do you think applying for just one job a day is a little lazy? that's five applications a week and 20 a month. maybe if i applied for 2 jobs a day i'd have a better chance. that would be 10 jobs a week and 40 a month. hmmm. perhaps i should do it that way.
maybe i'll stick with 5.
i'm so silly. as soon as i send off an application my heart starts pounding and a litany starts up in my head: please don't let them call me, please don't let them call me.
right.
ow, ow - my neck just cramped up. that really hurts.
ok - i'm going now.
25 March 2010
24 March 2010
good news
lordkilljoy often says how he would like to own a cleaver. my response was always: we don't need a cleaver and we have no space for it.
well, today i could have done with a cleaver. i got to hack chicken wings in half and it was so much fun. i got the biggest knife we had, pulled the wing open then whacked the knife down on it :) cut clean through the skin and bone.
great fun. my aim was off a few times, but over all i was quite proud of my butchery.
now the wings are cooking in the slow cooker with a fiery hot sauce on them.
in other brilliant news, davidnarby read my novel and loved it. wooooo :) i was so happy to hear that. it wasn't boring or slow or badly written. he said once the setting was established he was engaged the whole way. i'm so happy.
right, back to fiddling around with my cv. i've been at this three days, and i'm still not happy with it.
yea, you can tell i'm not completely focused because i've started updating my Lj on a regular basis again.
well, today i could have done with a cleaver. i got to hack chicken wings in half and it was so much fun. i got the biggest knife we had, pulled the wing open then whacked the knife down on it :) cut clean through the skin and bone.
great fun. my aim was off a few times, but over all i was quite proud of my butchery.
now the wings are cooking in the slow cooker with a fiery hot sauce on them.
in other brilliant news, davidnarby read my novel and loved it. wooooo :) i was so happy to hear that. it wasn't boring or slow or badly written. he said once the setting was established he was engaged the whole way. i'm so happy.
right, back to fiddling around with my cv. i've been at this three days, and i'm still not happy with it.
yea, you can tell i'm not completely focused because i've started updating my Lj on a regular basis again.
23 March 2010
i'm a little hungry
more procrastination today. i spent the whole morning caring for our pets. i cleaned out nymph's tank: got rid of the bit of algae that had started to grow, cleared the debris from the stones at the bottom of the tank, gave him bloodworms to eat (not so sure he likes them as much as crickets) and cleaned off all the ornaments. yea - might take a bit for most of the bacteria to come back, but i kept most of the old water.
then i fed yoshi. he's such a scardy-head. he flinches away from me when i give him some food. silly lizard-boy.
in job-hunt news: i discovered why i never get called for an interview. i have gaps where i didn't work and then whem i did get work it was always short term. i never even considered that prospective employers would see that as a bad thing - they automatically assume that those two things mean you are unreliable and a bad worker. isn't that absolutely horrific? they blame you straight away and don't consider that there may have been no jobs or that your managers were so bad you had to leave. :sigh:
it makes me remember how petty the working world can be. and how much i can't stand shallow people.
yea.
then i fed yoshi. he's such a scardy-head. he flinches away from me when i give him some food. silly lizard-boy.
in job-hunt news: i discovered why i never get called for an interview. i have gaps where i didn't work and then whem i did get work it was always short term. i never even considered that prospective employers would see that as a bad thing - they automatically assume that those two things mean you are unreliable and a bad worker. isn't that absolutely horrific? they blame you straight away and don't consider that there may have been no jobs or that your managers were so bad you had to leave. :sigh:
it makes me remember how petty the working world can be. and how much i can't stand shallow people.
yea.
22 March 2010
life moves on
i finished draft 2 on friday (at about 1pm). i printed it out and brought it down to cork and there it waits for someone to read it.
so my new task is to find a job so that i can beef up my bank account. and guess what i'm doing right now? (if you guessed procrastinating, have a gold star.) yea. i'll just check Lj and google reader and then i'll get to looking for a job.
and i have to do up my cv and write coverletters. god - there is nothing worse than this. well, except maybe the working itself. but i don't think so.
firefox updated recently and now its red wavy underlines (for wrong spelling) are very obvious.
can you tell i'm struggling for something to say, just so i can pass another few minutes?
yea.
i'll go.
so my new task is to find a job so that i can beef up my bank account. and guess what i'm doing right now? (if you guessed procrastinating, have a gold star.) yea. i'll just check Lj and google reader and then i'll get to looking for a job.
and i have to do up my cv and write coverletters. god - there is nothing worse than this. well, except maybe the working itself. but i don't think so.
firefox updated recently and now its red wavy underlines (for wrong spelling) are very obvious.
can you tell i'm struggling for something to say, just so i can pass another few minutes?
yea.
i'll go.
