Brain Flotsam V2.007

I have this unfinished WIP that was really close to my heart - and still is, in its way, and I'm wondering now whether or not to finish it.  It's a one-shot featuring Harry and  Luna, in my Far Away as Moonshine ''verse, which I love to pieces despite the extreme rarepair-ness of it.  :P

I also have a bunch of prompts to fulfill for my now-defunct but still inspiring table on Luna.
Haven't been feeling the writing bug lately, but now that my ApolloCon stress is mostly done for the year, and I'm gearing up for Azkatraz, HP is back on the brain. (And I just can't do fic for Merlin yet. It took me years to work up to it in HP, maybe someday.)

To write, or not to write? Maybe I'll just keep drawing...

And oh crap, officially less than two weeks to the Con and I need to frame my art for the Gallery and Auction!
And print postcards... And test my DVD cable... And move all the pr0n off the  laptop that's traveling with me.  Yeep.

Ok, so I noted that I haven't updated here with anything of substance in over two weeks, which we all know is the internet equivalent of ten million years.
I'm still living in what I like to call cardboard chic, a house full of piles and boxes and no real organization.
True to prediction, though, I am spending a lot less time at home. Dinner and/or coffee with friends, meetings, meet-ups, a con, family events, and evening classes have all conspired to keep me far from home.
And I'm going out of town for a week starting next Tuesday. I'll be in the New York metro area, attending the Tarot Reader's Studio as well as hanging out with my beloved friends in the vicinity (and some coming in to town from afar, including Australia! Wow!).
That said, I expect to be spending more time at home in May. I have quilts to make and paintings to paint, for one thing. Plus a lot of tarot cards and still some fan exchanges to finish.  Plus the three Big Bangs I decided to sign up for. Mmm, fun. I also have books to unpack and an apartment to arrange. I also plan to acquire an actual TV. No, really! I'm going to set it up and watch it and everything. Probably.

That plus the whole Summer of Cons (ApolloCon, Azkatraz, Anticipation - I sense a theme here.)  should keep me busy.

So it was pouring rain this morning, but the storm had blown through by the time the movers arrived. 
Adventure the First: in securing the dog, I was sure that I had accidentally let the cat outside, which wasn't a terrible crisis necessarily but it's always worrying in a neighborhood so rife with strays.  We fretted about that while the guys moved the boxes and stuff, and searched the house to no avail.
Well, Peter called me when I was at the new place unloading to tell me that the cat was found, in a busy corner of the garage.

Adventure the Second: arrived at apartment, began unloading process. No problems with any of the boxes or furniture, and the place is well-lit by daylight and relatively cool, so at first I don't realize that the electricity is completely out. Finally somebody tries to turn on the bathroom lights without success, and I flip every switch and realize that while the fridge and AC are apparently on standby, the power is pretty much out.
So I call Gexa who calls Centerpoint who says the power is on from their end, check the breaker box. So I call maintenance and they come by and fiddle and lo, the lights work.
Well, not quite.
I turned the AC on, and the lights flickered, then next time I went to hit the switch, nothing.  The AC is blowing but now the lights AND the fridge have gone off.  Hm.
Call maintenance again (by this time the movers are done and gone) and they come by and promise to have things fixed this afternoon, so I go to lunch with mom.  When I get back, still no power, but there's a maintenance guy out by the boxes. 
Hopefully by the time I get to sleeping at the place, the power will be reliably back on.

Also, the doc has taken me off the meds and says to see how I do in my new situation with acupuncture and tai chi and everything. Mostly it's the diet - continuing to do either the No Sugar/Flour Food Plan or the modified hypoglycemic food plan - that may make a difference. I'm to report back in three months, unless the symptoms get worse or change drastically.

So that's that.

Packing, shopping for a bed, figuring out that maybe I'm hypoglycemic in addition to the stomach issues because I almost passed out and was shaking Friday night and had to miss a birthday gathering for a friend because I didn't trust myself to drive.  :(
But Saturday was much better and I watched what I ate and there were birthday people to greet and a party to go to. (Why is almost everybody I know born in March?) Donna and Jon and Lando the Magnificent Walking, Babbling, Playing Boy met me for Donna's birthday lunch, and have now seen my apartment, empty and echoing. Lando christened it with drool and laughter, so yay.

