allichaton

(prompted by a "What are you working on?" thread on RD, and my realization just how many balls I'm trying to juggle here)

-Edit "Sacrifice"
-Finish That Which Yields
-Finish Iconoclast
-Write "Haunted"
-Write Selkie

And, as I get them, work on CK's edits.

I'm torn where to put "Haunted" on the list. It should be fairly short, and I want to get it written up so I can send it to Anne at Samhain and have something else come out there, but I'm also feeling terribly guilty about not working on Iconoclast. Maybe I'll use it as incentive for reaching my goals on Iconoclast, or maybe as a one-day-a-week break. In any case, I've got plenty to do before I have to make that decision.

Whew. I've got my work cut out for me.

Someone mentioned to me earlier the desire to steal his girlfriend's attention away from a good book she was reading. After I'd overcome my horror at the very idea, I warned him that he might be putting himself in grave danger to do so.

Ultimately, the conversation led to this: a rubric for how to gauge whether my attention may be safely stolen away from the book in my hands, based on the answer to the question, "How's the book?"

I'm reposting it here because I find it slightly hilarious. ^_^

• No acknowledgment of the fact that you've even asked a question = you hold your life in your hands if you interrupt me now
  
• ".......Um...*drags herself away from the book* What? Did you say something?" = I may not kill you, but I'll probably maim you if you interrupt me now
  
• "Good. It's very, very good," spoken in a daze without once tearing my gaze away from the book = I am going to be SERIOUSLY GRUMPY if you interrupt me right now
  
• "Ooh, it's really good! Here, let me tell you about what is happening and why I love it so very much!" = You may interrupt me, so long as you are willing to listen to me enthuse about the book. Any change in topic will result in me going back to said book. You have been warned.
  
• "It's great!", "It's good!", or any variation thereof = if you're determined, you can probably pull me away from it for a little while, but I won't thank you for interrupting my reading time
  
• "It's okay" = probably safe to try to get my attention
  
• "Ugh!" = "Oh dear god, I'd rather listen to a deaf cat in heat yowling in the middle of the night than continue reading this thing. Please, distract me from this atrocity!" (This is NOT to be confused with "Augh!", however, which is usually best translated as, "I can't BELIEVE you expect me to give you ONE SPEC of my attention whene THESE PEOPLE ARE IN MORTAL PERIL! I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT LEAVE ME ALONE OR I SHALL THROW THINGS AT YOUR HEAD!")

Also, any hint of squeeing, bouncing, grinning like an idiot, swooning, sighing, or clutching the book to one's breast is a fit of glee should be taken to mean, "GO AWAY, I'M VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW."

Those of you who know me at all probably know that I'm quite the homebody, especially on the weekends. I'm an introvert and the necessary socialization of the work week always drains me, so I usually stay home and recharge on the weekends.

Add to that the fact that I'm now living on my own and responsibly for getting myself anywhere I care to go, and it's a wonder I ever set foot out of the apartment on weekends at all. I'm still not completely comfortable with driving, and driving in areas I'm not familiar with really stresses me out. Today was Exhibit A as to why.

Yesterday, as a reward for buckling down and getting 1500 words written, I decided to reward myself by going to see Coraline today. I checked the Fandango schedule and planned to go to the first showing, at 11 am. And then 11 rolled around and my homebody instincts kicked in and through a series of excuses and rationalizations, I ended up not getting out the door, and scolding myself for it. So I decided to go to the next showing, at 1:40, and when 1:00 rolled around, I did actually drag my ass out the door.

There's a movie theater about a mile down the road, but it's smack in the middle of the downtown area, which means streets are busy and parking is non-existant. I knew that would stress me out and possibly even compel me to just stay home, so I decided to go to the movie theater one city over, where (I assumed) there would be a parking lot.

Mistake #1.

I didn't realize until I was driving past it (following the instructions of my lovely TomTom GPS, Aenghus) that this movie theater was also in a downtown area. At least this one had a parking structure across the street, but I had to circle the block twice before I managed to get to it.

Anyway, I parked, got my ticket, got in, that was fine. Although Mistake #2 was deciding to go to a midday showing of a newly-released children's movie. It was crowded, full of kids, and noisy, and I started feeling very claustrophobic, closed in on all sides by a bunch of strangers. Things settled down and were fine once the movie started, though.

