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Below are the 25 most recent friends journal entries:[<< Previous 25 entries]
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12:15 am
officialgaiman
[Link] |
not really about anything...
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/05/not-really-about-anything.html Let's see -- spoke at Maddy's school yesterday, to about a hundred 13 and 14 year olds. Survived. The pear tree and the cherry trees are coming into blossom too. Tomorrow, without the glorious leadership of Bee Boss Sharon Stiteler, I get to inspect the Kitty hive and go and see how the queen is doing...
I'm currently spending most of the time in the gazebo at the bottom of the garden, alternately writing a sort of outline for something and proofreading The Graveyard Book. This is the US edition of The Graveyard Book, and now I'm taking all the corrections and fixes I did to the UK manuscript when I was in Australia and transferring 90% of them over to the US version (only 90% because I'm letting a few Americanisms that my UK editor had problems with stand -- particularly the ones my otherwise wonderful UK copy editor and I butted heads over. )(There's me at two in the morning on Skype muttering, "Look freak out can't just be a newfangled Americanism -- it's in Fanny Hill, for heaven's sake...") [For the curious, http://fiction.eserver.org/novels/fanny_hill/09.html five lines from the bottom.]
....
If you're on the upper East Coast and sad that you won't get to see me at MIT as all the tickets have sold out, you could -- and should -- down your sorrows in Cory Doctorow. As you will learn over at http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000357.shtml you can learn all about it....
What: Cory Doctorow Benefit Reading For CBLDF
When: Sunday, May 25 at 5 PM; VIP After Party at 7 PM
Where: Comix, 353 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
How Much:
General Admission: $20/advance $25/day of show;
VIP Admission: $100/advance only, includes preferred seating, copy of the book, & After Party with open beer/wine/soda bar
Tickets:
General Admission tickets available at
http://comixny.com/event.aspx?eid=416&sid=1302;
VIP Admission available at
http://store.fastcommerce.com/prod_cbldf-ff80818119f1676e0119f2fbcdc91642.html
You should go.
...
I know that David Tennant's Hamlet isn't till next year. And lots of people are going to be doing Dr Who in Hamlet jokes, so this is just me getting it out of the way early, to avoid the rush...
"To be, or not to be, that is the question. Weeelll.... More of A question
really. Not THE question. Because, well, I mean, there are billions and
billions of questions out there, and well, when I say billions, I mean,
when you add in the answers, not just the questions, weeelll, you're
looking at numbers that are positively astronomical and... for that matter
the other question is what you lot are doing on this planet in the first
place, and er, did anyone try just pushing this little red button?"
There. Thanks. Sorry about that.
...
This came in from Laurel Krahn -- I've already mentioned Fourth Street Fantasy on this blog, one of my very very first American conventions, the one at which I first discovered the joy of talking to Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden (amongst others) and failing to argue with Steve Brust:
Any chance you could mention the return of Fourth Street Fantasy Convention in your journal/blog thing? We've extended the pre-registration date from May 15th to May 31st to give us all more time to plug the convention, it also gives those who haven’t registered yet a bit more time to gather the funds together to do so.
June 20 - 22, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Guest of Honor Elizabeth Bear.
More details at http://www.4thstreetfantasy.com/
My friend Lillian Edwards pointed me at the TechnoLlama blog, where over This, this and finally this post the entire matter of Dr Who knitting patterns is discussed to within an inch of its life.
I crochet, and I'm a Doctor Who fan, so I've been following the thing with the knitted pattern a little. I've always had a set of Lil' Endless on my mental list of things to eventually crochet, but now that you've mentioned that DC is a bit strict about things I think I might just keep them to myself instead of writing up a (free, not to be sold) pattern. What would your feelings be about crochet/knitting patterns of your characters? It's not just The Endless I have in mind, I've done a seven legged spider before, and there are several other characters or concepts that I think would make neat projects.
As long as things aren't being sold in quantity, DC Comics is incredibly unlikely to grumble about it.
