Sleepin' Through the Evenin'

Once again I have been remiss in not updating more often :\ However, I almost have an excuse, that being the wind-down at the end of the semester. I had to put together a presentation for my digital libraries class to showcase and document the creation of a digital collection of classical piano recordings and their accompanying sheet music that was my term project for that class, while keeping my group members calm (in another class) that we could get our paper done on time, so things got a little hectic. But school is done for the semester now and I'm just waiting on my professors to stir themselves to post my grades, so here's to a month off.

Oh, right. I'm taking a class in June to keep one of my assistantships, since I've been informed that to take away a professor's GA only to assign her a new one a month later is not something my department wants to do, and they only hire me if I'm taking classes. Oh, well. I also have two other jobs this semester, since my boss at the med library pulled some strings and got me hired for June-August and my old boss at the main campus library also offered me a position. What this means is I will have some money, but I will also probably hate myself in the month of June. Whatever, this shit is under control.

I've spent a lot of time lately on the couch playing video games and reading. Still working through Warbreaker, which is quite intriguing, and have almost finished Parallel Myths, which is providing an interesting crash course in world mythology. From there I have The Hero With A Thousand Faces waiting, which I'm kind of nerdily excited about.

I have been clocking in hours on the PS2 like it's my job; I beat Shadow of the Colossus in two days and wanted to die at the end. I must salute Jake for giving me the timely advice to do it all on my own and not look up a guide; however, he did not warn me about how things turn out in the end (which he shouldn't have), so I was left an empty shell of a human being for a little while as I absorbed just what had come of my character's quest to resurrect the girl that I can only assume he loved. Moved on from that to Tales of the Abyss, which is also giving me that sinking feeling - the same one I got when I personally had to walk Cloud over to Sephiroth and fork over the Black Materia in FFVII. Great times. Good game, really enjoying the characters in this one; Tales of Vesperia is clearly its spiritual successor.

Writing actively on my book(s) has been put back on hiatus of a sort. I decided while sleeping a while back that I needed to get all my fucking background info for the world and the characters finalized and then start this shit over one. Last. Time. So I've been working on that, which is how I ended up reading Parallel Myths and buying The Hero With A Thousand Faces and The King Must Die, but what can I do. At least it's all progress.

Ben and I have gotten mired in a lot of anime, and maybe we'll finish one of the following that we're in the midst of: Death Note, Hajime no Ippo (surprisingly awesome), Battle Athletes (lulz), and Code Geass.

Also! Katie, Jeb and I are going to New Orleans this weekend (just in time for the oil slick). I anticipate ridiculous foolery and hurricanes and hopefully not waking up with no memory of the night before.

Suddenly, job offers

Oh, come on, guys. Suddenly, not only does my old boss at the main campus library want to give me a summer job, my boss over at the med library has informed me that he's trying to convince them to hire me for June and July since I won't be available for most of May. And here I thought I was going to be jobless....? This in addition to a summer class and working for a professor as a GA. When it rains it pours, I guess >.>

Nothing else exciting happening over here, except I realized yesterday that I've written nearly 30,000 words in the last three weeks if you include last night's writing. That is bonkers. Also Warbreaker is great so far.

Now, on to the real reason for this, even though I don't have enough people paying attention to this to really complete the goal here:

1: Put your music player on shuffle.

2: Post the first line from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.

3: Put the songs in bold when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.

4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!

5: If you like the game, post your own.

I am doing this with a playlist, and not all of my music, because that would be right out (if you can guess the playlist, I might have to award a real prize).

1. She's got a smile that it seems to me reminds me of childhood memories

2. You and me, meant to be; immutable, impossible

3. Hey Gloria, are you standing close to the edge?

4. Beautiful, dirty, dirty, rich, rich, dirty, dirty, beautiful, dirty, rich

5. My reflection, dirty mirror, there's no connection to myself

6. Brother Pele's in the back, sweet Zina's in the front

7. I'm wakin' up at the start of the end of the world

8. I see you blowin' me a kiss, it doesn't take a scientist

9. Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time

10. It's been one week since you looked at me, cut your head to the side and said 'I'm angry'

11. I've been watchin' you, can't believe just what I'm seeing

12. I know you want pop, you want dance, you want rock and roll

13. Cruised into a bar on the shore, her picture graced the grime on the door

14. Uptown, another endless night

15. Look at him, look at me; that boy is bad, and honestly

16. I am sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner

17. People don't you know, don't you know, it's about time

18. Your love is nothing I can't fight

19. And I've known, we're just like old friends

20. It's about time for a party at my house, and it wouldn't be the same without you

Truthfully, I am incredibly bored at work.

