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| Sunday, November 15th, 2009 |
dragonspam_er
[ ryu_d04 ]
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1:27a |
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| Saturday, November 14th, 2009 |
dragonspam_er
[ flareonfury ]
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10:43p |
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dragonspam_er
[ stylishpine ]
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9:07p |
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gwynethfar
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7:57p |
Sarah Palin-- Advice Needed
Today, I found out that Sarah Palin is kicking off her booktour in Grand Rapids later this week. It took about .25 seconds to figure out that I am pretty much going to have to heckle this thing. In fact, Chris, who found out at the exact same time I did, turned to me and said, "You wanna go heckle it?" and I replied, "Oh yah, you betcha!" The only problem is, I'm trying to figure out what to say when she's signing my book. Poll #1485560 What should I say to Sarah Palin while heckling her at her booksigning?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18 What should I say to Sarah Palin while heckling her at her booksigning? The good news is, she didn't get elected anything, so it'll be just the regular police I have to contend with, not the secret service. |
karnythia
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6:48p |
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| Sunday, November 15th, 2009 |
pujaemuss
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12:35a |
NaNo Day 14.
Day 14 and there will be no muppets singing Beethoven for me tonight. In fairness, I originally had this day marked down as one where I might not get any writing done at all. My parents have come to visit; it's the last time I will see them before Christmas (my favourite family occasion which is, once again, like last year, being abused by my choice of workplace) and I've heard it's considered rude to take up one's laptop and tap away when someone had travelled 200 miles to come and see you. So, taken in that context, 642 words for today constitutes a bit of a win. I'm still ahead of target by a good three hundred words and I have a day off tomorrow to try and build up my buffer again. Still, I had a good few hours for writing in the morning, which were very unproductive through oversleeping and snuggling to ignore the 7am, 8am and 9am alarms, followed by a huge chunk of inertia. Day off tomorrow, so hopefully will improve on this. Askla's dive for centre-stage yesterday meant that I could put off the horrors of taking them outside the castle. Today, however, I had no choice and had to face the perils of... description! <gasp> I'm not a fan of scene setting at all. It's my bete noire when it comes to writing; it's the bit where all of the fluency and drive that I have, from things like dialogue and characterisation, goes dribbling down the drain. I never know how much detail is too much, what bits people actually care about and, most importantly, how not to phrase everything like I'm describing a technical drawing to someone wearing a blindfold. I always end up with about five sentences that begin with the same words and follow the same pattern and this then leads to twenty minutes of shuffling them around and rearranging words and then rearranging them back because it's led to a really strange abuse of the passive voice. 540 words over the day on description and 100 in five minutes when the characters start talking again. Go figure. Add into this the fact that I was trying to describe the exterior of a castle without having a clear picture of it in my head. I actually ended up drawing the damned thing on my tablet in an attempt to work out exactly what details would first hit the eye of an observer. Incidentally, I hear Apple are giving consideration to making a MacBook with a touchscreen. At some point in the future. When they feel like it might be their new zeitgeist. Pity that the choice available to PC users has allowed me to have one for nearly a year now; I might really have gone for that. </tongueincheek> Distraction of the day: Parents, then playing rugby, then watching England play rugby. I wouldn't mind having the two hours the last one cost me back actually... Music of the day: None. It's been a very quiet day, musically. Inspiration of the day: Wikipedia is my friend. God bless the interwebs and the ability to just find information about castles whenever it takes your fancy. Success of the day: Avoiding my worst day so far with a late flurry of words.
Success for tomorrow: 1,667 has to be the minimum. Can't afford to drop below again. The good target would be 2,000 words, to bring me back a decent-sized buffer. The stretch target is 2,691, because that would bring me back to the same amount of buffer that I had before today.
Quote of the day: “The sky outside was a clear, pale blue and the rush of wind from the movement of the gates was cold and crisp. It felt like an early spring's morning in England, with a dazzling sun doing nothing to warm the air.”
