off to cork this evening for a wedding on friday. i'm kinda excited now... having yummy delicious left-overs from last night, got all my scenes for this week done, despite not getting anything done on monday. well - they are not the most polished scenes in the world, but still.
last night we made a mince beef madras. it needed a little soy sauce, but was really yummy then. and i cheated and bought canned tomatoes - i think if i was making it again i'd skin and chop up proper ones.
penelope_stone will be around for the weekend and has invited me out with her. i've not seen her in ages, so i think i may tag along with her and liam on Halloween.
i don't really have a lot of news...
28 October 2009
26 October 2009
mcm expo, london
I've been wearing this cool hat all day, it's got 2 massive purple and black stripy "ears" that hang down to my waist. it looks totally mad today, but yesterday it looked almost dull when compared to what some people were wearing. pink wigs, blue wigs, people in furry costume, anime characters, game characters, people in boxes and robots and daleks.
yea - the expo was amazing, if only for the number of people dressed up. and so many people's costumes were brilliant - they looked like a lot of time had been put into them. one of the most fun parts of the con was hanging out in the corridor and watching everyone go past.
saturday we just spent looking around at everything: artists, stalls, games, comics, movies, crazy people playing ddr, and we caught a few shows on the stages. sunday we did mostly the same, but me and tom played bayonetta and we all went to watch the cosplay masquerade, and we caught a taiko drumming session, and i got to pet an alien. he was very dog-like O_o
i have loads of pics that i should upload, but i haven't looked at most of them yet. i'm having a non-sort-of-day. i got very little writing done, and even sitting down to write this was difficult. anyway - tomorrow will be better... except that we are off to a wedding afters tonight, so hmmm.
goodbye, then.
yea - the expo was amazing, if only for the number of people dressed up. and so many people's costumes were brilliant - they looked like a lot of time had been put into them. one of the most fun parts of the con was hanging out in the corridor and watching everyone go past.
saturday we just spent looking around at everything: artists, stalls, games, comics, movies, crazy people playing ddr, and we caught a few shows on the stages. sunday we did mostly the same, but me and tom played bayonetta and we all went to watch the cosplay masquerade, and we caught a taiko drumming session, and i got to pet an alien. he was very dog-like O_o
i have loads of pics that i should upload, but i haven't looked at most of them yet. i'm having a non-sort-of-day. i got very little writing done, and even sitting down to write this was difficult. anyway - tomorrow will be better... except that we are off to a wedding afters tonight, so hmmm.
goodbye, then.
21 October 2009
sometimes my subjects get like tags
I finished devil may cry last night. i found the last 2 missions utterly frustrating. the second last is set up so that you battle all the bosses that you have already battled twice. it seems that capcom ran out of interesting ideas, but i guess people who prefer battles would like it. i prefer puzzles. the last battle was stupidly hard. hard to the point where i got the guy down to one bar of life and then couldn't hit him any more because he started jumping all over the place and casting spells and being generally annoying. the only reason i managed to beat him was because of an item i had, not because of any combos or weapons. i roll my eyes at that game.
ah well. i then went on to uncharted2. i think i'll have fun with this game, once the controls sink in. the first mission is unlike anything i've played before (not that i've played that many games) but i was impressed with the way they structured it. and drake is, as always, so much fun.
writing is going well - i got three scenes done yesterday. they were about 500 words each, but still. i should be finished ch. 3 today. ch. 3 is about 3,000 words - which for me is pathetically short - i have scenes longer than that (ok - almost). so i may have to shuffle it into chs. 2 and 4. or maybe i'll leave it, because it does stand nicely on its own - a wrap up to act 1.
i don't have much other news. going to london on friday for mcm expo. the excitement hasn't really sunk in yet. i don't think it will until i'm standing in the queue waiting to go in.
ah well. i then went on to uncharted2. i think i'll have fun with this game, once the controls sink in. the first mission is unlike anything i've played before (not that i've played that many games) but i was impressed with the way they structured it. and drake is, as always, so much fun.
writing is going well - i got three scenes done yesterday. they were about 500 words each, but still. i should be finished ch. 3 today. ch. 3 is about 3,000 words - which for me is pathetically short - i have scenes longer than that (ok - almost). so i may have to shuffle it into chs. 2 and 4. or maybe i'll leave it, because it does stand nicely on its own - a wrap up to act 1.
i don't have much other news. going to london on friday for mcm expo. the excitement hasn't really sunk in yet. i don't think it will until i'm standing in the queue waiting to go in.
18 October 2009
Wacom bamboo
this entry is being written from lordkilljoy's new toy, a Wacom bamboo graphics tablet (A5). Cool, but it does have its problems. As in, i would be faster writing this by typing, but it's fun to hand write onto your computer and see the text come up like normal on the text box. Yea, allow me to demonstrate by not correcting the following sentence:
thissentence ispure, uneditd output fromMac OS X `S B handwritingrecognitionpmgmm,Jnkw$. Yea, maybe i need to adjust the sliders for my handwriting width. OK, i've done that. Let's See how it turns out now. dedicated readers of my Lj may have noticed that i do capitalize my handwritten words - it is purely an "i couldn't be bothered with hitting shift" problem with typing.
Yea. this entry has taken way too long to write.
It has taken me 20 minutes to get this far. the other crazy thing is that Inkwell makes a little writing sound for you - as if the real sound of stylus on tablet wasn't enough. OK, i made some adjustments + things seem to be going a lot smoother. What i do like is the little symbols that mean spacebar (for editing) and return. Ugh, this refuses to recognise my capital i as what it is. it keeps wanting to put J or T. Annoying.
Right. i've had enough. Good night.
P.S. i'm playing Devil may Cry 4 at the moment and it is so much fun. totally over the top ridiculous, but in a good way.
thissentence ispure, uneditd output fromMac OS X `S B handwritingrecognitionpmgmm,Jnkw$. Yea, maybe i need to adjust the sliders for my handwriting width. OK, i've done that. Let's See how it turns out now. dedicated readers of my Lj may have noticed that i do capitalize my handwritten words - it is purely an "i couldn't be bothered with hitting shift" problem with typing.
Yea. this entry has taken way too long to write.
