Blather, rinse, repeat

I promised (myself) an epic update, and then never delivered. So hey, what's up, LJ? Haven't seen you in a while, there.

I've been getting some awesome hours at work this past week, which has gone a long way to offsetting the loss of hours the week before. I hope it continues, although I will be needing Halloween off.

So two nights ago, the HitRECord Fall Formal that I was so excited about last year, until it was canceled, (and rightly so,) finally took place. In L.A.

Honestly, I felt pretty bummed about it. I totally understood the cancelation, but when you're re-scheduling the show for the following year, why not have it in the same state? This way, people who were going to go the first time, could, you know. Go? And it was epic. Gary Oldman was there, Neil Patrick Harris. There was singing, dancing, all sorts of revelry. At one point, apparently, even I appeared on the big screen: This clip got screened at the show. I appear at :42 seconds in. ^_^ ) Cool, huh? Still, I wanted to go.

So I went on HitRECord and said, you know, it would be really awesome if you could bring the show, or something like it, to NY. And hey, just think about it! Halloween is coming up. Masquerade ball, NYC? Is this tickling any fancies?

And then, yeah, that happened. So! I need to finish my costume. I've already got my tix. Also, I'm hoping that my wonderful internet friend of, like, 11 years or so, will be flying out too. We could even spend a few days together and it would be nothing short of epic.

So that's that! This all just happened today.

I've been a bit preoccupied with Occupy Wall Street, too. This is the revolution that I was afraid would never happen. I've signed on for any local meet-ups. You can also send food, clothes, other necessities to the people actually occupying Wall Street. It's really easy to send a pizza or something; anyone can do it from anywhere in the world, via online order form. One thing they don't tell you on the website though, is that they ask for a cross street. The cross street is Wall Street.

I also promised I'd talk a bit about the movie 50/50, which I did get to see the weekend it came out. I knew it was going to trigger every neurosis I own, and of course, it did. Because it's the true story of a young man who does everything right, takes care of himself, etc. and then starts getting this nagging pain in his back that obviously ends up being cancer.

And while it did literally trigger every neurosis I own (my own nagging back pain started that very night, and while logically I knew exactly what it wasn't, it still kept me awake for about three nights in a row,) it was actually quite an awesome movie. I legitimately laughed and cried. It's not often I can say that totally without irony. The entire cast was pitch perfect. Seth Rogan's timing is spot on. He was so inappropriate that you kind of had to enjoy him.

The rest of it was kind of bone-jarringly brutal, at least in some places. One second it would be funny, and the next, so honest that you were sitting there cringing.

I can't say enough praise about Joe, obviously, so I'll try to scale it back a bit. He was just really fearless like he always is in roles. It seems to me that when I really enjoy an actor or actress, that's the quality I find myself commenting on the most. They can put aside that fear of being judged or whatever, and just tell the story. I have no idea how they do that. Joe does the Kicked Puppy thing insanely well, also.

However, I think that Angelica Houston stole the show. There was one part with her (OMG, the part where she wants to make tea,) that made me tear up. It felt so much like something I would do in that situation. And then, towards the end – I don't want to really give out any spoilers. It was harsh. And the whole arc with her husband / his father. Wow, it's hard to describe how a movie could kick you in the nuts so often and with such force, then turn around and tickle you.

Now then, what else? I've been hanging out with Jo-chan, had an awesome time hanging with Wonderful Glassworker (we watched Dexter, the Dr. Who episode Blink, and we had the most gorgeous pizza ever, and utterly badass ice cream from Snowflake.) I'm almost to the end of the Tenth Dr.'s run, and I keep putting off watching the last few episodes.

Oh, I know. I finally had a chance to talk to the Gold Dragon for a really long time the other night. That's because he saw my Mom at her work, and they got to talking for a while. Then all my Mom's girl friends who work with her came stalking over all like, "OMG WHO WAS HE, HE IS SO CUTE, THAT SMILE, THOSE DIMPLES" etc. and she was just like, "yeah, whatever. :D " Anyway, so I had to call him to tell him this and we ended up on the phone for over an hour, trying to figure out a day when we're both off work so we could get together. We must have laughed for about ten minutes straight; I seriously could not breathe and had tears streaming down. Finally he said, "Damn, I really miss this. I miss us." So that settles it, we're just going to have to make the time. ^_^

I really need to stop starting my new paragraphs with "Oh, I know." Or actually, maybe I should implement that in my novel. Instead of chapter breaks, I'll say, "Oh, I know what else," or maybe, "Anyways." That would go over well, huh?

