2009-02-28

Things are… good

Filed under: Family, Programming — D. Moonfire @ 21:56

This morning, I managed to take one good-sized step toward getting my life in order. I signed the paperwork for refinancing my house and reducing my mortgage payment by a full third (2% less and went from a 15 to a 30 year mortgage). That gives me a lot more breathing room for finding a new apartment/house to rent in the coming months. It also means that, if everything goes to hell–such as Fluffy not finding a job in the next year–I have a good chance of surviving it. In a week, I do step two which will take a few weeks and it will give me more of a foundation to buckle down for this nasty period in our economy.

I started looking at new places to live. My lease is up in April and I want to be able to have Inigo visit me instead of my father-in-law. Call me jealous, but I’m not. It would just be easier of Fluffy could bring the dog here instead of struggling to find someone to watch the little bastard. And, being her husband, I can’t really tell her no.

(And I might miss him.)

In other news, I still haven’t found a home for my serial story but my other forum is willing to look at it a bit and maybe give me a bit of feedback. I don’t expect a lot (there is only 10 active people lately), but they are the right audience for the story so here’s hoping.

I also messed with a little script I have. Some years ago, I write a program called odt2xhtml which take an OpenOffice.org writer document and generates nice, plain XHTML. I wrote it to make it easier to style the entire thing for a website. I usually bounce between hand-written HTML and CMS systems like a Wiki or something. Never sure what is best for me, mainly because I don’t know what I really want. Well, I modified the code in the last week (finished today) for a new program odt2txt. This takes the normalized XHTML code from the first program and lets me generate a text version, appropriate for posting here in a blog post or on a forum or even in a wiki site. I also have a little program that takes that output and gives me a style analysis on it (mainly to find my over use of passive voice).

I feel pretty good having a neat little program like this. It makes my life easier and it went from a hack program to something actually pretty elegant (and in Perl).

2009-02-25

Not sure where to go

Filed under: Writing — Tags: — D. Moonfire @ 13:11

I’ve been working on this serial for a few months now. Hasn’t been going very fast, but I’m steadily doing 2-5k words per week on it, posting about every other week. It’s a nice little thing, I don’t get paid, but I happen to enjoy the topic greatly and I love having people talking about it. Yeah, I’m an attention whore but I think most writers are. I love to have feedback, even if it is “no, don’t kill him off!” or “could you…” And getting that for an entire week, every time you post, oh that is very addictive. And something that really makes me feel good.

But, two weeks ago, the site I’ve been posting this serial went down. And it hasn’t come up. There are rumors of political fighting mixed in with some exploits, banning, and assholes in general so I question if it will ever come back. The main person in charge has been AWOL for about three weeks, but drifting for about four months now.

And that is frustrating. I’m want to finish this, but it gets harder when I’m working in the silence. Critters is great for feedback, but it takes 6-10 weeks to get an answer and you have to finish one before you can start the next. And that doesn’t really work with a bi-weekly releases.

Doesn’t help that writing stories like this is addictive in itself. Actually, writing is like a drug. I find myself wanting to go back to writing instead of doing productive things like homework or cleaning. Or sleeping.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention. I went to IHOP yesterday. Across from me was four teenage boys. They were waiting for about 10-15 minutes for their free pancakes. Ignoring one of their complaints that if they didn’t pay for their water and pancakes, 10% tip really means they shouldn’t have to tip, they didn’t really attract my attention. Until they got their free starches. Literally, 30 seconds. Four of them were finished, standing up, and heading out before the waitress had walked away. I forgot what it was like to be skinny and 18.

2009-02-24

Deader Still

Filed under: Writing — Tags: , — D. Moonfire @ 13:21

This morning, I am so damn sluggish. Even though I went to bed early (i.e., 30 minutes late). So, seems appropriate I ordered a copy of Anton Strout’s Deader Still. Yeah, it isn’t with a local bookstore, but my local bookstore is a used book place which means it won’t help. And, knowing his writing, it won’t be there for at least a few years. And I don’t expect to be out of the apartment for a week when Fluffy comes tomorrow.

I want to buy more books when they come out, but I need to seriously catch up on my reading pile first. Needs to be under a half meter before GenCon this year. I owe some wonderful writers some reviews.

Not sure if I’ll review Deader Still though, for some reason I felt guilty about the first one. Though, looking at most of my reviews, I think I’m pretty consistent in what I write. Of course, very few authors tell me what they think of the review; I think they are helpful and honest, but they aren’t glowing and positive. On the other hand, I don’t think they are entirely negative. I wonder some mornings if that is the right way to do it.

EDIT: And I completely forgot. Today is National Pancake Day. IHOP is giving you “free” pancakes. Free in that you can order them but they strongly encourage you to donate money to a charity at the same time. Regardless, I’m getting me some pancakes.

2009-02-23

Monday morning *yawn*

Filed under: Education, Family, Graphics, Writing — Tags: , , — D. Moonfire @ 13:09

Another Monday has rolled around, surprising me with a cat who wanted attention and that sharp burst of “oh shit” as I accidentally turned off my alarm clock. Fortunately, I could reset the alarm and go back to sleep for my precious nine minutes.

Actually, a very productive weekend. I wrote about 10k words on my serial, 5k words to finish the first draft of my second commission, and did two Critters critiques. Oh, and taxes, dishes, most of a petition, my resume (for the petition) and playing with my LEGO pieces. I also managed to watch six movies. I also found a toy that I really want now. Do it yourself hand-held gaming… yummy.

