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April 16th, 2008
08:42 am
when the cat walks on the keyboard...
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April 15th, 2008
03:46 pm
Happy Tax Day! or unhappy, as the case may be. If nothing else, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gpq gets let out of the salt mines after today...
I filed an extension, so I'm not out of the woods entirely myself.
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April 14th, 2008
07:27 pm
Ok, our net access is back. Actually it's been back for a while, but I was out of the house getting the permanent crown put on my implant - yay! Of course, my laptop is still toast - boo! But until I move I can at least borrow my mom's computer.
On an unrelated note: what good are coasters if they simply adhere to the bottom of the glass when you pick it up, then fall off and get water all over the place? Perhaps I have sub-standard coasters, and I should find some that aren't so flat as to make an easy seal of the condensation between glass and coaster surface. In any case, I really hate picking up my glass, not noticing that the coaster has traveled along with it, then having the seal break under the influence of gravity thus dropping a wet coaster in my lap.
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09:15 am - Posted using TxtLJ
Our net connection is down. More later...
-Joy
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April 12th, 2008
08:16 pm
I'm going to cry.
I wasn't thinking, and let software update try to install a firmware update on my laptop. Bad idea. It boots, but I get nothing. Damn it!
Not to mention that I'm already frustrated at tech stuff because BBC America is coming in all pixelated from hell, making it impossible to watch Torchwood earlier. I am hoping the problem resolves itself before 9; I'm about to go check. If nothing else, this is the second or third instance of one channel breaking up and the others being fine, so they are sending a tech out tomorrow.
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03:30 pm - ups and downs
The upside of collecting lots of new writerly friends on LJ is community and the opportunity to learn from people who are doing what I want to do.
The downside is the occasional bout of angst where my labored projects read like ashes and dust compared to even the most on-the-fly posts people have made.
I know (I tell myself I know) that it's partly a lack of perspective on my part - other's new and fresh prose compared with something I've been banging on since Gondwanaland decided to sue for irreconcilable differences. Another part of it is stress bleed-over from getting ready to move.
So to put a positive spin on it, I've really been enjoying what people on my friends list have been writing and sharing of late.
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07:28 am - hurrah!
I have an appointment Wednesday to sign the lease for the apartment I mentioned a while back. It's in West Seattle still, down by the 'new' police precinct and the Home Depot that used to be a Kmart. I'm going to need to hire movers, any recommendations are welcome.
Watched the first of the Sarah Jane Adventures last night, along with the new BSG episode. It was really quite delightful - very kid-friendly yet but still engaging. Sarah Jane has some fairly poignant things to say, at times. If Torchwood is Dr. Who plus one unit of darkandsexy, the SJA is Dr. Who minus one unit of darkandsexy.
Apparently for the foreseeable Fridays I'm going to be watching television - it looks like the lineup on SciFi is going to be Sara Jane, Dr. Who (season 4!), and Battlestar Galactica. Damn it, I'm clearly going to have to get cable for the new place.
Current Music: the sound of silence
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April 10th, 2008
07:44 am
Yesterday's mistake does not have to become today's habit.
Sigh.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/disappointed.gif) disappointed
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April 7th, 2008
06:05 am - guarded optimism
Laptop somehow somewhat less toast than originally thought - it's back to doing what I need it to do, despite not receiving the optimal repair suite (at ~$900 a bit more than I have lying around at the moment, alas). So semi-hooray.
