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...god, I hope it's a trend.
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Apr. 18th, 2008 @ 04:53 am
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Wrote nearly 3k words yesterday. On the same story!
I know. Shocking. |
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Military games.
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Apr. 14th, 2008 @ 04:55 pm
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I would play this game, and gladly. Do I get to choose the flotsom I get to land on and crush utterly try to jump?
Proper use of military equipment. |
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Srsly so.
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Apr. 14th, 2008 @ 02:23 am
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Mr Gaiman, you're marvellous.
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Apr. 8th, 2008 @ 04:14 pm
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Picspampost!
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Apr. 6th, 2008 @ 01:40 pm
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Hey! ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mwyaren and marared! I finally got the things developed and uploaded. *wg*
For the general amusement and potential edification of my darling flist, I present photos from Baltimore, January 2008 (Poe Toast!) and Lexington, KY, March of 2008 (last weekendish, for those of you following at home). There are many! Many, as in: close to fifty! Erm. Dialup type users (if there are any of you left at all), you might not want to click the cut unless you have some time to waste.
So, then:
( Baltimore, MD. The Poe Toast (which was rather a bust), January of 2008. )
Last weekend, I ventured to visit evilmcevilton in Lexington, Kentucky, and (predictably) spent much of my time crawling about in the local cemetary. Mmmm. Pretty old graves. Mmmm. I snapped a couple of rolls at Ashland, too. I share.
( Picses! )
Probably x-posted at some point soon to deathly_decayed and Strange and Savage. |
| » Prodigal, and all that. |
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I am home. Lexington was fantastic and wonderful and delightful and a ridiculous amount of fun, and there are pictures getting dropped off for developing later this afternoon after I have slept and whenever they come back I will upload and share and right now I am going to go to bed and get some sleep because it's not quite four-thirty in the morning and I've been up since ten yesterday morning and spent seven hours driving and eight hours working and now I am beat and i's raining and it sounds so pretty that I think I should just pass out.
Apr. 1st, 2008 @ 04:22 am
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| » Photography |
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The purpose behind taking pictures is to tell the truth. It's a different world, if you view it through a camera lens.
Narrow your focus. Distill what you see, so that you really see it, and notice the relationships between your subject and its surroundings. Pay attention to the effect of light and its absence and how it plays along surfaces. Paying attention changes the world in a subtle but significant way, and the delight in that is that you can share that change with others, via the whirr-click of a shutter.
I am learning. I am no professional-- I've taken no courses; my knowledge of the technicalities of photography is limited at best, and entirely self-taught, but I'm learning as I do it. I enjoy taking pictures. I enjoy playing with angles and f-stops; I love getting down on the ground or up in trees to see something from a different point of view rather than standing in front of it and snapping a shot at eye-level.
And somehow, through doing this, I manage to occasionally take decent pictures. Somehow, I manage to get some honesty.
Mar. 30th, 2008 @ 10:16 am
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| » Mmmmmm |
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Kentucky is beautiful country.
Mar. 30th, 2008 @ 09:54 am
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| » Wtf? |
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8:30 in the morning. I am awakened by the dog barking and the sound of multiple male voices in my kitchen.
I live alone, for those of you watching at home.
Turned out to be the landlord, and two electricians. I'd asked, as a condition of renting this place, to get the washer moved over to where the dryer outlet is, rather than where it's currently stashed in the within-reach-of-the-counters spot-where-a-stove-should-go-and-not-a-bloody-washing-machine. Turns out we have to move the dryer outlet as well (which is, inexplicably, next to the plumbing for the washer). Fine and dandy, and thank you for getting the guys in to work on this, but a phone call to let me know first would have been nice.
Tried to call, he said, but the phone was turned off. Yes, because that is the old number and I know for a fact I gave the new one to your secretary, sir, and that it's the one listed on the lease. I don't know where you pulled that number from, but it wasn't the most up to date paperwork. Call your secretary and make sure you've got the new number, you say. Fine, I'll call your secretary, but I know damn well you've already got the number, and you can cut out that supercilious tone that seems to imply that it's my fault you're somehow looking at the wrong paperwork.
Beyond that, did you even bother to knock on the door? I don't think you did. Granted, I was dead asleep, but my dog has a very loud bark, and he barks when someone knocks on the door (or, indeed, if there is any sound made inside the house that vaguely sounds like someone's knocking on the door). When I heard him bark, he woke me up from that sound sleep and you were already in my house. I'm pretty sure you just turned the key in the lock and came on in, regardless of propriety, politeness, or even law (I'm pretty sure I'm granted a 24-hour warning before the landlord can come on the premises, whatever the reason behind it, unless I actually say 'okay, yup, come on in).
