Manuscripts, Etc

Hi guys, it's Jenny again.
(First note: Congrats on the pimpin' ride to Ali's little bro...ah, they grow up so quickly....)

Now, about the whole "only thirty pages" thing -- for those who may've missed the post, Ali was riding me about my lack of production (and I do love her for it) -- I am slowly rectifying the situation, however, if someone did the math, they would realize that Ali turns in a mere 10 pages to our writer's group a month....

I just realized that my point required far too much math to be viable here, as the sum total of my mathematical ability, divided by 1, would still be 0. Basically I think I was saying, you know, in a real page-turn-out contest, that I think I could take her.

Challenge? Maybe. We don't know.

I bought a car

Hi, it's Ali's little brother again. This time I figured I'd let you folks know that I bought a car. It's in pretty sorry shape right now, but soon it will be totally amazing. Of course soon is a very subjective word and totally amazing is a matter of my personal opinion. I'll probably upload a couple of pictures once she's all spiffed out.

Estes and Manuscripts

"Okay, we've got you reserved."
-Gal at the cottage place

Tomorrow Keith and I set off on a mini vacation to Estes Park. We're going to stay at a little cottage and do a bit of hiking, a lot of bumming, and take a day trip to the Denver Zoo. I'm quite looking forward to it.

Along on the trip will be the first 141 pages of Deb's manuscript, My Mother's Ghost which she recently pitched to an agent who asked for it, in full. She's now frantically "polishing" it before sending it to the agent, and a handful of us, including Jenny and I, have volunteered to lend a hand. Yes, everyone says that pinning one's hopes on a single agent is silly, the odds are against you and all that. However, the fact that he requested the whole manuscript right off the bat and told her he loved her voice, makes me excited for her.

Speaking of Jenny, she's making some progress with her own manuscript, Following Julia Roberts, which she gave me thirty more pages of on Saturday. Thirty pages is not what I would hope for, but it's a start. I'm giving her quite a hard time about writing more. Right now. For me. Damnit. I may have to update my list of occupations: Student, waitress, SCWP assistant, and Jenny nag.

For my own writing, I've decided to pull back on Oracle and stop submitting it to the group for now. I can't write fast enough to be fair to them, and everyone's losing track of what's-what since I'm constantly changing things as I go, making people say "Huh? I don't remember that from the last chapter." Shame on me. Thus, I've decided to work on the book on my own for now, and spend some time building up my short story pile (which has gone long neglected). I'm two pages into a brand new story, and it's feeling good to think that it'll actually be complete soon, rather than a few years from now.

Variations on a Theme

The polymer beads for these two necklaces were made using the same technique (using a thin sheet of translucent clay to laminate a dark blue sheet of polymer that had been painted with silver acrylic paint). The pendants are the same shape, but the bead shapes are different, as are the other beads used on the necklace. The one on the right has metallic seed beads and blue glas pearls, while the one on the left has silver spacers and labradorite chips.

My New Hero

"I always consider Salma [Hayek] for my projects, even for male roles."
-Robert Rodriguez

Excellent news. Wal-Mart (a.k.a. Devil-Mart according to my friend Julia) is currently carrying a box set of the Mexico trilogy for $15 and change. Whoo-hoo! Guess what's now sitting on my bookshelf?

El Mariachi is damn funny, especially with the commentary. A $7,000 movie where $6,400 was spent on the film itself and getting it developed. To the best of my knowledge, not a single one of the actors were paid and Carlos Gallardo, the Mariachi himself, actually paid money into the film (he was also co-producer).

Desperado switches up leads, putting in Antonio Banderas for Gallardo, though the latter makes a cameo. This movie makes me love Banderas even more than I ever did before, and that was a considerable amount. His facial expressions alone are enough to make me thrilled he's in the movie. Bonus points for Danny Trejo.

Once Upon A Time In Mexico is one I haven't seen for a while, thanks to end-of-the-semester chaos, I've yet to pull it out of my nifty box set yet. However, the combination of Rodriguez' film making, Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp totally blew me away the first go-'round and now that I have the back story of the other two movies, I'm certain that my second time watching it will prove even more fun than the first.

Okay, so maybe I'd have to say that From Dusk 'Til Dawn sucked the big fat hairy one, but nobody's perfect, right? The best part is that Rodriguez has already, apparently, lined up not only Sin City 2, but also Sin City 3. I can hardly wait.

End of the Semester

"Is yours done?"
"Just about."
-Katherine asking me about my teaching portfolio

By 5:30 p.m. today my semester is over, for better or worse. 5:30 is when my last project for Katherine's class is due, my teaching portfolio. Talk about frustration, I had to walk away from my computer for a while yesterday or else I was going to start cussing and/or banging stuff. I've tried in this class, I really have, but in the end my interest level was simply not equal to the demands of the course. Theory shmeory. Ugh. The teaching portfolio is the penultimate implementation of the course material, in theory. I've got it all done (paper revision, endnotes/works cited, assignment series, etc.) except for my teaching philosophy statement. I have no idea what the hell to do with it.

What is my philosophy of teaching? Writing is important. Um... then what? It's supposed to be 1-2 pages, single spaced (don't ask me why) and it's supposed to demonstrate my understanding/implementation of composition theory. I'm supposed to demonstrate, through this philosophy, whether I'm expressivist or social-constructivist and all that good stuff. It doesn't help that I'm trying to write this after finding out I didn't get the T.A. The thought persisting in the back of my mind is, "Who cares what my teaching philosophy is right now? It's not like it mattters."

I'm so burned out, the office is starting to smell like smoke.

Bjork Post for Camii

"The world is always clamoring for something to live up to the swan dress...."
-Extreme Craft Guy

http://extremecraft.typepad.com/extreme_craft/2007/04/icelandic_wool.html

A little something to keep you going until the concert :)

The Fantasy Novelist's Exam

# 38: Do you see nothing wrong with having two characters from the same small isolated village being named "Tim Umber" and "Belthusalanthalus al'Grinsok"?

http://rinkworks.com/fnovel/

Funny, funny stuff. The good news is, I think I'm only guilty of about two of those. However, according to the exam writer's, one is enough to smack a novelist for. Hrm...

Seriously, though, some of the crimes they list are fairly staple of fantasy stories, I mean, magical artifacts are what it's really all about. Oh, and saving the world, too. It almost doesn't count if the whole world isn't in danger.

Fun With Long Beads

The long blue/black beads for this necklace were one of my finds at the Denver bead shop in January. I knew I liked the shape, but I had no idea what I was going to do with them. A few weeks ago, I figured it out. Also on this necklace are hematite beads and silver seed beads.

April 07 Submission

"It's easier to pull the trigger than play guitar. Easier to destroy than create."
-El Mariachi, Desperado

This submission was one of the pulling teeth chapters where I had to sit there and think, "And what's next?" a dozen times or more. Ugh. However, I made it to 4, 023 words all together and I even managed to print it out. Thus, it is only Saturday and my submission is completely and utterly ready to go. Compared to the past few months, I'm on a roll.

Political Survey

I saw Ali's post about her political survey results and since I have nothing better to do right now, I figured I'd check it out. I turned out to be borderline between a Utilitarian and Centrist.

You are a Social Liberal (61% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (65% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist (65e/61s) Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

I must say that I wasn't surprised at all because I generally figure that the government's only purpose is to protect its people from the big things and let them screw up the little things all they want. On the other hand, I think I'm moving more and more toward the centrist view because I'm getting to see a new perspective here at the Air Force Academy.