Speaking of, I got one more rejection for the query. Did I mention that already? But I also found a few other agents who rep what I write. So I still have some cake. I just have to cut the slices really thin.

Also, I got re-tweeted by William Gibson the other night, and I think that's a sign. :D (We were playing "fairy tales minus one letter." I did: Now White, Earskin, The Fro Prince, The Rave Mound, Taterhood, Twelve Moths, The Two Bothers, Fair Bro, Fondling Bird, The Old Itch, and The Red Hoes. He liked "Now White" but honestly, my favorite was "The Fondling Bird.")

A few days ago it was upwards of about 80 degrees, but today it's chilly, blustery, rainy, windy, and just a tad raw. I took the plants in on October 5th this year.

And that's that, I think. There's one more thing that I want to post, but it's going in a separate entry.


BLEDELEHLEHLEH of course, there is one more thing I have yet to update on: Work. I'm at my 6 month anniversary already. :) For my anniversary, I asked if we could get rid of that one horrible CD that haunts me. Actually, it is kind of funny in that one of the other therapists there likes to troll me by putting the eversucking thing on repeat.

Tom Hardy's new short film, 12 minutes long! IT IS VERY PEENFUL, you should know this.



So like I don't even have WORDS, do you understand! I laughed, I cried, I went like this


and like this


sort of like this


and like this


And I will watch it again and again! It was better than LES MIS.

Because the peen has rendered me dead! I feel like I know Tom Hardy so well now which is only appropriate since he is my husband! That's two of my husbands who like to whip it out in films and show it at varying angles and doing different things in different situations (the other being Ewan McGregor, I know what his looks like upside down, pretty much.)

I mean there was also a movie and whatnot and he's honestly I can't even make a joke about it such a terrific actor with everything he does but IT'S HARD FOR ME TO GET PAST THIS. So bear with me! Because also look at his beautiful face! That jaw? OMG, how do people get so hot?

I'm happy tonight because Tom Hardy lives on the same planet as me, at least I think he does, and this short film is like a piece of cake for me to eat.

I AM HAPPY TO HAVE SEEN THIS FILM is the gist of what you should be taking away from this post.

Some comments on my little clip!

From a HitRECorder whose parents are Chinese physicists:

As the child of two Chinese physicists this really makes me happy. I have distinct memories of my parents talking to me about gravity as well as the principles behind ba gua. This is a nice synthesis of the worlds i grew up with. :)

Now this video has my head trying to relate string theory to aspects of eastern philosophy. >.< I think its amazing how thousands of years later and technological canyons apart the same idea can emerge. Then again, before Big Bang gained credibility what was it but an idea some intelligent people had about how the universe might work.

That's just too legit to quit. ^_^

From Joe:

BRAVO jules!! This is really great work. Not only is the content (the ideas and sentiments) intriguing; the form (the execution and presentation) keeps all six minutes entertaining. Not an easy balance to strike!

One thing that jumped out at me was the rule of eight. I remember from highschool science that electrons make balanced groups in intervals of eight, but I'd forgotten. The number eight is a big deal in western music because of octaves: you go up or down eight post-Bach "whole steps" and you get back to the same note just in that higher or lower key. And that fits in with the Fibonacci snailshell pattern 1,1,2,3,5,8,13...

There's SO much stuff here that makes for good springboards as we move forward on wirrow's Creation Myth(s) collaboration.

thanks!

DOUBLE OMG. ♥ Joe. ♥. Film-maker props, and music/math geek props? He totally said "Fibonacci sequence" dude. Fantabulous.

And from a HR pal Dusty, who is a mathematician:

jules! i am CERTAIN that this is a wonderful explanation of chinese creation myth, and that i'd like to watch it again. not only was it entertaining, but you're so clearly passionate about chinese creation myth and physics and it warms my little math-worshipping heart! i love your crow and how when you gave her(?) the tomato she was like FUCK YEAH I HAVE A TOMATO. love love love to both of you! also i totally got chills when you mentioned the eight valence electrons, i have wondered that too but never associated it with the rule of eight! <3

Dusty knows I'm MATHCURIOUS.

