Packing is a bad idea when the more responsible member of the team (i.e. the one who usually remembers all the things I'd forget) has had a few drinks. We forgot chairs, blankets, utensils, cleaning things, food... But no great worry - this is America, land of capitalism so we bought most of the things we needed. I drove us to the lakeside campsite, around the campsite and back out of the campsite again. Who would have thought the place would be full on a Thursday night. We raced darkness as we drove back down the road towards another campsite I'd seen (11 miles from the lake). This one was about half-full, and with night closing in too fast, we picked a spot and put our tent up. Adventure 1 complete.
Adventure 2. I hadn't eaten much all day and I was starving, so we drove back to Payson (half an hour) to get food. We got tacos from one of the few places open that late (10pm-ish) and ate them while watching the lightning across the hill. It was pretty spectacular - all the lights around us went off about half way through the meal. That should have pinged something in my brain, but no. We clambered back in the car as the first drops of rain hit. I was still fine with this - it was probably just a shower. Heh. About a quarter of the way back to the campsite I was driving through rain so heavy I couldn't see 10 meters ahead of me. It was pitch black, and my headlights barely lit the road for all the rain. With each flash of lightning I fixed the curves of the road ahead in my mind. We got there in one piece, our tent had held up masterfully, and we crawled into bed.
I should mention that there was poo around our campsite and all the signs around warned of bears. The outcome of this is that I didn't sleep a wink the first night. I woke up to every little noise. In the morning we woke up to cows in the next campsite over. Who knew cow poo could look so solid. Anyway, I slept well the next two nights.
(Mis)Adventure 3. On Friday night we got a campfire going and cooked burgers. But a thunderstorm as big as the one on Thursday night rolled in as we were cooking. So we had slightly pink-in-the-middle burgers. But that was okay. It was practice for Saturday.
Saturday night's dinner was steak and fish (guess who had what) and Friday had thought us how to get the fire going and how to cook well over an open fire. So we did fried spuds on the pan and everything was delicious. Except that we cooked the steak and fish separately and when Liam got up to help me get the fish onto my plate, River snuck over to his and scoffed half his dinner. I felt so bad that I couldn't hardly eat. I ended up giving half my dinner to Liam. But I'd had enough. Needless to say River was locked in her crate while we finished eating.
And we had toasted (roasted?) marshmallows. They were divine.
So that was all the mad adventures. We went kayaking on the lake on Saturday. That was good fun too. We only rented the kayak (a sit on) for an hour, but more thunder came in after 40 minutes. We'd had enough fun anyway. I'd forgotten to put on suncream and I was paranoid. (I didn't get burned, though.)
We packed up Sunday. I didn't want to go home. Sitting around a campsite surrounded by pine, oak and juniper is the best thing ever. But we've booked another trip for two weeks from now. Can't wait.
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
26 July 2013
13 August 2012
Perseids
We went out into the countryside to see the Perseids meteor shower on Saturday. We drove for an hour, and the lights from Phoenix still stained the northern horizon. I don't know how far we'd have to go to get away from it, but farther than I'm willing to travel.
Anyway, we pulled off the highway and lay on the car, looking up at the sky. It wasn't perfect, though. There was a little cloud cover and the stars weren't the most visible ever. We did get to see a few meteors, though - which was cool. I saw 3 or 4. Tiny little streaks flashing through the sky.
The local fly population was out, and we were both paranoid about being bitten. So we ended up not staying long - only 20 minutes or so. A rustle in the bushes nearby sent us on our way with images of murderers in our heads - or at least in my head, anyway.
Still, it was fun. I drove us and I got to use the headlights for the first time. That was really exciting. Evil, sardonic Ria was all, "You are so sad," but I didn't care. Ooh - another fun driving thing - not related to that night - is that I've been driving our car since January, and more frequently since June. Today, I learned how to use the win-wipers. 8 months and in all that time I haven't been rained on until now. Amazing. I love Arizona. Okay, that might be too strong a word, but it is amazing having blue skies every day. I don't think I could ever get bored of it. Or ever learn not to feel aversion towards rain.