Then I went to my cousin Dave's birthday party, which was a live action role-playing card game called Long Live the King.  It was pretty awesome, although I was still trying to control my headachy symptoms (plus even I get a couple weeks when the pollen wreaks havoc with my sinuses).  I played the Archbishop with a 3-minute Mitre made of construction paper, while there were vast levels of costumery among the other folks.  From simple tunics and capes to full-on Henry VIII style gear, it was a good night for costumes.
I didn't know most of the people there, because this cousin was one of the ones that I used to see only for Christmas each year, if then.  But he's discovered that I'm a geek and a gamer, so now I get invited to these things. :)
It was a fun time, but as with many of these games, I think that the next time it's played, things will go much more smoothly.  Last night we were a bit confused about what we could and could not do, and nobody knew exactly how to win. It always takes at least one round for the players to really grok the strategy.  So, I can only hope we find excuses to play again!

Also, another cousin had a birthday last week (and I should have e-mailed him or something - bad me.) and Peter and Hillary are Tuesday and today, respectively.
March - a popular month for being born.

Today mom and I have made it our mission to buy me a bed, and then I have to get the rest of the assorted misc junk off my floor and shelves and into boxes, because the movers are coming on THURSDAY. Yeep.

I'm busily trying to divide my whole life into boxes and it's driving me batty.
Alas, none of my usual chatrooms are active, and nobody is on gmail. 
I guess I have to get used to just working without the distractions.

Isn't it funny that in all the planning for the new apartment, we keep denoting space for the TV, and where the cables are going to go, but I don't actually own a television?
Ha, modern life.

Moving will drive you mad!

January is a crunch time at work, and I have been home only a couple of hours (awake anyhow) for the last few days. Next week looks like more of the same. It's CRAZY busy at the office and I have tons of club meetings and an evening art class and I just haven't had a space to breathe since I got back from Philadelphia.

I am thinking that there are fests signing up that I am missing...
And I could do a Year in Art post...
And I think reveals have gone up that I missed... (will have to catch up this weekend for thank-yous and such)

The only thing I've managed to do fandom-wise is my clunky Happy Birthday sketch for Snape, which I will post when I get back to Ginevra, I hope. Sofia is a mighty little machine, but she doesn't keep any art.

What am I forgetting? 
Don't you hate that feeling?
And seriously, I have this Godzilla quilt practically designed in my head, but I haven't had the chance to get out my fabric yet. It's all in a basket on my desk! Curses! Where is my Time-Turner?

Ok, lunch is over. Time to be crunched by the Jaws of Industry.
I hope this settles down by February.

So the other day I burned my forearm while I was cooking.  Somehow I managed to unbalance the pan lid I had in my hand and it flipped back and got caught under my watch. When I was applying ice to it in the initial aftermath, I accidentally touched the loose skin and opened it, so then it was a big ugly burn AND an open blister. I had it under a loose gauze at work on Friday, with Vitamin E oil on it. Yesterday I purchased some raw honey, since that is esupposed to be even better than Vit E for reducing scarring, eliminating infection, and whatnot.
The thing is that with the honey on the burn, I can't put gauze on it anymore. It sticks, and is bloody painful to remove. I found that out the hard way.
So now I have all this honey smeared on my arm (which throbs at random moments) and it gets on everything unless I am extraordinarily careful in the way that I move.  I can't even fold my laundry.
The kicker? It's my left arm.  I make a tremendous mess when I try to draw, either with traditional materials or my tablet. If I don't put the honey on, then the wound still throbs anyhow, and boy will it scar good. I'd rather have the mess for a little while longer.
But I want to draw. *whine whine whine*
I am going to try doing a little bit of cleaning - most of the stuff on the floor and in the boxes can be touched/thrown away without risking it brushing my arm. (Which does hurt like a bitch in addition to getting honey all over whatever it is.)

A moment of humor, though: When I bought the honey, I went straight from the store to eSlate training, and began applying the honey during the lecture because my arm was throbbing. One of the girls at our table looked over and said, with horror, "Are you putting garlic on your burn?" Hee.

