Donna

It's been raining since Tuesday. Mostly sprinkles and showers, with the occasional heavier rain. Since last night it's been pouring, with very little letup, and is supposed to continue through tomorrow morning. When it will not clear up, just get a little less soaking.

It's supposed to continue raining, off and on, through the week, with maybe some sun on Friday, at the earliest.

Does anyone have some planks they can sell me cheap? And some tar? And could explain what a cubit is? I have the Bill Cosby album somewhere, but I'm too busy looking for two creatures of every kind. Or better yet, just send a shipbuilder.  I don't know how I'm going to choose which books to put onboard.

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

Well, it fits. I am a night owl. Only three more days of April vacation left. It goes so fast. I didn't do some of what I hoped to do. I meant to write more. I did do a few blogs, and I have a friend looking over my book who'll get back to me with editing.

I'm taking one of those Barnes & Noble courses, the one on writing the mystery. I could read the books on my own, but this forces me to read them in a month. Also, it's interesting to see all the other student's responses to the study questions. I do want to write a mystery, this summer probably, not for Nano next Nov., and this has made me think about characters, setting, situation. I wrote a bio for my two main characters, a descriptive paragraph of a town in which it may take place, and I'm working out the beginnings of a puzzle (ie who's going to be killed and why, secondary characters, etc.). However, since I had this week off, I'd hoped to be further through the lesson plans.

Gacked from norwegianblue47:

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year).List three neat facts, two births and two deaths in your journal, including the year.

Facts:

1605 - Gunpowder Plot: A plot led by Robert Catesby to blow up the English Houses of Parliament is thwarted when Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, finds Guy Fawkes in a cellar below the Parliament building. Fawkes was later hanged, drawn and quartered for his role in the conspiracy.

1872 - Women's suffrage: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time, and is later fined $100.

1935 - Parker Brothers releases the board game Monopoly.

Births

1857 - Ida Tarbell, American journalist (d. 1944)

1913 - Vivien Leigh, English actress (d. 1967)

Deaths

1960 - Mack Sennett, Canadian producer and director (b. 1880)

1989 - Vladimir Horowitz, Russian pianist (b. 1903)



The results are up from the W.O.M.B.A.T. test on Rowling's site. I got an O! And I didn't even look at the Lexicon. I bet nobody failed, though. It seemed to me that there could be more than one right answer on some of them.

( Flower quiz behind the cut )

Brian Murphy released this item this afternoon on Warren Murphy's Forum

Warren Murphy announced today that he had signed a Destroyer film production deal with Robert Evans independent production company in Hollywood. The deal covers film and television, as well as computer
games and merchandising, and the old man says "after quite a few years in the Destroyer doldrums, we've got a chance here of seeing something good happen."

For those who don't know, Robert Evans is a one-time actor who took over the running of Paramount Studios when the company was down the drain and on the verge of bankruptcy. In just a handful of years,
Evans produced The Odd Couple, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Love Story and The Godfather, and turned Paramount into the hottest studio in town.

This is great news, though I realize it may take awhile for a movie to begin production and there are many things which can go wrong.

I'm really hoping this stirs interest for the Destroyer books with a publishing company, and that this comes sooner rather than later. The contract with Gold Eagle is up as of this year and I'd like to see the books continue on with a minimum of interruption. Even if a publisher can be found, there would be more of a gap than the usual three months Destroyer readers have become used to.

A new publisher might choose to issue only two books a year instead of four. Or they might issue two Destroyers and two spinoffs (good too!). Or four Destroyers and two spinoffs (I'm getting greedy here).

Your Quirk Factor: 57%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it. Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!

A few friends and I have been having a little problem recently with hackers. Saturday when I went to my website all the news items on my home page, which I have been using as a blog, were gone. No one took credit, though.

Shortly before that, my friend Jerry had a small hacking problem also, though they left something in place of what they'd hacked, and most of his home page and everything else was left intact.

Now tonight, when I go to my site, everything looks normal, except when I go to my forum, the only other place on the site where I have any content, and not only is it missing, but there's something left in place. Bragging by the pathetic losers who have too much time on their hands and whose mommies should be monitoring their Internet access more closely. Unfortunately, Jerry's site has been hit by the same people and I can't access it at all. And Jim's is the same. So I don't know how much they're going to end up losing.

The really pathetic part of this is, we're all such small, untrafficked web sites. Jerry says a mutual friend wrote to him saying it looks like someone's targeting us personally. And that Dclub, a web site we all belong to and administer, might be a future target.

Jerry says he's going to take precautions before that happens. Dclub just finished being restored and doesn't need to take another hit, though thanks to the recent problem, everything's backed up and certain sections are also being saved off site for greater protection.

