so, news, news, news. quite a lot happened since last night.
ok, ever the last few days i've been really apathetic. i spent most of yesterday morning staring at the wall. i am not kidding. i had my computer off and was just sitting, looking. and thinking a little.
since davidnarby's last post i've been having synchronisity things happen all over the place. first, will wheaton posted about how a computer crash gave him the opportunity to watch a humming bird out his window. it hit a nerve inside me, made me think, "this is right." then steve pavlina posted about living in the moment, seeing everyone in his world as an extension of himself. he wrote two (or three) posts about his new state of mind, and every one of them had to do with listening to what the world is telling him.
so i think, maybe, that's what i was doing yesterday. listening to the world. or more, i was listening to the fact that i wasn't inspired to do anything at all, and i wasn't fighting it. i went with the apathy.
anyway, whatever it was, it was amazing because of what happened today.
i've been having trouble coming up with a good ending for my novel, or maybe not a good ending, any ending at all. i scrapped the ending i had, based on bad feedback and my personal feeling that it wasn't good.
so last night, i had a dream. as i do most nights (actually my dreams for the last few nights have been all over the place, but when i wake i can only remember a few images). but last night i dreamt about zachery and someone called the mentor. i spoke with the mentor and when i woke up this morning, i had the inspiration i needed to write the new ending.
so i got up, all cheerful about my day's writing. and then i went into the room and the first thing i noticed was my pepper plant. it's better. it's leaves aren't wilted any more. it seems my plant first aid worked. i texted penelope_stone at 8:45 to share the good news. then i sat down and started writing.
between 9am and 2pm i wrote 2,500 words. and most of them are good words, i think. i'm almost finished. i just have one scene left to write (maybe two).
today has been a good day.
ps, the cherry tomato is almost as tall as the pepper, but it's not as big, yet.
pps livejournal's new tag select means i put way more tags on my posts. mad.
right - another synchronicty - i was inspired by a dream, and the chosen theme on phantom was dreams.
another cool thing, i randomly found jennifer jackon's blog, right here on Lj. it came up as a recommended on my google reader, but mentioned nothing about ms. jackson. i looked at it based on the coolness of the name alone (et in arcaedia, ego). as i was reading through it, a thought came to me: this could be jennifer jackon's blog. i clicked through to the user info and sure enough, it was. amazing. for anyone interested, she is arcaedia.
right i'm really going now.
30 July 2010
28 July 2010
it's time for the news
i just finished a full week of work (not novel work). amazing. today feels like saturday, except that i'm at my computer getting ready to write the third draft of the end of my novel. but first, an update (and then i'm going to go and update my website).
i think my big news is that i broke my pepper plant. :/ it happened during its transplant, i turned it upside down to get it out of the pot and when i righted it, it had snapped in two. i tied it back together with electrical tape... the leaves are all wilted, but the flowers are still blossoming. i have hopes that it will heal, but i don't know.
i successfully transplanted my tomato. its getting really big too. no sign of fruit, yet, though.
i put the strawberry in the fridge, in the hopes that it will start to grow.
i also planted jalapeño seeds in case my pepper does die.
so that's my plant-y news. in other news, i'm off to the zoo on saturday with liam, catherine and the boys. that should be fun. not related to that at all, we got a new phone.
ooh - i went to see inception on sunday. i want to go back and see it again, it was so good. i've been thinking about it since i saw it - scenes keep jumping into my head. i love when films do that.
it seems i have lost the ability to write varied sentences. most of the sentences in this post started with i. hmmm. oh well.
that is all.
(oh, yea - if anyone's interested, i'm playing forgotten sands at the moment. it's good, but i miss elika. forgotten sands feels very lonely.)
i think my big news is that i broke my pepper plant. :/ it happened during its transplant, i turned it upside down to get it out of the pot and when i righted it, it had snapped in two. i tied it back together with electrical tape... the leaves are all wilted, but the flowers are still blossoming. i have hopes that it will heal, but i don't know.
i successfully transplanted my tomato. its getting really big too. no sign of fruit, yet, though.
i put the strawberry in the fridge, in the hopes that it will start to grow.
i also planted jalapeño seeds in case my pepper does die.
so that's my plant-y news. in other news, i'm off to the zoo on saturday with liam, catherine and the boys. that should be fun. not related to that at all, we got a new phone.
ooh - i went to see inception on sunday. i want to go back and see it again, it was so good. i've been thinking about it since i saw it - scenes keep jumping into my head. i love when films do that.
it seems i have lost the ability to write varied sentences. most of the sentences in this post started with i. hmmm. oh well.
that is all.