Throughout my youth I was always able to rise above the environment because I interacted with a wide variety of people. Now I'm surrounded by a lot of people with similar goals, ideologies, and attitudes. I've seen how an environment saturated with a common attitude (in this case cynicism) can be very hard to resist. I constantly catch myself growing bitter about my school even though I understand that the people running the show didn't get promoted by accident. I've also seen how a person in a leadership role can manipulate his environment to make his subordinates much more likely to act a certain way. This can be good if someone takes advantage of it to accomplish something constructive. On the other hand, under bad leadership this environment can develop on its own and make people very likely to make very big mistakes.

I guess the thing that makes me more libertarian-ish is that I believe that no matter the environment, the individual still needs to be held accountable. The environment may be hard to resist, but it's still your choice to resist or not.

--Casey

Scientology is Funny

"If you are not happy with life, you can find out why."
-Part of the test description

I took this test a while back and was impressed and astounded by the amount of slant in the questions and the number of totally oddball things they ask about. Things like this really bring out the English major in me. Here are some examples:

Do you intend two or less children in your family even though your health and income will permit more? Children is a countable noun, should be "or fewer."

Do you consider more money should be spent on social security? Better word would be "think"

Is your voice monotonous, rather than varied in pitch? Yes! I am monotonous!

Do you get occasional twitches of your muscles, when there is no logical reason for it? I have no idea what muscle twitches have to do with religion, I really don't

Are you normally considerate in your demands on your employees, relatives, or pupils? Who's going to say no, I'm an ass?

Do you find yourself being extra-active for periods lasting several days? Just like the muscle twitches

Is your life a constant struggle for survival? Absolutely, unless my next student loan comes through, I'll probably starve to death

Do you consider there are other people who are definitely unfriendly toward you and work against you? Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get me.

Would you admit you were wrong just to “keep the peace”? See, "admit" implies guilt, like "confess." This question is really asking "Would you confess that you screwed up just to "keep the peace," which implies that you should keep your fuck-uppery to yourself.

Do you consider the good of all concerned rather than your own personal advantages? Implication: are you a selfish bastard?

Do you completely condemn a person because he is a rival or opponent in some aspect of your relations with him? Oh yeah, that's not loaded.

Are there some things about yourself on which you are touchy? If we're being honest, here, can anyone actually answer "no" to this question? Come on.

Are you logical and scientific in your thinking? Nope, I'm an irrational nut.

Is your facial expression varied rather than set? Because I always watch my face when I talk.

Is your opinion influenced by looking at things from the standpoint of your experiences, occupation or training? Don't we always base our opinions on our personal experience? I mean, what else would we base our opinions on?

Do you usually criticize a film or show that you see or a book that you read? Well, I am an English major... I even criticize personality tests. I must be stopped!

Would you like to “start a new activity” in the area in which you live? Point of grammar - the quotation marks here are trying to show an idom, but when did that become an idiom? Do they even know the defintion of an idiom? I think not.

Can you trust the decision of your judgment in an emotional situation in which you are involved? "the decison of your judgment" is the part I like the most.

Do you spend much time on needless worries? Weighted much?

Do you often ponder over your own inferiority? When did I become inferior?

And the results, ladies and gentlemen:
"Your personality test profile is now being sent to a professional test evaluator at the Church of Scientology listed below." Last time I got to see a graph that said I was slightly deranged and possibly suicidal, or something like that. This time, I see nothing. What a shame. The 200 question test is a little hilarious. It's a horrible test thanks to unclear questions, weighted language, and slanted connotations. But, good for a laugh on occasion. http://www.scientology.org/oca.htm

Politics Test

I found Camii's myspace page: blog.myspace.com/tyae, and took the same test she has posted. Funny thing, I'm only 1% different form her. It's a little scary.

Camii: 60/36.

You are a Social Liberal (61% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (35% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat (35e/61s) Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Oracle: The Jist

There's a lot of fantasy that deals with magic, but little (at least that I've seen) that puts the emphasis on religion instead. So, that's what my focus is in Oracle. The disaster the heroes have to avert is basically an old god trying to reassert his power - which, unfortunately makes people crazy and sick. Toloth is the god of magnets/magnetism and unbalances living things, which is why there's a problem. His stronghold is a new electric mill (a water powered electric generator) in the most remote part of the country/continent. The country the heroes are in is roughly similar to the late 1800's, early 1900's, think more western than medeival. The country is divided up into a handful of provinces, each ruled by a noble family.

New Gods:
Nyma - goddess of water and life
Liusaidh - goddess of warfare and fire
Ordin - god of gold, earth, and tradition

Old Gods:
All have been replaced by the new gods, except for Toloth who is trying to come back.

Primary Characters:
Jalena - Nyman priestess, created the "holy" sword and dagger that are Nyma's weapons on earth, and something of a prophet.
Arnell - Mercenary hired to track Jalena down, has a change of heart and teams up with her, Kelda, Devyn, Stefanee and Dorian.
Kelda - A red-skinned healer who heals by manipulating the flow of blood in someone's body, the result of an immaculate conception when her mother tried to summon Nyma.
Devyn - Kelda's adoptive father and a woodsman, used to be a Liusaidhan, but now follows Nyma.
Nolan - A tavern owner whose wife left him and their daughter, Gwyn. Also, he's the one Jalena gave the sword and dagger for safe keeping.
Gwyn - Nolan's daughter and Sedge's lover, trained to fight by Nolan and as good a swordsman as Sedge.
Sedge - Born of a noble family, ran when his father died and found Nolan who offered him a place to stay. He's also the one chosen to bear the holy weapons.
Stefanee - Sedge's younger sister, currently fourteen. Trained in a Liusaidhan temple and adept at her weapons training, has a talent for picking things up quickly.
Dorian - Sedge's younger brother, currently sixteen. Also trained at the Liusaidhan temple, but had no talent for combat. Alligned with Ordin and for years has assumed that Sedge was dead and he was next in line for the succession.
Maeve - Retired mercenary, Stefanee's mentor, and Gwyn's mother/Nolan's wife.
Baylor - The big bad. He's Toloth's high priest and an active recruiter for the cause.
Attun - Orphaned teen poacher, he was taken in by Baylor and eventually became Baylor's most trusted henchman, despite his youth, because of his unquestioning loyalty and keen forester's abilities.

Okay, that's everyone. As you can see, there are a lot of characters. Most of them have POV chapters, too, which makes life interesting. It's a lot of fun, though, to switch perspectives, because the tone of an Arnell chapter is much different than that of a Kelda chapter. One of the best things anyone has said about Oracle was when Nicole was talking about how much she likes the characters, she said something like "Whenever I'm reading a Stefanee chapter, I always think how I wish the whole novel were written from her POV. But then, when I read the next chapter, in someone else's POV, I think the whole thing should be in their POV."

Going on two years now. Yeesh, I'm so glad to finally be getting close to the end. Then it's just a matter of starting to edit, which will be almost as much work as writing the thing in the first place, thanks to all the changes to character, setting, and plot I'll be making. However, once the first draft is finished, I am not only allowed, but encouraged, to let the thing sit in a box for a few months. I can't wait.

April Oracle

"How's that for a reunion?"
-Arnell, current chapter of Oracle

I'm feeling a bit please with myself because I added about three and a half pages to my next submission in about an hour this morning. My total page count is now at five. Nothing astonishing, I know, but good for me. This weekend is writers' group weekend and I'm ahead of where I usually am at this point. Go me!

