Crystal Reflections

Friday night we were at my wife's aunt's house, spending time with the family. I was sitting across from Grandma. She turned to me out of the blue and asked, "How is it going with your book?"

There are moments that make you realize just how loved you are....here's a woman who is completely numb from the death of her husband of 59 years and she takes a moment to ask about my book. I wanted to cry at that very moment.

It made me want to grab a computer and start the editing process all over again....for her!

Sponsor me for AIDS Walk. It's tomorrow morning - so it's your last chance!! Or, er, the last chance for people with AIDS. Or something. :)

'If you try to please audiences, uncritically accepting their tastes, it can only mean that you have no respect for them: that you simply want to collect their money.'
Andrei Tarkovsky
So, he was a film director and a painter. To me, he's a god.

Okay, its confession time. Numbers, people, numbers.

Sound off!

London: 0/8 days

Rome: 2/2 days

Something is seriously wrong with this picture. (Though, to be fair, the Rome rain days have been temporary sprinkles, not solid rain. But still: ROME. With rain. When London had nary a drop.)

Also, re: Vatican -- buh.

Watching the Subway Series game with the daughter....Bobby Abreu hit a HR and Jeter hit a double off Santana to make it 6-4 Mets....she threw up! That's my girl!

On Tuesday, I went out to dinner with ultimabaka, and in the midst of your usual conversation, he passed on a bit of sad news that he'd gotten by way of a girl he knew when we were in high school. Mr. Lugo, Lugo 先生 to me forever and always, had had a heart attack and was in hospice care. It didn't really hit me then - I was upset, and wanted to know if there was anything I could do, but it still didn't really sink in. On Wednesday, an e-mail from Minh found it's way to me conveying the same information. I wrote to the original sender and asked to be kept informed. And today, Lugo-sensei died.
( Mr. Lugo )
In the course of writing this, I wanted to show you all a picture Lugo sensei instead of my half-remembered description of him, a man I haven't seen since spring of 2000. With that in mind, I pulled down my year book to see if he was in there. He isn't. Instead, there's this. So instead of Mr. Lugo's portrait, I've got a doodled little demon, and simply the message, Claireさん　がんばって　EJ ルゴ. Just like him! To that I say, ルゴ先生！本当にどうもありがとございました。私はいつでも忘れません。忘れられません。

After I posted this, I sat down the year book determined that he had to be in there SOMEWHERE. I was right. Mr. Lugo, hiding in the picture of his homeroom.

Am I too far behind to be starting a new Ni90? Hopefully not. And I have quite a bit done so far, so that'll make up a bit for the lag. I finished the last book I started here, though it too be a bit longer than 90 days (college does that, I suppose). BUT NOW, I'm working on a creative thesis for my senior year, so writing is not only a hobby but a requirement too!

The project, in case anyone is interested, is called The Suits--at least it is for now. It's a new mythology for the postmodern age (i.e.: now, LOL), based upon Neil Gaiman's Sandman, classical mythology, a bit of the Bible, and a LOT of anime. It's also very musically influenced (as each chapter is tentatively going to start with a new song quote...).

It's called The Suits because each god is based upon a particular royal face card within the Poker Deck (and oddly enough, I just found out, the Tarot deck, as poker cards are a bastardization of Tarot cards--yay research). It's looking to be pretty epic, and could even extend past the 65,700 mark.

I look forward to working alongside you all again (I haven't seen anyone since last summer, so it's been a while), and I'm sure that I'll be reporting in for my share of mocking (though we can always hope not, right?).

I'm starting to get along with the idea of liking and enjoying Chaucer. I have much to read for next week but I read Wife of Bath before and didn't really understand it. But the General Prologue...I'm partway in and I'm really enjoying how -human- his characters are.

This gave me goosebumps. I'm ignoring the fact that she's a character on One Tree Hill:


Another artist I want to bring up is Delta Goodrem.



When I first bought her CD Innocent Eyes, I loved how strong her voice was. And then I saw a picture of her in a magazine and wondered, "OMG! What did she do to her hair!?" See, she had these long flowing waves before. And all of it was gone. Turns out, she had fallen seriously ill with cancer. She was only 21 or something equally ridiculous and heart-wrenching.

But now she's back. And I am looking to get my hands on a copy of this CD, even if just for this song: Click here to listen (YouTube).

So now, I'm bored. I mean, going-crazy bored. I guess I'm going to be reading a lot of Chaucer to appease the itch.

I wrote 3980 words today and finished off the current chapter, plus a paragraph or two to remind myself where I want to pick up again tomorrow on the new chapter. So I probably wrote over 4000 words total today. That's a good day for me, even when I don't have classes going on.

But as I said, I finished off the chapter. It was a fun (and quick) chapter to write because there wasn't much emotional angsting by any characters. It was mostly plot-involved, in the "disaster-epic" style, so I got to throw main character into immenent danger, have others rushing to save them, kill lots of people, and have one character discover that he CAN do something he thought he could do with his power . . . but that it was alot harder and exhausting than he thought.