I don't mind at all, as long as it's not commercial. I don't mind anything that's creative, and I especially don't mind if people ask nicely first.
(I mind, very much, things like people selling on ebay CDs with PDFs of the complete Sandman books on them.)
(Nobody is going to complain if a fan turns a Barbie into a Death -- although I heard that DC said no to one of those appearing in a book of photos of interesting Barbie dolls. Nobody is going to grumble if a fan puts up a "how to make Barbie into Death" guide online. If someone put up a how to guide, and then one day hundreds of Death Barbies turned up on eBay, I can see Warners lawyers trying to close it down...)
...
Had a conversation with Paul Levitz the other day about Gaiman's Law of Superhero Movies, which is: the closer the film is to the look and feel of what people like about the comic, the more successful it is (which is something that Warners tends singularly to miss, and Marvel tends singularly to get right) and the conversation went over to Watchmen, which had Paul explaining to me that the film is obsessive about how close it is to the comic, and me going "But they've changed the costumes. What about Nite Owl?" It'll be interesting to see whether it works or not...
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03:59 pm
elissa_carey
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/74507877/640273) [Link] |
ut austin: serious about math.
For the hell of it, I decided to take a second look at UT Austin for transfer into their School of Architecture to earn my BSID, maybe as a back-up in case I strangely could not get accepted at Drexel. Should be cheaper, right? Easier to get into?
Dunno about the first, but the second? Oh HELL no. If anything, it's tougher.
According to the website, they get approximately 150 applicants a year and can only accept a few. If you want to transfer, they list the usual sort of core requirements... except math. Math is a special case. Trig? Precalculus? Please. No: you need Calculus I&II. That's on top of College Physics I&II. The latter I figured on; the former knocked me back on my heels.
I've already related how they also want a portfolio of your work (w/no photography-as-art; photos only of sculpture, for example), so the nosebleed-high math requirements has reconfirmed my decision not to try UT Austin for my degree.
Current Mood:  shocked
Current Music: sneaker pimps, "becoming x"
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12:05 pm
elissa_carey
[Link] |
head start!
I gave in and logged in to my Blinn-provided email -- it didn't look like they were going to automatically correct the name & such, and while it makes me vaguely grumpy I don't feel bothered enough about it to get it changed -- to see what, if any, messages I've gotten from Blinn or instructors.
There were four messages, three from Blinn -- and one from the Math instructor! It's an introductory message. Apparently, buying the textbook is optional. We do have to purchase the Math XL portal access and the course packet, and you can buy access to an online version of the textbook. We'll be doing homework every day online via Math XL, and working every day from the course packet. Any work done from the textbook is extra credit. Apparently the homework is set up now, so we can start working on it now if we want. The portal access/software is definitely cheaper -- $65 if bought new from the campus bookstore. No idea how much the course packet will cost. Also need a graphing calculator (instructor said preferably a TI-83 or TI-84).
The class I was most worried about has turned out so far to have plenty of ways for me to get a leg up, or at least hit the ground running like I was wanting. Yay! Now I just need my tax stimulus money so I can run and go buy these things. (Or at least some, and get the rest with Mom's help, which I'll be able to repay with my loan money. Wells Fargo sent me a sort of "welcome! congrats!" letter that let me know my first disbursal will be on the 5th of June.)
*happydance*
Current Mood:  productive
Current Music: david bowie, "ziggy stardust"
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12:43 pm
fuschia
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/9305666/9058) [Link] |
low-key birthday (and Iron Man)
Because I've been slightly freaking out about this birthday, I've made very few plans for it, and consequently have been enjoying my low-key weekend so far.
J. & I went on a date last night and ate french fries and saw Iron Man. (I know - I'm a bad geek. J. saw it opening weekend and has been so impatient for me to get done with my MCRing already and see it.) LOVED it, and I'm sure anything I'd say would just repeat others' more astute observations. Found RDJ incredibly attractive and compelling throughout, and found a few scenes erotic that I probably shouldn't have. But, still, Iron Man: who knew? Never has been a Marvel title I've really read.