Total [new] word count: 23,648
Average word count: 1,689
PJW
Today's words to follow in filtered post. If you want to be in on the filter, comment here please. Current Mood:  Writing! |
| Saturday, November 14th, 2009 |
shinga
|
5:57p |
A couple months back my uncle gave me a Versajette M400 printer. I needed something printed tonight. PC isn't up and running yet. Tried with the Mac. And I cannot find a fucking driver. Bah. Current Mood:  annoyed |
dragonspam_er
[ liondaughter ]
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4:08p |
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shinga
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2:35p |
 You guys have no idea how strongly I am craving this. |
orwellian_trash
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7:52p |
Stranger on a Train
Back in July when I heard National Express had thrown in the towel as the private operator of the East Coast Mainline I sent an email off to Lord Adonis, Secretary of State for Transport as to what the new government-operated service should be called:  Frankly I'm a little upset they didn't go with it. Instead they went for an unimaginative Tesco Value name of East Coast. Although having said that the exponential growth of sÜbermarket chain Tesco who now seem to be offering home insurance, mobile phone contracts, current accounts and gas & electricity supply along with curry sauce and bog roll - surely having Tesco as the East Coast Mainline operator isn't that much of a bizarre idea? I imagine the quality of the buffet cars would go right down, though. Not that they were that great anyway, I mean if you ordered, say, a cheese & ham toastie, a cup of tea and a kitkat they'd stick everything in the one paper bag "for safety reasons" - which, okay, you don't exactly want someone stumbling down a crowded train carriage and throwing scalding tea in someone's eyes. But by the time you've scrambled down seven or eight carriages and navigated the obstacle course of abandoned bikes and suitcases in the vestibule, students and foreign backpackers with rucksacks the size of small bungalows, squealing hyperactive children leaping from the luggage racks, sleeping old people with their feet in the aisle, rowdy Newcastle United fans singing songs of Tyneside while drinking cans of Stella at 1pm and a wild eyed Glaswegian tramp whispering sweet nothings into a single can of Tennants Super clutched to his chest with both hands. Once you've got back to your seat you'll find the hot sandwich has caused the kitkat to completely melt into a sticky mess at the bottom and you've forgotten the fucking milk for the tea. Mind you, all the news services seem to be saying the same thing about this new nationalised East Coast service. Insofar that "The government has to tread a difficult line in how this re-nationalised east coast line is to be run. If it's too good, there will be strong calls for the rest of the rail network to be operated by the state. If it's too poor, the government and the Department for Transport in particular will be heavily criticised for incompetence". So all it has to be is average and it succeeds? Sweet. Have a song about train travel in the UK: Incidentally they should bring back GNER! I liked GNER! Especially when nobody pronounced it as "Gee-Enn-Eee-Arr" instead choosing to say "Gnurr". GNER! Current Mood:  silly |
shinga
|
1:27p |
ffffffffuuuu
Not only am I still feeling sick, but there's that oh-so-familiar pain in my lower abdomen too. Body? I despise you right now. DESPISE. I want some dark chocolate. Yeah yeah stereotypical female need at this particular time, BUT I WANT IT ANYWAY. Looks like another day of staying in and resting and trying to get better. Laundry and car waits until Monday it seems. I should watch some movies. edit: Oh and this deserves a mention... I had a dream about Lady Gaga. Yeah. Current Mood:  blah |
eyemage
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10:33a |
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karnythia
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12:05p |
Saw Good Hair. It was about what I expected inasmuch as he touched the surface of the issues, but he didn't really delve into them. He had just the one woman with natural hair speaking throughout which made my eyebrow climb a bit since there's more than one way to wear natural hair and she didn't cover any of them. And I wanted to climb in the screen and slap the people putting relaxer on a toddler's head for being so damned dumb. In other news I am trying to determine why anyone would pay $950,000 for a condo when they could buy a house for about that amount. Okay, let me be really honest and say I don't understand paying that much for either place when there are much nicer places in the same area for less money. I suspect someone's realtor has failed to connect them with the reality clue phone. In other news kid #2 has discovered the joys of being an annoying little brother. Stay tuned for hijinks. Current Mood:  awake |
dragonspam_er
[ holmes221b ]
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11:18a |
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sparkindarkness
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2:27p |
Ye gods, you just can't make it up - the Sun screws up royally
Remember yesterday when I expressed how not impressed I was at the Sun for jumping on Gordon Brown for misspelling a fallen soldier's name in his condolence letter? Guess who misspelled said name in their online coverage? Oh yes they did.So let me get this straight - they attack an extremely poor sighted man for making a spelling mistake in a hand written letter. Then they make the SAME mistake in a typed, edited, proof-read article after dealing with the woman repeatedly in an article THAT WAS ENTIRELY ABOUT SAID SPELLING MISTAKE. You couldn't make it up. Really, you couldn't |
sparkindarkness
|
12:57p |
Mangoes!
