Mutant Ninja Turtles Gaiden

I don't often talk about the webcomics I read, but MNT Gaiden is special. And I'm not going on about how it's special because I'm really sleepy. GO READ IT! Then why I squealed with joy over the page this panel was on might make sense.

Okay, you might also need to know that Michaelangelo was probably my first non-human crush. Forget the stupid teen idols, I wanted a mutant turtle who cracked surfing jokes way back in 1987. And even through the overhauls the Turtles have gone through over the decades, Mikey is always underestimated. Always.

One of the friends I got to see the new TMNT movie with had this question: "Who do you think has the most strength, agility, probably the best fighter of the group?" I think my guess was Leo, after all it hard to argue with his battle brains. "Nope, it's Mikey. He keeps up with Leo and Raph and he only does the bare minimum of training Splinter lets him get away with."

To which I added, "His skateboard stunts. And he should be dead from some of them by now. You're right."

So even Mikey's biggest fan underestimated him.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment Intro

Since I stick to things better when I admit to them, blog entries. I'm resisting the urge to create a new blog I won't update, so it's just a category in Blank for now. Why Iron Experiment? Because I'm going to use free weights for the first time. Pumping iron, get it?

Today is go to gym and figure out max reps I can do on the weight lifting exercises, and go to yoga class if it's still scheduled. It's been forever since I was able to go.

Next workout day is Thursday--as long as the gym is open. It's not a complete given; the library is open but not when I can use it. If they do keep decent hours, I need to get my class schedule and plan my weekly workout schedule, so I will be used to it when classes start.

If they don't have decent hours, I guess I will be setting up the home gym earlier than anticipated. Good thing I just printed out the article on weightless weight training.

Goals: Boy, do I have some. Overall, it's a commitment to healthy living and that includes exercising. But that doesn't mean I don't have any expectations to measure against.

Current height is 62.25 inches/158.1 cm.
Current weight is 194.5 pounds/88.4 kg.
Current Body Mass Index is 35.3 kg/m2.

According to Better Ideal Weight Body Calculators, I should be:
between 105 - 138 pounds/47 - 62 kg
with a BMI between 19 and 25.

I want to be a size four again. I want to be Angeline Jolie playing Lara Croft only my boobs will be real. I want to have a flat-ish stomach for the first time in my life, even if you can't see a six-pack on it. I'd love to be 120 pounds and have a BMI of 20.

I'd be happy losing a pound a week and 5 cm in the measuring spots. And I don't care how long it takes.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

End of July

So I had a brainstorm over cooking. The problem has been I like to cook but I don't like washing dishes, I cook too much and either get sick of the leftovers or they go bad before I eat them. But cooking allows for better portion control and healthier food choices. I never know what is in the pantry and never have the right ingredients for a dish I get a craving for. When I shop, I buy good stuff, but it goes bad before I get a chance to cook it--fresh veggies are the worst.

Once a week cooking works best with my schedule, so I don't have to figure out what to cook and pack each day. Now, instead of trying to buy a month's worth of groceries a shopping trip, I'm just going to buy a week's worth--especially the ingredients for the planned meals. Hopefully, this will lead to me using up the stuff I have bought ahead and lessen the impulse buys. And the stuff on the I-want list can be budgeted for.

I worked with a chart to show the best way to mix and match, so I wouldn't be eating the same thing twice four days in a row. I came up with three entrees, two veggie dishes, and two desserts. Four to five portions of the entrees will be in the fridge for consumption. The remainder will be frozen. Veggies and desserts will be mixed and matched so there is more difference between meals. The desserts I'm getting from a couple of diabetic cookbooks I have, so there's more emphasis on fruits and less on sugar. And I figure adding one more dish will keep me from going to the vending machines.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Before Iron Experiment

I'm sorry to say, but this is the most recent picture of me from beginning of April this year. My nephew Atticus surrounded by his adoring aunts. His mother took the picture. I'm the fat one in green and the white turban, playing Agnes Bailey.

Measurements
neck: 37.5 cm
bust: 119.2 cm
waist: 102.2 cm
hips: 118.3 cm
thigh: 55.1 cm
calf: 40.6 cm
upper arm: 30.3 cm
lower arm: 25 cm

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Weightlifting for women

Week 7 = 194.5
Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

First stop: back still hurts. Why? Desk Jockey Syndrome. Orthopedic doctor named the problem muscles, gave me a specific exercise to do "100 times a day."

Second stop: I suck at counting and figured there had to be a better way to exercise those back muscles. Remembered I didn't have as long healing after last year's wreck when I had been doing weight lifting.

Third stop: Google for "weight lifting back exercises." Got really annoyed with sites found. Even googled specifically on the muscles names. Finally put in "weight lifting for women."

Fourth stop: Found stumptuous.com women's weight training site.

I've enjoyed lifting weights a whole lot more than aerobics. The trainer (a man) I had show me around the YMCA when I joined and did my fitness assessment then actually encouraged me to lift weights in order to lose fat. The trainer (a woman) I had at school was shocked by what I could already lift. At least she had enough tact not to finish the sentence "Gee, you're strong for..." (a girl/a big fat, pig struck me as equal endings). I stopped lifting because of the 2006 wreck and the mistaken assumption I had to have more cardio.

