warm fuzzy freudian slippers

07:45 Day 2 off work. Skool...? ;) #
07:50 Eh, who cares if I infect my classmates? They're young; they'll be fine. ♫ blip.fm/~b4dj #
18:19 Took a 3-hour nap. Can I feel better, now?? #
19:06 Violating the No Writing on Skool Nites rule. Sue me. #
20:25 Another story submitted! Now to cram for the midterm. Priorities, eh? #

Via LoudTwitter

07:12 Not feeling 100%, but probably not bad enough to stay home. #
10:27 Finished the last re-read. Will print the MS and send it out tonight! And now I'm spent. Will probably take a 1/2 day off today. #
12:45 Time to go home, I think. ♫ blip.fm/~avu7 #
14:17 At home, now. Body wants to rest. The mind doesn't. ♫ blip.fm/~ax0m #
15:33 Will email the story out after a long, long nap. #

Via LoudTwitter

08:48 Trying to wake up! ♫ blip.fm/~ajxh #
09:39 Stuff I read a couple of weeks ago: tinyurl.com/52nzn2 #
09:40 Stuff I read last week: tinyurl.com/443eoo #
09:42 Still fighting the bug. It may be winning. #
11:16 Rereading the MS Beast while catching up on podcasts. #
15:34 Trying to keep myself going. ♫ blip.fm/~an0o #

Via LoudTwitter

07:54 The AlphaSmart is ready for the final, FINAL edits on this latest beast. Then I stuff it into a basket and float it down the Nile... #
08:14 Too wet for the Farmer's Market. Breakfast at the Diner!! #
09:47 Where the hell is my BookTV???? #
12:58 Definitely fighting a bug. Energy level is a fucking yo-yo. Guess I'll just dissect more Bobbie Ann Mason stories 'til I feel better. #
13:35 Trying to stay as chill as possible. ♫ blip.fm/~adn2 #
18:04 DONE! Done, done, fucking done! And now--on to editing the next MS. #

Via LoudTwitter

I know it looks like I read a fair amount this week. I really didn't, seeing as the last bunch of stories were flash. So, here's the roundup.

The first two are from the collection Report to the Men's Club (from the local library, but I just ordered my own copy).

"Grandma" by Carol Emshwiller. A nice tale that took its time getting to the SF/F element, but was well worth the wait. Not your standard plotted story; it seemed more like a series of vignettes and flashbacks skillfully arranged into a narrative. 5 out of 5.

"The Paganini of Jacob's Gully" by Carol Emshwiller. You just need to read this! Just do it! It is without a doubt the absolute fucking best lit/genre-blended love story I have ever read! 5 out of 5!

"The Rookers" by Bobbie Ann Mason. Another piece from Shiloh and Other Stories. I've took my time reading this one, remembering how well-crafted I remembered the story "Shiloh" was. "The Rookers" didn't disappoint. Her character and setting descriptions are proof positive that "minimalism" doesn't mean "2,000 words or less." While the ending wasn't as shocking as the one in "Shiloh," it made me think just as hard. 5 out of 5!

I don't know why I waited so long to get a copy of The Girl on the Fridge. That was just dumb. Before I knew it, I read these stories in one sitting during my lunch break one day...

"Asthma Attack" by Etgar Keret. Not a story, but it's the piece that sets a metaphorical rationale for the economic for the economy of word use in rest of the book. Very, very nice. 5 out of 5.

"Crazy Glue" by Etgar Keret. Another valuable lesson for me that fantasy doesn't have to mean magic and such. 5 out of 5.

"Loquat" by Etgar Keret. Another story involving a grandmother, this is simultaneously a piece on the socio-political complexities of Israeli daily life and on the lengths anyone, anywhere might go to for family. 5 out of 5.

"Hat Trick" by Etgar Keret. Definitely loved the "gonzo magical realism" thing this story had going. Wasn't too big on the non-ending ending, well-written as it was. 4 out of 5.

