Here are today’s stats on my second urban fantasy adventure — this time with my sexy undead thief, her shady agent, a cigar box full of magical penis bones, a mentally ill former NASA engineer-turned-sorceress, and the continued fabulosity of a Cuban drag queen:

Project: Hellbent
Deadline: August 9, 2010
New Words Written: 845
Present Total Word Count: 6266



Things Accomplished in Fiction: More lower-bodily fixated humor which is not terribly mature; the gig is presented and Raylene waffles over taking it; it looks too easy, and she isn’t stupid.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Started new day-job project; had lunch at Mexican place with the husband (who hung around the house doing his own freelance stuff today for awhile); worked on my FORT FREAK segments until my eyes bled; chatted extensively with Justine, who is awesome.

Other: No, it isn’t very many words. I’m not shooting for volume; I’m just trying to keep my toes dangling in the creative writing pond while I’m up to my ass in editorial on these other projects. And the fact is, I wrote another three thousand words on my FORT FREAK segments, putting me well over the line for what I’m allowed — and I’m only halfway through, but oh well. I can fix it later.

[Crossposted to/from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Ok. Here's the thing. Rav Twersky is responding in a very specific halachic way and he's going to the right because he needed to present the viewpoint of the rabbis who were morally opposed to the Gay Event at YU.

He apparently is a great scholar and gives one of the best shiurs at YU. His sister also disagrees with him. He is an intelligent man and many people like him, and I think that under different circumstances, I would respect and like him a great deal. In fact, I have nothing against him now, but I do believe that there is a certain degree of homophobia that can't be ignored or accepted. And even though his speech against the YU Gay event was a centrist position at YU, it's still rather vile.

Kind of like in the 1950s where there were plenty of grea and highly respect people who were also racist. They didn't join the KKK but they still upheld a racist system.

A quick mod drive-by, since this has come up more than a few times recently.

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Thank you kindly.

So, I watched the second episode of Chuno.



And if I loved the first one, there are no words for how I felt about the second one. It made me feel the way some (very few) movies can feel - so intense it feels like a dream, so intense that when it stops, the real world feels washed-out in comparison.

The pace has slowed down since the first episode because the introductions are out of the way but it does not drag in the least - there is so much to look at, to take in, both plot-wise and emotionally, that my attention never swerved, not even though I am watching a period drama in Korean of which I do not speak a word.

( Thoughts and caps of ep 2 )

How can I wait a week for another episode, how?

I gave notice today at work that I'm quitting because I just can't take it anymore. I know no one likes their job, but look. There must be some job I can get that doesn't make me literally cry.

I had about two hours of extreme contentment, and now anxiety about not having a job has set in. Who voluntarily quits their job when unemployment is at an all-time high? Could this be completely the stupidest thing I've ever done? Stay tuned for probably like two months to find out!

I'm officially concluding my first attempt at 50 books in a year...not a solid win, but certainly I read a lot more than I did last year, and isn't that the point? These are the last two entries before I start over again. I'll give it my all this year and see what transpires...

Title: Green Angel
Author: Alice Hoffman
Themes/Topics: Nature, Triumph over Tragedy

This is a little outside of my realm as it is young adult literature, but as it is Hoffman I enjoyed it. She has the ability to paint such a clear portrait of the main character and her transformation from youth through tragedy and loss to an awareness of self. I would define this as a coming-of-age story about the ability of the human spirit to recover from great loss.

Title: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornest Nest
Author: Stieg Larsson
Themes/Topics: Mystery, Conspiracy, Violence, Infringement of Rights

I don't want to say much to fans that have read the first two of this trilogy but this just as imaginative and addictive as the rest. It took me a little longer to get hooked into this book but it was very compelling and a satisfying read. My only disappointment is that Larsson died in 2004 and will not be able to share any more of his creativity and talent with the world.

Title: The Well of Eternity (WarCraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy, Book 1)
Author: Richard Knaak
Themes/Topics: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, War, Evil

As a person who has never played WarCraft, it was interesting for me to read this book. My boyfriend plays and I read it to learn a little more about this game that I find so pecular. It was tough for me to get into this at first, probably because I'm not really into sci-fi. Once I got the hang of the jargon, I found it to be an interesting story and I wanted to see how it would end, which is the most I can ask from any book. I'm sure I'll continue with the Trilogy, but I still am adamant that I will not play the game, just not my style.

The Last Place on Earth, by Mike "Nick" Nichols
An incredibly stunning collection of photographs of wild places in Africa, published in a very large format (about 16" X 11.5") and with graceful framing text by the likes of David Quammen (who told me to seek out megatransect stuff in the first place) and Mike Fay (the originator of the Megatransect - the guy who Nichols and Quammen were following through the bush - more about him later because I'll be reading excerpts from his journals shortly). Amaaaaaaaaaazing. If you can ogle this you should. As an aside, I do not know what it says about me that I generally find myself most moved by photos of reptiles and amphibians... but this book has some keen shots of those, in addition to the equally gorgeous pictures of chimps, gorillas, leopards, bongos, elephants (LOTS of elephants), etc.
(7/200)

First Darling of the Morning, by Thrity Umrigar
Short, easy-to-read-but-literary memoir (a series of short essays, really) about growing up in Bombay. Powerful and endearing. Recommended but with the caveat that none of the stuff on the cover of this book led me to believe that some of the family stuff (only a few essays, but) would be as dark as it was. May be triggery for those who had a physically or emotionally abusive parent. (I don't usually bring this stuff up, but like I said - there was NO warning of this in what I'd read about the book or saw on the cover before reading it - kind of a shock to read such things when you are expecting more or less "light and happy" and sitting in a public place.... most of the book is quite delicate & cheerful in tone, and it's not that the sad parts don't fit, they totally do, I just wasn't mentally prepared for them. The Booklist review on the amazon page I linked to *does* give a good idea of this content so you may want to read it if you are concerned.)
(8/200)

I've contacted a few of you directly, but anybody know someone who can use a cleared techie / project & program manager? Active Secret; TS/SCI-Polya inactive but reactive-able til April. NoVA/greater DCish.

