auralchick

tytaniastrange @ 8:56pm: Memories of old friends
My folks were cleaning out some papers and found some old polaroid pictures from the later eighties and early nineties. The dog in the pictures is MachSie. She weight about 100lbs and was as tall as me when she stood on her hind legs. She was pretty much the most amazingly awesome dog ever. She shredded Dad's shoes and sleeves when he wrestled with her, but she'd start to cry if her toys squeaked because she thought she was hurting them. She was incredibly gentle with my grandmother, who was in failing health at the time and she was great with my adored cat, Macavity. Macavity is the kitty in the picture. She weighed all of ten lbs and could stop MachSie with a look. I still miss those two.( Cut for a picture... )

dungeoneer @ 7:30pm: Today's Twitteration

• 00:16 Something evil is hatching in my bowels. #
• 02:30 Apparently my Frank Key books were dispatched yesterday. Another day or two until they arrive, fingers crossed. #
• 02:34 @Trinotherone I know. I took some. I think it's the pills themselves that are hatching... #
• 02:42 @Trinotherone The NHS may have a number of staff taking orders direct from Yuggoth, but I'll always stand by them. #

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auryn24 @ 1:53am: This is the life...

Seriously....my favorite pastime

deadboy2 @ 4:14pm: OMG! Best web comic ever.
Cant stop laughing, SO NSFW

http://www.oglaf.com/cumsprite1.html

eviltemptress69, posting in jokes @ 5:55pm: Bob: "So, you say that you won the arguement with your wife
yesterday."

Joe: "Yes, she came crawling on her hands and knees."

Bob: "Really? What did she say?"

Joe: "Come out from under the bed, you coward."

dungeoneer @ 7:30pm: Today's Twitteration

• 01:21 Fucking insomnia. Got to be up and out of the house in six hours. Ah well. Time spent unable to sleep may as well be spent constructively. #
• 01:21 Dung Eon #42 written. Like others before it, it dwells on the subject of arses. Lenny's younger brother gets rather objectified, poor sod. #
• 01:24 In other news, took part in my first live riff yesterday. We took on the execrable American Cyborg: Steel Warrior. Not a bad start, really. #

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auryn24 @ 8:47pm: Cleaning in action

"Omg! You have pre-Katrina food in here!"-shannon

tytaniastrange @ 12:35pm: I decided I'd like to save some money. So, naturally, everything I own is falling apart.

My mattress has reached that level of lumpiness where I wake each and every morning with some new and exciting pulled muscle somewhere in my body.

My beloved tracksuit is literally shredding apart on my body. I'm wearing it today for likely the very last time ever. On Wednesday, I will take my 20% off coupon to Bloomingdales in the hopes that they will honor it in the Juicy Couture area because I hate paying full price on this stuff. Oh well, at least this solves my dithering over what color to get. I'll be getting whatever marginally decent color they happen to have.

I just ran out of my favorite perfume.

I need a new little black dress.

I need a new "professional" skirt for church gigging.

I need new sweaters because all of mine have pilled into oblivion.

I need new sheet music.

Seriously, I don't need this right now. Why does this stuff always strike at once?

Yesterday, I broke down and went to Lucky Brand for new jeans. I would like to take this moment to express my hatred of stretch denim which fades all weird, bags rather than getting artfully torn and pretty much makes what should be a piece of clothing designed to take abuse into yet another cheap ass trend item. I used to be able to buy Gap jeans for $50. Now, new jeans are a $100-200 investment because I can't find anything that's less expensive and doesn't look like ass a month after I buy them. Grrrr...

Also, I was listening to myself singing some Barber songs and I kind of hate the way my passagio sounds right now. It's too bright. I need to adjust this. This is what happens when my recorder needs to be replaced. As does my iPod. I'm kind of hoping I can make that happen with the same purchase (a souped up iPod that I desperately need) but we'll see.

Stupid 2009.

crisper @ 9:07am: Illin'
As awful as it is to have the little one waking up three times during the night for feedings, that's a far better way to lose sleep than being sick.

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For consideration: ugh

grrm @ 10:34pm: Alone in London
Parris will soon be on her way home to take care of the cats, before they start rioting and have wild parties. So I'm pressing on by myself. Arrived in London a few hours ago. Signing at Forbidden Planet on the 11th.

tammypierce @ 5:10pm: PW's Best YA/YR of 2009
(Before you get outraged, the Advanced Reader's Copies, or ARCs, for the rest of this year's books have already reached Publishers Weekly, so they aren't jumping the gun. They have read this year's books.)

