I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...

Days...

2009-12-28T02:13:56Z

Days are all I have until departure. I started packing tonight, throwing the clothes I wear the most often into a huge cardboard box, doing mass laundry. Panicking and panicking and panicking.

I'm pretty sure the guy I'm in love with likes me back. But that will have to wait. Because on Friday, I'm flying to IRELAND! For FIVE FUCKING MONTHS! I am super excited, but terrified, and the stress is making me break out. I just want you all to know I"m going to be a total mess the first few weeks. Lots of posts and stuff.

Third all-nighter of my life was last night. Saw Sherlock Holmes (Loved it A LOT, Watson was portrayed wonderfully), went to Tony's and watched Paris Je T'Aime, almost watched Road to El Dorado but ended up eating ramen and just sort of staying awake with Tony and Sebastian and Mike for all night. Went to Waffle House at quarter to eight. It was brilliant. All we could think to talk about was sex, Disney movies, and... no, that was it. For eight hours. In the dark, wrapped in a blanket nest on the basement floor, hollering whenever someone got up to go to the bathroom and turned on the light.

I asked myself, "Why do I always end up hanging out with boys?" And then decided it didn't matter. Plus, my hair was shorter than any of their's. I got it cut again the other day.

Anyway. Got to go pack and work on another Dell story. Arghs.

WriterFail

2009-12-18T04:55:49Z

I have my document open, at least...

I cannot write right now. I know I will have time after Christmas, but I feel the stress of DO IT NOW.

*takes chill pill, but refuses to chill*

Jack Party and Breakfast Feast

2009-12-13T18:20:26Z

I am still waking up. And I have a splitting head ache. Like, one of those headaches you get when it WAS sunny, and rapidly became rainy and cloudy.

BUT I am deliciously contented.

I was told that I MUST LEARN TO BLOW SMOKE RINGS before I went to Ireland, and I said, "Name the date." So last night was the date. I kid you not, I have friends who had a party just for smoke ring lessons. It started out with Rally's fries, and those were delicious. However, after I had "mastered" smoke rings (I can do them, just not every time excellently), it rapidly became "Omigosh guitar playing, NOW." Then our host, David, who was sick, said that he had not eaten like, all day, and would love some food. So we ended up doing a late night Kroger run and bringing back the ingredients for a Breakfast Feast.

Menu:
Johnny Cakes
Cornmeal mush
Strawberry blintzes
Sausages
Biscuits
Gravy (I MADE THIS IT WAS AMAZING)
Goetta
Clementines
Orange juice

We ate aaaaallllll of this at around 3am. And it was TASTY.

At around 4:30, we got out and commenced driving home. It was raining a little bit, and there was a CD of some half jazz/half classical pianist playing. By the time Sebastian and George had been dropped off, it was pouring. The music and the empty road and the time of night and the pouring rain just combined into the most beautiful experience. The green lights lit up everything like... just bright green, really. There's nothing like a green light on wet pavement.

As Tony said, "It's the time of night when the people who stay up really late have just said 'it's time for bed,' and the people who get up ungodly early haven't quite woken up yet."

I got to bed at about 5. And woke up at 12:30. Not my normal schedule, or one I would like to keep all the time. But INFINITELY worth it.

Dancing

2009-12-10T17:49:01Z

First of all, I think I need a big hand for being out of bed, showered, and consuming freshly baked muffins before three in the afternoon...

Anyway: dancing last night was WONDERFUL, after the club got crowded enough. There may or may not have been an incident in which I left my ID in my car and had to run back to the car (IN THE SNOW. IN BALLET FLATS. AND A TANK TOP). But everything else was lovely.

Bunches of people I knew showed up, and I got to see some high school people I hadn't seen in aaaages. We fended herby dudes off for each other, Because, apparently Wednesday night is the night all the Really Herby Straight Guys come to the gay club, and creep on girls who are just trying to have a good time.

