Chaucerettescs

For Sean. I was bored:



I adore Halloween and am so.pumped.for.the.party. As I mentioned to Leah, Nick and I might be up to a half an hour late. Neither he nor I have the gas money this week for me to go get him, so his parents need to do it. Problem is, his mum can't get there until 6-6:30, putting him in Brighton around 7:45. Wonderful. And I can't go on ahead because he needs to come to my place for part of his costume. Being dressed like Marie Antoinete will probably make waiting around even more depressing.

In other news, I changed my own earrings without assitance and/or flailing, which is good. The one ear is still very difficult to work with since it has a big bump at the site of the piercing, making it hard to find the exit hole.

Finally, I need to go in and talk to my counselors this week as I would like to finish my Associate's this upcoming semester. However, that means taking 22 credits when the maximum is 17. But it's only six classes (only one more than what I'm taking this semester) and only 4 more hours of class a week than what I'm taking his semester. Which I'm more than capable of handling, but I know they're going to dick with me. That's the only thing I dislike about Community College, the counselors can be very condescending. They don't mean to be; they just are. Take the average bumbling counselor and multiply it by 3. It's like they assume that because you're at Community, you must be stupid, which is an implication I resent as stupid people are the exception there, not the rule. Our teachers don't treat us like morons, so why should the administration? Whatever.

I just finished reading Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, and honestly cannot believe it's taken me this long to get around to reading it.

Especially as I'm now considering beginning a very long, sordid love affair with it.

Also, I think it goes without saying Aziraphale/Crowley=OTP

I had some weird dreams last night (none of them involving having Good Omens' babies, unfortunately.)

( I need to quit oversleeping )

lol, oh, also, this was weird: Nick and I went to see Public Enemies the other day and as I'm sitting in the theatre, I get the strangest feeling that Chase is around. I can't explain it, it was just like this creeping on the back of my neck. And so, after the movie we come out of the theater and about five seconds later out come Josh and Chase. And me and Chase just stare at each other and go "What the hell did you just see?"

Sure enough, he was in our theater. Chase and I were duly creeped out and Nick and I spent the drive home making jokes about River Tam.

Nick came over the other night and we watched a great deal more of Rome. We did however end up falling asleep until my mum woke us at 4 am since Nick was supposed to be home at around 2. I don't recall much about that part, though I do remember using the phrase "I am a sleepy ungulate" a few times which... what?

( Doodly doodle )

Awwww

I find my happiness in small doses. :3

Chapter 1 will actually probably be up next week (early as possible). I fucking hate opening chapters. You aren't allowed too much exposition, nor too little; too much description, nor too little; too little action, nor too much. Not to mention that I have eight characters who need to be present for the opening scenes, thus need to be introduced in one way or another, which is the publishing equivalent of putting a big red stamp at the top that says "Reject me, please."

"Crumbs and carrots," cried Jackie, "This book is doomed!"

Oh gtfo, Hollywood

A Buffy movie without Joss Whedon?



Seriously, in what world is this a good idea?


I think...think... chapter 1 of Swacit will be done and up sometime this week holy balls, writing in chronological order? No wai!. No promises, since I keep reformatting it, but today I did the little flaily thing where I pace and go "Oh, shit, I think I actually know what I'm doing!"

Edit: lol, Rufus' first mention?
It’s population was no more dense than it had been in 1955, still just barely capping 350 people, who, besides sinkholes and Edward Fairchild’s small son bedecking his jeans with rhinestones, found very little about the village to talk about.

gurrrrrrrl

lol, I need to not doodle when I ramble with Sean on DA.

Me: You know Lena and Ben will be running around all like "THIS IS THE GREATEST BABY THAT EVER LIVED!"

Sean: Haha, New!Daddy!Ben would scare me.

Me: New!Daddy!Ben is hilarious. "SHE WILL BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHILD EVER! SHE IS GOING TO RULE THE FUCKING WORLD! YOU ALL WISH YOU HAD A BABY THIS NICE!" And he'd bring her home new presents every day and just, like, stare at her all the time all impressed. "SHE BLEW A BUBBLE WITH HER SPIT! HOLY SHIT, LET'S JUST SEND IN HER APPLICATION FOR CAMBRIDGE TODAY!" And when she's a toddler, she'll just be babbling about ponies and doggies and he'll be totally enraptured, having tea parties with her bears and shit. "PONIES! YES! BRILLIANT!"

