Doc's Rants

Blarg!

Thu, 24 May 2007 18:48:22 GMT

So...it's been a while. And I know it. So what. School ate me, then work ate me (it's still chewing on me hard lately). So yeah.

Erin's been reading Star Wars again. Yay Star Wars. Legacy of the Force has been good thus far.

Wedge Antilles is like fine wine.

Anyhoo. Not much to report at the moment...I had something, but I forgot what it was *shrug* Oh well.

Tomorrow is November!

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 20:20:53 GMT

Tomorrow is November, and November means Nanowrimo! I'll be posting bits and pieces of my piece to the nodice_fiction journal. It shall be fun, I'm thinking!

In any event, I have a laundry list of things that need doing right now, however...

- Irish History midterm
- Medieval French vassalage paper draft (13 pages + bibliography)
- Study for Medieval History Quiz
- Read Beowulf
- Read Drakwn's story at Critique Circle and comment on it
- Nano! (Fate and Second Chances)
- Prep D&D game a lot(and come up with a name for the campaign)
- Finish RS Wiki entries and suchnot for Aurora Force and AF-Kids

...that's all I can think of for now, other than:
- Pick up FFXII tomorrow
- Get Kendall's birthday present
- Not lose my mind at work (Gah! 20 hours a week + full time graduate student = uhhhhh?)

....I'm insane. We all realize that, right?

Please help Carol and Mark

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 14:03:52 GMT

I know Carol (Jedimom) through an online horse racing game I play. Recently, it came to my attention that her family is in some serious debt right now thanks to her husband's chronic illness. I'm posting this here 'cause....well...I have no place else to put it. Click on the link below to go to Carol's web site, and please post the link in your Livejournal if you'd like to help. I'm sure they'd appreciate whatever can be given to them.

http://www.freewebs.com/sendusaquarter/

Well crap.

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:13:32 GMT

Threat level has been elevated to Bert.

Excuse my cynicism, but...yeah. I'm thinking we have more issues than that about now. After all, there are at least twenty cells running around the US that I'm sure we don't know about.

So yeah. Bleh.

I'm going to go play DDR.

From my Drew-Chan!

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 16:27:29 GMT

Behold the cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdXTDovB9K8

Congratulations to the kids from Shadow War....

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 04:38:14 GMT

Congrats, kids, you saved the group I play FR with now from a nasty end with your grease antics.

That is all.

My baby is gone :(

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 19:59:20 GMT

My cat, Lily, whom I'd had for almost 19 years died today in my arms at the vet here in Troy. Vet said she was in the final stages of kidney disease when we brought her in.

I took this picture in December -- one of the first I ever took with my digital camera.

I'm going to miss her so much :(

....Turin 2006

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 20:56:52 GMT

....right. Weirdest opening ceremonies EVER.

If you don't believe me, watch them tonight. CBC (Windsor TV) has them live. So I'm watching them. And they're WEIRD.

You shall see what I eman when you watch them.

WEIRD!

Blogging fiction? You bet!

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 23:30:31 GMT

I'm taking some advice from my most recent issue of Writer's Digest....and I'm going to start blogging fiction.

No Dice!

Project will probably be "Discovering Phoenix"....though there's the possibility of my doing a project I started back in '04, or maybe Digsite, which is a paranormal mystery I'd like to write someday. Readers welcomed ^_~ Visit me and friend me at nodice-fiction so you can read!

First day (yay)

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:47:29 GMT

First day of grad school today was fairly....anticlimatic? I'm taking two grad classes this semester -- European Thought and Ideology, 1797-Present and The Reformation. These classes require me to be on campus for about 95% of the daylight hours (potentially longer on Thursdays). One's at 10, the other's at 1. Both seem like they're going to be interesting. My professor for my ideology class is rather Irish, therefore he drops F-bombs during class. Very funny guy. My Reformation professor specializes in medieval history and is apparently a hardass when it comes to grading papers. We'll see if he's worse than Devlin was (maybe being sticklers for grammar and stuff comes with being a medievalist....if so, folks should watch out if I ever become one!).

Well. Like I said. Largely an anti-climatic day. Got to campus a little after 9, went and got my student ID and a cup of coffee (coffee there is definately not as good as it was at GV. I might have to talk my mother into stopping at Starbucks in the morning before we drive to OU...or I find a Starbucks within walking distance of campus. Considering I think there's an Applebee's or a TGI Friday's within sight of South Foundation Hall....I'm not worrying too much). Then I hit the bookstore to check prices on books (can't buy them 'til my paycheck comes -- yay paycheck. Hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow.). From there, I headed to class.