Which brings me to my main point:

Dancing has become something that I do for myself, not to dance WITH someone. I found last night that I have TOTALLY forgotten how to dance WITH somebody. Mostly because (I am not succumbing to the allures of modesty here) I dance BETTER than a lot of people. Especially Really Herby Straight Guys, and even Not Herby And Very Friendly And Lovely Straight Guys.

Anyway. After enough belly dancing, I am not contented with Ye Olde Bumpe And Grynde (though towards the end of the night I was sort of remembering how it was done). What I like about dancing is feeling the power that my body has, and my ability to move in the music. When creepy dudes (or even non creepy dudes) were trying to dance with me, they totally messed up my rhythm, and I had to recompute what I was supposed to be doing.

Lame old club dancing is not as interesting as rocking out on your own.

I'm pretty sure dancing has become my favorite activity. I love closing my eyes, hearing the music, and just busting out. Your brain gets empty. It kind of reminds me of my friend's senior project. She did a sweat lodge, but there was an accompanying paper about raves, and their importance as coming of age/quasi-religious experiences, because of the BEAT. There is evidence to support the idea that certain drum beats can put humans into a heightened state similar to an ecstasy high.

I believe it.

Anyway. Dancing was REALLY fun. Despite drunk people, and creepers. It was wonderful. I recommend it.

If this was a kind of meandering and weird entry, please put it down to my lack of sleep.

Brer Dog, and other interesting things.

2009-12-05T02:55:23Z

I have started my third and final Dell story. However, I just got to the FIRST mention of genre-ness, and I'm a page and a half in, single spaced.

I feel that this is unacceptable, but I will go back and change it later, I guess. THERE IS A DOG NAMED BRER DOG! And he is adorable.

Um, yeah. So. Dell Awards. Stressing me out.

Hat and Conundrum

2009-12-03T19:52:09Z

I'm never sure who's watching stuff on facebook and who's only following my LJ, so here's a picture of the FABULOUS squid hat, if anyone missed it:

Well, five photos, I guess.

Anyway. I REALLY want to have a Christmas party this year, as I didn't last year, and it was sadly missed. But the politics of a guest list are really daunting, and I'm not sure I have the fortitude to wade through a morass of "Oh, will this be awkward? Will THEY get along? I want to invite THIS person, but not THAT person, and THEY are friends... will either of them be insulted?"

So. I dither, and time slips by. Time that I could be using to clean and plan menus and design invitations and put together caroling books.

Yargh. Why, oh why must people be so socially complicated?

I R WON

2009-11-30T19:12:22Z

I won I won I won!!!

Terrible novel, needs to be rewritten, isn't actually done yet. But I got to 50,000!!!

So I will now move on to the Dell Awards! Anyone want to compare stories?

In which I crept...

2009-11-29T21:44:59Z

I took lots of photos of Louisville to help me when I rewrite the NaNovel. Including a picture of somebody's house. I don't know whose. I pulled up out front and snapped some photos of their porch and driveway.

I feel like a real author!!

I promise photos later, so you can all see the glory of the Louisville MegaCavern, and some stranger's apartment above The Falafel House, and some other stranger's house, and a limo covered in red marbles.

Best. City. Ever.

ETA: I forgot to mention today's noveling so far: father daughter kiss of violence, dominance, and awkwardness!!! Oberon is shaping up to be a true blue bastard.

Grand Wordle Experiment

2009-11-28T03:55:03Z

Inspiration Arriving Awkwardly

2009-11-28T02:18:00Z

So, I figured out last night how to fix about almost all the problems in my NaNovel. HOWEVER, it will require a rewrite.

Am I allowed to start the rewrite and count it as NaNovel words for my current count?

Opinions pleeease. And SOON. I am hating writing a clunking, stupid ending that won't be useful later.

The rewrite has all the same characters, minus one, and will just generally function in a more pleasing, sleek way. The rewrite is like a BMW compared to... a ye olde Ford.

ETA: I decided I'd just finish the darn thing, since I'm about 5,000 words from the end. Then I'll rewrite it and have two completely different stories with the same people in them.

