Hey peeps!

Lots of good stuff going on this weekend for me. :-) I'm in Rhode Island visiting family and friends!

Because last month had no theme, this is a themed month. Any guesses? Don't guess if I've already told you the theme ;-) Congrats to those who won/are winning NANO!

Remember, this is the last contest of the decade!

*** New Members: If you're competing for December, this is your first topic- link your entry in the poll below to have it counted in the competition! Also- if you haven't signed up for the competition please make sure you do by 8pm EST Monday, November 30.! Check out the Main Contest Rules for info and rules on the main contest! ***

--- Please remember to submit your entry link in the poll below! ---

---

Your topic for December, Week 1 is....

Cue

All the world's a stage, and we are its incompetent players. From walking down the street to picking out the appropriate urinal in a men's public restroon, we are guided by a constant barrage of social cues, both subtle and obvious. A glance across the room, a slight shifting in someone's weight, an uncomfortable cough in an elevator, or a deliberate silence- we orchestrate the lives of those around us in small and powerful ways.

Despite the power of the cue, we are, many of us, mere spear carriers in the grand play. Many of us have cast off the grandiose dreams of our youth, and we've stopped being the heroines and heroes of our nightly dreams. Life happens- how will you respond?

Consider this your cue to write something potent.

---

Click here to edit your submission
Poll #1491658 Contest Entries, Week 1
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 0

Please link your Week 1 entries here.

Submit your "Just for Fun" entries here.

Other notes, such as R-ratings, NSFW, genre, format, and length can go here.

*** Your Contest Entries are due Saturday, December 5, 2009, at 8pm EST. It's week 1, so we ask that you try to keep your entries to 1,250 words or less. All the best to you! ***
 

Ahem. Check it, mes amis, I WON!

I'm feeling a bit smug. And yeah, I am going to keep going now that I've collected my goodies-- and I'll be collecting the link for Scrivener's discount, too, when it's available-- but I had to post and squee and share the glee. :D

Of course, I'm only about half-done with the book, so there's a lot of writing to keep doing, which means another word-bar for that. And you get to keep up with the merry ride that is me finishing a novel. :)

Today's WIN bar:

50315 / 50000 words. 101% done!

And the next goal bar:

50315 / 100000 words. 50% done!

(I'm estimating that the final wordcount will be around 100K. I don't really know-- it might end up less than that. The novel will be done when it's done, and I'll announce that, whether I hit 100K or not.)

I have found it necessary to make a couple of changes on this journal.

Everyone is entitled to total reign over what they post in their own journals.

Even if this content is of a violent, sexual, or just plain disturbing nature. And without putting such things behind a cut. This also includes extremely long (uncut) posts, posts in huge fonts, or anything else that regularly takes up a whole page on my friends feed all to themselves.

I do not care to be randomly exposed to some of those materials, or have my list constantly eaten up by gigantic posts, and therefore find myself wishing to unsubscribe to these journals.

I do not like doing so, but, again, I have found it necessary. If your journal fell under my criteria, please do not take this action personally, as it merely my personal preference and no reflection on my thoughts of you as a person. If you respond in kind, I completely understand.

Thank you.

Or at least never get laid.

Okay, this is from a chat I had with a young lady on Friday. I have been chatting with her off and on for most of the year now. From past chats I know that she has a boyfriend.

( Read more... )

Hullo, folks! Welcome to another edition of the Literary Library Ideas post.

( Quick overview )

Probably as a result of NaNo and other such busy-making factors, we had just one submission this month:
c) Stylistic suggestions
tigerstriped86 wrote an article on ten cautionary tips about how to create an original and intriguing character.

Is the article easy to follow? Comprehensive? Do you have suggestions on how to make the article better? Let our author know! Articles will also be formally edited and revised by authors.

Thanks so much to our valiant submitter!

And finally, it's time for another Ideas Post! If you have an idea for a Literary Library Article, post it here in a comment! Please post your ideas here by Sunday, December 6 for consideration in December's articles.

A complete list of already-suggested article topics can be found ( under the cut: )

Hope to see some great new ideas!

Just got up about 45 minutes ago from a 3 - 3.5 nap.

I was feeling a little shaky and both over and under adrenalized.

Feeling better now, but not back to 100%.

We were planning to go to Costco and then I just got overwhelmed.

Costco domestic goodness shifted to tomorrow and laundry is now in production.

So current status is that I am hanging in there.

How are you guys doing today?