I'm still coughing (thanks, Frank!), but getting better. J. and I are going to go wandering in search of brunch, though may need to go further afield than town, as Smith graduation weekend is underway.
Love to you all.
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10:44 pm
amberite
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/69386965/147395) [Link] |
Transmissions from Beijing
It's been a wonderful weekend, full of portents of the past and present and future. I just said goodbye to my friend Raquel, possibly for the last time in a long time, not for the last time ever: I promised to see her again, no matter where I have to go to do so. Maybe China again, on a short visit; maybe some other country, as she's hoping to travel the world herself. Maybe I'll have the pleasure of hosting her in Portland someday. I hope so.
I met Raquel during my brief stay in Shenzhen; we were staying in a hostel together; we stayed up all night talking, woke up after scant sleep and talked some more. She's a student in Beijing, studying Spanish, and having a better grasp on English than any other Chinese person I've met here -- the subtleties, the nuances, the slang -- and a connection to subculture that's rare here, but somewhere in there I'm also at least half in love, in such a way that I don't know whether I'd be more so or less so if there were a possibility of seeing her in the long term. Probably it would settle out to the kind of romantic friendship ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) heron61 talks much about. That's not in the cards, though. It's enough to just connect and go our separate ways with the promise of a future meeting.
There are so many people like that in my life -- people I love deeply but don't live near -- and when I think of them I think again of the idea I had several years ago, of asking these people to select small images to tattoo in a row on my skin. Maybe someday I'll know where it goes.
--
While I was walking with her and another American today, a reporter (for apparently a large newspaper!) stopped us to ask what we thought about the earthquake. I said that I thought it was a terrible tragedy, that I was glad the pandas are safe, and that my hope for the future is that China will learn to build buildings the way they do in California. Which about sums up my thoughts.
Saying that, I realized that I'm still the person who looks at a tragedy and says, what good can come of this? Seven years haven't changed it. I often fear it makes me come off as callous, but Raquel pointed out that right now, people are becoming intensely superstitious about all the frightening events in China this year and what they mean about the Olympics, and optimism can only do good.
I learned also that the tension has led to some gay bars being shut down and others going quiet, which is why I did not have the opportunity to do a drag show this weekend. I am angry about this, and also frightened: it means that they're not acting based on what the powerful countries will realistically perceive of China, since of the first-world nations, the US is pretty much bringing up the rear on acceptance of queer people, and the US isn't shutting down gay bars. They're acting based on some twisted mirror image that doesn't exist in the world outside.
More diplomatically, I said to the reporter when she asked me, People are too nervous about the Olympics and they need to relax. Everything will go better if they relax.
I hope that gets out there if anything does.
--
I'm going to see the Great Wall tomorrow, and going to get up stupidly early to do it. I'll be quite exhausted by the time I go back to Yangzhou and sleeping on the train probably won't help. But now I'm in the process of saying my goodbyes to China, and feel the urgency of transience in a way I haven't before.
Yesterday I visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. I have not so much to say about the latter except that the feel of the place reminded me of the feel of the Washington Monument, which, when you think about it: oh, just think about it. Ugh. Moving on.
The Forbidden City -- the ancient palace complex -- was fascinating. I saw relatively little of it; it would take multiple visits to really complete the exploration; but I walked among as much of it as I could. The grounds themselves interested me more than the museum, especially from the point at which I began to experience fragments of story.
This was in one tier of... a walled stone area that must have been a garden, once, by the look of it. In my mind there was the story of a child, a small girl playing in the garden, with the sort of extremely internalized thoughts children have. And then I thought: Is that my own mind generating story, as I've always assumed, or am I experiencing a ghost?
When I visit certain kinds of places I get fragments of stories around them; it's a writer thing. It's always happened and I've never really questioned it.