Nervous Breakdown

2009-11-25T04:06:44Z

I do not ever remember geeking out about something this badly, as far as writing goes...

I have reached what I now realize is an absolutely crucial place in my NaNovel plot, and I have no idea where to go.

And there's no one online to help me out.

I have to write more tomorrow, but I sure don't know what I'm going to write...

Tangled Mess

2009-11-24T21:34:26Z

That describes my NaNovel as well as tomorrow's schedule. I am baking four pies and a tuna casserole and attending a pre-Thanksgiving potluck, as well as writing.

After two nights of word wars, the Bookmess has simultaneously descended further into mass insanity and scrambled plot lagoon of death, as well as leveling up spectacularly. My original main character has become a sort of supporting MacGuffin as well as a mass murderer, and the random witchdoctor supporting character has become like, the takeover character of awesome who, in the next scene, is going to tell The Aristocrats to the entire evil faery court.

Also, the guitar guy based on Tony's suggestion that I put him in there going after the pants of the awesome witchdoctor randomly reappeared last night to play a screaming, crunching, bone rattling metal guitar solo. Really. On a guitar shaped like a snake, with golden strings and a neck carved like a tree. His fingers were bleeding everywhere. It was epic.

I was best pleased by his triumphant return, saving me from coming up with some lame faery guitarist and adding an interesting twist.

The mass murderer bit was a little more disconcerting. As was the realization that I was channeling Holly Black and had to consciously divert myself from the domed, root laden roof and long tables of strange food. So I made the faery court really grungy and dirty, with dirt floors and a low ceiling. No food, just a lot of booze. And a big slimy pond. And a fusion metal rock band. And centipedes with human heads. Definitely gross. Wouldn't want to be there. Ever.

Ok, so back to writing RIGHT NOW. Hopefully I can get ahead of quota today, and convince future readers I did not plagiarize certain scenes from a rough draft of Tithe.

ETA: It was BIG mistake to go to the library the other day. I ended up with "The Professor's Daughter," the Stagger Lee murder ballad in the form of a graphic novel, and 2 Michael chabon novels (The Yiddish Policemen's Union and Gentlemen of the Road). When I looked down at what I was holding, I realized I had an Algie and Hammond story coming on. So later that evening I added The Importance of being Earnest to the pile, and said I'd save it all until December.

Just. Kidding.

Gentlemen of the Road has usurped my brain. I must not read any more of it until I have finished this beastly NaNovel.

What A Difference A Day Makes

2009-11-22T20:32:38Z

It has been a lovely last 24 hours. And by lovely I mean rollicking, up and down, exciting, ridiculous, excellent, adventurous, sometimes frustrating, but always interesting 24 hours.

So went to neighbor's house yesterday, ended up shopping at thrift stores, eating Pizza Hut (haven't done that forever, and it was her first time ever in a Pizza Hut, being British and not having encountered one before she arrived here), and traveling on to Jo-Ann Fabrics. I got a beautiful pattern for a vintage-style dress, and red taffeta to make it with. Then I was going to write with my mum. Except then I got a call from Tony and Sebastian, who were on their way to hang out in YS to kick the blues off their shoes when their car broke down on the highway next to a dead deer. I attempted to rescue them, couldn't find them, and had to use a phone in a gas station to call my mom to have her call them on my cell which was charging at my house. Eventually found them, drove to *ugh* Wall-Mart to buy transmission fluid, fixed their car, and started home. They broke down again, but I couldn't go back for them (higways, you know). grabbed the mom, drove back out to get them. They left Sebastian's car in a bank lot and came to have a sleepover at my house. There was popcorn. Eyes were sewn onto the Squidhat. All was good.

They both had to come to the Fellowship Thanksgiving meal with me so I could drop them off at homes after. I got to see Tony's dog again (he is a marvelous dog - 1/2 german shepherd, 1/2 basset), and drive around in the fall sunshine listening to Beethoven's ninth. Saw the dead deer on the way home and said hi to it. Drank coke out of a glass bottle. Listened to Tahtil Shibbak and Danse Bacchanale. Wrote some. Still have 2,500 words to do today. Bleh.

