Wednesday, May 30, 2007

New system

*Glomp Jazz* JAZZIE!!!

And we started the new system at work Tuesday. The only reason I'm home now is because of physical therapy appointment. I probabably won't get cauht up on everything else till the end of the week if then.

Read Free!
The BookWorm


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

Monday, May 28, 2007

Weird three-day weekend

My real plans got shoved aside, so I ended up at the house. I took my mother to see Georgia Rules for a belated Mother's Day present and she enjoyed it. I kept having to go back and forth to the store twice before I got the right equipment to transfer cassette tapes to the harddrive. I have 5 recorded now that need further editing to split songs apart and shrink to mp3s or burn to CDs.

I was going to work on Alt BM Site, but the hosts email me today and ask not to update because they are moving both sites to a new server. So I try to work on the Library's update and get hopelessly confused over the state of the Writing Tutorials. But I have officially canceled the newsletter now, and I'm not sure how many I have to add to the archive.

The Educator's Guide just wasn't grooving. I don't know if it was just the not being used to working on the laptop (since the desktop was busy with the recording) or if what I was recording just not conductive to writing.

Paperwork I did get some progress on. I have one box of various things to deal with, the receipts to go into Quicken basket, the papers to scan are in one place instead of five, and writing related stuff is in one pile. Now that last pile probably needs me to go through it again and see if some of it can be filed in binders or shelved. I don't really know how much clean space I acquired since I filled it with audio tapes.

So I don't know why I just feel so blah and I wasted the whole weekend. I think I'm going to watch some Perry Mason and just veg until bedtime.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

This week

Not a good night last night. I've done some changes to offline copy of "Blue Man" and some changes to the online Google version. I tried to get all the changes to one version, which I will upload. The highlights transferred as background patterns and I had to take them off one paragraph at a time. I started screaming at the computer and decided it was time to stop. Muscle relaxers and back pain must make me surly. Today, I changed it to colored text. Maybe that will work better.

I did too much this weekend and have suffered for the past two days because I didn't take any muscle relaxers. So last night was my first one this week, and I still feel sleepy. I probably need to take another one tonight after physical therapy.

No bomb threats at work since Wednesday. No, we STILL haven't been told anything. So here's all I know:

Monday: 3 emailed bomb threats in the morning. The second one said something along the lines: "You're not taking me seriously since I see you haven't evacuated the building." The third was "I'm going to blow up the building in 10 minutes." After that one it was a mandatory evacuation, and the building was closed for the rest of the day.

Tuesday: 1 emailed bomb threat around 10:30 and mandatory evacuation. I left my car keys on my desk. Came back at 1pm, not to do any work, but to get my keys and go home if they were opening the building. They were doing an intensive mainframe search and didn't want us on the computer system. Building closed again. A cop brought my keys down to me.

Wednesday: Second-hand news. Mom was freaking out, coupled with stress from my grandmother's health, so I stayed home. Bad decision because I didn't get anything I wanted to get done, done. :p Another bomb threat at noon, they didn't close the building. And eventually took a co-worker's son who worked in the Mailroom in for questioning.

Thursday: Rumor mill has the son arrested. Rumor mill also says the cops took a laptop from the training room--that was were the emails were being sent from. Suspect was returned to work because all they had on him was the fact that he owns a Blackberry and somebody reported him.

I really couldn't see him doing it, not with his mother's health the way it is and his aunt undergoing cancer surgery during all this.

And nothing has happened since then, including no reassuring prattle from our bosses. A lot of people's nerves are still shot.

To change subjects, I miss my CD store. I have no idea if it moved from the mall or just closed up entirely. I went to Wal-Mart looking for female rockers. I found an Alanis Morisette and already have Garbage, so that's the type of stuff I'm looking for. It's for Zy's soundtrack incidently. The problem with Wal-Mart and Taget and stores like that, the clerks are not there to help you make music decisions but only to keep you from shoplifting merchandise and getting the heavy items. I'm staring at CDs covers and they don't tell me anything about how the woman sings. So you can rule out by covers as being hiphop/R&B, but a lot you can't distinguish. And it doesn't help that the only two catagories seem to be "country" and "everything else." I don't always want to shop with a clerk over my shoulder, but when I want to ask someone for recommendations, I want one and now.

I'm sure I'm probably going to be yelled at by someone for buying CDs and supporting RIAA and not looking into Internet radio. A lot of it boils down to I listen to music in my car, which doesn't like mp3s. I don't have an mp3 player. And I can't keep up with my best friend's podcasts or any others people point me too. I can't download things to my paying job computer and I'm usually busy with something else when I get home. CDs actually fit my life, even though I don't agree with the policies of the RIAA.