I wonder if I could tape a plastic lid or something over the burn... too bad those little Easter eggs are too small.
(Noting: I'm not looking for alternative treatments, the honey seems to really work - I can see the difference after a day. And the burn will hurt when I try to use my hand no matter what. Just venting, and being amused.)

Yes, today is "spam the flist" day around here.

Truthdig - Reports - Dennis Kucinich on the Democrats’ Bailout Betrayal:

“This was the largest single act of class warfare in the modern history of this country,” Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who led the fight in the House against the bailout, told me by phone from Cleveland. “It is a direct attack on the American people’s ability to be able to stabilize their homes and their neighborhoods. This single vote will define the careers of everyone. We are back to taxation without representation, to markets that are openly rigged.”

It's no secret that I don't especially like Obama as a politician, although I do plan to vote for him, and every other Democrat on the ticket. I do feel that in the absence of any true campaign finance reform, the Democrats still offer the best route to get my voice heard at a local, state, and federal level. This doesn't mean I'm blind to the fact that many Democrats are just as far into the hole to lobbyists and corporate interests as the Republicans. I simply think that ideologically the Democrats are more likely to work for positive change to protect the interests of citizens.
(At least in New York I usually had the option of voting for the Democratic candidates under the Working Families Party. Man, that's a great law NY has.)

This is just depressing and infuriating. (How much do I still love Dennis, though? Today is his birthday, by the way.)

Andl, if when it keeps up, we have pretty explicit instructions from the Founders of our nation on what to do:
( bet you know what's next... )
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Electronic voting machines software extremely vulnerable to rigging:

Rice University in Houston is running an advanced computer security course wherein students are taught just how easy it is to wreak havoc on the computer software used in electronic voting machines.

Fears over US electronic voting machine fraud | News | TechRadar UK:

A professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas has been teaching his students how easy it is to rig the software used in voting machines for the US Presidential election.

I watched this on Democracy Now! when it aired and it was chilling.

Democracy Now! | Is Posse Comitatus Dead? US Troops on US Streets:

Is Posse Comitatus Dead? US Troops on US Streets

In a barely noticed development, a US Army unit is now training for domestic operations under the control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. An initial news report in the Army Times newspaper last month noted that in addition to emergency response the force “may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control.”

The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have - BusinessWeek:

Ford's Fiesta ECOnetic gets an astonishing 65 mpg, but the carmaker can't afford to sell it in the U.S.

Dad and I were discussing this when I drove him to get his car from the shop, and it does seem a bit like the reason Marketing departments exist in the first place: to sell a product to a public who may not know it or realize what it does, or who have an inaccurate picture of it. I suppose the Marketing people are too busy convincing Americans to vote against their best interests to really think about rejuvenating an industry or promoting fuel efficiency.

I have said before that if I had had more experience with cars or more time to do the research, I might have chosen a diesel car instead of a hybrid, but in this case the hybrid was easier and familiar. (I'd already driven one, and Mom got one of the first generation. Plus the early Priuses are so cute!)

(I'd love to see a move toward more efficient public transportation and alternative vehicles, as well, but I don't really think there's any chance, barring total Apocalypse, that we will see the end of a car-based infrastructure in my lifetime.)

 

I have an overdue project and need inspiration. Somebody please drop a prompt or two - it's an original, probably magic-in-New-York-City sort of world.
Anything random is fine, I just need to spark some ideas.
Egads.

We're closing down for the storm this afternoon; the campus will be closed tomorrow. Folks are currently evacuating, but we probably won't. We have a very secure little house without many windows. I don't think I've ever actually evacuated for a storm in my life, but it's really a decision folks have to make for themselves.
Now, the power is extremely likely to go out on us. The power goes out if somebody looks at the neighborhood box the wrong way.

In other news, this morning mom said, "Are you going to be all right today?" And I said, "Huh?" And she said, "It's September eleventh." And I said, "Oh." Right.
Last year there was a performance of Mozart's Requiem by the campus chorale during my lunch break, and that's what I did for the day. This year the concert is scheduled for tonight but will probably be cancelled anyway.
Really, though, I was kind of pissed off on my drive here and I'll tell you why: on my calendar, today is marked "Patriot Day". That makes my blood pressure rise. What kind of stupid excuse for a remembrance is that? Another curve in the road to fascism. Aaaargh.

