(no subject)
This is a democracy. You will always be voting for the lesser of two (or three, or four) "evils." So vote, or don't vote, but stop whining.
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Sirenia Digest #81 is almost ready to go out. There were some snags last night, but I think we've gotten past those now. So, hopefully you'll get it sometime today, if you are a subscriber. This is not only the longest issue ever, it's also going to have the distinction of being the latest.
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No writing - again - yesterday. I am horrifically overdrawn at the word bank. Instead, I spent the day tying up lose ends with #81, and on email, and figuring out plans for New York ComicCon, which I seem to be attending. Though, it may be a stealth attendance. We'll see. I hate conventions, and I especially hate BIG conventions. I'll keep you posted. Anyway, then there was a long talk with my agent, regarding many things, including my next two books from Subterranean Press - the next short story collection and, finally, The Dinosaurs of Mars.
But no progress on Fay Grimmer. Today, I begin the remodeling process I talked about yesterday. I get woozy just thinking about what this will entail.
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In Providence, winter seems to have arrived. Yesterday it was still "summer." I know it was, because the daily high temperature was over 65˚F.
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There was a small seizure last night during dinner, which I'm mentioning here so there's a record, but it's something I'd rather not think about.
A good RP scene in Cox last night, finding closure for my character. Considering I deny the existence of closure in real life, and often in good fiction, it can be important to me in RP. It was a scene that allowed my character to exit with dignity, and stsisyphus* delivered a great last line: "Give them hell, your majesty." I'd point out the in joke, but that would only ruin the in joke. I may have one or two more scenes in Cox, but that's it.
One of the flaws I'm discovering in GW2 is the inclusion of "mini-games," which usually involve reaching one of the "vistas." Mini-games, it goes without saying, are another thing that destroys immersive gaming, another thing to smack you in the face and scream THIS IS A GAME (like players with names such as "X Derp X"). Mini-games were one of the thousand or so ways that WoW kept getting dumber (gods, the fucking idiotic "Joust" mini), and it's sad to see them pop up (even in this minor capacity) in GW2.
And speaking of WoW, after reactivating my account, reloading a mountain of software, and seeing Shaharrazad for the first time since May 2, 2011, fifteen months ago (give or take) - after all that - we've decided not to play the "Mists of Pandaria" expansion. Being back in the game (Spooky didn't reactivate her account), I was appalled at how bad the graphics are, at the gaudiness, the stupidity...basically everything that led to me leaving. The terraforming, which, at times, is worse than what I used to do in Second Life! So, yes to GW2 (despite my earlier reservations) and Rift; no to WoW.
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Yesterday, the mail brought the September 2012 issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (Volume 32, Number 5), which includes "What vertebral microanatomy reveals about the ecology of juvenile mosasaurs." Not only does the paper discuss specimens I collected in the early 1980s, but it cites my 2002 paper on mosasaur biostratigraphy**. Which...I don't know. I think the word is bittersweet.
Sweet & Sour,
Aunt Beast
* By the way, stsisyphus, as regards the earlier Liz/Shard scene, the problem of "Chekov's gun" is literary nonsense, a bugaboo to be ignored, unless you need the gun to be fired. I can think of numerous brilliant novels, stories, and movies that violate this supposed dramatic principle.
** That link leads only to the abstract and bibliography. Not sure whether or not JVP has the full text of the paper online.
---
Sirenia Digest #81 is almost ready to go out. There were some snags last night, but I think we've gotten past those now. So, hopefully you'll get it sometime today, if you are a subscriber. This is not only the longest issue ever, it's also going to have the distinction of being the latest.
---
No writing - again - yesterday. I am horrifically overdrawn at the word bank. Instead, I spent the day tying up lose ends with #81, and on email, and figuring out plans for New York ComicCon, which I seem to be attending. Though, it may be a stealth attendance. We'll see. I hate conventions, and I especially hate BIG conventions. I'll keep you posted. Anyway, then there was a long talk with my agent, regarding many things, including my next two books from Subterranean Press - the next short story collection and, finally, The Dinosaurs of Mars.
But no progress on Fay Grimmer. Today, I begin the remodeling process I talked about yesterday. I get woozy just thinking about what this will entail.
---
In Providence, winter seems to have arrived. Yesterday it was still "summer." I know it was, because the daily high temperature was over 65˚F.
---
There was a small seizure last night during dinner, which I'm mentioning here so there's a record, but it's something I'd rather not think about.
A good RP scene in Cox last night, finding closure for my character. Considering I deny the existence of closure in real life, and often in good fiction, it can be important to me in RP. It was a scene that allowed my character to exit with dignity, and stsisyphus* delivered a great last line: "Give them hell, your majesty." I'd point out the in joke, but that would only ruin the in joke. I may have one or two more scenes in Cox, but that's it.
One of the flaws I'm discovering in GW2 is the inclusion of "mini-games," which usually involve reaching one of the "vistas." Mini-games, it goes without saying, are another thing that destroys immersive gaming, another thing to smack you in the face and scream THIS IS A GAME (like players with names such as "X Derp X"). Mini-games were one of the thousand or so ways that WoW kept getting dumber (gods, the fucking idiotic "Joust" mini), and it's sad to see them pop up (even in this minor capacity) in GW2.
And speaking of WoW, after reactivating my account, reloading a mountain of software, and seeing Shaharrazad for the first time since May 2, 2011, fifteen months ago (give or take) - after all that - we've decided not to play the "Mists of Pandaria" expansion. Being back in the game (Spooky didn't reactivate her account), I was appalled at how bad the graphics are, at the gaudiness, the stupidity...basically everything that led to me leaving. The terraforming, which, at times, is worse than what I used to do in Second Life! So, yes to GW2 (despite my earlier reservations) and Rift; no to WoW.
---
Yesterday, the mail brought the September 2012 issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (Volume 32, Number 5), which includes "What vertebral microanatomy reveals about the ecology of juvenile mosasaurs." Not only does the paper discuss specimens I collected in the early 1980s, but it cites my 2002 paper on mosasaur biostratigraphy**. Which...I don't know. I think the word is bittersweet.
Sweet & Sour,
Aunt Beast
* By the way, stsisyphus, as regards the earlier Liz/Shard scene, the problem of "Chekov's gun" is literary nonsense, a bugaboo to be ignored, unless you need the gun to be fired. I can think of numerous brilliant novels, stories, and movies that violate this supposed dramatic principle.
** That link leads only to the abstract and bibliography. Not sure whether or not JVP has the full text of the paper online.