It has taken me 20 minutes to get this far. the other crazy thing is that Inkwell makes a little writing sound for you - as if the real sound of stylus on tablet wasn't enough. OK, i made some adjustments + things seem to be going a lot smoother. What i do like is the little symbols that mean spacebar (for editing) and return. Ugh, this refuses to recognise my capital i as what it is. it keeps wanting to put J or T. Annoying.
Right. i've had enough. Good night.
P.S. i'm playing Devil may Cry 4 at the moment and it is so much fun. totally over the top ridiculous, but in a good way.
13 October 2009
I wrote about 2,000 words today, and about 3,000 yesterday. Ahh, the exciting bits are so easy to get through. Tomorrow should go well enough too - it's an entirely new scene, but it involves characters i like and they are talking about fun types of things (conspiracy - always fun) and it's leading up to the introduction of Azrynn, woo.
mulkabu is up tomorrow - we are all going to kevin smith, so i'm kind of trying to get a bit done before then. But i have two scenes left this week - one tomorrow and one on friday.
me and lordkilljoy went to see zombieland on sunday. it was fun, nothing serious and a lot of laughs. Up is the next thing to see.
I'm still playing assassin's creed. i imagine that today, i will beat lordkilljoy's score for it. he didn't even get that score. i did. and he made such a fuss about me getting him free achievement points that i have to do better on my own account.
and now he's home. so i'm going to go :)
mulkabu is up tomorrow - we are all going to kevin smith, so i'm kind of trying to get a bit done before then. But i have two scenes left this week - one tomorrow and one on friday.
me and lordkilljoy went to see zombieland on sunday. it was fun, nothing serious and a lot of laughs. Up is the next thing to see.
I'm still playing assassin's creed. i imagine that today, i will beat lordkilljoy's score for it. he didn't even get that score. i did. and he made such a fuss about me getting him free achievement points that i have to do better on my own account.
and now he's home. so i'm going to go :)
09 October 2009
cleaning
dyson make the best hoovering machines of anyone, ever. i hate hoovering, but the dyson does really make it very easy. and today it was making a kind of funny sound so i went about pulling all the hairs and threads (and massive length of twine o_O) that was wrapped around the suction thing out and now it works even better.
as i said yesterday, i took today off writing. i'm having serious doubts about the scene i'm writing at the moment. i think it's a bit too contrived - i have some information to tell and that is the only purpose that this scene serves, it doesn't really fit into the story. hopefully monday will bring a clear head and an objective viewpoint on it.
i don't have any other news, really. lordkilljoy is sleeping and then we're heading down to cork for the weekend. i might go play assassin's creed for a bit.
as i said yesterday, i took today off writing. i'm having serious doubts about the scene i'm writing at the moment. i think it's a bit too contrived - i have some information to tell and that is the only purpose that this scene serves, it doesn't really fit into the story. hopefully monday will bring a clear head and an objective viewpoint on it.
i don't have any other news, really. lordkilljoy is sleeping and then we're heading down to cork for the weekend. i might go play assassin's creed for a bit.
08 October 2009
writing woes
this week has been significantly harder than last week. all the scenes that i have to write are ones that i couldn't write last time round and it seems that i still can't write them. and then i begin to question if they are really necessary, and should i just get rid of them, but i don't like doing that - that's what nanowrimo has taught me - you don't lose word count.
i'm fine with the descriptive bits, but as soon as anyone starts talking, i'm just like: what on earth do these people have to say to each other and then i just write very directly and it seems so unnatural and forced and the shortest conversations ever.
i just want to take the rest of the day off, but then i'd be bored.
i am thinking of moving tomorrow's scene to chapter 5 or something though - i think it comes just a little too early. then i could spend tomorrow cleaning the apartment because it is a terrible mess. i haven't hoovered in about a month. (shhh, don't tell anyone.)
i'm fine with the descriptive bits, but as soon as anyone starts talking, i'm just like: what on earth do these people have to say to each other and then i just write very directly and it seems so unnatural and forced and the shortest conversations ever.
i just want to take the rest of the day off, but then i'd be bored.
i am thinking of moving tomorrow's scene to chapter 5 or something though - i think it comes just a little too early. then i could spend tomorrow cleaning the apartment because it is a terrible mess. i haven't hoovered in about a month. (shhh, don't tell anyone.)
07 October 2009
first frost
first frost of the winter and i woke to the sound of the neighbour scraping the ice off their car and thought, "oh, great. another 5 months of being woken by this sound." (yes - we are 3 floors up, and yes i can hear that scraping loud enough to wake me. there are gaps 1cm big around the balcony door in the bedroom.)
but it's a lovely morning - crisp blue sky, little wisps of cloud - a bit cold, the thermometer in here is only reading 17.7degrees. i wonder how nymph will fare over the winter as his tank water temperature plummets to 10 / 12 degrees.
that's all i wanted to say. it's almost 9 - time to start writing for the day.
but it's a lovely morning - crisp blue sky, little wisps of cloud - a bit cold, the thermometer in here is only reading 17.7degrees. i wonder how nymph will fare over the winter as his tank water temperature plummets to 10 / 12 degrees.
that's all i wanted to say. it's almost 9 - time to start writing for the day.
06 October 2009
random procrastination
i got 3 scenes done today, but i'm worried about the rest of the week because it's new stuff until next week and we are off to cork for the weekend, so i can't slak off on the actual writing bits. the only problem is that i don't feel at all inspired this week. editing is ok, but even the edits don't seem that great - i'm not really adding in much inspiring things, just deleting things that really don't work. see i can't even write properly - that last sentence was so inelegant.
then from next week on i'm into the stuff that hasn't been touched since my last stab at editing last year. there are quite a few chapters that need new scenes written, culminating in ch. 6, which is completely different to the original chapter 6 except for one scene.
i also now have a chapter 1.5.5. remember i mentioned that ch 1 was 10,000+ words and i cut it in half - well, ch 1.5 then blossomed, so i had to cut it in half too. it seems i will have 21 chapters in total when its all done - 19 main ones and the pro- and epilogues. still not bad. at least it's not like some books with three page chapters, but the book itself has over 80 chapters. i always find that wierd.
yep - this is not going to be a monster of a fantasy - a nice 120,000 words i think - maybe 150,000 at the very most. although, if my chapters all grow like ch 1 did, then i may have a chapter naming problem on my hands.