Anyway. Today people are mostly leaving the office early, or getting ready to leave early, or watching the weather cams obsessively for evacuation traffic. So instead of a September Eleventh story, which mostly would involve the memory of caked ash and dirt on my roommate's work shoes as we finally, finally got out of Manhattan that day, I'm going to tell a hurricane story.

It's 1983, the hurricane is Alicia. I am six years old. We live in a tiny little wood frame house with a carport, just like all the other folks on the block, except the ones at the end of the block that had put in a brick facade. The power is out and we have candles, flashlights, and at least one kerosene lantern.
I am pressed into the screen door looking out onto the little porch, where my mom has gone outside to watch the eye of the storm pass over our neighborhood.
I am certain that she will blow away at any moment.
It's so terrifying a thought that it has clung to me, and all these many years later it is really all I recall of the storm. And it may in fact be wrong. Memory is fluid, after all, and years of telling change the tale.
Six-year-old fears, six-year-old memory.

ok, so:

a) yesterday I got stopped twice on my commute by police blockades for the presidential convoy. Quite a delay that made.  Whee.

b) the cable went out in our neighborhood at 10:30 this morning, and I am making this post from a restaurant in the Montrose where the Harry Potter Meetup had dinner.

c) I have written almost 800 words of my new story which I hope to finish this weekend for my general group. Also posted a new chappie of the fanfic.

New tarot card layout = aggravating foreshortened limbs (too many hands! aieee!) plus extra bonus person sinking underwater. Water is its own oddity, and magical water? Hmm. Also, I am having some trouble envisioning casual day robes for the young wizard circa 1979. Anybody?
It's weird, is what I'm saying.  But I love it anyway.

Ok, peeps, I am so behind on reading and writing and drawing and everything. Egads.

I feel rather disconnected from my tasks at the moment, not quite sure what to do about that, but hopefully a weekend will aid in getting me back on track.

I'm wondering if I should look for an art beta for my summersmut entry... It's a bit different for me.

Also, today's extra special spelling peeve is in the title. I have given the whole lose/loose thing a miss because it's just so incredibly pervasive that correction seems futile at this point. (And from a linguistic perspective, is there really anything in lose to suggest that you say it looz? I can understand the confusion especially from people who have not had much reading comprehension training or for whom English is not their first language, and wow is that a digression or what?)

Anyway. Spelling. Tripping me up like there's no tomorrow...

Calvary - one of the names for the location outside Jerusalem where executions took place, specifically the crucifixion of Jesus the Nazarene in the 1st century BCE. The name comes from the Latin word calvaria, the roof of the skull. In literature, a reference to Calvary often means coming doom or death.

cavalry - warriors mounted on horses, and occasionally in modern military parlance, armored vehicles. From the Vulgate Latin caballus, horse. In literature, cavalry usually means warriors mounted on horses.

Calvary does not ride to the rescue. Ever. (Except here) Thank you.

My web host is moving its servers, which explains the downtime yesterday, and there may be more downtime this weekend.
This includes all of my art, since I think with only a couple of exceptions the images on this journal are hosted at paintedhippo.com.

Hopefully this won't be a huge crisis, but just in case somebody hits an error message and thinks to look here, ta-da! Explanation.

Well, I'm not trashing these words, but I grow less and less confident in them.  I like them, but I wonder if I am making my classic error and assuming the reader can read the characters' minds.

Aaaaargh.

Time for some senseless violence.

Stab. Stab. Stabbity. Stab.

Ok, I feel better. Back to the story window...

I have scrapped 1500+ words of fic for 100quills and am starting over.
I just can't get it to work, it keeps moving off into weirder and weirded territory, which would probably be fine except there's no tension or suspense. Rar.
I'm wondering about trying some of the interesting narrative techniques that seem to work so well in fanfic, something that will allow me to do very brief scenes with alternating POV.
I could have chosen an easier rarepair, too.  :P Oh, well.

Back to the drawing board.