I've nothing else to say, really. Bye, then.
Ooh - actually, I did want to say that I think River acted as our shield and took all the mosquito bites on Saturday night. She kept moving around and fidgeting on Saturday night and today she's been scratching a little.
Anyway, we pulled off the highway and lay on the car, looking up at the sky. It wasn't perfect, though. There was a little cloud cover and the stars weren't the most visible ever. We did get to see a few meteors, though - which was cool. I saw 3 or 4. Tiny little streaks flashing through the sky.
The local fly population was out, and we were both paranoid about being bitten. So we ended up not staying long - only 20 minutes or so. A rustle in the bushes nearby sent us on our way with images of murderers in our heads - or at least in my head, anyway.
Still, it was fun. I drove us and I got to use the headlights for the first time. That was really exciting. Evil, sardonic Ria was all, "You are so sad," but I didn't care. Ooh - another fun driving thing - not related to that night - is that I've been driving our car since January, and more frequently since June. Today, I learned how to use the win-wipers. 8 months and in all that time I haven't been rained on until now. Amazing. I love Arizona. Okay, that might be too strong a word, but it is amazing having blue skies every day. I don't think I could ever get bored of it. Or ever learn not to feel aversion towards rain.
I've nothing else to say, really. Bye, then.
Ooh - actually, I did want to say that I think River acted as our shield and took all the mosquito bites on Saturday night. She kept moving around and fidgeting on Saturday night and today she's been scratching a little.
05 July 2012
Randomy Random Post
We got to see fireworks last night. They were cool. And we had a perfect view - about as close as you could get, without even realising it when we chose our spot. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I felt kinda bad as we headed out to the fireworks - even though I'd been for a 5 mile walk with River, but I guess I just felt we should have met up with some people. It didn't help that the day was muggy and overcast.
My crackers got finished off today. I'm going to make more, along with some digestive biscuits. I've set myself a challenge to make digestives exactly like McVities, so I started by getting the packet ingredients list and a random recipe for digestives and merging them. My only one bafflement is wholemeal. Is this wheat? Oat? Some other kind of grain? I'm afraid that oats will bake the biscuits turn out more like HobNobs. And while HobNobs are good, they are no McVities digestive. My caramel squares are almost gone too. The last few are in the freezer.
I renewed my driver's licence today. Kind of spur of the moment thing when lordkilljoy reminded me. So, if you get to the office just after it opens, the wait is only a little over an hour, rather than 3 at every other time. So I shouldn't have to do that again because this time it's valid until a year after my visa runs out.
Remember ages ago, I wrote a post proclaiming how I was totally finished Artificer? I totally lied. I've been working on it somewhat constantly since then and am now almost done with it. I'm 3/4 of the way through the final read through and have some 200 notes on changes and corrections that need to be made (a lot of which are simple typos, but one or two are whole scene rewrites).
I restarted the front panel of my crochet robot. I wasn't happy with it and figured it would only take a little while to do again. It will be cool when it's stuffed and sewed up.
I don't think I have much other news. This post was mainly procrastination for not doing the dishes.
My crackers got finished off today. I'm going to make more, along with some digestive biscuits. I've set myself a challenge to make digestives exactly like McVities, so I started by getting the packet ingredients list and a random recipe for digestives and merging them. My only one bafflement is wholemeal. Is this wheat? Oat? Some other kind of grain? I'm afraid that oats will bake the biscuits turn out more like HobNobs. And while HobNobs are good, they are no McVities digestive. My caramel squares are almost gone too. The last few are in the freezer.
I renewed my driver's licence today. Kind of spur of the moment thing when lordkilljoy reminded me. So, if you get to the office just after it opens, the wait is only a little over an hour, rather than 3 at every other time. So I shouldn't have to do that again because this time it's valid until a year after my visa runs out.
Remember ages ago, I wrote a post proclaiming how I was totally finished Artificer? I totally lied. I've been working on it somewhat constantly since then and am now almost done with it. I'm 3/4 of the way through the final read through and have some 200 notes on changes and corrections that need to be made (a lot of which are simple typos, but one or two are whole scene rewrites).