Now that I'm getting to the climax, I'm struggling with what to write next. I'm still not exactly sure how I want the pieces to fall together or who will come out a hero and who will come out dead. Of course, it seems like each submission I have this problem, the "what makes this part important?" problem. This chapter is important because Stefanee finally meets up with her long-lost older brother and because it leads up to his attempt to break out of where he's being imprisoned by Baylor.

As I get closer and closer to the big show down, the problem of what to do with Dorian keeps nagging at me. Ugh.

Feeling Better

"You're great."
-Katherine

Yesterday, when Katherine broke the news, she added that she wanted to talk to me about it, but then she was in a meeting. This morning, though, we had a chance. She said encouraging things, like "you were a strong competitor" and how they (the comittee) talked about things they saw as my strengths, etc. The long and short of it being that they had a dozen people applying for two positions and six who were all strong candidates. She also sounded really relieved when I said that I understand, "thank you for being so mature about this."

Really, it's just like publishing, right? Sometimes the editor says yes, more often they say no, and just because they say no, it doesn't mean they wouldn't have said yes at another time. So, yes, I'm bummed out that I didn't get it. However, I understand that doesn't mean I don't deserve it (if that makes sense), especially after my talk with Katherine about how wonderful I am. She also made a point of mentioning how another gal who's a T.A. now had to apply twice, and that when she herself was a grad student she was tenth on the waiting list for a T.A. at her alma matter. Perspective, yeah?

Mostly, it seems, the thing working against me was my reserve. No, I don't like to always jump in when other people are talking. I'd much rather ask a question than make a point, etc. Which isn't to say that I can't, but it is to say that they were looking for someone they've seen to be more outspoken. At least, that's what I'm getting from the comments Katherine made. The most encouraging thing, is that she seems invested in getting me to be a T.A. and talked about working on making me a stronger candidate over the fall and such so that the next time I apply, I get it. It's nice to have her backing me on this, even if this go 'round it didn't work out.

Also helping my good mood: last night I discovered that the Research Methods class I have to take in the fall will not, after all, be taught by the professor I can't stand who I had in the fall. He's moving to Georgia. Hoorah for me! I don't have to have Dr. Moron again.

Hunch Confirmed

"Did you get your letter yet?"
-Katherine's reply at first when I asked about the T.A.

Dorothy and Kevin got the T.A.s and I'm glad that I can nod and say "yeah, I see why." If I didn't get one, at least certain other folks didn't either. Not an upper, though.

Katherine was apologetic about it, and told me to re-apply next time. Kinda shoots my vision for the fall, though.

Let's Go Fishing

Jack Lucas: I don't mean to be flippant or to enrage you or anything, but you're a psychotic man.
Parry: I know.
Jack Lucas: A very nice psychotic man.
Parry: Thank you.

Movie Review. The Fisher King. After watching The Big Lebowski I was a bit wary to venture into another Jeff Bridges movie, but I'm definitely glad I did. Bridges plays a Howard Stern-ish radio DJ whose words urge a listener to shoot nearly a dozen bar patrons and then himself. Years later, a now-pathetic Bridges happens upon the husband of a woman who died in the shooting and who is now a mentally troubled homelss man, played by Robin Williams. Great acting, and I love the incorporation of mythology into the modern story. Awesome stuff all 'round, and I absolutely recommend it. You'll never think of nudity and Central park in the same way again...

Parry: Come on. Free up the little guy. Let him flap in the breeze.

It Helps

http://www.illwillpress.com

Not G-rated.

Finished Product

A while back, I put up some pictures showing the steps for making a set of polymer clay beads.
http://ev-boulevard.blogspot.com/2007/03/project-pictures-polymer-bead-set.html

Here's the final necklace. Along with the polymer, I used citrine chips, metallic seed beads and small maroon freshwater pearls.

Casey Intro

Hi, I'm Casey. I'm Ali's younger brother. I make up for her being an English major by being a Physics major. I currently go to the Air Force Academy. In my squadron, I've been dubbed the squadron hippie. I guess that's a good example of the duality of man or something. Anyway, I guess my sister figured that I could be a useful contributor here on El Vermino Boulevard. I'll eventually get around to writing something I'm sure but until then, well I don't know. Thanks for the invite sis.

--Casey

WM Exerpt

Here's what I wrote at our last stop which was on the Arkansas River. It's messy, I know. This is the rough draft right out of my notebook:

The bridge support tells me LOVE and don't get me wrong, I'm all for love, but I find it odd that none of the officially sanctioned murals along the river say anything about love, only the grafitti. Official murals:
Irish Club
Recyle, Reuse, Reduce 4R Planet
I Walk on This Earth
econo

The only one that comes close seems like it's a quote from somewhere, though I can't peg it. "The biggest expression of a civilization is not art but the supreme tenderness that can be between human beings. Art proceeds out of an exquisite awareness of life." I wonder, though, if it isn't a quote, but the artist's own words. Maybe I should Google it and see if anything comes up.

To our left, a kayaker makes his or her way upstream and Nicole asks, "Is kayak a palindrome?"

LOVE painted on the bridge support in clumsy red letters that have to be at least ten feet high. LOVE is bigger than I am.

On the train bridge that goes across the Interstate just after Abriendo, I think this same person has been at work.

LOVE, HOPE, and WONDER have all appeared there, painted over soon enough with grey. Once, the words were DANNY GLOVER. The best part, though, is seeing one word sometimes become another. I remember seeing HOPE morph into WONDER. LOVE became DANNY GLOVER. It's all connected, see?

WM Highlights

"I am a friend to the bottle of gravy..."
-Kevin, during the read around (hilarious, by the way)

After the yada-yada of "This is what a writing marathon is" and passing around the sign-in sheet, we got down to writing. We started as a big group and got a writing prompt which followed a reading out of Natalie Goldberg's book Laying Down the Bones (or something similar). The prompt was to start out "I am a friend to __" and insert inanimate objects. It made sense in context, I promise. I didn't use the prompt, non-conformist that I am, but Kevin did, and his piece was mundo humorous.

"You coming with us?"
-Constance

Then we split up. My group: John (from the writers' group in Springs), Nicole, Constance, and Dan (one of Constance's students). We went to three different spots all-in-all and had a grand ole time. Writing marathons are fun. I may try to organize an impromptu one for some folk from the Springs writers' group and/or whoever on campus might be interested. I got about a page down each time we wrote, so four, and started three brand-new stories.

"Hey Michael, good news. They've got sausage."
-Me, to my very gay friend

We all met back at Angelo's Pizza Parlor for free pizza - which was very, very tasty - and the read around - which was interesting in spots. Some of the writing was quite good. Some was a bit inappropriate. The topper was from a woman who's notorious on campus for being a general nut job and was essentially about how she wants to get some and nobody's interested. Great. I'm so glad she shared that. Crazy woman.

"I'll have one too."
-Nicole, who mirrored my drink orders tonight. She regretted the Grand Marnier.

Afterwards, most people went to my bar. I opted not to because they asked me to come in tonight, on my night off (the first night off I've actually gotten after I asked for it in a few months) and I didn't want to go as a patron and get the guilt trip about not being there as a waitress. However, Nicole had no problem splitting off so we went to Gus's where Keith met up with us. Much fun, and not as much alcohol, was had and it's now after eleven and I just dropped Nicole off at home not too long ago. Sure, eleven's not that late by most standards, but it's a whole lot later than I've been out any time lately. As Keith would put it, I'm weak sauce.

Anyhow, I'm so very glad I did the marathon. I've got the seeds for a few new stories, and got to have some social time with some fun people. Did I mention the free Angelo's pizza? Mmm...