10 March 2010
life today
i suppose i should update.
i'm this close (index finger and thumb about a centimetre apart) to the end of draft 2. i finished the whole thing about a week ago and have been reading over it, sorting out bits that i'd skipped over the first run through. so that's kind of cool. i can't wait to get some feedback on this.
it's kinda funny, because when i started on the final bit of editing, i had to sort out the chapters (i'd had 13,000 word chapters - way too long) and now i'm thinking the number of chapters is going to double. i'm half way through and heading to ch. 15 and the original story ended on ch. 16. so yea. i guess 30 isn't a bad number of chapters. (this paragraph comes to you thanks to the word "chapters.")
apart from that, i really don't have a lot of news.
oh wait. i do.
we went to see star wars in concert on sunday. it was cool. my descriptive brain has failed me and all i want to say is: the guy on the tympanum looks like he's having a brilliant time. i want to play the tympanum. actually - i just watched the percussion section for most of it, because you can actually see what they are doing.
and it kinda made me want to watch the first three movies again. they are so pretty. i could fast forward all the bits with anikin in them and just skip on to the next pretty scene. anyway.
yea. i'll go now.
i'm this close (index finger and thumb about a centimetre apart) to the end of draft 2. i finished the whole thing about a week ago and have been reading over it, sorting out bits that i'd skipped over the first run through. so that's kind of cool. i can't wait to get some feedback on this.
it's kinda funny, because when i started on the final bit of editing, i had to sort out the chapters (i'd had 13,000 word chapters - way too long) and now i'm thinking the number of chapters is going to double. i'm half way through and heading to ch. 15 and the original story ended on ch. 16. so yea. i guess 30 isn't a bad number of chapters. (this paragraph comes to you thanks to the word "chapters.")
apart from that, i really don't have a lot of news.
oh wait. i do.
we went to see star wars in concert on sunday. it was cool. my descriptive brain has failed me and all i want to say is: the guy on the tympanum looks like he's having a brilliant time. i want to play the tympanum. actually - i just watched the percussion section for most of it, because you can actually see what they are doing.
and it kinda made me want to watch the first three movies again. they are so pretty. i could fast forward all the bits with anikin in them and just skip on to the next pretty scene. anyway.
yea. i'll go now.
01 March 2010
meme
From woodooferret, because i said i would in my answer.
++ If you're on my friends list, I want to know 35 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine.
++ Comment here with your answers and repost the questionnaire on your own journal.
01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favourite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favourite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What colour eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) What's your favourite place to hang out?
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
28) Favourite thing to do in your spare time?
29) Do you swear a lot?
30) Biggest pet peeve?
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
33) Favourite and least favourite food?
34) Do you believe in God?
35) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
++ If you're on my friends list, I want to know 35 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine.
++ Comment here with your answers and repost the questionnaire on your own journal.
01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favourite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favourite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What colour eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) What's your favourite place to hang out?
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
28) Favourite thing to do in your spare time?
29) Do you swear a lot?
30) Biggest pet peeve?
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
33) Favourite and least favourite food?
34) Do you believe in God?
35) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
24 February 2010
trine
right. written two and a half scenes today and my inspiration is running out. so i decided to post about the latest game i'm playing.
and no, it's not bayonetta. lordkilljoy hijacked the xbox, so i started trine on the pc. it is the best game i've played in a very, very long time. i love the idea, the setting, the graphics, the level design. i have not played a game that has kept me in the "flow" zone for so long. last night i played from 8 to 11pm and i thought it was about 20 minutes. to me, that is a sign of masterful game design. and each of the levels is short enough that you don't have time to get bored. i'm sort of playing going, "ahh, no. i don't want this game to end, ever."
the idea behind the game is that you have three characters who are stuck in a magical device called a trine and you can swap which character you play at will. they each have different abilities and you need all of them to solve the puzzles in each level.
the levels themselves are well laid out, side-scroller style. you can only go forward or back (and jump) and you have to use the terrain and your powers to get from one side to the other, collecting as many treasures as you can get to. and some of the treasures are hidden away in very nooky places that take a while to figure out a route to.
so yea. it's good. i don't have much else newsworthy. it snowed yesterday for a bit. no longer exciting. just cold. because it was miserable wet snow.
ah well. we cooked chicken tikka last night, using shan spices. shan make the best spice packets ever. and marinating chicken does amazing things to it.
right so. bye then.
p.s - we also have the new borderlands dlc to play. i'm kind of excited about that too.
and no, it's not bayonetta. lordkilljoy hijacked the xbox, so i started trine on the pc. it is the best game i've played in a very, very long time. i love the idea, the setting, the graphics, the level design. i have not played a game that has kept me in the "flow" zone for so long. last night i played from 8 to 11pm and i thought it was about 20 minutes. to me, that is a sign of masterful game design. and each of the levels is short enough that you don't have time to get bored. i'm sort of playing going, "ahh, no. i don't want this game to end, ever."
the idea behind the game is that you have three characters who are stuck in a magical device called a trine and you can swap which character you play at will. they each have different abilities and you need all of them to solve the puzzles in each level.
the levels themselves are well laid out, side-scroller style. you can only go forward or back (and jump) and you have to use the terrain and your powers to get from one side to the other, collecting as many treasures as you can get to. and some of the treasures are hidden away in very nooky places that take a while to figure out a route to.
so yea. it's good. i don't have much else newsworthy. it snowed yesterday for a bit. no longer exciting. just cold. because it was miserable wet snow.
ah well. we cooked chicken tikka last night, using shan spices. shan make the best spice packets ever. and marinating chicken does amazing things to it.
right so. bye then.
p.s - we also have the new borderlands dlc to play. i'm kind of excited about that too.