I restarted the front panel of my crochet robot. I wasn't happy with it and figured it would only take a little while to do again. It will be cool when it's stuffed and sewed up.
I don't think I have much other news. This post was mainly procrastination for not doing the dishes.
30 May 2012
So Much News
I'm finally getting around to updating my livejournal. I have loads of news... I must also finish off the account of the wedding - even though I've done all the good bits already.
I'm trying this new thing of walking River at stupid o' clock in the morning (aka 5:30am) while it's a nice temperature for walking. It went well enough while I was still on jetlag time, but now that I'm coming out of that things are getting harder. I was so tired this morning getting up and while out walking. It's only now (because 7 is such a less early time :/ ) that I'm feeling a bit more awake. Though, I am very tempted to just go back to bed now. But I want to get this written first.
Poor River's a bit institutionalised after her month in boarding. The day after we got her home she went into her crate in the middle of the day (which never happens). She's also been going in there in the evenings (when she'd usually be up on the couch beside us). But I think she's coming back to herself again - which is good and bad. It's lovely to have mad, playful, loving River back, but with that side comes the barking at strangers, trucks and the UPSman. Very annoying.
Now, I know there was something else... Crochet - ever since penelope_stone showed me how to do it properly, I can't get enough of it. I'm making fingerless gloves and driving gloves. I'm trying to get the driving gloves done fast so that I can wear them. Contrary to all sane thought - gloves are necessary while driving in 40degree heat. And not because things are hot. No, indeed. It's to stop the freezing cold air coming out of the vent right next to my fingers from giving me frostbite. Okay - that was an exaggeration, but not by much. And if you are wondering why I don't just turn down (up?) the ac, it's because the air is a lovely temperature by the time it reaches my face.
Other things of note: I cycled 35km around one of Killarney's lakes last week (god, was that just last week?). I'm still not finished the string top I'm knitting. I'm making gnocchi for dinner today - from scratch.
I spent a good bit of yesterday driving around by myself. I feel like I shouldn't be allowed control something as freakishly frightening as a car. Every time I go, I feel like I'm going to be in a crash or something. But anyway - I got to the post office and the shop for food without any problems. I do think, though, that our car isn't the most efficient ever. I filled it on Saturday and it was a quarter gone by the time yesterday's jobs were done. And we didn't go anywhere far. The dog park was the farthest, at 13miles away. I looked it up and the Cruze does 22mpg in an urban area. That sounds about right, I guess. That's 250 miles per fill for just driving around (it does better on the highway). Does that mean we did 60 miles in a few days? *Off to google maps to add up journeys.* I suppose we did. Wow, driving really ads up.
Emm, right so. I haven't any other news. I think I have to sleep now.
I'm trying this new thing of walking River at stupid o' clock in the morning (aka 5:30am) while it's a nice temperature for walking. It went well enough while I was still on jetlag time, but now that I'm coming out of that things are getting harder. I was so tired this morning getting up and while out walking. It's only now (because 7 is such a less early time :/ ) that I'm feeling a bit more awake. Though, I am very tempted to just go back to bed now. But I want to get this written first.
Poor River's a bit institutionalised after her month in boarding. The day after we got her home she went into her crate in the middle of the day (which never happens). She's also been going in there in the evenings (when she'd usually be up on the couch beside us). But I think she's coming back to herself again - which is good and bad. It's lovely to have mad, playful, loving River back, but with that side comes the barking at strangers, trucks and the UPSman. Very annoying.
Now, I know there was something else... Crochet - ever since penelope_stone showed me how to do it properly, I can't get enough of it. I'm making fingerless gloves and driving gloves. I'm trying to get the driving gloves done fast so that I can wear them. Contrary to all sane thought - gloves are necessary while driving in 40degree heat. And not because things are hot. No, indeed. It's to stop the freezing cold air coming out of the vent right next to my fingers from giving me frostbite. Okay - that was an exaggeration, but not by much. And if you are wondering why I don't just turn down (up?) the ac, it's because the air is a lovely temperature by the time it reaches my face.
