|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
for those who served
in war and peace
who took the burden
whatever their reasons.
We Remember.
 |
|
| friends on LJ |
|
It hits hard for me- my sister, my ex boyfriend, and now another friend- suicides all within a year. There are so many conversations I wish I had had, smiles I miss. Hugs. Laughs. Irreverent conversation, deep thoughts. There is always that feeling of more I could have done. Should have done.
That the Avengers movie is made entirely of crack because, having punched my geek card and seen it a second time, I want to see it again. Like, tomorrow. The last time a movie did that to me was, um, Raiders of the Lost Ark. And before that, Star Wars.
If you’ve been reading these posts for the last week, you know that my intention was to write two posts. The first, about help, I did write. The second, I still haven’t written. This is very much in keeping with the way I write anything. I have a general idea. I put the words on the screen. And then other words arise out of interaction, and, well.
It goes like this: Ok, so I’m not actually writing at the present time. But I am thinking about sentences, and what plot point goes where next, and whether I will fall off the back of the treadmill before I reach the end. Honest. Going back to it right now. Really. ::slinks off, pursued by a bear:: Mirrored from Kristine Smith.
While the two autumn books of the Kokinshu are as long as those of spring, their contents are more varied, especially in this first one: in contrast to the dominance of cherry blossoms, there are more things that remind poets of the world's transience -- winds, stars, mists, cold dew, changing leaves, barren trees, migrating geese, belling stags, late flowers. In all fairness, the dying year does evoke the melancholy of mono no aware more natually than the blossoming spring -- "summer is over and gone, over and gone, over and gone," indeed. Regardless, with this variety, we get more varied responses (including far too much "cleverness" based on plant names).
Continued from part 1:
Robert McKee packs a metric ton of great advice into the first paragraph of "Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting." Here's the text:
I think I know now what the Bad Guy is up to! (Sort of, anyway.)
I've just sent out the first round of the new short story sub - if anyone has signed up and NOT received it, please let me know and I will send you your fiction asap.
Playing With Fire, a set on Flickr. Today I joined
Looking back at our own efforts, we had lots of battles :) I've love to hear how you applied these rules to situations where your son didn't want to do something, like have his bath or get dressed/put his shoes on for school or participate in the day to day activities of helping out (setting the table, doing dishes, doing homework) - it seems we always had conflict, and the majority of it with my brother was getting him to do something that he didn't want to do, but that needed to be done. I’ve been thinking about this today while at work shelving books - which hopefully will not result in too many mis-shelved novels. ( This answer was too long for the comment thread, which is why it’s a post. )
At least 3-4 hours of it, which was the time I spent deciding I needed a new external HD, buying one in haste from the local big box, trying to install it, failing miserably, and driving back to big box to return it. Yes, Dear Reader, it was a Day of Unintended Tech. I found the right external HD online and ordered it, so sometime next week I may finally be able to use Time Machine as it was intended. I have an external HD currently, but it’s only 80 GB (only 80 gigs ::shakes head::) and is just about full–I can save individual files and folders, but wholesale backup is no longer possible according to said Time Machine. In addition, the 1 TB unit (1. Terabyte.) I ordered is already formatted for a Mac, which the one I struggled with today wasn’t. Yes, there were instructions for reformatting, but something kept accessing the drive even though I was sure I disabled/turned everything off, and I frankly don’t have the patience + know-how to grapple with something like that at the moment. So back to the store it went and left the store I did, return credit in hand. What started this little rainbow ball spinning merrily down the mountain was the fact that MobileMe is going away next month and with it my access to Backup, its nifty, straightforward online storage application. I liked Backup. I could configure it to save the files/folders I wanted saved when I wanted them saved. Every night at 730pm, a little brollie appears in my Dock, and all my writing files–PC Word, Works, MacWord, Scrivener–all get backed up within an inch of their little virtual lives. Starting sometime next month, however, MobileMe will be replaced by iCloud. The issue that served as the first warning pebble in this avalanche of WTF was the fact that iCloud only works with