But I always stuck by machines. Part of it was intimedation. I feel too damn self-conscious in the gym just being a fat girl in the gym. And then go to the boys' side where the boys resemble Godzilla and I'm a skyscrapper in downtown Tokoyo? Yeah, right. The second half is residual. The weight lifting class instructor I had threatened to flunk anyone on the free weights without a spotter. And that was back in 1995; how's that for intemidation! But I never had a spotter and had no desire to choke on a weight bench, so I stayed with the machines.

Now I think I'm ready to cross the gender divide in order for my back to stop hurting and to lose weight. I really don't like plateau weeks. I'm not giving up yoga, if they schedule night classes for the next semester. But while it's good for me too, I need more impressive results.

I have no desire to compete, besides when would I have the time. My ultimate goal would be to fit in the size 4 red dress I wore as a senior in high school again. Getting off the drugs and not worrying about diabeties. To be strong, confident, and able to defend myself. No more of this excess weight. And to set up a home gym as finances allow. Reading through sections, it might be more effective to work up to a workout every other day at home with just a couple days at the gym.

I start tomorrow if the gym is open, and I have time around the yoga class. Tonight is finish the damn paper and final.

Part Three: Fat or Fit? Fat and Fit? Motivational pep talk I needed. I've had moments of depression: "this will never change because my genes have doomed me." How's that for a fantasy destiny?

Stella's Kitchen The receipes look good and healthy food that cooks quick is a bonus.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

I was bad

Spent hours yesterday caught up in research that had absolutely nothing to do with anything I needed to do. However, I managed to get most of the paperwork boxed in the living room dealt with before going to bed. I have my loveseat back now.

Today's plans: finish the homework and submit it so nothing is late for tomorrow. Get started on the money stuff cause I don't know how the hell I can finish it today. Then go to the library and get my reference books out because while the library has open hours for the next three weeks, they are not open when I have time to go in.

I don't know when I'm going to be able to sign-up to keep the carrel either. My paperwork says key turn-in date is July 31st, and I have to work damnit. They couldn't make it the same day I need to go get parking sticker and books. :p

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Homework, what's left

Poems written, but need another edit before declared finished.
Write 1500 word paper examining 3 or 4 poems from Reading Diaries.
Put together Final Portfolio of all poems I wrote.
Take Final Exam which is already posted.

And after I finish all that, I have to do budget math again. Yeap, I've let myself get thrown way off course again. And while doing budget math, I'm going to finish the filing that has been piling up in the home office.

I have three weeks before classes start again. I'd like to know exactly how to deal with the school money when I get it. And I'd like to spend those weeks on writing. Mostly the Educators' Guide, but I'm down to what I really have to research.

I hope they aren't going to close the library completely those three weeks. Better go check.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Catching up

I've spent most of this week getting my sleep schedule back on track. I have to stop and do research on the next sections of the Educators' Guide. I finished rough drafts of all 10 poems needed for class and have to get that together tonight and tomorrow night. So probably no Yoga again this week. Bad Kindra, no bicuit.

Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

Got new shoes and in the I-hate-breaking-shoes-in phase now. Dug through one set of saved clothing to find the size 16 stuff to retry on. I still have one more place to check. (Third spot I have I know is size 12s only.)

Succeeded in cleaning off a whole lot of my work desk--only leaving filing to do. Now if I could just do that with the home desks.

Been going through the Ikea catalogue and website to find new office furniture. Problem one: my back problems aren't helped by my habit of leaning over my papers. Problem two: I broke the computer desk last time I moved it and whatever I get from Ikea I have to put castors on it to access the wires. The current desk is propped up until I can afford a new desk.
So I'm in the making cutouts and see what will work in the space on paper phase. But I suck at seeing things three-dimensionally and I worry that if I invest it won't do the job of what I have currently.

Do you think Ikea will let me bring boxes to represent my current office equipment to put on their display models? They're really nice about letting you try things out in the store.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Damn I totally missed this

Fred Saberhagen died June 29, 2007. I was never a huge fan. I enjoy his take on Dracula and connecting him to Holmes for popcorn fiction. And never found his fantasy.

But I did meet him at CoastCon, Jesus, before Chad and I started dating. He was sweet and nearly nobody showed up at his panel. We're having a great discussion on the novelization of Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula when my friends showed up to help me the budding writer get advice from the seasoned pro. Yeah, that would be me sinking through the floor with embarrassment in an Elizabethan noble gown.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Stalking Snape

Apparantly the comic went on hiatus and never returned. But I still enjoyed this three-page progression introducing ONE OF THEM!

http://snape.comicgenesis.com/d/20060819.html
http://snape.comicgenesis.com/d/20060915.html
http://snape.comicgenesis.com/d/20061101.html

And I would like to nominate it as one of the best canon characters reactions to a Mary Sue ever.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Good mood replaced by peeved

Supposed to be more fun time today, but Mom would rather sulk because I didn't do things exactly the way she thought they should have been done. And she's pissed off at Dad.

Any wonderings where I got my fucking martyr complex from? From the house next door and she's going to stay sore at me all week. Instead of getting out of bed when I said we could go to the 1:35 feature. My compromise for having slept late. But no I was supposed to call at midnight and wake her up or something.