I Don't Want To Be Perfect Any More

Okay, Katie has beaten me about the head until I made another post. The writing exercises have evolved into me just writing every day, and the more I do it the easier it gets and the more I tend to write. Before I know it I might actually have a whole book, if only I could write in a linear fashion. What this also means is that my reality disconnect is getting worse and worse, so I have to be prodded to do things like this that are actually some form of contact with the outside world aside from AIM and my weekly excursion to Flying Saucer.

School is...school. I am essentially sleeping through two of my classes and getting an A because I learned nearly all the subject matter via actually working in a library. It might also have something to do with the fact that my final project for one of them is an 8-12 page literature review... that we're doing in three person groups. Ah, well, it leaves me more time to build my digital library for my digital libraries class, which is actually teaching me a great deal and making me work besides.

I finished reading Tigana a while back, and I have to say it was very enjoyable. The reviews on Amazon are all 'oh my god the characters are so amazing I've never read anything like this,' and to some extent there is a grain of truth there. The characters are very well done, with very personal motivations for what they're doing. It's not 'let's save the world because it's the right thing to do,' it's 'let's take this king out because he screwed over our country, even though doing so is going to get a lot of other people killed in the crossfire,' which is a refreshing change. I also read the newest (I think) book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, which was enjoyable per usual and a good quick read that was a much-needed break for my brain. I've just started Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (who happens to be the man finishing the Wheel of Time books) and I am certainly intrigued by it, though I haven't gone much further in than 30 pages at this point.

Katie knocked me off the Lady GaGa train with this amazing mashup, which I had on for a few days almost continuously while writing horrible things, and then I knocked myself off that by acquiring pretty much all of BT's music and I've been tripping on that ever since (These Hopeful Machines is a great album).

Also, Ben bought me Settlers 7, which is waaaaaay more fun than it has a right to be, and one day I will play through FFXIII.

Carried Away By A Moonlight Shadow

I feel off the map for a little while. My bad. And just now I almost got 100% distracted from this again because of the seductive wiles of the internet. FML.

I have taken up a new writing exercise in which I pick a time, any time I choose and never the same time two days running, and do whatever I have to do in order to be writing at that time for the next fifteen minutes, minimum. Doesn't matter if I have to blow people off or what - I'm there, writing, for fifteen minutes. Not staring at the screen or pretending to work but actually writing something. It's been working wonderfully, and now that I'm getting back into the habit of writing coherently every day it's starting to not be so much damned work.

Speaking of work I have come into possession of a kettlebell, which is apparently what the Russians use to abuse themselves into shape. It is also working quite well in a way that has both my hamstrings and obliques begging for mercy, which makes me happy. I also think it is rather cute, for which Katie has decreed I am eff'd in the head for thinking an 18-pound cannonball with a handle can be cute. Hi pot, how's the weather over there (ilu, Kate)?

Also my Zune is back (oh god rapture), and by my Zune I mean they sent me a new one, and so life is much, much more bearable, especially at work.

...if anything else exciting has happened while I have been AWOL I have already forgotten about it, which should come as no surprise.

Oh wait. I now have three gigs of DJ Mystik. My high school self has expired of joy.

Cleanliness Is Godliness

So Ben's parents are coming over at some point this weekend to drop off an armoire, and I have thus spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning the past few days - up to and including getting on hands and knees to scrub shit. I've also spent some time working on schoolwork, but that's neither here nor there, really.

Earlier this week I made beef stock with a bunch of bones we got from the DeKalb Farmer's Market (which was awesome, because the guy literally grabbed some cow femurs and took a bandsaw to them for me). After it cooks a few days you strain it into bowls and refrigerate it so that the fat all comes to the top and solidifies, and then you skim it off and do whatever you want with the stock. I was reminded forcibly of Fight Club as I did this yesterday - something about rendering fat, skimming it off the top, and glycerin (didn't help that the stock, when cold, has the consistency of jello). Regardless, I now have a lot of really good stock and a lot of free space in the fridge thanks to the cleaning required to fit two huge bowls in it, so I feel it was worth the grossness of dealing with the stuff.

In less gross news, writing night last night was actually very productive. Michelle and I managed to sit down and hash out a rough, working timeline for the entirety of my story, which is a feat I had until then despaired of accomplishing. Looks like the whole arc of the main plot will encompass about eight years, which is about what I expected (although Michelle kept saying 'everything happens so much faster than I thought').

Also, considering tattoos and where to put them. SRS BSNS.