From collab's creator and artist, Wirrow:

sometimes i watch the tv static for ages just to steal some of those virgin untouched photons. one day i will steal them all...
im really glad we're on the same wavelength with this stuff jules.. and u presented it amazingly. like.. ridiculously amazingly. it's a little film all by itself

Wirrow is another physics geek, lectures and all! Wirrow who I just want to squeeze.

Also a comment from Metaphorest, my number one HitRECord writer squee:
You had me at the pet crow. WOW! Love this in several ways. <3


And the best! HitRECorder HATI!


I NEED TO GET TO NY BECAUSE YOU ARE SO AWESOME. :D

And I will bring my own nucleus to share, since Havok is a grinch. <3

Hati is actually skitty_kitty AND SHE IS COMING TO VISIT ME IN THE SPRING. Which really has nothing to do with the collab or the video but still! We're going to create a universe with awesomeness alone and then make an apple pie from scratch. ^_^

In short, THIS WAS A TRIUMPH. :D

Hurray, I'm so happy! This is definitely LJ worthy. First, Joe put my very flawed little film on the front page of HitRECord tonight. Woo! And then, he also Tumbled me. Err. Umm. Tumblred me? ^_^;; *cough*

Anyway. Here's my little creation about Chinese myth and quantum. :)

Last night was the first night that Kung Fu started to feel like "home" to me again. More and more people from the old school are showing up. On top of that, we're doing this drill in blackbelt that's so awesome, I'm fangirling over it.

Kung Fu has a lot of aspects for me that keep calling me to it, which I've chronicled over the years, and most of you know about. In brief: That meditative state you hit after about an hour of non-stop movement, the "runner's high," the feeling of well-being, balance, the friendships, the nakama feeling, knowing you're doing something for your health, knowing you're doing something that could potentially save your life, or even just save you some trouble. There is of course another aspect to Kung Fu that I seldom discuss because I feel like such a sell-out or a poseur, maybe more like.

But the truth is that Kung Fu just looks so goddamn cool and hardcore, it's kind of a big draw for me. I know we're not supposed to really focus on the awesomeness of it, but there are those moments during a drill like the one we're doing now when I look at all of us in the mirror and go, "damn we look fly." I suppose that makes me a bad martial artist. Or maybe not; maybe just an honest one because I think that if more people were real about it, we'd say that, yeah, we started in the first place because it looked so cool when Jackie Chan did it, or Bruce Lee or whoever. ^_^

I mentioned some folks from the old school coming back, and last night marked the return of Te Ji Nan, our young stunt boy. Or, not so young anymore, I guess, since he's just turned 16. Hard to believe I've known him since he was 10, and so wee. There are still a few of us missing, like Homeslice, Silent Boy, etc. But I'm sure they'll return soon.

Also, last night this guy I met at school came along for a trial class, too. He used to train years ago, the same lineage but at a different school with a different Sifu. This guy is super nice and I suspect I think he's quite cute too, in a super tall, dark kind of way. (But I'm not sure, because my defenses are set on red for a while.) If he sticks around, I need an awesome code name for him. He rode his bike there, and I drove him back to his house. We beat the crap out of each other in the first drill; I think that's a nice way to bond with new friends. In class today, we compared bruises. It was kind of sweet, maybe.

Oh, yeah, so school. Okay, remember about a week ago I talked of that girl who'd had a meltdown after failing her midterm? I mean, not a normal "OMG I failed" meltdown but a "those teachers are bitches, die die die" kind of meltdown. Yeah, well today? DIFFERENT WOMAN, different meltdown!

( This is long. )

So now, I don't even feel bad about thinking of her by her unflattering nickname behind her back. Instead, when I see people literally facepalming over her stupid questions and the answers that she thinks she has, I just feel gratified and I facepalm along with them.

This gets filed under "WTMFF is wrong with people, I swear."

SEE? I meant to only write a bit, but then took up half the night bitching about some chick at my school. GAH.

Onto head movies. Last night, I had a dream that I was writing my pathology paper, and on editing it I realized that I used the word "thereby" like ten times in every paragraph. I'd written it by hand and it was all, "thereby, thereby, thereby..."