Other things of note: I cycled 35km around one of Killarney's lakes last week (god, was that just last week?). I'm still not finished the string top I'm knitting. I'm making gnocchi for dinner today - from scratch.
I spent a good bit of yesterday driving around by myself. I feel like I shouldn't be allowed control something as freakishly frightening as a car. Every time I go, I feel like I'm going to be in a crash or something. But anyway - I got to the post office and the shop for food without any problems. I do think, though, that our car isn't the most efficient ever. I filled it on Saturday and it was a quarter gone by the time yesterday's jobs were done. And we didn't go anywhere far. The dog park was the farthest, at 13miles away. I looked it up and the Cruze does 22mpg in an urban area. That sounds about right, I guess. That's 250 miles per fill for just driving around (it does better on the highway). Does that mean we did 60 miles in a few days? *Off to google maps to add up journeys.* I suppose we did. Wow, driving really ads up.
Emm, right so. I haven't any other news. I think I have to sleep now.
28 April 2012
I'm a driver
Dreams of being a stunt driver in Hollywood, here I come! Not really. But I did manage to pass my driving test. I got 96% :)
It was fine, really. I think I need the tester to drive around with me for an hour beforehand to ease me into things. I made one mistake - which I knew I had the moment I did it. I looked in the mirrors / over shoulder before turning on my indicator. But that's okay.
We're off on a plane in 8 hours. I don't really know what to do until then. I don't know if everything's done or not. And I didn't get enough sleep last night (hoping to be tired tonight so that I sleep on the plane) so I don't really feel like doing anything.
Actually, right now I can see myself playing soul reaver. lordkilljoy got it on good old games. It's one of my favourites, and watching the intro made me think how much Artificer is made up of everything I loved when I was younger.
It was fine, really. I think I need the tester to drive around with me for an hour beforehand to ease me into things. I made one mistake - which I knew I had the moment I did it. I looked in the mirrors / over shoulder before turning on my indicator. But that's okay.
We're off on a plane in 8 hours. I don't really know what to do until then. I don't know if everything's done or not. And I didn't get enough sleep last night (hoping to be tired tonight so that I sleep on the plane) so I don't really feel like doing anything.
Actually, right now I can see myself playing soul reaver. lordkilljoy got it on good old games. It's one of my favourites, and watching the intro made me think how much Artificer is made up of everything I loved when I was younger.
27 April 2012
Driving Test Today
How does one drive when one is shaking like a leaf in a gale? I've got it kind of bad today - I feel really sick, even though I'm forcing myself to eat, because I might not get another chance for 3 hours and driving on an empty stomach is an even worse idea than driving while shaking. Well, because I shake even worse when I'm hungry.
Livejournal, you've always been here for me before a test. And once more we go through this together. I keep trying to tell my body to stop with this nonsense, but it won't listen, so maybe you can talk some sense into it instead. Thanks.
Livejournal, you've always been here for me before a test. And once more we go through this together. I keep trying to tell my body to stop with this nonsense, but it won't listen, so maybe you can talk some sense into it instead. Thanks.
22 March 2012
bread x ∞
I may have mentioned this before but... I love bread. Bread is the best thing ever. You can have it with butter, or toast it. You can rip it into pieces and nom each bit individually, or you can stuff a whole slice into your mouth. You can dip it into soup, or sop gravy up with it. You can build with bread (seriously, the Chinese used rice flour as mortar).
I made some lovely bread today. Even better than last weeks scones... which were good, but not perfect. I found out that if you put a lot of baking powder into bread that it can give it a strange taste. 3 teaspoons of power to 1 cup of flour is too much baking powder for my poor sensitive taste buds. Apparently, there are 2 kinds of baking powders and one has this taste for some people, but the other never does. I'll have to change the brand I have.
I'm going for a driving lesson on Tuesday. Ahhh. I'm going to try to act all confident so that I can just do the test at the end of this lesson (and pass it, of course) so that I don't have to go for my second lesson. I'm such a social goof. Maybe I'll really love the lesson and want to do the second one.