Here are today’s stats for the fabulous urban fantasy adventure about a neurotic vampire/thief and her wealthy blind client, now with Bonus! Cuban drag queen and military intrigue:

Project: Bloodshot
New Words Written: 4985 (Some added last night; only about 4000 today)
Present Total Word Count: 94,570 words
Goal: Draft Zero by December 12 -ACCOMPLISHED





Things Accomplished in Fiction: Wrapped it up, baby. Wrapped up all of it. This, ladies and gents and all others, is a Draft Zero.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Virtually nothing. This has been eating my brain and I had to get it out, out, out. And now - best of all - I have almost 2 whole weeks to batter this puppy into a Draft One before sending it back to Anne! [:: does a little dance ::]

Reason for Stopping: BECAUSE I CAN.

[Crossposted to/from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

today i continued playing with the same lighting set up as last nights post, (different girl of course), different feel for the shot. i love finding new ways to make use of spots that i've thought i had shot out in the studio.

47 RoA icons
textless are not bases


( Any way you want it, that's the way you need it... )

...how did I miss this want ad?

...for hunting teenagers out of season.

***

No...it wasn't my house. Geez. :)

***

1. Some urban legends should remain untested.

2. They were damned lucky that all he hit with those bullets was the truck.

***

Have fun in jail dude.

Hope the kids were ticketed for disturbing the peace.

This is a cool little diversion.

Some of them look delicious even and...

...

...wait...

...Switzerland is made of bacon and cheese. Rock on!

...German testicle shampoo.

♦ Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile".
♦ I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
♦ Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
♦ Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

From Kizzy -- her questions/my answers:
( Read more... )
Theno

Good afternoon, mi amigos del Flame-O! I hope this weekend finds you warm, well-fed, and wonderful!

This week's news:

Contestants and Just for Fun writers alike, your Week Four entries are due by 8pm EST, TONIGHT!!!

We had a tie for Week 3 between jayphoenix and rephen! Good show!

Editors, the Week Three Editing Post is up! Please see if you can knock them out! Y'all are FABU!!

Writers, if you would like your Week 4 entry reviews/edited, sign up over here by 10 pm EST TONIGHT, 11/28!

It's the final weekend of sign-ups for December, 2009! Sign-ups will remain open until 8pm EST on Monday, November 30.

As we wind down to Week 4 here on the Flame, so does NaNoWriMo draw to a close! Hang in there, you NaNo-ers, and be sure to check out what's going on over at nanoinflames!

Last Sunday's Writer's Showcase featured quantumckat! Check that post out over here!

********************************************

Chatter Round-up:

This week's Chatter Posts featured the following topics and queries:

Monday: lacombe:
Do you have the luxury to be yourself?

Tuesday:
tigerstriped86:
Share good, funny, and weird memories from all holidays or seasons!

Wednesday:
pipisafoat:
Share your misspeaks and odd sayings!

Thursday:
desert_rose:
What seemingly mundane thing are you in awe of and why?

Friday:
firesign10:
Share your holiday - ANY holiday - dishes with us and take the "Menu Please" food poll!

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Week in Review! Stay tuned for the Week 4 voting poll later tonight, and for tomorrow's Writer's Showcase, brought to you by the dynamic katden!

Ever since I was little, I've always loved Christmas music in myriads of form. I even have a little tradition of the first CD I listen to each year being the one I'm using as my icon for this post.

Yesterday, I got a 4GB memory card for my PSP to put music on at Best Buy, for around half price. Wasn't going to complain about that.

So I decided that I was going to make it my Christmas music memory stick, so I'm in the midst of ripping CDs onto my computer to put onto the memory stick.

I even raided a few CDs from my parents Christmas music stash. One was the Three Tenors Christmas CD. One song that they recorded for that CD was John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", which led me to thinking. Scary I know. But anyway. Y'know, I think that it says a lot when a song written by a rock legend is recorded 20 years later by classically trained tenors. It speaks to the meaning and the message of the song.

So I noticed this event being hosted tonight: RV Badge Grab on Infinity.

I teamed with the host last weekend on a couple SFs; great player.

Anyhoo, instead of Saturday Night SF, how about Saturday Night Event! I wouldn't mind picking up the signature defeat badges on Dark-stream, and the host already has at least one team set up. The more the better, really.

So count me in as team lead 2. This event starts at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT, however; that's an hour earlier than my norm (which is fine). If the event is a bust I'll host a quick SF/TF to make up for it afterward, depending on time and based upon team feedback.

Let's meet at the statue of Lord Recluse beginning about 10mins before start time. Hope to see you there!

A woman on OKCupid said that she bet that I was "fun in bed." And I had a weird dissonance upon reading that.