Here's their list for teen and tween fiction:


Wintergirls
Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking)
A powerful exploration of anorexia, dysfunction and death, Anderson's story of a friendship ripped apart is moving and haunting.

Going Bovine
Libba Bray (Delacorte)
An angel, a dwarf, cults, wormholes and mad cow disease all factor into the surreal cross-country road trip that teenage Cameron takes, in a satirical story that's as memorable as it is funny.

Fire
Kristin Cashore (Dial)
Introducing Fire, a human “monster” with psychic abilities, this companion novel to Graceling expands the scope of Cashore's fantasy world and offers twists, intrigue and romance aplenty.

Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)
This much-awaited sequel to Collins's dystopian bestseller, The Hunger Games, doesn't disappoint; it's immersive, voracious reading as the ramifications of Katniss's actions in that book spread.

If I Stay
Gayle Forman (Dutton)
Masterful characterizations make the tragedy at the core of this novel all the more devastating, as narrator Mia weighs the decision to live or die.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Jacqueline Kelly (Holt)
With a detailed, evocative setting and an authentic, relatable protagonist, this turn of the century coming-of-age novel teems with humor, spirit, and energy.

Purple Heart
Patricia McCormick (HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray)
This timely and provocative thriller, with a teenage American soldier at its center, is a nuanced exploration of war, heroism, and morality.

The Ask and the Answer
Patrick Ness (Candlewick)
Set on a planet colonized by men and now wracked with strife, Ness's sequel to The Knife of Never Letting Go entwines themes of sexism, terrorism, genocide and human nature, while bringing the action to a fever pitch.

A Season of Gifts
Richard Peck (Dial)
The singular Mrs. Dowdel from A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicagobrings humor and heart to this holiday story; as ever, Peck's writing has a comforting, evergreen quality.

When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead (Random/Lamb)
Every syllable feels rich with meaning in this atmospheric mystery involving a girl, her former best friend, and her mother, set in 1970s New York City.

Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic Press)
Lyrical and thoughtful, this paranormal romance between a girl and a werewolf offers wit, an intriguing mythology, and dual (but equally honest and compelling) narratives.

Marcelo in the Real World
Francisco X. Stork (Scholastic/Levine)
Artfully crafted characters form the heart of this riveting novel about a 17-year-old with Asperger's syndrome, who grapples with issues of ethics, love, and other real-life conflicts.

Tales from Outer Suburbia
Shaun Tan (Scholastic/Levine)
Tan proves that his prose is every bit as hypnotic as his artwork in this wondrous collection that reveals the banality and strangeness of the suburbs.

Lips Touch: Three Times
Laini Taylor, illus. by Jim Di Bartolo (Scholastic/Levine)
In lush prose, Taylor offers three utterly captivating stories, each centered on a kiss; comic book–style prequels from Di Bartolo, her husband, add to the enchantment.

The Uninvited
Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick)
In this thriller about a college student uncovering twisted family secrets, Wynne-Jones expertly draws his characters and setting while ramping up the tension and the creepiness.

I don't think it's going to surprise anyone that I am VERY happy about this list. I've never seen a list with so many books I absolutely love: Wintergirls, Fire, Catching Fire, When You Reach Me, and When You Reach Me. (Libba, I swear, I'll read Going Bovine soon! I'm a rat for not reading it before now!) I think all of these titles are going to be around for a long time--all are unusual, all have meanings that will occur to the reader long after s/he puts them down, and all of them will haunt you until you find yourself re-reading them in college and beyond.

I didn't include the younger readers' list or the nonfiction list: here's the link to those. And if you want the link to the much more controversial adult list (no women writers on it!), here is that link as well.

This is why I prefer kidlit.

naleri, posting in the_hot_geeks @ 3:15am: Anyone ever used OpenRPG?

I'm looking for a free program that I can use to play D&D with people over the internet. A friend recommended OpenRPG to me. I just downloaded it and will poke around with it tomorrow after sleep and work. I'm just wondering if anyone here has experience with it. It looks like it might be kinda confusing to learn.

crisper @ 9:24pm: Dream: Augmented Demo
I had apparently been dispatched to London (by Apple, same as last time) to work with the guys at BERG on an augmented reality demo. The technology apparently involved a choice-driven experience overlay deployed on trains from London to other parts of the country. As the trip progressed, some sort of (projected) story would begin to unfold, both in and out of the train, and along the way you could make choices that would change the direction (and thus display) of the story - including other people on the train, weather outside, etc. We were going to deploy on above-ground trains but the initial demo was to be run on one line of the Underground and involved something vaguely urban-fantasy-ish, some kind of CHUDs & fire thing. But we were just getting it started when I suddenly realized that we did not have two weeks to get the demo running, rather only two days - it was Wednesday night and I needed to demo on Friday morning and then fly home. Cue the deadline panic.