So yeah, my good mood over actual time off and fitting into another paid of size 16 jeans is evaporated. So I'm concentrating on homework. I'd be willing to give up library time today if I get everything on the list done ahead of time and turned in. No panic on July 30 this way.

I already got another poem done.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Harry Potter 7

Movie thoughts later. I now have the book. I have food provisions. I may see you again sometime Monday.

First Billionaire by Writing Chad did make a comment about her fourth-grade prose. I think my reply was "Does it matter?" And I have had the jealous bug bite hard. An eight-year-old gets a publishing contract brings out much of the latent snarls that I had to suppress when my younger sister won the elementary school creative writing contest I had been trying to win for 4 years. (Not at all helped by my mother going "how precious she gave the Indians in tepees trunks under their bed." Got setting wrong and the brat still won.)

I don't feel that for Rowling. I'm proud and amazed at what she did. She made me cry. And she deserves every bit of the success.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Friday thoughts

I scare myself sometimes. Okay, a lot of times. But with all the damn fighting I've had to do to make myself write (though it goes pretty easy once I get through whatever the hell is blocking me), it's a little freaky not to have to fight at all. Except to tell myself, I'm going to get in trouble for not paying attention at work. So what's the difference?

It's fanfiction, Evil Jack: For Worse to be precise. I was only going to get the opening scene started while waiting for a response on Schedule Changes continued and before I knew it I was lost in the head-over-heels creation bit and in the third scene about to start handwritten page 9. And it's only been two days!

So first reason I can come up with is I must be putting a whole shitload of subconscious pressure on myself on the original stuff. So much that I'd rather ignore it. Not that I slack off with fanfiction because it still has to be the best story it can possibly be, but they're for my friends. If my friends don't like a story, it may hurt for a little while, but they'll like the next one I do. It's not the same as sending a story off to an EDITOR.

Yes, I do realize this is my irrationality rearing it's ugly head. Editors are just as capable of being like my friends and liking one thing I write better than another. But I won't know unless I get over the fear of selling. Moving on.

Second reason: I think it's time I admit that I am an outliner and write much happier with an outline to follow. This story and the two that follow it in the Evil Jack series have been plotted out since 2003. Not that I slavishly follow the outline if something comes up that works better, but knowing how A leads to B and eventually gets to Z takes a lot of the worry away and I focus on details and nuances. When I finally got the end half of Zy's Novel outlined, most of the worry fog over it disappated.

Third reason: I hear them in my head even when I'm distracted. Originals are taking a lot more focus--maybe a side effect of not knowing the worlds and characters as well as I should being impatient to start writing and get it done. I've started a new book Novelist's Boot Camp by Todd A. Stone and realize I may be hurting my original stories by not laying proper foundation. But then I have an equally valid concern that I will get sucked into world building and not write a story. But I'm thinking Stone covers that later in the book.

So since it is going so scary well and it's been too damn long since I could say that about my writing, I'm going to finish the first draft. I may end up sitting on it for a while before editing and beta reading but it will be out of my head and out of the way.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Alt. BM Site goals

Don't freak out. The major work is done. This is stuff I want to get done before I can back off for a month.

1. Set up the test version in a subdirectory off of Alt. Biker Mice Site.
2. Use test site to figure out
   1. the need to log in twice
   2. how to fix the log out so you go to the splash page
   3. block and page listing users who want to see mature content with their DOBs and showing the check mark is checked yes
   4. Long range - how the bloody hell to do Torture posts
3. Update all rules listed. Maybe in one spot separate from the FAQ. Also use less words in them.
4. Are nodes still open to anonymous viewers? Used to be they could read or see and not comment.
5. Set up moderators.
6. Figure out why the Syndication block isn't working with Bloglines.
7. Start a contest for a new layout.
8. Better exposure to Bikermice.tv and Red Planet
9. Make a decision on webrings
10. Add the who's online block. I can't tell if anybody's using the site at the same time I am.F Figure out how to hide the Who's online block so just me and moderators see it.
11. See if we need to add the Abuse module
12. Find a way to send out mass emails to all users, because I doubt the read rule changes

A lot of stuff should be done to the test site first, before moving it to the live site. And some stuff listed doesn't have to happen before I slack off. I just wanted to have it listed so I won't forget it.

And if anyone else has noticed something else it needs, tell me and I'll add it to the list.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Cue the 80's nostalgia vibe!

My favourite scene!



Everybody else's favorite scene:



And the reason why it's important:



July 24th!

I cannot stress how much I love this movie. First off, one of the first books I ever had about the folklore around monsters worked off the Universal movie monsters. Then they went from being respected scary villans to comic fodder in Abbott and Castello movies. Van Helsing I think tried to invoke the classic horror movie vibe, but the movie had other failings that even Hugh Jackman in TIGHT, LEATHER, PANTS! (Yummy) couldn't fix.

The Monster Squad worked! Sure, it's a comedy and for those who like their horror served to them in a bloodfest will be disappointed. But the monsters are back and they are scary. Cops get slaughtered left and right. Dracula is a nigh unstoppable villian, even after he gets staked.

July can't get any better. Harry and more Harry and now the Monster Squad.