See, to me, "fun" is slip-n-slides, balloon-twisting performers at parties, playing Rock Band, telling stories. Whereas "sex" - although something I enjoy deeply (or at least as deeply as I am physiologically capable) - consists of hot kisses, fevered gasps, driving each other crazy until we rip off our clothes and have to have each other.

Needless to say, combining clowns and that sort of hotness causes me to pause.

That's not to say that I treat sex as though it's some sort of treasured classical painting - I have giggle breakdowns in bed just like everybody, and the crossover between my clown-fun and sex lies is connected by the luscious goodness of The Tickle Fight, that classic mechanism of getting some "innocent" body-touching that can lead to something a lot sexier. (I repeat: There has never been a thing as an innocent tickle fight between consenting adults in the history of mankind.) But to me, part of the fun of sex is that intensity of wanting, that need, and I have trouble parsing that fun in the way that I'd process Cinco de Mayo parties and squirt-gun fights.

Emotionally, I parse it differently as well, because while sex can be no-strings-attached whoopie, in my experience if you're not careful about setting boundaries, that intensity will often lead to one party or the other getting emotionally involved. You're swapping bodily fluids, there's a heightened sense of vulnerability - it can get messy if you don't watch out.

Which is not to say that anyone's wrong about how they feel. I suspect that for many, sex is the sort of walk in the park thing where there's no distinction between "I had a sundae for lunch and then a hot bi male for dinner!" But for me, there's a distinct and clear barrier between "fun" and "sex" - sex contains fun, but it's got something extra that brings it beyond that point for me. There's an intensity to sex, another layer that amplifies it so much that it nearly always catapults the act almost beyond something I take lightly - even my most casual hookups always had an aspect of, "Whoo, that was a unique experience that let me see a totally different side of that person," even if my partners didn't always feel that way in return.

What about you? Is sex fun? Casual? Whoopie? How do you parse it?

( More Pictures )

Often in life we have to follow a set path to get the treasure we're reaching for, this dreamcatcher helps us remember to keep our eyes on the prize and our feet on that path. Shades of blue cover the ring and form the webbing. Aquamarine bicone glass beads spiral into the center and a dark blue thread shows us the way to the center where the glass heart shines.

I came across the heart and knew that it had to be the treasure at the end of a journey so I went looking for something that I could wind into a path. An isle or two over I found these beads that were a perfect match. I played with the way I wanted to thread them into the web to achieve a path like look. I wanted a spiral path because in folklore the spiral path is often the road between everyday life and the magical. Finally reaching your goals and having your dreams in hand should always be a moment of magic for you. Once I had the webbing complete and the heart hanging from the center I felt that it was missing just one little detail. I wanted to make the path a bit more defined so I worked a dark blue thread into the webbing and wound it down the path to the center of the dreamcatcher. I'm really happy with how it leads to the center, like coming to a clearing in the forest that has exactly what you need.

Purchase

...and I think I want his job.

Although I question the state of his GI tract and cardiovascular system.

Still might be worth it.

;)

Yesterday, I read the opening chapter of Stephen King's "Under the Dome." Couldn't have been more than 800 words. And yet it had more characterization than any of my stories had put together.

I read it over and over again, just plain amazed by what was there: two characters, and not only did we get the feel and geography of the town they lived in, but we got their dreams, their social status, a good glimpse of their personality, their financial state, and how they interacted with each other. And it was all natural, told with ease, like a beautifully ticking watch where you don't quite realize how much work goes into keeping that ticking plot-hand moving forward until you shuck off that gold casing.

I think I've found my Holy Grail: that beginning section. There's so much in there, so neatly packed into such a small space (and, as you'd know if you read it, in such an easy to read way, that if I ever approach a third of that I'll feel like I've pretty much maxed out my ability.

I have no comment upon the rest of the novel; it's a silly idea stolen straight from the Simpsons, but then again Stephen King specializes in silly ideas made genuinely scary. This one might be a return to form, or might be a lousy crash. But that opener, should you look carefully, is a masterwork of characterization. I'm going to have to take it apart and see if I can find the central motor that drives it.

It's 10AM. On a Saturday.

I have:

- Taken meds
- Had breakfast
- Made coffee
- Washed up dishes
- Put 2 loads of laundry in (now in dryers)
- Ensured directions for my outing this afternoon are on my GPS
- Played my usual morning gamut of games

I submit that this is disgustingly productive. ;)

I'm meeting up with friends this afternoon, but I also want to visit the yarn pusherstore to get sock-knitting supplies (for one pair... start small don'tchaknow), then visit a beadshop for some other items.