Anyway. I don't have much other news.
I made some lovely bread today. Even better than last weeks scones... which were good, but not perfect. I found out that if you put a lot of baking powder into bread that it can give it a strange taste. 3 teaspoons of power to 1 cup of flour is too much baking powder for my poor sensitive taste buds. Apparently, there are 2 kinds of baking powders and one has this taste for some people, but the other never does. I'll have to change the brand I have.
I'm going for a driving lesson on Tuesday. Ahhh. I'm going to try to act all confident so that I can just do the test at the end of this lesson (and pass it, of course) so that I don't have to go for my second lesson. I'm such a social goof. Maybe I'll really love the lesson and want to do the second one.
Anyway. I don't have much other news.
29 January 2012
Drive to Fry's
I just drove us to the shop and back (and around the estate). Go me :) I need some work on mirrors and on trusting that I'm seeing everything. I'm kind of slow because I'm afraid there's something there (like a bike or person) that I've overlooked. And there was a lot of, "Okay, I'm just going to go. Ahhhh." I'm such a girl. But I got us there and back safe, and got lunch for myself too. Yeay.
We got the matrix on blueray recently and have been watching them over the weekend. They are quite good movies. The first one is still so much fun to watch, and even the second one (last night) was a bit of action.
Not much else is going on - Royal Rumble is on tonight, so we're going to watch that. It would be really fun to watch John Cena (the ultimate good guy) turn bad (or heel, as they say). That's the only reason I'm watching. Does that make me evil? Because I want to see the good guy fall? I guess it's just a story element I really like to see unfold.
I don't have a whole lot of other news. Ooh - the thermometer in the car got to 26 yesterday. The one on the balcony got to 20. That's pretty cool (or hot, really).
We got the matrix on blueray recently and have been watching them over the weekend. They are quite good movies. The first one is still so much fun to watch, and even the second one (last night) was a bit of action.
Not much else is going on - Royal Rumble is on tonight, so we're going to watch that. It would be really fun to watch John Cena (the ultimate good guy) turn bad (or heel, as they say). That's the only reason I'm watching. Does that make me evil? Because I want to see the good guy fall? I guess it's just a story element I really like to see unfold.
I don't have a whole lot of other news. Ooh - the thermometer in the car got to 26 yesterday. The one on the balcony got to 20. That's pretty cool (or hot, really).
22 January 2012
(re)Learning to Drive
After almost 5 years, I went out driving today. We got our learning permits on Wednesday (a very happy, albeit nervous day) and today me and lordkilljoy went out driving in a car park. It was kinda scary, but kinda fun too. The straight bits were fun, going around corners was not so much fun.
We put up the hammock yesterday. It was a lovely day yesterday and we decided taking a nap out on the balcony was a wonderful idea. And it was. Even though it was a tiny bit cold. It was even colder today so we lay out there with sleeping bags. It was hard to stay awake it was so comfortable. I can't wait until it gets warmer and I can lie out there in shorts and a t-shirt.
Us :)
I can't think of anything else to say. I'm sure there's loads, but I can't think of it right now. I'm off to play Star Wars.
We put up the hammock yesterday. It was a lovely day yesterday and we decided taking a nap out on the balcony was a wonderful idea. And it was. Even though it was a tiny bit cold. It was even colder today so we lay out there with sleeping bags. It was hard to stay awake it was so comfortable. I can't wait until it gets warmer and I can lie out there in shorts and a t-shirt.
Us :)
I can't think of anything else to say. I'm sure there's loads, but I can't think of it right now. I'm off to play Star Wars.