07:22 Of course, now that I have a breather, it's supposed to rain. Oh, well. It'll keep me indoors writing. #
10:45 If this bastard of an MS insists on being 6,250+ words, fine. Off it goes on Monday to whatever market might have it! Good riddance! :P~ #
12:48 I know this is the attitude I should have with my writing: ♫ blip.fm/~a3jr #
14:09 I am hereby banning myself from the campus bookstore for at least the rest of the month!! #
17:32 I'd love nothing better right now... ♫ blip.fm/~a77d #
22:09 Why, oh why do I feel a second wind at 10 pm?? #
22:39 My second wind sure wasn't from watching the presidential debate, that's for sure. #
22:43 Then again, am I really complaining that this debate actually looked like a debate? #

Via LoudTwitter

09:01 New attitude today. Yesterday's got old really quick. ♫ blip.fm/~9ox0 #
09:06 Mostly caught up with skoolwork, too. Which means more writing tomorrow!! #
13:18 Is it bad that I plot my walk from work to class to walk up the fewest staircases possible? #
18:07 Nothing like a fresh pair of eyes on an MS. Not that I'll get to process any comments before tomorrow--it's still a skool nite :( #
22:00 Skoolwork done until next week! (Aside from reviewing for next week's midterm.) #

Via LoudTwitter

10:29 Wondering how many future sections I can skip--I don't need a 100% ;) #
10:31 Very appropos of today. ♫ blip.fm/~9edd #
11:25 Cranky doesn't even begin to describe... #
12:36 Okay, my personal attitude adjustment starts now! ♫ blip.fm/~9fwg #
14:04 Ah, nothing soothes the nerves like a new book of flash fiction. #

Via LoudTwitter

08:50 Skool day today! So, how did the AlphaSmart and the MS end up in my bag this morning?? #
14:18 Another hurricane at work. So what's new? ♫ blip.fm/~9589 #
17:26 Wishing I could be doing homework instead of sitting at work. #

Via LoudTwitter

04:01 Why am I awake??? ♫ blip.fm/~8p2r #
07:11 Ooh, this is gonna be a rough morning. The kind of morning where one falls back on old addictions... #
10:35 Successfully resisted the red-eye temptation! Day will suck, but at least I have that one satisfaction ;)! #
11:04 "The Paganini of Jacob's Gully" by Carol Emschwiller is the best fucking lit/genre-blended love story I've ever read! #
15:31 In the eye of the hurricane at work... #

Via LoudTwitter

09:12 Wondering why my blips aren't being tweeted...? #
09:14 Sunday's eternal question: tinyurl.com/4yg5xn #
10:58 Is it me, or does Tom Brokaw still seem uncomfortable saying "If it's Sunday, it's MEET THE PRESS?" Not that I'd blame him one bit. #
18:09 Song's been following me around all week. Fine with me. So catchy! ♫ blip.fm/~8lwd #

Via LoudTwitter

08:29 I want to float through my Saturday. ♫ blip.fm/~8az0 #
13:01 Sucks that my favorite food stand was *not* at the Farmer's Market this morning! #
13:04 Not thrilled about the money I spent buying pants this morning, either. But what can you do? #
13:09 Will put off skoolwork until tomorrow. Edits today. #
15:55 Far, far less writing/editing than should've been done by this hour. #

Via LoudTwitter

Through the hustle and bustle of school, trying to fire off stories to markets, and eeking out some new stuff, I've been reading like I haven't been in awhile. I've actually read quite a bit since my last set of reviews, but I haven't had the brainspace to sit and give more than a passing thought to them before now. So, here's the latest batch.

This first four pieces are from the Trampoline anthology...

"The Force Acting on the Displaced Body" by Christopher Rowe. A journey always makes a great metaphor, especially when a piece is as well-written as this. It's a good example of something that skirts around the stricter genre definitions of fantasy. No magic as such--that is to say, no wizardry or the like. I guess it's more on the lines of myth-making. 5 out of 5.

"Well-Moistened with Cheap Wine, the Sailor and the Wayfarer Sing of Their Absent Sweethearts" by Ed Park. Slightly long and slightly too descriptive for this Carver-lover but that's my issue, not the story's. The premise of the story more than makes up for it. You could almost call this piece Soft-Science-Fiction. 5 out of 5!

