7:56PM July 11th, 2009 Saturday Art is Awesome! [ ] zekkass So recently I put two of my paintings in an art show at the local Art Association. The paintings are acrylics on canvas panel, and I rather like them. The show was for members of the art association only, and as my mom is a member, I was able to get them in. I did not know that they were giving away small prizes to selected pieces in the show. I was told about thirty seconds before they announced the prizes. Now, one of my pieces is a portrait of a Lemur, and the other is of an Owl. Both are pretty good, and my family and friends seem to agree with me, but I wasn't sure that they'd be prize-worthy material, especially if I was up against pieces by creative adults. In this show, my Owl portrait was awarded an Honorable Mention along with an awesome woodcut, a quilt, and several other paintings and whatnot. I got a free ticket to the local theatre. I feel pretty darn awesome. Yes I do. *victory dance* Now, I need to go dig out the paints and get back to painting again, as I have a hankering to paint my cat. :D READ 9 COMMENT

12:53AM July 11th, 2009 Saturday On TW. [ ] zekkass Seeing as I stopped watching Torchwood after the third episode of the second season, I have some rules about my reading of Torchwood fics. First of all, is it set during season one? If yes, then I'm there. Second, is it good? If yes, I'll read. Third, is it either hilarious or extremely angsty? If a mix or a gen fic, I will not read it unless it's insanely good. Fourth, it must have a character I care about in it. (i.e. Ianto, Owen, or Jack. Sometimes Tosh.) If my rules are met, I'll read it. See, Torchwood fic needs to be at one end of the angst/silly spectrum, as I'm picky. Anyhoo. I'm off to read some more. READ 2 COMMENT

11:21PM July 9th, 2009 Thursday Two Books. [ ] zekkass I'm reading at the moment, and wondering if I'll figure out how to finish that J&W ficlet for Nems... In the meantime, here are two books I am enjoying right now: Charles Stross' Halting StatE. It's sci-fi, set in the not-too-far-future, and is all about virtual reality, MMORPGs, and Scottish people. It's the sort of book that dumps information at you at a fast pace, but you manage to keep up and it adds to the authenticity of the world Stross is making. The idea is that a group of orcs and a dragon have stolen from a bank in a MMORPG, and the fellows in charge of said bank call the cops in a panic. So an average cop shows up and investigates and gets in waaaay over her head. There are conspiracies. Millions of dollars at stake. And it's all written in second person point of view - like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books, only it's not. Either way, try it. It's better than it sounds, and I'm really enjoying it. (And yes, that capital e in the title is intentional.) The second book is a dump of ice water after the above book. Peter Watts' Starfish is dark, dark, dark. It is also insanely good sci-fi. The premise is that in the not-too-far-future, energy stations have been set up on the ocean floor to power the world, and that the people who man these stations and keep them running are given mechanical enhancements so they can swim around down there without dying. It's claustrophobic, dark, and the people who thrive down there, in these stations that creak every five minutes due to pressure, tend to be mentally unbalanced. The writing is sparse and excellent, and it's got a cold mood that will not leave you happy after reading it. However, it's fascinating, an excellent read, and really really good at putting in hooks that make you want to read more. There are two sequels to it, and all three books are available at Watts' website for free. Google him, and you won't be disappointed. (And hey! He did research so he came up with real fish and lifeforms that live in the depths.) Okay, that's all I've got for now. Please, enjoy the books if you want to have a look at them. READ 0 COMMENT