Blue, Green and Gunmetal Necklace

I got the oblong beads aeons ago when beadbox.com went out of business. It wasn't until about two weeks ago - spring break - that I finally came up with a way to use them. This is one of my current favorite necklaces. Partly, of course, because it was so labor intensive. This baby took over three hours.

Heroes

"My father spent his life chasing after this insanity. Now I'm wasting mine trying to prove he was sane."

-Mohinder Suresh, Heroes Season One

TV Review: Heroes. When this series first came out on TV, I wanted to watch it so badly. However, having a Monday evening class clashed with when it was shown. Poor me. Now I'm catching up, and I have to say, I'm glad I waited until I had a chance to watch the episodes in order. Hoorah. Great stuff. I love the characters, especially Mohinder and Hiro. The episodes are laid out so well, and the season arc is wonderfully structured. One of those shows where you finish an episode, then have to watch the next so you can see what they do with the cliffhanger. Nice.

The Original Gag

Here he is, in all his hand-drawn glory. The original Running Gag.

Random Word Poetry

"It's the sort of website that makes you want to go and write a Sestina, and that can't be bad."

-The Oracular Journal

A few semesters ago, during a poetry workshop with David, he assigned a nifty exercise. He gave us a list of words he'd pulled out of some poems. Then he said we had to use X number of them in the next thing we wrote for class. Now, Camii and I do the same thing in our letters to each other. For a while, we've forgotten to, but this last time I said, "Holy smokes! We need random word poetry!"

Here's an example, from part of my last letter to Camii, of what that looks like. In her response, she'll create some poetry from my list and send another list or two for me to use.

Slacking

I have accepted dearest Ali's invitation...apprently I must have something to say about something...here goes...

And the top ten requirements of slackers around the world are, in no paticular order because that would require far more energy than slackers are allowed:
1. You must be willing to sacrifice hours of your life to the gods of television.
2. You must be willing to stop whatever you're doing when you realize that you are doing something.
3. You must always stop writing the 'top ten' of anything around #3.

Notorious Slacker Jenny

Writing Marathon

"Hello Writers!

I hope that you all are well! Attached is a flier announcing our upcoming Writing Marathon on April 21 from 3:00-7:00."
-Part of an e-mail Katherine sent out

This weekend we're having the 5th or so Writing Marathon. This'll be the first one for me. I'm excited. I've been slacking on my non-school writing lately, and this will force me to do some. Since I'm the one taking reservations, I know who'll be there and I'm looking forward to hanging out with them. Besides, there'll be free food at the end of it. Hoorah!

Nebulas Necklace

Forgive me my poetic license, but that's what this necklace makes me think of. This necklace is made of black polymer clay which I painted with metallic and colored acrylic paints and doused with pearlescent poweder then ran through the pasta machine again to create fractures. The next step was to laminate the sheets with a thin layer of translucent polymer, so the paint wouldn't flake off. Add some dark blue glass pearls and a few seed beads and Viola!

Announcment

"sounds interesting. i probably won't update all that much but at the least, it should be interesting to read what you folks have to say."
-My brother (who apparently has problems with capital letters)

I've been thinking, lately, that it might be fun to have a few more people adding to this blog. Thus, I've invited some new people, like my brother and that notorious slacker, Jenny.

Say hi.

Problem 2 - Myspace

"I dig thinking and feeling."
-Expressivist

The latest problem we did in Katherine's class addressed the Expressivist/Social Constructivist debate. One of the groups did a very nifty project in response and created two myspace pages, one for each side. You can find them here:

http://www.myspace.com/expressivist_wildcat
http://www.myspace.com/socialconstructivist

Finding a New David: Short-List

Katherine: Are you going to be here from 2:00 to 3:30?
Me: Yes.
Katherine: Well, you can't.

Yesterday I got kicked out of the office so the hiring committee could meet and create a short list of candidates. For official/legal reasons, I can't be privy to the details of selection, but I do know they're down to three potential people now. It's definitely been interesting to see the selection process from an insider POV. A couple points to remember if you're ever applying for an academic job:

1. A vitae is scary (think resume plus everything you've ever published, won, been nominated for, or been graded on - okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but not much) When you write your resume, they say two pages tops. Vitae, not so much. I saw a few that had to be a good ten pages long.

2. A single typo may be the kiss of death. More than fifty people applied for this job and it got to the point of looking for something, anything, to disqualify people and narrow it down.

3. Recommendation letters are essential. However, they should not be written by students.

4. "Writing Sample" does not mean all three of your novels. Nor does it mean a music CD you recorded.

5. A podcast does not count as publishing credit.

I'm not sure how long it'll take for the committee to pick who's going to replace David - now comes the part where they call references and arrange to interview the candidates. I do think, however, that I may be one of the first in the genereal public to know the final decision. Oh boy, I feel special.

New Roof

*Stomp, bang, stomp, stomp*

-Roofer noises

On Monday night the roofers said they would come no earlier than nine the following morning (because I like to sleep until about eight-thirty). Tuesday at seven-thirty, I hear a big diesel truck backing into my driveway, followed shortly by the sounds of people on the roof. I don't understand how the disconnnect happened, I really don't. This morning, they arrived even earlier and were tromping about just past seven. I cannot wait until they are done and gone.

Dr. Dakota Block: If anyone comes to the door, I want you to shoot them.

Dakota's Son: What if it's Dad?

Dr. Dakota Block: ESPECIALLY if it's your dad.

Movie Review: Grindhouse. The early wake-up was not helped by the fact that I went to see this movie last night at 10:30, which meant getting home a little past two this morning. Good flick, though. Mostly. Let me qualify: Planet of Terror was great. Full of gratuitous everything and with great, and somewhat unexpected, actors (like Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews, and Michael Biehn), this one was full-on entertainment. Deathproof got tedious real quick, too much girly chit-chat and not enough giving a damn, and was only partially redeemed in its second part when Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, and Tracie Thoms take the lead. Not suprisingly, it was Tarantino's baby I didn't care for. Gotta love the "Prevues" though. Fun to watch, but I'd recommend going to the theater a bit earlier in the evening.

Hoodlums and Miracle Babies

Benny 'The Bomb' Palladino: I want you to get the 'you-know-what' from 'you-know-who'. You know where, and the 'when' is now.


Movie Review: Hoodlum and Son. Yes, it is just that cheesy. Keith brought it over, saying, “Look, it’s Ron Perlman.” Apparently, Perlman isn’t as discriminating as I would hope in picking the films he’s going to be in. Campy, silly, and rifled with plot holes, it hurt me to watch it. Okay, the movie has a few good moments, which is why I’d advocate a dollar rental – but no more. The dialogue is horrid and Ron Perlman’s orange hair made me cringe.


Kee: What the fuck you staring at?
Theodore Faron: Apparently, the pleasure is all mine.

Movie Review: Children of Men. Jenny and Shane saw this one in the theater and told me, "it's good, but not an upper." True. We start off twenty years in the future when the youngest person on earth is eighteen years old. Clive Owen gets kidnapped by his ex, Julianne Moore, and propositioned to get transit papers for a gal she's trying to get across England. Turns out, the gal's pregnant. Michael Caine co-stars as Jasper, political cartoonist and stoner, and Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a member of Julianne's group. Excellent performances all around. The impressive part is how well they did inserting humor in such a dark movie. In the end, I have to agree with Jenny and Shane, it's not a "feel-good" movie, but it's very, very well done.