Mutter, guess nobody wants to read anything

Anyways I forgot to report that current weight on Monday was 195.5 pounds. So it's slower than I like but I also haven't been pushing myself hard in the exercise category (I keep breaking myself when I do try).

Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

July 20th Update: I got to wear a size 16 jeans that I haven't fitted into in months for the first time today. They are still a little snug around the belly, but I can start making closet progress--i.e. bring out outfits I got too big to wear back into rotation.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Schedule changes continued

I love it when I can cross something off the list, even if it means I have to redo the schedule.

Note to me: Give smut moderator feedback privileges - i.e. the feedback email and password.

Back on topic: I need to check in Alt. BM Site once a week until I get all the moderators set up when I can scale back to once a month and emergencies. I think six months before tweaking modules and operating system is a good wait. Plus gives people plenty of time to work on the layout contest I'm going to start.

Also in the mean time, I need to follow Drupal directions and set up a dev site attached to the same database and in the same account. The current one is in the Library's account and a pain in the arse to get to.

I'm thinking of checking in on Fridays before Doctor Who, so if I need to spend more time on it I can plan my weekend.

But in the upswing, I got two days back. Or two partial days, I still have homework to do. Either way to look at it still involves the dance of joy. With three days invested in the Educators' Guide, I can devote the time to fiction for now.

Fiction Projects

1. "The Blue Man on the Porch"
2. Zy's Novel
3. Strix webcomic
4. Zy's vacation story
5. "Underneath the Colored Lights
6. Canterbury Murder Mystery
7. Evil Jack: For Worse
8. Wars Are Won: Turbo
9. "Covenant of the Restless"
10. Strix prequel short story

"The Blue Man on the Porch"

is almost done. The last edits should be chopping the word count down to a marketable level. So I really need to be looking for the next thing to step up.

Zy's Novel

I really want to get its first draft done this year. But I'm looking at being very close to thesis time, and only having 4 short stories for it ("The Blue Man on the Porch,""Covenant of the Restless," "The Gingerbread Girl," and "The Hitchhiking Highwayman"). I have no idea how many are required, but I'd like to get some more done. And let me spend some time in a different universe.

Strix Webcomic

Alas, must wait until there is no thesis pressure.

Zy's vacation story

This story hasn't completely gelled yet and I want to get out of this universe for a while.

"Underneath the Colored Lights"

the plot needs an overhaul and probably the characters too. And I don't want to do dark and disturbing right now.

Canterbury Murder Mystery

is a possibility except it's a script and I need to work on short stories. Okay, that stray idea is only because I want to do something head-explodey different for a thesis. :P

"Evil Jack: For Worse"

up next in the unopened fanfic slot. The story would be fun and a breeze, unlike having to fight with edits and aliens I got to design. But, but, but thesis. *Sigh* But it's supposed to be fun! *Sigh*.

"Wars Are Won: Turbo"

need to write "For Worse" first.

"Covenant of the Restless"

is in editing because it needs expanding and world building. But since it's already started, it's not a new project.

Strix prequel story

is already started-ish but still have a lot of world building and character building. But it still feels new and exciting. I think because I want to avoid superhero romance stereotypes and stereotypes in my own writing. And that really sounds like the fun.

So it boils down to I'm torn between Martian mice, vampire superheroes, and Elizabethan sea dogs. Which would you rather read?

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Alt. BM Site update

I sent a service ticket to SiteGround this morning, hoping that the problem is something that can be fixed without getting a server backup restore. They charge for that. Paying is not an issue; I just want it to be a last resort. Depending on how serious they take it, I may hear back on it today but more likely tomorrow.

Update: To paraphrase Vinnie: "I FIXED IT! I updated! Erect a statue! Give me a guy to kiss!"

Though I do promise not to let the ego swell for the next six months.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Update on July 15th

Harry got canceled. Which is why I stayed up until 4am last night working on the website update. HUMUNGEOUS progress thanks to Bek and Mez. I have to find some virtual thank yous to send them that are safe and not viruses in disguise.

So if all goes to plan for me today, (Murphy, I swear to all the gods I will kill you!) I think I can finish the transfers of the fanfics to books, set up the Latest Fanfic page, set up the new announcements system, figure out how to better moderate/automate the smut viewing permissions, and change my username before I go to bed tonight.

If I don't, it was the weather. And I should have enough done to let the users back in.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

July 14th and 15th plans

Finally got school money in, so I can go grocery shopping and shopping for household items I need at Lowe's and Office Depot. *Sigh* Looks like grocery shopping at Wal-Mart then.

Home: write poem (CSI: Miami and Doctor Who not conductive to poetry writing) and post Reading Diaries and comments.
Print out what I have so far of Educator's Guide and outline.
Tally up word counts if I've made the 100 Words total.
Website update.
And to keep me from foaming at the mouth due to lack of cooperation from website update, pull out stacked-up coloring jobs and color pencils to distract myself. At least something will get done.
Write Doctor Who essay for blog.
Find tinge pack; shoulder hurts.

Need to look at next fiction projects. Blue Man is almost finished and I will need more short stories for thesis. Now there's a thought: what about the webcomic idea for a thesis? Still need an artist. Need to see if it would even be allowed. Because prequel idea in my head sounds like it's expanding into at least a novella.