22 February 2010
metroid prime and other news
i may or may not have mentioned that i'm playing metroid prime at the moment. and i also may or may not have mentioned that it is the hardest adventure game i have ever played in my entire life. so this is the official announcement that i am giving up on it and am going to play bayonetta instead.
after 17 hours of play i was only half way through metroid. i definitley don't think the designers had intended it to be that long. i just kept getting lost and falling off ledges when i was almost at the top of a room, and being annoyed by the constantly respawning monsters. when you go the wrong way as often as i did you get really annoyed having to kill the same guys over and over again.
so yea. i might go back to it at some stage, but i've had enough of ending the night in a sort of post-rage-quit haze.
also, this weekend, i tried playing rock band drums on hard. it was hard. but i think i managed to get 70% once on one song. or was that bass on hard. yea - i think that was bass. bass on hard is actually somewhat easy. except for when you have to slide you whole hand down one to hit the orange notes. then it just gets confusing.
ooh, yea. i have officially been unemployed for a whole year now. that's kind of mad. i'll be finished draft 2 in about 2 weeks and will start looking for work then. one whole year to get from draft one-point-five to draft two. that seems like a very long time. admittedly, it took me six months to realize i actually had to rewrite the entirety of chapter one. once i figured that out it was smooth sailing.
after 17 hours of play i was only half way through metroid. i definitley don't think the designers had intended it to be that long. i just kept getting lost and falling off ledges when i was almost at the top of a room, and being annoyed by the constantly respawning monsters. when you go the wrong way as often as i did you get really annoyed having to kill the same guys over and over again.
so yea. i might go back to it at some stage, but i've had enough of ending the night in a sort of post-rage-quit haze.
also, this weekend, i tried playing rock band drums on hard. it was hard. but i think i managed to get 70% once on one song. or was that bass on hard. yea - i think that was bass. bass on hard is actually somewhat easy. except for when you have to slide you whole hand down one to hit the orange notes. then it just gets confusing.
ooh, yea. i have officially been unemployed for a whole year now. that's kind of mad. i'll be finished draft 2 in about 2 weeks and will start looking for work then. one whole year to get from draft one-point-five to draft two. that seems like a very long time. admittedly, it took me six months to realize i actually had to rewrite the entirety of chapter one. once i figured that out it was smooth sailing.
18 February 2010
fainting from cold?
does cold affect anyone else like electricity? if i put my hand into cold water, the shock travels up and arm and attacks my heart and lungs. i was cleaning out nymph's tank today and the water was so cold and so much of my arm was submerged for so long that i almost fainted. just kind of wondering if i'm alone in this?
15 February 2010
a slow day
kind of a slow day today - i think i only wrote about 300 words. but it's better than nothing. i've been suffering apathy all day - i just can't make any decisions. i even went for a walk (on the advisement of lordkilljoy) and i couldn't decide where i wanted to go. haaaaaaa (that's a sigh). i ended up walking to the meath border (6km round trip - i made it to within a quarter km of the border, wasn't sure how far it was).
then i had lunch, settled down to write, got a little done, got annoyed at the vagaries of my internet connection (it's still misbehaving) and decided to clean up my background processes. so i cut out about 5 processes that i wasn't using and timed my bootup. it takes 30 seconds to the login screen and another 30 to load up programs. and this is a 7 and a half year old computer. i think i'm doing well. (my god, my computer is old.) 7 and a half years of love - it's no wonder lordkilljoy can't get me to buy a new one. it would be like putting down a beloved pet who is in the nick of health (is that even a proper phrase?).
anyway.
i'm playing metroid prime at the moment (on the wii - it's the first time i've invested a significant amount of hours on a game for this console). it's good, but annoying in places. i think if i was playing with hints off i'd have given up in utter frustration by now. modern games have made me soft - i want everything to be easy and laid out for me. but saying all that - i am enjoying it.
right. i don't really have anything else to say.
then i had lunch, settled down to write, got a little done, got annoyed at the vagaries of my internet connection (it's still misbehaving) and decided to clean up my background processes. so i cut out about 5 processes that i wasn't using and timed my bootup. it takes 30 seconds to the login screen and another 30 to load up programs. and this is a 7 and a half year old computer. i think i'm doing well. (my god, my computer is old.) 7 and a half years of love - it's no wonder lordkilljoy can't get me to buy a new one. it would be like putting down a beloved pet who is in the nick of health (is that even a proper phrase?).
anyway.
i'm playing metroid prime at the moment (on the wii - it's the first time i've invested a significant amount of hours on a game for this console). it's good, but annoying in places. i think if i was playing with hints off i'd have given up in utter frustration by now. modern games have made me soft - i want everything to be easy and laid out for me. but saying all that - i am enjoying it.
right. i don't really have anything else to say.