But overall, the day deserves a hurrah.

Tonight's Quote!

2009-11-21T05:23:58Z

Is stolen from Goldfinger.

Primly, Daria put her phone back into her purse. "The best lies are mostly truth."

In answer, Carolion grabbed the remote and restarted the movie, quoting right along with it. "There is nothing you can talk to me about that I do not already know." Then, tapping her pen against her teeth, she went back to editing.

Watch Out...

2009-11-20T06:01:02Z

You may end up in my novel.

Tony really liked Carolion, and kept saying he was going to "take my fictional character out on a date." At one point he jokingly requested that there be a guy playing guitar on her porch. So I ran into a part where I didn't have plot or anything, and thought, "gee, let's put a guitar guy on Carolion's porch. Why is he there?"

He ended up being awesome. He thinks his guitar is cursed, or something, but it turns out he helped a someone change their tire, and siad person gave him a beer and said he was "a great musician."

And then it was true. Suddenly, when he played the guitar, people stopped in their tracks. So he goes to Carolion to get his guitar fixed and finds out he has this incredible gift, which he's not sure how to deal with and is kind of scared of. But then he plays a song for Carolion and Daria as payment for counseling services rendered, and it's AMAZING.

After he leaves, I have my favorite quote of the evening:

"See?" said Carolion. "Faeries are scary shit, and they can do some wicked awful stuff. But sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they make something so beautiful you realize you can go on living in the world."

"Just like people," said Daria.

"Just like people," agreed Carolion.

lady_puck9999 @ 2009-11-19T01:02:00

2009-11-19T06:04:20Z

So the magpie/blackbird rhyme:

One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a death, and four for a birth, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret that can never be told.

Found THE BEST VERSION of the magpie rhyme I have ever heard today:

One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for rich, Six for poor, Seven for a bitch, Eight for a whore, Nine for a funeral, Ten for a dance, Eleven for England, Twelve for France.

Had to put it here to preserve it in my memory.

Quoth Where?

2009-11-18T18:21:29Z

So, I just read a John Donne poem that starts:

"Go and catch a falling star
Get with child a mandrake root
Tell me where all past years are
Or who cleft the devils foot;"

Am I right that this is in either aa short story or a novel? I keep thinking Stardust, but that doesn't seem right. I just REMEMBER it from somewhere, and not from reading the poem before.

Help?

OH! NEVER MIND! It's from Howl's Moving Castle. I feel dumb now.

NaNovel Quote!

2009-11-18T02:19:27Z

So, last year I was all about posting bits and pieces and, let's face it, INSANE AMOUNTS OF DRIVEL, about my NaNovel (which I remain incredibly satisfied with, and will try to send out over the summer). This year, I have yet to post anything. Mostly because I am less satisfied with this NaNovel. But my used-to-be-minor-character, now-become-awesome-supporting-kind-of-main-character has spiced things up now that she has announced her intent to remain center stage and hog the spotlight.

For instance, this quote:

Daria pressed her lips together, about to say something scathing, but Liam's slimy mouth, lined with razor teeth, clamped on her arm, and she yelled in pain instead. Carolion yanked the poker back out of the hibachi and said: "Hold. Him. Still." After a moment of thought, she added, "Bitch."

lady_puck9999 @ 2009-11-17T20:23:00

2009-11-18T01:26:01Z

Hey! celabrielle , I met another synesthete tonight! Well, not met. My friend Tony has grapheme-color + some sound-taste stuff and I just found out about it. So you should come start a club.

Wow, I am feeling uncreative. I my eat my pomegranate, and I hope it will make me feel better.

Also, maybe lyrics will get written the "Boots On," the requited pirate love song.

Love Matrix

2009-11-17T04:58:57Z

The title quote is a random quote from Tony, who was talking about... that video game with cake.

I am really tired. Been up late the last couple nights.

