16:41 Best 5k run in over 2 months - connect.garmin.com/activity/19560437 - Must of been the drizzle and fog. #fb

19:10 Tonight's project, copying old work email into a gmail account. This tut seemed to work the best - bit.ly/5cdZvL #fb

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SchlockRSS/~3/zDuju61D_9c/

http://schlockmercenary.com/d/20091125.html

http://schlockmercenary.com

http://xkcd.com/667/

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/saguaro.asp

Saguaro revenge: A man is killed by the cactus he shot.

What kind of magical weekend did I have, you ask?

Well okay, here's the concise version:

A few weeks ago I let Stacy know that we were heading to New York to attend an event I knew she was interested in checking out called the Dances of Vice. She thought it was an early birthday adventure, which it was, but while we were there I also had other plans...

On Saturday night, at a lavish costume ball, I proposed and she accepted.
We're now engaged.

Obviously, I'm ecstatic.



Click the beauty with the new jewelry to check out our weekend photos.


Some kooky side stories to come in my next post(s).

Are those who twitter twits, then?

06:04 Caterwauling: the sound of stray cats arguing over who has territorial rights to your patio and the magically-refilling bowl of food. Wow.

06:07 The 2 black ones are usually here. Last night I saw the gray I hadn't seen since spring. Now he's back. This triggered the cat apocalypse.

06:08 I swear, I do have other things in my life besides cats.

06:08 Like work, but that's even less interesting.

06:18 @lilibat I had a bowl on the porch and a bowl on the patio, but it's been raining and there's no cover on the patio. Porch too small for 2.

06:22 I need new refrigerator, washer, dryer, and television. Not necessarily in that order. I'll wait for after-holiday specials.

06:23 New carpet would be good too, but damn, what a PITA. I have heavy furniture.

06:30 @lilibat I have seriously considered a webcam!

11:34 Why can't I connect to the server at work? Maybe they WANT me to start my vacation early, even though I am not done with work. ... No? Dang.

11:35 Ah, the gods heard me and were kind. I am connected.

11:42 This guy has sent me detailed instructions on how to use Acrobat. Gosh, thanks. I specifically requested you to use that format. Wonder why?

13:56 I have 12 vacation days to use before year's end or lose. I'll take them all around the holiday and I'll have THREE WEEKS off work! *swoon*

18:23 The Cat. Will not. Shut up.

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LightningBoy went to his first Fall Social Dance today.
He didn't dance. He said that he walked across the gym to the music and that's as close as he got to dancing. They had donuts and activity booths and ping pong available for "non-dancers".
ArtGrrl and I went early to go pick him up so we could peek and get a glimpse of this milestone. It brought a small nostalgic tear to my eye... they were playing Thriller! and other 80s music. One girl even knew all the moves to the zombie Thriller dance and everyone was following her...even the teachers. The bass took over my heart it was so loud! We found LightningBoy playing Ping Pong in the adjacent room where the music wasn't so loud. We looked in the weight room and a teacher of LightningBoy's helped him with a weight machine. Then he let ArtGrrl take a turn and she could move 55 lbs. with her feet! Of course, then they had to show off their trick where ArtGrrl can take all of LIghtningBoy's weight on her back. That's a 50 lb. girl lifting a 100 lb. boy! She is so strong! Even the teacher was impressed.
On our way to getting backpacks and leaving I wanted to make sure I told his teacher that LIghtningBoy has gone from getting frustrated and yelling, "I HATE MATH!" to after I asked him a week ago what his homework was he said, "Oh math. Division. I LOVE DIVISION!"
In only THREE MONTHS! I told her, "Thank you so much!" and she told me that LIghtningBoy has changed and grown so much and he such a good kid.
It's always such a thank you fest at his school. :)
Oh yeah, and then LightningBoy and ArtGrrl had to show his teacher the "my little sister can lift me" trick. And his teacher and I cringed. I cringe EVERY time they do it.
AND THEN I smile and say, "Wow, good job!"

Earlier today I rested under a few blankets, fell asleep watching a familiar movie (Stargate), drank a big cup of Ibarra!, and rested.
I've been having a hard time resting, there's always something needing to be done...and I've felt restless and figety every time I've tried resting lately. So, in short, this morning, Resting Goooood.

It's been a good day. It feels like a holiday is coming. It feels slower and calmer with a small amount of anticipation of upcoming cooking and shopping events.
Since family are far enough away and have other family to eat with, it's just us this year. It's usually like that. I think out of 15 years of marriage I can only count 2 or 3 times having Thanksgiving with my family. More with Ross' family because his siblings were all going to college in Provo and his parents often came to us. After college was over, so was family Thanksgivings. But, we don't mind having a quiet little Thanksgiving with just us. We like quiet and boring.

