IT'S SNOWING! We got a few flakes a few days ago, but it's sticking a little now.

Well or just bouncing back off the ground and getting caught in the grass - half of it's been little iceballs.

But the air is all pretty and filled with bright bits of white...

Tom is making pterodactyl-like noises of dismay.

No, wait, those were general PAYATTENTIONTOMEEEEE sounds. Nevermind. :p

 
This turned up online a couple of days ago, and I freaking lost it.

The rock-paper-scissors controversy.

In other news, my sister sent me a photo to fix (there was a line on her face OH THE HORRORZ!!1!1 XD), and she and her friends looked so adorably 80s that I decided I needed to flesh out the effect.



Oh the fuschia. <3 bwahahaa. (This is what comes of having spent a day or so last week re-reading all of the As If! archives. love.) Something about the photo felt very much like something from a cd booklet or other promo material, especially once I added the black border, so I played it up. I probably should have finished clearing out the mirror-drawing bits from everywhere, but I did the faces that's enough, it was freaking hard in areas that small. I haven't been in photoshop..well, AS much, due to NaNo, and I miss it. I've flung together a few desktop backgrounds, on the excuse that I needed inspirational images in order to set the mood for my stories, but.. oh hell I'm off today, I'll play around if I want. :)

I think all that I haaave to do, is some cleaning (mainly because my conscience will nag me otherwise), and go out yarn-shopping. I'm going to be a bit short on the scarf I'm making, and I need to make some fingerless gloves for work because my hands are always SOFREAKINGCOLD.

 
Also, I have an admission to make.

I am trying again to get through Dante's Divine Comedy. I got a little distracted and didn't make it through even the Inferno a few years ago, when I first tackled it (in preparation for my first NaNo, oddly enough! Mortal Angel, which I still think has some very good things in it). I figured maybe having an audio book would help things along.

It's not, I put it on when I want to fall asleep at night. >_<;

The trouble is, that for all its wonderful concepts, it's filled with references to the personalities in Italy hundreds of years ago. I'm separated by an ocean and a few hundred years. So I get lost in the constant references. (That, and I have a hunch Longfellow's translation may not be the one I want - I want something truer to the actual language of it than something forcing itself to rhyme.)

But I'm going to keep plugging along, and see if I can pick up anything interesting from it anyway.. really, it's Paradise Lost I want, but the language in that bogged me down with its density the first time around, that's a post-November project.

Meanwhile, I wanted something, uh, lighter, to listen to as well. So I flipped through my stash of C.S. Lewis things (which reminds me! I keep trying to upload the John Cleese reading of Screwtape, to pass along to everyone because it's a wonderful, but the file's too big and yousendit has been screwing me over for months, so I may just have to burn it and send it to people - rest assured I have not forgotten!). And found The Great Divorce. HI Divine Comedy in a form I can relate to wooooooo! I'm flipping out that George MacDonald is the narrator's guide through Heaven, it's the cutest thing in the universe - I'd just read something about what a huge influence MacDonald was on Lewis' own outlook, both in literary and spiritual terms, and the fanboying is adorable. (Also I need to re-read some of George MacDonald's things, I own At the Back of the North Wind and have read a few others, but it's been too long.)

Of course, Tom, meanwhile, is diving into Asimov's robot novels, and I think I'm going to have to follow - he's flipping out about them, and I remember adoring the one I read years ago.

But! not until after November.

Good lord I'll have books to read for the next year, Kellie I still have yours around here that I've read half of, Mom I know you have things for me to read, I have a coworker with like five things lined up for me to read, and then there's the stack of what appear to be fantastically kitschy mystery things that turned up in one of the boxes sent here from home - and! Kellie there are old Horatio Hornblower books in there! Dated 1939. I suppose I shall have to read those, as well. ;)

 
I HAVE BREACHED THE HALFWAY POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dances all over and swigs down some more sickeningly-sweet Caramel Creme Diet Pepsi* (Yes this is what my novel was written on tonight. And veggie chips. And candy buttons.)

It is halfway through the month and I have PASSED 25000 WORDS!!!

...

holy hell I've written twenty-five thousand words in this thing.

That's insanity.

