Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 251
November 8, 2011
A Monday
This is what I did Monday:
Woke at a quarter 'til 8am when Eric came to bed. He'd been up all night finishing a programming project. Decided to get up even though I'd only had 4.5 hours of sleep.
Checked social networks. Moved on to to Google Reader. Caught up with The Kissed Mouth, reading a post on Salome and a post on William Etty.
Made coffee.
Queued up Once Upon a Time while updating Thursday's VOTS scores. Even though I still didn't have a solid score for The Niño v. Calm Before the Huck. Also updated Nabity Ratings accuracy page and the main VOTS page with Annual Meeting details.
09:30 – Queued up Chopped while working on the VOTS sidebar. It's needed an update.
Breakfast: PB&J on an English muffin.
Contemplated Tuesday's ultimate match ups and potential end-of-season standings. (The top three spots will not change. My team is third. The bottom of the standings could get interesting.)
From Google Reader: SF Signal guest post by Myke Cole on Warhammer 40,000 fiction. Part of my discontent with post-apocalyptic fiction stems from the standard 5-minutes-after-the-world's-end setting. Yeah, 40K goes beyond that. Whether their conclusions are reasonable is open to debate, but I've been pretty impressed with the couple of books I've read.
10:35 – Headed out for a run.
11:35 – Back from trip to the community center. Ran 5K in 31:40. Weight: 129 in shoes. Heavier than I've been in quite a while.
Tired of its lagginess, I rebooted the computer.
Logged in each of my EQ2 characters to take care of Nights of the Dead and city festival currency. Read Farthing during log-ins and log-outs.
Lunch (hot dog & Cheetos) and a spin through Google Reader. There's basketball tonight. Press conference with Doc. Article about Caleb Walker.
Showered.
Logged rejection of "Opportunity" by OSC Intergalactic Medicine Show. Searched around DuoTrope and found the next three markets for that piece. Sent it off after checking and rechecking the guidelines.
Eric updated his ratings spreadsheet and I updated the prediction page.
Took a spin around the Google Reader: The Language of Tweets, as a map.
14:50 – Looking over Luck for Hire notes, contemplating the hi-jinx that lead Dets. Moore and Sanyo to meet Aleister Luck.
15:00 – With thoughts of Luck dancing in my head, I took a nap.
16:30 – Had a good nap!
Twice yearly DST confusion occurs. I installed FoxClocks.
Worked on fixing a scene that I had broken.
17:30 – Dinner from Guerrero's.
18:00 – Basketball. And harvesting fulginate in EQ2.
Talked with Eric about a couple of Luck scenes I'd been having problems with. Wrote with Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School, Burn Notice, and Hell on Wheels in the background. Did research on "spy gear," private detective licensing, 7-Elevens in Las Vegas. Realized I had changed a character's name. Wrote about 800 words over three different scenes.
02:25, Tuesday: Headed to bed.
Filed under: Disc, Exercise, Life, Writing
November 2, 2011
Because I doubt discs like to fly in sleet…
Posted yesterday-ish at Reading Notes. Of course, my plan to read a short story a day has already been pushed to the wayside.
Though past the holiday, last night was our yearly Halloween ultimate frisbee game. I didn't go with a full costume. I used my spirit gum to tack a couple plastic spiders to my face and wore webby leggings. And played my best game since women's league. Often, I play better when I look slightly ridiculous. My back was stiff this morning and made the first six points of today's game difficult. After finally getting it warmed up, stretched out, and plied with Absorbine Jr., I played pretty well. Felt good to run hard. Didn't have to put on my knee brace.
I'm surprised at how quickly the world has changed from autumn/Halloween to winter/Christmas. Indeed, it is the time of the year when I get to brag. While Omaha was getting their first "wintry mix" of the year, I played ultimate in the 75 degree sunshine. Nope, I won't trade a month of 100+ for four months of wintery mix.
Filed under: Disc, Weather
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Short Stories #14 & #15
Read this back in September and didn't get around to posting about it. That shouldn't reflect on this story. In fact, part of the reason I didn't post about it immediately is that it touches on a sensitive thing going on in my life. It's a lovely tale; urban fantasy, I suppose, but not in the usual way one might think. As always, Foster does a fantastic job of dropping us within the setting and a culture.
"Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes" by Michael Bishop
I'm shooting to read a short story daily during November. I have a fairly long to-be-read list and the internet is absolutely bursting with free fiction if you know where to look. Heck, right at the top of this page is a story from DailyScienceFiction.com!