"Angel" by Shelley Jackson. This is the second or third Jackson story I've attempted. I really can't put my finger on why I've been less than enthusiastic, thus far. Any idiot can see how good the writing is. I really don't know what I'm not getting. As far as this piece though, it read like something calculated to be a bizarro, if well-written, version of Raymond Carver's "So Much Water, So Close to Home." Still, the writing rules, so 4 out of 5!

"Impala" by John Gonzalez. Straight-up sci-fi joint--almost! Loved it! Gonzalez took a risk with the choice of POV character, but I still found it compelling. 5 out of 5.

"Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason. I searched high and low for a copy of Mason's collection Shiloh and Other Stories, and finally found one (actually, three) in a second-hand bookstore around me that I didn't know about until about a month ago. I see why this story's a classic. Believable characters in a well-structured piece with the least amount of "writing" necessary. What more could a reader want? 5 out of 5.

"The Garden of Time" by J.G. Ballard. Another classic, this from his Best Short Stories. The line between sci-fi and fantasy blurs with this one because of Ballard's skillful writing. A little light on characterization for me, though. 4 out of 5.

Today's (partial) editing playlist, stuff from the pre-teen years.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

04:00 Awake. Wide awake. Caffeine oversensitivity? #
04:11 I like the new twitter. I don't like that yesterday's tweets didn't ship to the blog via LoudTwitter :( #
07:39 Resolved, there will be no skool work until at least Saturday morning. Editing to do! Goal: submit the latest MS on Monday! #
10:18 Believe it or not, I'm back on the low(er)-caffeine wagon. #
12:00 Revised for an hour before work. Realized everything I wanted to cut should not only stay, but needs to be fucking rewritten!! GRRR! #
15:15 My Put-a-Fork-In-Me-'Cos-I'm-Done theme of the day: ♫ blip.fm/~84ni #
17:45 Sitting, slack-jawed, with the thousand-yard stare and 45 min. left at work. #

Via LoudTwitter

...except for yesterday, when LoudTwitter didn't ship my "Tweets for Today" here, probably because of Twitter's update. Here's the recap.

Firefox/Twitter login troubles fixed. It was a goshdern add-on that's updated its update. I can sleep the sleep of angels, now. 07:24 AM September 18, 2008
It's been two days--I miss writing. 07:24 AM September 18, 2008
Fell off the red-eye wagon! I couldn't help it!! :( about 23 hours ago
Sitting in a computer lab in front of a 19" monitor. I could get used to a 19" monitor. about 19 hours ago
Trying to force myself to take a BREAK during lunch, and not force any writing or schoolwork. But, I'm tempted... about 19 hours ago
Would really rather use a legit version of some stats software. But there are ways... >:) about 18 hours ago
Tonite's writing agenda: checking to see if my latest project really can go without 1,250 words, or if I need to leave it. about 18 hours ago
Feeling cranky after one red-eye. Well...one red-eye and two additional cups of coffee. about 17 hours ago
Attempt to get legit stats software: Denied. Fine. ;) about 13 hours ago

06:58 Planning to miss another useless meeting at work thanks to class! #
06:58 Trying to decide how much to lug around with me today. #
10:29 Weekly discussion sections, I've found, are as useful as weekly staff meetings. #
10:30 Couldn't bear to leave the fiction reading behind today. Did leave the AlphaSmart :(. #
18:12 @GigiVernon U'll b talkin n l33t-speak next LOL ;). Good luck on the revising!! #
18:12 Been laying off the heavy loads, but could still use a trip to the chiropractor. #
20:38 Staring at the MS and all I see are probability distribution tables. Only myself to blame; it is a skool nite after all. #

Via LoudTwitter

This one's got a bit of a different spin I haven't seen before. Via io9...

...here's a random, and possibly wrong-headed, selection of what you might get if science fiction went more 'lit.'