But fantastic insanity! Today might well have been the most amazing writing-day I've ever had. I knew what I wanted to describe, the scene I wanted to create, but I hadn't worked out the details at all really...but the emotions carried it and flung it into the heavens (well or hells, I suppose, would be more apt) and omg. I was sitting there in Tim Hortons this morning and LITERALLY could not write fast enough. I have never had that happen before. It was insane, it was this HUGE adrenaline rush and I had so much to say and my hand would not move fast enough. It was amazing, it was the most incredible thing.

Of course it only lasted.. not even a quarter of a page, but still! Wow.

And I think what I wrote isn't half-bad, on top of that. ;) The language is awkward in places of course, it was written so quickly, the words just flowing right into my hand without really being filtered first.. and uh, I don't think the word "lungs" should EVER be used that many times in a single page (but what synonym is there??) lmao.

In any event! For anyone interested, I have finally written out the basic gist of the Phistos' fall. It is contained in the Azal section of the story (parts 11-15, Nov. 11-15, depending on which archive link you want)...uh, following a sex scene. lmao. They're Phistos what do you want?? And I realised I'd never really written them one of those, either, apart from a few Mackie RPs. (Okay more than a few but we'll not go there. ;P)

I don't even know what to do with myself, it's 8.30, I don't have work tomorrow, and I'm done with writing for the day. (I hit about 1500 words over *breakfast*.)

I could write more but I'm exhausted from the emotions of that last bit. I need some time to distance myself from it, and find a fresh thread to follow - that's definitely the end of that section. Shit I have no idea who to write next! Luce is such an imposing figure, and I don't know if I want to repeat people yet. Though I suppose I ought to visit Meres and Veri, I should show a bit of what Meres is going through. Or is he going through anything? Should a murder really bother him? Hmm.

...according to No Plot, No Problem! (the NaNo book), I should know what point my story is leading to by now.

lmfao.

 
"Hey honey, did you know that cavemen were actually much more intelligent than people think?"

Since Tom is always bringing me new and odd and interesting bits of information, I perked up a bit, curious - and praying like anything this wasn't a lead-up to a reference to the stupid Geico cavemen. "Really?"

"Yeah. When they went hunting, and used spears--" here he gestured, holding an imaginary spear up to the side of his head, shaking it, "--they were the first ones to develop shake spears."

 
Everyone's been dropping like flies at work, eeeeveryone is sick (two of the five who were scheduled last night were forbidden by doctors to come in!), and my head's been fairly congested for awhile, but nothing I couldn't deal with. Until yesterday I woke up with a horrible headache, and medicine wore off too quickly, and it felt like a migraine but my usual didn't do a thing to clear it.. luckily it hit its worst just before I was done for the day anyway. ugh it was miserable, I got home at 5 and just flopped into bed and did not leave it except to go to the bathroom. Tom, fortunately, is captivated by his game (he's making friends there and it's very cute), and is an amazing dear and got me everything I needed. I couldn't even keep my eyes open, I was bored out of my skull. ^^;; So! When Tom went out to get some dinner for us (I managed to get down a basic lil chicken sandwich from Burger King), he actually stopped by work and picked up my iPod for me, because it had been one of those days and I'd left it by the microwave while on lunchbreak.

It has been two of those days in a row now, but, the headache was gone when I woke (though I can feel traces of it lingering, so am trying not to push too hard). Also I worked with the spazziest person on the planet all day, so for everything I dropped or ran into, she did just as much, and made sillier noises doing so, hee. :)

Unfortunately my word count has suffered hell. I was ahead of things, so took Monday off, since my schedule that day was odd and I knew I'd never be able to focus, so I did some researching I'd wanted to do. Tuesday morning, I managed to get six or eight hundred over breakfast, but, didn't type due to the headache of doom.

So uh... that's all I've done tonight. XD And! I've made things up and am into working on today's portion. Which I could probably get through, but I'm insanely tired, and I don't want to deprive myself of too much sleep, being this close to being sick. So I'm pushing on through to 23k, which is only...338 off from where I should be today. I can make that up tomorrow without much trouble, especially since I'll be leaving off at a big flashback chunk that I can flesh out like craaaaaaazy. Phistos do an awful lot of rambling when they get introspective, the angsty little darlings. <3

 
I wish I could triple-digg this thing.

I know not many people have the intense levels of geek-exposure that I'm subjected to, but for anyone with a hard-core nerd in their life, good LORD is this a wonder:

The Nerd Handbook.

It explains so much! Granted most of it I'd figured out but there are some darn good explanations, and tips for dealing with the nerd-quirks. Like the fact that things are sharply categorized into relevant and irrelevant, and that a nerd's main focus is his Project.