In other big news my brother's wife had a baby boy yesterday! LIghtningBoy has been the only boy grandchild for 12 years! Now there is another boy. Congrats you guys! I can't wait to see him!

I feel: typety type sniff!
Current Music: my little boy is growing up! kind of.

Hey again :) I did some new promo art for my Zuda entry, IN MAPS & LEGENDS, that I wanted to post.

The end of the November competition is less than a week away, and we could really use your votes and support! Spread the word if you'd like to see IN MAPS & LEGENDS go on to be serialized... we've got some great plans for this webcomic of ours, and I'd love to be able to draw it.

November's been a crazy month, with a lot of support pouring in from all over. Mike and I have done a couple in-depth interviews about the Zuda process and IN MAPS & LEGENDS, so if you're interested, check 'em out.
Robot 6: Zudist Colony- Talking with November's Zuda Contestants
Hypergeek: An Interview with Michael Jasper & Niki Smith

There's also a great interview with Ron Perazza (main Zuda editor) that just went up today, that talks about the horizontal format and how creators work differently when aiming for a digital audience.
"A computer monitor is not a printed page. It's horizontal not vertical, it displays color differently, the user 'turns the page' differently, and so on,” Perazza said. “The experience is radically different than that of reading in print and the creator needs to keep that in mind in order to effectively tell his story."

That article has nothing to do with IN MAPS & LEGENDS, but hey, it's all about webcomics.

If you missed it last time, here’s a quick run-down of our story:
Kait doesn't know why she gets up in the middle of the night to carve a map onto the wall of the spare room of her apartment. Before she can finish it, though, a strange man named Bartamus shows up at her place in the middle of a wintry night, claiming to be from another, dying world that desperately needs Kait’s help.

So if you like curvy girls who glare a lot, maps, and the potential for some steampunk, take a look! It's crucial that we get votes (and favorites!) if we want to keep our lead (the guy in 2nd place is breathing down our necks...). With the holidays coming up we're worried that we may slip. So get your votes in when you still can! The competition ends NOVEMBER 30-- Next Monday at noon.

Thanks again to all who have taken a look and voted so far!

When Howard left the house, there were still two hours before the kids were due home from school. Even better, I had already gotten all my business tasks for the day done. I could feel my brain stretching out, relaxing. It was a chance for me to do whatever I wanted without being on call. I could be alone with my thoughts and perhaps even write.

Then the phone rang. The noise was almost a physical sensation. It cut across my developing calmness.

The call was from Kiki’s school. She was having cramping pain and I was needed to go retrieve her. My first thought upon hanging up was a wordless irritation. In one stroke my quiet space was gone. It was particularly regretted because it is the last opportunity for alone time before the kids are home for five days. But duty called and I got into the car.

Being in the car reminded me of the conversation I’d had with Kiki just that morning. Kiki was complaining because Gleek had the front seat. Gleek had displaced Kiki from the copilot spot because Gleek injured her knee over the weekend and the knee hurts when she bends it. This injury did not impress Kiki who was convinced that Gleek was exaggerating to get attention. I turned to Kiki and said
“You’re just irritated because the injury inconvenienced you. If you still had the front seat, you wouldn’t mind it.”

My statement floated through my brain as I drove. It was now Kiki who was in pain and I was the one irritated. The tables had turned and I had a chance to find myself hypocritical or to choose to let go of the irritation. I’d scolded Kiki for her lack of sympathy. Now I had to do better and I discovered that it was not so easy.

I frequently find myself inconvenienced by other people’s pain. My day can be completely rearranged by an illness, or a sadness, or an injury. I can choose to be irritated and angry. If I do, some of that anger spills onto the injured person, as if it is somehow their fault. Obviously the better way is to reach inside myself and find sympathy. I must let go of my schedule and know that, inconvenient or not, I should respond with kindness to the needs of others. This is true even if my response is “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to take care of that yourself.”

Kiki is home from school now. As I expected, her presence here has already presented multiple interruptions to my quiet state of mind. And yet, I am still writing. I am finding the calm spaces in between the needs and it is good.

Mirrored from onecobble.com.

Tags: uncategorized

Just 4 more pre-orders needed to start full production! ^_^ Pre-order yours now at the introductory price of $44.95! After the pre-order is complete, the price will go up to $52! Order yours TODAY!