And there's no way you could have assumed there was no one home. You parked behind my car in the driveway.
I am pissed. What I should have done is let my fucking dog bark his fool head off, stayed in my bedroom, and called the police.
As it stands, it's 8:30 in the morning, I've had less than two hours of sleep, and there are now going to be workmen banging away in my kitchen for Christ knows how long, fucking with the electricity in my house.
Further addendum: Don't worry about moving the stove back against the wall when you're done, guys! As a single mother, I don't find it at all a trial to move large appliances back to the spot they're meant to occupy, all by myself, without fucking up the floor! It's a piece of cake! I certainly wasn't going to need to cook or anything today.
Assholes. Hope my dad can come by tonight before I go to work and help me move it.
Further addendum number two: they installed the stove outlet backwards. It's functional, but the way it's facing, when the stove is plugged in, the cord bends in front of the door.
The back door. The one the landlord came in today with the electricians. The one to which I had been under the impression there was no key.
Mar. 25th, 2008 @ 09:05 am
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| » Four thousand too many. |
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We've lost over four thousand Americans in Iraq.
I'm crying and I am angry.
Edited to add: Given how self-absorbed America tends to be as a culture, I post a link to a piece about American deaths rather than the staggering number of Iraqi deaths not because the Americans are somehow more worthy of mourning, but because I don't hold a hope of making the deaths of brown men overseas impact any Americans who might be reading my little corner of cyberspace, here.
I hold some hope, however, that I can expect them to give a tiny fuck about the people they grew up with, went to school with, saw sign up for the JROTC and the military straight after graduating, and might be able to empathise with.
Bitter today? Yeah. Just a little.
Mar. 24th, 2008 @ 04:26 pm
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| » It almost made it to the AP and Reuters. |
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A new, historically significant event just very nearly occurred, an event sure to take its place in the annals of human events, right up there with Thermopylae and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Sadly, however, the window was closed, and my pitching arm is not what it used to be. The Defenestration of Hobbes, therefore, was neatly averted by circumstance.
...
No, I did not actually just try to throw my cat through a window. God, I wanted to, though. Any of you who've met the wretched little blight on the face of humanity and decency will attest: he deserved it.
Mar. 19th, 2008 @ 05:00 pm
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| » The annual move, reprise |
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OH MY GOD I AM SO SICK OF MOVING CAN IT JUST BE DONE ALREADY?!
Ahem.
So I've got all my stuff schlepped over into the new house, and have begun the process of "dear God where did all this shit come from?". I am half convinced that the boxes and bags breed with each other while I'm at work, because I come home and find that, despite the fact that I unpacked several the day before, somehow the stack is no smaller.
I'll get through it all eventually. Part of the problem is lack of storage space. There are no closets in this house, and pitifully few cupboards in the kitchen. My darling friend Jeremy bought a standalone cabinet for me to use as a pantry, and I am going to spend weekends scouring yard sales with mommydear until I find more. And a china cabinet. And more bookshelves. And a wardrobe (although I may have one of those from another good friend). And and and stuff. So I can store my stuff.
I do need to go through my clothes, still. I haven't yet, partly because of the aforementioned lack of closet/wardrobe space, partly because I want to sort through what I don't wear and donate it to one of the local clothing closets. My mother's church runs one, as do a couple of others; furthermore, there's always Goodwill or the Salvation Army.
I've brought the cats and the dog over; everyone seems to be settling in relatively nicely, although Rustington has startled himself somehow and is now terrified of the furnace grate, the back steps, and, apparently, just walking across the floor. He trembles. Ah, puppy. You make me shake my head.
Jacob's room was the first to be set up entirely. He's got a set of plastic standalone shelves in one of the two closets in his room (not built in; someone put them together after the room had been finished, and they have no doors), and his toys are arranged on them. He's got his dresser and nightstand back, and furthermore, the table that kmpo left with me a year or so ago fits perfectly between the closets, in front of his window. He can do his homework on it, and puzzles and such, and he's in love with having it there. He's so thrilled to have a house close to his friends again, and this pleases me greatly.
The kitchen comes along apace. I've set up the pantry so that everything is at least stored, although not precisely as I'd like it. There's just not enough room. Grr. I'm going to tackle Dad one of these weekends, though, and see if he'll help me get my Hoosier cabinet put back together, and that'll give me loads more storage space, and counterspace as well, yaye! A Nadie with a workable kitchen is a happy Nadie indeed.
On that note, I've also got to call the landlord today and amend my request for having the washer and dryer connections moved downstairs into the utility room. I don't think I can get a washer and dryer down there... so instead, if he'll have the big outlet by the door repaired so it actually works, so I can put my stove there instead of on the other side of the world where the dryer's meant to go, I'll see if he'll move the washer hardware over next to the dryer, and just put up screens. The kitchen's big enough that it won't cramp my cooking style.