That's all I've got for today. Working at trying to stay awake.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

W.W.T.D.D. ?

ROFLOL!!!!!!!

Home on the Strange: Who is Your Savior? and Who is Your Savior? (Regeneration Remix)

The Doctor if you please! LOL!!! I'm so with Tom on this. Let's start a new religion! What Would the Doctor Do?

And I've been trying to look sexy in my sneakers like 10. (That's my cover story anyway. I really just need to buy some new work shoes.)

Course I'm limited to who I can share this with. My office is out. I get to giggle in my cubicle again.

Also reminded of Neil's essay on the Doctor: The Nature of the Infection.

I'm going to have "Who Is In Time" song in my head all day. And that's not bad at all. :D

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Nothing has really gone to plan today

My deposit is still pending so no buying things or paying the electric bill. I can't get into cPanel for Alt. Biker Mice Site to get the backup done. At least I got my summer semester financial aid award letter in the mail. And the weather's nice.

So modification of plans, work on the Library instead. I have a lot I want to do, but it's really a lot of little things. But to start I have to clean off the computer's desktop so I can find out if the new stuff downloaded last night.

Update: SQUEE! I have embedded music the user can control! *Insert maniacal laughter here* Yes, I know it's been out for a while, but I got it to work without having to call for help.

Now hopefully the editing and ripping programs will be so accommodating.

Update: Okay, you know how I said today nothing has gone according to plan and it was looking like a really bad day? FORGET IT! I can USE the editing and ripping programs! Yes, this is a big deal because I usually trip over my feet when it comes to new programs.

Oh yeah, this update to the Library is gonna kick some rock 'n roll ass.

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/

Thursday, May 17, 2007

This ain't good

It's gotta be resistance that I hate the outline. I think it's a stupid outline and shows no sensitivity.

It's a bloody outline. It's not supposed to show sensitivity! And it's what the boss wants.

Okay, where to stick falconry is an honest question. I don't think it really fits with "Knights and Jousting" but it has nothing to do with the other topics either. Maybe bump it up to its own section until we get more stuff like it?

And only one title on the outline doesn't suck.

Yeah, that's resistance again.

And I have a page count (20 - 30), which is making me twitchy cause I'm so used to working with word counts. But just judging by the preliminary numbers, I have to slash the Educator's Guide in half for starters. Plus add in the characters.

My new haircut was a big hit with everybody.

YES! I found my missing notes from the History of the Book class. Or at least one of them. Didn't I make notes on the second turn in? *Go digging again* No, that would be just too damn easy. ARGH! I remember doing it. Proof yet again that I need to handle the piles of paperwork crisis because I can't find anything.

This week has been hell and I'm cranky. I'm going to coddle the cranky by going to bed early and really do it tonight. Notes are in a safe binder that I need to relabel. I have an official outline that sucks, but gives me a great excuse of what not to include in the 2008 version. I'm going to count that as a victory, and look forward to my plan of attack.

Plan of attack: 1). move only the files that will be included as text to the 2008 folder. 2). Match AMF characters with sections. 3). Divide out the cookbook as a separate file from the guide and activity book, but worry about making it pretty later.

So after that my question would be, do I write the intros first and then chop? Or chop and then write? And if I cut each sections' previously written word count in half, will that get me to 30 pages of end project?

Now the brain is just being silly. Off to bed.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Writing schedule

Monday: off
Tuesday: Blue Man revision
Wednesday: Blue man revision
Thursday: Educators guide
Friday: Updates to the library
Saturday: day off
Sunday: updates to BMFM

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

How do you type when a cat lays on the copy?

You don't. *Sigh*

Anyways, I was getting through the pile creative writing class comments made on Blue Man, so I could through away the six or seven copies of the story (draft 2 version I think). Mustard refuses to let me have them back. Yeah, I could force the issue, but he looks so cute.

I've been told it's safe to go back to the paying job tomorrow and I might as well. I don't think I accomplished anything today between appointments and trying to see MawMaw in the hospital. She's moved to the rehab center now.

So I'm off to bed early and hopefully tomorrow will make sense.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Repeated on Tuesday

Only they evacuated us with the first email threat this time. I really don't know if it is worth wasting the gas to go in tomorrow.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Monday, May 14, 2007

So what has to happen before we make the local news?

700 people blow up? The building gets destroyed? I saw the news van, but it is too much to ask for a notice on the websites I can link to. Or at least see if I need to go to work.