(oh, yea - if anyone's interested, i'm playing forgotten sands at the moment. it's good, but i miss elika. forgotten sands feels very lonely.)
19 July 2010
my beef with bioware
yet another procrastination post. i'm rewriting the end of my novel, again. what is it with beginnings and endings with me? the whole middle is fine, but i'm not happy with chapter 1 or chapters 33 to 36. hhuuuuuum.
to plants:
the pepper grows about a centimetre a day. it's gotten huge - it's about 2 feet high now. my tomatoes are also growing madly, one of them is really getting big - it's about 12cm tall with 5 leaves. no sign of the strawberries yet. the sun vanished just after i planted them, so i expect they will be a while. the kale isn't doing so well since i thinned it. i have four plants left. one seems to be wilting. two are ok, but don't seem to be growing. the last one seems to be growing ok, but it's the smallest of the lot.
to games:
i finished jade empire. it was fun enough. i figured out a neat fighting style that meant the bad guys couldn't get a hit on me. i don't know what that games problem is, but it seemed horribly unbalanced. the regular enemies could be taken down in about 5 seconds; if they hit you it wasn't a problem - their couldn't do much damage. they were pretty easy to beat. the bosses, on the other hand, were impossible. two hits from a boss and my character was dead. and it took about 5 minutes to beat a boss (that's 60times longer than a regular guy - that seems a bit extreme to me). anyway, i did finish the game, but i won't be rushing back to play it any time soon.
i played through dr ned and got half way through general knoxx in borderlands before i started playing mass effect. it's a fun enough game. for some reason, it seems to lack something. like, i'm kind of just playing it to see what it will present me with. i don't really feel much for any of the characters (my girl is pretty looking - that's about it) and i don't care much for the story so far. in fact, i don't really know what the story is yet. and i'm about 6 hours in... maybe. so i'll stick with it to see where it goes. jade empire was kind of similar - really slow to start and then it got going towards the end. but they spent too long on set-up and by the time the story got going i hadn't fallen in love with the characters. and then it was too late - i was too worried about staying alive.
in fact, i had another gripe with jade empire. it was supposed to be an rpg, but only the first two chapters had quests and stuff. after that, it was all fighting. there weren't even any puzzles or stuff, it was just, 'go here and kill this guy, then kill that mob of assassins, then kill this boss, then kill this mob of ghosts, then kill...' yea - you get the point. yea - schizophrenic game.
so, i kind of hope the bioware guys learned thier lesson from jade empire, and mass effect is better, but so far i'm not seeing it.
penelope_stone is up for the week (or two). it's fun having her around. we're thinking of going to sheila's for dinner some night - we really need to tell sheila about this.
right - it's ten past ten, i really need to get down to writing.
to plants:
the pepper grows about a centimetre a day. it's gotten huge - it's about 2 feet high now. my tomatoes are also growing madly, one of them is really getting big - it's about 12cm tall with 5 leaves. no sign of the strawberries yet. the sun vanished just after i planted them, so i expect they will be a while. the kale isn't doing so well since i thinned it. i have four plants left. one seems to be wilting. two are ok, but don't seem to be growing. the last one seems to be growing ok, but it's the smallest of the lot.
to games:
i finished jade empire. it was fun enough. i figured out a neat fighting style that meant the bad guys couldn't get a hit on me. i don't know what that games problem is, but it seemed horribly unbalanced. the regular enemies could be taken down in about 5 seconds; if they hit you it wasn't a problem - their couldn't do much damage. they were pretty easy to beat. the bosses, on the other hand, were impossible. two hits from a boss and my character was dead. and it took about 5 minutes to beat a boss (that's 60times longer than a regular guy - that seems a bit extreme to me). anyway, i did finish the game, but i won't be rushing back to play it any time soon.