25 July 2008
3d modelling as a form of procrastination
got to bed at 2 last night. woke at 9 this morning. i have a feeling i'll be tired this evening. ah well. it was worth it.
i was messing about in 3dsmax last night and i opened up my girl file. i put basic materials, hair and (dan dan daaaaa) a biped rig on her. i can now pose her in any position i want. wooo!!
of course, all of this is in procrastination of my novel, but it makes me feel good when my procrastination efforts result in something creative. unfortunately, my model's proportions are a bit wierd, so i had to make the biped rig unrenderable (shush, firefox dictionary - this is a word) because it was poking out in odd places.
so - plans for today: renew my provisional licence (now called a learner permit - way to make new drivers feel inept). i must drop an invoice into cit, and apart from that, i think i'll make a material for my girl's eyes, a bump map for her hair and sort out the colour scheme on her clothes. and not write... maybe i'll write.
i think that's all i have to say.
i was messing about in 3dsmax last night and i opened up my girl file. i put basic materials, hair and (dan dan daaaaa) a biped rig on her. i can now pose her in any position i want. wooo!!
of course, all of this is in procrastination of my novel, but it makes me feel good when my procrastination efforts result in something creative. unfortunately, my model's proportions are a bit wierd, so i had to make the biped rig unrenderable (shush, firefox dictionary - this is a word) because it was poking out in odd places.
so - plans for today: renew my provisional licence (now called a learner permit - way to make new drivers feel inept). i must drop an invoice into cit, and apart from that, i think i'll make a material for my girl's eyes, a bump map for her hair and sort out the colour scheme on her clothes. and not write... maybe i'll write.
i think that's all i have to say.
17 April 2007
almost gone
i think my luck for this month has been really bad. usually, i'm such a lucky person, everything works out perfectly, but recently things have been going a bit squewy. my application for a credit card got refused, my stomach has been paining me, and today, top of the bill, i failed my driving test. i just hope everything sorts itself out before friday. i'd hate to think my bags will get stolen, the hostel will have no record of our booking and we'll be kidnapped and ransomed in delhi, all because my natural luck has run out.
not that i think it has - it just likes to stay balanced. usually everything is good but when it turns, everything crashes. ah well.
i'm trying to pack - it's dull. i still have to finish my novel. i don't think that is going to happen at this stage. i could do it tomorrow, i guess. maybe.
only 2 days left at home. god, that's a little scary. then out into the big world, with no anchor back to what i know as real; everything different and new and scary. really scary. but fun. an adventure. wooo! something to really write about at last. no more inane blather about work, or college, or random page-filler that no one really wants to know about. fluf that is forgotten as soon as read. no. this will be decent. :roll eyes: yea right!
anyway. it's a little dark in here, so i will go.
not that i think it has - it just likes to stay balanced. usually everything is good but when it turns, everything crashes. ah well.
i'm trying to pack - it's dull. i still have to finish my novel. i don't think that is going to happen at this stage. i could do it tomorrow, i guess. maybe.
only 2 days left at home. god, that's a little scary. then out into the big world, with no anchor back to what i know as real; everything different and new and scary. really scary. but fun. an adventure. wooo! something to really write about at last. no more inane blather about work, or college, or random page-filler that no one really wants to know about. fluf that is forgotten as soon as read. no. this will be decent. :roll eyes: yea right!
anyway. it's a little dark in here, so i will go.
13 April 2007
i feel occasional pangs of remorse
yes - i'm aware how long it has been since i posted last. nothing has really happened since then. well, it has really.
we are getting organized for our trip. we did a practice pack last weekend - i'm seriously considering bringing only one pair of pants and only a few different tops.
our indian visas came through yesterday and arrived today. i have my first stamp on my passport. wheee!!
i'm having serious trouble with my driving test. it got re-scheduled to the 8th of may and i need it within 6 days. i really don't think that is going to happen. it will have been such a waste of time and money (and emotion) if i don't get my test before i leave, cause i can't see myself doing it after i return.
in one week i'll be on the road to dublin. wooo! i booked our hostel in delhi - i hope it's nice. it's 6km from the city centre. i don't mind - it's in the tibeten enclave, away from the worst of the touts and beggars and stuff.
why do people not accept that as a writer i can't spell some words? like responce and availible. is it not ok to master grammar if you have a few (hundred) words that you can't spell? oh well. i still have 2000 words (about) to write to finish my novel. it's the very last scene and i don't quite know (still) how to work it out. another battle is fine and all, but that will be three in a row. is it a bit much to end the book in a flair of magic and swords and stuff? meh.