Bookmarked "Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes" because I confused David G. Hartwell with John Hertz. It was the beanie that threw me off. While enjoyable enough, I'm not sure that I really get this story. I can see some symmetries, but I"m not a fan of switching POVs. For me, it just gets in the way of telling the story. Maybe I'll give it a second read in the future and see if time gives me some perspective on it.
October 31, 2011
Oh sure, they will be totally discreet.
Despite rotten turn-outs in the last couple of years*, Eric and I picked up some candy at the grocery store this afternoon. And then jumped ship to watch Ghostbusters at Tempe Marketplace. Ghostbusters is one of my favorite movies. Top ten, if not top five. It hits many of my cross-genre spots. When I first watched it on cable as a kid, the scary bits were honestly scary. Those have faded, but in their place, the funny bits have become funnier. Tor.com has a nice article on why it's an enduring favorite for many people. Seeing it on the big screen was a kick and a spiffy first-date-anniversary outing. I just wish the theater would have been more full. I have a feeling that Monday Halloweens are a bit of drag.
I've been having a hard time getting to work during the day. I putter. I do a little housework (not enough). I read news articles. I don't get to working on Luck until 9 or 10 at night. Probably not a good thing.
* I've "reverse" trick or treated a couple of times: Gone out to the other side of the street and handed candy to kids. Apparently, the side of the street with the vacant lots and sparsly populated apartment buildings is not a prime trick-'r-treating target.
Filed under: Life, Movies [image error]
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But I did need a new pair of black heels…
I've become really bad at this journaling thing…
Last Saturday was Read-a-thon! I survived, mostly. I finished two books and the reviews are at Reading Notes.
Finished an editing pass on Luck for Hire this week. The manuscript is up to around 57,000 words, which is still light. Eric had an idea explosion this morning, so I have a couple of scenes to add and an idea of how to do a "10% add edit," and Eric is toying with the idea of a second Luck book.
No NaNoWriMo for me. Instead, more steady (if snail-paced) work on Luck. And maybe taking a stab at daily blog-journal-ing in November.
Doesn't seem like it should be the end of October. I know some parts of the US had snow over the weekend. Here, we're barely out of the 90s. Since I'm still working in the back room, I didn't decorate. Due to a fatiguing bout of sinusitis, I had to bail on Halloween festivities Saturday night. I had even purchased fresh spirit gum, glittery hair spray, and a new pair of black heels. All, but the heels, can be used at Tuesday's VOTS-o-ween frisbee game. Unfortunately, nothing feels particularly autumnal.
Most interesting seasonal movie I've watched: Devil. It doesn't really reach beyond a Twilight Zone-esque plot, but that's not really a bad thing. Director John Erick Dowdle is previously known for a couple "found footage" films, including the American remake of [REC]. He does well integrating the inner-elevator cinematography. The story is by M. Night Shyamalan, but don't forget that M. Night has given us The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable as well as Signs and The Happening. The cast is filled with solid TV actors, all of whom do good jobs. It's not a stunningly awesome movie, but it deserves more watches than it's probably had.
Filed under: Life, Movies, Writing Tagged: Luck for Hire
October 23, 2011
Read-a-thon Summary; Books #17 & #18
Stayed up ~22.5 hours
Read 510 pages.
Consumed 777 mg of caffeine.
Which is more reading time and pages read than in the spring with less than half the caffeine! Actually, the mid-round Guinness was probably the best thing because it relaxed my achy neck and shoulders.
Finished two books. The Night Circus is an electronic book. I read about half of it on my Sony Reader and half of it on my computer's monitor. Sounds strange, but sometimes I find the Reader unwieldy. Plus my posture is slightly better when reading from my desktop computer.
Book #17 – Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg
Goldberg reiterates many of the tenants that she laid down in Writing Down the Bones (timed free writing, especially), but this book geared more specifically toward someone considering writing a memoir. There are plenty of writing prompts and some advice on structure and philosophy.
This isn't a book that's meant to be read straight through, but I did without stopping at the prompts. To some degree, I didn't feel this was a book for me. Not just because I'm not interested in writing a memoir, but because it's another book aimed toward the beginning writer. It's not that the advice offered isn't good, it's just that the timing for me is bad. There isn't much for the writer who has been at it for a while. There isn't much anywhere for the writer having a crisis of faith.
In the end, though I might write down some of the prompts (it's a library loan), Writing Down the Bones is still the better book to me.