Sunday is Harry Potter in Lafayette and planning the Teachers' Workshop.
Website updating if time allows and I know what I'm doing.

Read Free!
The BookWorm


Progress Bar from Writertopia

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Dealing with Epiphanies

After a particularly nasty blow-up Sunday night, I haven't been off sulking. I've been working as the improving word counts show (though I do think I'm off on the weekly, must remember to bring back to 0 next Sunday). And I've been thinking of the best way to phrase things. That's been writing down a lot of top level thoughts as they floated through my brain and seeing where they led. Because I'm not trying to be defensive about other people's observations (no point when they're true), I'm not trying to stay stuck in bad habits, I'm not trying to justify or excuse bad habits, and I realize whatever I say will sound like all of the above. Damned, no matter what I do or say.

The biggest issue is feeling that way and brooding over it. Letting it invalidate everything I am or could be. So why do anything and the drama queen comes out full-force. Ugh, I am so tired of feeding here, which leads me to try this full disclosure route. Then maybe it will be possible to see that I'm "hanging on in quiet desperation" over a foot-high drop. (The Pink Floyd quoting was intentional.)

Not only is it an epiphany on finally getting fed up with my own head space, I started consulting the Tarot cards. I respect the cards more as a clarification tool than divination. First stop was Googling to see if there was free online Tarot readings. I found http://www.facade.com/tarot/ and found new pretty decks and new spreads. (Not brave enough to try the Lovecraft themed one. First problem, the theme. Second problem, bought a LoTR themed desk and loved the divisions of the book plot and characters into the Major and Minor Arcana. HATE the artwork. Made Eowyn a bimbo and put shoes on the hobbits. But digressing...)

The first spread I tried out was Shadow Truth, good at providing insight into your attitudes and hidden feelings. The card in the what you cannot confront space was the Emperor: "Worldly authority. Professional success. Social power." Now why those things scare me to the point I'd rather quit writing than face them, that still hasn't been answered. The fact I recognized the fear in myself took the card answers in a different direction.

By the time I got home Monday and laid out my decks, my focus had changed to how-the-hell-do-I-get-out-of-this-mess. So it made more sense that Death was in the where you are now slot and forces against you was the Chariot. The desires category is a good summation why:
Death: Feel you can't go on with status quo and want things to change radically.
Chariot: You don't know what you should do or where you are going and are afraid of losing control. You want to force a resolution, but don't know how.
The overall spread was very hopeful. It will all turn out okay; if you don't give up, change your reaction to events, and be self-confident, self-reliant, and continue to direct your energy to your work.

Hence the week long concentration on work, which was enabled by the drama queen getting the stuffing knocked out of her.

Now that we've covered the Tarot again proves scary accurate topic, let's move onto other thoughts.

Believe in myself. - Somewhen along the way, I lost faith in me. Without examining too closely, I think I've been stuck in the "You Suck" Scripts off and on for the better part of the past year. And the off time spent avoiding anything that would trigger it.

Good news appears to be, realizing this has not triggered any guilty reflexes nor drama queen histrionics.

Good at visualization and stuck in "you suck" scripts = creating worse case scenarios? - I think this is pretty damn likely. Which leads to the next thing I need to always remember:

Life isn't rotten, I'm not rotten; the situation is the only thing rotten and it will get better.

I've tried the stay-at-home, do-nothing-but-write, and I wasn't happy. - I believe there is a balance between being a recluse and being too busy to work. I also know I'm really bad at finding it. Scheduling does help, but only if I schedule sanely.

Don't yell at me for following the schedule. - It's not a perfect schedule and I can't always put fiction first, but right now I'm putting a lot of thought into it and trying hard to stick to it. Yelling at me that I should be doing something else only makes me go: "what's the point." And that soon leads to me trying to do everything I have to do in one day 15 minutes each project in a rotation. That only works with housework.

Alt. BM Site is a karmic debt. - I don't expect anyone to understand why I feel indebted to a fictional universe but I'm paying it forward. It won't last forever. Realize it seems like forever and it's only driving me crazy because when am I online? Weekends. When am I scheduled to work on it? Weekends. And who has been working on it for hours and is frustrated beyond belief by the time everyone gets on to talk to her on the weekend? Me! It's not a fair representation of the rest of my life is all I'm saying. And with a little patience and a whole lot of luck, I'll be done with the update soon and can ignore it for another year.

And I need more sleep at night. - Well, that's a given and an almost constant state.

And that's it. Tune in next time for my thoughts on Doctor Who

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

For Better or Worse

*Sigh* It used to be so good. I remember the death of Farley, and I was at the right age for it to make an impact. But it has gone so flat. I hated it at the time but I think Bill Watterson had the right idea to retire at the top of his game.

Course, why feel sorry if you can creatively snark instead?

Rayne is trying to find a new strip where he won't age. Least I Could Do: With All Respect to Lynn Johnson

And T Campbell thought he was mean. David Willis's Shortpacked: My Mother is F'in Insane

The authorial commentary at the end was over the top, but I love the blinking eyes. Foobetter 'r Foowurse! (A web version of a For Better or Worse strip had a last panel with Elizabeth blinking her eye spastically, causing a freak out among readers. I love the homage here to that.)