i played through dr ned and got half way through general knoxx in borderlands before i started playing mass effect. it's a fun enough game. for some reason, it seems to lack something. like, i'm kind of just playing it to see what it will present me with. i don't really feel much for any of the characters (my girl is pretty looking - that's about it) and i don't care much for the story so far. in fact, i don't really know what the story is yet. and i'm about 6 hours in... maybe. so i'll stick with it to see where it goes. jade empire was kind of similar - really slow to start and then it got going towards the end. but they spent too long on set-up and by the time the story got going i hadn't fallen in love with the characters. and then it was too late - i was too worried about staying alive.
in fact, i had another gripe with jade empire. it was supposed to be an rpg, but only the first two chapters had quests and stuff. after that, it was all fighting. there weren't even any puzzles or stuff, it was just, 'go here and kill this guy, then kill that mob of assassins, then kill this boss, then kill this mob of ghosts, then kill...' yea - you get the point. yea - schizophrenic game.
so, i kind of hope the bioware guys learned thier lesson from jade empire, and mass effect is better, but so far i'm not seeing it.
penelope_stone is up for the week (or two). it's fun having her around. we're thinking of going to sheila's for dinner some night - we really need to tell sheila about this.
right - it's ten past ten, i really need to get down to writing.
07 July 2010
tomatoes
tomatoes is the oddest word ever. the plural has an e while the singular doesn't. that confuses me.
anyway. one of the tomatoes has sprouted. it has two tiny leaves. some others are pushing their way up out of the soil. i planted five pots and only two have shown any signs of life. sure, i'll see how they do over the next few days.
my kale is doing excellently. i have a little kale carpet in the pot. i kind of wish it would stay like that forever. it looks really cute and soft. (like tiny green butterflies on stalks.) now i have to watch one or two plants take over and kill all the rest of them. boo.
the pepper is also growing.
that's all my plant-y news. now back to writing. the scene in the middle of the book - the one that has annoyed me since day one - is almost fixed. yeay. just a small realisation and off we go. i also now know how science works in my book. woo for making up science - it's almost as good as making up magic, except it's way harder, because you have to have some basis in reality. anyway - back to it.
(it's a little disturbing that i'm comfortable wearing a t-shirt at 23 degrees (and not a string top). i am going to freeze when winter comes. my skin doesn't even feel warm. if i was wearing a light hoodie, i'd be just as comfortable.)
edited to add pictures:
anyway. one of the tomatoes has sprouted. it has two tiny leaves. some others are pushing their way up out of the soil. i planted five pots and only two have shown any signs of life. sure, i'll see how they do over the next few days.
my kale is doing excellently. i have a little kale carpet in the pot. i kind of wish it would stay like that forever. it looks really cute and soft. (like tiny green butterflies on stalks.) now i have to watch one or two plants take over and kill all the rest of them. boo.
the pepper is also growing.
that's all my plant-y news. now back to writing. the scene in the middle of the book - the one that has annoyed me since day one - is almost fixed. yeay. just a small realisation and off we go. i also now know how science works in my book. woo for making up science - it's almost as good as making up magic, except it's way harder, because you have to have some basis in reality. anyway - back to it.
(it's a little disturbing that i'm comfortable wearing a t-shirt at 23 degrees (and not a string top). i am going to freeze when winter comes. my skin doesn't even feel warm. if i was wearing a light hoodie, i'd be just as comfortable.)
edited to add pictures:
06 July 2010
fairytales for adults
my birthday present from lordkilljoy arrived today. it's somewhat of a tradition for me to get birthday presents at the start of the summer. it was so that i'd have all summer to play with them, rather than getting birthday presents and then having to go back to school the next day. so i couldn't resist opening it and reading it.
and what was my present? i hear you ask: the adventures of the princess and mr whiffle; the thing beneath the bed by patrick rothfuss.
