... to be counted.
'... to be counted.' That’s what today’s advent calendar door says.
I feel really behind on advent, in many many ways. I was thinking of doing something massive and crazy for advent
Also we still have no kitchen table. We have a vague plan for a Christmas meal, but I have no idea when or indeed how we need to get the ingredients. I am a bit afraid that I don’t have enough planned for Christmas Day. And I have bought no presents at all although I think I do know what I’m getting as my secret santa at work. I need to tidy before we can do decorations, and until this afternoon I hadn’t even found the advent calendar because I knew it was on top of the fridge and didn’t want to stand on the chair while not feeling well. This afternoon I have bought the single non-chocolate advent calendar for sale anywhere in Barking, and it’s... well it’s not horrible but it’s a bit cartoony.
But! This interview meme that I got from happydork/foreverdirt has five questions. So I have attempted to at least link each of these questions to something cool for each one and then I’ll... think about what if anything I’m going to do for the rest of the month.
1) I say this to all the girls, but my housemate has just been reading me six word stories -- write one?
Six word stories! If anyone hasn't seen them, these are SO COOL.
The first thing to come to mind? Six word Discworld fanfiction. Why? We may never know.
‘... potatoes?’ he sighed, then began weeping.
After some more thought, I went with this. I’m... not sure about it but there you go.
Gravity suspended, she dances with galaxies.
Also, I was trying to come up with something about escape and magic words and I realised that this has six words and is probably more succinctly awesome than anything I could come up with.
2) You can sit down with one author (living or dead, language no issue) for one afternoon and drink tea and listen to them talk about writing. Who?
After some thought, I think I’m going to plump for PG Wodehouse. His turns of phrase (‘Oh Bertie, you are a specific dream rabbit!’), his characters (Galahad! Bingo and Rosie! Aunt Dahlia! And always, of course, Bertie and Jeeves), the essay/s in which he is utterly unmoved by people suggesting he try to take life seriously, none of which I seem to be able to find via Google. I just... admire him so incredibly much.
I mean, the thing about the ‘living or dead’ question is that it does make you think you should go for someone dead just because you can, or it always makes me think that anyway. But oh my god, I just theoretically turned down Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams for writerly tea - and despite there being plenty of other candidates those three were really the only serious contenders, which probably tells you something about my tastes in general - and now I feel kind of guilty about that. But I don’t think any of them would think I’d made the wrong choice.
Anyway. In order of Sir Pelham, some fun Wodehouse links. And now I want a cocktail.
http://www.wodehouse.co.uk/cocktail.php
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/p_g_wodehouse.html
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/w#a783
3) Most ridiculous fanletter you've had to deal with as part of The Best Job In The World?
Well, the first time you get ‘can I write the next book/act in the movie/direct the movie/be your best friend’, that’s kinda ridiculous, but the twentieth time it’s just sweet. So I will give you a selection of slightly less common ones:
I would like you to take me on as your apprentice and let me write some of the books because I am descended from Firestar.
I’m going to be a published author! I’ve written a book about kittens and it’s going to be published by [named publisher who, upon googling, turn out to be a Christian vanity publisher. I can’t bring myself to say anything but ‘best of luck with that’]
I’ve sent you my lucky cat hair/feather/moth wing. [And it is... an actual wing off a dead moth.]
I love your books, they’re great. Have you accepted Jesus as your personal saviour?
I wish I could attach some of the Warriors online game tests we’ve had through - clearly that would be horribly unprofessional and wrong but some of them are so cute and some of them look like they’ll be really fun.
However, I am going to link to this fan animation of the first part of the first book (I'm not sure where they're up to). It's presumably not the only one out there and probably not even the best, which in itself is kind of incredible - but it is properly awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XYgtSCHvp4&feature=related
4) What's your favourite thing about the fact that we're living in the future?
There are so many amazing things. Retrovirals. Lolcats. I mean, the internet, the internet in its magnitude and sheer usefulness. The internet wins all. Communication, education and entertainment.
And in honour of the weird synchronicity of the universe, I will link to these two things:
1. Wil Wheaton’s Memories of the Futurecast, thirteen 20-35 minute podcast episodes where Wil Wheaton reads out/performs/extemporises on sections of his book Memories of the Future which is reviews of early episodes of Star Trek Next Gen. In episode 12, he talks about living in the future, in reference to cafepress and how easy it was for him and the designer to come up with this work of genius:
2. The Memories of the Future Mug. I’m not going to spoil it with a description. Go and look and see what genius it is. (Disclaimer: may only be total genius to people with extremely fond memories of Jean-Luc Picard.)
5) Favourite West Wing moment?
And even if I wasn’t trying to make up for advent fail, there was never any way I wasn’t going to cheat on this question, because there are just too many - just - TOO MANY. However, I am actually going to pick one after I've linked to a selection:
Yo Yo Ma and PTSD
Two Cathedrals - 'you feckless thug'.
Babies come with hats (Jessie, as if you couldn’t guess from the name, this one is massively spoilery and doesn’t happen until about season six so you shouldn’t watch this one.)
The bit with Oscar Babish and his grandfather’s big hammer and broken Dictaphone, which tragically I can’t locate on youtube...
And this... honestly might be my favourite bit. I feel I should pick a more sensible bit featuring, y’know, more of the actual cast. But no. For some reason, this.
Penn and Teller - 'there is nothing like a vanish' (Jessie it’s up to you, it’s from season six also I think, but it’s only really spoilery for itself, if you see what I mean.)