10 February 2010
more net connection troubles
so, my internet has been on and off all day. i know it's not the drivers or any programs clashing because i sorted all that back in november (or whenever it was). that's leaves one thing in my mind and that's the flow of data over the air itself. the dongle thingy that gives my computer wireless access is down the back of my computer, 3 or 4 walls, me and the hunk of metal that is the computer away from the router. the connection was coming up as very good, rather than the usual excellent. so i got a little usb extender thingy and now the dongle is on top of my computer and the signal strenght is excellent :)
hopefully it won't crash out any more.
hopefully it won't crash out any more.
diane duane
i came back in here after having lunch in the kitchen and i said to myself, "it's warm and it smells nice in here." what more could i want. it's so warm, in fact, that i've taken my jumper off. but now that it is off i'm wondering should i put it back on. i'll give it ten minutes and see. (edit ten minutes later - i put it back on.)
i had some other big news that i meant to say yesterday. warpcon was the weekend before last and diane duane and peter morwood were special guests. i may have mentioned diane duane on here before. i first read high wizardry when i was 10 or something and i loved it. it was the third book in a series so i went back and read the other 2. then on our world travels i picked up the rest of the series (to book 7) in a borders somewhere (malaysia, i think) and enjoyed them. i also loved her series about a group of cat wizards who guard the inter-dimensional portals in the new york subways. in fact, those books made me fall in love with new york without ever having been there.
so anyway. on saturday i went in to warpcon specifically to meet diane and ask her about getting published. i spoke to both her and peter and we could have chatted for hours (but i had to go). she had so much to say, from the use of a dictaphone and speech software (dragon) to peter showing me how he uses five different coloured pens for the five different novels he's writing at the moment. it was brilliant.
i love my new space. the sun shone in the window for the whole morning (it's clouded over a little now).
penelope_stone and liam are up on friday, just for the night. then they are off to scotland.
and we might be going to galway on saturday. that would be good. i like visiting catherine. thier house is very home-y.
i had some other big news that i meant to say yesterday. warpcon was the weekend before last and diane duane and peter morwood were special guests. i may have mentioned diane duane on here before. i first read high wizardry when i was 10 or something and i loved it. it was the third book in a series so i went back and read the other 2. then on our world travels i picked up the rest of the series (to book 7) in a borders somewhere (malaysia, i think) and enjoyed them. i also loved her series about a group of cat wizards who guard the inter-dimensional portals in the new york subways. in fact, those books made me fall in love with new york without ever having been there.
so anyway. on saturday i went in to warpcon specifically to meet diane and ask her about getting published. i spoke to both her and peter and we could have chatted for hours (but i had to go). she had so much to say, from the use of a dictaphone and speech software (dragon) to peter showing me how he uses five different coloured pens for the five different novels he's writing at the moment. it was brilliant.
i love my new space. the sun shone in the window for the whole morning (it's clouded over a little now).
penelope_stone and liam are up on friday, just for the night. then they are off to scotland.
and we might be going to galway on saturday. that would be good. i like visiting catherine. thier house is very home-y.
09 February 2010
the news of the last week and a half
right, i have heaps of news, starting with the cutest.
we bought a bird feeder thing in tesco about a month ago - a coconut shell filled with seeds and a kind of lard mixture. we had it out the front and in 3 weeks no bird touched it. last week i moved it to the back and i just checked it there and it's completely eaten. that's kinda cool. clearly the back of the apartment is superior to the front and that's where i live now :)
which moves me nicely on to my next bit of news - my computer is now in the spare room :) i have my old computer desk, liam's chair and a rad beside me. the only things i miss are the arms from my old chair. but i'm sure i'll get used to things. i even had to close down the blind a little because the sun was shining in my eyes. wooo.
now on to the not so cute and happy news. the reason i stayed down in cork for almost a week and a half (when it was only meant to be a weekend) is because joan (my aunt) died on saturday night (early sunday morning). it came as a bit of a shock but everyone knew the day would come at some stage. and now no one needs to worry any more because she's better of where she is, i imagine.
so we had the funeral and the cremation on thursday and then i decided to stay the weekend and got the train back today. in one way it was good, because i got to see aunts i'd not seen in years.
yea, so. i'm going to go now - i need to bring the rest of my stuff out of the kitchen. it's all the finickity (sic) stuff that i have so much of and that i have to try to re-home on this desk somewhere.
right - bye.