i'm up to ep9 of heroes. the "wow" factor has waned but it is still very good. hiro is my favourite character. and peter. and isacc. he looks better as a junkie - clean hair dosn't suit him.
mmm, what else. i got the 3d houses finished. i should put them up on dA. if i think about it when i go home. they are ok. they have some problems, but it took waaay too long to render them for me to go back and fix them. the biggest one took 11 hours to render. the quality is really good.
right so. i guess i'll go now. i've filled up enough of people's friends' pages.
we are getting organized for our trip. we did a practice pack last weekend - i'm seriously considering bringing only one pair of pants and only a few different tops.
our indian visas came through yesterday and arrived today. i have my first stamp on my passport. wheee!!
i'm having serious trouble with my driving test. it got re-scheduled to the 8th of may and i need it within 6 days. i really don't think that is going to happen. it will have been such a waste of time and money (and emotion) if i don't get my test before i leave, cause i can't see myself doing it after i return.
in one week i'll be on the road to dublin. wooo! i booked our hostel in delhi - i hope it's nice. it's 6km from the city centre. i don't mind - it's in the tibeten enclave, away from the worst of the touts and beggars and stuff.
why do people not accept that as a writer i can't spell some words? like responce and availible. is it not ok to master grammar if you have a few (hundred) words that you can't spell? oh well. i still have 2000 words (about) to write to finish my novel. it's the very last scene and i don't quite know (still) how to work it out. another battle is fine and all, but that will be three in a row. is it a bit much to end the book in a flair of magic and swords and stuff? meh.
i'm up to ep9 of heroes. the "wow" factor has waned but it is still very good. hiro is my favourite character. and peter. and isacc. he looks better as a junkie - clean hair dosn't suit him.
mmm, what else. i got the 3d houses finished. i should put them up on dA. if i think about it when i go home. they are ok. they have some problems, but it took waaay too long to render them for me to go back and fix them. the biggest one took 11 hours to render. the quality is really good.
right so. i guess i'll go now. i've filled up enough of people's friends' pages.
14 November 2006
i should be writing
yesterday was a kind of strange day - full of down and then up. i woke felling absolutely terrible, "why should i get out of bed" kind of terrible. but i did get out of bed + ended up crying over breakfast + my depression fixated on the fact that penelope_stone is way more enthusastic about driving than i am. so that was quite bad, but i talked about it (didn't really help much). so i moped a bit + felt awful (much to the enlivenment of the annoying rational voice at the back of my mind "my eyes look amazingly green when i cry" was one of its nicer comments. yes i am rolling my eyes.)
so i felt a tiny bit better and then daddy (having been told the story by mammy) came up and asked if i wanted to go driving. i said where to + he said blarney and i said sure.
so i drove to blarney and beyond. it had its ups and downs. many hill starts (deadly) and narrow roads (scary) and traffic on the dual carrigeway (indifferent). i nearly gave daddy a heart attack when i swerved infront of a van thing. he told me to pull into the inside lane and i did - just a little too early! heh - it was funny. i conked out sooo many times though - that wasn't really funny. ah well - i just really ignore the cars around me. i think i'm a dangerous driver, especailly on the dual carrigeway: change lanes, ok - the other cars will get out of my way. (no - i'm not quite that bad.)
so then when we got home i started writing and wrote 2,000 words in three hours. it was so cool. i skipped onto chapter 3, which is full of action and thrills and destruction. so it was easy to write. and i dug a load of old soundtracks out and listened to them for inspiration: stargate is a good battle-orientated one. i was sorta thinking about making a few playlists - like: battle, dialogue, pleasant walk, tension, etc, to enhance my mood while writing. that would take a lot of time though. i need more soundtracks though. i have about 10, but its just not enough.
so that's about all i have to say.
goodbye.
so i felt a tiny bit better and then daddy (having been told the story by mammy) came up and asked if i wanted to go driving. i said where to + he said blarney and i said sure.