see, the reason i don't like books with 80-odd chapters is because i like named chapters. just numbers always seems very impersonal. and then i could be like feist with a table of contents - not really. i don't like them either, because you risk spoiling the book - as a reader you can't help flicking though the contents and wondering what's going to happen in the story to cause things like "death of a hero" and who's going to die and stuff. well - no chapter name is that explicit, but you get the idea.
i just realized that i'm procrastinating. golly - i've not done that on here in a while. it must be nano time. i cleaned out the press under the sink today too (and yes - i still got 3 scenes edited). i must be secretly petrified about writing these new scenes. hmmm...
it's miserable weather too, though. so dark and grey. dull. uninspiring. and raining too. i was going to go to lidl and get fish for dinner, but it's just too miserable out.
then from next week on i'm into the stuff that hasn't been touched since my last stab at editing last year. there are quite a few chapters that need new scenes written, culminating in ch. 6, which is completely different to the original chapter 6 except for one scene.
i also now have a chapter 1.5.5. remember i mentioned that ch 1 was 10,000+ words and i cut it in half - well, ch 1.5 then blossomed, so i had to cut it in half too. it seems i will have 21 chapters in total when its all done - 19 main ones and the pro- and epilogues. still not bad. at least it's not like some books with three page chapters, but the book itself has over 80 chapters. i always find that wierd.
yep - this is not going to be a monster of a fantasy - a nice 120,000 words i think - maybe 150,000 at the very most. although, if my chapters all grow like ch 1 did, then i may have a chapter naming problem on my hands.
see, the reason i don't like books with 80-odd chapters is because i like named chapters. just numbers always seems very impersonal. and then i could be like feist with a table of contents - not really. i don't like them either, because you risk spoiling the book - as a reader you can't help flicking though the contents and wondering what's going to happen in the story to cause things like "death of a hero" and who's going to die and stuff. well - no chapter name is that explicit, but you get the idea.
i just realized that i'm procrastinating. golly - i've not done that on here in a while. it must be nano time. i cleaned out the press under the sink today too (and yes - i still got 3 scenes edited). i must be secretly petrified about writing these new scenes. hmmm...
it's miserable weather too, though. so dark and grey. dull. uninspiring. and raining too. i was going to go to lidl and get fish for dinner, but it's just too miserable out.
05 October 2009
now... what was i going to post about? there was definitely something, but then lordkilljoy came home and distracted me. it was something short, possibly seasonal, but i just can't remember.
short update on stuff - 16 week plan is going really well.
playing assassin's creed again. one of the quests in fable 2 broke and i got annoyed with it.
ahhh - i remember what i wanted to post. lordkilljoy got edge (magazine) on friday and there was a little dust cover on it. and ezio featured on that, so i cut him out and stuck him up next to my computer. he's been keeping me company all day :)
ok, gotta go.
short update on stuff - 16 week plan is going really well.
playing assassin's creed again. one of the quests in fable 2 broke and i got annoyed with it.
ahhh - i remember what i wanted to post. lordkilljoy got edge (magazine) on friday and there was a little dust cover on it. and ezio featured on that, so i cut him out and stuck him up next to my computer. he's been keeping me company all day :)
ok, gotta go.
03 October 2009
autumn
I have a feeling that tomorrow the trees will be significantly more bare than they were yesterday. big storm today - wind, lashing rain, the sound of tyres on wet tarmac, girls screaming as they try to walk straight in the gale.
i've been kinda looking forward to this - it's been cloudy for the last few days, the kind of cloudy that makes you think a good storm would be good for the sky. and here it is... only i wish it had happened yesterday, because we were going to go into town and i don't think that's going to happen now. we'd planned to go see district 9, and i suppose even if it was raining, it's not like we'd be trudging around in it for hours.
i don't really have much else to say - waiting for lordkilljoy to get up. he stayed playing games 'til 3am this morning. i was sensible and went to bed at 12:30.
i've been kinda looking forward to this - it's been cloudy for the last few days, the kind of cloudy that makes you think a good storm would be good for the sky. and here it is... only i wish it had happened yesterday, because we were going to go into town and i don't think that's going to happen now. we'd planned to go see district 9, and i suppose even if it was raining, it's not like we'd be trudging around in it for hours.
i don't really have much else to say - waiting for lordkilljoy to get up. he stayed playing games 'til 3am this morning. i was sensible and went to bed at 12:30.
02 October 2009
my journal
ok - this is wierd. livejournal says my journal was created on 4th october at 7am, but my first post was the 3rd at 3pm. that was 2001, by the way. i can't believe my journal is 8 years old. that's 8 years of writing daily happenings, random thoughts, just plain randomness, good things, bad things, journeys, changes - you can practically see me grow up on the pages of my journal.
anyway, because i more than likely won't be online over the weekend - happy birthday journal. i love you :)
anyway, because i more than likely won't be online over the weekend - happy birthday journal. i love you :)
silly connection
Ever since we got our new internet in july, my connection has been on and off (unable to find certificates, limited connectivity, crashing out, unable to connect to wireless card, all sorts of fun things) and every so often i go at it to see if i can make it work properly. invariably i just make things worse and end up having to do a system restore to get it working at all. so today - since i'm a week ahead in my 16 week plan, i decided to go at it again. now it seems that the router will only pick up my pc if another pc is already connected to it. it won't start up wireless broadcasting just for my pc, no matter how hard i plead with it.
so i have it working now (but the laptop is also connected) and i'm just hoping that when i turn on my computer on monday i'll see a fresh, bright-eyed and ready connection waiting for me. i'm not keeping my hopes up on that, though.
i'm back playing fable2 at the moment. did i mention that already? i started a new character and am really enjoying the game. i've gotten up to new stuff in the game and it's really exciting. in fact, i enjoyed my time in the spire so much that i'm going to take my old character (the evil one) there and see just how bad things get. my good char woosed out at having to kill a fellow guard.
i'm back to 4 layers today (and fingerless-gloves). i had on 3 yesterday. i think it's the humidity is getting to me. i put on my hello kitty jumper this morning and was delighted by the smell of nag champa from the health fair, which is the last time i wore this jumper. i can still smell it now, but not as much - every time i moved during the day i'd get this lovely whiff. i'm totally considering putting an unopened box at the bottom of the wardrobe. mmmmm :)
wardrobe and cupboard are the wierdest words ever. and what's wierder is that they are both places to keep stuff. odd.