I opened up my mind a little more and tried to experience the drifts of whatever else might be caught on the stones, and I got a few more distinct moments like that, including one which was more or less backed up by the information on a sign which I saw a minute later.
Yesterday I theorized that I might be engaging a kind of mental time travel -- which is how I think of ghosts, at least of the common "here is a moment repeated" kind: either that moment's thoughts are travelling forward to meet your mind or your mind is travelling backward to meet that one. (Theoretically, you can also run into others who are travelling backward to meet you, but I'm not all that sure what they're going to look like.)
Now, this is the kind of person I am: Is it my mind making story or are these fragments related to people from the past? Or people from story-land who are hanging out around pieces of history? Who knows! Who cares! It is what it is.
I know that I am a story-making thing, and I'm part of a story-making machinery, not all of which exists inside of me.
(In fact, the above could be a statement of the nature of my belief in God.)
But as I contemplated all of this I remembered that belief itself is an act of Will; a choice made from moment to moment.
Who I am is what I make of my reality.
And to some people that might be a cynical thought, but for me it just makes me love the world more.
The bug pills are helping my wrists some but I am still mostly off the internets. Trying to get better all the way. So this may be the last for a while. Take care out there in computerland, kids.
Tags: china, magick, travel
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10:40 am
athanata
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/31674133/598603) [Link] |
Interesting...
As some of you may know - the Vatican recently came out saying that it's OK to believe in Aliens as our "brother's" in Creation.
What I thought was most interesting though about the statement by the Vatican Astronomer, Rev. Funes (how cool a job would that be?)
"The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter."
more info:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_aliens
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09:12 am
elissa_carey
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/74577032/640273) [Link] | I will probably go back to using the beach theme, but for now, my Google homepage is draped in Oscar de la Renta. ;)
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09:06 am
gears_and_steam
[steampunk_thor]
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/73685806/15372463) [Link] |
Steampunk Clocks? Hurrah!
So my obsession topic for today is steampunk clocks, and I figure I'd start out with the a few real life examples I could find, the famous steam clock of Vancouver.
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04:45 am
chadu
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/65628276/789610) [Link] |
[dfrpg] Who's Who
Work Journal: Updated entries through Lucifer (AKA "The Prince of Darkness," "The Adversary"). (+1100 words; running total 4263 words)
Tags: dresden, evilhat, game design, gaming, work journal, writing
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01:34 am
drivingblind
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/53765770/435218) [Link] |
California Revolution
Hey West Coast folks -- just wanted to let you know that IPR's going to have a presence in some fashion at two conventions next weekend.
Up in the SF bay area there's Kublacon: http://www.kublacon.com/ -- EndGame will be there, and bringing a wide swath of titles from the IPR catalog for sale.
For the Southern Cali crowd, Gamex 2008 will be happening the same weekend: http://www.strategicon.net/ -- Joshua BishopRoby will be there with a spread of IPR games for sale as well.
Plenty of indie play happening at both conventions too, if I hear right. Check 'em out!
Tags: cons, ipr
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02:38 pm
fromthemorgue
[Link] |
Party Warning: June 14
http://www.additiverich.com/morgue/archives/002449.html Notification: flatwarmer-ing party on June 14. To celebrate it being thirteen months since we moved in! Or something. Details to come....
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04:11 pm
drivingblind
[Link] |
DFRPG Perspective Part 2
So folks are probably wondering where we're at on the Dresden Files RPG development front, after the previous bit.
Chad U. is continuing his update of our setting components with material from Small Favor (and eventually the comic books and Backup). More about that, here: http://chadu.livejournal.com/tag/dresden
Lenny had semester finals up through Wednesday, and is now in the period of recovery. Starting next week, he goes full-tilt at the playtester feedback, doing revisioneering and expansion on spellcraft, conflict resolution, and supernatural abilities.
Other stuff is afoot too, but those are our two workhorses on the project, so that should give you a picture. As I've been saying, I'm hopeful we'll be able to kick off a second alpha round sometime in June.