I'm going to spend some time this weekend deciding what exactly I will make for jewellery for my company holiday party; the party is in 2 weeks, and I'm still at the ideas stage. I'm wearing this dress in Purple Passion, which doesn't seem to be available at the moment (what, you expected me to wear blue maybe? ;) ) and want to make something gorgeous to go with. I'm having trouble deciding between doing something with amethyst, making something with seedbeads, using seedbeads with a focal like a large stone or a Swarovski piece (I have some gorgeous discontinued stuff), or attempting to do justice to the incredible quartz piece with hematite/rutile star I managed to snag.

I've got some nice focals and I just found a really nifty and easy-looking pattern for a seed-bead bezel that actually isn't peyote (which I need to work on before being convinced I've got the hang of), so I may experiment with that this weekend to see how it looks.

I've been doing some chain mail work, on an ornament pattern, and it's going together well. I'll definitely finish it this weekend. The trick will be finding the darn glass globes upon which to hang it. ;) Methinks a trip to Michaels is in order; they might have what I'm after.

I continue to plug away at increased organization; a little at a time. I commented to a friend in chat the other day that collecting all my shinies together is making me feel a bit dragon-like, looking at my hoard! ;)

Well, off to get laundry from the dryer and plan out the rest of my day. Ta!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/11/fine-feathered-salute.html

NOTE: Today's post contains material (namely icing) in unintentionally unseemly shapes. There are also some poop jokes. If you are offended by unintentionally unseemly icing shapes or poop jokes, you will not like today's post. In other words: Hide the children!!

That said, everything here is safe for work (as always) and will most likely sail cleanly over the heads of the very young. Still, parents should note that CW has always been, and always will be, a PG-rated site.




Last week we established pretty much every possible way turkey cakes can be wrecked...except one.

You see, turkey cakes have two inherent flaws. First, they're made out of chocolate icing...


However, the other problem - which I have avoided mentioning until now - is that they also tend to have long skinny bodies and blobular heads, which can look, well...

Combine these two unfortunate predilections, and you get:

Roald Dahl was one of my favorite children’s authors when I was growing up. I loved “Charlie and the Chocolate Factor”. One of the first hardcover books I owned was “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator,” which my parents got for me when it came out. When Mr. Dahl put a book out, I read it.

My favorite Roald Dahl book is “James and the Giant Peach” followed, very closely by “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. I think one of the reasons I liked Mr. Fox so much was the reason I loved all of Mr. Dahl’s works and that was his use of language which was so rich and colorful. I could see in my minds eye what was going on just from the words on the page.

Yesterday we went to see a family movie as a family and we had a couple of choose from. We had seen Planet 51 and had really no desire to go see Christmas Carol(After a couple years in theater doing a Christmas Carol 2 to 3 to 4 times a day, I cringe every time I hear “God Bless Us Every One” besides the Muppets did it best.) So that left Fantastic Mr. Fox because Old Dogs doesn’t seem to be the kind of film we were in the mood for.

Boggis and Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean
These horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were none the less equally mean.

The basics of the story are the same in the book and the movie. The movie added a couple of characters, a third act, and a ticking clock that upped the tension. The voice acting was good all the way around.

The animation was just grand. It was so nice to see real stop motion animation again. To watch the fur ruffle in what seemed a rather natural way but is really the finger prints of the animators as they move the puppets just so. And these were puppets in the truest sense of the word. As a puppeteer I enjoyed it very much.

As a fan of Roald Dahl, I was trying not to be a purist but in the end I didn’t like the changes that were made for the movie. I did understand why they introduced characters earlier than they were in the story I didn’t understand why they needed to add characters that added a couple of sub plots to the film. And there was some stuff they did with the Fox family that wasn’t in the original book that just rubbed me the wrong way including a whole bunch of human activities which were kind of amusing but it didn’t advance the plot that much.

I do think that to get all the rich detail that the animators put into the piece, it needs to be seen on a big screen. It is a good film and most of the problems I have with it are those of someone who really loved the source material as a child and still enjoys it as an adult.

So if you enjoy really good stop motion animation, this is a great film for you. If you like the book Fantastic Mr. Fox, I think you will enjoy it. If you enjoy some great voice acting, this is a good film for that. If you have children who love animals, this is a good film with a few scary parts but everything turns out OK for the animals. It is also fun for the adults rather than mind numbing so it is a good family film.

It is just for me that is all it is, a good film not a fantastic one.

I am grateful that we went to see this as a family.