I'll make him do it again shortly. Because I am evil. *grin*

And that was only the beginning of the shit hitting the fan at the end of this book. I get to make things EVEN WORSE in the next chapter! Ha ha ha ha! What fun, what fun! *rubs hands together vigorously in anticipation* I realize now exactly how much set-up I put into the previous parts of this novel without even realizing it. For example, the "natural" disaster that became the heart of chapter 20 was introduced way back in chapter 7 or something. I thought it was just cool then. Had no idea it would be USEFUL. All of these weird little elements are pulling together in unexpected ways as well. It's always interesting when that happens. I've had to make a few notes about things to emphasize more in the rewrites though, so nothing comes as a "surprise" to the reader. And, in my attempts to shorten the novel, I've made notes of scenes I need to ADD as well. *sigh*

Oh, and comixboy? That scene in chapter 11 or 12? Where Colin goes down the cliff in the "elevator"? . . . I'm thinking that's going to have to be cut, even though it's a COOL scene. I think that whole chapter is being cut. Can't say for sure until I get there in the rewrites, but . . .

I seriously need to do a section on my webpage for "deleted scenes" of previous books. There's a few good ones for The Skewed Throne. Not so much for the other two, but definitely for Skewed. And I'm certain I'll have some for Well of Sorrows.

Anyway, enough writing-high ramblings for now. I'm off to the gym to torture people who willingly came to my cycling class, and then its games! And alcohol! And games! for the evening. Some chips and dip, too.

La-la-la-la-la-LA! La-la-la-la-la-LA!

*egads I'm nuts*

162,500 / 100,000 (162.5%)

Well of Sorrows

In Rome.

Eeeeee! Saw Forum. And Colosseum. And. And. And.

<geekgasm>

/end

I'm exhausted and beat, so instead of harassing the kids about their research projects I gently reminded them that rough drafts are due next week and popped in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Students are DEAD silent and completely riveted to the film. Very nice.

"Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders."
~Walter Bagehot~

Whatever that means  O_O

Yesterday, my wife's Grandpa died. It's very sad and I don't think it's quite hit me yet. I'm blessed that I've had three grandfathers in my life. I wish I had more to say but I don't. He was a great man and I know he'll be looking down on us with his typical shit-eating grin. 

I realised that I hadn't seen any Edward Norton movies, so Dave hired Primal Fear tonight so that I could watch it. He was very good in it! I found the movie a bit predictable, but still very good. Now I've got The Illusionist to watch!

I forgot to mention that I went to the leather store last week and checked out some possibilities for some upcoming projects. They have what I need, and it's not as expensive as I thought it would be. Excellent!!! ;)

It's still a long ways off, I have other more important things to pay for before I can even think about that, but it is very cool to know :) Wish I could have bought it on the spot, but I can't get ahead of myself ;)

I wish so much that I had the time to work on stuff, but I don't. Bah! Still need to sort out my sewing room - which is still full of stuff from the storage locker that I need to go through. I am starting to feel a little better, so I might go have a quick look at it. Try to achieve something today other than rest.

Nothing like a doctor visit to make you feel fat. *sigh* Nuff said on THAT topic.

Today, I spent half the day writing and managed to get 1700 words written. My official first day after the end of the semester. (Yesterday was spent at the book signing and Meet & Greet, which went well. A special thanks to libwitch for sending down her posse. They didn't all intend to buy books, but I charmed them into forking over the cash. *grin*) Not bad for the first day, although tomorrow I need to DO MORE if I'm going to get the novel done before I head off to the AP Calculus grading session in Kansas City. I'll push to see if I can get twice that tomorrow. This shit it hitting the fan, so typically I can keep up some high word counts.

But the real reason for this post is to let everyone know my Balticon schedule. So here it is!

Friday 7 pm : The Outlaw Panel - Let pirates, highwaymen, and bandits assemble! Why do we like them and turn them into heroes by rewriting their history?

Friday 8 pm : Opening Ceremonies (assuming pbray and I can get there on time)

Saturday 1 pm : Writing the economics of magic

Saturday 3 pm : Reading

Saturday 5 pm : Autograph table - Hotel Bar Lobby

Saturday 9 pm : How Not to Make the Book of Your Trilogy a Letdown for Readers.
Create a plot that continues the story.

Sunday 10 am : Playing in Someone Else's Sandbox: What can you expect if you write
stories for a tie-in/shared world created by another writer? Tell us how this
works for an interested writer!

Sunday Noon : Getting Published: Learn about how to handle query letters, fiction and
non fiction book proposals!

So who all is going? Who will I see there? Which of these panels do you find interesting?

Yes, I realise I'm behind everyone else, but I noticed that Project Runway is showing on Arena at the moment, so I started watching it. I also noticed that 'Tim Gunn's Guide to Style' is also on. I've only watched a couple of episodes of each show, but now I understand why you all love Tim Gunn so much! He's awesome!

I don't know what season of Project Runway I'm watching, and I can't check it, because I know if I check online I'll find out who won and I don't want to know.

The first episode I watched was where they all went to Hershey's and used all the products and pillows and things to make their designs. The next one was where they made prom dresses. Can anyone tell me which season I am watching? No spoilers please ;)

What? Me again? Do I just go to bed earlier than the rest of you?

'Use your imagination. Trust me. Your lives are not interesting. Don't write them down.' WB Kinsella.

Well, who is writing autobiography? And even if you're not, did you write 750 words today?

First there was Cloverfield and my dirty secret of being afraid of being eaten alive and now this:

Killer ants!

When I was a kid this was a crazy fear based on a nature book I got from the Astoria Public Library in Queens, NY. I wouldn't go outside for days because I was afraid of army ants!

Poll #1188298 Which Would You DO?
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Would you rather:

This is based after a discussion overheard during my second block today!