we bought a bird feeder thing in tesco about a month ago - a coconut shell filled with seeds and a kind of lard mixture. we had it out the front and in 3 weeks no bird touched it. last week i moved it to the back and i just checked it there and it's completely eaten. that's kinda cool. clearly the back of the apartment is superior to the front and that's where i live now :)
which moves me nicely on to my next bit of news - my computer is now in the spare room :) i have my old computer desk, liam's chair and a rad beside me. the only things i miss are the arms from my old chair. but i'm sure i'll get used to things. i even had to close down the blind a little because the sun was shining in my eyes. wooo.
now on to the not so cute and happy news. the reason i stayed down in cork for almost a week and a half (when it was only meant to be a weekend) is because joan (my aunt) died on saturday night (early sunday morning). it came as a bit of a shock but everyone knew the day would come at some stage. and now no one needs to worry any more because she's better of where she is, i imagine.
so we had the funeral and the cremation on thursday and then i decided to stay the weekend and got the train back today. in one way it was good, because i got to see aunts i'd not seen in years.
yea, so. i'm going to go now - i need to bring the rest of my stuff out of the kitchen. it's all the finickity (sic) stuff that i have so much of and that i have to try to re-home on this desk somewhere.
right - bye.
26 January 2010
the room that is spare
I got no (well hardly any - two sentences maybe) writing done today. the part i'm editing is quite badly written and trying to think up better ways to string words together is hard.
but it was a productive-kind-of-day anyway. after business in the village (got some yogitea cold season tea, yum yum yum), i procrastinated writing by reorganizing the spare room, cleaning its window and contemplated making the bed (but the sheets are still wet after i washed them on sunday. yes - don't even think about how long it takes to get stuff dry.
the re-organization was also an effort to give the spare room a more liveable feel. because come next week that will be my writing room. i'm bringing my desk up from cork and moving my computer out of the kitchen. it means i'll have sunlight (and lots of it), warmth (from said sunlight), a good view, a quiet place to work (the fridge gets really loud sometimes), a bed if i get tired - no, i'm just kidding on that last point. but i'm pretty excited about it. the only con is that i might be a bit squashed. i'll have to do my impromptu dancing in the hallway, i think. the spare room definitely doesn't have room for hip-swaying and arm-throwing and body-twirling. unless i dance on the bed, but i think falling over would be too much of a risk.
penelope_stone is over tomorrow. should have some fun with her. i can't wait. that's actually where the writing angst is coming from. i have to get this chapter done before the weekend, and with penelope_stone around i don't know how much writing time i'll have. but its all good. i'd give up a whole month of writing if i got to spend it with her.
but it was a productive-kind-of-day anyway. after business in the village (got some yogitea cold season tea, yum yum yum), i procrastinated writing by reorganizing the spare room, cleaning its window and contemplated making the bed (but the sheets are still wet after i washed them on sunday. yes - don't even think about how long it takes to get stuff dry.
the re-organization was also an effort to give the spare room a more liveable feel. because come next week that will be my writing room. i'm bringing my desk up from cork and moving my computer out of the kitchen. it means i'll have sunlight (and lots of it), warmth (from said sunlight), a good view, a quiet place to work (the fridge gets really loud sometimes), a bed if i get tired - no, i'm just kidding on that last point. but i'm pretty excited about it. the only con is that i might be a bit squashed. i'll have to do my impromptu dancing in the hallway, i think. the spare room definitely doesn't have room for hip-swaying and arm-throwing and body-twirling. unless i dance on the bed, but i think falling over would be too much of a risk.
penelope_stone is over tomorrow. should have some fun with her. i can't wait. that's actually where the writing angst is coming from. i have to get this chapter done before the weekend, and with penelope_stone around i don't know how much writing time i'll have. but its all good. i'd give up a whole month of writing if i got to spend it with her.
21 January 2010
gory writing
Ahh, i always was good at describing gore. I've just gotten to the first of the gory bits in my book and it's truly gruesome. I was reading it just there and said: "Awh, gross. This is so awful." And then i laughed. Sometimes i surprise myself with what my imagination comes up with.
That's all i wanted to say. Back to work now.
That's all i wanted to say. Back to work now.
18 January 2010
erm....
Perhaps i shouldn't update my journal right now, but it's been a while and i have some news. Nothing major, but i'd like to have it for posterity.
lordkilljoy and i went over to denise and eamonn for dinner on friday evening. It was a lovely night, got to meet aoife again after so much time. Louise was hyper out (denise assures me she's not like that all the time). had a nice dinner and just chatted for a bit after. Louise's comment was "why don't you play something. Just talking is boring." Heh - i think i probably said that exact same thing when i was younger.
penelope_stone is coming over for her birthday. can't wait for that. she's not coming over because it's her birthday, though - it just happens to be when she'll be in dublin.