Dr. Moran has apparently been running around like a chicken with his head cut off lately. He said he scrambled madly to finish the syllabus yesterday afternoon...and promptly forgot it this morning. I think he'll be cool, though, and so will his class. He was a student radical during the 60s -- he actually got tossed into jail for six months because he was a concientious objector during Vietnam. How cool is that? He was with SDS, too -- very uber cool. The man is insanely overeducated -- he holds degrees in philosophy and theology as well as in history and taught at American U and Georgetown....and as a grad student he got a fellowship at the Folger Library. Very spiffy.

Reading list for his class:
Rousseau, Rousseau's Political Writings
Marx, Selected Writings
Lemontov, A Hero For Our Time
Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
Freud, An Outline of Psychoanalysis
Mann, Death in Venice and Other Stories
Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That
Bonhoeffer, Letters from Prison
Virillo, The Information Bomb

Term paper topic: Something on nationalism, not quite sure what yet. Any ideas?

My other professor is Dr. Finucane, and he's a medievalist who's teaching my class on the Reformation. I've already taken a page of notes in his class (go figure).

Reading list for his class:
A.G. Dickens, Counter Reformation
J.H. Elliot, Europe Divided, 1559-1598 Second Edition
E. Muir, Ritual in Early Modern Europe
E. Rice and A. Grafton, The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559 Second Edition
James D. Tracy, Europe's Reformations

Term paper topic: Why did witchcraft accusations only begin to appear as a serious problem from the early 16th century? (he was glad one of the grad students picked this topic -- apparently, he's gotten some pretty flaky stuff on the topic in the past. What the heck is he going to think of what I'm going to say about the topic?)

Yeah. Books are likely to run me something crazy :P Need that paycheck so I can buy them (hopefully it'll get here tomorrow....hopefully...)

But yeah. Otherwise, pretty anticlimactic. Went and got my library card, took some books out -- mostly for my witchcraft paper, though some for background on historiography and the history of ideas in Europe.

Thoughts and such, please tell me! I could really use some help with narrowing my topic for my ideology class....

Too amusing not to post

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 06:02:11 GMT

Dear Indy,
I have been very good all year. I would like a long post for Christmas. Also, please end world hunger. And that little misunderstanding we have going in the middle east... could you put a good word in there too?
Little Alextravia Grentarii

Aurora Force inside joke.

Should I?

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 19:46:38 GMT

Those that know me know that I'm a poor artist -- as in not very good. However, what I can do with fabric can be fantastic! Costuming is a major hobby of mine that's slowly turning into an actual business.

So anyway. On to the "should I?" thing. I did this sketch of a D&D character I'm playing....and I've fallen in love with her jacket/overlet/whatever.

Here's the picture:

I've been thinking that I need to make it. Should I? I was thinking about doing it in some white muslin and doing embrodiery on it. That would look wicked cool, I thought. Anyone else have an opinion?

I got in!

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 16:15:13 GMT

Huzzah!

That is all.

Random update

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 05:12:55 GMT

It's November, and that means NaNo.

I'm 10,000 words behind where I wanted to be.

I turn 23 in 10 days.

Borders hasn't called me for an interview. Neither has Jo-Ann's.

I don't know if Professor Coolidge has gotten my recommendation letter in to Oakland University. The application deadline is December 1.

...and 100.3 is playing nothing but Christmas music. And has been since November 1.

Gods help us all.

Random Quiz

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 18:42:35 GMT

What FF7: Advent Children Character Are You?

Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

It's coming!

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:02:26 GMT

A week from tomorrow will begin NaNoWriMo. In a week, the shared hell of hundreds of would-be (and otherwise) authors striving to write 50,000 words on a new project will begin.

Call me a masochist, but I'm excited.

The project I wrote last year -- "When All's Said and Done" -- was finished last week. Over 80,000 words total in the first draft. Starting next Tuesday, I shall begin its sequel, "When the Gods Cry." Doesn't that sound fun? I think it does.

Yaaaaay for NaNo.

If you don't know X-Files or SVU, don't read this

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 04:47:35 GMT

I have to laugh.

I'm watching SVU tonight on USA (as I often do when I'm not actually doing anything), and there's this reporter guy on there talking about the truth, etc etc. He looks at a couple of the cops and the ADA on the show in the midst of their asking him to confirm where he got some information on a perscription drug being given to soliders in Afghanistan. He looks at one of them and says "Mulder, Scully."

Detective John Munch was in the room.

Now, this is an obscure thing, but if you've seen both shows (and potentially Homicide: Life on the Street and the original Law and Order), you may well understand why I laugh at this.

For those of you who don't get it, here's the scoop. John Munch is a character that Richard Belzer has played on five different shows: Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street.....and the X-Files.

Yes, that's right. Dear old Munch met none other than Fox Mulder in the episode "Unusual Suspects" way back in 1997. It's fantastically amazing what writers forget -- if they ever knew it at all. At the time, the character of Munch was a conspiracy theorist, but not as much as he was AFTER he met Mulder and the Lone Gunmen.