Wes is my friend Mikki's husband. She's underemployed, and he's been consulting / running some web businesses since he was downsized a bit ago. Especially 'cause of that underemployed bit, he needs a more predictable income as soon as humanly possible. Hence the signal boost.

Kudos to the Naval Hospital for putting medications in bottles that convert to easy-open. I never have understood why pharmacies insist on using medication bottles for arthritis meds that arthritis patients can't open! At least offer an option on the matter.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
( Tom )

Dogs: Blood and Carnage#2 by Shirow Miwa
( dogs )

Il Gatto Sul G. III#3 by Tooko Miyagi
( violins )

This is my first full day off in like two weeks. So I ordered a pizza and I'm watching movies. I am not leaving the house for any reason. I just finished Post Grad and while I thought it might make me kind of depressed about my own situation, it's mostly just boring and predictable. Now I'm going to make some tea and watch Whiteout because I'm in the mood for bad movies, apparently. After that, it'll be Relative Values because Colin Firth and Stephen Fry!

Meme:

India Foxtrot Yankee Oscar Uniform Charlie Alpha November Uniform November Delta Echo Romeo Sierra Tango Alpha November Delta Tango Hotel India Sierra, Charlie Oscar Papa Yankee Alpha November Delta Papa Alpha Sierra Tango Echo India Tango Tango Oscar Yankee Oscar Uniform Romeo Lima India Victor Echo Juliet Oscar Uniform Romeo November Alpha Lima.0:) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Mike Echo Mike Echo.

PS:



PPS: Anyone else think Mika's Dr. John sounds rather movieverse!Holmes/Watson, albeit a bit cracky.

I look for joy in a strange place
From the back of the bar
From afar
I see the look on my mama’s face
When her son's in the corner, undone

She says that my life is over
"Boy, you don't know what you got till it's gone
Come put your head upon my shoulder"
She gave me her hand, but I ignored her

Oh, Dr. John
What am I doing
What am I doing I wrong?
Cuz I keep on trying
Something ain't going
Something ain't going on
Oh, Dr. John

Title: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Rating: 5/5
Book: 2/50 (4% completed)
Book in personal challenge with niun: 3/50 Fantasy, 3/50 Mystery and 0/25 Classics
Pages: 375 pgs
Total Pages 829/15,000 pages (5.53% completed)
Next up: The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle by L.J. Smith

I picked this book up because I want to see the movie and when I realized that they were books, I knew I had to read the book before I saw the movie. It's just the way I am. I like to develop my own ideas of the characters and events, etc.

This book was hard to put down. Each page leaves you wanting to find out if Percy and his friends will make it through their adventure. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

xposted to 50bookchallenge, 15000pages and bookworm84

( Book Description from book jacket or back of the book: )

Today there is another cat-shaped hole in my heart. When I die and they autopsy me, they'll surely wonder at the dozens of cat-shaped holes.

This morning we found our Greta dead behind the sofa. She was about 11, but she hadn't been sick, lethargic, anorexic, or any of the other things cats usually do to let you know they're in trouble, so I took her to the vet for a necropsy. It turned out that she had advanced cancer of the spleen, which Dr. Scott said is often asymptomatic and painless. The tumor ruptured her spleen and she bled to death sometime early this morning. I've read that bleeding out isn't a bad way to go; you're weak, then high, then gone. I hope so. At any rate, the necropsy settled my mind that we couldn't have done anything to help her and that her cause of death isn't anything that can affect the other cats.

We're having her cremated, because she always hated the cold. We got Greta from the Southern Animal Foundation, a good animal welfare group/shelter that used to be neighbors with my vet. They knew I loved black cats and asked if I'd consider taking a beautiful black kitten who was semiferal, as they knew I'd be willing to work with him. When we came to get Ivan, the kitten, they said, "Oh, you've just got to take the mother too, she loves her baby, she cries whenever we try to take him away!" So mother and son came home with us. It was winter then too, and we were living in a big old drafty house, and mother immediately abandoned her son in a downstairs closet and plopped herself down directly in front of the bedroom heater. Ever since then, we called her Crack Momma. But she was a sweet girl, jet black and beautiful, if somewhat coffee-table-shaped (she liked her food).

Ivan died after the federal levees failed and we couldn't catch him. He didn't drown, but was exposed to something poisonous, probably water. They're still the only two cats out of all the dozens I've had that I've found dead at home. It's a shock, but in Greta's case, also a little reassuring -- she didn't have to be prodded and needled, and the other cats got to see her and know what happened. They're sticking close tonight.

When I was 23 myself, it amazed me that T.S. Eliot had written "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" at 23. Now it makes more sense to me, because of the refrain "There will be time ... " Only a young person really believes that, I think.

R.I.P., Greta, 1998 (?) - 2010. We love you.