Tranquil Dreamer

I was just informed about this company. They're a little exprensive, but tres adorable!

http://www.seasecret.biz/

Lyz.

Saber is not allowed to be quiet. I'm throwing Mordred at her once apps re-open and I can get a decent third-person sample knocked out.

And if all else fails, I guess I could app Ion. Maaaaaybe. But that's it, I'm at my game limit after this.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Just a few Exalted manses. They're basically sites with a lot of raw power that further channel that power through magical geomantic architecture. They don't all have to be livable.

There's no interesting fluff here about who built them or why. I'm no good at doing history for this stuff, so it's just 'here is a magic house/place/thing, I got inspired a little by X'. Yeah, you were warned.

( Wood Manse )

( Solar Manse )

( Air Manse )

Arrgh, some of these were a pain to find things to put points in, geez.

AH~ I finally did it! Even with all the distractions and all the days of sitting there when pulling words out was like trying to get blood from a stone I finally freaking did it.

I want to dance XD

*DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE*

It's not finished, not by a long shot, but it's got a serious start now and I plan to buckle down and finish.

I'm not sure how much writing I'll get done in December, though I plan on at least 1,000 words a day, we'll see how I do.

Happy end of November everyone and end of Nanowrimo 2009!

Brain: ....
Brain: You know what we need?
Meg: What?
Brain: Crocs. For work.
Meg:
Meg:
Meg:
Meg: Oh my God, I hate that I can't even argue with you.

Argh my fake Danskos are wearing out - they're a year old and have served nobly - and the Docs are fine but the foot bed is painful after about six hours worth of lifting and walking. Also they are very, very heavy.

-- HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS I HAVE EIGHT MORE INCREASE ROWS TO DO ON THE FEB LADY SWEATER. and then .... like six or seven more mind numbing garter stitch rows to slog through, but! THE END IS IN SIGHT. I borrowed one of Amy's Addi's and I have a terrible feeling it's actually a size seven, so may have to go get a new one, but aiya, so many stitches!

You know, I've been wanting to bang my head on the table or the wall every time I receive a comment to my single-combat or swordsmanship entries that shows an utter lack of comprehension about martial footwork. But then I went to (re-)watch some of the most famous fight scenes from movies I liked as well as behind-the-scenes rehearsal videos for those scenes, and, well...gues what? There's very little (if any) footwork at all in the core fighting phases of those scenes, let alone good footwork. If those movies are the only representations many people have ever seen of hand-to-hand fighting--and perhaps the reference on which they base the "fighting" they do mostly for fun--then it's no longer surprising that the general (i.e. non-martial-artist) public have such a poor comprehension of footwork. It all brings memories of how much I had to unlearn about footwork (and just how to move my body in general) when I began to seriously study martial arts.

1. You know, when they told me I was a very creative person I didn't think my capacity for bullshitting would be put into play by cheerfully and instantly explaining to someone who was pacing up and down the halls until she nearly fell down, and is now convinced she forgot to send my parents a thank-you note and should get up again to do it, that Mom had already gotten it. Also, she loved the stationary. You know, the one with the cardinals on it. She thought it was so cute and so thoughtful of Resident. It must have slipped Resident's mind, but my mother had just thought it was so nice of her to do it.

By God it settled her down to sleep like a lamb, though. If I had had to I would have as cheerfully pulled out my cell phone and told Mom that Resident would like to know if her thank you note had come, so could she reassure her about it? The one on the CARDINAL STATIONARY. About the THING.

2. Some of you may remember the resident who was yelling for her mother. Two coworkers were more or less wrestling her into her night clothes when I wandered by to see if they needed help and/or point and laugh at them (howls of "MAMA! MAAAMAA!" clearly audible down the hall) when she caught sight of me, and quavered, "M-Mama?"

Bastard coworkers promptly told 'Mama' she could put her daughter in bed, and fled like the cowards they are, leaving me to make soothing noises about those horrible people and tuck her tenderly into bed.

3. There was a craft show at Pioneer Square and I bought a delicious hazelnut truffle and chocolate-espresso covered almonds, and the dude with the nuts gave me extra because I was like, yeah, caregiver, and he was like, DUDE.

4. Read first book of Dresden Files. It was pretty good, I guess? I mean, I'm kind of glad I got it from the library instead of buying it and I dunno if I'd like, write massive porno starring Harry or whatever, but pretty good! Definitely better than the Anita Blake books.

adskfl;ka I want to write but all I have is terrifying work stories and half-formed jokes. I have to go to the libary tomorrow anyway, will try there.

I'm finding this map utterly fascinating. I want to see one of the entire world at this time--gotta check out that website.