right, so. i'll go now.
so i have it working now (but the laptop is also connected) and i'm just hoping that when i turn on my computer on monday i'll see a fresh, bright-eyed and ready connection waiting for me. i'm not keeping my hopes up on that, though.
i'm back playing fable2 at the moment. did i mention that already? i started a new character and am really enjoying the game. i've gotten up to new stuff in the game and it's really exciting. in fact, i enjoyed my time in the spire so much that i'm going to take my old character (the evil one) there and see just how bad things get. my good char woosed out at having to kill a fellow guard.
i'm back to 4 layers today (and fingerless-gloves). i had on 3 yesterday. i think it's the humidity is getting to me. i put on my hello kitty jumper this morning and was delighted by the smell of nag champa from the health fair, which is the last time i wore this jumper. i can still smell it now, but not as much - every time i moved during the day i'd get this lovely whiff. i'm totally considering putting an unopened box at the bottom of the wardrobe. mmmmm :)
wardrobe and cupboard are the wierdest words ever. and what's wierder is that they are both places to keep stuff. odd.
right, so. i'll go now.
30 September 2009
Running Sal
I have a new short story (~1,500 words) that i would like to present to all on my friends list. I decided to write for this month's with just 12 hours to go, so if it seems a little rough, it's because this is draft 0, with the smallest bit of editing.
The genre is mixed genres - bringing in bits of action / adventure, sci-fi and western (it's supposed to be a sci-fi / western sort of setting - not sure how well that came across).
"My name's Running Sal and I've never been caught!"
The last words I'd spoken went round in my head as I dashed over the rooftops of Ivy City. I can run, and it is true that I've never been caught. It's not because I'm faster than everyone else. It's because I go in a straight line. Running, jumping, climbing, it's all the same to me; a way to get from one place to another.
I work for an organization that makes sure the top echelons of this little asteroid colony don't get too cocky. We watch, we scold, we kill on occasion. I'm a messenger; I deliver things, letters, bugs, bombs, whatever. I'm small, agile, can get into tight spaces and get out faster than anyone else.
The job today was simple, the financiers office was holding a meeting, and I was to plant a bug to record the whole thing. I'd arrived early, found a good spot in the ventilation, and gotten out fast. But something had gone wrong. The guards waited for me at my exit point.
"My name's Running Sal," I said. "And I've never been caught!"
I lunged between them, their hands grasping at the space I had just vacated. Off I tore, along the flat uneven rooftops, leap-frogging over railings and diving across alleys. I couldn't spare a glance behind me but I could hear the guards keeping pace. These guys were good, but no one can keep up with me.
From my belt bag I pulled out a grappling winch the size of a small gun, but packed with a hundred meter coil of spider-twine attached to a compact grappling hook. The guards could eat my dust, no one could do the stunts I could using a grappling winch.
Aim for the rail of the next building over, fire, and hang on. The hook connected perfectly, and the winch kicked in, whipping me across this rooftop, over the gap and onto the next roof. The wind flew through my hair and flapped against my light poly armour. I landed perfectly, yanked the hook out and reeled back in the twine, ready for another jump.
Down this time, the next level was about 5 meters below this one. It was part of this building but separated by old railings, rust eating through cracks in the paint. The roof rose up again about 10 meters distant. I could make that jump.
I leapt up onto the railing and fired my winch at the rail on the opposite side. But even as I leapt I knew I had made a bad move. The rail under my feet crumbled to rusted shards and even as the winch took my weight, I felt the twine go slack. In horror, I watched the opposite rail do the same. I crashed towards the lower section of roof, trying my best to tuck into a roll. Elbows and knees connected with the ground, jarring my bones all the way through to my spine. The singular pain paralysed me and as I lay there in agony, all I could think was, "I have to get up. Those guards will be here any second."
But I couldn't get up, I couldn't move. The guards' racing footfalls grew louder, hard-soled shoes slapping on concrete. My heart beat out a counter rhythm and I started to shake. This was it. They would collar me and erase my life, put a new one in its place and I would become one of the reformed. That couldn't happen to me. I'm Running Sal. I don't get caught.
Five burly figures came over the roof and slowed when they saw me.
"It's our lucky day, men," the one in the lead said.
I had to get up now. Straining against the pain in my bones, I pushed myself off the ground but I could barely stand. The world spun and the daylight vanished as blobs of darkness covered my eyes.
The guards closed in, quickly surrounding me. Still unable to see well, I dodged away from the sounds they made, the scrape of shoes on sandy concrete and their loud breathing. It was no use. Strong hands latched onto my arms and legs, and try as I might to pull away, I was helpless against them. My sight came back just in time to see one of them come at me with a small sliver collar, about half an inch wide.
"No!" I screamed.
I wrenched my whole body around, kicking out with arms and legs and lashing my head from side to side. But they were used to holding struggling bodies and the collar was on me in an instant.
In that second, everything stopped. My muscles went slack, my mouth dropped open, my eyes stared into space. But inside my head my mind screamed. This shouldn't be happening. It wasn't supposed to happen. I couldn't have been caught.
But slowly even the thoughts went silent, until all that was left to me was a trickle of senses, none of which I could process properly. Going down in an elevator, being shoved into a van, waiting in a chair, four walls and a high ceiling surrounding me. My senses woke up a little more as they questioned me, and after that, nothing.
I woke up on a soft bed, the covers kicked off during the hot night. I loved this bed. About the only thing I liked about this cruddy apartment. I got up, showered, taking care to clean underneath my silver choker, contemplated having breakfast. Too much bother and besides, half the food had already been eaten by the rats. I really needed to find a better place to live. First I had to find a job. Dressed quickly, grabbed keys and jacket from beside the door and headed for the employment office.
The resident junkie lay sprawled across the floor outside my door. Why did she always crash out here? It sickened me to see her eyes sunken into her pale, almost alabaster skin. Today she was awake, damn. She'd start talking to me. I never responded, and she took offence at that, usually getting violent.
"Sal," she said.
