A Twist of Things to Come

Be warned, the cut is image- heavy! ( It's 100 years old, but very... inspiring )

I will have to photograph the Hobo Dungeon later. ;)

I've been working and writing and working, and driving to visit family and driving to work.

Oh, yeah. Also moving. Sort of. We rented a place just before Christmas, and came back from visiting my family to move in. Mostly we've been fixing things and getting utilities turned on and such. The landlord has had the carpets cleaned, so we didn't move any real furniture in today. I cleaned shelves and windows and baseboards, hung a shower curtain, put frosted plastic decals on the bathroom windows in place of the awful lace curtains.

Basically, the house is 100 years old, with an addition in the 80s and some remnants from a redecoration in the 70s, I reckon. I bet it's haunted. After living in cookie-cutter neighborhoods for so long, though, I LOVE this house. It has nooks and crannies and weird little cupboards under stairs that don't go anywhere but the attic. There is a stained glass window and an honest-to-god mechanical doorbell.

The electric, plumbing and windows are all modern. It's well-insulated, too. The best part is that we've rented it for the same rent as a tiny two bedroom apartment was going to cost us. Plus, we didn't have to sign a lease and the landlord cuts the grass.

Also, we won't be changing school districts in teh middle of the year. :) It's just off the main street of this small town, so walking distance to cool shops and restaurants. Also walking distance to a park and the lake, both with bike trails. The library is across the street. It also faces the train tracks that run through the median between the roads downtown, BUT the house is so old and well-built, it really isn't an issue with the windows closed. I was amazed, but we could talk normally with a train going by 50 feet away.

I will post pictures. Honestly, it is perfect. I could write stories about how creepy and cool this place is, and probably will.

There hasn't been enough work to make my hours this week, so it is actually a good time to move. The workflow will pick up next week, probably meaning overtime again.

***

I'm on chapter 23 of the re-write of Form and Void, which is now at about 300 pages and all that remains is the final act, once this chapter is over.

***

He said we'd have a place by Christmas, and we did (at least put the deposits and all down before we left for Christmas). So there we go. My husband is magic. ;)

But, it worked out all right. I had Saturday off because I went in on Friday. So, I mostly slept all day. I did get dragged out to the free family movie at the local theater. It was Rango, which we had rented but thought would be fun on the big screen. And it was, you know, FREE. :)

Got up and got my hours in on Sunday, then wrote. It worked out well, because I went from having about three pages of chapter 18 to having 12 pages of fixed content and another five more of fairly solid stuff that still needs to be retro-fitted. (Chapter 18 is a FrankenChapter, in which something that happened in the last third of the first draft is moved to near the beginning of the novel, so all the little details have to change.) I really like the way it is turning out, because I get to introduce a really cool character, like 200 pages earlier than before. And, like most of my secondary characters in this draft, she's much cooler than she was.

***

My Beloved made Taco Feast. *breathes shallowly* I ate too much. It's been a while since I've done that.

***

He also has a like on some contract work. My new employer also offered him a job, but he didn't take it. He has a minimum threshold that they couldn't meet. BUT he also had a meeting with a tech employment agency, and the guy there knows he can place him quickly at his required rate of pay, so it's all good.

Did I mention that he's decided to change industries? This man who has been modding Xboxes and rigging home networks to answer our phones and stuff in his spare time for fun, has finally clued into the fact that maybe he should be in IT. :P This was not as good an idea a few years ago when I suggested it. :P

***

They've added a new product to my list at work, because I had done EVERYTHING there was to do on all the other products they had for me. If they will just start letting a approve some of these things, I will stop annoying them with my constant presence at the end of their desk, like Oliver Twist asking for more. :P

Tomorrow we have a client visit. The client is MontBlanc, and we have to dress business professional. We also cannot leave until half an hour after they leave the office, so I am likely to be caught in traffic hell. Perhaps I should go prepared to stop off in Alpharetta at a short story/novel writing workshop that is just forming. That's not until 7pm, though. What to do between 4:30 and 7pm... Perhaps I will pack my computer and plan to write. :P

My vehicle blew a hose on the trip, before we had even made it out of Louisiana. Seriously, the border with Mississippi is less than an hour away from New Orleans, and it broke down before I got there. Popped hose, lost water, overheated. BUT I pulled over right away so no major damage was done.( Cut for the disinterested. May include details of the move, plans for the weekend and my putting-the-kids-in-new-schools angst. )

In other news, my friend Andrina had convinced me to join youwriteon.com and enter an opening chapters contest, so I I did. Your piece has to have 8 reviews to qualify for the contest. You earn reviews by reviewing other people's stuff. I've done six or seven so far, and gotten two reviews in return. (So far they are quite positive.) It's a spot of work, and I'm somewhat pressed for time at the moment, but I'm going to get 8 reviews by the end of the month if it kills me.