Thanks much for all your support! ^_^

I feel: excited

Barbara Hambly has been one of my favorite fantasy authors for years, starting with the "Oh, that CAN'T be an accurate cover!.... holy sheep, it IS accurate!" version of "The Time of the Dark".

So now she's testing the electronic waters and making some stories (including one specifically written for the experiment) available online.

I highly recommend her work; go check it out.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SchlockRSS/~3/6wWQYeyljxk/20091124.html

http://schlockmercenary.com/d/20091124.html

http://schlockmercenary.com/d/20091124.html

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/thanksgiving/hotline.asp

Clueless cooks in the process of committing Thanksgiving mayhem call turkey hotlines.

SFContario is a go, with a hotel and guests of honour and everything.

The inaugural convention will take place November 19-21st 2010 at the Ramada Plaza in downtown Toronto. It's a lovely hotel that overlooks Allan Gardens, beautiful greenhouses and gardens that even many Torontonians have yet to discover, and is a stone's throw away from all the restaurants and attractions downtown Toronto has to offer.

While an announcement for Author Guest of Honour is yet to come we're thrilled to be able to announce that Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden have agreed to be our Editor Guests of Honour, Geri Sullivan has agreed to be Fan Guest of Honour, and Karen Linsley has agreed to be our Filk Guest of Honour. We're pleased, honoured and excited to have every one of them.

I feel: bouncy

http://www.kukuburi.com/v2/2009/11/24/kukuburi-by-bartlomiej-kuczynski-part-1/

http://www.kukuburi.com/?p=964

when i was in łódź for the komiks festiwal i had the pleasure of meeting bartek, his lovely muse hania, and his sister agnieszka. now, not only is bartek a doctor but in his spare time he does comics as well! so i could not be more honoured when he took the call to arms and created a kukuburi guest strip.

now i know we’ve missed the hallowe’en mark here but really… who cares? especially when one guest strip wasn’t good enough for old bartek, and he went all out and did up a two page extravaganza!

a much as i would love to publish bartek’s comic in one fell swoop, i have decided to split it up over into next week to allow me a grace of one weeks recuperation from my extended travels.

in the meantime, check out bartek’s own site graphicus for more of his talents… the only catch is that you need to know polish :P

tune in next week for part two of Bartek’s strip and then the week following… i’m back and things in the land of kuku begin to hit the fan :)

see you all soon!

"See Wendys is over here and the art store is here by the grocery store. So if we go to the art store first, then we can stop at Wendys on the way back."

Two heads were bowed in concentration over the hand drawn map. Kiki and Link both had money in their pockets and they were planning an expedition. All of the locations in question were within walking distance and the big street to be crossed made the trip sufficiently adventurous. This was the night-before planning session. The trip was to be executed the following afternoon.

After the planning was over, Link came to me with a nervous smile.
"I was thinking that Kiki and I are going together and it is just us. It is kind of like a date, cause we'll be going together and getting to know each other." We then talked about dates and dating. We talked about how a date with a sister isn't quite the same thing, but how it is similar in other ways. Mostly Link was thrilled that Kiki wanted to share this outing with him. He was very sad when she turned the corner of teenagerhood and stopped playing games with him. But now he is rounding that corner as well and is discovering that once again his sister is ready to include him in her plans.

The next day arrived and all the intervening events (such as school and chores) were dispatched. The two explorers geared up to head out. I reviewed with them their routes and admonished them to be home before dark. Then I watched as they dashed out into the neighborhood. I was nervous. This trip was farther afield than I am accustomed to letting my children wander. But I can not hope to help them build independence if I hold them so tight that they never have the chance to test their wings. They had planned well. The neighborhood is a safe one. They would stay together. So I let them go.

They returned triumphant 90 minutes later, blown into the house on a gust of chilly air. Their eyes were bright, their cheeks were red, and their smiles were broad. They felt strong and independent and triumphant. They each clutched a bag of Wendy's food purchased with their own money. They'd decided to bring the food home because they wanted to be home before darkness fell. Happy energy filled our home as Kiki and Link shared fries with those of us who had stayed home. Kiki also shared spoonfuls of her cookie dough milkshake. They chattered about their adventure. And Kiki displayed her spoils.

Art supplies had been the driving force behind the trip, but she had also acquired nail polish and mascara. These treasures were displayed along with a request that maybe I could show her how to use the mascara. Kiki hasn't been interested in makeup until just lately. Link didn't buy anything at the stores. He was in it for the the food and the adventure. He took the mission to get better acquainted seriously. Apparently he asked conversation-starter questions like "what do you like to do?" Which made Kiki laugh. But they giggled and goofed and made it home safely.