The night before that, I dreamed that I was trying to empty the pond on my yard for the winter. I've never emptied it before, so I don't know why I'd do this. I picked it up (it wasn't that heavy,) and unplugged the bottom to let the water run out. But every time I thought it was empty, more water would somehow fill it up. And I'd go, "Oh, now I have to start all over again!" I know they say that water is a metaphor for your feelings, but in this case I disagree. I think the pond was a metaphor for my credit card. That, or I had to pee.

Then the night before that, I dreamed that Tom Hardy's dog had lymphoma. This is because I was worried it was what Sano had, but he didn't, and I'd looked at pictures of Tom Hardy with his dog, which he seems to really dote on.

But here's a cool thing that happened. Two nights ago, two separate things occurred, neither of which was a dream. The first was that I needed to get something from Mom's house, and I had to go into Dad's music room to get it. When I turned on the light, his karaoke machine blasted to life with the radio on, scaring the christ out of me. Of course, I stood there and cried like a fool, trying to figure out what the song was. But the radio was tuned to mostly static, and while there was a song playing, I couldn't hear what it was. The second thing: That same night, I was writing this short story and I quoted this Japanese poem: Shadows on the darkness of my heart have left me in confusion; Dream or truth? Let other folk decide. It's by Narihira. Neat poem, I thought, so I gacked it.

Then yesterday my brother called me in the middle of the day to tell me about the dream he'd had that same night. In my brother's dream, he was listening to Dad sing a song, but he couldn't make out the words. This started to sound familiar to me and I thought of my dream. He continued on to tell me that after the song was over, he'd heard Dad's voice telling him, "In the shadow of a dream or a golden thought I come to you." It sounded so similar to the poem I'd copied that it was remarkable. Neither my brother nor I are very religious, though he is quite spiritual (he's a Buddhist.) Me, I'm more of a Taoist but really without the gods. But spirituality aside, it was actually quite cool, huh? Those little connections? Sometimes I rely on them; other times I realize I have a severe case of apophenia. But if that's true of me, then other people have it, too.

I'm not sure why people have to label everything. Just because you give it a name—apophenia--and label it a pathology, does that mean the patterns you see aren't really there?

Richard Feynman addressed this, actually, because he didn't believe in such things. He had a logical, mundane reason for everything – which I really quite adore, because he would also insist that there really is nothing mundane in the universe, and isn't that alone enough? Isn't there already such a huge amount of amazement for you to be overwhelmed? And I agree with that. And yes, the logical person that I am realizes that probably The Boychild pushed the switch on the Karaoke machine when he was playing in there. I still can't find a reason for my brother to have dreamed something so similar to what I'd written the night before, though.

AH! And another thing. Today while I was at school, I lent my Mom Wuthering Heights. Mom was a little "Well, I'll give it a whirl I guess," and I was like, "OMG WAIT TILL YOU SEE, SOOO GOOD SOOO INTENSE" (sorry, Link's Queen throwback there, dramatic reading and all.) Today was rainy and blustery, so my Mom spent the day watching Wuthering Heights and eating Cherry Garcia ice cream, ahh, what a day off! When she returned the DVD to me she was like, "WOW!" And she remarked on Tom Hardy's acting, saying more or less what I've been raving about: his subtlety, his honesty, how he can deliver an entire scene without opening his mouth. She said it would merit a second watching – a rare honor. ^_^

Me, tonight I'm watching some Star Trek film because he's in it. I've never seen any Star Trek anything before, so T-Hard gets my Star Trek virginity, which I think he well deserves.

He could be my third husband, you know, since Joaquin left me. I mean, we're only just engaged since Wuthering Heights, but I'm thinking it might work out.

Anyway. That's about it for this entry. Can you imagine that I've got two more entries lined up, one of which needs to be locked?

My brain is so full; it needs yet more emptying. But not to worry; one of the posts I've got in mind is nothing more than ridiculous fanpoodle yammering. I can't stay either peeved or pensive for too long a time. ^_^

A few weeks ago, someone in a small critique group in which I take part pointed out similarities between Qualia and the works of Roger Zelazny. Not in an "OMG you are just as fantastic as established and legendary writers!" sort of way, but more like, "You've got a similar premise." Which, I had no idea. But yeah, wannabe gods in a scientific world. Mine's more along the lines of steampunk, but still.

