Poppy Z. Brite's Blog, page 45

eBay & Yet More Woes

New eBay auctions finally up: hardcover first editions of D*U*C*K, The Value of X, Antediluvian Tales, and Drawing Blood; also chapbooks R.I.P, The Seed of Lost Souls, and Used Stories.

The last few days have been bad. Like pull-the-covers-over-my-head-and-sleep-as-much-as-possible bad. Everywhere, every day, people are sinking. Why shouldn't I be one of them? But you guys help me. I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you.

Also, gotta admit that A Storm of Swords upset me way more than most books have the ability to do. You are an evil man, George R.R. Martin.

Creepy Insomnia

If I'm going to have insomnia while staying over at Grey's, I should probably quit looking at GIFs of morphing demons and people getting their heads ripped in half on ontdcreepy 's Saturday night free-for-all post, because I keep going "Ahhh!!!" and waking him up, poor baby.



Me looking vaguely androgynous while looking at creepy shit

In other news, I enjoyed the first two Song of Ice and Fire books with a normal level of enjoyment, but somewhere around the middle of book three, the series turns into pure, evil literary crack. I am only able to put it down because I know that after this there is only book 4 and book 5 and then no more for who knows how long. I may end up becoming one of those terrible fans who e-mails George R.R. Martin to harass him for watching football games instead of writing, and Neil will have to rebuke me.

Y U NO GOT SENSE?

This morning I have already pressed my lips together so hard to keep from speaking that they went into another dimension, and also rolled my eyes so hard that I died.

That is all for now.

Home and High

Deuce is home, doing well, and high as a freaking kite on a lovely cat-med cocktail.

[ETA, 4/20, 7:22 AM: He did a massive pee in the night! Not out of the woods yet, but a very good sign.]

Paypal Redux

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll definitely continue taking Paypal, as I had completely spaced on how difficult it would be for international customers (who comprise a large percentage of my buyers) to pay any other way. Sorry about that -- I'd just gotten upset about some of their recent policies. Still am, but not enough to inconvenience my buyers and screw myself out of business.

Not sure when I'll put up new eBay auctions. I need to spend this weekend catching up on my book doctoring, so it may not be until the beginning of next week.

Waiting to hear from the vet about Deuce. He was doing better yesterday and I'm hoping he can come home today.

eBay Question

Quick question: would those of you who purchase signed books from me on eBay still consider doing so if I stopped taking Paypal? I've grown increasingly unhappy with them over the past several months, to the point where I'm considering discontinuing my store even though I can't really afford to do so. As I understand it, a refusal to take Paypal really hurts one's eBay sales.

(I'd put this in poll form for your convenience, but I'm posting from my phone and can't. Please comment, though, as I really need feedback.)

Crafting With Cat Hair

Finally, a way for me to clean my house and make stuff to sell on eBay without spending a fortune on raw materials!

(No, not really. Probably.)

Litany of Woes

Obviously I should never have made an optimistic post last time, since the ensuing week has been a litany of woes. On Saturday night/Sunday morning when I was staying over at Grey's, somebody smashed the windows of several cars parked outside, including mine. They didn't get anything from me except the $3 or $4 worth of quarters in my ashtray (one of Grey's roommates lost a $350 set of speakers), but I can't afford to get the window fixed and it has rained all week, so I've become intimately acquainted with tarpaulins. Then my biggest black cat, Deuce, developed a urinary blockage. He's currently in the hospital being drugged to the gills (a cocktail of sedatives, muscle relaxants, and painkillers -- at least he's happy), hydrated, and catheterized, and has already run up a $900 bill. I can't currently afford the cannabis that is my only real source of pain control these days, so I'm scraping by on Tylenol, and not particularly well. All these complaints do have a point, which is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at my eBay auctions that end this evening and bid if you can.

It's not all financial. Binding makes my back pain almost unbearable lately, and even when I do it, it seems that everybody in the world still makes a point of calling me "ma'am." I've been gradually realizing that Chris and I are not only not soul brothers, we're not even friends anymore. He doesn't respond to most of my efforts to stay in touch, and I'm tired of trying. I realize this may be his only choice for the moment and that things may change in the future, but for now, it's about the saddest thing that's ever happened to me.

Sorry so complainy. On the bright side, things continue wonderful with Grey, my garden is looking good (tomatoes coming along; just planted cucumbers), and I'm still loving the Song of Ice and Fire books (holy shit, everything just totally goes nuts in A Storm of Swords, doesn't it?). I'm beginning to wonder if Brienne is trans. That would be kind of cool, as I've recently had a bug up my ass about how trans characters in fantasy, when they exist at all, tend to be SPOOOOOOOOOOKY MYSTERIOUS SHAMANS. You know, because we're so good at crossing boundaries and all. B. is somewhat pitiful, but also powerful as hell and not at all spooooookymysterious.

In Westeros

I miss my Internet access. Lacking it, I'm mostly immersed in the world of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm reading each book twice through so as not to get too far ahead of Grey, who's reading it with me, and also because I am not used to memorizing all these millions of families and their various knights and maesters and so on. He reads more slowly but more thoroughly than I do. I've only seen one scene (THAT SCENE) from the HBO series, but holy shit, does it ever look well cast.

Financially, things have eased up a little. Grey sold a couple of art pieces and I've been editing and eBaying my little heart out. Between hard work and the kindness of strangers (and friends), food has been more plentiful, and this week, for the first time in months, I was able to get my testosterone gel (a.k.a. Man Juice) without totally clearing out my bank account. Gotta edit faster, though. I'm good but slow.

Food, eBay, & Art

Grey and I had a lovely decadent dinner at Emeril's last night with (and courtesy of) a new friend from New York. Thanks, Jaime! I think their current chef de cuisine, Dave Slater, is one of the best chefs working in New Orleans, though there are several new ones whose food I've not had the chance to try. I can't believe how jaded to fine dining I used to be. Now that I only get it as a very occasional treat, everything seems so much more luxurious and delicious. I wore my seersucker suit. I'm finding clothes, and particularly pants, very frustrating right now. It's hard to get a handle on them when the shape of your body changes on a near-daily basis. I'm much less curvy and more straight-up-and-down than I was even a few weeks ago. Of course I like that, but it does make it harder to know how (or if) my waistlines will fit.

eBay auctions ending this afternoon/evening. I intend to put up new ones, but not sure when I'll be able to do it. Gotta catch the Internet as I can these days.

Grey has so much exciting art stuff going on these days that I can't hope to chronicle it all, but here is his latest photography project, "My World Against Hate," for which I'm kind of the poster child. I thought people might like to check it out.