i'm moving into the spare room. i will have more light and sunshine to keep me warm (even though it has warmed up so much in the last week - it had got to about 11degrees in here last week, but now it's a balmy 19. and it feels so warm outside as well. i was wearing just a t-shirt and coat out the other day. it's easy to convince yourself that spring is here, but we still have 2 months to go before we can really start looking forward to warm weather.
i'm on chapter 12 this week. getting through it pretty well. just editing now, not rewriting. i think i just one more chapter that i'll rewrite (and i don't know how yet - the original is just too out of character for zachery). ooh, wait - maybe one and a half. but anyway - i'm getting there. in the home straight now (one month to go).
right - i don't have much else to say.
lordkilljoy and i went over to denise and eamonn for dinner on friday evening. It was a lovely night, got to meet aoife again after so much time. Louise was hyper out (denise assures me she's not like that all the time). had a nice dinner and just chatted for a bit after. Louise's comment was "why don't you play something. Just talking is boring." Heh - i think i probably said that exact same thing when i was younger.
penelope_stone is coming over for her birthday. can't wait for that. she's not coming over because it's her birthday, though - it just happens to be when she'll be in dublin.
i'm moving into the spare room. i will have more light and sunshine to keep me warm (even though it has warmed up so much in the last week - it had got to about 11degrees in here last week, but now it's a balmy 19. and it feels so warm outside as well. i was wearing just a t-shirt and coat out the other day. it's easy to convince yourself that spring is here, but we still have 2 months to go before we can really start looking forward to warm weather.
i'm on chapter 12 this week. getting through it pretty well. just editing now, not rewriting. i think i just one more chapter that i'll rewrite (and i don't know how yet - the original is just too out of character for zachery). ooh, wait - maybe one and a half. but anyway - i'm getting there. in the home straight now (one month to go).
right - i don't have much else to say.
08 January 2010
snow creed
Snow is great. the light in here seems a bright as it is in summer thanks to the snow reflecting it all in the window. i have more energy than i've had in ages. i'm listening to my dancy playlist and bopping around the place. it's great.
but there's one problem. the chapter i'm editing at the moment is meant to be depressing and that is the last thing i feel right now and i don't want to get into that mood. i don't want to put on some sad music and kill my energy buzz.
I'm playing assassin's creed II at the moment. it is 20 million times better than the first game (and that was a game i played and finished twice). the game play is more advanced, the story is way better (it actually has a story, as opposed to the first game where it was a series of the same scene over and over with a different target) there's more to do - around the cities but also outside of the main story (like renovate a whole town, manage finances, do extreme-mini dungeon crawls, read loads of back-story). It's fantastic. I think i'll be playing this game for ages. Mostly because i am a completionist and i want to collect all the collectibles and get every piece of armour, do up my house and clear every marker from every city.
I also like the way it staggers the stages of learning stuff. It shows you how to do something and lets you get really comfortable with it before introducing more stuff. and if you forget something there are loads of hints that pop up to remind you of things.
So that's it really. i had a really good christmas at home and down in kerry. went to ross bay with the kayakers for new years (and went for a walk along the beach at 1:30am - the moon was full and shining on the snowy hills across the bay - it was beautiful).
right - need to get today's scene done.
but there's one problem. the chapter i'm editing at the moment is meant to be depressing and that is the last thing i feel right now and i don't want to get into that mood. i don't want to put on some sad music and kill my energy buzz.
I'm playing assassin's creed II at the moment. it is 20 million times better than the first game (and that was a game i played and finished twice). the game play is more advanced, the story is way better (it actually has a story, as opposed to the first game where it was a series of the same scene over and over with a different target) there's more to do - around the cities but also outside of the main story (like renovate a whole town, manage finances, do extreme-mini dungeon crawls, read loads of back-story). It's fantastic. I think i'll be playing this game for ages. Mostly because i am a completionist and i want to collect all the collectibles and get every piece of armour, do up my house and clear every marker from every city.
I also like the way it staggers the stages of learning stuff. It shows you how to do something and lets you get really comfortable with it before introducing more stuff. and if you forget something there are loads of hints that pop up to remind you of things.
So that's it really. i had a really good christmas at home and down in kerry. went to ross bay with the kayakers for new years (and went for a walk along the beach at 1:30am - the moon was full and shining on the snowy hills across the bay - it was beautiful).
right - need to get today's scene done.