Anyway, I decided it would be in my interest to look into this Lord Of Light book , because I'd never even heard of it. Now I'm so glad I did.

It took me about fifty pages, actually. At first I thought the writing was way too formal for my taste, and kept wondering, "Is he kidding?" After a while, I realized that there was actually quite a handful of humor in his narrative. Then I went back and reread the first bits with different eyes.

I'm not even a quarter of the way through the book and already it's become the one that I think about at school. I semi-sorta thought about Dragon Tattoo and Played With Fire (haven't read Nest yet,) but honestly the Millennium trilogy drags for me in some spots. If it wasn't so violently feminist in theme, I might have given up on it after the first book. But once you get into them, they are page turners. Easily-satirized page-turners, but nonetheless.

Right, getting back to Lord of Light. Okay, awesome premise, wish I'd thought of that, oh wait I kind of did, wish I could write it as vividly. (Maybe with some more polishing?) A very sly book in some ways, which amuses me.

But whatever man, you all know me: I get fictional crushes up the wazoo. How can you not fall in love with Siddhartha/ Buddha/ Sam / the Lord of Light? Dude, what a fun character. I suddenly can't wait to go to bed and read some more.

There's one more weird thing I want to mention. A few nights ago, I had a dream about my Dad. Which I do frequently, but this one stood out. He was wearing his favorite shirt: one with horizontal blue and white stripes or a particular color blue. In the dream I kept looking all over for him, and finally I spotted his shirt. I kept telling everyone, "He's right there! Can't you see him! Look, that's his blue and white shirt." I couldn't hear what he was saying, but eventually I could read his lips. He was talking about some sort of christmas gift I'd given him. I woke up (crying my stupid face off) and thinking, "I have to remember to look for that blue and white striped shirt. It's important!"

Then last night in Kung Fu, I was working out with CC when I saw someone come to the door. Our school has all these signs up on the glass door and windows, so you can only see bits and pieces of people as they go by. And lurking outside of the door was the horizontal blue and white striped shirt. I must have had to pick my jaw off the floor. CC was like, "What? What's up?"

"Nothing," I said. "Someone's hanging around outside."

It's sort of an inside joke that I get weirded out when random people come into the school so I joked, "If that guy comes in, I'm gonna bark at him."

We had a bit of a laugh and then the guy did come in. It was the Gold Dragon.

We chatted for a while after class. I had left him a message to tell him about the pool collapsing, the neighbors wanting money, etc. and said if he felt like going to the beach or whatever he should hit me up. "Anytime you want," he says, "Whatever you wanna do. Yeah, let's do something next week. Wow. You really seem to have the worst luck. You're cursed, you know that? I hope it's not contagious. You have to break this spell or something. Hey, something's gonna go right. You know what you should do? You should play the lottery. Play Sweet Million or Mega Millions or something. Maybe your luck will change."

I dunno, man, I'm stupid and I totally believe in signs. Dad's blue and white shirt, a suggestion to play the lottery? I'm on it.

Actually, to tell the truth, I played it a few weeks ago, too. I know it's ridiculous and I could use that dollar for something I need, like lunch or half a gallon of gas or whatever. But, I mean, someone wins, right? It does happen.

Well, I think it's worth a shot or two, maybe.

It occurs to me how I, and everyone I have ever met, gradually downgrade our standards whenever whenever the subject of winning money comes up. "WOW, the Mega Millions! What would you do with all that money? I can think of a few things! But actually, I'd be happy with like, three million. To tell you the truth though, I could get by with one million. Really I just want to keep my house and pay my bills. I sure wouldn't cry if I won thirty thousand. Shoot, even a few hundred would be nice right about now. What the hell, I'd be glad if I found twenty bucks on the street. Has anyone got a dollar I could borrow?"

I wonder if I do that with everything. I'll bet I do and I don't even realize it.

Wow, this post started out being about Lord of Light and my new fictional crush and look at where it went.

Health and peace.

Three million dollars.

Book deal (nothing to do with money – I just really, really want it.)

And some other stuff too.