It's Monday, but I get to work with no problems. The morning routine goes according to schedule. Typing lawsuits while waiting for the mail and making notes on website changes. Then two DPS (a section of the state troopers that handle security for the state government buildings) officers head to the mailroom's supervisor's office. (The reason it is in our space is a long and boring.) I hear "mail" before they shut the door.

There's only two problems you can have with mail that would involve the cops: anthrax and a bomb.

No email notices are sent out yet. Scarlet (my immediate supervisor)went down for breakfast and came back with the news that the first floor is swarming with cops. "Have you shit ready to grab when we have to hit the doors. And I'm ready to evacuate now."

We get an email telling us to turn off our cell phones. People are starting to get really jittery now. Then Cathy (mailroom supervisor) comes out of her office. "Just a drill, but you have to evacuate." Followed with the fire warden for our section coming through. "GET OUT THIS IS NOT A DRILL! GET OUT OR BLOW UP!"

Down the stairs, across the parking lot, where we wait. Three emailed bomb threats, and the cops are now searching everything. Fine by me: "Can I move my car so concrete won't hit it? I just bought it." The answer was no.

Neighboring Livingston building let us in, but the entire building didn't fit. Down the road but within walking distance, Claiborne Building opened up for us too. It's now sometime after 10am. 2 people have to leave by EMS.

By 11:40 am, I convinced some of my coworkers we needed to get food at Claiborne. The only words we were getting was sign a legal pad and don't go home. We just got our food and sat down, when we're told to move to another room, the Commissioner has news.

Early dismissal, the cops are checking cars to rule out another Oklahoma City, so you may have to wait until yours is inspected. It is a credible threat "but if Homeland Security can't catch this nut, we got other things to worry about." Yeah, that didn't bring up any bad flashbacks of "Good job, Brownie" *shudder*. "Come back tomorrow and if it isn't safe, they won't let you in."

It was a good thing I was sitting in the back, so my boss of bosses didn't hear me mutter: "You live here. I'd like to know before I drive a fucking hour at 6am."

Went home, got my Hammond errands wrapped up early, was getting everything all caught up with Mom, and the electricity goes out so I can't see the 5pm news. My uncle got it on his battery powered TV and says I have to go in.

But I'd feel a whole lot better about it knowing the arrested the kook.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Reading Diary

After a year's break, I've rebooted my Reading Diary blog. Basically, I'm just offering reviews of books I have read and Amazon links to buy them. It also encouragement to me to read stuff I have on my shelves that I haven't yet.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Friday, May 11, 2007

Why yesterday was a bad day

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/7454366.html

I spent 4 hours in the car yesterday between going to my coworker's mother's viewing and trying to get to work.

Another coworker tells me I shouldn't send a driver's manual to the hospital as a get well present because the commuters there are probably doing a much better job tormenting her.

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/

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Monday Assessments, Tuesday Tweaks, and Wednesday I Actually Get To Type It In

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to stop visiting Mom. It's 7pm before we eat and by that point, whatever I had planned to try to do that night is shot.
  • My bedroom - clean

  • Living room - clean, but get rid of the getting rid of stuff

  • Bathroom - clean

  • Backroom - clean, but look in the patterns for "Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince" book

  • Kitchen - clean

  • Office - paperwork piles
*Sigh* Most of what is now on the To Do List is writing and odds & ends. Like dealing with paperwork. I work in an office for crying out loud. I know how fast paperwork piles up. Why don't I deal with it on a weekly basis?

Probably for the same reason I don't do anything else I'm supposed to do. Say it with me, Procrastination.

Anyways it's time I got serious about it. So if I get a good chunk of the To Do list out of the way (mostly the stuff I have to leave the house to do and the bulletproof corset. I want to finish it before PotC3) this week, it should be a weekend of writing and filing.

Unless I go kidnap Chad. Damnit I want to see Spider-Man NOW! I could see it without him, but this dating thing... I've heard it's nice. I got him to agree to Sunday. So it looks like one day of mostly writing and filing. Which is okay. After three weekends in a row cleaning house, I'm ready to leave.

I have two good barrets that hold up my hair. The one I'm wearing now is not one of them. Okay, it's gone now. Time for a haircut; I can do the Brooke Shields Blue Lagoon hide the boobies manuever. I think I got at least ten inches of length to donate to Locks of Love. That will probably have to be added to Saturday too.

A coworker's mother died; it's employee appreciation week, and mail is in like it's a deadline: paying job catch-up complete.