The happy mood was contagious. It spread to the whole family. I truly hope that this is not a singular event. I hope to see many more outings of this nature. I hope that even though it will make me nervous every time. If I want to see them fly, I have to let go.

I spent this past weekend at Philcon, Philadelphia's annual science fiction convention which (for reasons I really don't feel like getting into right now), was held at a hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

I had a pretty good time there. I did some gaming, saw a few friends, and there were more room parties than there had been last year (about 5 or 6, which gives you an idea how few parties there were last year). The con continues to have a good dealer's room, and a fairly big art show (though the quality of the art displayed seemed, to me, to be not quite as good as I'm used to seeing at Philcon). The Masquerade, like the Masquerades at most East Coast cons I've been to lately, was small, though the quality was, again, pretty good.

I'm not sure how many people attended the con, because the hotel is so large it wasn't easy to estimate attendance. However, I saw a fair number of teens and college age people hanging out, gaming, partying, and generally having fun--definitely a good thing.

Unfortunately, the gaming area was still the same drafty hallway they used last year, and the game bank was supplied by some gamer, or company, that is mostly interested in miniatures gaming. Not a lot of fun for the rest of us. (Fortunately, a large subset of the games we like best live in the trunk of my car, and we were constantly fetching games from the car to play.)

esrblog was, for his part, frustrated that, through a series of mishaps, the convention once again failed to put him on the program and use his presence to draw new attendees. He succeeded in getting on two panels at the last minute, and they were quite good.

What depressed me a bit about Philcon is not that the con was terrible. It wasn't. But it was entirely too much like last year's Philcon. Even the annoying parts, that various con comm members swore they would do their best to change (like the bad location for gaming and the failure to pick up on esrblog's willingness to do more programming items) were the same.

Having tried and true events at your con is great, but being stuck in a rut isn't. Especially when the con has shrunk so greatly.

I like Philcon, and I want to see it survive. I still have hope that it will. But it hurts to see so much momentum dragging it back to bad old habits.

Tags: con report, philcon
I feel: thoughtful

Are those who twitter twits, then?

21:52 Dexter: Holy shit.

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Writing Excuses Season Three Episode 26: Nanowrimo

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2009/11/22/writing-excuses-season-3-episode-26-nanowrimo/

Key points: Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, is an opportunity to write 50,000 words in November along with 160,000 other people worldwide. See http://www.nanowrimo.org/ Nanowrimo forces you to write quickly, turn off your internal editor, shut up and write.

What do you do when characters act dumb? If it's in character, fine. If it's not, what information are they missing, what emotions cloud their judgment? Forging ahead is one of the best ways to find an alternate solution. What do you do when main characters digress? Keep writing, and expect to throw away words. Save the good stuff for another book, because there will be other Novembers. What do you do when the pacing changes? If you're comfortable, keep going. You discover aspects of your style by writing. It's possible to have character development in action -- fight scenes can reveal and develop characters. Getting ideas on paper lets you see them and develop them, plus it gives you good practice. Nanowrimo -- keep writing.
( cut and paste? )
[Howard] Katherine, give us a writing prompt that involves a traveling shovel.
[Katherine] On the nano forums, I don't know if any of you all have been there but there's this sort of motif about the traveling shovel of death. One of your characters gets killed with a shovel somehow. You just have to work it into your story.
[Dan] Awesome.
[Howard] There's your writing prompt. Kill somebody with a shovel. No, wait a minute. Write about killing somebody with a shovel. You're out of excuses, now...
[Dan] Kill somebody with a shovel.
[Howard] Go write.

Tags: action, character development, digressions, dumb characters, internal editor, nanowrimo, pacing, style, writing excuses
I feel: shoveling

I'm still living on the high that I got from hearing of Monica's win in the Friends of Lulu's Best Female Character catagory, but then I read the latest blog from Friends of Lulu's President, Valerie D’Orazio. Please check it out. ^_^

I feel: cheerful

I had the amazing opportunity to have a Saturday full of introspection and soul searching.
I thought a lot and I prayed a lot.
By the end of Saturday I was feeling okay.
BUT, I woke up Sunday morning FEELING WONDERFUL! I had such a sense of well-being and strength and an inner sense of peace.
It felt GREAT! I felt GREAT!
I relearned something that I knew but needed to remember:
I've always known that my Heavenly Father knows me perfectly and loves me. Jesus loves me perfectly and knows me and my sins. I am close to understanding myself completely and I love me. Ross understands me and loves me.
And THAT is what matters.
I understood that everyone else in the world sees me through glasses colored by their lives. Only the 4 people above can truly know me and truly love me and truly understand me. So everyone else in the world can love me or hate me or not know me, but it doesn't matter, as long as I have the love and understanding and support of those 4 people....Especially from the one named ME.