Tags: dresden files rpg, evil hat llc, state of the hat
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12:07 pm
wickedthought
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/22347785/863877) [Link] |
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom
 John Wick,
Thank you for purchasing tickets on Ticketmaster.
You purchased 2 tickets to:
Tom Waits
Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
Wed, Jun 18, 2008 08:00 PM
Seat location: section SEC B, row 24, seats 5-4
Current Music: FOR I AM A RAAAAAAIN DOG, TOO!
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03:10 pm
robin_d_laws
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/12106742/2417937) [Link] |
It Takes a Blowhard
Normally I regard Chris Mathews as a destructive force in the US political conversation, but here he uses his powers for good instead of evil. Watch him, sniffing out the telltale scent of historical ignorance, mete out a cruel, relentless, and utterly deserved humiliation.
(If you prefer, here's the unedited version of the same segment, with the comments by the second guest, Mark Green, left in:)
Tags: politics hut, television hut
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01:16 pm
muskrat_john
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/20753342/1981732) [Link] |
Dork Tower, Friday, May16
Today's Dork Tower is up! (About bloody time)
Click Here, there or anywhere to see it.
****
Ever wonder what it's like to watch someone hoist themselves by their own petard? And by "hoist" I mean "eviscerate." And by "petard" I mean "ignorance."
It'd be kind of enjoyable, if it wasn't so sickening.
Ganked from the ever-astute robin_d_laws
****
30 Years Ago in Kovalic History (AKA "Diary of the Artist, Age 15 and a half.")
"AO History test essay on Napoleonic War went well. Julius Ceasar OK, but spoiled by other people who were watching. Found 50p."
Current Location: Muskrat Central
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: "White City" - the Pogues
Tags: dork tower
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01:58 pm
drivingblind
[Link] |
Perspective: Playtest Application Headcount
So I've kept the playtest application for the Dresden Files RPG open during the bleeding alpha period. During the playtest, we've taken in an additional 200+ applications. As of this time, the total number of playtest applications on file is over 850.
Think we have enough?
Anyway, I put this out there because I've gotten a few people saying "why haven't I heard back", and so on. We're looking at a TITANIC number of interested folks here, and we've only done one round of picks for playtesting so far -- maybe 30 applications at most. That still leaves over 800 folks who are *possible* for later-round picks.
But we can't send out 800 emails each time we do a round of picking to tell folks "sorry, you're still on pending status", not managably, and not without that eating into actual productivity.
BUT! Those of you who have applied and not heard back should know that at the least, we'll be contacting you once ALL playtesting is concluded and we're heading towards publication. We'll want to do right by everyone who took the time to apply -- we haven't quite figured out what form that will take, but it *is* our intention, and one I hope we can deliver on.
Tags: bleeding alpha, dresden files rpg, playtest, state of the hat
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11:43 am
elissa_carey
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/50675205/640273) [Link] |
giggling like a loon.
Sorry for the bigness, but these were fun. :)
Current Mood:  good
Current Music: sia, "moon"
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04:56 pm
gothwalk
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/60436285/506893) [Link] |
New Deity: Daniel Dociu
Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there. Daniel Dociu is Chief Art Director for ArenaNet, who make the Guild Wars game. There’s an article on BLDGBLOG featuring his art. You need to see it. Go look.
I don’t think I’ve my mind as thoroughly lit up by artwork in years.
Tags: random
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04:48 pm
inannajones
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/47828024/535177) [Link] |
Weekend
A mental work week is over.
It's unbelievably still sunny and warm. I have iced cider and later on take away.
And there will be roleplaying today and tomorrow.
It's all good.
Tags: good things
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09:38 am
gears_and_steam
[battlepunk]
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/74703462/15363915) [Link] |
Steampunk teevee!