Mommydear has told me that if I want the table and chairs in her garage I may have them (will probably offer to buy them off her), as I now have an actual dining room in which to put them. I've already mentioned that I need a china cabinet, and this is true, because I have china and crystal I want to display and have available for use when I entertain, and I do intend to entertain. I want to have my friends over again. I want to feed people and have music and laughing people in my house, games and smiling and fun.
But first...
First I have to find places for all my crap.
Wish me luck.
Mar. 17th, 2008 @ 01:00 am
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| » So I'm moving again. |
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I'm shuffling my shit across town to a little house v. near my friend Debbie. It's about two blocks up, in a quiet neighbourhood, with tons of kids that my son knows. There's an empty lot behind it that is also owned by my upcoming landlord, which he's said is fine for the kids to play in anytime they want- the agency takes care of mowing it, so I won't have to worry about it. There's a fenced in, decent-sized dog pen with a large shed and smaller doghouse (looks like whoever was in it before had two dogs, although I've only got the one). My darling Rustington won't spend all his time out there, because he is spoiled and I loff heem, but he can go out on nice days. Beyond that, Debbie's two dogs are just down the road, and we can go for walks, and let them play. There's a clothesline, and a little side and back garden with room for a small veggie patch (yay! Tomatoes! Carrots! Lettuce! Peppers! Yum!), and it's close to two parks, with quiet streets for bike riding.
It's an older house, so the interior isn't as sharp as it might be, but it's in good shape, and the things I don't like are largely cosmetic things, easily fixed with different, inexpensive fixtures and a bit of a decorating flair. The only thing I actively dislike is the location of the washer/dryer hookups- they're in the kitchen, which makes no sense to me, as there is a perfectly serviceable utility room downstairs. The landlord has said he's going to look into getting a plumber in to move the fixtures, if possible, and if it's not too expensive. Here's hoping. :)
All in all, I am pleased.
I'm signing a lease and putting deposits down tomorrow, and moving in this weekend, if all goes well.
Mar. 6th, 2008 @ 06:07 pm
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| » Mmmmm honey. |
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Mmmm this looks tasty. I want some of Neil's honey.
GET OUT OF THE GUTTER, YOU PERVERTS. For once, I mean it literally and without any kind of subtext. I ♥ me some honey.
Mar. 3rd, 2008 @ 12:42 am
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| » Writing, or: why I'm not. Not an excuse. A headdesking. |
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It's a night for writing, but tonight the words are being odd for me.
I wish I could figure out what my mind is thinking of right now. It won't tell me. There are thinky thoughts but I don't know what they are. They lurk, slowly moving about in my hindbrain, sliding against each other like mated cats, or serpents in the nest. I can't properly see them. I can't get the shape of them. It's frustrating.
Just write, they tell me, and it's that simple, or it's meant to be; just write and the stories'll fall together eventually. Just write. Keep writing. The trouble with this is I don't know what my stories are. There are shapes, just like the thoughts that I'm not looking at, but I can't quite make them out, and I start to write and lose the shape I had. Putting words to a story-shape should not make it sink back down into the mire, goddamnit.
It's frustrating.
Mar. 1st, 2008 @ 11:59 pm
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| » It's today, isn't it? |
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It is.
Well, then.
Happy anniversary to me. -.-
Feb. 28th, 2008 @ 02:16 pm
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| » More badass than Chuck. |
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I've found a new (new to me...) blog to read, on the occasions in which I spend half a night randomly browsing the intarwebs. I am also, I fear, going to have to find and read Mr Rothfuss' books. Damnit.
My thought is that if you can relax, clear your mind, and contemplate the four noble truths while someone is drilling your teeth, then you've got your place in the universe pretty well sorted out.
Amen, Patrick. When the Ultimate Showdown sounds its gong, I'm on your team.
Feb. 8th, 2008 @ 05:35 pm
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| » A call to arms! |
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The Angry Penguin Wars have begun. This is a serious cause. Go! Draw penguins! Make them Seriously Angry Penguins, that they may join their brethren in defending... er, shadowsandice, which is a much cooler cause than spreading industry democracy. (Apologies to George Carlin.)
Jan. 31st, 2008 @ 06:18 pm
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| » Oh, why not? |
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Nicked from sumidha
Leave a comment and I will:
1. Tell you why I friended you.
2. Associate you with something - a song, a color, a photo, a word, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LJ. Repost if you like. :)
Jan. 30th, 2008 @ 04:41 am
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