I feel: I am AWAKE!
Current Music: The Music of my SOUL!

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/23/holiday-sale-at-the-schlock-store/

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/?p=1482

We’re running a holiday sale at the Schlock Mercenary store. You can get 10% off of your entire order by entering the coupon code Schlocksale09. But what might you acquire with this additional purchasing power?

The XDM Autographed Edition Bundle.

We start you off with a triply-autographed copy of XDM: X-Treme Dungeon Mastery. It offers all the other benefits of an XDM book, and then allows you to gain not one but three XDM levels via the stamp in the cover and the magic imbued via the title-page signatures of Tracy Hickman, Curtis Hickman, and Howard Tayler.

Then we hook you up with the glossy, 11×17 XDM promotional poster which proclaims “God doesn’t play dice with the Universe… We do.” And finally, every package includes one XDM Holiday card exposing the truth about Mr. Kringle.  More importantly, the back side of this card has the special XDM Fortune Cookie Magic table.

We only have 100 of these bundles, so get yours now before they’re gone!

We have now listed the Schlock Miniatures in our store.

In full partnership with Garden Ninja, we’re now offering Schlock minis from our store. This allows you to have maximum shopping convenience when placing your order. The minis have to be specially packed, so they are shipped separately. We have the painted, unpainted, and patina finishes available.

If you’re just getting miniatures, you can still order direct from Garden Ninja studios. They, too, are having a 10% off sale this month.

Of course we still have Schlock Mercenary Boxed Sets and marker-colored ACEO cards. And don’t forget the Tagon’s Toughs or the Sergeant In Motion shirts, several posters, Tagon pins, and Writing Excuses CDs. So much to choose from!

Vampires do not sparkle. Vampires in sunlight burn, or at least (if they are ancient and powerful) flinch away and try to get out of it as soon as possible. I've read vampire fiction off and on for more than 30 years, and they do not under any circumstances sparkle (unless you lit them on fire using fireworks). I have WRITTEN and PUBLISHED vampire fiction, and MY vampires do not sparkle.

No saga with sparkling vampires should have been written. Having been written, it should not ever have been filmed. Moreover, the actor playing the main vampire doesn't look like a vampire, he looks like someone who's pulled one too many all-nighters and needs to go and get some rest and a shower.

Now, Alex Louis Armstrong, *HE* sparkles. And I'd go see a FMA movie. But that's another question.

Tags: writer's block

And now the crew must pause, gather their wits (in a dustpan?) and figure out just what happened...

And so now they have just that tiny little problem of how to get home...

( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

• 17:40 Okay, so Turtles Forever is pretty stupid, but the Mirage Turtles are fucking AWESOME. THEY NARRATE THEIR BATTLES.

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter. How awesome is that?

21:49 RT @aperson: I found this gem earlier: bit.ly/54DtA3 A 1930's guide to Minneapolis. #fb

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/bullcar.asp

Photographs purportedly show a bull being transported in an automobile.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SchlockRSS/~3/J9c9VzUNBv0/20091123.html

http://schlockmercenary.com/d/20091123.html

http://schlockmercenary.com/d/20091123.html

It is eleven o’clock. Everyone else in the house is already asleep and the house is quiet. It is so tempting for me to stay up. I want to revel in the fact that for the next eight hours no one will be asking me to do anything. No one will call on the phone, or ask me to pour milk, or need me to find something. I can just sit and listen to the sound of silence. I can hear my own thoughts. I can compose words without interruption.

Unfortunately 6:20 am will come at the same time whether or not I’ve slept. Tomorrow will arrive and it will have demands upon me. I will be much better equipped to meet those demands if I’ve had a full night’s sleep. So I should go to bed. I really should. But instead I stand at the window. I stare out into the darkness and wonder if we will get snow tonight. I’m not ready for snow. I want more sunshine. The house is already chilly, so I head toward my bed. But then words collect together in my brain. They come together and crystallize, much as molecules of moisture freeze together in the million beautiful patterns of snowflakes. The words are there. If I crawl into that warm bed, they will melt away.

I step lightly down to my office and I type. I type and capture the words. I pin them to the page so that they will retain their shape. When I am done, I will go sleep.

Mirrored from onecobble.com.

Tags: uncategorized