I'm still here...
So it's dawned on me that it's been over two weeks since I posted anything, and that wasn't much of an update. While I don't have much to offer, there's this nagging voice in the back of my head that won't shut up, insisting I post /something/ to let those who might be wondering know where the terribly prolific author of several months ago has gone. The pessimist voice in my head swears nobody cares (and that's the voice I tend to agree with, since I haven't gotten any panicky messages in my inbox to the tune of 'What's happened to you???' 'Are you okay??' and so forth), but I'm telling it to shut up in favor of presenting:
What I've Been Up To
1 - New laptop! It's a Dell Inspiron something-or-other in Ice Blue (the only color Best Buy had in stock, the day of purchase; I'd wanted black, but blue /is/ my favorite color, and I don't really see the lid all that much, honestly) running Windows 7, which has proven less of a headache than I'd anticipated. I've actually been pleasantly surprised at how well I'm getting along with the new Windows, and just the other day I got my Open Office software and metapad installed, so I might finally get around to moving the rest of my writing projects off the old laptop.
2 - Facebook games. They are ebil and seriously addictive. I don't actually post anything to facebook (except for a squee when I got the new shiny toy and was excited that I could /run/ facebook without the browser crashing every five minutes), but I'm hooked on the games. Easily distracted, you say? Well, yeah.
3 - Reading. The tax return prompted lots of new purchases, among them some new fodder for inspiration. I'm always torn between being amused or being embarrassed when I read fanfic and people start talking about 'the classics'... or any reference to Jane Austen (I don't know why there are always references to Jane Austen, but they inevitably crop up all over the place in author profiles). My literary frame of reference is not quite so lofty, and the bulk of my inspiration comes from stuff I read in my teens and early twenties: Anne Rice, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Piers Anthony, Edgar Allen Poe, a variety of Marvel comics... Currently, I'm reading Gaiman's 'Smoke and Mirrors' and rediscovering what an awesome and compelling author he is. Prior to that, I read 'Looking Glass Wars' and 'Seeing Redd', both by Frank Beddor (and book three of the trilogy, 'Archenemy', is en route from Barnes and Noble), and among the books awaiting me at home is Jim Butcher's 'Welcome to the Jungle', a Dresden Files graphic novel.
4 - Netflix. My mail crisis has been sorted, and now I'm actually /receiving/ my mail, which means my first two DVDs have arrived: Gamer and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I also watched half of the first season of Doctor Who again (although I prefer Tennant's 10th Doctor, Eccleston's 9th is entertaining to watch) and a whole slew of stuff from the instant queue. Loving the instant queue. Shared it with my sister, who watches more stuff than I do... when I mentioned this to her the other day, she said 'But you have better cable channels than I do.' This is true, but the real reason she watches more tv/Netflix than me is because I'm addicted to more ebil facebook games than she is.
5 - Actual movies. This is kind of a big deal, because most of last year was spent being too broke to do the theater thing (or even the rental thing, some weeks). In the last two weeks, I've seen Disney's Princess and the Frog (was pleasantly surprised that it lived up to the hype and then some), Legion (did not live up to its hype, but was interesting anyway), and Avatar in IMAX 3D (loved the movie, not a fan of the 3D). Alice in Wonderland is slated for this weekend. I've been on a bit of a Wonderland kick recently, which may turn into something ficcy or may turn into nothing at all.
6 - Writing. Painfully slowly. The last two months have not been good for me, creatively speaking, but I have a commitment to hpgeorgecentric that I'm determined to finish (especially since the mods have graciously given me a week's extension on the deadline I already missed). Aside from that, I've done nothing, really, although if I can finally get myself motivated to transfer stuff from the old laptop, that may very well change.
7 - Work. It pays the bills, it continues to suck, there's not much else that can be said. Oh, and I get to endure 3 and a half hours of training hell after lunch this morning. I'll have to bring my notebook, maybe something will finally spark in my brain and take off on the page...
P.S.
Thank you, paya27 , for the lovely balloons!