It's really sort of sweet in a pathetic sort of way.

( You know it's totally true )

Stickers, indeed.

Also, a realization that made me giggle:

( Hee. Seriously. )

Because this whole theory will never not be funny. Not to me, at least.

Katelyn stayed over last night! Huzzah! We ended up watching Labyrinth since, unbeknownst to me, she had never seen it before and so I had to let her experience the weird. We also watched Sleeping Beauty since neither of us had seen it in yonks and were quite embarrassed to discover that we still know all the words to the songs, even the more obscure ones.

This morning we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol because we'd been laughing over that old dream I had...the Swacit/Muppet Christmas Carol one with Ben as Scrooge...which, really, never stops being amusing. And Alan is Bob Cratchit and Geoff thinks he's Charles Dickens and goes around narrating with Gael at his side and Lena has to wear a silly bonnet and Adge looks pretty stricken at the end when Ben hugs him and it's one of my favorite dreams ever.

And "I don't even like Dickens."

I think seeing Roger and John as singing puppet ghosts would've been more than enough to set Ben on a path of redemption.

Also, Ru and Nik are Bunsen and Beaker. Hee.

Beaker: *gives Scrooge his scarf*
Katelyn: *beams* BUH BUH BUH BENNY AND THE JETS!
Me: ONE OF US! ONE OF US! GOOBLE GOBBLE GOOBLE GOBBLE! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

Anyway, it reminded me to post this mix that has been cumulating on iTunes for freaking months. I mean, I've been building this one bit by bit since August and keep not bothering to post it because it's so freaking long. But I have to say in all honesty, even given the subject matter, it's one of my favorite playlists. It has a ton of my favorite bands and songs on it and as far as storytelling goes, it's the most complete. I need to stop storyboarding via fanmixes. Lol, oh well, Ben and Lena don't need a book now, they have this big honking thing. It covers from the time they met through their years together in Paris to their breakup to their reconciliation five years later.


Feat. Interpol, The Wombats, Scissor Sisters, Peter Bjorn and John, Goldfrapp, The Pierces, Pelle Carlberg, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Heather Nova, Anna Ternheim, Stereophonics, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, j. englishman, The Raconteurs, The Cardigans, Hera, Jeff Buckley, People in Planes, Placebo, Shiny Toy Guns, VAST, The Smashing Pumpkins, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, My Brightest Diamond, Kings of Leon, Imogen Heap, Death Cab for Cutie, Snow Patrol, Neko Case, Trespassers William, Garbage, Beck, Sarah McLachlan, Turin Brakes, Mute Math, Guillemots, Flyleaf, Bell X1, Tom Lehrer, and some other people...

( Entree: I've met someone that makes me feel seasick )

( Intermezzo: There is no pain, you are receding... )

( Pas de Deux: I Know We Could Be So Happy (if we wanted to be) )

( Adagio: I'd break the back of love for you, I'd break the back of love for you )

( Le Paroxysme: There's a ghost in my bed, she cries in her sleep... )

( Debut de la Fin: I just couldn't breathe with your throne on my chest )

( Le Denouement: If the world ends, I hope you're here with me )

( Another familiar type of lovesong is the passionate or fiery variety, usually in tango tempo, in which the singer exhorts his partner to haunt him and taunt him and, if at all possible, to consume him with a kiss of fire. This particular illustration of this genre is called The Masochism Tango. )

ZIPS:
Parts I & II
Parts III-V
Part VI
Part VII

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy 2 year anniversary of prom! (seriously, two years ago...what?)

Speaking of prom, I seriously had the weirdest dream last night. It was prom, though apparently the school we went to was so large that needed to split it into five separate proms (there was one on a beach, one on a cruise ship, etc.). So me, Katelyn and this other girl I've never seen before get into a limo driven by Laurence Dominic from Dollhouse and he just sort of takes off and we're all "Um, I think there's supposed to be more people in here... also, I don't think we're supposed to be this far into Howell..." and we get the general gist that he's kidnapped us and is going to do horrible things to us and so I manage to get out of the car and into this other guy's, where I call the cops on his cellphone.