06:45 This week's experiment: Leaving the AlphaSmart and the fic reading behind on school days. #
09:18 Just realized--first prelim in 2 weeks!! #
12:10 Figured out a more direct route from the office to the classroom. Too bad it's still uphill :(. #
14:56 Homework on the down-low... #
18:11 Hated leaving the writing stuff at home. But I got the homework done. #
21:11 Wondering why he had to clear his Firefox cookies twice to successfully logon to Twitter tonite...? #
22:10 Gonna scream if I have to plot another histogram. #

Via LoudTwitter

07:24 Today's writing agenda: Resubmit one MS, try to trim down the other. If I can. #
07:24 Gotta find time for homework, too... #
11:52 Week 2 of my decaffeination/tea-as-methadone routine. But damn, do I want a red-eye. I just want it! #
11:56 That's called "psychological addiction," kids. #
14:16 I am finally officially, unequivocally, and indisputably enrolled in my class! Finally!! #
15:58 Resubmitting a story. Someone's bound to take it, eventually(??). #
20:58 Could my eyes be too old and tired to follow a modern college textbook? #

Via LoudTwitter

08:05 RIP David Foster Wallace. #
08:06 Pissed at sitemeter. This day really has gotten off on the wrong foot. #
10:26 Got MEET THE PRESS in the background, the MS out, the AS3K, a mug o' coffee, and some breakfast. Time to get to it. #
10:44 Thinking about the different blasts from the past he had yesterday. #
12:41 Rejection! Ack! But at least the piece seemed to get a good read-through! #
16:11 Edits on another MS done. Sort of. It's still 1250 words too long!! #

Via LoudTwitter

The writer me is mono-syllabic, doesn’t care if his beard grows down to his ankles, scribbles notes on little bits of paper, takes long walks in the woods mumbling to himself, maps out character positions in rooms and notes where the light is coming from, doesn’t answer the phone, and isn’t fond of talking to people.

Comments off for this one, I think.

07:46 No writing last night after all. Zoned out to IN BRUGES (which I've been meaning to see for months). #
07:47 There WILL be writing after a stroll through Ithacon 33! #
13:46 Back from Ithacon, where I got to "ask the Answer Man!!!!" www.comicsbulletin.com/bobro/ #
13:56 Not writing yet...but the afternoon is still young. I'm home alone and I've got a pot of coffee brewing! #
20:00 Got some, if very little, writing done. Luckily, I'm home alone for another day. Plenty of time :) #

Via LoudTwitter

Got back from Ithacon, the local comic show. Once again, I failed to connect with local great Roger Stern because of my perpetual shyness, but I just had to go and shake the hand of guest Bob "The Answer Man" Rozakis! I used to live for his "Ask the Answer Man" columns in the back of DC's comics when I was a kid. Thanks to him, I learned the secret identities of most of the Legion of Super Heroes and in what issue the Batman of Earth-2 died.

I would've loved to have had an "Ask the Answer Man" column for him to sign, but I didn't. Felt bad. He was a swell guy, too. I bought a boatload of 2/$1 books from him and accidentally left one, which he walked over to me. I ran into him again at another dealer's table as I was flipping through old issues of Detective Comics. I pulled out one with an interesting cover (Issue 467, from Feb. 1977) when I heard someone next to me saying, "I wrote that." What happened next was a no-brainer...

Other things I picked up...

The six-issue run of DC: The New Frontier
Jonathan Lethem's Omega the Unknown, #1
Four issues of Steve Edmond's Emo Boy
The first 8 (of 9) issues of Captain Atom: Armageddon (a DC/Wildstorm crossover)
A metric crapload of Bendis' & Oeming's Powers from Image Comics
A discounted copy of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics

Oddly enough, none of these items were on my list!

I should also mention a pleasant conversation I had with artist Jime Alena Grabowski! The Wife bought a print from her a couple of years ago of "a chick" as Grabowski put it. Her drawings nowadays are completely different. There's a print I'm interested in, so I gotta get to emailing if I want it.