A Change of Pace

I believe this is the first multi-stranded necklace I've posted. I don't have all that many of them. This one is all glass, a combination of seed beads and bugles.

Gag Genesis

"This is Gag."

-Me

Once upon a time, as I wrote a letter to Camii, I doodled a little stick figure running and named him Gag. He was a running Gag.

This is a badly done Paint version of running Gag. However, it does demonstrate his trademark spikey hair and goofy grin. Not only have I caught Gag running, but I've also found him to jump rope, climb mountains, and wear women's clothing. Gag is a very active guy.

T.A. Letter

"I would first like to thank you for the opportunity to apply for the teaching assistantship..."
-Opening of my letter

Gulp. The letter is written, proofread, and re-printed on nice paper. It's done. It's turned in. It's out of my hands. Now comes the fun part where I wait to hear the results and wonder what the committee will think while they're reading my letter. Will it be "impressive" or "dumb-ass"? I hope for the first and fear the second.

I just keep thinking that I did the best I could and I remind myself that there are probably ten people apply for the two available T.A.s so if I don't get one, it doesn't mean I'm a moron. It just means the selection was competitive. Yeah. Right. Uh huh...

Problem Problems

"I would describe panopticism as the condition where people alter their own behaviors based on the idea that they may be being watched by an invisible authority. Surveillance cameras are a perfect example of it but even the organization of a classroom that allows the teacher to see every student is related to it. I don't see that as mere social pressure as in the pressure to dress a certain way or pressure to be married by a certain age. I just wanted to point out that the reading doesn't quite match the vague idea of social pressure."
-Guy in my group

Katherine uses problem-based learning in her classes, which is basically where she gives us a "problem" presented as a series of questions, then says "okay, get into your groups and go answer them." That is, of course, a highly simplified explanation. This go around, the group is giving me headaches.

We have person A who's new to the group. She's crazy. She's the kind of person who can talk, and talk, and talk and at the end of it, leave me thinking "what the hell did she just say?" Honestly, half the stuff that she says is impressively incoherent. I don't know how she pulls it off, but she does.

Then we have person B who's stubborn and sporadically dense. He's the one that doesn't think Foucault applies to social pressures. Gimme a break. I've seen him used in that exact context. Wanna know where? Brit. Lit. 2, which I took with, you guessed it, Katherine. She's the one who applied Foucault to Victorian culture.

Bloody hell, people.

Freaks, Aliens, and Culture Shock

I’ve been a monstrous slacker on Netflix reviews lately, so here I hope to rectify the situation with a three-for-one deal.

Justin: You always knew what was inside of me.

TV Review: Carnivale. I’ve had people recommend this one to me for a while, so I moved it up in my queue and now I’m mostly through Season One. Wow, it’s really good stuff. The mysticism/eeriness is expertly played and they stretch out the mysteries, solve enough to give some closure, and introduce new ones to figure out in an accomplished pacing. Excellent characters all ‘round, and Nick Stahl is especially wonderful. The neat part is how none of the characters is completely likable, and yet they’re all very lovable – not in any kind of cutesy way, but in a make you care about them despite yourself way. Go watch this one. Now.

Aeryn Sun: She gives me a woody. [no one says anything] Woody. It's a human saying. I've heard you say it often. When you don't trust someone or they make you nervous, they give you...
John Crichton: Willies. She gives you the willies.

TV Review: Farscape. A friend introduced this to me when it was originally playing on Sci-Fi (she taped the episodes for me ‘cause I didn’t have cable) and now I’m going through it in order. It’s totally as fun as I remember it. Fun Sci-Fi that doesn’t have replicators, and in which money is actually an issue. Hoorah! Of course, Ben Browder (John Crichton) is pretty much worth it just for him. Add to that the novelty of the human being the alien, and you’ve got a show that’s definitely worth some time.

Movie Review: Japanese Story. Um. Yeah. One of those movies that would have benefited by a strict edit. As much as I like Toni Collete, this one made me relieved when it was finally over. High point: seeing the Australian country side. Low point: most of the plot was excruciatingly slow and ultimately boring.

The "M" Word

“So, about that getting married idea…”
-Keith

Spring break was fairly eventful. I got mad at one of the owners at the bar, had some time to sleep in and be a bum, and I got engaged. Keith and I have talked about getting married for a while, mostly trying to figure when would be a good time and a little bit of me saying, “No, I don’t want to just live with you.” I’ve had it in my mind for a long time that we’d end up tying the proverbial knot, but it’s always been a “someday” kind of idea. Now it’s a “end of September” idea. I’ve mostly adjusted, but it’s still a strange thought. Before the year is over, I’ll be a Mrs.

Here’s the plan: Toward the end of June, after Keith graduates, he’ll move in with me. At the end of September/beginning of October, we’ll go to the courthouse, sign the papers, then go to my folks’ house for a BBQ. No ceremony, no wedding dress, just a party. While that’s all figured out, things that aren’t include whether I’m going to do the hyphenation thing with my name, where Keith’s damn iguana is going to go, and who’s getting invited to the party. It’s okay, though, there’s still time.

Here’s the sad part. When I told my parents the news, their reaction was to be a bit surprised, but supportive. When he told his parents the news, their reaction was to ask how I’d be able to stand him. That’s no joke. Their questions were along the lines of, “but how will she put up with you going out with your friends all the time? How will she like you sleeping in so late?” Come on, I’ve known him for almost nine years, I’ve dated him for the past three and a half of those, and if his habits drove me nuts, I’d have been gone long ago. I’m hoping they’ll come around, or at least stop giving him grief about it. Here’s hoping.

In the meantime, I’ve been having marriage chats with my mom about things like handling money, adjusting to living with another person, etc. Also, I called my brother the other night and ended up waking him up to tell him the news. He was a bit asleep at the time, so he had to call me back the next day and say, “About that. Congratulations.”

The most strange part is that I’m somehow very reluctant to tell the people I know. I’m not exactly sure why, except that it seems too personal, like telling people I’m going to the gynecologist or something. Nothing wrong with it, but they don’t need to know. Ah well, I’ll get around to it.

A Visit and Computer Hell

"Speaking of death, Tim has cancer."
-Peg, September 1999

This morning as I lay in bed, telling myself it was time to get up, my phone rang. My friend Tim is going to be in town (from Virginia) unexpectedly - one of his friends he met while being treated for cancer has passed away and he's coming back for the funeral. I haven't talked to him since before he moved out east, almost a year. He's still doing okay, for the most part, which is good, but this'll be a tough trip for him in more ways than one. Fortunately, though his schedule is tight and filled with gobs of people to see, we'll get a chance to have lunch Wed. It'll be good to catch up.

Also this morning, I came to the office, logged on to the computer, and found out that all of my files since I've started as Katherine's assistant last June - were gone. Absolutely, completely disappeared. That includes the anthology, contact lists, institute documents, the whole she-bang. I called the IT guys and tried not to panic. They said, "Yeah, we started something new where all non-network files are deleted every time you log off." Super.

The SCWP log-on has no way to save to the network, so how the hell was I supposed to save to the network? Grr. Anyhow, they came in, pulled the hard-drive out and did what they do, then brought it back. About half the files I lost I can retrieve. Most of the others Katherine has too, so she can send them. It's just the pain-in-the-assery of finding out which I can open, which are corrupt, which Katherine has, and which I have to do-over from scratch. *Sigh*

I'm so glad to be back from spring break.

Christmas Beads

I asked for beads for Christmas, so my parents got me the square sodalite beads. Added to those are some aventurine beads, and two kinds of silver spacer.