I find myself distressingly dependent on the damn thing for a sense of personal space. Mentally, that place where you can relax because you know where everything is, and it is familiar and safe-feeling? Apparently mine is largely mental and involves the head-space I inhabit while using my computer than my particular physical location. I felt more "at home" sitting in the lounge of the Rainforest Writers Retreat with my laptop than I did sitting here in my house without it. *raises eyebrow* If home is where the heart is, apparently my heart is a small black machine.
cjot, uly and I went to see the Golden Compass last night at the Admiral Theater. We came in a touch late, but we all knew the story ahead of time, I think. On the whole, I have to say I liked it - I certainly enjoyed it, although some of the battle scenes went on a bit long for my taste. (How much footage of CGI things whacking on each other do we really need? My appreciation for mano a mano has been found wanting.) I may have been less fidgety (and therefore critical) on a different day. It was a beautiful movie, all of the trappings and machines and accouterments had a lovely steampunk esthetic. (If they ever make a movie of any of China Mieville's New Crobuzon they should hunt these folks back for the design team.) The film also stuck to the book fairly faithfully, as I remember it. I don't recall hearing (and haven't yet gotten around to looking it up) whether there was enough box office revenue for them to continue on with making movies of the further books/story.
With luck I'll get some word on my housing situation today. Of course realizing that this would mean needing to be packed & moved by the end of the month has thrown me into panic mode. But it's not as dire as it seems, since as it stands right now we will have the house at least thru May. I'll probably be looking to hire some help in the not-too-distant future for bale-toting and van-driving. More as it happens.
Current Location: home-ish
Current Music: the sound of silence
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April 5th, 2008
08:53 am
Laptop still toast; Google's meta-machine abilites are the only thing keeping me from tearing my eyeballs out in frustration.
Finished Steven King's On Writing which I found surprisingly useful. Surprising only in the sense that having read quite a few how-to-write books of various flavors, I'm pretty sure I have the formula down: write. Advanced version: write a lot. King provides a good solid look at his process, though, which is what I find most valuable. That's what I get most out of Neil Gaiman's blog, for example - an idea of the day to day process of being a functioning, producing author.
Xiombarg has finally forgiven me, but this means that she is demanding attention. Including waking me up in the middle of the night, meowing, if someone has had the temerety to shut a door.
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04:20 am - Lois McMaster Bujold reading!
Wednesday 28 April, 2008 - Lois McMaster Bujold will be reading at the Science Fiction Museum.
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April 1st, 2008
12:49 pm
Death is a friend
I've never met.
Life Before Death - photographs by Walter Schels, commentary by Beate Lakotta.
Via Dooce.
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March 31st, 2008
08:57 am - what's been goin' on
Well, at least this time I have a better excuse for my silence. My laptop is in the shop for repairs. It's all well and good to be fond of things that start with c, but one can safely combine them only up to a certain level of proximity. When the coffee is lapping gently at the computer's case, a Bad Thing has officially happened. Sigh.
( guarded improvement )
In short, things are looking up. Perhaps April isn't always the cruelest month; I suppose I'll find out shortly.
Current Location: an alien computer
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March 29th, 2008
10:17 am
I've been quite quiet and gloomy of late, I realize. But this morning's mail brings a possible line on new housing, so things are looking up. I have to do some math, and I want to drive by the place and look it over, but!
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March 28th, 2008
01:26 pm
A little higher up the hill & it is trying to stick to the pavement...
-Joy
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12:19 pm - Posted using TxtLJ
Still snowing in West Seattle. Still not sticking, I am thankful to add.
-Joy
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March 26th, 2008
06:48 am - observations on the accretion of scripture
A possible path (in my unhumble opinion) for the solidification of guidelines into sacred writings:
1. A group of people forms for some purpose (worship, sobriety). They practice this purpose with varying success and failure, relying on their intuition and empirical results for guidance.
2. After a period of trial and error, these 'founders' decide to write down some notes about what has worked and what hasn't; guidelines to help future members avoid making the same mistakes or reinventing the wheel. New members add their insights regularly to the notes.
3. A while later, someone organizes the notes into a book, for ease of use/to preserve well-worn originals from further deterioration/to distribute to a broadened population in the process of spawning new/sub-groups. Adding new information/notes becomes more difficult, but not impossible.
4. A while later, when the original members of the group are no longer around for consultation, people begin to rely more and more on the book for guidance when they are uncertain (vs. personal experiences with the book as supplemental info). Reluctance to add new notes to book solidifies into the creation of a definitive edition of the Text.