Amusingly enough, all the BERG guys lived together in a giant converted firehouse/loft, like GHOSTBUSTERS, and wore Devo-like uniforms. Every morning, the communal alarm clock went off like an air raid/launch pad klaxon and they would all scramble around in Keystone Cop-like hijinx.

I did not manage to get out into the rest of London to see if it still resembled what I had last visited in my sleep.

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For consideration: augmented reality, mass transit, communal living, trains, alarums & excursions

grrm @ 11:25am: Dublin Days
And here we are in Dublin. Ireland has been exciting but exhausting. We had a huge turnout last night for the signing at Eason's, with a queue that seemed to go on forever, but I finally scrawled everyone into submission, and afterwards I signed all the stock as well. If you missed the signing, or happen to live a thousand leagues away, you can still get an autographed copy of the SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH hardcover or any of the Ice & Fire paperbacks by phoning, emailing, or dropping by Eason's on O'Connell Street. They even have a few trade paperbacks of DREAMSONGS.

Afterwards we adjourned to a nearby pub for a lively evening of Guinness and conversation with the local fans. I met the good folk who will be running next year's Octocon, where I'll be GOH, and hoisted a few with the hardy survivors of the Eason's event. Didn't stagger back to the our hotel till after midnight, by which time Temple Bar was roaring. Ah, if only I were twenty years younger...

The Belfast event on Tuesday was also a hoot and a half. The crowd was much bigger at Dublin, but in Belfast some of the cast of the HBO pilot dropped by to sign books and meet the fans as well. My thanks to Ron Donachie, Richard Madden (Best Dressed Man in Scotland), Alfie Allen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner (and their moms) for joining the festivities. And to the lovely Ros, Esme Bianco, who dropped by McHughes afterwards for the moot. Matthew Hughes, one of the authors who contributed to our Vance tribute anthology, also turned up at Eason's to help me sign SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH.

In between signing and mooting, I've been hanging round the shoot, trying not to get underfoot. "How is it going?" everyone wants to know. I think it's going great. Wednesday's location was amazing, so real I could hardly tell where the real castle ended and our fake castle began. I saw Bran and Tommen swatting at each other in the yard, Joffrey taunting Robb, the Hound growling at Ser Rodrik, while Arya displayed her wretched needlework to Jon above, and it all looked wonderful. Saw some of the footage from the crypts too, and that looked amazing as well. Yes, some things are not exactly as they were in the books, that's inevitable with any adaptation... but these are my characters and this is my story, and it's thrilling to see 'em come to life.

Last night in Belfast I got to meet two more of the cast, quite unexpectedly. Some of the Moroccan players were in Ireland for costume fittings. I ran into Ian McNeice for a brief moment outside the hotel, as we were waiting for our rides, and the night before we bumped into Dany -- the amazing Tamzin Merchant, who is even more beautiful in person than she is on screen -- into the dining room. What a terrific cast Nina Gold has assembled.

Also toured the Paint Hall, though we didn't do any shooting there while I was in Belfast. Some of our sets are going up, and look great. And in another part of the building the huge castle sets from the big budget (compared to us, anyway) feature YOUR HIGHNESS are still standing. Their great hall is pretty eye-popping and they built an impressive castle yard as well.

Tomorrow I'm off to London . Signing at Forbidden Planet on the 11th, Then it's off to Marrakech.

Life is magical and full of joy (but no, I have not been seeking out football scores, so don't tell me. TIVO is getting all my games).

stupidjokes, posting in jokes @ 5:58pm: Tale with a good ending

Wicked witch foretold that the Princess would die, when the needle hurt a finger. Good King decided to save the princess and cut off her fingers…


Tale with a good ending
@stupidjoke

auryn24 @ 9:18pm: Lil cat

Is updating her Facebook status...

auryn24 @ 2:03pm: God loves Saints.
Peyton Manning, after living a full life, died and went to heaven. When he got to heaven God showed him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded Colts flag in the window. "This house is yours for eternity, Peyton," said God. "This is very special; not everyone gets a house up here.” Peyton felt very special indeed and walked up to his house. On his way up to the front porch he noticed another house just around the corner. It was a 3-story mansion with a black and gold sidewalk, a 50 foot tall flagpole with an enormous Saints logo flag and in every window a New Orleans Saints logo set in beautiful stained glass. Peyton looked at God and said “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful but I have a question. I was an all-pro QB, 2 time NFL MVP, Super Bowl Champion I hold many NFL records and I even went to the Hall of Fame. God said, “Yes, My Child?” “Well, why does Drew Brees get a bigger house than me? “ God chuckled and said “That’s not Drew’s house, it’s Mine.” *WHO DAT*

vivakepathak, posting in jokes @ 9:37pm: from the news again
All of these are from The Times of India, 26 October 09:

1.  Mumbai: A 46-year-old woman committed suicide at night by hanging herself from a ceiling fan with the help of a stole because of poor academic performance of her daughter. She was very upset since she saw her mark sheet in the afternoon.