Beloved has mangoes. He likes mangoes (never really seen the attraction myself. I mean their nice and all, but if it was a choice between a mango and 90% of other fruit, I‘ll pass on the mango. It‘s like being mad keen on apples.) and has managed to get fresh mangoes (in November? Well, I suppose - can’t say I know when mangoes grow). This should be a simple and easy thing. Of course, nothing is ever easy round here. We knew there was a problem when the knife rebounded. I suggested that maybe, just maybe, the mango may, possibly be SLIGHTLY under ripe and perhaps, JUST PERHAPS, letting it ripen a little may be ideal. Beloved scoffed mightily at my most unreasonable suggestion and found a SHARPER knife. This snapped. I quickly decided to put 999 on speed dial. He found a bigger knife... this bounced. I dialled the first 2 9s to be ready as soon as possible Then things escalated. There were knives all over the kitchen, knives with every kind of blade imaginable lying discarded across the counter. (3 ambulances, a blood bank and a ranting old man screaming from Revelations were already prepared and on standby at this point) (It should be noted at this point that there was a brief time out while Beloved, obviously becoming quite unreasonable with his frustration, quite unfairly pointed out that losing/breaking ONE knife from a knife block or set shouldn’t really mean that we buy an entire new set or block. I have decided that the Infernal Mango has damaged his brain otherwise he clearly wouldn’t say such silly things. Of course you need a new block - or it wouldn’t have been a SET. This Is Important. Right?) At some point in the operations Beloved found a large cleaver ... Of course we also both found the rum. It was very nice rum. We may have mixed it with the miscellaneous clear stuff that should have been lemonade but clearly wasn‘t. It MAY have been sambuca. I think it was - but neither of us are actually sure what sambuca IS (in retrospect, it‘s probably not a good idea to drink said unidentified liquid if there is this much uncertainty concerning it. Ah the benefits of sober hindsight). Of course rum and sharp things shouldn’t go together - but then, alcohol and common sense are rarely companions anyway. (Like common sense has any place in our home). So instead of more *ahem* conventional fruit peeling we had: Beloved: Chi THUNK del THUNK git- THUNK -a- THUNK -no i gi- THUNK -orni THUNK abel- THUNK -la? The full chorus. Damn that mango was tough... Why do we use kevlar in bullet proof vests? Why don’t strap a dozen mangos to them? Or would the calypso look not work for the armed forces? (I’m pretty certain he only did this to prove that both his Italian and his singing voice are better than mine, by the way. Yes yes he did. I shall have to plot revenge.) Then came the electric carving knife. BUZZZZZZZZZZZ! I believe that at this point several of the standby EMTs fainted So we have mango. So does the walls and the floor. The cat. The circling emergency services. The neighbours. A large proportion of the town. It was at this point that Beloved conceded that maybe, just maybe, I could be right about the Mangos. And they may, just MAY, be a tad under ripe. Personally I’m contacting the military, these things could be used to break open tanks! |
shinga
|
12:09a |
I wish I was dancing right now. |
| Friday, November 13th, 2009 |
sfd_wishingwell
[ jynxgirl ]
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10:06p |
I have a friend in a seriously horrible situation right now. Earlier this month, she had a miscarriage. The same day, her boyfriend left her alone with her two kiddos. Her boyfriend was flown in from out of state on my friend's bill, with the promise of paying her back within a week. While he was there, he also ran her phone bill up over $380. Right now, she needs some help to keep her head above water and a roof over her kid's head. If you can help out at all, I am sure she would appreciate it. |
shinga
|
8:26p |
Tried to eat. That was unwise on my part. I already want to go to bed, but if I do I'll be awake again at midnight and unable to sleep. I kind of wanted to do laundry today. If I'm feeling better I might do it tomorrow. A place in town has wifi, and I hear nothing but good things about it, I could do it there. Also really need to get my car inspected and oil changed. This is all assuming I feel better. If not this all waits until Monday. Fever is down at least. For now. I wish I had Turn Coat to read. Feeling antsy for more Dresden. I think I talked to my mom today. I think she called and woke me up from my nap and we talked a bit. I vaguely remember... I don't know. Hope it wasn't important. :P |
| Saturday, November 14th, 2009 |
pujaemuss
|
12:27a |
Nano Friday 13th!