5. As time passes, the Text begins to take on an aspect of inviolability and sacredness. New notes are usually made on how to interpret the Text instead of additions to the Text proper. The Text is regularly cited as the foundation of the group, as though the purpose of the founders getting together was to produce the Text for posterity, instead of the composition of the Text being a byproduct of the group's original function. Questions are nigh-universally referred to the Text regardless of whether the Text actually specifically addresses the question.
6. Text becomes "closed," any further notes/additions/possible changes and commentary are treated as ancillary. In addition, emphasis begins to be placed on sticking with 'approved' literature in support of group purpose or activity. Some body within the group is established or charged with maintaining purity of the Text and providing the stamp of approval for new literature/analyses/notes. Original authors of the Text begin to be credited with especial 'inspiration' or giftedness of insight compared to current group members.
7. Text begins to be interpreted largely devoid of context. Group members struggling to find meaning in the Text are instructed to fit their lives to the Text's instructions (rather than listening to their intuition or regarding the Text as truly suggestive). Text becomes focus of group; the Text and group membership spoken of as the only way of accomplishing original group purpose - the One True Way/Church/Path/etc.
At step 6 the original notes have essentially become codified into something like scripture, embodying the group's traditions and purpose in a manner not necessarily intended by its originators. Step 7 is well on the way to developing a formalized hierarchy of leadership and the consolidation of power (such as it is) into an oligarchy of some type.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/thoughtful.gif) speculative
Current Music: Latex Messiah (Viva la Rebel In You) - Toyah
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March 25th, 2008
09:42 am
It wasn't until I was doing this morning's NYT crossword puzzle that I realized Boris Badenov, of Rocky & Bullwinkle fame, is a play on the name of Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia and subject of Mussorgksy opera, Pushkin play, and Karamzin's history.
Not that I'm overly well grounded in Eastern European history (I'm really, really not - especially for someone who likes to think of herself as educated). But "Boris Godunov" the opera makes regular appearances in the crossword, and Boris Badenov was a favorite villain of my early cartoon-watching years. I'm just surprised the link didn't jump out at me sooner.
Recently finished Matter, Iain M. Bank's new novel, and S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. The former was excellent, everything I love about his Culture novels, and a compelling story as well. It's getting some decent press (review in/at Time magazine/website, a mention on slashdot) so I am hoping Banks will start to get more recognition here in the US.
I checked out The Outsiders as a result of reading John Barrowman's autobiography Anything Goes. He talks about it being a defining influence in his life, and it was something I could have read in high school but didn't (our class did A Separate Peace instead, iirc). So I was curious - I have to count Hesse's Steppenwolf as my defining novel of the time, and I thought it might be interesting to compare since Barrowman and I are in the same cohort for a number of factors.
I enjoyed reading it, it is a powerful novel. The only negative aspect was finding out Hinton wrote it while she was still in high school herself. Between that and the awe I always feel toward Iain Banks craftwork and storytelling, I find myself somewhat intimidated and disinclined to write much of anything, fiction-wise. It will pass, I'm sure, and I have to remind myself that while what I write may not excel in the exact ways Hinton and Banks work does, it can still be valuable and good, worth doing.
Current Music: kitty snores
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March 21st, 2008
08:48 am
There's a boycott? Today? Huh. I'm oblivious, mostly, because I bought a permanent account back in the dark ages, so I tend to let the sort of information people seem to be up in arms about go in one eye and out the other.
So I'm not at Norwescon, other things having come up. I hope those who are there are having a fine time!
Current Music: Body and Soul - Tori Amos
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March 19th, 2008
10:19 am - Norwescon membership for sale
I have a full membership to Norwescon this weekend, and it turns out I won't be able to make much use of it, so I'm interested in selling it. Late notice, I know. At the door prices are $60 for all four days; I'd like $50 since that's what I paid when I pre-registered. Reply to this with the best way to contact you if you are interested. Thanks!
Current Music: the sound of silence
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