So, if anybody would like to read the first two chapters of my second draft, you can find them here:

http://www.youwriteon.com/books/samplechapters.aspx?bookguid=e9d5c639-1dd3-40b8-ac67-b77b426011de

The site makes you register, but it is free. If the direct link doesn't work, you can find it by a title search for "Form and Void." If you see fit to review it, I would appreciate it a lot. :)

For reals. My closet is nearly empty and most of the books and things we don't use every day are packed up. Tomorrow morning we're having a picnic at the park to say farewell to whatever of our friends can make it.

I'm packing frozen treats and a cooler full of cold water bottles, just to be safe. Here in a minute I'm going to go make some banana breads to share with the gang as well. We have a few things we're going to see if people want, but mostly we're just going to hang out for a bit and say goodbye.

I double-checked the date for yourprecious's wedding and it is barely two months away, so I'll be back soonish. I think I can still book the car and such for the bachelorette party, long distance. I'm a little worried that I'll fall down on the hand-holdy bits, just because of how crap my life is at the mo. I've sorted all the things with medical records and medications, and we're pretty sure we have the documents we need to register the kiddos in school. The only thing we haven't sorted is what the heck one does when one is moving 700 miles away from one's son's orthodontist whilst he's in braces. They haven't called us back. O_O Could be awkward.He'd miss... probably more than a day of school for each visit, IF we were able to drive 700 miles twice in 24 hours. :P That is just not happening.

Spent a good bit of Tuesday with a friend who has a son William's age. We were going to be doing the public school homeschooling thing together and all that. It was tough. This lady is so sweet, and she has this idea of me being so socially adept and preternaturally kind, that I almost don't know what to think of her. I like her a lot, it's just that her idea of me seems a little different from any idea I've ever had of myself. I guess that is one of the cool things about friendships -- sometimes friends see goodness in you in areas you didn't expect anyone would.

So, I hate leaving, but I'm also looking forward to being with people I've missed a lot. And getting a job/having money again. Though I'm worried about getting a job too quickly and not being able to get time off when it's time to come back for the wedding. I already have a couple of solid leads, so it's possible.

***

I guess the point is that it's going well and I'm still positive and alive and all. Just may not be around for several days.

So, a while back I was doing some software adjustments, and a girl joined GC and posted to the blog, even though she was only a registered member and an authorized 'author.' Whoops. I fixed the setting and migrated her post to the Forum. I also sent her an email explaining that if she wanted to be a regular poster, she needed a gravatar, and to submit a writing sample, etc. But in a nice way.

Tomorrow I will post a reminder that it is the last day to register for the game paper. Our first contest! Whee!

Let's see, articles I haven't pimped here yet include, The Zen of Doing Dishes by Goddess of All, and Pay It Forward -- Get the Most Out Of Your Ex's Crap by Mv2.3.

***

Basically I'm all antsy about GC because I haven't gotten to write anything for it in an age. It's been FINE without my input, but I wanted to be a bigger part of it.

But then I'm also on the home stretch of this novel, so maybe I'm just ... catwaxing.

***

Also, I'm going to look at a place over near Big Boy's school that is for rent and in our price range. I doubt we'll jump on it, but you never know. Seems like a good neighborhood, even though it's not as close to the park as we'd like. Still, I guess I'll find out, eh?

I have now crossed the Mississippi River more this week than in my whole life before. *sigh* But hanging out on the West Bank has helped me focus, as it has a dearth of things to distract me. Unlike my New Orleans neighborhood.

Speaking of which, two of our nearest home school friends are moving this month. One is not going that far, but out of easy walking distance. The other will soon be on the far side of the French Quarter, just barely within the non-dodgy confines of Bywater. The latter is my older son's best friend in town, so this kind of sucks.

Still, it's New Orleans, which means *no part of it* is all that far away. *sigh*

I still love my neighborhood, though, and intend to stay put until the path to other lodgings is made clear and unavoidable.

***

Up at GC today, we have our first article by new addition Peta Jinnath Andersen, Geek up your kids with this Superhero A-Z. Let's hear it for the next generation of geekdom!

***

In somewhat less uplifting news, CBS has apparently decided to severely reduce the female characters of their hit show, Criminal Minds. One of the best things about the ensemble cast, for me, has always been the presence of competent women getting the job done. Now, they are planning to cut the character of JJ, a wonderful exemplar of a working mother who is competent, focused and successfully juggling motherhood and her career. Wonder how they'll write her out. (Yes, that's sarcasm.) The other female character looking at a drastically reduced role is Prentiss, which pisses me off even more because she's my hero. She's tough without being played mannish, smart and accomplished. Oy.

agirlnamedluna probably says it best in this post, which also has a list of places to make our ire known.

In addition to those listed by Luna, there is a campaign to send CBS lipstick as a means of protest. Since I have a bunch of old lipstick that I hate with a passion, I'm all over it. The address is listed in the link.