17 December 2009
last post for a while
i am officially finished writing for the winter holidays (and i'm doing it a week early, so i'll be an extra week editing). i'm heading home tomorrow evening, have this afternoon and tomorrow to clean the place and pack.
i can't wait to go home and see everyone again. penelope_stone will be around for a good long time too, so i'll get to hang out with her. woo. we're heading to kerry for the week after christmas. beaches. sand. cold and wet (ok, that's not so good). an open fire.
i finished editing for this year on a really good chapter too. i think i'm really evil that inflicting pain on my main character makes me happy. i just made poor zachery cry and i walked away from the chapter thinking: that was good. well - it's not good because he's crying, it's good because i think i wrote the emotion in the scene well. i can't wait to have other people read this, but i can't share it with anyone because it would ruin the rest of the story. i hope when people read it that it comes across as a "no, they can't do that, stop the story, it can't happen this way" sort of tragedy moment.
i finished borderlands for the second time last night, with a different character (lilith) - so now i have played it 2.5 times. i'd love to finish it a third time with mordecai, but i'll save him for playing whatever dlcs that come out with lordkilljoy. i have more xbox achievements from this game than any other. i kinda feel like playing brick and ronald up to fifth level just so i can get the achievements for them too. i'd love to get every achievement but it's not possible with a silver account (boooo).
i don't really have much else to say. i havn't updated in ages, but things have been quiet.
i can't wait to go home and see everyone again. penelope_stone will be around for a good long time too, so i'll get to hang out with her. woo. we're heading to kerry for the week after christmas. beaches. sand. cold and wet (ok, that's not so good). an open fire.
i finished editing for this year on a really good chapter too. i think i'm really evil that inflicting pain on my main character makes me happy. i just made poor zachery cry and i walked away from the chapter thinking: that was good. well - it's not good because he's crying, it's good because i think i wrote the emotion in the scene well. i can't wait to have other people read this, but i can't share it with anyone because it would ruin the rest of the story. i hope when people read it that it comes across as a "no, they can't do that, stop the story, it can't happen this way" sort of tragedy moment.
i finished borderlands for the second time last night, with a different character (lilith) - so now i have played it 2.5 times. i'd love to finish it a third time with mordecai, but i'll save him for playing whatever dlcs that come out with lordkilljoy. i have more xbox achievements from this game than any other. i kinda feel like playing brick and ronald up to fifth level just so i can get the achievements for them too. i'd love to get every achievement but it's not possible with a silver account (boooo).
i don't really have much else to say. i havn't updated in ages, but things have been quiet.
09 December 2009
half-life2 and mirror's edge
i have no energy at all today. and its so dark - as dark as it usually is by 4:10, not 3:10.
just a quick post really - i started playing half-life2 on the pc last night (i had started it on the xbox and found it way too hard - i think i can only play sniper on xbox because it still takes me about 10 times longer to aim at things). and i must say: this game is amazing. or, the start of this game is amazing. i played for about 2 hours last night and in that 2 hours the pace never slowed. you are thrown into the action after about 5 minutes and from then on you are running from guys, heading blindly into a city that you have no idea about, taking corners seemingly at random (i say seemingly because the level design guys really had their heads on right - it feels like there are dozens of turnings and byways that you are missing, but you are on the right path all the time). it makes me think of that bit in the matrix after neo fights the agent and then takes off running - not knowing where he's going just relying on tank's directions. it has that same feel of "don't stop and think, just keep going, keep alive."
i was playing mirror's edge last night too. now that is a game that got the level design totally wrong. in this game, more than any other, you should get the feeling that i got from half-life2, but the level cues are so obscure that half the time you have to stop and look around and get totally frustrated because you don't know where to go next. the game is about free-running and should have the most amazing flow ever, you should never have to stop, never get stuck. the new prince of persia comes to mind as what mirror's edge should have been more like - in that game it is always clear where you can jump to next, you never stop running and leaping and climbing.
i got to the last chapter of mirror's edge and stopped because i just didn't care enough to have to stop-start my way though what i guessed was going to be the worst designed level yet, with no clear path and multiple dead-ends.
right - going to go now.
just a quick post really - i started playing half-life2 on the pc last night (i had started it on the xbox and found it way too hard - i think i can only play sniper on xbox because it still takes me about 10 times longer to aim at things). and i must say: this game is amazing. or, the start of this game is amazing. i played for about 2 hours last night and in that 2 hours the pace never slowed. you are thrown into the action after about 5 minutes and from then on you are running from guys, heading blindly into a city that you have no idea about, taking corners seemingly at random (i say seemingly because the level design guys really had their heads on right - it feels like there are dozens of turnings and byways that you are missing, but you are on the right path all the time). it makes me think of that bit in the matrix after neo fights the agent and then takes off running - not knowing where he's going just relying on tank's directions. it has that same feel of "don't stop and think, just keep going, keep alive."
i was playing mirror's edge last night too. now that is a game that got the level design totally wrong. in this game, more than any other, you should get the feeling that i got from half-life2, but the level cues are so obscure that half the time you have to stop and look around and get totally frustrated because you don't know where to go next. the game is about free-running and should have the most amazing flow ever, you should never have to stop, never get stuck. the new prince of persia comes to mind as what mirror's edge should have been more like - in that game it is always clear where you can jump to next, you never stop running and leaping and climbing.
i got to the last chapter of mirror's edge and stopped because i just didn't care enough to have to stop-start my way though what i guessed was going to be the worst designed level yet, with no clear path and multiple dead-ends.
right - going to go now.