(Yesterday's post contains links to sales on GI Joe, Paul Blart, Casino Royale, Tropic Thunder, Entourage, Weeds, Friends, Flight of the Conchords, and World of Warcraft. Thursday's post contains links for Star Trek, Fringe, Soul Calibur, magazines, and more. Previous posts cover The Simpsons, Criterion Movies, and board games; $3 in MP3 Credit; and The Office and assorted box office hits. There's also free one-month Amazon Prime trial, meaning free shipping on those cheap bargains.)

Yes, Amazon's eternal Black Friday deals continue. Lightning deals today include digital cameras, jewelry, a scooter, a Flip Mino, assorted CDs, and more (but no DVDs or videogames today).

Other highlights:

In the MP3 store, Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra is $2.99, as is Exile on Main Street by the Rolling Stones. There's also a free download from Echo and the Bunnymen.

There are a bunch of kid Disney T-shirts for $5 and under; the page starts with High School Musical/Camp Rock stuff, but eventually gets to the animated characters (including some Pixar ones).

The second-gen 16GB iPod Touch (one generation out of date, but still nifty) is on sale for $229.99 ($50 off), for anyone looking for a cheaper iPod).

The Archos 5 250GB Internet Tablet is on sale for $199.99 (56% off).

If you get an Xbox 360 Elite (already packaged with Lego Batman and Pure), they'll throw in Left 4 Dead 2.

Finally, Dragon Age: Origins is on sale for $39.99 for the Xbox or PS3, a solid $20 off (with free shipping even if you don't use the Prime offer).

Awwwww....
Rosemarie called to let me know Kent is on the train. She's sad that he's going, but happy he's coming back to me.
We had a great conversation about musicals, the boys (she's thinking about getting a computer so she can see pics of the boys and Ashe's films), what we're reading...and, of course, how much we adore Kent.

Yes, it is disgusting and somewhat disturbing, but we make a wonderful 2 woman fan club.

In other news, 'The Wizard of Oz' was AMAZING. I watched it every year when I was a kid, but to experience it on the big screen...wow. I was so happy to see the Varsity that packed, especially with school out. They might make it yet. *crosses fingers*

I missed mirrani, though. Phooey.

I am looking forward to sleeping through the entire night tonight. I've been doing the "sleep three hours; up three hours" thing since Tuesday. Bleh. It has finally happened: I don't sleep right if I'm not sharing a bed. My grandparents are the same way. Oy.

Oh, and anyone who even thought of calling me after 7pm tonight? Just don't. I love my friends and all, but...don't.

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious?
Something frivolous. That's not to say I don't enjoy serious books as well but my favourites fall into the frivolous category.

Paperbacks? Or hardcovers?
Don't care. Really.

Fiction? Or Nonfiction?
Fiction. I'm more picky when it comes to non-fiction. There are some excellent non-fictional books out there, but they seem harder to find.

Poetry? Or Prose?
Prose. I'm not a big fan of poetry at all. There are some beautiful poems out there, but I can only take it in small does.

Biographies? Or Autobiographies?
Don't care as long as they're well written.

History? Or Historical Fiction?
Historical fiction - for the same reason why I prefer reading fiction to reading non-fiction. I've yet to find a really interesting history book.

Series? Or Stand-alones?
Either. I prefer series without cliff-hangers though. I don't mind some threads not being tied up, but the general plot should be contained within one book (like in Harry Potter).

Classics? Or best-sellers?
Best-sellers. I enjoy classics as well, but tend not to always agree on what should be considered a classic.

Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose?
Straight-forward, basic prose definitely. I have very little patience for the other.

Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness?
Plots. Steam-of-consciousness takes an AMAZING author to make it work, and if they fail, they fail miserably.

Long books? Or Short?
Both :-) There's a time and a place for either.

Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated?
Generally I'd say non-illustrated, but there are some few books where the illustrations enhance the story - e.g. The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers.

Borrowed? Or Owned?
Either. Although if a borrowed book becomes a favourite, I tend to go out and buy it shortly after.

New? Or Used?
Either. As long as it's still readable, it's the contents that count.

...
by Joshua Hoffine



Glommed onto this via Animal New York.

Click this link to see the Behind the Scenes of how they staged it and photoed it. Really awesome work.

...
The funny parts of Roseanne that make the show tolerable are greatly outweighed by the whining of the show's cast of children and the shrillness of Roseanne on the show...

...especially when it is turned up too damned loud on someone's television @ 5 in the morning on a day when I don't have to get up early.

I'm just sayin'.

Waking up to Becky and Darlene fighting, I might as well be listening to my teenagers fight in place of a f'n alarm clock.

Damn...it is going to be such a grump f'n day. Geez.

...too drunk...too lazy...or with too much of a concussion to climb back up in the tree. :)

...glommed from Crash McCreery. Very awesome.