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The BookWorm


Progress Bar from Writertopia

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Hellboy II

I am so looking forward to this movie!

http://dougjones.wordpress.com/tag/hellboy-ii-the-golden-army/

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/07/circus-drums-in-distance.html

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Sharing Links

I'm going to close a lot of tabs so I'm no longer distracted by them. But I haven't had a chance to read them all yet.

GUMSHOE Sounds like CSI vs. the paranormal. Not that I ever have a chance to hook up with the other roleplayers I know for a gaming session.

Review of GUMSHOEs first game
A second review of GUMSHOEs first game

Call of Cthulu stuff to buy I wonder if this is the same group that started filming adaptations of Lovecraft's works. Set in the 1920s. Apparantly they were LARPing that time period and realized they were better than most Hollywood takes on Lovecraft.

I'm betting Harrison got him that T-shirt. If I say anything more on the subject, it'll just piss me off.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Yeah, what he said.

Goodbye, Harry by Stephen King

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The BookWorm


Progress Bar from Writertopia

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Interesting collection to read

Terri Windling's Fairy Tale series:

The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars by Steven Brust (Ace)
Jack the Giant-Killer (a.k.a. Jack of Kinrowan) by Charles de Lint (Ace)
The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey (Ace)
Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C. Wrede (Tor)
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean (Tor)
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (Tor)
White as Snow by Tanith Lee (Tor)
Fitcher's Brides by Gregory Frost (Tor)

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

No way in hell

No way in hell would I do it. But I admire him for doing it. Man flies 193 miles in lawn chair

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Irony

I felt bad missing library time last week because my back was tied into a knot. Now I find out the library was closed due to an electric outage during the same time.

What else can I say? I need to remember to pack my desk fan to the cartel tomorrow.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Saturday plans

Simple plans really. I have to go to AMF meeting tomorrow; so today is homework, website update, and cleaning house.

The poem I'm working on is supposed to be a response to "I Don't Like You, Poetry" and it's being tiresome. The lines are decent but not coming together to form a response. I have other poems to post up for my contribution this week, but I'd feel better about my final project if this one would bam! come together.

I'm not going to talk about Doctor Who in this post. Some of my last posts have been jumbled altogether trying to get everything in my head shared. I need to go back and edit the Highlander movie review into a new post. And remember to add my observation I wish the McLeod clan would make.

3pm Update: I have something on the poem, but I'm still not getting anywhere with it. And then wasting a few hours on fanvids at YouTube and hurting my toe, so I'm packing in the homework for website stuff.

6pm Update: Well I can't do any website updating on Alt. BM Site. And since I have now finished scrubbing everything that needed scrubbing, but don't feel like turning in yet, I think I need to go find food.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Schedule Changes in Progress

This week has been impossible to stick to anything between a holiday and back pain. I have realized I need to change the schedule, and this is what I have come up with so far:

Lunchtime at work: split between homework and fiction. Fiction right now means "Blue Man."

Sunday - Educator's Guide / website update
Monday - Educator's Guide
Tuesday - Educator's Guide
Wednesday - Educator's Guide
Thursday - Homework/Fiction
Friday - OFF!!!!!!!
Saturday - Homework / website update

I'm trying not to fall behind on homework again. And I'm not too worried about scheduling another day off a week because there are Sundays and Saturdays I have other obligations and won't get to do what I have listed here. And once I get the Educator's Guide done, I move a new project into the study carrel. Which may be world building for Zy's Novel or "Covenant With the Restless."

But Fridays, *happy, dreamy sigh* I have a date with David Tennant and the programming people at the Sci-Fi Channel are incapable of making it the same hour week from week. I got the TV over my father's non-serious objections--i.e. I don't like the new Doctor; I like the old Doctor. I'm guessing he means Tom Baker 'cause that's the only Doctor Who I remember him watching. So now I think he needs to see "School Reunion," which I rank up there as one of the best episodes of the new set. And I don't even remember seeing any episodes with Sarah Jane Smith. (Romona, yeah, I remember her, sorta.)

In the meantime, I went looking for the Transformers movie soundtrack, which isn't available yet (or maybe just at Target), and ended up with Highlander: The Search for Vengence, Lost Boys, and The Frightners on DVD; the two Velvet Revolver albums that are out, and CD DVD 2-disc set of Sting's television special on the John Dowland album he did.

That one worried me because I just bought it for the DVD and I thought I got another copy of the "Songs from the Labyrinth" with it. It's the concert versions of 7 songs from the album and the eighth song is "Message in a Bottle" from the concert and I think he accompanied it to the lute. I need to double check the bonus features on the DVD, which include more songs from the concert but "Fields of Gold" instead of Message in a Bottle." And Sting has a labyrinth on his estate. I want one. The problem is I'm rapidly running out of private space to put one. (I will not gripe about my stupid, white-trash step-cousins; Mom has that covered.)