So, one of the things I did over the holiday was spiffy up my desktop.

( Warning, big image )

Yeah, the rubbed out stuff is personal info.

it seems like my life would be totally complete if only I got to see Mike Whatsit dealing with giving someone a shower and watching in resignation as ... you know what, never mind, I'm sure someone's eating. (We were watching the marathon - well first they were watching Grease but I was ... not in the TV room on account of loathing Grease so much I cannot watch it without shrieking things like HE'S A DICK, STUPID, DON'T DO IT. That and the final number does things to my blood pressure that are not to be described. SURE, CHANGE YOURSELF COMPLETELY FOR HIM, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.)

I had two showers to do tonight. They were both pretty good about it but the second one I was dumb enough to let her have the shower thingy and God bless her, water got all over me.

Also there's a service for the lady who died yesterday on Monday at the facility (actually more common than you would think - Amy kind of blinked at me, but it is kind of their home and also, space to meet in!) and I'm probably going to go because the family (a bunch of sweethearts) said especially they hoped the caregivers would all be there since we'd done such a wonderful job etc etc etc.

I am working on a joke about how the only times Bones and Spock agree is when they're about to beat Jim's ass like a taiko performance. I think it will be funny but then again I was thinking about the Starship Seasame Street again too, so we'll see. (I picture hissed, agonized comms between Bones and Jocelyn over who has to be the bad parent and break it to Jojo that Miss Amanda is dead -- and then Bones going FUCK YES I'LL GO ON THAT SHOW and Jocelyn hating him FOREVER. How to win at being the cool parent, is all I'm saying.)

Almost done with the diagonal mitts, decreasing the second one. I dunno if I'm going to have enough yarn or not. I'm kind of thinking I will, because I bought another skein. (because, of course, if you spend ten dollars on another skein of yarn Just In Case, the damn thing only takes the first skein and you're left staring at an odd ball of yarn and cursing a little in your heart.)

The newest early-modern edition of Carnivalesque over on Gavin Robinson's blog has some really nice gems, especially a contextual review of Bishop Ussher's calculation of the age of the world--which basically shows that Ussher's calculations were actually amazingly sensible and logical when viewed in the context of the evidence available to 17th-century men of science. One (or more) of the posts listed in the carnival also indirectly led me to an in-depth review of James Hannam's God's Philosophers, a book that comprehensively refutes the myth of the Middle Ages as a scientific dark age and of the Church as a constant obstacle to the development of the natural sciences. It's quite a long review, but really worth reading due to the extensive and excellent commentary; in fact, I deem it an example of the rare sort (of reviews) that should be read before the actual book.

I am belatedly reminded why I stopped reading through the SCP Foundation wiki project. Oh nightmare fuel, how I don't need you at all.

(and yes linking that is probably a terrible thing to do. if it's any consolation, I'll be up staying up pretty late too)

Been a month since my last post, huh? Whoops.

So I've gotten moved in quite nicely by now. All the major purchases have been made (bed and fridge when I moved in, then over the past two weeks the TV, sofa, microwave, toaster, vacuum cleaner and an ottoman to complete the living room). Did more manly things such as replacing some electrical outlets without zapping myself, too.

And finally, I've gotten everything all organized with bookshelves and storage spaces--all the boxes are pretty much out of sight, save for a few appliances I'm saving the packaging for a week or two in case I need to return something. Once they seem like they're working quite well, those will go in the trash too. It's really quite amazing how nice it is to live in a place that is neat and organized, aheheh. After all, the past several years, I've gotten accustomed to staying in basically one relatively small room and having to pile up all my books, DVDs, computer equipment, etc. on the floor around my bed and desk instead of having a proper place for everything. I've resolved to keep this place clean and uncluttered, and it's been amazingly easy to do so after a month and a half here.

I've got pics right here if you're curious. The first bedroom with several pics is mine; the second bedroom is where my roommate is now, so I've left those pictures out.

I've been reading Herbert Asbury's Gangs of New York, and Asbury's picture of the corruption and graft in the 19th-century New York police force sounds sadly similar to the situation of the Indonesian national police today, even down to the honest members in the rank-and-file bridling at the restrictions placed upon them by corrupt politicians and superiors. Oh well.

The other thing I noticed is how young the big-name gangsters were when they gained their notoriety; most became famous well before they turned twenty, and came into the leadership of their gangs at around the same time or in their early twenties at the latest. Of course, most of them also died or got caught pretty young, too. I guess it's this last part that tends to get underrepresented in fantasy depictions of thieves' guilds and gangs and such, aside from the fact that such associations are by a large a lot more unpleasant than what they generally look like in fantasy....