Lion, the new OS which I had yet to download because I kept hearing that there were Issues. Supposedly many of those Issues have been resolved and I was running out of time in any case, so today I took a deep breath and downloaded/installed Lion. I then checked Scrivener to make sure it still worked, which it did. Then I set about setting up my iCloud account. I did believe at first that I would be able to backup my files as I had before. Not so, Dear Reader. iCloud apparently only works with iWorks and other Mac products, none of which I am using, so backing up my files as before was Right Out. This was when I reevaluated Time Machine, learned that my present external HD was no longer up to the task, and set about finding a replacement. And failing. At least until later in the week, when I SHALL SUCCEED, DAMMIT, AND SPIT IN THE FACES OF ALL THOSE *&^%$#@ WHO REPLACE PROGRAMS THAT MEET MY NEEDS WITH PROGRAMS THAT DON’T. Don’t mention Dropbox to me. I opened an account today. It doesn’t do what I want, unless I am missing something obvious which is totally possible because I tend to intuit applications instead of reading the instructions. This system usually works reasonably well, to tell the truth, if only because a program that I can intuit is one that I will be able to work with. Like Backup. Which is going away next month, did I mention? Night is falling. Coffee has been brewed. Some days, there isn’t enough coffee in the world. At least the brownies came out all right. This recipe, courtesy of the folks at Recchiuti, but without the nuts and marshmallows. My batch actually tasted fairly close to the to-die-for brownies that Recchiuti sells on their website, but there were differences due to, I think, the pan and the butter. I used a glass 8×8 baking pan/dish, and did not remember until too late that you need to bake at a lower temp in glass. As for the butter, I used plain ol’ grocery store unsalted, which I doubt met the 82% butterfat requirement specified in the recipe. So, watery butter and too high a heat meant that the brownies came out slightly overbaked–still moist in the center, but dry around the edges and lacking the flourless chocolate cake density they were intended to have. That said, they’re still the best brownies I have ever made and among the best I have ever eaten. It’s a keeper recipe. I just need to tweak. And get hold of a good metal pan and some boutique butter. And it’s now dark outside. Chilly day, as it turned out. Rainy morning. Tomorrow, however, we are supposed to set records–I am hearing rumors of triple-digit temps, which would be an almost 40-degree upswing from today. Personally I think those of us north of the city will be cooler, but I guess we’ll see. Mind’s churning a little bit. Tech has that effect on me. If I were a hard drive, I would be racing. Backup’s going away next month. Fck. Mirrored from Kristine Smith.
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware The survey results were posted this week, and they make for interesting reading. Authors are generally happy with a number of aspects of the traditional publishing process--notably, the editing they receive. Around 75% of authors rated their editorial input as having been good or (more commonly) excellent. Just 14% disagreed...Marketing, however, was a different story. A majority of authors felt they weren't adequately consulted on their publishers' marketing plans, that their skills and strengths weren't adequately utilized, and that they had little input or control (ah yes--I know the feeling). About half the respondents felt that communication by the publisher was poor, and nearly half said that their publishers never sought feedback from them.  And while there is much grumbling in the writing community about the lack of publisher loyalty, with publishers no longer willing to stick with writers over several books while they build an audience, authors are just as fickle. 40% of survey respondents said they'd move to another house if given the chance. 22% weren't sure.Mirrored from SFWA | Comment at SFWA
The past week, foreshortened by recovery and then my mom's birthday dinner and the lecture, has been much about me utterly unable to focus. I didn't know why - my brain WANTED to work, and there is, dog knows, enough work for me to be doing....
I've had some scary moments with my two pups, and I'm lucky to have insurance for them. Even so, the bills mount so quickly. But you'll pay anything, because you just want them to be okay again. I don't normally re-post these things, but I'm seeing this one everywhere and I would hope people would help me out if it ever came to life or death with Herbie or Ozzy. I donated and just $5 from everyone would go a long way. Help if you can. Re-post if you think other people you know might be inclined to do the same. ( Great Dane in need )
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
thoughtful
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
poor puppy