Moving onto happier topics: I love the Highlander mythos. I love the first movie. I love parts of the second movie (Remerez in Hamlet and buying modern clothes; the extended/director's/tried-to-fix-the-problems had great transactions between flashbacks and the opera Connor is watching in the present (a copy of the wrestling scene in the first)). The third movie was the first movie plus an adopted kid, though I give them points for bringing back Garfield. (Or was that Endgame?) I was glad they killed off Connor in Endgame and was already annoyed that the TV series--which I otherwise enjoyed--destroyed the first movie ending.

Highlander: The Search for Vengence is a new McLeod, who keeps wasting his time getting his ass kicked trying to kill the Roman General who killed his wife and Celtic clan for over 2000 years. Only it's animated by the same people who did Ninja Scroll and produced by the Highlander producers. And wow, this animation is better than all the other movie sequels combined. My one complaint was that the transitions between past and present weren't as good as the first Highlander movie, but it's a hard act to follow.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Happy Fourth of July!

And I'm celebrating my Independence Day by doing homework. BUT if I get all caught up, I'm going to see Transformers at 3:40pm or 7pm (depends on the first show selling out). Followed by Independence Day on DVD.

I've always had warm fuzzy about Independence Day. Great lines, and I thought a nice update to War of the Worlds. The commentary on the DVD put a new spin on it for me. "We made a classic 70s disaster film. Only our disaster happens to be an alien invasion." Compare it to Earthquake or the Inferno; but I never saw it until they pointed it out. Yes, I am a geek who watches on the DVDs extras for surprises like that. And I got titles for Tolkien critical theory to read someday from LotR Extended box sets. (It's usually the segment on J.R.R. Tolkien and sometimes the "From Book to Script" segment.)

Hmm, comments on last post: so my rewrites to Superman aren't a good idea? I'm going to start collecting Lois & Clark on DVD; I actually enjoyed watching Dean Cain and his Clark was actually a reporter.

Anyways, I'm excited about Transformers. Everyone I've heard from has said "go see it." I haven't talked to my rabid fan friends, but I don't think I want to until after I've seen it. I thought my comment here was pretty good defense for the movie.

My back is feeling better, meaning I have a tad more mobility but I'm still downing ibuprofen like candy. I'm going to have to take my ass to the doctor and I need to go anyway, and explain I think I still need a few more weeks of therapy. Which sucks because I should be healed by now. I lost two days of writing because of it.

I did weigh myself and didn't lose or gain. I think I forgot to say that.

The project in the study carrel is just Educators' Guide. Mainly because my progress has been horrendously slow on it and on I need to concentrate on getting it finished. So I'm thinking lunchtime (if I can keep myself off the damn Internet) will be fiction once I'm caught up on homework for the day. Then there's Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays where I can't go to the carrel. Thursday is Yoga class--it might be best to make that the day off. I tend to come home right at bedtime. Friday and Saturday--once I'm sure I have all my homework assignments in--are free for fiction and Alt. BM Site, which is dragging out painfully now.

That schedule is just my thoughts so I don't forget. I'll iron out something better later.

I need to update my word counts for July and get cracking on homework.

Update: It's going to be the 7pm show, which means I've got time to kill. ID4 and leave at 6pm. I don't want to be stuck with a front row seat. Oh I finally caught up on all the comments to make--yeah! Now all I have to do for this week is answer any new ones and write my poem for submission. I tried working on it but it's getting jumbled. I'll take another stab at it tomorrow.

Update Again: Oh Holly's right. Transformers. Kicks. Ass. Go see it already!

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Something ponder on

http://www.chronicbabe.com/articles/102

While I don't have the health issues, something about this article speaks to me.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Offline for a while

So I moved into my new study carrel, worked a little, and went swimming. And though I thought I was being careful, apparently I worked too hard, because I woke up Monday not being able to move my neck to the right and upper back pain on the right side. I went to work but no computer work was possible after I came home. So I watched the Richard Donner version of Superman II and took the muscle relaxer and went to bed.

Tuesday feels slightly better, but still hurts. So that means yoga is out and I don't know if I will be able to work at a computer when I go home.

So the movie. This post from Celluloid Heroes is what got me to buy the movie a few months back. Same time as Doctor Who box sets and guess what I went nuts over first?

The first thing I noticed was I really need to watch Superman I and Superman II theatrical again. Other than baby Clark lifting the truck and the helicopter scene, I don't remember anything from the first movie. Superman II scorecard is worse, Lois throwing herself into Niagara Falls, the end fight in the Fortress of Solitude, and the GODDAMNED-STUPID-EVIL-SHOULD-NEVER-HAVE-BEEN-USED-AND-
WHY-THE-HELL-WON'T-SOMEBODY-GET-RID-OF-IT PSYCHIC KISS! I'm not a rabid Supes fan and his powers in the 20's, 30's, and possible the 40's were different and retroconned more than once. But when you think Superman, you think flying, bullets bouncing off, heat ray vision, and able to lift anything. Telepathy belongs to Martian Manhunter. But it has been established that Richard Lester was a dick and should have never been allowed to breath on the franchise. Bryan Singer should have retroconned it away in Superman Returns, but maybe he had too much trying to get rid of the stupidity of Superman III and IV.

Sorry, didn't mean to rant. But it bears in with a later point.