And then the dream did that weird thing that dreams do... where it just shifts setting with no warning and suddenly I'm at the prom taking place at this really fantastic water park and I keep getting pushed in the pool and asked to party. And I'm like "No, guys, I have some pretty serious shit to deal with right now." But nobody cares. And Harry Potter is just sort of chilling in the pool and all these people are wearing costumes in the pool, but not him. It actually just is Harry Potter, which... what? Anyway, so, like there's a guy dressed like Spiderman in the pool and an entire group of people dressed like Henry II and his family (what?). And the guy dressed like Richard the Lionheart was a total meathead and so I was like "Needs moar gay" and he got all pissed. And then me and my friend Eamonn (who was just there apparently?) and the one gay ballet dancer from Center Stage are all like "You know, I think we got the pretty sweet end of the deal as far as a waterpark prom goes" and then everyone had to go into the hotel where we were having an actual dance, which was apparently owned by Disney. And for some reason, I felt the need to take my swimsuit off, so I'm just, like, wandering around a Disney lobbey soaking wet and practically naked and I get all distracted by these cool virtual walkways... and then I woke up.

...k'. I'm sure Katelyn and what's-her-name are ok. Boyd Langton was on the case.

So, to recap, things I've been watching/thinking about too much lately:
Harry Potter
BBC's Robin Hood / The Tudors (the last of the Plantagenets were just executed on the show)
Wanting a Disney vacation
Dollhouse
Scenes with Roger and the distinct theme of attempted rape

So. At least I'm well rounded.

I was bored this morning so I decided to do a Swacit mix with nothing but Decemberists songs. Good times.

( And I am a writer, writer of fictions, I am the heart that you call home )

ZIP

Katey-lynnnnnnn, I found season 3 of Robin Hood on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd8nzzfy61U

You must watch it, because I want to talk about it with you so badly I could explode.

When's everyone coming home btw?

Also, out of curiosity, are we doing the Potter midnight show this year? I definitely want to see it together (it's the only way to enjoy the butchering), but the midnight showing will be Tuesday night/Wednesday morning (why they pushed the release up from a weekend, I don't know. Clue: the fans have grown up and many have to work. Braintrusts.) and might be hassle for anyone with a job.

Also: (not at all obvious indication of how to pronounce names in chapter 2:)
Alan made a tiny gesture at Gael and Geoff set his crayon back down to the paper. "G-u-y," he wrote. He faltered for a moment and then, thinking himself very clever, finished, "-e-l."

Gael frowned and pulled the paper towards him, printing his name correctly at the bottom in careful capital letters that Geoff and Alan studied dubiously.

Alan looked to Gael for confirmation, who only rolled his light brown eyes and devoted himself utterly to his tiny carton of juice.
♥

Very nice last day today.
-Got $87 back for book returns (half back on three textbooks) :D
-Spent all of Comp laughing with Brenda over how godawful Twilight is. Hee, extremely cathartic. We also discussed HP fandom. Not even kidding.
-Psych exam went well. Steven said he'd be glad to write me a rec letter if I ever needed it. :3
-Shakespeare was fabulous as usual. There were cookies!

I'm pretty bummed. This semester was really enjoyable and several of my teachers aren't teaching anything else next semester. :[

Btw, I finally caved and started searching for episodes of Robin Hood season 3 online. Found episode 1 here:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODEyMjgwODg=.html

Quality's sort of bad. If you can play DIVX files, I recommend:
http://www.supernovatube.com/divxp.php?viewkey=841a3d633264b4c33697

Very good quality.

The melodrama? Heavy. The dialogue? Terrible. Keith Allen? Still Amazing. Much? Adorable.

Lol forever @ Guy and Robin's first fight.

( As for the rest (No spoilers, just rambling): )

Oh, and the Sheriff calls Guy "Diddums".

Isn't that what's really important?

Geoff: Maybe you should wait to tell them after exam results come. That way you can distract them, right? 'I may fancy blokes, mum and dad... but look at what fine grades I have!' I mean, how angry could they possibly be staring 9 A*'s in the face?

Alan: They'll be dazzled by asterisks!