07:11 The busses will run today! #
07:12 Tomorrow's plan: Ithacon 33! www.comicbookclub.org/Ithacon.html #
10:23 Edited six--count 'em, SIX--pages before work! (To make up for my zero edited pages last night.) #
10:32 A co-worker: "I woke up at 3:30 in the morning because I had this bizarre dream about Justin Timberlake, Amy Winehouse, and an alligator." #
12:33 BURN NOTICE S02E08: Pretty good. Just enough Bruce Campbell. Not too heavy on the how-to voiceovers. #
17:18 Planning tonight's writing session. Because six edited pages just doesn't feel like it's enough. (And this is me, decaffeinated!) #
18:13 Batting cleanup at work. #

Via LoudTwitter

I want to buy this, but would it feel right to me? I'll have to think about this a bit more.

Yes, you have to finish what you start and send it out if you want to get anywhere in this business. But you don’t have to finish everything that you start. Everybody has unfinished projects. I personally have hundreds. Literally, I was just looking through my unfinished story files.

07:01 Wondering how long it'll be before a 12-hour day of work and school gets old? (he asks, still very thankful he got into the damn class!) #
08:38 Knows where he was when... #
08:46 @firefox_answers Thanks--though I was never able to start it in safe mode. I ended up doing a complete re-install #
12:14 Two signatures down, two to go. Then, it's official! #
14:24 Praying the bus drivers don't go on strike tonight!!!! #
14:25 @GigiVernon Exercise...what's that? :) #
16:06 Planning tonight's writing session. Should that come before or after the homework...? #
16:35 Got all four signatures!! Muahahaha!!!! #

Via LoudTwitter

I've taken one step backward from my trend toward low-tech/no-tech writing solutions. Although, I guess running portableapps off a USB stick, or storing stuff on Google Docs isn't exactly low-tech. But I've been trying to decrease my computer dependance as much as is feasible. Because I just can't carry around a laptop anymore, nor do I particularly have to.

I used to track my submissions in a small Moleskine cahir notebook. But, I've upgraded to Sonar now.

So far, so good!

10:22 Edited 3 pp before work. Spent 30 min. on one damn paragraph! #
11:50 Fiddling with my Twitter site settings. Doesn't make it look too much better, does it? #
14:35 Going with the basic white on the Twitter site. As if I don't have real work I should be doing. #
17:45 Trying like mad to cross stuff off my goodreads "currently-reading" list. #

Via LoudTwitter

09:00 Will hopefully get a decision today re: class. "Should I stay, or should I go?" #
09:02 Correction: as of right now, only Jim Lehrer is stalking me via Twitter, not Neal Conan or the spirit of Tim Russert. #
11:54 Looks like I'm in!! #
15:38 Less stress about class + Decreased caffeine intake = Kinder, gentler Don. At least until the next thing ticks me off... #

Via LoudTwitter

I so fucking want this...

Can you blame me...?

The TARDIS has two doors, which open inward as they do in the series. Inside, we see a printed backdrop to indicate the interior and the central control console. When it's opened, an interior light shines down on the floor.

The doors snap firmly into place when opened. To close them, you pull the left door closed first, then push a button inset into the floor (nicely disguised on the brick-tile floor), which snaps the other door shut. The phone panel on the left door snaps open to reveal the old-time telephone.

When you lift the TARDIS, a button on the bottom triggers the dematerialization/takeoff sound, which is accompanied by flashing police light. The interior lights remain on (and can be seen through the frosted windows and the police box panels at the top) during motion. There are three dematerialization sounds, slow, fast and emergency takeoff.

Two materialization sounds can play when the TARDIS lands, triggered by the same button being pressed.

Shaking the TARDIS side to side triggers two "turbulent flight" sounds.

An interesting feature caught my eye on the bottom of the TARDIS: a small, rotating plastic divot. I wondered what it could be for (before reading the instructions). It fits a finger, which allows you to support the TARDIS with one finger while spinning the TARDIS by its top-mounted police light. You can rotate this thing pretty fast, and while you do so, it plays the spinning vortex sound effect.

via

12:37 Reinventing the wheel at work. Again. #
15:14 Finally, finally, FINALLY sent a story out again! Almost forgot what that felt like. #
18:14 Jonesing for caffeine like a junkie from a '70s blaxploitation movie. #
20:36 Staring at my latest editing project. Just staring... #
21:59 Following The News Hour, Meet the Press, and Talk of the Nation here on Twitter. Two of the three are following me. Why? #

Via LoudTwitter

Despite the Tweet, I made the Sign of the Cross and sent out my first story in months. The summer was just so crazy, what with cramming for the GRE and having to quickly formulate and reformulate my grad school aspirations about twelve or so times. I had to cram in the editing time I could. I think I've lost count of just how many stories I have in the trunk to revise--three or four. Well, at least I got one down.