I'm genuinely annoyed that they think only men -- or even mostly men -- watch this show. Or maybe they just don't care, because the advertisers are not as interested in the female viewers. Whatever. F*ck you CBS. In the nostrils. With a baseball bat. Wrapped in rusty barbed wire.

Okay, maybe I'm more than annoyed.

I'm stoked to be beating the GeekaChicas drum today, because Nightsky's new article, Doctors with Dalek Bumps: Femme Doctors well and truly kicks bootay.

You know why? I'll tell you! It's not just a typical, "Oh, look, women are cosplaying as Doctor Who, only in dresses." It goes enough beyond that, and shares enough personal experience, for it to really make me think. Cosplay and crossplay are one thing, and really not that atypical. But female fans re-imagining The Doctor in their own image is something different, if not something new, and Nightsky's take on it really had me thinking about all the BS I've put up with as a woman who digs scfi/fantasy (i.e. 'boy stuff') for pretty much my whole life.

It resonated, dudes, is all I'm saying.

***

I am now the proud owner of a Louisiana driver's license. The picture doesn't even suck. Go figure. Since I was 7 months pregnant when my last DL picture was taken (after standing in line in Georgia heat for two hours), almost anything would be an improvement.

The tags and things on the vehicles are all nice and legal, too. It feels odd, like my last ties to Georgia are severed. And I have to go back to Georgia Saturday, where I will mooch off friends for a place to lay my head. For a week. Oy.

***

In other news, my homeschooling buddy from the UK's flight was canceled, so she's here for another week. I'm crazy pleased about this, because it means we get to see her off in better form. I'm really going to miss her. She's a pip.

I think I'm creeping back up on my Shiny Happy, after several days of Woah. Still sickly, but past the feverish belief that the world is made of poo and I suck at life. Which was really weird this time, on account of my life and nearly everything in it being pretty darned good. Aside from issues with the sale of my house. (There's a guy with nearly the same name as my husband, except his middle initial stands for "Ralph" who had a lot of debts he didn't pay, and people mistakenly put leans on the title to our house because of it. *grump* It shouldn't be that difficult to fix, but it still blows. The good thing is, our buyers seem unusually committed, willing to wait for it all to be straightened out. I guess I would be, too, if I knew I was getting a house for $60,000 less than it will be worth in a year or two, when all the foreclosures in the neighborhood have sold.)

That's annoying, but I'm not worried about it. I've been given enough proof that my family is where it belongs not to go angsting over money. There may not be any fabulous vacations in our future, but we can pay our bills. If we're not getting any money out of the house, then we must not be going to need it. *shrug*

***

On to the fun stuff! Our lovely narniadear posted 40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes , which is bot waaaay fun and shows how some actors don't seem quite up to their counterparts when cut together that way. Compare the Aragorn bits to Brad Pitt mumbling "We are lions" in Troy. Bwuh? Pretty, yes. Achilles? *facepalm*

Also, this morning we have Amalia The Savage, who writes Winter is Coming... Resist the Urge to Tan with some startling statistics regarding the "safety" of tanning beds.

Personally, I've never gotten the allure of the tan or tanning. For one, just lying there is boring. Plus, what's wrong with the color I am? I kind of like it.

Well, despite NaNo's tendency to chew people up and spit them out, it seems our Amalia The Savage is already finished! Wow, that woman is prolific! On GC, we're still sharing her Letters series, which is related to her NaNo novel and also to discussions of NaNo itself. Today's installment is Letters from the Kings, Another Not-Yet-Of Troy Story. I may speed up posting of this series - once a week may just not be enough!

***

I mentioned yesterday some good things that are going on here for me, but that I've been battling the blues anyway. It's a strange disconnect from reality, because the reality is really good. The darling jedi_diplomat commented that the culture shock really starts to hit between three to six months in (and boy howdy, she should know!) and I think she's right. Things here are becoming familiar, and once-familiar things in Atlanta are becoming distant. I feel detached from my old life (not a bad thing, as it was comfortable enough to fall easily into stagnation) but not entirely connected to my new life, yet. I think some of that is bleeding over into my online presence, too, in the transition from lone fannish blogger to webmistress.

So, erm. Thanks for hanging in there with me. :) I'm going push my way through this phase, see, and whatever comes out will hopefully be better equipped to do what I gotta do than what went in.

***

On the writing front, thanks to a bit of discussion with the lovely hominysnark, I'm on track with the rest of HMOWK, and pretty much back up to the point where I lost my data. If I manage to pull this off, the end is going to ROCK. If I don't, well, it'll still be good, and a fun ride.

I have finally come up with a title for my shapeshifter series, and titles for the one I'm working on as well as the one I have as a complete draft. The first one, I'm calling Form and Void, and the second, which many of you have read swaths of, will be Face of the Deep. I think. I've half a mind to go ahead and name the third one (for which I have only vaguest of outlines) Intelligent Design, though that may just be my snark trying to break through.