My heart skipped a beat. That wasn't my name, but somehow it struck a chord. I kept my back to her as I locked the door and then walked away without looking at her.
"We need you back, Sal," she said.
I stopped. She sounded different, more coherent. I turned back.
"I'm not Sal," I said. "You have the wrong person."
"How long have you had that collar?" she asked.
I brought a hand to my throat, feeling the warm metal. "All my life," I said.
The choker had belonged to my grandmother who had died when I was a baby. She'd wanted me to have it and I never took it off.
"Belonged to your grandmother? You never take it off?" she said.
My hair stood on end. "What do you want?" I said.
"You are living a lie, Sal. You got caught and they collared you."
A single image flashed across my eyes. Five men grappling me on a rooftop. My heart beat faster.
"I've never been caught," I said.
It seemed like a strange thing to say, but at the same time the words were as much a part of me as the collar around my neck.
"Would you come with me?" the junkie said. "I want to show you something."
I hesitated. I had an appointment with the jobs officer that I didn't want to miss. But something strange was going on here and I wanted to know what it was. I finally looked at her, and realized that I had misjudged her. Her skin was pale, bit not sickly, and her eyes were lined in dark makeup, not sunken into her skull. I nodded and she led the way out of the building, onto the maglev train across town, into another building and up onto the roof.
Broken railings surrounded an area where the level of the roof dropped about 5 meters.
"Do you recognise this?" she said.
It did seem vaguely familiar, the reddish yellow skydome all around, being able to see over the buildings, even the rusted railings around the perimeter twigged something within me. She handed me a device which looked something like a gun, but instead of a trigger, it had a button on top. I didn't recognise it, but curiosity urged me to press the button.
Spider-twine shot from the barrel, coils of it trailing after a barbed hook. The hook landed with a thud in the concrete of the building opposite, and before I could think to let go, a winch kicked in and dragged me across the gap. A squeal trailed after me and I squeezed my eyes shut as I soared over the road. The sound of hover traffic and ground traffic zoomed passed me. And then I was safely on the other side, standing on the roof after a perfect landing.
I had done this before. I remembered it, the thrill of being chased across the rooftops, the surge of excitement when I pulled way ahead of them. I pointed the winch back at the fateful building where I'd been caught and leapt across the road, this time in control and exhilarating in the speed.
"Vena," I said. "I remember."
She smiled. "Let's get that collar off."
My name's Running Sal, and I've been caught once.
The genre is mixed genres - bringing in bits of action / adventure, sci-fi and western (it's supposed to be a sci-fi / western sort of setting - not sure how well that came across).
"My name's Running Sal and I've never been caught!"
The last words I'd spoken went round in my head as I dashed over the rooftops of Ivy City. I can run, and it is true that I've never been caught. It's not because I'm faster than everyone else. It's because I go in a straight line. Running, jumping, climbing, it's all the same to me; a way to get from one place to another.
I work for an organization that makes sure the top echelons of this little asteroid colony don't get too cocky. We watch, we scold, we kill on occasion. I'm a messenger; I deliver things, letters, bugs, bombs, whatever. I'm small, agile, can get into tight spaces and get out faster than anyone else.
The job today was simple, the financiers office was holding a meeting, and I was to plant a bug to record the whole thing. I'd arrived early, found a good spot in the ventilation, and gotten out fast. But something had gone wrong. The guards waited for me at my exit point.
"My name's Running Sal," I said. "And I've never been caught!"
I lunged between them, their hands grasping at the space I had just vacated. Off I tore, along the flat uneven rooftops, leap-frogging over railings and diving across alleys. I couldn't spare a glance behind me but I could hear the guards keeping pace. These guys were good, but no one can keep up with me.
From my belt bag I pulled out a grappling winch the size of a small gun, but packed with a hundred meter coil of spider-twine attached to a compact grappling hook. The guards could eat my dust, no one could do the stunts I could using a grappling winch.
Aim for the rail of the next building over, fire, and hang on. The hook connected perfectly, and the winch kicked in, whipping me across this rooftop, over the gap and onto the next roof. The wind flew through my hair and flapped against my light poly armour. I landed perfectly, yanked the hook out and reeled back in the twine, ready for another jump.
Down this time, the next level was about 5 meters below this one. It was part of this building but separated by old railings, rust eating through cracks in the paint. The roof rose up again about 10 meters distant. I could make that jump.
I leapt up onto the railing and fired my winch at the rail on the opposite side. But even as I leapt I knew I had made a bad move. The rail under my feet crumbled to rusted shards and even as the winch took my weight, I felt the twine go slack. In horror, I watched the opposite rail do the same. I crashed towards the lower section of roof, trying my best to tuck into a roll. Elbows and knees connected with the ground, jarring my bones all the way through to my spine. The singular pain paralysed me and as I lay there in agony, all I could think was, "I have to get up. Those guards will be here any second."
But I couldn't get up, I couldn't move. The guards' racing footfalls grew louder, hard-soled shoes slapping on concrete. My heart beat out a counter rhythm and I started to shake. This was it. They would collar me and erase my life, put a new one in its place and I would become one of the reformed. That couldn't happen to me. I'm Running Sal. I don't get caught.
Five burly figures came over the roof and slowed when they saw me.
"It's our lucky day, men," the one in the lead said.
I had to get up now. Straining against the pain in my bones, I pushed myself off the ground but I could barely stand. The world spun and the daylight vanished as blobs of darkness covered my eyes.
The guards closed in, quickly surrounding me. Still unable to see well, I dodged away from the sounds they made, the scrape of shoes on sandy concrete and their loud breathing. It was no use. Strong hands latched onto my arms and legs, and try as I might to pull away, I was helpless against them. My sight came back just in time to see one of them come at me with a small sliver collar, about half an inch wide.
"No!" I screamed.
I wrenched my whole body around, kicking out with arms and legs and lashing my head from side to side. But they were used to holding struggling bodies and the collar was on me in an instant.
In that second, everything stopped. My muscles went slack, my mouth dropped open, my eyes stared into space. But inside my head my mind screamed. This shouldn't be happening. It wasn't supposed to happen. I couldn't have been caught.