I like being productive. It will make up for my complete lack of productivity when Fluffy comes into town in a few days. My life is ebbs and flows when it comes to writing. Something I’m sure will normalize at some point. I also got to thinking about my novel for the year. What topic to write? What tone? Should I go with the cowboy in the fairy land that I wrote a short story idea previously? Peg and Sue go into space? Another steampunk? Does it have a chance to get published? You know, the usual.

When I finish my serial (technically about 10 weeks from now, but I doubt it), I’m either going to finish the Glorious Saber arc out or work on the novel. Just not sure.

2009-02-22

Bookshelf meme

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: — D. Moonfire @ 04:21

Over at Maggie Stiefvater’s, she has a little meme on showing pictures of your bookcase. Sadly, my pictures aren’t as good of a quality but at least here is something of my highly mismatched bookshelf in my apartment. Most of my books are in boxes in my garage 300 km away, so they aren’t that pretty.

Pictures behind the cut. Really sorry about the lack of quality, Camera phones kind of suck. Interestingly, I actually don’t have a copy of my own book in my bookshelf.

(more…)

The Bringer of War by Dylan Birtolo

Filed under: Reviews — D. Moonfire @ 01:13

I’m fond of Dylan, mainly because he help inspire me to actually try to write professionally (which I haven’t exactly done) but also because he lured me into the Author’s Alley at GenCon. All with the power of his name. It’s a great name. I like that name.

I also like his new book, The Bringer of War A stand-alone sequel to his first book, The Shadow Chaster.

(more…)

Dog Days by John Levitt

Filed under: Reviews — D. Moonfire @ 00:44

I read Dog Days one weekend after Fluffy left town. I wanted to curl up with a good book, enjoy some sunlight, and basically just lose myself in a fantasy world for a little bit. I got that, but it wasn’t the idyllic book I was half expecting when I picked it up. Instead, Dog Days ended up being one of those books that got me thinking long after I finished reading it.

In other words, I enjoyed it.

(more…)

2009-02-19

GenCon Spending and Bunny Bois

Filed under: Writing — Tags: , , — D. Moonfire @ 14:15

Week five and I’ve managed to avoid growing bunny ears from eating all this salad. I’m still trying to decide if I’m glad, disappointed, or a closet furry as I made my salad this morning. Just the usual for the last week: green peppers, tomatoes, and grapes. I don’t use salad dressing, not even in the beginning, so I’m feeling pretty good about that.

Of course, that also means no magical weight loss either. I need to force myself to exercise more, which is actually the hardest part. All I want to do is go home and play on the computer. Or write on the laptop while watching really hideous movies. You know, movies that their previous owners thought were so bad, even the two dollars they get from the pawn shop was something to get back for one to two hours of their life.

Been doing a lot of writing lately. Got back the feedback on one of my commissions. No changes requested and do you want money, sir? Very happy about that one; hopefully I’ll be getting a bit of cash (via PayPal) this week. It will help make up for the overboard spending we did for GenCon this year.

(more…)

2009-02-17

Failed my Perception + Awareness check

Filed under: Family — D. Moonfire @ 02:08

Why, yes, I did fail that check. I managed to make it for the pizza guy who took the effort to tell me I had a kick-ass last name. Which, I’m sure he thought resulted in his 40% tip but he doesn’t know me well.

I always tip high.

And I tell everyone about my last name.

About an hour later, though, the door knocked again. My first thought is that I didn’t sign the right receipt for the pizza. But, when I opened my door, someone left a basket of dirty laundry and a cat in a carrier at my door.

…

I’d like you to know, that the cat wasn’t impressed with my last name. Or did she get a 40% tip. But, the wife hiding around the corner, oh, she got the tip.

Poor Fluffy, she was feeling so miserable and sick that she decided to drive three hours to spend a few days with me. Not including the time to get the dog to visit his grandpa and getting everything scheduled.

In so many ways, I love her so much. I’m glad that she is giving me a chance to take care of her, but also the world is just a tad brighter with her next to me.

Which is good, since I’m having a seriously bad week when it comes to self-doubt, depression, and wondering of my self worth. Work is… hard on everyone and the economy is taking its toll around me. I’m going to work lately terrified that it will be my last day. I don’t know where I stand with my boss and, after being with the previous company for twenty years, I don’t know if the boss is upset at me, the world, or everything else going on. On one hand, I think I’m doing the best I can, and on the other, I feel like I’m walking (employment) death row.

At least when I hug Fluffy and the cats, it doesn’t feel so bad.

2009-02-15

Sylvan Learning commericals

Filed under: Education — D. Moonfire @ 18:01

I’ve noticed the new Sylvan Learning commericals have a very interesting message in them. The one I just saw showed a boy playing with a soccer ball outside. Enjoying himself.

“You see a son who doesn’t get his kicks from algebra. Sylvan sees…”

There was another:

“You see a daughter who would rather go on a walk than work on math.”

Um… shouldn’t we be seriously trying to get our kids outside and doing active things instead of letting them playing video games (though it does improve reflexes) and turning into a couch potato? Yes, education is very important, but they could have least picked something that wasn’t a healthy activity to put in contrast with math and science. Yes, because we should discourage our children from going on walks and working on sports and really have them focus on just math.

I have expect the next one I see to be:

“You see a daughter who enjoys mountain climbing instead of calculus.”

Older Posts »