...I've known for awhile, I need to find some sort of challenge to taking the garbage out, it's pretty low on his priority list even when there's three extra bags sitting outside the garbage can. hmm.

 
After finishing a survey, I made the happy discovery that I had a shitload of points built up on the one site.

So! $15 in Amazon e-certificates later, I have finally plunked down an order for The Dictionary of Fallen Angels.

*dances all over the place*

Obtuse and arcane references here I come!!!

 
OOOOO!

I remembered what I was going to write!

I had a plan, I'd merely forgotten it in all the setting! lmfao. But this was the whole reason I needed a new character, one I hadn't worked with yet, and not Carey because he's too frivolous and Adir is too focused on the lust-thing. (Such a simple tactic, but any time I run dry of ideas, I refresh myself on the seven sins, and the various interpretations of them at different times, and inevitably think of something for my Phistos to do.)

Aza, I think, will be well-suited to this idea. *bounces* And it's such a good one! I'm terribly in love with it and thus am almost scared to write it.

But it's NaNo! Time to write and save the worrying and the fixing for later. (Yet even with forcing myself through things and not editing... I'm really, really happy with the quality of writing I've been putting out. *dances*) Maybe I *will* plunge in and write a ton tonight, maybe get tomorrow's daily ration out of the way in the wee small hours (since I work 4-9, and thus won't want to do so after work, but can sleep a bit in the morning).

Plus Craig Armstrong's "Piano Works" album is THE most gorgeous and wonderful thing to write to. I've listened to this so many times, and it actually wound up becoming the music at the Phistos' party. hee. <3

...I realise the chances are slim that anyone's actually reading the torrents I'm posting over on the NaNo blog, and thus all of my discussion of it here is pretty pointless, BUT, I need an outlet, and while Tom's been wonderful about it all, he hasn't much use for my characters, and I'm absurdly in love with them, and need to babble and let my brain rest.

WRITING!!! I have three hundred words still and half an hour!!! ..guess that's one way to motivate myself.

 
Y'know, Azal has cropped up several times now - he owns the palace out in the desert, which Meres wrote a whole letter to Veri about, and I'm writing the next bit of the NaNo from his pov (because I needed someone new and today I didn't like any of the other new ones I've created lately)...

And I haven't the FAINTEST idea what he looks like.

Not at all.

Granted I'm still wish-washing on Luce, whether he actually looks a bit Asian or not, but, everyone else (at least everyone else that I've really worked with before), I know what they look like.

Aza? No clue.

This is a slight issue given that I'm writing a scene where everyone's outfits are a bit of a focal point... ah well, as long as he doesn't stare into a mirror too long, I'm good I suppose. ^^;;

Tom is planning on staying up all night to play his game (just because he hasn't done so in forever, and I think he wants to cling to the fact that he still *can*, which I totally understand, I get the urge myself), and I'm still debating if I want to stay up reallylate and novel.. but I really have no clue what's going to happen in this scene. All I knew was that I was inspired by two things:

1) In looking around for new crochet patterns today (I need some winterwear), one of the scarf descriptions I came across was rather unusual. A "Mermaid Scarf", a twisty little ruffly thing. The description ran something like: 'A number of years ago, a friend of mine hosted what she called 'mermaid parties', ladies-only evenings' where they dressed in their finest shimmering gowns and jewelry. And I was really, really struck by that, and wanted to see it.
So I decided to write it. (Sort of.)

2) In trying to decide how to work my mermaid party, I nosed around online for ideas. Trying to find a site on the grand society parties my Phistos' are modeled after.. uh, I turned up NOTHING. grr. But I did find quite a bit of information on the Venetian Carnival, which, omg, gorgeousness. <333 I have several sites bookmarked and bunches of pictures saved. Definitely delving more deeply into that direction sometime - I know it's been done, but it's been done in a general common-knowledge way, and there's some really fascinating historical details.

So, I have a scene, and Meres has done wonders and created an amazing underwater sort of ballroom, and everyone's all dressed up. I can skimp a bit on details because, well, it's not Meres narrating, and he's the artsiest of the bunch. (Probably why I love him so. <3 Despite his, uh, occasional faults..)

Crap and I need to churn out just a few hundred more words before the clock hits midnight--!!!

 
"Don't make fun of tall people, we have feelings too! They're longer than yours!" - Tom