Book #18 – The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I don't usually read a book when its popular. Don't get me wrong, I'll read a popular book, but generally not the year it's released. Maybe in a couple years, when it's readily available at the library or the used bookstore. Maybe the same year if it's a long awaited sequel, but I don't usually read from the current bestseller list. The Night Circus has been popping up among different circles of my friends and it is a bit up my alley, so I decided to give it a read.
When I say this book is "up my alley," I mean that Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Come are among my favorite novels. Carnivale hasn't been bumped off my top ten TV shows list. Morgenstern has big shoes to fill when it comes to phantasmagorical traveling amusement parks; she doesn't quite succeed in reaching that echelon.
The book starts out written in second person present tense, which set me on edge. I'm an old fogy, apparently, when it comes to POV. Luckily, the second person aspect is a gimmick used at the beginning and the end and at a couple points during the book to time-travel the reader, as it were. The rest of the book is in third person, present tense. I didn't find that too annoying; just tiring. It's like the action is too immediate, or maybe I'm semi-consciously time shifting the prose to past-tense and my brain gets fatigued. While the prose isn't ornate, it's detail heavy. I'm not surprised to find that Morgenstern is an artist as well as a writer. Her writing is very visual, but sometimes everything is just a little too eccentric.
I've read someone refer to this book as a salve to Harry Potter withdrawal. Since I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books, I can't speak to that. For me, The Night Circus seems a little like The Prestige crossed with Buffy, the Vampire Slayer or Angel. The plot is a tad melodramatic. There are lovers, who may be enemies, who are kept apart because their love might be too much or it might save them all. There are innocents caught in the crossfire and fallout. While I was in the story, I was caught up in it. Morgenstern does do a great job of pulling the reader in. Now that I'm done with the story, I have to admit that it was fun but, like many beloved Joss Whedon shows, somewhat hokey. The Night Circus doesn't have the creepy wonderment of Bradbury or undeniable loyalty-to-friends themes of Whedon, but it is a nice read none-the-less.
Read-a-thon: End of Event Survey
I still have an hour and a half left. Or until I finish this book (The Night Circus), whichever comes first!
Which hour was most daunting for you?
2am is rough.
How many books did you read?
What were the names of the books you read?
Which book did you enjoy most?
Which did you enjoy least?
Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I'm going to combine these because I really only read one book today. Yeah, I know. I'm slooow. How I managed a lit degree I'll never know. While I've enjoyed The Night Circus, it's a little draggy here and there. There's a litany of details that can be daunting to an addled brain. (George R.R. Martin is worse on this count.) Still, enjoyable and a faster reader might have no problem with it.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
What do you think worked really well in this year's Read-a-thon?
If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year's Cheerleaders?
Again, I'm going to condense these–I wanna get back to my book! ;) I liked the pre-sign-up and the reminder email. I had Readathon on my calendar, but the extra reminder was great. As for the rest, I think everyone does a great job of putting things together and keeping everyone engaged. The mini challenges were fun and I loved swinging by the blogs of cheerleaders and other participants.
How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I don't ever read enough, so I'm in as a reader every time I remember to put it on my calendar!
October 22, 2011
Read-a-thon: Mid-Event Survey
1. What are you reading right now?
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. How many books have you read so far?
Read the last 126 pages of one, two chapters of another, and the first 112 of another. So, three bits of books.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
I'd love to finish The Night Circus, but I'm a slow reader. We'll see if it happens.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Nope. My husband is pretty understanding about my occasional want to do crazy things like this. I owe him some attenttion tomorrow.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
I knew I was going to wake up late and that I would spend some time listening to the Husker football game. Other than that, I've been left to my own devices.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I am always surprised about how slowly I read.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope! I liked the reminder email this year.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
One of these years, I'll go to bed early the night before.
9. Are you getting tired yet?
Little bit. I've nodded off a few times. I might need a nap soon.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
Hmm… Nothing comes to mind.
Read-a-thon Time!
I just realized that my Read-a-thon comments resolve to here. I seem to have too many WordPress blogs!
My reading blog, and Read-a-thon post, can be found at KatenRead.
Filed under: Uncategorized [image error]
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It's Read-a-thon Time!
Starting an hour and a half late. Didn't really get to sleep until 1am-ish. (This makes up for starting an hour early last year. ;) )
A bit about me for my fellow read-a-thon-ers:
1)Where are you reading from today? Tempe, AZ
2)Three random facts about me… My preferred method of exercise is playing ultimate frisbee. My preferred method of wasting time is EverQuest2. Originally from Nebraska, so I might have to take a break around game time.