I'm not sad for my site. The forum contained some fan fiction I've written, and I've got them all saved to disc anyway. And the blogs they hit, thanks to my tendency to cross-post, and write them up in Open Office before posting, can be restored fairly easily too. The worst that could be lost on Jim's site is his thoughts on the Destroyer books he wrote, but Jerry says that's saved off site too. Jerry has more on his site, though, and hopefully that won't be lost.

If it should turn out to be a disgruntled Dclub member, he/she probably isn't a regular. I'm certainly not going to let this make me paranoid. Most of the regulars are frequent posters, or long time members and I don't see any one of them having this level of childishness and viciousness.

How evil are you?

Well, I don't know how I got that, given a few of the answers I gave. I wonder if it just opts for angelic or evil, with nothing in between?

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgeable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

Super Bowl Sunday. I care nothing about football, but I am thinking of tuning in just to see the ads. Those are the big, expensive commercial slots which corporations with enough spare change hurry to snap up, before they have all sold out. They unveil their new campaigns and their best concepts; a lot of ad execs must be swigging antacid about now, as zero hour approaches. Tomorrow people will be discussing them, venturing opinions on what worked, what tanked, the boring or the weird.

The triumph of advertising. It's come to this (well, it's been this way for some time now, but I remember when it was different). People are now watching programs that don't interest them just to see the commercials. The pitch has become the entertainment.

Or maybe things are just coming full circle. Back in the 19th century, one of the precursors of saloon shows and vaudeville was the traveling medicine show. Feats of strength to show the triumph of Dr. Humbug's Rejuvenation Potion, or the little old 'granny,' who goes into a jig after a dose of Dr. Pseudo's Pepper Up. A song and music as the wagon rolls into town, to gather the rubes.
'Twas Pirelli's
Magical Elixir,
That's wot did the trick, sir,
True, sir, true.
Was it quick sir?
Did it in a tick, sir,
Just like an elixir
Ought to do!*

It's the same with Jerry Springer and the reality shows. They're the twenty first century's versions of the freak show, carnival, religious camp meetings. Everything old is new again.



*from Sweeney Todd; lyrics by Steven Sondheim

Who Should Paint You: M.C. Escher

Open and raw, you would let your true self show for your portrait. And even if your painting turned out a bit dark, it would be honest.

Busy day. Worked part time at my second job, then did a few errands and went to the library. They had a CD playing on a loop at work, and I got to like it, and was hoping I could find it at the library, but couldn't get to a computer to look it up.

The school was having a spaghetti supper and I dropped in there for a bit. Didn't win a basket of the fifty/fifty raffle. One of my friends was there. I had given her my free Lulu copy of my Nano book. She volunteered, I didn't force her! Anyway, she started this morning, is about halfway through, and says it's holding her interest. Sounds promising! And this is the crude copy; aside from the first five chapters, everything is just as it was coming out of Nano -- no editing, just full speed ahead writing, not looking back. It gives me the heart to start revising and editing.

Today I got the two things I had ordered. First, UPS delivered the second Destroyer adaptation from Cutting Audio. They really ship promptly; I only placed the order the 19th. I'm looking forward to listening to this one -- Infernal Revenue -- more than the last one. It's one of my favorite Destroyers. I'm glad that Cutting Audio got the contract to do the adaptations, but I wish they weren't doing them in the order the books were published. I don't remember if the other company did that too. I didn't buy them all, just the ones I liked best. Cutting Audio may only have the contract for this year; I don't know if Gold Eagle will bother once they no longer have the contract to publish the books. However, they do retain the rights to all the Destroyers they've published, for how many years I don't know. So they'd still be making money on the books if they let Cutting Audio continue. And this way, maybe eventually we'd get to an audio adaptation of The End of the Beginning!

Second, the mailman delivered my book from Lulu.

I knew I'd be thrilled to see my book as a book, not just a computer file, but I had no idea how it would affect me. I actually teared up a little as I was looking through it. And not because of grammar and punctuation errors (though they are certainly there)!

It really is gratifying to see something you've created in your head and on the computer in solid form. It's a book, darn it, a real honest-to-God book. Not with the polish or sophistication of a commercially published book, but still... At least maybe, if I'm reading it through all the way for the first time really since finishing it, if it still holds my interest, maybe that means it's not hopeless.

Not just an excuse to show off my new icon!

I finished my Nano novel today. All it took was the pressing deadline from Lulu -- the company that offered to give Nano winners a free copy of their book.

It only took me six weeks to finish another 4000 words. Actually, it took me a few two hour sessions. But unless I have something looming over me, I put things off.

It's not going to be the Great American Novel. Not even a great novel for me; it will be much better when I get a chance to edit more than the first five chapters. And I only hurried to do that because there was such a glaring inconsistency that I didn't want it in the printed version, even though I'll be the only one who sees it. That's one of the problems with writing so fast; no chance to look back and make corrections as you go.

