Number6's Journal

Haven't done one of these in a while, and don't remember ever doing these particular questions, so what the hell. Stolen from angelophile...

What's the last thing you did, where you technically broke the law? ( Read more... )
Edit: Whoops, forgot to cut. Sorry about that.

Happy Easter to all of you that celebrate it. I don't celebrate it religiously (that is, as a religious event), but I do enjoy the familyness... however, for me, Easter is _next_ weekend, the awesomeness that is Greek Easter, and so this weekend I didn't do much different than what I normally do, and so this is a fairly normal update.

So, today I finished Fallout 3. Mildly fun, althoguh I was somehow expecting more from the reviews I'd heard and hype about it being the best game of the year. (minor spoilers behind the cut, but mostly just discussions of specific issues, and good points)
( Read more... )

TV. Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead was on last night, and... ehh, it was okay. Felt like an average episode (and really, with normal episodes being something like 50 minutes, and this one being a whopping 58, lets stop calling these 'extra long specials'. It barely qualifies. When they said instead of a full season we were getting 4 extra long specials I would have hoped that they were at least 1.5 times a regular ep), and nothing really all that special. On the other hand, it didn't make me want to throw things at the screen, so for a RTD-written episode, that's a success. (Minor spoilery comments behind cut) ( Read more... )

And the other big TV is the last 2nd season episode of Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronciles, and possibly the end of the series entirely. And if the last part is true, then DAMN YOU. DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL. I so want to see where they go from here. Good ep, and giving me a lot of what I wanted to see when the series was announced. (spoilers) ( Read more... )

Dollhouse was also pretty good. Only other thing I've been watching lately besides Heroes (which is still lame, but getting a _tiny_ bit better at least in the general writing category) and a few "whatever's on" shows is Lost, and it's pretty good this season but I don't find myself with a need to talk about episodes in my updates. I dunno why. *shrug*. So that's it for TV.

Finally, a meme, several installments worth. I've put off these for a long time, usually because I didn't want to post _just_ them, or a post I was already posting just got too long. But, it's about time, so here we go...

Interview Me Meme
1) Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
2) I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3) You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4) You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5) When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. And thus the endless cycle of the meme goes on and on and on and on...


Btw, if I asked for questions from you and you gave them but they're not here, it might have been one of those instances where LJ didn't send me the comment notification. If you're really interested you'll have to reply to this and either ask them again or link to them. So, here we go...

From thebitterguy...

1. Were there any comics of note in the '90s? I mean, was the entire decade not a wasteland of graphic novel mediocrity? ( Read more... )
2. If I shot Ben Browder in the face, would you cry? ( Read more... )
3. Do you consciously not use tags on your LJ? Or is it just something you never got around to doing? ( Read more... )
4. I see you just re-read the Wild Cards books. Have they aged well? ( Read more... )
5. Is runaways readable in floppies? I've only read the first run as hardcovers, and got the Whedon series as floppies. I found the Whedon's not very engaging until I read them as a single story. ( Read more... )
From soleta_nf...

1. What do you love about Toronto? ( Read more... )
2. What do you dislike about Toronto? ( Read more... )
3. Is the current economic situation affecting you personally very much? ( Read more... )
4. What's your favourite comic book movie? ( Read more... )
5. Who is the next Canadian Barack Obama? ( Read more... )

From calliopes_pen...
1. If you had the chance to travel with the Doctor, which Doctor would you want to travel with? And where would you want to go first? ( Read more... )
2. Are you superstitious at all? If so, about what, in particular? ( Read more... )
3. If vampires were real, what would you do? ( Read more... )
4. What is the one job you would never want to have? ( Read more... )
5. If you were trapped on a deserted island, what one book would you want
to have with you? ( Read more... )

And that's it. See you all out there in Post-Apocalyptica, people.

Edit: Oh, and this seems to have exploded everywhere since I originally posted this post, but I figure it deserves spreading even more since I'm against censorship and bigotry and this has elements of both: Amazon.com is censoring it rankings and search results, specifically targetting non-pornographic GBLT books as 'adult' content (while leaving things like Playboy fully searchable).