Spring Break

I'm on it. Since I've been away from campus, I've got almost exactly a week without getting online. It's been nice. I'll be back next week, however, and back in the swing of things. Until then, I'm going to take some time to enjoy my un-connectedness.

Red, Black, and Beaded All Over

Though I don't use this design too often, it's one of my favorites. There's something indulgent about dangley collars.

Funny Story

"Hello?"
-Me

On Monday night, Keith called before he came over. About ten minutes later, he called again: "Yeah, I don't think I'll make it."

"Why?"

"I'm being pulled over by the cops."

"Why?"

"I have no idea."

A bit later, when he arrived at my house, I found out that a few blocks from his house, he noticed he was being followed by a large SUV, so he circled the block a few times. Then they flashed him to pull over. Apparently, someone called his car in and so an officer followed him. They asked why he was driving "erratically." He told them that he saw a strange car following him and the last thing he wanted to do was lead it to his girlfriend's house. They checked his lisence and registration, then let him go.

The best part is that this is the second time in the past three years that he's been pulled over just because. The first time was during a trip he and I went on with two of our friends. The cop said some bogus thing about how he thought he clocked us speeding, but wasn't positive it was us. Keith got taken back to the squad car, the Dianna did. Both were questioned, everyone had to show IDs, and we were there for a good twenty minutes. When I told the story to my brother's godmother and her husband (both cops) their instant reply was, "profiling." Kinda entertaining, but he does look a little rough and the big rings in his ears don't help.

Of course, the same thing used to happen to my dad who used to have very thick facial hair. In fact, once my parents were stopped on vacation both on the way there and the way home. They had their luggage searched and everything. Profiling is funny that way.

The Chapter of Much Foreboding

"Yes! An Arnell chapter, I'm happy. Oh, and don't worry about the middle part. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
-Jenny

Last month I slacked and didn’t turn in an Oracle submission to the writers group. This month, I can’t – because twice in row is just bad. Yesterday I managed to sit down for a while in front of my computer and now I’ve got almost three pages, which isn’t too bad for a start. The story is growing more difficult, now that I’m getting close to the climax. I’ve always had a fuzzy idea of how it’d work, but now I have to work out the details – like who’s going to get killed in the fight. So far, I’ve killed two women and a male fetus, so in fairness’ sake, I’m going to have to knock off one of the guys, but who?

Devyn (Kelda’s step-father) is an obvious choice, so he can’t be it.
Dorian (weasely kid) would be out of the way if he died, so I’ve got to keep him. Convenient deaths are annoying.
Sedge (hero) is kind of obvious.
Arnell (mercenary) would make sense, but too many people like him, besides, if he ends up pulling a martyr, that’d be against everything I’m trying to do with his character.
Attun (mentally unwell youth) is so immediately in peril, that there’s little way he could survive.

I can’t figure out who I can kill off without people seeing it coming. Damn it. Of course, there is the Joss solution – decide who’s death will make the audience most angry, then kill that person. In which case, Arnell is doomed. *Sigh*

Of course, the even more immediate problem is what’s going to happen in this chapter. As I told Jenny, I know how it begins, and roughly how it ends, but I’m really unsure about the pages in between. I guess there’s nothing for it, but to sit down and write it out.

Writer’s block is just another way of saying “lazy.”

T.A. Application

"Applicants should submit a statement of interest and qualification to the Program Coordinator by April 10. They also should request two recommendations from graduate faculty members using the attached form."

Step One: Get recommendations. Check
Step Two: Write letter. Not check.

I will come right out and admit it first thing – I’m a little freaked out. I’m scared that I won’t get the TA and scared that I will, and I don’t know which one would be worse. Getting it would be a step in the right direction toward becoming a full-fledged professor one day. Getting it would also mean a big new time commitment and the possibility that I’ll make an ass of myself trying to teach when I can’t handle it. Not getting it takes the pressure off. It also means no tuition waiver and no step in the right direction – along with the implication that my qualifications aren’t sufficient.

Katherine and David have both finished their recommendations for me. All I need to do is write a letter, a short one, and submit it. I’m having a case of intimidation based writer’s block. I don’t know what to put in my letter. Should it be longish? Shortish? How much does it really count, anyway? The selection committee is made up of English faculty, which means they pretty much already know me. Katherine’s more or less running our campus composition program, which means her say has a lot of weight. So, if she thinks I can/should be a TA, that means extra points toward getting it.

I’m trying to figure out why I’m so anxious and I think it comes down to: if I get it, I’m afraid I’ll figure it was too easy – no one else applied, the faculty already know me. Then, if I don’t get it – they didn’t think I could do it? Ugh. All right, I’ve got to write my letter. All I’ve got to do is write it and turn it in. Then it’s out of my hands, right? Then I can stop worrying about it. Just as soon as I spend ten minutes writing the letter, I can relax. Right?

Final (?) Harassment Update

"So, it turns out __ isn't as bad as we thought he was. Maybe."

A few weeks ago I said that my friend had sat down with the department head and talked about a guy in the grad program who makes off-color, sexist, and anti-religous comments. Finally, they've confronted him and he basically said, "Yes, I did/said those things, I didn't realize it was a problem. I'll behave now." He signed a form saying he'd mind his manners, understanding that a further infraction would mean being removed from the program.

My friend isn't convinced that he was innocent of the fact that he was being offensive, and I have to agree wit her. However, he's admitted to the claims against him and is now obligated to cut it the hell out. This bodes well, I think.

St. Pat's

"I'm glad it's over."
-Jan (one of the owners)

St. Patrick's day is a day famous for wearing green garb, pinching people who aren’t, and getting drunk. I work at an English/Irish pub. We have Guinness on tap.

St. Patrick’s day is a day famous for being hell for waitresses. Last year, I vowed that if there was ever any way I could avoid another St. Pat’s, I would. I made some bucks, but it wasn’t worth it. Unfortunately, there was no way to get out of it this year. Fortunately, the place was not as packed as last – hallelujah for small favors, eh? Also on the bright side, I managed to keep from slipping into a foul mood – apparently doing so on Friday night was enough (not foul mood, murderous). I maintained my cool, and was even slightly chipper, for most of the ten hours (no break) I was at the bar.

All this, despite the fact that I got stiffed on tips more during that one night than in the past two months combined. One guy in particular bought around $100 of drinks for himself and his friends. I got five dollars out of him, only because he accidentally handed me a $5 bill when he paid for one of the rounds. At one point, he said “Did you give me change for that last round?” Yes, I had. I almost added, “and you put it all in your wallet without so much as a dollar for me.” I don’t like to be rude, besides, sometimes they leave money on the table when they leave. He didn’t, but you never know for sure. Then, there was the group who bought beers at the bar because they were too impatient to wait for me to get to them – when the damn place is packed, don’t assume you’re being ignored, assume I’ll be right over just as soon as I finish putting in three tables’ worth of drink orders – then they ordered four dinners from me and walked on the check (obviously, no tip). There’s more, but you get the idea.

In the end, I made more money on Thursday than I did on St. Pat’s. At least there’s a whole entire year to go before I have to do it again.

Dangly Bits

This one's made of metallic seed beads and mottled black/green glass. I don't make too many necklaces in this style, mainly because most beads don't dangle right. These, however, are the right shape and just heavy enough to make it work. One of my favorite simple necklaces.

Finding a New David

“Grr.”
-Me

For some reason the campus internet connection is moving molasses slow today, much to my frustration. Ah well, Katherine just called and I have a project now.