Day 13 and I'm very nearly at the end of the famed NaNo second week o'death with a positive word count. Not only that, but I managed to write 1,886 words today, which topped my stretch target. That's the first time that's happened so far this NaNo and it's made me happy, in my pants. Once again, the day was made by the evening session of writing. It's becoming something of a habit. Tomorrow will be a challenge, as I will only have the morning session in which to write; my parents are coming down to visit. My morning and lunchtime efforts today yielded only 684 words, which put a little bit more pressure on the 8.30pm till midnight shift than I'd ideally like. Thankfully, I was saved by the character of Askla, who stood up and completely hijacked a scene that was meant to be nothing more than a transition from one place to another. I'll swear I had no idea that she was going to say all that she did; it just came straight from the magic place where the real Askla is shouting at me that I've got her all wrong and this is what she ought to say. I knew all about her backstory before today, but I didn't have a good handle on her character. Distraction of the day: Actually, NaNo was the distraction. I should've cleaned the house and baked a pie tonight. Details, details... Music of the day: Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly. This used to be my happy song, until I overlistened to it. Tonight, the volume is going back up! Inspiration of the day: Erfworld. It's an online comic about a man who's sucked into a fantasy world to be general of an army that's facing a huge battle... I'm not derivative! I'm not! Actually, I am; I'm stealing inspiration left, right and centre from a nascent idea that I half-wrote a few years back, waaay before Erfworld. But that's not the point. The inspiration for today were the characters of the Archons, whose loyalty is sold by their leader. Completely different take on the situation, but it got me thinking. Success of the day: 1,886 words! Hell yes!
Success for tomorrow: 1,667 is my minimum success, as it's going to be a very curtailed day. I wouldn't hate hitting 1,771, as that would keep the average WordsPerDay rising. I definitely wouldn't hate hitting 1,994. That would mean having an entire day's buffer. <grins>
Quote of the day: “Why should I spend something of my own to assist someone who has not the goods to pay for it? Why should I diminish what I have when I will see no return, especially as I may need all of my resources for the surprises of tomorrow?”
Total [new] word count: 23,006
Average word count: 1,770
PJW
Today's words to follow in filtered post. If you want to be in on the filter, comment here please. Current Mood:  WritingCurrent Music: Lou Bega - Mambo no.5 |
| Friday, November 13th, 2009 |
karnythia
|
5:51p |
Kid #1 is having popular kid angst (he lost the election for class vice president)and I am at a loss. Erm, what is it that you do for this? I wasn't a joiner and I have no idea how to relate to the pain of losing a popularity contest. Thus far I've fed him candy and shoved him at the video game. What else do I do? he's not moping right now, but he was moping hard earlier and I don't want to watch that play out any more. Current Mood: busy |
shinga
|
4:18p |
Diana is being bratty today
In all seriousness though this is going to suck. Friday nights are supposed to be fun, not crappy! Stupid body, going haywire at the last minute. AND WHY AM I SO GODDAMN COLD?! It's WARM out! Fail. COMPLETE FAIL. Whine whine whine, goddammit. I will watch TV. I will drink tea. I will curl up under five blankets trying desperately to keep warm. So those are my Friday evening plans, how about you guys? :P Current Mood: I am disappoint. |
shinga
|
3:24p |
The battle is not yet won, comrades. The nap set it back a little but it's still coming on strong. There is no chance anymore of truces, of peace by negotiation and we will not surrender. We'll need to gather our forces, regroup, and attack again. Perhaps this time with... wait for it... tea. Oh yes. Yes. It's a drastic move, a bold one. Some might even say crazy, and they will question our sanity. But I'm willing to do anything to win this. FOR THE HORDE... uh... I'm rubbish at these battle cry things oh I have it, FOR THE ABILITY TO KEEP FOOD DOWN! Current Mood:  determined |
shinga
|
12:35p |
Hook is one of the best movies of all time... OF ALL TIME
I have angered the gazebo my body. Massage hurt, like it should. But she discovered some new problems and worked on them and it should help me immensely. Forgot my checkbook so I'll need to call her later to set up a time next week when I can pay her. Adjustment went well, my neck was as usual a messed up pile of crap. But he adjusted it all back in right so I shouldn't have headaches for at least a few days. Then I drove home. Then my body, more specifically the entire digestive tract, attacked. With all the force it could muster it came at me on both fronts. I was caught completely unprepared (with my pants down, as it were) and am trying to negotiate a truce at this point just to survive. So far no dice, they're not giving up, and I am losing ground here. Morale is low. It may be time for my most powerful weapon... A nap. Yeah lets see you try to fight me in my sleep, body. Ha ha! I will win this yet. *thud* Current Mood:  sick |
ailsa_chan
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5:19p |
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