Yes. It was a quadruple whammy. I'm surprised the man is still sane.

So when the reference came, Munch didn't even flinch. This I find amusing.

Mayhaps my theories on TV worlds are actually true....

Squee!

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 16:47:53 GMT

I got the stuff I ordered from Fire Mountain Gems today. Now I can make belts (mayhaps -- beads are a touch smaller than I thought, but that's fine! I'll make do) and, better yet, belt hangers! I bought some little perfume bottles (some permeable, some not) that are actually a little bigger than I thought they were that would be great for hanging on belts. Once I get one or two done, I'll take a picture or two.

Right now I'm finishing a skirt that K-chan may or may not fiend over. It's like my dancing skirt, but it's in solid colors. Red and black. In a silky fabric I picked up at Jo-Ann's. ^_^ I've got several more cut out, in various colors, and likely enough fabric to make a few more.

Well. Now that that's out of my system, back to the grindstone.

Oh! For anyone who cares, I'm modding a chat with Andy Collins (a WotC game designer) tonight on RPG Live (www.wizards.com/chat). It's part of UnCon. Should be great fun.

Okay. Now I'm done.

Ahhh!

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 19:45:56 GMT

That's all I can say. Ahhh! Life is psycho crazy.

The good news is, I'm a vendor at the GV Renaissance Festival October 1-2 (and I think Mia and Leigh are going to show up -- yay!). The bad news is that I have almost nothing ready, fabric is frickin' expensive, I have no tent, and my parents may or may not be able to help me more than they already have (what I really need help with is buying the frickin' tent).

The good news is, I should get paid again just after festival, so even if I only make just enough to cover expenses, I'll still have money coming. The goal is to clear $300 GVRen weekend -- we'll see if that one actually happens. That would be enough to pay my mother back for the fabric she bought, though (which is a bit over $200), cover my expenses in beads and such (about $67)....yeah. We'll see if that actually happens.

Of course, I've been losing a lot of time lately when I COULD have been sewing because Max went and broke his arm. Again. Which means not only have I been picking up his usual slack with chores (he doesn't do a goddamned thing unless my father stands there and makes him do it) someone had to be his nursemaid. Which means I lost almost all day Thursday and half the day on Friday (since the doctor said he couldnt' go to school on Friday). Grr. All I accomplished those days was getting the panels cut out for some dancing skirts (I keep oscilating on the price for those....the fabric ended up being kind of expensive, so I'm not sure how much I'll charge. Maybe $30 for ones with eight panels? I don't know. I have to check how much fabric I have left) and getting shirts and smocks cut out (the most time consuming part of THAT is measuring things out and drawing straight lines).

What do I have finished right now? A vest. A skirt (non-dancing). A smock. A shirt. I've got enough panels cut for several dancing skirts. I have a bodice cut out (including lining -- but I need to find the boning to put in it). I should change the thread in my machine and finish off some shawls, which would be quick and easy. I've also got some of my bags (for books and for dice) done. Sigh. Too much to do, not enough time, because every time I get in a zone where I'm just doing it, I get dragged away. Like today. I want to finish at LEAST three garments today. I got pulled away when I was just finishing up the first one (the smock). Why? Dad wanted me to rake up the loose grass in the lawn -- which I wouldn't have minded doing if I wasn't struggling to get things done for Festival. I'm also freaking out about this tent thing. I don't want to spend more than $100 on it (especially since I know that I'll not be the only one who ever uses the damn thing -- I already KNOW that for sure. It's so not fair that I spend so much money on it and not be the one who uses it most often). Grrr. Maybe I WILL press to know exactly what the dimensions of the hex tent we already have are (My parents keep saying it's huge. Well. I'm not sure that it is -- so I'll press).

Of course...all of this stuff has cut into my writing time in a rather serious way. Sorry, kids. You may have to wait a little longer for some stuff.

Blah.

So, yeah, worried....

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:32:16 GMT

So, yeah. Friend of mine was sitting directly in the path of Hurricane Katrina. A lot of us were telling him to get the hell out of Dodge...but he wouldn't leave his mother (she has cancer). So now all of us are kind of sitting here. Waiting. Wondering.

He had my cell phone number. I doubt he still does, though, given the carnage down there. So all we get to do is just sit. Wait. Wonder.

Hope.

Cookies!

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 17:58:57 GMT

Your Fortune Is

Man who drop watch in toilet bound to have shitty time.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Your Fortune Is

Underwear is not the best thing on earth - but next to it.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Need to write today...need to write today.....

And this is just odd.

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Famous Fortune Teller.

Where You Lived: Alaska.

How You Died: Hung for treason.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

Think it's worth keeping?

Thu, 25 Aug 2005 15:14:12 GMT

Wrote this little bit this morning....think it's worth further development?