Anyway, book is downloaded to Lulu and they're processing it. It should be here in three to four weeks.

The Cat-herder Congratulations! You scored 62%!

You tend to rally a group to consensus by gently nudging them to decide. You try and be considerate of others, while still finding some way to voice your opinion. Some might call you a leader, others just impatient, but either way, you get things done! Watch out for personality clashes with those more dominant (and less considerate) than you, but otherwise, keep up the good work!

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 63% on dominance

Link: The How Dominant Are You Test written by nimowy on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

I was looking for new icons. Now that I can have six, I can add a few. I've deleted the ones I put up for Christmas, and have room for four more.

Since I have a few HPs, I wanted something different. I like My Name is Earl, so I began looking for icons, but couldn't find what I wanted. So I decided to get a picture, as close to the right size as I could find, and add my own text.

And voila! I did it. I made my very own icon. Now I'm working on an animated Earl icon, if I can download the animation program. I have a good picture and good dialog from the series to go with it. I'm always surprised when I learn something technical, but I shouldn't be. I can usually do something if I try, as long as it doesn't involve higher math, heavy lifting, or fine motor control.

Added later:

I downloaded a free trial animator. This is my first try:



It's 89x120, so it's too large to use as an icon here, but I didn't want to make it smaller and have it distorted. I think I'll change the speed and perhaps the text -- have white text with the blue background. Will have to experiment.

Writing and Resolutions Happy Boxing Day (for those countries which celebrate it)! Though in the United States most of us have today off, since Christmas fell on a Sunday.

I can't believe I wrote so much in November, and almost nothing in December. Though I have been going over my nano book and doing some correcting. When you write so fast and write without looking back, ideas that come to you midway through necessitate going back and altering some plot points in the beginning. Most of it, though, is pretty consistent. It's important that I finish it also. The people who run Lulu have offered to give nano winners a free copy of their book. I'd like to see it as a book, even if I decide that it will never be good enough to submit for publication.

 Not New Years Resolutions:

I don't believe in them, but I've been noticing things about myself that I want to improve. So what follows isn't because it's New Years. It's because it is time to list them.

1. Write every day, if only for here or my blog, livejournal, etc. Preferably work on my book or stories.

2. Develop thick skin. Needed if I'm going to start showing people my writing. Also, if anything is ever published, I'm going to need to learn how to push myself forward and sell myself. There are a lot of extraordinarily talented writers out there, even published ones, who are not living up to their potential.

3. Speak up. This is connected to the last resolve but there's more to it. It isn't just standing up for myself, it's asking for clarification, making my opinion known, asking for something if I want it.

Technorati Profile

Copied tag above. I did the html copy into my account info, but it just kept searching without finishing. Nothing showed up in my My Account; I wonder if it was supposed to? Technology.

Don't know why I want to be listed anyway. There are so many people on Live Journal and blogs and websites. I don't have anything particularly profound or unique to say and I don't intend to share my deepest thoughts for the enjoyment of others (doing that whole 'I want my 15 minutes of fame' jumping up and down thing which we've had to deal with since reality TV and the explosion of the internet).

*grumble, grumble, grumble*

I'm not celebrating the holiday. I'm just happy to be turning the corner.

It's always hard, watching the sun set earlier and earlier. When daylight savings time ends, that's the worst -- losing a whole hour of daylight. Now I go to work as the sun is coming up and leave work only shortly before it sets. The day won't be any longer on the 22nd, but I know now every day that passes will see the sun set a few minutes later. It gives you something to look forward to.

My local PBS station has been doing fundraising for the past few weeks. I know they've shown other programming, but it seems like every time I flip past 2 or 44 they're showing one of two Andre Rieu concerts or Wayne Dyer's Power of Intention lecture.

Isn't there any other holiday specials this year? What happened to the Three Tenors? Or the Ten Tenors? Or Daniel O'Donnell?

Just came in from finishing the shoveling. I know I was hoping for a day off yesterday, but we didn't need this much this soon! Plus, it's hard to shovel, clean off the car, knock some snow off the roof, when you're fighting a cold. Can't figure out what it is yet. It's not really a head cold, but it's not in the lungs either. Still just feeling lousy all around with a scratchy throat.

I finally started in again on my Nano novel. It needs a few more thousand words, at least, to finish it. I had seen something on the nano forums about a print on demand web site, Lulu, offered one free printing to anyone who had completed Nano, but I hadn't noticed it expires Jan. 16th. I'm not printing it up unless I can finish it, and edit it at least enough to take care of the glaring inconsistency in one of the earlier chapters. It wouldn't be so bad, but it affects what the main character does in a whole chapter, and I'll have to figure out something else for her to do.


( Which HP Character I am. )