i read the whole book in about 15 minutes. the art is super-cute, the story is a little disturbing. You can read my review on goodreads: princess and mr whiffle review
that's all i wanted to say, really. my kale is growing. the shoots are about 1mm in diameter now, and about an inch high, with leaves that are about 5mm wide. they are cute, and there are billions of them. i think i'll let them fight it out amongst themselves for who gets to grow and who doesn't. i think i may have killed my cherry tomatoes. one of them has mould growing on it. that can't be good.
right so. bye then.
and what was my present? i hear you ask: the adventures of the princess and mr whiffle; the thing beneath the bed by patrick rothfuss.
i read the whole book in about 15 minutes. the art is super-cute, the story is a little disturbing. You can read my review on goodreads: princess and mr whiffle review
that's all i wanted to say, really. my kale is growing. the shoots are about 1mm in diameter now, and about an inch high, with leaves that are about 5mm wide. they are cute, and there are billions of them. i think i'll let them fight it out amongst themselves for who gets to grow and who doesn't. i think i may have killed my cherry tomatoes. one of them has mould growing on it. that can't be good.
right so. bye then.
02 July 2010
Plants (but no Zombies - they are alive)
Golly geepers, I'm learning stuff about plants. This is amazing. My pepper wilts in the afternoon, and I just learned this is because it can't draw enough water from the soil to keep up with what's evaporating from its leaves. If it recovers by late afternoon, it's fine, but if it doesn't that means it needs watering. My dude is recovering already (the sun's gone in). This is so cool. I never imagined plants were so reactive.
I just wrote the title of this post and it made me wonder what an undead plant would be like. I'll bet you could write a weird sort b-movie about it.
I just wrote the title of this post and it made me wonder what an undead plant would be like. I'll bet you could write a weird sort b-movie about it.
More Plants
I now have a whole little garden happening on my windowsill. The pepper plant is doing well and has been joined by scarlet kale and cherry tomatoes. The other two haven't grown yet, though. I only planted them yesterday. I keep looking at them though - in the hopes I’ll see a shoot. I think it might be another while yet before I see anything. They get direct sunlight from about half 12 to 5ish. I don't know if that's enough to warm the soil and let the seeds know to start growing. Sure, we'll just have to wait and see.
Bad news, though. I found a greenfly on the windowsill today. I just hope I killed it before it got to lay any eggs. I'd hate to have to throw all these plants outside. I cleared away the plant graveyard yesterday - threw them all in the bin.
I'm starting a new scene in my novel today - as in brand new. I got 500 words in before I got distracted with music. Oh well.
I'm playing Jade Empire at the moment and am quite enjoying it. I've wanted to play it for a long time, but never got around to it. And then lordkilljoy started a game of it on the xbox, and I thought it looked really clunky. So that put me off. But it's not clunky. Well - it is a little. The combat system does have it's annoyances, but as long as I toggle between targeting on and targeting off, it does ok.
I finished Borderlands on the PC. It is such a brilliant game. I may go back to it when I'm finished Jade Empire and do playthrough2. Or maybe lordkilljoy will want to play something on the PC by then.
I don't have much other news. I'm settling into my new work well enough. And still getting time to write, which is good.
Right, so. I'll go now.
Bad news, though. I found a greenfly on the windowsill today. I just hope I killed it before it got to lay any eggs. I'd hate to have to throw all these plants outside. I cleared away the plant graveyard yesterday - threw them all in the bin.
I'm starting a new scene in my novel today - as in brand new. I got 500 words in before I got distracted with music. Oh well.
I'm playing Jade Empire at the moment and am quite enjoying it. I've wanted to play it for a long time, but never got around to it. And then lordkilljoy started a game of it on the xbox, and I thought it looked really clunky. So that put me off. But it's not clunky. Well - it is a little. The combat system does have it's annoyances, but as long as I toggle between targeting on and targeting off, it does ok.
I finished Borderlands on the PC. It is such a brilliant game. I may go back to it when I'm finished Jade Empire and do playthrough2. Or maybe lordkilljoy will want to play something on the PC by then.
I don't have much other news. I'm settling into my new work well enough. And still getting time to write, which is good.
Right, so. I'll go now.
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