This was originally going to be a post asking opinions about a drawing I was going to create, but I am too loopy to discuss it well. Suffice to say there were going to be armed and naked pirates.

BLAH NIGHT NIGHT.

Freak out!!!

2009-11-16T21:57:23Z

I have finally been convinced to shut up and give up by my partner in crime. We were supposed to finish a sing we have been working on FOREVER, but we both ended up in foul, sluggish moods and couldn't accomplish anything.

Now we are attempting to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

This is with a Spanish exam tomorrow, and a five page paper plus six journal entries due tomorrow. And NaNoWriMo.

So today I am giving up EVERYTHING. Even maybe NaNo. I might type a few words here and there. And I know this is terrible because I only just caught up yesterday. But I am three days away from BREAK. So there.

Hello do-nothingness. Take a seat.

Also, we have scrounged our final food supplies and are munching away. And after that we will starve.

ETA: We are now also abandoning gym plans to go play piano...

And then I went to sleep. A lot.

2009-11-09T05:06:50Z

Here are some cool things:

Halloween Pictures!!!! Some of them, anyway. More on Facebook.

This is Tony as Jack Priest, pouting in a Priestly fashion.

And this is Sebastian as Don Sebastien de Ulloa, in a fabulous greatcoat.

This is me, in my favorite photo of me as Abby Irene. Here's a full body:

I had a jacket also, but I feel like posting three pictures of myself would be excessive. Here is a video of a pumpkin tossing trebuchet I went to see at a friend of a friend's pumpkin-trebucheting party the other day:

This is an awesome action shot of a pumpkin being hurled across the sky:

And here is the video of my bellydance to Smooth Criminal, which is iffy quality, but is at least preserved for posterity:

Yeah. Tired now.

Bed time is approaching. I must get through this week and then exam week will be a bag of peachie o's. Isn't it supposed to be hard? Whatever. Studying is for NERDS! ;)

ETA: When I was at home this weekend, I kept having this horrible creepy feeling that this thing I invented in my over-caffeinated, sleep-deprived head, which I dubbed the Stitch Thing, would appear around a corner or creep up behind me while I was writing late at night. While this is a good lesson to not drink even a three shot Scoobie Doobie (as opposed to teh regular four) at five o'clock in the evening, it also ruined my two nights at home. I think it comes from living in a dorm room where I have a wall to my back when I write and no appreciable corners to peer around cautiously. I have corner horrors now. Joy.

Cord...

2009-11-07T19:51:40Z

I lack it. There are so many fun things on my camera, but my cord is at school. So you'll have to wait for Halloween pictures, and a video of my MJ bellydance.

Fell behind on NaNoWriMo and have to catch up today. Halved my word quota, and I am back down to the normal 1,667. Thank God.

Now off to see people catapult pumpkins from a home made siege engine.

My NaNovel...

2009-11-05T04:53:48Z

Is finally getting interestingish.

So, I volunteered to do a solo bellydance at a coffeehouse on Friday, and I am dancing to... SMOOTH CRIMINAL! By the one and only king of pop. I need to find a glove.

It's going to be EPIC.

Someone will video it if it is light enough, and I will post it.

Um... I had stuff to write... but I really should study for my lab final, but don't care enough.

NaNoUghMo

2009-11-03T04:42:12Z

Two days in. My main character was deathly boring until tonight. She still seems pretty deathly boring, but in a normal teenage girl way. I told Tony what she had in her room, and he described her as "one of those people that would like to think that people who read books can also be rock stars. But in a quiet way."

So now I know her better, and she is less boring. Also, she is about to get blood all over her face and into her contacts and start seeing faeries and get embroiled in a shitstorm of revenge and bloody victory. And stuff.

But that's for filling tomorrow's quota.

At some point Carolion and Iris show up. But for now, Keira is just going around beating seals and putting them in wolf cages, and refusing help moving stuff into her apartment.

It is really delightful writing about a city that I know well enough to describe it, and say where they get food, and go to see bands, and all that lovely stuff. I know what the view from their balcony looks like.

Yay.