But slowly even the thoughts went silent, until all that was left to me was a trickle of senses, none of which I could process properly. Going down in an elevator, being shoved into a van, waiting in a chair, four walls and a high ceiling surrounding me. My senses woke up a little more as they questioned me, and after that, nothing.
I woke up on a soft bed, the covers kicked off during the hot night. I loved this bed. About the only thing I liked about this cruddy apartment. I got up, showered, taking care to clean underneath my silver choker, contemplated having breakfast. Too much bother and besides, half the food had already been eaten by the rats. I really needed to find a better place to live. First I had to find a job. Dressed quickly, grabbed keys and jacket from beside the door and headed for the employment office.
The resident junkie lay sprawled across the floor outside my door. Why did she always crash out here? It sickened me to see her eyes sunken into her pale, almost alabaster skin. Today she was awake, damn. She'd start talking to me. I never responded, and she took offence at that, usually getting violent.
"Sal," she said.
My heart skipped a beat. That wasn't my name, but somehow it struck a chord. I kept my back to her as I locked the door and then walked away without looking at her.
"We need you back, Sal," she said.
I stopped. She sounded different, more coherent. I turned back.
"I'm not Sal," I said. "You have the wrong person."
"How long have you had that collar?" she asked.
I brought a hand to my throat, feeling the warm metal. "All my life," I said.
The choker had belonged to my grandmother who had died when I was a baby. She'd wanted me to have it and I never took it off.
"Belonged to your grandmother? You never take it off?" she said.
My hair stood on end. "What do you want?" I said.
"You are living a lie, Sal. You got caught and they collared you."
A single image flashed across my eyes. Five men grappling me on a rooftop. My heart beat faster.
"I've never been caught," I said.
It seemed like a strange thing to say, but at the same time the words were as much a part of me as the collar around my neck.
"Would you come with me?" the junkie said. "I want to show you something."
I hesitated. I had an appointment with the jobs officer that I didn't want to miss. But something strange was going on here and I wanted to know what it was. I finally looked at her, and realized that I had misjudged her. Her skin was pale, bit not sickly, and her eyes were lined in dark makeup, not sunken into her skull. I nodded and she led the way out of the building, onto the maglev train across town, into another building and up onto the roof.
Broken railings surrounded an area where the level of the roof dropped about 5 meters.
"Do you recognise this?" she said.
It did seem vaguely familiar, the reddish yellow skydome all around, being able to see over the buildings, even the rusted railings around the perimeter twigged something within me. She handed me a device which looked something like a gun, but instead of a trigger, it had a button on top. I didn't recognise it, but curiosity urged me to press the button.
Spider-twine shot from the barrel, coils of it trailing after a barbed hook. The hook landed with a thud in the concrete of the building opposite, and before I could think to let go, a winch kicked in and dragged me across the gap. A squeal trailed after me and I squeezed my eyes shut as I soared over the road. The sound of hover traffic and ground traffic zoomed passed me. And then I was safely on the other side, standing on the roof after a perfect landing.
I had done this before. I remembered it, the thrill of being chased across the rooftops, the surge of excitement when I pulled way ahead of them. I pointed the winch back at the fateful building where I'd been caught and leapt across the road, this time in control and exhilarating in the speed.
"Vena," I said. "I remember."
She smiled. "Let's get that collar off."
My name's Running Sal, and I've been caught once.
29 September 2009
hello
my 16 (aka 20) week plan is going well. i'm finished everything i had set myself 'til friday to do. it's good to be ahead at the start. i guess i had no idea how fast or slow things would go, but the prologue was pretty much ok, anyway.
apparently it's 20.7 degrees in here, but even with 4 layers on i'm only luke-warm. today, while cleaning nymph's water i spilled a load of it on the counter, the cupboard, the floor, me. i should get overalls or something. but it was so cute - i put my hand into the tank to pick nymph out and he crawled up onto my finger all by himself. i think he trusts me - that's so great. not like yoshi who still flinches away if you go up to his tank too quickly. silly scardy.
i don't really have much news. lordkilljoy and me are probably going to see surrogates tonight. i'm kind of looking forward to seeing it.
i think i'm tired or something. my concentration waned at about 2 o' clock today and hasn't come back.
apparently it's 20.7 degrees in here, but even with 4 layers on i'm only luke-warm. today, while cleaning nymph's water i spilled a load of it on the counter, the cupboard, the floor, me. i should get overalls or something. but it was so cute - i put my hand into the tank to pick nymph out and he crawled up onto my finger all by himself. i think he trusts me - that's so great. not like yoshi who still flinches away if you go up to his tank too quickly. silly scardy.
i don't really have much news. lordkilljoy and me are probably going to see surrogates tonight. i'm kind of looking forward to seeing it.
i think i'm tired or something. my concentration waned at about 2 o' clock today and hasn't come back.
25 September 2009
equinox missed
ok, wierd. i was all set to get a new Lj theme because my current one had stopped doing the tag cloud, but i just looked before writing this post and it's in a cloud again. very odd.
in other odd news, i missed the equinox by ages. i just realized it had gone past when apod posted a picture about it today. silly me.
so the nights are officially longer than the days now. roll on march. it's not that i don't like winter, its just that i love when the sunset stretches for hours and the sky is still holding onto the last dim glow of day at midnight.
my cold is getting worse. i'm thinking today will be a recovery day where i sit on the couch and play mini-games in fable2. chopping wood - very therapeutic. i started a new game last night (since to play my old game i need to log in as lordkilljoy on the xbox, go to downloads, re-download knothole island, log back in as me (riarua, if anyone's interested in friending me on xbox) and then i can play). i hadn't realized how the effects of stealing and killing had effected my first character - my new girl looks so fresh and innocent in comparison.
my 16 week plan is shaping up well. i have a good plan done out (only that i actually have 20 chapters, counting the pro- and epilogues. (i now have a chapter 1.5, as well as a chapter 11.5 - chapter 1 was 11,000 words. i think that's just a few too many for the first chapter.)
the little sick mood guy should have an option to have a smiley face on - i'm really not that miserable.
in other odd news, i missed the equinox by ages. i just realized it had gone past when apod posted a picture about it today. silly me.
so the nights are officially longer than the days now. roll on march. it's not that i don't like winter, its just that i love when the sunset stretches for hours and the sky is still holding onto the last dim glow of day at midnight.
my cold is getting worse. i'm thinking today will be a recovery day where i sit on the couch and play mini-games in fable2. chopping wood - very therapeutic. i started a new game last night (since to play my old game i need to log in as lordkilljoy on the xbox, go to downloads, re-download knothole island, log back in as me (riarua, if anyone's interested in friending me on xbox) and then i can play). i hadn't realized how the effects of stealing and killing had effected my first character - my new girl looks so fresh and innocent in comparison.
my 16 week plan is shaping up well. i have a good plan done out (only that i actually have 20 chapters, counting the pro- and epilogues. (i now have a chapter 1.5, as well as a chapter 11.5 - chapter 1 was 11,000 words. i think that's just a few too many for the first chapter.)
the little sick mood guy should have an option to have a smiley face on - i'm really not that miserable.