So, lately I have not been my usual happy self, because of this endless stream of ridiculous disasters, some public, some personal, and all out of my control.

I did mean to post this sooner, and then midterms came along, and all these papers I had to write, and then all of this nonsense I was blogging about. I wanted this to get its own post because it deserves it.

A few weeks ago I wrote to one of my most long-term internet pals, the stunningly talented tongari, Hwei to her friends. Hwei has long been one of my favorite artists, among a few others that I'm privileged to know. I love her fluid style and how she can define an entire character often with one line (usually the mouth, or so it seems to me.) I love the dreamy look of her art, the watery colors and all. But I really especially love that way she evokes every emotion with that one line. That's sort of how Hiroaki Samura (Blade Of The Immortal) won me over – by making simple lines that say it all.

ANYWAY. So I wrote to Hwei and said that I would absolutely pay her for a drawing for Qualia. Hwei said she would absolutely do one for free. I peed my pants, ran around in circles, jumped up and down, etc. Hwei also started reading Qualia, which actually thrilled me even more. :)

So, I share these sketches with her permission. This has been making me very happy over the last few weeks!



I LOVE THESE. And, oh yeah, these are "sketches." If I could "sketch" like this, I'd never leave my house. ^_^

Thank you so much, tongari. This rocks my world.

The heat and draught continue unabated. I'm into it. I love jogging in the humidity. It coats my lungs.

Yesterday, with much relief and not a whit of nostalgia, I registered for my last trimester at school. Registration is notoriously hellish, particularly at this school. But yesterday it was mostly painless. It only took me about twenty minutes (as opposed to the usual 2+ hours,) but then I had to search the whole school for someone to schedule me for Clinic2. Eventually I located the administrator in question. I didn't get the clinic day that I wanted, but I figured I had it pretty much okay anyway. All my clients on one day, and in reasonable hours. (Not so early that I'd be hitting the morning rush hour and risk being late.)

Then I got a phone call today telling me that, OOPS, they forgot that the clinic was closed during my scheduled hours. Seriously, people? Yes, seriously. So in the end, I had to reschedule my clinic to the morning. You know, where I'll be fighting the morning rush hour to get there. And since it's ass amount of miles away and you really never know what the traffic is going to be like, it can take me an hour to get there, or it can take me three hours. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IT'S GOING TO BE.

Well, it's only for three months, right? That's what I keep telling myself.

So, people, Mel Gibson. How is this utter toolbag still walking around? How does a person get so hateful, so filled with loathing and poison? And then, how do they even function? And how do they manage to hide it long enough to find success? How do these hideously disgusting people fly under the radar for so long? I'll tell you what: I can't wait until Seth McFarlane and Family Guy take their shot at him. 'Cause you know it's coming. :)

The other thing I wanted to ramble about was this band I fell in love with.



This was one of the songs to Dead Fantasy (which I was fangirling over a few entries ago.) I listened to a few more of their songs and decided I was crazy about them. This is a fantastic song, but their other ones are great too. It's my current "Driving To School" soundtrack.

I'm gonna go eat ice cream and play a video game in a sec, but before I go I just wanted to put into the universe that today I thought of a total best-seller story. This is something that I really believe would take off insanely. However I don't think I'm going to write it yet. It's the first thing I've thought of that's really grabbed me by the throat the way that Qualia did. I sat down and mapped out some characters that I immediately liked. I don't want to say what the premise is, but the working title is Blue Fish. I don't know what to do with it yet so it's back-burnered. I know that it would reach a lot of people, where Qualia is really more of a SF audience kind of thing.

Also before I go I want to post this pic of this shoe-shaped bruise on my thigh:

( EWW. )

It's hideous. And yes, those marks you see are from crossed shoelaces. WIN.

Okay, now ice cream and a game.

I'm writing this before I've even finished Stephen King's novel Under The Dome because I can't hold it back anymore. I get like that sometimes.

I love this behemoth. I think it's one of the best, most subversive-but-not-really pieces of work he's ever written. I say this as an admitted long-time King fangirl. Sure and he's written stories that've made me go “meh” but this is not one of them and Imma tellya why.