Moday I had a bad headaches due to muscles spasm and me not packing the painkillers for it. Tuesday my head was clear and I had planned to sit down with the calender and everything I need to do. The three-hour visit with Mom ruined that. Then I stayed up too late comparing the movie version of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" to the print version I'm rereading again. I had considered sewing on the corset, but the book wasn't clear on how to handstitch. For the record, all my sewing has been done and taught for the machine, so I have no clue what I'm doing on hand work beyond sewing on a button. And now I just remembered that's why I bought Sewing for Dummies, which I forgot I owned last night.

Tonight is the final, so I probably won't get anything done at the house tonight either. But I should be cleared out to do some planning Thursday and Friday. I need to set up some deadlines so school work and other writing gigs don't interfere with each other.

I'm very tired of having a brain that is bouncing all over the place, and I think I've allowed it to do that for much too long. I think it developed as a defense mechanism to my submission fear, because I never had a problem with focusing until I told myself "I have to get serious about being published. I have to make that extra step."

I need to take the time to delve into this fear and drag it kicking and screaming into the light. It's no good talking sternly to myself, making deadlines to submit, because I will just cave when it comes to meeting them. I ALWAYS cave. I have to deal with this or hire somebody to do submissions for me. And there's no money for a secretary, unfortunately.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Sunday, May 06, 2007

I don't believe it, even though I should

Remember the most aggravating thing in the world?

I just found the sheet. After I gave it up as a lost cause and started to recreate it.

*Shoving the papers in the proper binder* I swear it is laughing at me!

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Done in by technology

*Sigh* Recent events--namely getting stuck in Denham Springs with no way of knowing how to get around the traffic mess and no atlas or maps in car--made me realize I need to put some of that stuff on my phone. Unrelated email from a friend made me go look at the other things Google offers. Mobile maps! Yeah!

Now, I have added "going to cell phone store so they can show me how to use my browser properly" to the To Do list.

Also Google Calender is present a learning curve. Apparently my calender and the link with Gmail aren't connecting. *Sigh*

And I'm hoping that upgrading to the next version of BookCAT clears up those problems.

In other news, housecleaning is still going but I think I will finish today. Actually, I'm not giving myself much of a choice. I want to do full on writing next weekend or go get my tent from Lafayette (long story).

"The Harder They Come: Writing Woes" by J.A. Konrath is spot on BRILLIANT! I used to be much better at shutting that question voice up, back when I didn't put so much on the line with the story. I'm working on that.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Project Updates

Let's see: housecleaning and writing are going as well as can be expected. I have a lot of both, but I think this weekend--if plans don't change--will wipe out housework and dent the writing. School work is practically over; just the final left. So now it's time to consider what else needs updating: the websites.

I started listing things here and realized it was getting too long and moved it to Backpack instead. 12 items so far for Alt. Biker Mice Site, and 5 for the Library.

The biggest issue for Alt BM Site after getting the Drupal upgrade is the Tortures. Okay, I can accept that they don't understand which numbers have been used. To a certain degree I was willing to work around that--namely finding out if there was a way to get them auto-titled with the next number whenever someone clicked on it. BUT when a user creates a torture which is a plot bunny to share with the rest of the fandom to advertize a Geocities site with new series Rimfire pics on it for the sole purpose of complaining about the look, I want to borrow Miss Snarks' clue cannon and let them have until they are vaporizied.

*Calming down from Klingon battle rage* So it's obvious Tortures is not working as intended. And I really don't want to go back to vetting and adding the content. Lord and Lady, all that typing sucked. But I am at a lost of what to do with it.

Idea 1: Make it a forum under Red Planet. Users can post, they can discuss, they can vote on what gets added to the list at Alt. BM Site.
Idea 2: Make the Tortures a forum on Alt. BM Site for the same reasons. I don't really want to add a forum to Alt. BM Site because the fandom already has places to talk.
Idea 3: Keep the set up as is only figuring out how to make it number automatically, but new ones are moderated and aren't added until the moderator approves the post.
Idea 4: Make it a static page that no one can add too. I don't really want to do this either because the new series needs Tortures too.
Idea 5: Some solution I haven't thought of yet.

And that's where I am tonight. And finding notes. I didn't want a right-hand column on the content pages. I wonder if I can fix that with Views. Anyway, bounce some ideas to me while I go find Krug and see if he is any help. And get some sleep.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Quick catchup

Started physical therapy. Muscle spasms, no bone damage.

And I'm now the proud owner of a 2006 Dodge Stratus, which I will post a picture of as soon as I figure out why the picture transfer from my camera to harddrive isn't working.

Off to work on the to do list and try to go to bed early.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

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