23 September 2009
things of substance in a random nature
the health fair was on over the weekend. it was good. it was great to hang out with penelope_stone for the whole weekend.
i have a 16week plan. it involves spending one week on each of the 16 chapters in my book and getting the editing finished by january. (i am ignoring the fact that there are 17 chapters in my book - because i keep forgetting about ch. 11.5. a 16week plan rolls off the tongue easier than a 17 week plan. 17 is just too long to say; like 1, 1000. 2, 1000. 17, 1000 is way longer than 1 second. (i see i haven't lost my ability to ramble randomly on here, that's good. because i'm really not sure how many readers will have made it out of this little bracket unscarred.))
i developed a cold yesterday, somewhere between the train, the cinema and food. i felt it coming on during dinner and i thought it was just an affect of warm food and cold drink, but no. i now have a roll of tissue beside me (well, actually i have a glass of multivitamin in pineapple juice beside me, but the tissue was there a minute ago, before i got the multivitamin).
ooh - the cinema... i went to see dorian grey. every time someone said dorian's name all i could think of was dorian from the night angel trilogy. it was a bit wierd. but the film was good. definitely not a film that everyone would enjoy (a little too much sex), but it was creepy and stylish and i really enjoyed the second half.
hmmm, night angel trilogy: i finished beyond the shadows over the weekend. it was fantastic. the best of the books. all the characters' parts played out well and everything came together excellently. weeks still has an editing problem, but it's not quite as bad as in previous books. i think what i like about this book (and the other 2, but this one shows it off most) is the way kylar bounces around like a ninja from an anime. it's very stylish and fun - pure escapism.
the rest of my review is on my goodreads page
i think that's all i have to say.
i have a 16week plan. it involves spending one week on each of the 16 chapters in my book and getting the editing finished by january. (i am ignoring the fact that there are 17 chapters in my book - because i keep forgetting about ch. 11.5. a 16week plan rolls off the tongue easier than a 17 week plan. 17 is just too long to say; like 1, 1000. 2, 1000. 17, 1000 is way longer than 1 second. (i see i haven't lost my ability to ramble randomly on here, that's good. because i'm really not sure how many readers will have made it out of this little bracket unscarred.))
i developed a cold yesterday, somewhere between the train, the cinema and food. i felt it coming on during dinner and i thought it was just an affect of warm food and cold drink, but no. i now have a roll of tissue beside me (well, actually i have a glass of multivitamin in pineapple juice beside me, but the tissue was there a minute ago, before i got the multivitamin).
ooh - the cinema... i went to see dorian grey. every time someone said dorian's name all i could think of was dorian from the night angel trilogy. it was a bit wierd. but the film was good. definitely not a film that everyone would enjoy (a little too much sex), but it was creepy and stylish and i really enjoyed the second half.
hmmm, night angel trilogy: i finished beyond the shadows over the weekend. it was fantastic. the best of the books. all the characters' parts played out well and everything came together excellently. weeks still has an editing problem, but it's not quite as bad as in previous books. i think what i like about this book (and the other 2, but this one shows it off most) is the way kylar bounces around like a ninja from an anime. it's very stylish and fun - pure escapism.
the rest of my review is on my goodreads page
i think that's all i have to say.
16 September 2009
back from lanzarote
ahh, warmth - how lovely you are when i don't have to expend any energy to keep myself warm. lying on a beach, or by the pool, or just walking around - all the time being heated by the warm air. bliss.
the photographs are many, the adventures great, and the sights awesome - too much for one poor journalist to put into words, so i will sum up.
monday - rain! amazing. there is nothing quite like rain in a hot country, unexpected, light, exciting. spent the day getting acclimatized to the heat, the area and the cool water of the pool and the sea. walked about 5km in the middle of the day. did not get burned, surprisingly. i wonder if the clouds helped with that.
tuesday - hung out by the pool for most of the day - wandered to the beach for a swim. badly mixed long island ice teas caused the loss of the guide book - booo! painted my toe-nails for the second time in my life - 5 different colours used :)
wednesday - spent recovering, hung out by the pool, went to the sea. went to arricife, it is very spanish and not very tourist friendly (this may have happened on thursday - we had sushi while here, yummy). didn't get up to much.
thursday - walked along the beach (it's really nice to walk along - a bit rocky, a bit sandy, quiet, little waves). didn't really get up to much.
friday - sunbathed on the beach - rented a parasol and attempted to fall asleep in its shade. not tired enough for sleeping, so played beach tennis instead. me and lordkilljoy are the worst people at beach tennis i have ever seen. it was a struggle to get 6 hits without one of us dropping the ball.
saturday - rent-a-car day. the best day of the holiday. cesar manrique is a genius - architect artist who does these amazing things with lava structures. visited about 6 or 7 (ok, 11) different places (flea market, manrique's house, restaurante lagodar, lunch stop, haria, mirador del rio, cueava del verde, white-sand-beach south of orzola, yaiza, playa blanca, random sunset beach) and caught the sunset over the atlantic. it was so amazing - the island is so small you can see nearly all of it in one day.
sunday - the only really sunny day of our holiday, spent the day packing and getting bits and pieces and messing in the pool. then had to go home :(
and that was it, really. came home and have been wearing three layers. i was wrapped up in a blanket for the whole day yesterday. heading down to cork tomorrow - the health fair is on. that should be fun.
the photographs are many, the adventures great, and the sights awesome - too much for one poor journalist to put into words, so i will sum up.