Katherine’s heading the committee that’s looking for David’s replacement. I’ll be helping to screen applicants – only minimally – by checking that their application materials are complete. Of course, anything I see will be in the strictest confidence, but it’s kind of neat to think that I’ll be in the loop on this, even in such a minor way.

So, my project is to get together a box, some file folders, and a check-out form to store the materials and keep track of who’s got them. Oh boy, it’s exciting.

Nifty Sculptor

"I want to tell wild stories in a single three-dimensional vision, to radiate personality in such a way that for you to ponder a sculpture for a length of time would quite literally flesh out a biography of hair and clothing and trinkets and teeth and fingernails, etc."

-T. S. Kuebler, http://www.tskuebler.com/

I make a point of always checking Extreme Craft, because there's usually nifty stuff, and every now and again there's something that goes beyond nifty and into impressive. Something like this:

Kuebler has a wonderful imagination and fantastic attention to detail. I can only imagine the hours that go into each of his sculptures. On his website he mentions some famous folk who've bought his work, and I have to say, that if I had the money, I wouldn't mind owning one or two myself. Go to the website, now.

Interesting News from MSN.com

"The hit American movie “300” has angered Iranians who say the Greeks-vs-Persians action flick insults their ancient culture and provokes animosity against Iran."
-MSN Article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17599641/

I find it humorous that people are getting so offended. For one, the comic the movie is based on was written in 1998, well before the 9-11 attacks - so, pre-hostilities. The movie follows the comic very closely, so it’s not like the film makers were sneaking subversive stuff in there just to make digs at the Iranians.

Besides, aren’t we missing the point that, though inspired by history, it’s well-known that the comic is by no means historical. It’s a fantasy, plain and simple. It’s bloody melodrama, people!

This one’s interesting too: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17599099/?GT1=9145

So, they threaten a teacher with dismissal because he does community theater and shows his bum. Okay, so? It’s not in any way directly related to his school, or his job as a teacher. Yes, he shows some skin, but The Full Monty is not porn. Get over it, people. This guy has my full support. If he loses his job, it will be a sad day for democracy.

Neurotic Women and the Men Who Love Them

A few months ago I read The Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot. A few years ago I read Bridget Jones's Diary and its sequel. Now I'm watching episodes of Sex and the City. My God, it hurts.

But wait, you say, if it hurts, why read/watch them? Okay, I'll grant you that there's enough funny stuff thrown in to entertain me. My beef, however, is the neurotic women who are obsessed with love and looking for "the right man." How dumbass is that? "I need to find the right man" is a horribly anti-feminist idea. Yes, we, as humans are obsessed with romance (i.e. sex) but come on. The cherry on the sundae, though, is that we have these freaking-out, neurotic, obsessive women who actually find Mr. Right. How? They somehow stumble onto him, do everything in their power to make themselves look like an ass in front of him, and he loves them anyway, for no discernible reason. What the hell?

In an episode of Season One Sex and the City we have our heroine obsessing that Mr. Big is trying to hide her. She's the girlfriend he won't admit to, she thinks. So, she ends up drunk and decides it'd be a good idea to show up at his apartment in the middle of the night. Mr. Big answers the door in a robe and messy hair, she's obviously woken him. Then she accuses him of being ashamed of her, spills vodka on the floor and what does he do? He starts kissing her. Something is wrong here. Very wrong.

300

"Tonight we dine in Hell!"

-Leonidas

Since I saw, and subsequently read, Sin City, I've become a Frank Miller fan. Needless to say, I've been anticipating 300's release for quite some time now. Keith and I came up with a brilliant plan to trek up to C. Springs yesterday for dinner and 300 on the IMAX. Unfortunately, the brilliant plan went to hell when Keith got held up at work. Plan B: as soon as he walked in the door I told him about the 7:30 showing in town that we could just barely make. We hopped in the car and made it into the theater during previews and totally lucked out by finding two adjacent seats in the packed theater. Whew.

Movie Review: 300. Very, very cool. Of course, it's totally historically inaccurate on many, many levels, so take it all with a grain of salt. Besides, the movie isn't really about the battle of Termopylae, it's about heroes and spectacle. Both of which abound. Frank Miller's brilliant touches of monologue, visual style, and grit come out beautifully and the movie just oozes bad-assery. After months of anticipation, I'm pleased to say that it was totally worth it.

Salami

Fimo with black pepper inclusion, garnet, and gunmetal seed beads. This is the one I'm wearing today, in some ways, one of my favorite necklaces, because it's the only thing I have that is so blatantly red. Due to the colors and the black pepper, I always think of salami or pepperoni when I think of this necklace.

Cell Phone Loathing

"I don't know what I was thinking, but I'm off today. Yeah. That's cool girl."
-Snippet of conversation I'm being subjected to in the library

Whatever happened to the good ol' days of "Quiet Please" in the library? It's bad enough that people must have cell phone conversations while they're dining at restaurants-

Oh, that's damn funnny. Another woman's cell phone just went off. That makes two people who answered their phones (ringers were on) while using library computers. I mean, come on. It's one thing when you're off in a back row of books and the phone's on vibrate, but that was just bad manners. The other funny part was neither woman had just a ringer, but rather annoying music. Please, use a bit more discretion.

In the Psychology building basement, right next to the communal microwave, is a professor's office. Said professor has a bulletin board up by her office door which is filled with anti-cell phone cartoons. It's a beautiful thing. One day I may write an ode to that bulletin board. If you want an idea of what this glorious board is filled with, just google cartoon + cell phone.

Today's Myth Is__

"And because I don't think I have a connection speed that'll allow me to upload any photos, I'm going to post what I wrote on the first page of the book."
-Today's Oracle from Neil Gaiman's Journal

I've been watching Mythbusters episodes for the past couple of weeks, and alas, I have now run out. I feel all the better for the trivia I've gathered, and now I know the dangers of dropping a frozen turkey - watch out for your toes and your cat. While the show lacks much re-watchability, the science is fun and the geek appeal is great.

In other news, I'm stealing this link from Gaiman's journal, because it's just too funny to pass up. Aliens among us? You decide: http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/07-02-2007/87167-alien_monster-0

Project Pictures: Polymer Bead Set

"I haven't heard from you guys in a while..."

-Part of my e-mail to David's friends who ordered jewelry from me a month ago and who have yet to send me payment. Grr.

When they ordered the jewelry from me, they asked for pictures that show the process. Here are the pictures I took while I made the custom necklace.

Step One: Mix clay for color. In this case I used different amounts of gold, white, translucent, and black Kato & Sculpey.

Step Two: Roll colored clays into snakes and combine into one large snake.

Step Three: Twist and roll snake to mix colors. Repeat until satisfied with color mix.

Step Four: Slice the cane and form beads.

Step Five: (Not shown) Pierce and bake beads.

Final Beads:

Final Cover

“What kind of veto power do I have on the cover design?”
-Me

I sent covers to Katherine, she forwarded them to the co-directors, who replied with “Change this, I don’t like that font” stuff. At first, I got frustrated. Some of the suggestions were things I specifically decided against – like, Papyrus font would be damn hard to read against the textured background. After I got a chance to let my gall settle, I realized Katherine is the type who’ll let me have some executive power. Sure enough, she answered my question by saying I can take their suggestions or leave them as I see fit.

So, after some playing with font, here’s the design that I want on the cover.

P.S. Dramamine is a beautiful thing. While it hasn’t completely obliterated my Vertigo symptoms, it has greatly, greatly reduced them. Hoorah for Dramamine!