(The verdict on the movie: Very fun, funny, gorgeous visuals, and creepy as hell. I highly recommend it.)

Then, Mistake #3. I thought, "Hey, I'm in Pleasant Hill anyway, and according to their website, there's a Jo Ann's ((fabric store)) just down the street. I'll stop there and pick up some materials for a new project before I head home."

Most of the time, I really really love Aenghus. If nothing else, he gives me the confidence to go out and make mistakes, because if worse comes to worst, I can always use him to find my way home. Sometimes, though, he drives me bugfuck crazy. This afternoon was one of those times. I ended up in the parking lot of an autobody shop, in the right general location but with no Jo Ann's in sight.

Long story short -- an hour and a half later, I finally made it to a Jo Ann's.

Note I said a Jo Ann's. Not the one I was originally looking for, which I'm pretty sure has disappeared off the face of the earth. (No, seriously. There was a different shop with it's supposed building number and everything.)

Then I got to try to find my way back home, which was an adventure I don't care to ever repeat, involving piss-poor directions, getting on the wrong on-ramp, getting off again in an area I'd never seen before in my life, and an unexpected hairpin turn at a ridiculously unsafe speed.

All in all, I was never more than six miles from home, and it took me over two hours to get back here. Only about 15 minutes of that was actually spent in the fabric store.

Next weekend, I am so staying home.

Oh my god.

Tigers playing in the snow.

*is dead of cute*

I love our president.

You know what? I am so psyched to be able to actually say that, that I'm going to say it again.

I LOVE OUR PRESIDENT!

In the immortal words of Lund, "Today...is an asspishus day!"

I don't think I've ever been actually, truly giddy about anything relating to politics, but this makes me squee, for so many reasons.

*feels like pulling out confetti and noise makers*

I am not even going to difnify yesterday's count with a full-fledged progress report. Eighty-three freaking words! Uggh.

Holy shit, this is some of the worst television I've ever seen.

It's a show about the Bermuda Triangle, and when I decided to record it, I thought that the title -- "Earth's Black Hole" -- was a metaphorical one.

I was so very wrong. 45 minutes in, and it's been nothing but a string of dubious analogies between the phenomena of a black hole and the anomalies in the Bermuda Triangle. They are literally arguing that there might be a black hole on the ocean floor of the Bermuda Triangle, with accompanying quotes from "believers" and "non-believers".

Also: "Perhaps the Bermuda Triangle is connected to the Dragon's Triangle by a simple wormhole."

Gee, I thought I was watching The History Channel, not The Sci Fi Channel. *bangs her head on the desk*

And then, THIS little bit of brilliance: they were talking about "white holes", which are theorized to be the antithesis of black holes -- where black holes consume matter, white holes create matter, and spew it out into the universe.

Then they talk about how the Bermuda Triangle is right over a Large Igneous Province, places where tectonic plates have pulled apart and magma has created new stretches of sea floor in a relatively short amount of time. As the show says: "It is an area with strange and unique white-hole-like properties. An area where matter is actually created beneath its waters."

No. No. UGH! The formation of new areas of sea floor due to the movement of tectonic plates is NOT the same thing as actually creating matter! The matter was there all along! OMG. I think I am losing brain cells just watching this show.

January 9, 2009 Progress Notes

Iconoclast

Today's words: 989
Total words: 15,276
Reason for stopping: I fell asleep. Whoops.
Today's Darling: I was born a Watcher and raised a Watcher, and if I have forsaken and been forsaken by my kind, it does not change my nature. We are a winged people, and even though we cannot fly, we still feel kinship with the sky, yearning for its vastness and the caress of its winds.
Books in Progress: All the Windwracked Stars, by Elizabeth Bear

January 7, 2009 Progress Notes

Iconoclast

Today's words: 263
Total words: 13,222
Reason for stopping: It was hard, and I was lazy
Today's Darling: It's not much outside of context, but I'm really pleased with, "He looked up at me, wretched."
Books in Progress: All the Windwracked Stars, by Elizabeth Bear
Shorts: (I am including this because I am making an effort this year to get some exposure to short fiction, instead of purely novel-length)
-"That Which Lets the Light In", by Catherynne M. Valente
-"Snow Dragon", by Elizabeth Bear
-"Nicholas Was", by Neil Gaiman
-"Letter From a Teddy Bear on Veterans' Day", by Sarah Monette