2. Lucknow: A contract killer killed an elderly man (who was in his eighties and had a property of INR 2,500,000 or USD 50,000) by strangling him for just INR 150 (about USD 3), because the heir of the elderly man (who needed money for treatment of epilepsy of his wife) could not afford to give the killer more money.

3.  Moscow: More than 1,000 mourners, mainly burly men, wearing black leather jackets and chunky gold chains and representing various gangs from Russia, gathered to pay their last respects to Vyacheslav Ivankov, Russia's most notorious crime boss, who finally succumbed to the injuries he received in an attempt to his life in July. The scene seemed to have come straight out of The Godfather. 

4. New Delhi: A software engineer was late for his flight. He called the airline thrice and requested to reschedule his ticket, but his requests were declined. Then, he called again and said that a bomb had been planted on the flight. He reached ten minutes late for the flight, which was delayed by three hours; still, he could not board it because he was tracked and arrested for the hoax call.

gillybean65, posting in jokes @ 3:29pm: Two zebras.

If you've heard it before sorry, it gives me a giggle anyway...

Two zebras are talking and one asks the other, "Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes?" The other replies, "Well I don't
know. You should pray to God about that and ask him." So that night he did and God replied,
"You are what you are."
The next day he said to the other zebra, "I still don't understand what I am because God just said, You are
what you are."
The second zebra responds, "You must be white with black stripes or else God would have said, Yo is what yo is."

tammypierce @ 12:12pm: Maine fans--it's time to VOTE!
Today's Election Day, and you have a big one on your plates: Question 1.

It would be very nice for the GLBT folks and those of us who care about them if Maine votes a resounding NO! on this one, but vote in any case. It's not just the every-four-year votes that decide the fate of Americans.

If you aren't registered: you can register at the polls in Maine.

crisper @ 7:59am: Dream: Spirit Animals
C and I (and I think the girls) were traveling in a foreign country - very hilly terrain, like Italian Umbria but less developed. The only thing I remember about the trip, though, is that frequently I would see these enormous animals - and by enormous, I mean they would sit out beyond the distant mountains, easily visible over them, thousands of feet tall. They were bigger than the land itself. There was a bear, a lion, an elephant... Every time, I would try to get my camera out fast enough to take a picture but each time, the mighty spirit form would stride away in two seconds, vanishing over the horizon. Nobody else saw them but me. Like meteors: I would gasp and point and by the time C looked, it was gone. I would have feared encroaching madness, but the locals just nodded sagely and assured me the giant beasts really were there. What do they want? Who can say. Maybe they don't want anything. Maybe they just are, like the hills themselves.

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For consideration: things that inhabit the land

auryn24 @ 1:11am: Lol

My birthday cake from my family.

tytaniastrange @ 8:02pm: I have finished the mini-Annie script. It's been through three drafts in one day as I've been trimming bits and more bits in order to have something coherent but as short as possible while still giving all the kids something to do. I think I've trimmed about as much as I can while still keeping things fun and letting everyone feel like they actually got to do all the fun stuff in the show. I started with a hundred page Annie Jr. Script which I adjusted down to 15 pages in MS word and then cut down again to about 11 total. This time, we'll have fewer total songs and the songs will be SHORT.

And now, I get to do wrimo. I swear, Wrimo is designed for people who don't have to do more than one writing project at a time. It's a real pain in the butt when you've written about 4,000 words on another project but it doesn't count at all towards Nano *sigh*

a1mfw, posting in poorskills @ 7:36pm: upcoming thrift store sales
Recieved some info about upcoming thrift store sales and new stores. Just wanted to share. Will be cross-posting this. ( sales and info )

tammypierce @ 6:02pm: Weaving with spider silk!
Okay, this was just too cool not to a cloth woven of spider silk. Not just any old spider silk, either, but a special kind of silk from the six varieties spun by a particular spider, the golden orb-weaving spider.

I don't think I'm going to try it. Apparently one way to get the strongest silk they produce is to reach to their spinnerets and pull it out, putting it on a drop spindle. These spiders bite. I will keep my distance!