1. What creative things are you doing?
Well, I write, mostly. Almost exclusively SF. Often I find myself including Artificial Intelligence as a major theme (or a minor one), and I also seem to enjoy writing characters who are particularly flawed and dysfunctional in one way.
Mostly I write short stories, although there are a few novel like works in progress. I find for some reason when I write novel-length I'm usually writing them in a Young Adult style (or outright children). I don't know why, maybe it lets me look past my own perceived flaws since I'm imaginging my audience not being _as_ picky, or maybe I just find children/teens better characters because I was a functional child/teen once but never managed to become a functioning adult. ;). Or maybe it's my comic background, and the type of ideas I want to explore novel-length are more along the lines of the adolescent fantasies.

Anyway, right at this moment in writing I'm mostly working on a novel-length.

For fun, once in a while, privately I also adapt (or plot to adapt), which is similar to writing but I find uses a slightly different creative muscle. More working out problems and economizing not just space, but key moments, emotion, etc.

I also do occasional other things like icons, though not as much as I used to.

2. What motivates or enables you to get them done?
Enjoyment, to a degree. Desire to make a living off it. More specifically, I write to a specific schedule. Right now it's 8000 words every other week (writing 2000 a day for each non-work day). So in the rough moments, when it's hard to write, knowing I've got a break coming as soon as I finish helps, and trying to keep to a schedule gets me writing even when I don't want to, usually.

3. What creative things do you want to be doing, but aren't?
I'd like to be doing _more_ writing. In addition to my own stuff, I'd kind of like to work a little more on writing things like comics, cartoons, tv shows, and/or movies. (Well, scripts for such, since I'm unlikely to be able to do it for myself).

4. What stops you from doing them?
Laziness, in part, and I get burned out working, even writing, straight without a break. Also lack of self-confidence. I think that if I could be convinced that what I was writing wasn't complete drek, I might find the energy to do it more. Unfortunately only some level of success might help with that.

5. Are you distressed at the thought of the things you aren't doing? Why or why not? If yes, how do you deal with this distress?
A little distressed that I'm not writing more. I'm not so distressed that I'm not writing the particular things I'd like to work more on - I've made my choice of what to do with my available energy and I'm not disappointed with that, but I do, as written above, feel I should have more energy for writing. How do I deal with it? I dunno, I just keep going with what I'm doing.



From writing onto reading, it's time for Book Foo!

Finished: The Sky People, by S.M. Stirling
Started: Otherland Vol 4: Sea of Silver Light by Tad Williams

Sky People review under the cut. Some mild spoilers. Short version: Meh.

( Read more... )


Finished: The Number of the Beast, by Robert A. Heinlein
Started: A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

NotB review under cut. Some spoilers. Short review: Oh, Heinlein, how you lost your touch in later years.
( Read more... )

Really not much to say lately, but a couple random things...

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is tonight. At least the pilot is, which I've already seen, but let's face it, until the strike's over TV's mostly going to be a dead zone from now on (except a few series burning off their last couple of episodes), so I might as well watch it again. I'm really looking forward to seeing the next ep, tomorrow. I made some icons of the first ep months ago, I'll probably post them on my master icon page after it airs.

I actually watched T3 last night, again. For some reason when the Terminator movies are on, any of them, if there's nothing else pressing on I'll usually watch them. Now, I know T3 was roundly hated by most T-fans, and I do think it was far inferior to T2, but I find it has a certain charm to it, despite its big flaws. (spoilers, including for the ending)
( Read more... )

Some Book Foo...
Finished: The Paradox of the Sets, by Brian Stableford
Started: The Depths of Time by Roger McBride Allen

( Read more... )

Also saw Stargate Atlantis... decent episode, a bit predictable at times (I could see plot points being set up for later). Good to see them doing something with that character. Heh, the badguys thought of the same plan from the last episode that I did, although that doesn't totally excuse the goodguys not thinking of it.

And a few memes:

A couple survey memes from firefox27, probably already done them, but why not again... One Word Meme and Layers of Me
( Read more... )

Stolen from kissingdaylight...

The Mayfly Project
Sum up 2007 in 24 words:

Much the same as 2006, with more writing. Tried NaNo for the first time, finished halfway through November. Moved once, was hell. Otherwise stable.

Speaking of Nano, I'm in my first writing cycle since before NaNo started (since I take December off from writing to the numbers, and NaNo was a single project). Not going too bad... it's been a little harder to get going but I'm still on schedule for each day's work. Working on two different short stories, while tossing ideas around for a third that has an amusing concept but I'm not sure where to work a story around it yet. Unfortunately I'm near to running out of steam on both the other two stories, so I might have to turn back to older work until I figure out exactly where I'm going with them, what the perfect ending is, etc, else I'll just be writing dross.