First let me say that it's not King's ability to write male leads that I always fall in love with—although he does—that gets me so into this book.
You just gotta love Dale Barbara. (Not in the same way one falls in love with Roland Deschain, but still.) King is such a master at taking the mundane and making it epic, at taking normal people and making them into heroes and unthinkable villains, it seems effortless when he does it. And he writes a good scare, and he's not afraid to get really dirty and gross and horrific with the body fluids, guts, rot, and general nasty stuff like that. I appreciate a good gross-out almost as much as I appreciate a good scare. And I envy his ability.

But none of that is what is really getting me so excited by Under The Dome. What's got me worked up enough to devote an entire LJ entry to it is the premise and how he handles it.

So, there's this small town and a dome randomly covers it. No one can get in or out. It's a national tragedy. Throw in some good guys, some bad guys, and a small-minded dictator, and you've got a political tragedy.

After this devastating event locks the entire town down, King's as-yet most evilest ever Bad Guy decides that he's the only one fit to rule the town. It's 'cause he's a good Christian, see, everything he does is for the good of the Chu'ch, for the good of 'Murrika the town. Never mind that he and his henchmen are involved in some really filthy side-businesses that make them tons of money and destroy the health of the rest of the citizens. It's all for the good of the town. And don't think they don't struggle with their decisions. But the Big Bad, he gave his heart to Christ, so he prays a lot. You know, in order to get guidance, to do what he does. For the good of the town.

The Dome isn't enough of a unifying tragedy, since some forward-thinking townspeople are still against him and his cronies. So he creates more tragedies in order to pull them all together (for the good of the town.) And any turr'rist citizen who is really against him, why, they are easily gotten rid of. Then he can frame them for his crimes, and those of his henchmen, and lock them in prison, trying to force them to confess under the threat of waterboarding. For the good of the town. And he gets his son, and all his son's friends, on the police force in a state of martial law, in order to create and enforce order, and repeals the citizens' rights to carry weapons. Because you have to give up your rights sometimes, when it's, you know, for the good of the town.

After another tragedy strikes, most of the citizens start wearing yellow ribbons blue armbands to show their solidarity, and support of the good men of the police. Even the folks who are against him and his group have to wear the armbands in order to blend in, to not be lynched.

And I really can't go much further with my own take on this here, because otherwise I'll be e-lynched, and probably by a few people I even know. There are certain opinions that are still taboo.

King made some cagey decisions to save his own ass, or at least that's what I think he did. The hero of the story is an ex military guy. There is a sympathetic and sane Christian character – although she's secretly agnostic; and a sympathetic, sane and heroic Republican – although the newspaper she writes is called “The Democrat.” King's obviously no dummy, but neither am I. I know a token when I see one.

So, I haven't finished the novel and I really have no idea of how it's going to end, but I love him for this book. On the one hand I think it's not timely enough: it should have been written in 2002. On the other hand, I perfectly understand the impossibility of releasing this book even a year ago.

Well done, King. Bravo for seeing and saying what so few people have the balls to see, or if we do see it, to say. And then to use your obviously HUGE voice to write a great big novel about it. Beautifully carried out. I know a few folks in my own circle who are devout conservatives who probably won't even see what's going on here.

We see what we expect to see in novels. In many things, really. That goes for me, too. I could be wildly misreading his intentions here.

But I'm not. ^_^

As requested, blizzdog pics! These went up on my FB and I neglected my poor shiny new LJ.

( Blizzpics )
He's my little retard! They both are. ^_^

Gacked from my god(dess)daughter, some Resident Evil (and Silent Hill) hilarity:



I thought it was adorable. :)

Bookwise, still not ready to send the query because everyone in all creation keeps telling me that the manuscript, at 99,510 words, is too damn long and I need to cut it back by a few thousand. No agent or publisher wants to look at long books these days because they know they're not going to sell.

Chopping up the novel is actually very freeing. I have all the originals saved, which will probably embarrass me someday, but I still need to hold on to them. Meantime, I'm down to about 97K-ish. A few more thousand and I'll re-query. I'm about halfway through the book so it shouldn't be a problem.

As long as all the numbers add up to 3, 6 or 9, preferably 9 though. Because I'm insane like that, seriously.

And I'm writing a ridiculously fangirl but honest review of the new 30 STM album which I LOVE although there are some things that I don't love. Still, my favorite band deserves a minute-by-minute writeup.

More on that another time. :)