Hey steamers and punx, I just wanted to draw your attention to a spectacular steampunk serial called "Wormtooth Nation" that some friends-of-friends-of-friends put together. I'm not much of a film critic, but I find it really quite remarkable--nicely written, beautifully lit on gorgeous sets (they got permission to film in industrial buildings); for an amateur production, especially, it is stunning.
The first couple webisodes are up on theskyisfree DOT com, and I believe you can also find it on YouTube under the search "wormtooth nation."
cross-posted
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09:25 am
athanata
[Link] |
LOST Theories from USA Today
I got this from my friend Gwynne's blog - who in turn got it from USA Today - so neat! It's one viewers theory on the island.
"The actual identity of the island is the Garden of Eden — the cradle of civilization. We believe the show is balancing faith and science. Thus, the island is a place of faith being cloaked and protected (and even prodded) by scientific means.
It has been revealed that the numbers are the Valenzetti Equation. This equation points to the end of the world. It points to destiny, and it has been referred to as "a curse." When Adam and Eve sinned, it brought a curse to mankind (which included difficulty in childbirth). It also doomed all mankind to death. It pointed to the end of the world.
Dharma was trying to reverse the curse of Adam and Eve through scientific means, while the Others and the Lost-ies have been trying to do so by means of faith. The Others are moving the Lost-ies to make right the sins of their past. The Monster is a man-made means of judgment; he is a man-made god. If someone can pass The Monster's test of judgment, they may be able to atone for Adam and Eve's sin, and in essence reverse the curse in the very place where it began — the Garden."
Edited to add: "The "Lost Experience" has revealed that the objective of the DHARMA Initiative is to alter any of the six factors of the Valenzetti Equation, revealed to have a huge impact on the date the human race will destroy itself, whether by global warming, chemical warfare, overpopulation or many other possible methods. These factors are represented as numbers in the Valenzetti Equation and are also the numbers frequently mentioned in the show: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42."
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10:41 am
coffee_lifeform
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/12123655/1095505) [Link] |
Oh dear.
I think it's definitely a sign of my age that two of the best nights I've had in the last month have involved staying in and having some quiet drinks with good friends.
It's a much more alarming sign of my age that I appear to be developing flabby bits where there never used to be flabby bits. Back in the halcyon days of my youth, I never had flabby bits. I blame not smoking. And the accompanying EATING DOUBLE WHAT I USED TO. (For those of you who've never smoked, let me tell you that appetite increase is no urban legend). I've told andrewducker that I'll join his badminton crew, but so far stuff's kept coming up which means that I haven't actually played yet, and being out of the country for nearly a month means that I won't get to play for ages. I know some of you do grown-up things like go to gyms, but I'm really not interested in that; anyone care to share their non-gym keep-fit or tone-up sekrits?
Current Location: At work, 2 Queen Street
Current Mood:  Mildly irritated
Current Music: Damien Rice's "Cannonball" on mp3
Tags: whining
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06:35 am
officialgaiman
[Link] |
Drunken air part two
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/05/drunken-air-part-two.html This is a film that Sharon Stiteler took yesterday of our bees buzzing around in my plum trees. I actually started wanting the bees because of the plums, because there were never any bees when they were in bloom...
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02:13 am
chadu
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/11569400/789610) [Link] |
[dfrpg] Who's Who
Work Journal: Updated entries through Elder Brother Gruff (AKA "Tiny"). That includes the complicated Dresden write-up. (+851 words; running total 3163 words)
Tags: dresden, evilhat, game design, gaming, work journal, writing
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09:17 pm
drivingblind
[Link] |
That's How We Roll - Under the Hat #4 - The Mayor of Las Vegas, Part 2
[32min 44sec] This finishes up the conversation with Lenny from our chat at the GAMA Trade Show 2008 in April. In this episode, you'll hear more conversation about the Dresden Files RPG, as well as a discussion about differing perspectives on Vincent Baker's In a Wicked Age.
You can find the episode here:
http://thatshowweroll.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=339804
Tags: dresden files rpg, evil hat llc, podcast, that's how we roll
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