Bah, I had most of this written up but a power blip made me lose it. Die power blips, die!

Okay, let's start out with more questions from that interview meme, these ones from monkeykong...

1. You keep a fictional 'alternate journal.' What drove you to writing that story in this format as opposed to, say, a novel? ( Read more... )
2. Least favourite Firefly character? Why? ( Read more... )
3. In the imminent zombie holocaust, how long do you think you would last? ( Read more... )
4. What would your super hero costume be like? ( Read more... )
5. Would you rather be a cult icon or a worldwide superstar? ( Read more... )

Remember, if you want questions from me, post here.

Book Foo:

Finished: The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons (Reread)
Started: Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge

Thoughts (some spoilers), selected quotes, and thoughts springing off from the quotes behind the cut.
( Read more... )

Moving on to Dream Foo!

One a cracky crossover with The Office, Doctor Who, Stargate Atlantis, and Runaways. Another is book foo related.
( Read more... )

On my floor, which is wood-panelled, there are a few dark spots, looking like burns or whatever, slightly ovalshaped. There's a big cluster of them in a spot that I don't see on a regular basis, but will occasionally see. Sometimes if I'm not paying attention or I see them when my eyes are a bit blurry or in the middle of focusing, spotting them sets off my OMG BUGS! reflexive reaction before I realize/remember what they are.

Heroes tonight, woot! (That's a general woot, not a comment directed at woot, unless she's also interested, in which case it serves both purposes) Bit of a shame Drive got cancelled, but I can't be too upset, I was only partway interested in it. Enough to keep watching, but not enough to be broken up at it being cancelled.

I've noticed while looking through some LJ entries (and adding tags to a bunch) from long ago year that I write a lot less now than 2 years ago. Huh. I suppose at least part of that is that I save up stuff to do in megaposts like this rather than posting every time I get the urge, though.

I think as of this entry I will be resuming my old habit of choosing my mood completely randomly, regardless of my current mood. Because you people already see too much into my psyche for my tastes! Also, because if I use my real moods I only get to use a few of my mood icons, and, well, that's not as much fun.

Haven't done one of these in a while, so here we go, strap yourself in... if you're into that sort of thing, anyway.

Lets start with a Interview meme:
Want me to ask you five questions? Leave a comment, I'll ask you five questions, and then you answer the questions in your own journal.

Here's 5 questions from foxfyre...

1) What was it that got you started using the internet? ( Read more... )
2) You generally avoid any ODA (online displays of affection). What are your criteria for making an exception to this rule?( Read more... )
3) How the heck did you put up with running XET for so long? ( Read more... )
4) You've mentioned in the past that you don't like music. Can you explain that a little bit?( Read more... )
5) If you really were a super-powered individual, what do you think your power would be? ( Read more... )

Facebook continues to be an odd source of nostalgia. I've made contact with a few friends from way back that I hadn't heard anything from in years. There's even a group for the old BBS scene in my city. And found, but didn't contact, a couple other people, mostly old crushes and the like. I was also surprised to find a photo of myself in Grade 5. Someone uploaded a class picture, and I stumbled upon it (through a weird series of searches). I don't actually remember the person who uploaded it, but I found myself in it all the same.

On to talking about writing, I'm on another writing cycle. I've been toying with making an addition to the workload. Right now, for 'on' weeks, I do 2000 words per non-work day, for a total of 8000 words. But lately once in a while I've been feeling an urge to write somewhat more... frivolous stuff. Stuff that I'd feel bad claiming under the word limit, but that I kind of want to do for fun. Like, for example, attempting to write a movie adaptation of a book I like, or a comic, or something like that. It's not really 'my' work, but I find such things fun sometimes, even if it couldn't go anywhere. So I'm thinking of devoting one of my work days on a writing cycle to working on these sorts of things. Not Wednesday of course, since that's also comic day, which means in addition to work, I'm walking for something like 3 hours that day, and it's also a relatively big TV night, so I don't really have time. But on Friday I usually could swing at least some time for writing, and Sunday my work's really negligable, although I tend to sleep more in the afternoon to make up for waking up so godawfully early. Though also on Sundays at least on a semi-regular basis I go do family stuff, so that would eat into the time. Anyway, I'm still thinking.