• 22:51 Started up again with PoseManiacs sketches. Holy shit, I am rusty. My scrawls look like a kindergartner's. #
• 23:01 ... although, looking back, that's not all that different from how my earlier 30-second pose sketches looked. Hmm. #
• 23:08 Though between that and today's NaNoWriMing (5K TO GO), my wrists are hating me right now. #

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I didn't get much writing done today, only 2200 words or so. I wanted to finish but had to take the dog to the vet, got her some antibiotics, and then when I got back Cassie, Brian and Rachael were back down for dinner.

Rachael, Kitty and I hung out after eating and cleaning up. We played Candy Land, Uno and then colored in Christmas themed coloring books. It was nice and relaxing. Then I dicked around catching up on facebook. Tried to sit down and write some more tonight but I'm just too tired to push it. I hope I can finish up tomorrow, though it's my Dad's birthday so I don't know if I'll be going near the computer at all.

My goal for December is to try and write at least 1,000 words a day. I really want to finish this story before February, and then to start on my next which is already in planning. I'm reviving an original character I originally created (yeah) for a Dark Shadows fanfiction I was writing.... well, many years ago, by the name of Arthur Wickett. He'll be getting his own story now, taking center stage in another story I started many years before that. We'll see how it goes. If we're still here in February I'm signing up for the advanced creative writing class and making 28 Days my major project.

I've been rewatching Dark Shadows 1840 on DVD lately. It's been a while since I was actively watching the show and not just playing it in the background while I sewed or was drawing or something else like that. I still need to finish the pre-Barnabas DVDs.

Anyway it's chilly in here and I'm going to turn in. Goodnight all!

1. One of our residents died early this morning -- totally expected, we'd all just spent yesterday mentally pleading with her NOT ON THANKSGIVING, OKAY, HONEY, NOT ON THANKSGIVING --. And she held out! We're going to miss the hell out of her.

Most of her kids made it to see her, so we're glad of that. Amazingly as much as people are like DON'T SAY THEY'RE IN A BETTER PLACE it's hard to think of anything else to say when a ninety year old with dementia and a sudden sharp decline dies. I mean, you do miss them, but good grief, you want they should stick around for further misery? Go! Rock on out in the afterlife! Have fun!

... this is basically why I am never allowed to go to funerals.


2. Uhhh hell I guess both journaling accounts are now unpaid? I'm really not minding the LJ one as much as usual d/t finally sticking AdBlock on. I have to re-associate my account with Paypal and I am totally, totally too lazy to do it.

edit: thank you anonymous yet kindly person of the internets! I, er, seriously was more bitching about my own laziness but THANK YOU V V V MUCH.

3. I got a totally awesome sock pattern today by Churchmouse Classics. All of the interesting parts and none of the god damn tedium of the leg bit AND it only takes one thing of sock yarn for a pair! I'm down with that. I somehow ended up with two copies of the pattern (there were two in the sheet protector and I assumed the pattern was more than one page long) so have to take that back next week.

I kind of want to make the Welted Gloves too but I have to finish the mitts I'm making now. I think I mentioned buying another skein but I'm just under half way through the second one and I'm beginning to think I'll make it with just the one. -_- Oh well NOW I HAVE AN AWESOME SOCK PATTERN TO DO SOMETHING WITH THE OTHER ONE.

...I really love the entire idea of these socks. It makes me want to buy a single skein of every sock yarn ever and have piles and piles of brightly colored footie socks.


4. Dudes, if you're on the damn Farmville thing, will you do a friend request for me? I REQUIRE MORE BUILDINGS.

Who: Librarian Yuuno Scrya (spoofed by Christoph Schmidt), Saber, Sakura Tohsaka
Where: Infinity Library, Midchilda
What: Breakthrough in researching the source of the knife that killed Shane and how to destroy it.
Watch For: Why no, Sakura isn't attracted to the strong determined in-love-with-another type at all, honestly!

( so yeah this took a while to get to )

I just had one of those moments, you know? I was writing, getting to the point where Emily was about to discover the name of the asylum Peter was in, when it struck me... Boston area.. asylum... so I put him in Danvers.

It makes sense but it cruel of me because Danvers scares the crap out of me. I would never go near the place. Not only because it was an asylum, but it was built on the land owned by Judge John Hathorne, and most of the Salem witchcraft incidents took place on the property. That and it was locked up an abandoned. Records, artifacts, everything was left behind. That's truly ghostly.

Leon used to work there, I should go talk to him about the layout of the place and such. It's been turned into apartments now, though how anyone could live there is beyond me - even if the building is really beautiful.