Okay, back to the lousy memory thing. Superman I came out in 1976. I was born in 1977. I've seen the whole thing, but since I'm not a huge fan, probably just once or twice. Superman II came out in 1980, and whenever I did see it, it apparently made such a bad impression on me, I was composing letter to Superman in my head as to why Lois Lane? "You could do so much better, at least find someone pretty." I didn't like Lois as a character until Terri Hatcher's portrayal in Lois and Clark. I've seen Superman III and IV and I think I can remember one scene each from both of them. Evidently, I never wanted to see those movies again after watching once.

Well, I didn't really need my memories to enjoy the Richard Donner version of Superman II, since they use flashbacks very nicely to bring you up to speed. (Which is what made me realize I have almost no memories of the films to compare to.) But I was still blown away. Here's the reasons without hopefully spoiling for someone else who wants to watch it.

1. Lois is no longer a ditzy idiot! She figures out the whole Clark/Superman thing, and how she finally tricks him into revealing it is jaw-dropping brilliant. If the writers had gone that route on Lois and Clark, I could see Terri Hatcher pulling off the same thing. This obviously is what Lois should be.


2. Lex Luthor is actually menacing played by Gene Hackman. Had the sequels not ruined the character and if his performance was like this in Superman I, I can understand people saying he was a great Luthor. I always figured him as Luthor's stupid cousin and really loved Kevin Spacey's portrayal. I would have dropped the threating to knock Eve Teschmacher's teeth out. Luthor is a criminal genius and very abusive, but I don't see it going physical. Too lowbrow for someone of his stature.


3. Man of steel, woman of kleenex problem dropped. I don't care who the hell came up with the idea, I find it misogynist and demeaning to both characters. Superman controls his powers all the time as Clark Kent, and hell, even as Superman. Otherwise, he'd be leaving a crater every time he took a step. Theatrical version had them having dinner in the Fortress of Solitude, Supes giving up his powers the Mrs. Jor-El tells him is a bad idea, and then sleeping with Lois. Donner's version: dinner, sex, and Supes giving up his powers after Jor-El tells him it's a bad idea.
   
   Personally, Lois should have said something. I know that would have thrown out their plot, but something along the lines of "You juggerhead, I'm a career woman. You can still date me and save the world." needed to be said.


4. NO MORE PSYCHIC KISS! Supes spins the world backwards again to reverse time instead, which I do have problems with because it erases the sex, but at least the first movie establishes it as something Superman can do. I don't think he should do it very often. That can't be good for the planet.
   
   Incidently, I just learned through Internet Movie Database that the first movie was not supposed to end with the spinning backwards planet, but it had been conceived as the ending for the second which were being done together.

So at the risk of incurring fandom wrath, how I would have fixed I, II, and Superman Returns. First, I never would have went with Lois losing her memory. I would have kept her having sex with Superman but not knowing he's Clark Kent. Then what happens, Superman leaves the planet for five years. She meets Richard White soon after that, I see all this taking place in a month, and not to make her a slut or anything, but her and Richard are intimate before she finds out she's pregnant. So it must be Richard's, Superman is an alien of course we couldn't have kids.

I don't mind the Superman's baby idea so much, and relished the reveal scene. But I do mind the questions racing through a memory-wiped Lois's head. We only kissed, how did I have his kid? Why don't I remember? Did he drug me? It's just not cool in today's climate.

And the drama is upped. She's a woman scorned, he still loves her passionately and can try to woo her as Superman and Clark. Also I would make the world a lot less forgiving. Superman left them for 5 years. He has to prove himself all over again. Show that along with the all the great saves. And that would have made the vigil at the hospital more poignant. Like the New Yorkers throwing stuff at the Green Goblin in Spider-Man and the train scene in Spider-Man 2.

I didn't have a problem with the airplane catch intro or Luthor's land plan because he has land on the brain when you compare I and II to Returns.

Okay, I'm done now.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Sunday plans

Catch up on homework for online class.
Catch up on chores.
Buy flea medicine for Mustard.
Take Dad to belated Father's Day movie.
WRITE!
Finish Alt. BM Site updates.
Finish scanning the box on my desk. The stack is probably 3-inches high, but Reader's Digest articles take up a lot of scanning for something that small. (Okay, now that sounded completely random.)
Write in study carrel.
Go swimming.

We saw Live Free or Die Hard, and even though I liked the last sequel with Samuel L. Jackson, this one is on par with the first Die Hard. He kills a helicopter with a car. Dude, if that part in the trailer does not want to make you see this movie, you are not into action-adventure.

Plus, the plot is based on this article: A Farewell to Arms by John Carlin. For me as a writer, I love the fact that a nonfiction article explaining the inefficient ways the government is trying to prepare for what John Carlin calls the I-war becomes a Bruce Willis action piece. Proof that everything goes into the mill.

Now I doubt updates on Alt BM Site are happening today. Damnit, because I need to get it finished. But I didn't realize how badly behind I was on homework.

The plan today: 4pm go to the Library and work there but not homework to about 6pm.
6pm go swimming for at least an hour, that depends on how much I can do.
Home, supper, sleep on time.

Which means I got now until 4pm to work on homework and only homework. Though I think I may give myself a break in between assignments and wash clothes and dishes. And if I'm good and get caught up and maybe a little ahead, I might have time for the updates. But I'm not counting on it.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/