Gael: ...I think I have to vomit.


So, I love writing dialogue for those three like I love breathing. But you all probably already knew that. Hee. They're just so cute as a trio and totally not begging for porny fanfic which I WILLNOT write. Ever.

There's only five class days left in the semester, which = hell yes. I have a test on A Midsummer Night's Dream on Tuesday, my Psych exam Thursday and a math test Monday (the 5th). I'll be glad to be out. I've been feeling a little haggard lately (as in tired, not, you know... soliciting gay hookers and taking meth). It's probably because my sleep cycle is once again all turned around. NIGHT STALKER.

Also, it's 68 outside. :D It's an improvement!

EDIT: Ok, so I've missed the last couple of episodes of Dollhouse...but I just heard Alan Tudyk will be joining the cast. This is the part where I run around, going :D :D :D

Dammit! I'd just managed to peace with the fact that'll it'll probably be cancelled by the end of the season and they pull this.

I really ought to be studying for my Psych quiz... or, you know, sleeping. Yet here I am.


You know, every time I work on the second book, I find the amount of money Ben is worth very unsettling... but then I remember something...
( Rufodoodle )

I taggedededed
( Book Meme )

TAGGING linastar7, pancakerabbit06, sfmdraw, shadesofbrixton, hoskie

Mum went and talked to the realtor who was at our house the day the suspicious wtfuckery was going on. She promises she is not a friend of Mrs. L___ and was very nice about the whole thing. Mum believed her. She apologized for being paranoid, but the realtor said, under the circumstances, she'd be suspiscious as hell too (she has an ex-husband who pulls shit like that all the time). So, at least there's that, thank Christ.

We should be hearing back from AllState within the next 10 days or so whether the claim's been dropped or if Mr. and Mrs. L____ really are stupid enough to try to take it to court. So now we play the waiting game.

In other news, I am finally putting together a serious Swacit timeline. It's more of an outline for the book, really; where chapters begin and end, etc., etc. I have the first four and last fifteen chapters planned out. The last fifteen deal with everything in November of 1998 through the end of the book. Basically, what was the Creative Writing assignment,but with all the pure-exposition chapters removed. I'm gonna need to keep combining things to get the number of chapters lower.

Things to Fix #39- Stop making chapters so short.

I've a bad habit of being like "End of scene? End of chapter!"

No.More.

EDIT: As of now, there are 37 chapters... and I'm not finished. Crap. Crap. Crap.

The King Lear poems were well-accepted by the class. :)

On the lawsuit front: Turns out the guy's wife contacted the township to ask them if the posts in our yard are legal and even though the man there told them yes, they are quite legal and no where near the Right Away, she decided to file the claim against us anyway. So now we have the Township and AllState on our side.

GO TEAM VENTURE!

The guy, it turns out, did, in fact, break his neck (though he isn't paralyzed). And... like, guy, I'm sorry about your neck, but don't speed on icy, late-February roads in the dark, in the RAIN and then take us to court over it. You don't see me swerving across two lanes of traffic to hit someone's mailbox and then sue them. "Well, if you hadn't had a mailbox there whilst I was crashing through your property, the accident NEVER WOULD'VE HAPPENED!" First thing's first, you didn't hit the post. There's no paint on it and it's not cracked. Not to mention that those posts are buried in two feet of silt. Not concrete... silt. The post was out of the ground because the snow plougher knocks it out every year (and luckily mum has letters from the township detailing destruction done to our property by the snow plougher to prove it, so EAT IT). In all likelikood, your dumb ass hit the incline of dirt that begins the hill, giving your van the momentum to flip. Again, not our problem, as you didn't belong on this side of the road in the first place.

Seriously. Jesus.

It's time for another installment of...

Gael is Adorable and is Trying to Make Me Forget to Kill Him Off With His Cuteness!

Lena: … though I have to admit my Spanish isn’t very good.
Geoff: *beaming* I’m bollocks at Spanish too!
Gael: He is.
Geoff: *beaming harder* Really, I’m TERRIBLE.
Gael: He always insists on saying pagina wrong.
Geoff: I can't help it if I happen to be a man of phonetic sensibilities.
Gael: *rolls eyes* Oh, all right then, Gee-Off.