I seriously forgot how hard it is to just let a piece go. I had to make myself do it! Just like that first swim in the summertime when you're a kid, and you're dreading how cold that water is, no matter how many times you've already jumped into the damn pool. Finally, your only options are to walk away or just say "Fuck it..."

18:42 @ammichaels My goal for the week is cutting back the caffeine intake. Don't think I'll go as far as decaf, though :) #
18:45 Gonna ship out a story tomorrow. Well, maybe Tuesday after I look at it one more time. No, dammit--tomorrow! Maybe... #

Via LoudTwitter

08:45 Finally got FF reinstalled. Lost all my local bookmarks though--not like I used them much anymore, anyway. #
15:53 No longer feeling the need to rip out anyone's jugular ;) #
18:40 I think I've finally reverted back to Bruce Banner, now... #
19:14 I recommend editing to the music of Return to Forever. #

Via LoudTwitter

17:47 Feeling 'bout half past dead. #
17:48 Finished one editing pass on a project. Just one more and it'll be ready to get shipped out and get rejected!!! #
17:50 Now if I can just figure out why the hell FF crashes on startup!! #
21:39 Spent the majority of my Fri. nite waiting for things I shouldn't have been fucking waiting for!! #
21:39 And now I'm gonna take it out on someone thru a customer service survey. #
21:40 "I don't wanna hear shit, and I don't give a shit." -Ricky Roma, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS #
21:40 Just my way of "paying it forward." ;) #

Via LoudTwitter

12:07 Day 2 of class--things look a bit more promising since the herd seems to have thinned itself a bit. #
12:07 Might have to just eat the cost of the book, though :( #
13:37 In any case--tonight, there will be writing. I mean, *editing*. Whatever. #
15:40 @GigiVernon "I'm not gonna post anything," she said. I knew it ;). #
19:46 WTF? Since when does Firefox repeatedly crash on startup??? #
21:43 Running a total virus/malware/bot check on the laptop after un-/re-/un-/re-installing FF. #
21:46 Thank God I've got a second laptop. Runs like crap, but it runs. #

Via LoudTwitter

This illustrates my particular position on that debate...

via

I haven't done one of these in awhile even though I've been poring through short story collections, as any survey of my goodreads account will show. But I just had to say something about...

M. Rickert, "Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment: One Daughter's Personal Account" -- The Oct/Nov issue of F&SF couldn't come fast enough because I'll buy anything with M. Rickert's name on it. Such is my cultish devotion to her writing. This one didn't disappoint. I've enjoyed some of her other stories more, but this one has some jaw-dropping craftsmanship. I can't think, off the top of my head, of a story she's written that this blatantly political. It's got the tropes of the sort of story I usually can't stand--a near-future world where certain partisan values have run amok and the citizenry has become generally inured. Even the protagonist. But even though the protag doesn't rail against the system, she's not blind. She's fully aware of the effect the system is having on her and hers. Until she decides that she's finally going to cope with it all in a way--and this is the best part--that most of us would probably cope. 5 out of 5!

09:04 About to pull a "Spicoli" on my class--sans pizza. #
12:33 I'm, uh, not *not* in the class I'm taking... #
18:07 Gonna have to pull a Spicoli next session, too, it seems. Again, sans pizza. #

Via LoudTwitter

07:35 As usual, I'm going to spend Labor Day laboring. #
14:22 Adjusting to the new schedule...which is really my old schedule of 2 years ago. Sort of. #
18:09 Ain't no sweet sounds coming down on this night shift :( #

Via LoudTwitter

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