05 December 2009
dream of destruction
i had a very strange and intricate dream last night. it all took place in one city (possibly on an island, but maybe a peninsula). it was right by the sea with a nice beach and possibly palm trees.
at the start of the dream the city got attacked by aliens. they came down in huge ships, all light and colour, exploding everything, creating chaos. people ran everywhere, totally panicked and a lot of people were killed.
the middle section involved the city going on fire. i was in a hotel or something and we all had to get out. and this old man was somehow important (he was telling me about the alien attacks?). there were loads of people in the hotel - all in a sort of foyer just waiting - possibly refugees from the earlier attack? we may have gotten out. but i seem to recall something about the roof? or air conditioning extractor things or something?
and then i woke up in cork (i'm not in cork this weekend) and was telling mammy about how i had decided to come down at the last minute (by somehow beaming there instantly?). i wanted to see penelope_stone but she was asleep. i think the old man came back into it here - i had to escort him home or something.
and then i was back in the city, only this time it was over-run by evil military forces. they wore white (so that you could pick them out easily). i was fighting with a bunch of resistance people, getting farther and farther into the military base - running from troops, but into others. and then i met someone from the city (who looked like colin farrell or maybe brad pitt as his character from fight club). i knew him (sort of) and i hated him because he was a traitor. he was ordering a few troops around and i walked up to him.
for some reason i raised my arm (maybe to hit him) and a little red dot flew past it - lightly tipping it. he looked at me and rised his arm, showing me a little X on his wrist, right where the red fly-insect-thing had just bitten me.
"do you know what that was?" he said.
and i just stood there, in shock, not really wanting to know because it was a little fly that killed you within a few hours. i stumbled away - none of the troops would attack me any more. i had a little time to act, so i tried to find their main weak point, but everything was falling apart and i was stumbling along (and exaggerating it a bit to make sure no army-guys tried to kill me) and then i got to some stairs and just lay down with people walking by me as if i didn't exist.
and then i woke up. i really didn't want to wake up - i wanted to know if i managed to get up again and destroy the place. because i wasn't near death - i was mostly faking it. and the dude who had the scar was fine even thought he'd been bitten too.
yea - i think borderlands inspired that dream. lordkilljoy and i finished it last night. got to level 36 and the last bad guy was a little bit easy to kill, but ah well. i still want to get to level 50, though. does the game know itself to start you all over again, or do you have to go to some particular place. we still have the zombie island of dr. ned to go, though.
i don't really have anything else to say. i might head into town, because i want to buy stuff for people. i hate shopping in dublin though, because i only know where all the department stores are.
at the start of the dream the city got attacked by aliens. they came down in huge ships, all light and colour, exploding everything, creating chaos. people ran everywhere, totally panicked and a lot of people were killed.
the middle section involved the city going on fire. i was in a hotel or something and we all had to get out. and this old man was somehow important (he was telling me about the alien attacks?). there were loads of people in the hotel - all in a sort of foyer just waiting - possibly refugees from the earlier attack? we may have gotten out. but i seem to recall something about the roof? or air conditioning extractor things or something?
and then i woke up in cork (i'm not in cork this weekend) and was telling mammy about how i had decided to come down at the last minute (by somehow beaming there instantly?). i wanted to see penelope_stone but she was asleep. i think the old man came back into it here - i had to escort him home or something.
and then i was back in the city, only this time it was over-run by evil military forces. they wore white (so that you could pick them out easily). i was fighting with a bunch of resistance people, getting farther and farther into the military base - running from troops, but into others. and then i met someone from the city (who looked like colin farrell or maybe brad pitt as his character from fight club). i knew him (sort of) and i hated him because he was a traitor. he was ordering a few troops around and i walked up to him.
for some reason i raised my arm (maybe to hit him) and a little red dot flew past it - lightly tipping it. he looked at me and rised his arm, showing me a little X on his wrist, right where the red fly-insect-thing had just bitten me.
"do you know what that was?" he said.
and i just stood there, in shock, not really wanting to know because it was a little fly that killed you within a few hours. i stumbled away - none of the troops would attack me any more. i had a little time to act, so i tried to find their main weak point, but everything was falling apart and i was stumbling along (and exaggerating it a bit to make sure no army-guys tried to kill me) and then i got to some stairs and just lay down with people walking by me as if i didn't exist.
and then i woke up. i really didn't want to wake up - i wanted to know if i managed to get up again and destroy the place. because i wasn't near death - i was mostly faking it. and the dude who had the scar was fine even thought he'd been bitten too.
yea - i think borderlands inspired that dream. lordkilljoy and i finished it last night. got to level 36 and the last bad guy was a little bit easy to kill, but ah well. i still want to get to level 50, though. does the game know itself to start you all over again, or do you have to go to some particular place. we still have the zombie island of dr. ned to go, though.
i don't really have anything else to say. i might head into town, because i want to buy stuff for people. i hate shopping in dublin though, because i only know where all the department stores are.
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