Really, Gael, you're just making it harder for both of us. :(

Heh, I'm not sure which is funnier. The joke itself or imagining people with zero understanding of Spanish pronounciation trying to figure out what Geoff is doing wrong.

You know what's fun about coloring on the computer?

( You can so fucking cheat at textures )
Aww, I'm sure everything's going to work out for them... Er...

B'aww, her little vice grip. You know, I find Mel and Ben bonding to be much cuter when I'm PMS-ing. ...I'm not entirely sure what that says about me, but there it is. Of course, PMSing also makes me find Ben/Lena sexier and allows me to smell colors, so what do I know?

... why the fuck aren't I sleeping?

So, I'm doing one of those "Read 15000 pages in a year things" and keep forgetting to post monthly updates:
( Books read: January-March )

And now I'm finally going to post the depressing murder mix. That is, Gael's death mainly from Roger and John's POV:


Andrew Bird, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, The Beatles, The Decemberists, Colin Meloy, Air, David Gray, Johnny Cash, Iron & Wine, Daniel Licht, The Kills, Ane Brun, Beter than Ezra, Women & Children, Atomship, The Velvet Underground


( The sun above the cotton grass / Is sinking down like lead / The seagulls know the truth of it / And scream it overhead / Hold on to St. Christopher / The sky is murderous red / Go to sleep my one true love / Our glory lies ahead )

ZIP

Would anyone care to explain to me why it's fucking SNOWING outside?

Ugh.

I still need to write another poem for Shakespeare tonight, but I'm really not feeling it. At. All. I just want to watch Venture Brothers and doodle. :(


( Doodle: Steven, Linda, Scott, Nicole )

Well, aren't they discerning for a pair of child abusers?

One day I will learn to draw bodies.

And one day, I will get a scanner that doesn't leave everything smudged.

Also, I will one day learn to draw Scott properly. He always comes out looking vaguely Geoff-ish. I'm not sure what that says for Alan's emotional issues.

Presentations in college are so much more entertaining. Yesterday in Shakespeare, Tom (The Juggler) did his presentation on hired fools and court jesters and did it all in Old English

Tom: In other words, n'uncle... thou should have as much beneath the scalp as on it. *doffs the hat he'd been wearing all day to reveal he'd shaved his head like a monk*

That class is by far the best way to end the day.


Today is Ryan's birthday, so that means another of those oh-so-anticipated pizza parties at Grandpa's. Mum and I decided from now on we are only buying those children books and art supplies. Period. Connor's birthday is coming up, so I helped mum pick out books I loved at his age: HP, Roald Dahl, The Wayside School Series, The Watsons Go to Birmingham

I don't think Aunt Lori will be thrilled with the last one, but I honesly don't give a shit. God forbid, the child learn anything about race relations.


On a brighter note, my writer's block is slowly going away.


Gael shrugged. "I try to understand. I mean, out of the five of us, it's just Mel and I who even have brothers and sisters."

"What do you have?"

"Older sister, younger brother. Bernardo and Maria." When Lena's mouth quirked into a smile, he shrugged again, "...My parents were big fans of West Side Story."

"Really?"

Thoughtfully, he tilted his head. "...No..."

Gael, stop making me love you.

Since the next mix is going to be about, you know, murder and stuff, I wanted to squeeze in one more fun one.

And Lena is always fun.


Peter Sarstedt, Gabriella Climi, Scissor Sisters, Poloroid, Imogen Heap, Lily Allen, Sia, Goldfrapp, The Magnetic Fields, Mirah, The Cardigans, The Dresden Dolls, Bat for Lashes, Air

( If you really loved me / you'd buy me a beautiful pearl / But you've already bought me / all of the pearls in the world / So there's one thing I crave / When my days become ho-hum and blah ... ... I want a zebra... )

ZIP
Other Lena mix: Old Love Haunts Me in the Morning

Lol, that "Fuck You" song is so versatile. And so bouncy!

I am convinced the only way Lena can stand being in the same room as Roger is by imagining him like this:

and smirking incessantly to herself.

Which is the sort of reason why Lena and Rufus make such good friends.

I'm glad it makes them feel better, because it certainly does nothing for my sanity.