"Dot my i's with eyebrow pencils, close my eyelids, hide my eyes..."
Whatever I am at this exact moment, it's not awake. It has some vague resemblance to wakefulness, but I'm not awake. About 9:45 ayem, my damn rotten feet finally dragged me up from the dreams, the dreams I'm not going to talk about. And once I was no longer properly asleep, the pain and thoughts of work that has to be done and bullshit memories from my childhood and a dozen other mind-racing distractions made sure I did not once again find my way back to properly asleep.
Comment! Help keep me awake!
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Yeah, so, at least we were able to race through the CEM for Blood Oranges, finishing before five yesterday. That was a small mercy. Two or three novels ago, Penguin wanted me to switch over to electronic editing - actually, it was with Murder of Angels - and I flatly refused. I said something to the effect of "I don't know how, and I have no desire to learn how, and I won't." There have been a few rumblings since, but I continue to actually make red marks on actual fucking paper. Like an author. It's bad enough I write on this computer, instead of a typewriter. Anyway, Blood Oranges is the first time that I haven't received a manually marked-up print out from Penguin. Rather, it has those little grey boxes in the righthand margin that you get editing in MS Word...or whatever else. I will say this about those little boxes, though. They make it much easier to neatly write STET. In all fairness, though, this was a decent enough copyeditor, though he or she has no familiarity whatsoever with certain linguistic idiosyncrasies of noir. There were virtually no attempts to rewrite the book. And in case you missed the memo, yes, I decided this book (and its two sequels) would be published pseudonymously, as Kathleen Tierney (and it was weird, seeing that name on the header).
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Cloudy outside, which seems appropriate. Drizzly.
I'm going to write more thoughts on Guild Wars 2 when I'm in a better mood. The graphics aren't taking as much getting used to as I expected. The game mechanics, however, are. I begin to fear GW2 is that thing I hate most: a game that feels like a game. I don't want to play a game. I want an immersive experience that, like watching a film (if you watch films the way I do), allows me to blot out the "real world" and suspend disbelief. I was heartened that most the names of players I saw last night (and there were so many, must have been a hundred) were thought out, actual Nordic names. Oh, I'm playing a Norn ranger, Saga Millasdóttir*. Thumbs up to the game for permitting first and last names. But, still, it feels a lot more like a console game, with a lot of other players along for the ride. And speaking of rides, am I correct that we get no mounts in the game?
I was impressed by the Great Lodge of Hoelbrak, in all its sprawling complexity, and the sense of everyday activity via NPCs (including children!). It wasn't until I reached Hoelbrak that I began to see how RP might be possible in Guild Wars 2. In part, it would require ignoring much of what's going on around you. Oh, and I also appreciate the sense that this world is actually closer to, you know, world sized. I love Telara, but after calculating that the continent is smaller than Rhode Island, some of the shiny went away. I'm guessing no one bothered to explain to the developers at Trion that physics demonstrates there are restrictions on how small (and large) a planet can be and still be earth-like. Telara would be a rock. As would Azeroth, which is, maybe, about the size of Texas. Maybe it's an unspoken cheat that the magic is meant to negate physics. Um, yeah. Anyway, though I've only explored 1% of the continent of Tyria (as with Telara, planet and continent have the same name), there is at least the illusion that it is far larger than either Azeroth of Telara.
I suppose this is another example of my lack of imagination.
Oh, and I have not yet decided if I'll join an existing guild, or venture to create on of my own.
I blather.
Soon, eBay returns.
Oh! And this is astoundingly bow tie. Gives you a sorta, kinda idea what I'm trying to do with Blood Oranges. Sort of. Kind of. Backlash. If this movie were set in 2011, in Providence, Rhode Island. Also, Zoe Bell as "the tall witch"! Hubba hubba. Not sure why there are Spanish subtitles in this trailer.
Somnambulistically Yours,
Aunt Beast
* Tarnished Coast server.
Comment! Help keep me awake!
---
Yeah, so, at least we were able to race through the CEM for Blood Oranges, finishing before five yesterday. That was a small mercy. Two or three novels ago, Penguin wanted me to switch over to electronic editing - actually, it was with Murder of Angels - and I flatly refused. I said something to the effect of "I don't know how, and I have no desire to learn how, and I won't." There have been a few rumblings since, but I continue to actually make red marks on actual fucking paper. Like an author. It's bad enough I write on this computer, instead of a typewriter. Anyway, Blood Oranges is the first time that I haven't received a manually marked-up print out from Penguin. Rather, it has those little grey boxes in the righthand margin that you get editing in MS Word...or whatever else. I will say this about those little boxes, though. They make it much easier to neatly write STET. In all fairness, though, this was a decent enough copyeditor, though he or she has no familiarity whatsoever with certain linguistic idiosyncrasies of noir. There were virtually no attempts to rewrite the book. And in case you missed the memo, yes, I decided this book (and its two sequels) would be published pseudonymously, as Kathleen Tierney (and it was weird, seeing that name on the header).
---
Cloudy outside, which seems appropriate. Drizzly.
I'm going to write more thoughts on Guild Wars 2 when I'm in a better mood. The graphics aren't taking as much getting used to as I expected. The game mechanics, however, are. I begin to fear GW2 is that thing I hate most: a game that feels like a game. I don't want to play a game. I want an immersive experience that, like watching a film (if you watch films the way I do), allows me to blot out the "real world" and suspend disbelief. I was heartened that most the names of players I saw last night (and there were so many, must have been a hundred) were thought out, actual Nordic names. Oh, I'm playing a Norn ranger, Saga Millasdóttir*. Thumbs up to the game for permitting first and last names. But, still, it feels a lot more like a console game, with a lot of other players along for the ride. And speaking of rides, am I correct that we get no mounts in the game?
I was impressed by the Great Lodge of Hoelbrak, in all its sprawling complexity, and the sense of everyday activity via NPCs (including children!). It wasn't until I reached Hoelbrak that I began to see how RP might be possible in Guild Wars 2. In part, it would require ignoring much of what's going on around you. Oh, and I also appreciate the sense that this world is actually closer to, you know, world sized. I love Telara, but after calculating that the continent is smaller than Rhode Island, some of the shiny went away. I'm guessing no one bothered to explain to the developers at Trion that physics demonstrates there are restrictions on how small (and large) a planet can be and still be earth-like. Telara would be a rock. As would Azeroth, which is, maybe, about the size of Texas. Maybe it's an unspoken cheat that the magic is meant to negate physics. Um, yeah. Anyway, though I've only explored 1% of the continent of Tyria (as with Telara, planet and continent have the same name), there is at least the illusion that it is far larger than either Azeroth of Telara.
I suppose this is another example of my lack of imagination.
Oh, and I have not yet decided if I'll join an existing guild, or venture to create on of my own.
I blather.
Soon, eBay returns.
Oh! And this is astoundingly bow tie. Gives you a sorta, kinda idea what I'm trying to do with Blood Oranges. Sort of. Kind of. Backlash. If this movie were set in 2011, in Providence, Rhode Island. Also, Zoe Bell as "the tall witch"! Hubba hubba. Not sure why there are Spanish subtitles in this trailer.
Click to viewSomnambulistically Yours,
Aunt Beast
* Tarnished Coast server.