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 6-ish. I intend to finish a few that I have started. I'll be lucky if I get through one.
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? No goals, just a good day of reading!
5)If you're a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Don't forget to get up and move occasionally. Keep hydrated to avoid caffeine hangover.
Time to get the coffee started!
I'm going to use my usual form and fill in info as I go.
06:30 Saturday
Book: Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg (starting on pg. 173)
Food & Drink: Folger's Columbian
Noise: Rooster. Lite rail.
Environment: Couch.
Other Activity: This blog post.
07:30 Saturday
Book: Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg
Food & Drink: Pumpkin spice Eggos with butter & syrup. More coffee. Water.
Noise: The usual.
Environment: Couch. Desk in the front room.
Other Activity: Conversation with Eric, massaging his right shoulder.
08:30 Saturday
Book: Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg (finished on pg. 302)
Food & Drink: More coffee! Water.
Noise: Nothing unusual.
Environment: Back room, couch.
Other Activity: None.
09:30 Saturday
Book: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (starting on pg. 665, read to pg. 693)
Food & Drink: Brownie with FUNFETTI! Fun-sized Twix. Coffee, water.
Noise: Less since I closed the door.
Environment: Desk. Back room. Couch.
Other Activity: None.
10:30 Saturday
Book: (or other reading material) OSU's preview of Nebraska Basketball; The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (starting on pg. 29)
Food & Drink: Water, another brownie.
Noise: None.
Environment: Desk.
Other Activity: None.
11:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Dr. Pepper 10, water.
Noise: None.
Environment: Desk.
Other Activity: Some internet surfing.
12:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Nachos.
Noise: Husker football
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: Hour 8 Challenge
13:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Rockstar Recovery Lemonade
Noise: Husker football.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: Hour 10 Challenge
14:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Still finishing that Rockstar.
Noise: Husker game.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: Nothing aside from listening to the Huskers beating up on Minnesota.
15:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Finally finished that Rockstar. Water.
Noise: The end of the Husker game.
Environment: Back room, couch.
Other Activity: Nodding off while reading.
16:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Fun-sized Twix.
Noise: Ceiling fan, kids playing outside, car accident across Apache.
Environment: Couch.
Other Activity: None.
17:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Dr. Pepper 10
Noise: Danny Elman, mostly the Sleepy Hollow sdtk. Occsional comments from Eric about the Michigan State/Wisconsin game.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: Mid-Event Survey
18:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Still working on the same can of Dr. Pepper 10 and glass of water. Pumpkin Spice Eggos with peanut butter.
Noise: Going to try out The Prestige's soundtrack.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: None of note,
19:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. A bottle of Guinness (as a deviation from my caffeinated norm).
Noise: The Prestige's soundtrack, more Danny Elfman
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: A little light commenting & tweeting. Feed Me, Seymour! Challenge
20:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water.
Noise: Saint-Saenes; Joshua Bell
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: "Can you sing?" Challenge
21:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Brownie, grilled ham & cheese made by Eric.
Noise: Collide
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: None.
22:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Cinnamon vodka.
Noise: Bach, violin concertos.
Environment: Back room. On my own now that Eric has called it a night.
Other Activity: None.
23:30 Saturday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Another shot of cinnamon vodka would be a bad idea. Or a fabulous idea.
Noise: Bach, violin concertos.
Environment: Back room. I'd go out to the couch where its cooler, but the couch is evil-comfy.
Other Activity: A little light commenting/tweeting.
00:30 Sunday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: I sip my shots… Also, water. Twix – nothing fun about its size. x2
Noise: Bach, other concertos.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: A little commenting/tweeting.
01:30 Sunday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Rockstar Lemonade (drank about half).
Noise: Train whistles.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: Some free writing.
02:30 Sunday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water.
Noise: None.
Environment: Couch. Back room.
Other Activity: A nap.
03:30 Sunday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: Water. Stash Christmas Morning tea. Atomic Fireballs.
Noise: None.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: End of Event Survey
04:30 Sunday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: I think Stash White Christmas is next. Forgive me pumpkin flavored teas…
Noise: Hey, I hear the cock crowing again!
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: Some commenting and such.
05:30 Sunday
Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Food & Drink: None.
Noise: The lite rail going by.
Environment: Back room.
Other Activity: None.
06:01 Sunday
Finished The Night Circus. Heading to bed. A summary and "reviews" later.