monday - rain! amazing. there is nothing quite like rain in a hot country, unexpected, light, exciting. spent the day getting acclimatized to the heat, the area and the cool water of the pool and the sea. walked about 5km in the middle of the day. did not get burned, surprisingly. i wonder if the clouds helped with that.
tuesday - hung out by the pool for most of the day - wandered to the beach for a swim. badly mixed long island ice teas caused the loss of the guide book - booo! painted my toe-nails for the second time in my life - 5 different colours used :)
wednesday - spent recovering, hung out by the pool, went to the sea. went to arricife, it is very spanish and not very tourist friendly (this may have happened on thursday - we had sushi while here, yummy). didn't get up to much.
thursday - walked along the beach (it's really nice to walk along - a bit rocky, a bit sandy, quiet, little waves). didn't really get up to much.
friday - sunbathed on the beach - rented a parasol and attempted to fall asleep in its shade. not tired enough for sleeping, so played beach tennis instead. me and lordkilljoy are the worst people at beach tennis i have ever seen. it was a struggle to get 6 hits without one of us dropping the ball.
saturday - rent-a-car day. the best day of the holiday. cesar manrique is a genius - architect artist who does these amazing things with lava structures. visited about 6 or 7 (ok, 11) different places (flea market, manrique's house, restaurante lagodar, lunch stop, haria, mirador del rio, cueava del verde, white-sand-beach south of orzola, yaiza, playa blanca, random sunset beach) and caught the sunset over the atlantic. it was so amazing - the island is so small you can see nearly all of it in one day.
sunday - the only really sunny day of our holiday, spent the day packing and getting bits and pieces and messing in the pool. then had to go home :(
and that was it, really. came home and have been wearing three layers. i was wrapped up in a blanket for the whole day yesterday. heading down to cork tomorrow - the health fair is on. that should be fun.
03 September 2009
off to the seaside (2500km away)
passport arrived yesterday, booked a holiday today, flying off on sunday (tomorrow would have worked well in that sentence, but that is just a little too rushed for me - 2 days is a good amount of time to get ready). and where are we off to? Lanzarote - Los Pocillos, near Puerto del Carmen to be exact.
right at the moment (apart from trying to update my Lj) i'm making a packing list and reading the guide book i got (i just can't help it - when you went around the world on a guide book (or well, 3 of them) you kinda get hooked on their helpful facts and must-see lists of places) and planning what we can fit in during our week, giving enough time to hang out on the beach too. and it's so small that we could rent a car and see everything away from the resort in a day.
i wonder would lordkilljoy join me in renting bikes and come for a cycle along the coast. and we could bring a lovely picnic and juices and it would amazing. even if lordkilljoy isn't up for it, i might rent a bike myself one of the days and head out to Uga (near the volcano). and visit their salmon smokery (aka, place where smoked salmon is made).
um, so i think that's all my news.
right at the moment (apart from trying to update my Lj) i'm making a packing list and reading the guide book i got (i just can't help it - when you went around the world on a guide book (or well, 3 of them) you kinda get hooked on their helpful facts and must-see lists of places) and planning what we can fit in during our week, giving enough time to hang out on the beach too. and it's so small that we could rent a car and see everything away from the resort in a day.
i wonder would lordkilljoy join me in renting bikes and come for a cycle along the coast. and we could bring a lovely picnic and juices and it would amazing. even if lordkilljoy isn't up for it, i might rent a bike myself one of the days and head out to Uga (near the volcano). and visit their salmon smokery (aka, place where smoked salmon is made).
um, so i think that's all my news.
02 September 2009
games and other topics
i finished the light campaign of sacred 2 last night. the last battle was stupidly hard - i drank about 250 heal potions, got in no spells or combos. basically, i was hitting the heal button every half a second and died whenever i tried to do anything else but hit the thing with my swords. bosses shouldn't be that overpowered. unless you are meant to be at 50th level or something before you go to kill it. i was at 40 and even with all my heals, i still died about 15 times. i'd died a total of 14 times during the whole rest of the game. so, to me, that seems like pretty bad game design.
but anyway - i did enjoy playing the game. my dark campaign character is on 7th level, and i'm considering ignoring side quests with her and just doing the main quest. might get the dedicated achievement too (completing main quest with exploring less than 20% of the map).
when i was younger, hide and seek was my favourite game. i was never any good at tag, because i'm not fast, but with hide and seek, it was all about finding a good spot and keeping quiet. a lot of the people i played with didn't understand this and peeked out or laughed or whatever. but not me. i was good at hiding. the reason i'm posting this is because i'm playing splinter cell at the moment and i absolutely love sneaky games. the thief series is one of my favourites and it's all about hanging out in the shadows, not moving and waiting for the right moment to run to the next hidey-spot or to take out the patrolling guard. i just find that the most fun ever.
the other day i was thinking about advanced rules for hide and seek. where there are two people who are "it." one is the normal "it" who tries to find everyone, but the other is kinda special. this person hides and everyone else has to try and find them. so the winner is the person who finds the "hider" without being caught. i think it would be great fun.
my new passport arrived today. yeay, me and lordkilljoy can go off on a holiday now.
but anyway - i did enjoy playing the game. my dark campaign character is on 7th level, and i'm considering ignoring side quests with her and just doing the main quest. might get the dedicated achievement too (completing main quest with exploring less than 20% of the map).
when i was younger, hide and seek was my favourite game. i was never any good at tag, because i'm not fast, but with hide and seek, it was all about finding a good spot and keeping quiet. a lot of the people i played with didn't understand this and peeked out or laughed or whatever. but not me. i was good at hiding. the reason i'm posting this is because i'm playing splinter cell at the moment and i absolutely love sneaky games. the thief series is one of my favourites and it's all about hanging out in the shadows, not moving and waiting for the right moment to run to the next hidey-spot or to take out the patrolling guard. i just find that the most fun ever.
the other day i was thinking about advanced rules for hide and seek. where there are two people who are "it." one is the normal "it" who tries to find everyone, but the other is kinda special. this person hides and everyone else has to try and find them. so the winner is the person who finds the "hider" without being caught. i think it would be great fun.
my new passport arrived today. yeay, me and lordkilljoy can go off on a holiday now.
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