So, that big university massacre. Normally I'm silent on such things, but there were a couple of things I noticed on the coverage that I wanted to get off my chest.
( Read more... )

But on to happier things to end off. TV! New Heroes on Monday finally. Woot. Supernatural was fun this week. Grey's Anatomy, okay. Didn't care for LOST this week (Sorry BKV, I knew it was your first, but too much stupidity on the part of the characters). Still mixed on Drive. Other than that, there really hasn't been a whole lot new, aside from Doctor Who. (very few spoilers behind
cut) ( Read more... )

Stolen from anomilygrace, who I've never RPed with so I couldn't respond, but I have RPed with a bunch of people on my flist and nostalgia can be fun...
Comment with an instance, a scene, a plot, a moment that you really enjoyed something my character did. It can be a bit of crack, it can be something serious, it can be pr0n then post this meme in your journal and let's share the love! Cause smiles are always good especially in relation to RP games.

Tagged by locker_monster before I moved:
Rule: Post the explanation of where your user name came from. Then tag FIVE users whose explanations you would like to hear. If you are tagged, post your explanation to your page.

I've done it before, but just for the sake of completion... ( Read more... )

And here's a couple more also from locker_monster:

Buffy 10 Year anniversary meme:

Rules are simple: Fan of Buffy? Consider yourself tagged (but not obliged to answer. Don't want to pressure anyone here). 10 questions for 10 years. Answer them in reply and on your own journal. Feel free to add your own questions...
( Read more... )

Finally, a few assorted surveys stolen from randyandrews...
( Read more... )

Haven't posted much aside from typical comic stuff and dreams. The New Year tends to be the start of a slightly more depressive and isolated mood, so once again, if I'm less talkative than usual, that's probably why. It's not you, it's probably just SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder or whatever).

Book Foo! Finished: Cell, by Stephen King
Started: Big Planet, by Jack Vance

Enjoyed Cell. Like a lot of Stephen King novels, it fell down a bit towards the end, but it was a fun ride. I actually think it's one of my favorites of his. And it was inevitable for me to read it. I can resist a new Stephen King novel. I can resist a 'zombie apocalypse' novel. But put the two together, and I have to read it.

A little more detailed and spoilery thoughts behind the cut (though not terribly spoilery still), along with a selected quote.
( Read more... )

Anyway, moving on, the book also inspired me to start on my own Great Canadian Zombie Apocalypse Novel! I was walking the other day and was idly thinking about different variations on the zombie apocalypse, how King had a neat one in terms of cause, and so my mind wandered towards what I'd do, and I came up with an idea I liked. Like King, it's not truly 'zombies' and affects a large number of people all over the world at once, but the cause, effects, and who gets chosen vary. That's about all I'll say on it.

Speaking of writing though, I'm back on the horse. After PerExWriMo I decided to take December off and start wrting again in January. Of course, since I hate New Years Resolutions, I couldn't actually start on the first of January. I decided to wait a week. Well, a little more, actually.

Anyway, here's the plan: ( Read more... )Walking helps the plotbunnies.

Speaking of that walk, won't go into why, but I got to thinking about Copyright and the Public Domain again. I've mentioned before that eventually, if I became a famous author (yes, I realize that's nearly as unlikely as my 'if I ever got superpowers' imaginings, but bear with me), I'd want to donate a good deal of my work into the public domain so anybody could use it any way they wanted.

Yesterday, though, I thought about (probably not for the first time, but I'm not sure) specifically setting out as a project to create something for the public domain. Maybe alone, maybe collaboratively. Like, for example, ( Read more... )

I think I have some memes to do, too. Alphabet Meme, stolen from soleta_nf...
( Read more... )

Do I have any TV foo to do? I don't think so. Nothing's really been new. Torchwood finale sucked, btw, I'm done with the show. New Grey's Anatomy tonight though.

First some TV thoughts...

So today I finished watching Deadwood (except of course for the two movies to wrap everything up that haven't been done yet). So some thoughts on it and the old west below the cut (not really spoilery). ( Read more... )

Also rewatched the most recent new episode of Heroes and I have some theories (spoilery). ( Read more... )

Oh, and a couple more survey memes stolen from firefox27...

Countdown Meme and a Meme of 10s.
( Read more... )

Some big survey. First, stolen from tadiera...

63 questions:( Read more... )

That 70 Survey
( Read more... )

And from irish_star...

45 ODD Things About You
( Read more... )

And some Book Foo.

Finished: The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
Started: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling.

Thoughts on the finished book behind the cut. No real spoilers.
( Read more... )

Of course, still reading Olympos by Dan Simmons on Fridays and Sundays.