the top of that list. dark knight is number 3. having said that, it was an excellent movie. it was an actual film, rather than just another summer blockbuster with expensive effects and bright explosions. which was great. but it seemed to drag in the middle (a lot) and they stuffed way too much information into each scene. it was more like sitting through a 2 and a half hour lecture than watching a movie, not in a bad way - just in a your brain can't process that much info in such a small amount of time. so i think i need to go see it again. i think then i will say it was amazing - best film of the year. but right now, i'm thinking: yes, it was good, and yes it has done something that few superhero movies have ever done, and yes they did it well, but i think they tried to do too much. it totally could have been two movies. i'll get back to you on this after i've seen it a second time.
there was a solar eclipse this morning - just a partial, but still. it's the first eclipse i've seen when clouds weren't covering the sun, so it was very cool to see a little roundy chunk taken out of the sun. and true to form, the dogs started barking right at the moment when the sun was most occluded. it's freaky how they can tell there's something up.
ooh - happy august, everyone. this month's genre challenge is alternative history. i'm quite excited about this - it makes me think of steampunk and this is a great excuse to forage my way into that genre.
not much else, lordkilljoy is coming down tonight, wooo! i'm happy.
i thought it was a good movie, but i didn't think it was the most amazing thing ever. i didn't even think it was the best movie this summer. ironman and wanted are still at the top of that list. dark knight is number 3. having said that, it was an excellent movie. it was an actual film, rather than just another summer blockbuster with expensive effects and bright explosions. which was great. but it seemed to drag in the middle (a lot) and they stuffed way too much information into each scene. it was more like sitting through a 2 and a half hour lecture than watching a movie, not in a bad way - just in a your brain can't process that much info in such a small amount of time. so i think i need to go see it again. i think then i will say it was amazing - best film of the year. but right now, i'm thinking: yes, it was good, and yes it has done something that few superhero movies have ever done, and yes they did it well, but i think they tried to do too much. it totally could have been two movies. i'll get back to you on this after i've seen it a second time.
there was a solar eclipse this morning - just a partial, but still. it's the first eclipse i've seen when clouds weren't covering the sun, so it was very cool to see a little roundy chunk taken out of the sun. and true to form, the dogs started barking right at the moment when the sun was most occluded. it's freaky how they can tell there's something up.
ooh - happy august, everyone. this month's genre challenge is alternative history. i'm quite excited about this - it makes me think of steampunk and this is a great excuse to forage my way into that genre.
not much else, lordkilljoy is coming down tonight, wooo! i'm happy.
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