Surveys Are Fun

“Given me more tools for more actively engaged”
-Anonymous teacher response to survey question (that’s all there was, I kid you not)

Life as the SCWP assistant is multi-faceted. One of the most entertaining, yet disturbing facets, is transcription. Katherine is very enthusiastic about feedback and surveys, most of which are responded to by local public school teachers. While many educators have no apparent trouble answering questions such as, “How has this inquiry group process improved your understanding of student learning?” Others respond in varied and inexplicable ways, such as “For sures!” or [indecipherable scribbling, looks like “goat ran duck vroom”].

Two key things to remember when filling out surveys and/or response forms.

1. Write legibly. Unless your cursive is very neat, use print. Please remember, also, that transcribers do not use a microscope or magnifying glass – please, no 5pt writing.

2. Answer the question(s) asked - bonus points for complete thoughts. If a question begins with “How,” it is not an yes/no question. Thank you.

This ends this public service announcement. Have a nice day.

Ewan McGregor's Pink Bits and Chet, the Huge Shaved Cat

Nagiko: Where is a book before it is born? Who are a book's parents? Does a book need two parents - a mother and a father? Can a book be born inside another book? Where is the parent book of books? How old does a book have to be before it can give birth?

-The Pillow Book (Possibly, the best lines from the entire damn movie)

Movie Review: The Pillow Book. Weird-ass movie. Even a whole day after watching this movie, I’m still not positive whether I liked it or just thought it was okay. The beginning was overly-artsy with lots of a shot within a shot, color strangeness, and such. It mellowed as things went on, but never disappeared entirely. These are the type of things that may get comments like “lush” and “multi-layered” from other people, but leave me thinking “how much of that was really necessary?” Gotta love Ewan McGregor, though, and I’m not just talking about the nudity. Why is he such an exhibitionist, anyway? McGregor is the only big name actor I can think of who shows off his intimate parts in more than one movie. Maybe it’s a British thing. Vivian Wu does a neat job as Nagiko, and there are some pretty and poetic moments in the movie. I also dig the touch of having words in various languages lit onto the background of many shots. The most brilliant part? The Jerome book.

Book Review: You Suck! A Love Story by Christopher Moore. Funny vampire stuff, with goth girl diary excerpts. Also interesting for its connection to two other Moore books, Bloodsucking Fiends and A Dirty Job – of which, I’ve only read the second. Some authors don’t build books off each other, some do. Moore is the second kind, which is fun. While I’ll ready any Moore book I can find, this isn’t his best. Still, it’s far from bad. In other news, I just found out he has a blog.

The Kiln Fund

Last summer I took a one day class in glass fusing. This necklace has one of the pendants I made (though, not my favorite one - that one went on a necklace I gave to Camii for her B-day and, alas, I have no picture). It also has a few silver spacers, hematite, and misc. seed beads.

A few months ago, I snagged a Balvenie container (why they need a container to hold a bottle of scotch, I do not know) which became a change repository. This is around the same time that I started making use of my shift drinks at the bar: I don't drink, but I can comp. a drink someone paid for and it comes out to the same, but with a few extra dollars in my pocket. So, I decided the Balvenie container would become a savings account for pocket change and shift drink money. Then, I just needed to decide what to spend it on.

I finally had the Eureka moment I was waiting for, and realized it should go toward a small electric kiln for jewelry purposes. To date, I've got about $150 set aside and the last time I checked, a small kiln was about $350. I have a while to go yet, depending on whether I use some tax refund money to close the gap. Still, I'm excited. I can play with dichroic glass, and maybe take a hammer to some of the liquor bottles I've been collecting (Jagermeister pendants, yeah?).

A Flaming Bike and a Spinning Head

"The only predictable thing about Vertigo is its unpredictability."
-Doctor who diagnosed me

I've gotten into the pattern of expecting Vertigo about once every six months. So, when I had my last bout in January, I figured I'd be clear of it for a while. I was wrong. Another round has settled in. Every bout is different, and this is one of those rare ones where the head spins really bring on the nausea. I got some Dramamine this morning (shopping is an adventure in itself right now, and silly me, I did the self checkout). I’m hoping to high heaven that it has some effect. I was also hoping to find some Ginger Beer, but alas, I had to settle for Orange Cream Soda which doesn’t have the upset stomach reducing power of ginger, but at least it’s got mundo carbonation.

Yesterday Keith and I had a date for dinner and a movie (great timing, too, since I was feeling crummy and he had a bad day at work). Fortunately, despite the odds, we had a nice time. I for one was thrilled to get out of the house, since there was no way I was driving yesterday and he was my only hope.

Movie Review: Ghost Rider. The critics aren’t impressed, but most everyone else likes it. I’m somewhere in between. Hoorah for Sam Elliott and Nicolas did a respectable job. The CGI guys were definitely on the ball, and the whole legend/mythic atmosphere was neat. Beyond that, it gets fuzzy. Now, typically, I like Eva Mendes, but in this movie the love story was damn ridiculous and, for the most part, so was she. Ugh. Spare me. The writers fell in love with skeleton puns, and got quite carried away. Add to that some extraneous moments that had me thinking “Now what was the point of that?” and I think this one may have been best left as a comic.

Birthday and Manuscripts

"I'm thinking the final chapter total will be around 12-14. I have it about to the beginning of Chapter 9 and after that is what I'm thinking of as the "Brandon Chapter" where it's an excerpt from the manuscript. I'm worried that it's a little too short, so I'm debating about what I want.... "
-Jenny, E-mail

I finished the part of Jenny's manuscript that she's given me and now eagerly await the rest. I'm relieved that I was able to get through the chunk I had so quickly. I feel a radiating sense of accomplishment. Hoorah for me! Okay, ego trip over. It's interesting to see a manuscript (more or less all at once) of a novel. This is the first time I've had the experience and I think it's fun. What'll be even more fun is seeing it get published - Go Jenny!

In other news, today's my brother's birthday. It's funny, too, that my parents are out of town and he's still in Springs, and when I tried to call him, he didn't answer. So, yes, it's the anniversary of my brother's birth, but we're far from rolling out the confetti.

Now, cross your fingers for me, because I had a case of the dizzies this morning and I'm afraid another bout of Vertigo might be rolling over me. Damnit, the last one was only two months ago, this isn't fair at all. But, maybe, just maybe, the dizziness from this morning is isolated. Cross your toes, too.

Harassment Complaint

"Since we spoke, the provost has been apprised of this matter and F-- has talked to the university attorney, who advised us that it should be reported to T--, the university Affirmative Action Officer, who investigates cases of sexual harassment, immediately."
-Part of an E-mail string I received last week

A few months ago I talked about a male student in the graduate program who was making people uncomfortable. Well, the ante has been upped. The gal who was most offended by this fellow made a formal complaint. She spoke to the head of the department last week, and was basically told she needed more evidence (letters she collected from other students didn’t count). She said she felt like she was blown off. Unfortunate.

On the “bright” side, it does sound like people other than the department head are looking at the situation more closely. Also, her first step makes it easier for others to speak up, and I’m pretty sure I know of at least one other student who plans to do so.

As far as this guy goes, the creepiness has escalated. He’s asked a couple of female students where they live so he can “drop off notes” or such. He’s called one gal every night for a week straight, to the point where she does not answer the phone anymore. I’m glad he’s ignored me so far, but it makes me uneasy. Last night in class I caught him looking my way and got a squirmy feeling. I always make sure to walk out with someone after class, and last night I was especially glad I had company out to my car.

I hope something substantial happens. This guy needs to leave the graduate program.