     Benjamin slid into class in the nick of time, just as the bell rang. I shook my head in admonishment, leaning across the aisle and speaking quietly. "One of these days, Benj, you're going to be late for something and get totally screwed for it."
     He laughed a little, pulling out his notebook. "But that day isn't today, Kit. Better get that notebook out -- Peterson's giving you the evil eye."
     I cringed as I realized Peterson really was giving me the evil eye. I plunged my hand into my backpack and slapped my notebook onto my desk, wincing slightly at the sound. My gaze hardened into a glare as our teacher turned his back and I slid that gaze right over to Benjamin. "I hate you."
     "You don't," he smiled, pen already scratching against paper. "And no matter how often you say it, you never will." Somehow he managed to look perfectly innocent as Peterson skewered us both with a nasty look. I just suppressed a sigh. He was right. That was another thing about him.
     He was always right.
     I put pen to paper myself, copying down what Mr. Peterson was scrawling on the board. My pen kept catching, scraping on the smooth paper. I eased up on it -- I was pressing too hard. It only scraped when I was pressing too hard.
     Peterson finally capped the marker that only added to the strange, mediciny smell of the room. Sniffing one of those markers for too long was enough to send you into orbit. For the tenth time that day, I wondered when Kinley High was going to get equipped with the liquid crystal screens we'd been promised for years. Probably never.
     "As you can tell from the notes on the board and last night's reading, this afternoon we'll be discussing the third War of the Races. Anyone remember how that war started?"
     "Yeah! It started because freaks like Saevel forgot their place." Snickers rose from the same corner of the classroom as the voice, where the small, unwashed mass of minor humanity that was Theodore Rooney and his thumperball goons sat.
     One of these days Teddy Rooney is going to push one too many buttons and end up sorry for it. I glanced over toward Benjamin and jerked his pen out of his hand before he could snap it in half. That seemed to distract him enough from what had been said for him to start calming himself down.
     "Actually," Benjamin said quietly, voice exquisitely controlled, "the third War of the Races began when a band of degenerates," he coughed. "Oh, excuse me. When a band of...what did they call them? That's right. When a band of Acquirers raided a fae village that was protected under the Marcosian Treaty of 1847. Thus began the last war of the races."
     "A village full of freaks," Teddy snorted.
     Benjamin started to stand. I kicked him in the ankle to keep him in his chair. Why did they have to bait him? Eventually, he'd break them in half.
     "That's quite enough, Mr. Rooney," Peterson said quietly, turning back toward the board. "Despite Mr. Saevel's somewhat colorful misnomers for the Acquirers, he is indeed correct. THe third War of the Races--"
     "Started when a bunch of heroes enjoyed some pansy-pants like Saevel's mum and pop!"
     Benjamin's chair shot backwards with a sickening squeal as he shot to his feet. His fine features were a mask of hate and rage as he threw his notebook into his bag and stormed out of the room. Bitterness slicked my tongue as I stood up and moved to follow him. I already knew all I wanted to know about the third War of the Races anyway.

Thoughts? Screams? Anything?

So sad it's true....

Wed, 03 Aug 2005 03:19:08 GMT

Because Julie told me to.

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 18:49:04 GMT

List your current six favorite songs, then pick four other people that have to do the same.

In no particular order (well, except for maybe #1):
1. Sting and the Police - "Fields of Gold"
2. The Calling - "For You"
3. Utada Hikaru - "Simple and Clean"
4. Semisonic - "Closing Time"
5. Lifehouse - "Hanging by a Moment"
6. Hoobastank - "The Reason"

And the lucky winners are..... supersair, andromeda215, wahyaadanvdo, and trueheartosteel. Go!

So it's been a while.....

Mon, 25 Jul 2005 23:22:49 GMT

....so it's been a while since I wrote here. Big deal, I've been marginally busy.

Shanzi and Jen will be happy to know that yes, some of that time was spent writing. I'l finish my tale of Ky, Hadrian, and their friends soon enough (hopefully by the end of August). Further good news for those two: you guys are now the primary readers for Epsilon, since Annie refuses to read it now (she's annoyed that I've been working on it since 1998 and haven't started sending it to publishers yet 'cause it's not done).

Further goals with a deadline being August 30:
- 7000 words on Lore
- 50,000 words on Princes of the Universe
- Full outline finished, part 1 finished, Epsilon
- Full notes and outline for Preserver
and, of course
- Finish my 2004 NaNo project (When All's Said and Done) so I can, like, concentrate on putting together notes for the sequel (tenatively titled When the Gods Cry)

Jason, Tryst-cat, Drew-chan, let me know if you want to read any of these. Shanzi and Jen...yeah. You guys don't get a choice.

In the meantime, I'm going to let UH continue to kill me.

Over and out.