so i drove to blarney and beyond. it had its ups and downs. many hill starts (deadly) and narrow roads (scary) and traffic on the dual carrigeway (indifferent). i nearly gave daddy a heart attack when i swerved infront of a van thing. he told me to pull into the inside lane and i did - just a little too early! heh - it was funny. i conked out sooo many times though - that wasn't really funny. ah well - i just really ignore the cars around me. i think i'm a dangerous driver, especailly on the dual carrigeway: change lanes, ok - the other cars will get out of my way. (no - i'm not quite that bad.)
so then when we got home i started writing and wrote 2,000 words in three hours. it was so cool. i skipped onto chapter 3, which is full of action and thrills and destruction. so it was easy to write. and i dug a load of old soundtracks out and listened to them for inspiration: stargate is a good battle-orientated one. i was sorta thinking about making a few playlists - like: battle, dialogue, pleasant walk, tension, etc, to enhance my mood while writing. that would take a lot of time though. i need more soundtracks though. i have about 10, but its just not enough.
so that's about all i have to say.
goodbye.
12 November 2006
more on writing: worries this time
woo - cork nanowrimo meet-up today. i hope that goes well. i'm very curious, i've never been to a meet-up before.
i struggled all day yesterday with my novel. i've come to the conclusion that i don't know Demina well enough (she's Zachery's second and the closest thing to a antagonist). Scenes with her in them just drag by and i get totally disillusioned. That and more plot holes have been rearing their heads. It is quite a problem having a cast full of super-powerful characters. i have to keep thinking up limitations for them + these limitations start to smell quite bad of plot holes after a while.
i did a sprint last night (that's where you try to write as much as you can in 15 mins - people usually get 400 - 600 words). i got 170 or something. it was nothing, but it did work - it forced my brain to get off the couch and actually think up how the magic was going to work. this is another problem i have: i am detailing how every spell works - how its cast, what the caster has to do, its effect after its cast. it is real brain-drudging stuff. but its fun when its done. and then i ask myself - what is the point of writing in all this magic. and i answer: detailed atmosphere. hmmmm!
i have also realized that my novel has no real focus or bad guy. its just stuff happening and then repercussions from that stuff. but that's ok - it is a story about zachery, not about zachery seeking such and such in order to stop a great evil or whatever.
so yea: i figure i'm boring everyone with these writing posts, but they arn't going to stop until the novel is finished. so - hah!
oh - yes. i had a slight depression this morning and was seriously considering giving up on driving. i see askea being so enthusastic about it, but to me learning to drive is a horrible chore that i have to force myself to do. i'm having driving nightmares and it keeps me awake and stuff. i'm really not having fun.
i struggled all day yesterday with my novel. i've come to the conclusion that i don't know Demina well enough (she's Zachery's second and the closest thing to a antagonist). Scenes with her in them just drag by and i get totally disillusioned. That and more plot holes have been rearing their heads. It is quite a problem having a cast full of super-powerful characters. i have to keep thinking up limitations for them + these limitations start to smell quite bad of plot holes after a while.
i did a sprint last night (that's where you try to write as much as you can in 15 mins - people usually get 400 - 600 words). i got 170 or something. it was nothing, but it did work - it forced my brain to get off the couch and actually think up how the magic was going to work. this is another problem i have: i am detailing how every spell works - how its cast, what the caster has to do, its effect after its cast. it is real brain-drudging stuff. but its fun when its done. and then i ask myself - what is the point of writing in all this magic. and i answer: detailed atmosphere. hmmmm!
i have also realized that my novel has no real focus or bad guy. its just stuff happening and then repercussions from that stuff. but that's ok - it is a story about zachery, not about zachery seeking such and such in order to stop a great evil or whatever.
so yea: i figure i'm boring everyone with these writing posts, but they arn't going to stop until the novel is finished. so - hah!
oh - yes. i had a slight depression this morning and was seriously considering giving up on driving. i see askea being so enthusastic about it, but to me learning to drive is a horrible chore that i have to force myself to do. i'm having driving nightmares and it keeps me awake and stuff. i'm really not having fun.
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