I feel really behind on advent, in many many ways. I was thinking of doing something massive and crazy for advent
Also we still have no kitchen table. We have a vague plan for a Christmas meal, but I have no idea when or indeed how we need to get the ingredients. I am a bit afraid that I don’t have enough planned for Christmas Day. And I have bought no presents at all although I think I do know what I’m getting as my secret santa at work. I need to tidy before we can do decorations, and until this afternoon I hadn’t even found the advent calendar because I knew it was on top of the fridge and didn’t want to stand on the chair while not feeling well. This afternoon I have bought the single non-chocolate advent calendar for sale anywhere in Barking, and it’s... well it’s not horrible but it’s a bit cartoony.
But! This interview meme that I got from happydork/foreverdirt has five questions. So I have attempted to at least link each of these questions to something cool for each one and then I’ll... think about what if anything I’m going to do for the rest of the month.
1) I say this to all the girls, but my housemate has just been reading me six word stories -- write one?
Six word stories! If anyone hasn't seen them, these are SO COOL.
The first thing to come to mind? Six word Discworld fanfiction. Why? We may never know.
‘... potatoes?’ he sighed, then began weeping.
After some more thought, I went with this. I’m... not sure about it but there you go.
Gravity suspended, she dances with galaxies.
Also, I was trying to come up with something about escape and magic words and I realised that this has six words and is probably more succinctly awesome than anything I could come up with.
2) You can sit down with one author (living or dead, language no issue) for one afternoon and drink tea and listen to them talk about writing. Who?
After some thought, I think I’m going to plump for PG Wodehouse. His turns of phrase (‘Oh Bertie, you are a specific dream rabbit!’), his characters (Galahad! Bingo and Rosie! Aunt Dahlia! And always, of course, Bertie and Jeeves), the essay/s in which he is utterly unmoved by people suggesting he try to take life seriously, none of which I seem to be able to find via Google. I just... admire him so incredibly much.
I mean, the thing about the ‘living or dead’ question is that it does make you think you should go for someone dead just because you can, or it always makes me think that anyway. But oh my god, I just theoretically turned down Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams for writerly tea - and despite there being plenty of other candidates those three were really the only serious contenders, which probably tells you something about my tastes in general - and now I feel kind of guilty about that. But I don’t think any of them would think I’d made the wrong choice.
Anyway. In order of Sir Pelham, some fun Wodehouse links. And now I want a cocktail.
http://www.wodehouse.co.uk/cocktail.php
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/p_g_wodehouse.html
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/w#a783
3) Most ridiculous fanletter you've had to deal with as part of The Best Job In The World?
Well, the first time you get ‘can I write the next book/act in the movie/direct the movie/be your best friend’, that’s kinda ridiculous, but the twentieth time it’s just sweet. So I will give you a selection of slightly less common ones:
I would like you to take me on as your apprentice and let me write some of the books because I am descended from Firestar.
I’m going to be a published author! I’ve written a book about kittens and it’s going to be published by [named publisher who, upon googling, turn out to be a Christian vanity publisher. I can’t bring myself to say anything but ‘best of luck with that’]
I’ve sent you my lucky cat hair/feather/moth wing. [And it is... an actual wing off a dead moth.]
I love your books, they’re great. Have you accepted Jesus as your personal saviour?
I wish I could attach some of the Warriors online game tests we’ve had through - clearly that would be horribly unprofessional and wrong but some of them are so cute and some of them look like they’ll be really fun.
However, I am going to link to this fan animation of the first part of the first book (I'm not sure where they're up to). It's presumably not the only one out there and probably not even the best, which in itself is kind of incredible - but it is properly awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XYgtSCHvp4&feature=related
4) What's your favourite thing about the fact that we're living in the future?
There are so many amazing things. Retrovirals. Lolcats. I mean, the internet, the internet in its magnitude and sheer usefulness. The internet wins all. Communication, education and entertainment.
And in honour of the weird synchronicity of the universe, I will link to these two things:
1. Wil Wheaton’s Memories of the Futurecast, thirteen 20-35 minute podcast episodes where Wil Wheaton reads out/performs/extemporises on sections of his book Memories of the Future which is reviews of early episodes of Star Trek Next Gen. In episode 12, he talks about living in the future, in reference to cafepress and how easy it was for him and the designer to come up with this work of genius:
2. The Memories of the Future Mug. I’m not going to spoil it with a description. Go and look and see what genius it is. (Disclaimer: may only be total genius to people with extremely fond memories of Jean-Luc Picard.)
5) Favourite West Wing moment?
And even if I wasn’t trying to make up for advent fail, there was never any way I wasn’t going to cheat on this question, because there are just too many - just - TOO MANY. However, I am actually going to pick one after I've linked to a selection:
Yo Yo Ma and PTSD
Two Cathedrals - 'you feckless thug'.
Babies come with hats (Jessie, as if you couldn’t guess from the name, this one is massively spoilery and doesn’t happen until about season six so you shouldn’t watch this one.)
The bit with Oscar Babish and his grandfather’s big hammer and broken Dictaphone, which tragically I can’t locate on youtube...
And this... honestly might be my favourite bit. I feel I should pick a more sensible bit featuring, y’know, more of the actual cast. But no. For some reason, this.
Penn and Teller - 'there is nothing like a vanish' (Jessie it’s up to you, it’s from season six also I think, but it’s only really spoilery for itself, if you see what I mean.)