10:49AM July 6th, 2009 Monday Good stuff. [ ] historicmouse Santa Monica Beach Being laid off has given me time to rediscover both myself and the joy of being alive. Work and winter weather had me feeling a bit suicidal, but a lot of good things and sunshine have been happening lately, and I've been regaining that good-to-be-alive mindset. My brother came out to visit from Colorado this weekend. We had an eating extravaganza to rival no other. I've eaten out for every meal since dinner on Thursday. I'm ready to eat at home for the rest of the week now for sure! The best thing I had was a veggie sausage from Wurstkurche in downtown LA. It was an apple, potato, and sage fake-meat sausage, and was downright delicious. I shoulda taken a picture. I will next time I eat there! Saturday we went to the ska-rockabilly-punk-country music fest that is Hootenanny. I learned that Reverend Horton Heat = mosh pit. I got mildly sunburned. I really enjoyed the band 3 Bad Jacks. Then yesterday we went to the New Beverly Cinema (a revival movie house) to watch Platoon on the big screen. That film is one of my favorite Vietnam war films. And now it's Monday, and I have a few days to rest up before I head to the mountains for a week on Thursday. Whoo! One of my roommates was laid off a week after I was. She told me the other day that she only has enough money to pay for July and August rent, and unless she works some between now and September, she won't be able to pay September rent. Life change has been accelerated! I'm tired of sharing one bathroom between three people. I cannot count how many times I've had to go to the bathroom while one of my roommates was in the bathroom for ~45 minutes (This morning my brother had to go to the bathroom before going to the airport, but my roommate was in the shower, so we went to the store to use the store's bathroom. Sigh.). I like my roommates, but change is good. And I'm moving in with Hector! Whoo! I can't wait to decorate and to be able to kick someone out of the shower when I need to go to the bathroom, haha. And I get to see his lovely mug more often too. : ) I've loaded up some film on my old SLR camera and plan on shootin' it up today. Pictures forthcoming! I want to make ravioli. READ 0 COMMENT

7:19AM July 6th, 2009 Monday Meeeeme. [ ] zekkass Awesome meme from mosellegreen. Pick one of my stories and tell me a point in the tale that you'd change. Something tiny (e.g. "Dean played his Metallica tape instead of his AC/DC") or big (e.g. "and so Bones was kicked off the ship with Jim") and I'll tell you how that one difference would have altered the course of the entire story. READ 2 COMMENT

12:29PM July 2nd, 2009 Thursday That's it. ENOUGH! [ ] historicmouse OMG CSUN WTF!!!! Oh man, I have to apologize for that internet outburst there. I have just about had it (and caps feel necessary). I just called the history department to check on my application status (two weeks ago my online status changed from "Application Received" to "Application Department Review", just as the Admissions dept. lady told me it would once they processed my transcript). Well, lo and behold, I call the History dept. only to be told THEY DON'T HAVE MY TRANSCRIPT FROM ADMISSIONS AFTER ALL. So I spent two weeks being deceived into thinking they'd processed my transcript, when I really should've been calling them multiple times to bug them (again). I cut off the history dept person who started to tell me to call Admissions, and told her my tale of already pestering Admissions for forever and a day. She then told me she'd call the Admissions dept. herself to see what was up (which was MUCH APPRECIATED). Of course the Admissions person is at lunch. And when she gets back the history dept. person will be at lunch. But I was told I'd get a call back later this afternoon once everyone was done taking their various lunches. Let's slather inefficiency on inefficiency, hooray! I AM GOING TO GO POSTAL. breathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathe On a happier note, I had a very excellent time with Alla and her roommates last night - food at Swingers and drinking beer on the beach in Santa Monica, followed by a stroll down the pier. Very nice, reminds me of why I enjoy existing (a reminder I sorely needed). READ 0 COMMENT

7:10PM July 1st, 2009 Wednesday Woo Hoo! [ ] zekkass Issue Nineteen! bb_shousetsu put out another issue, which means I need to hop to reading it! Excellent! :D READ 0 COMMENT

1:45PM June 30th, 2009 Tuesday Slightly altered from the original AIM comment I made. [ ] zekkass I adore this. West Wing = <3 So Josh and Sam set a fire in a fireplace in the White House and neglected to see that the flue was welded shut since 1800-ish. And then the fire alarms go off. And because of this... Mr. President, you know how you told me not to wake you up unless the building was on fire? READ 3 COMMENT

navigation [ viewing | most recent entries ]