I've got a few days left before school starts again.
On top of that, I have a stubborn old cold that won't go away. When I wake up from my deep nyquil-induced coma every morning, I can hardly breathe. But I have finally started to write again, in fits and starts, and I've been keeping a journal in my notebook, so you'd think I could start making entries online again.

New Year's goal: At least 500 words per day for school or otherwise

I'm taking a prose writing workshop next semester, so you should get some original fiction out of that. Also, I finished a 10,000 word story over the summer that I had planned for bb_shousetsu, but I decided it was too depressing. I cannot write happy endings for the life of me. Anyway, it needs some more editing before I post it anywhere.

Currently Reading: King Dork by Frank Portman. The voice of the narrator is great, really clever and biting, but the story is moving so slowly (and realistically) that I start to lose interest after a while. I like how scenes are separated by entries with great titles. Right now, I'm really interested in the teen male voice for the novel I'm outlining (Hah! Yes, another novel outline).

So I'm not much for updating my journal, especially when I'm this busy. Some people are great at juggling their lives and their online communities. Not me. I'm way too lazy to think up interesting, fascinating stuff that I can post regularly on the internet.

But I do like having a livejournal account. Hmm. Maybe I'll start updating again when I have time to write something besides half-ass academic papers. For now, I'm in livejournal hibernation.

Damn, it's been a long time since I posted here. I've got a few projects that I'm working on, but mostly I've just been enjoying my summer too much...and working a lot of extra hours at the mall. The good news is that I received a promotion and a transfer that will shorten my commute considerably.

Stopped that the farmers' market this morning for the first time and bought some fresh blueberries and strawberries. They were actually well-priced tasted ridiculously good in my breakfast cereal, like mouthfuls of succulent, sweet goodness. It's amazing what little things can brighten your day and stick pleasantly in your mind.

I also took half a day off work and went up the lake to kayak with Dad. We saw three ospreys circling the water for fish, an owl, and hundreds of red-winged blackbirds that rose out of the tall grass when we passed through the shallows. Little bottle-blue dragonflies hovered over the surface of the water and explored the red plastic surface of my kayak. I saw purple nightshade flowers, yellow canary grass, and a pale fragment of a broken frisbee floating along forlornly.

So, at the moment I'm reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss, and boy, do I need it. If you've seen any of my writing at all, you know that my relationship with commas is a rather unsteady one. I tend to insert far too many or too few, so I'm not so great with those cute little tadpole-ish marks. Furthermore, I have just recently started using semi-colons, because I never had the guts to attempt them with my shaky knowledge.

The correct use of punctuation is actually something of a debate when it comes to certain rules. Personally, I love the serial (Oxford) comma and think it clears up certain situations (e.g. the infamous "I'd like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God" episode on metaquotes). But Truss says its use is not so common in Britain. She also clears up the whole, "Is it Jesus' disciples or Jesus's disciples?" issue that plagued me throughout Sunday School. Almost everyone else gets the extra 's' (St. James's, Thomas's), but Jesus (and some classical Greek guys) are special. Of course, Americans tend to do it their own way and leave the 's' off. I like to think it's another step towards equality for all names...and it's easier to remember too.

The history behind punctuation is also interesting, especially in Truss's unique voice. Take this passage from pg 78:
"...Aldus Manutius and his grandson (conveniently of the same name) are generally credited with developing several of our modern conventional signs... I'm sure people did question whether Italian printers were quite the right people to legislate on the meaning of everything; but on the other hand, resistance was obviously futile against a family that could invent italics."
So true!


In another universe.... Here's the Kato-centric Angel Sanctuary ficlet I wrote a while back and finally got around to editing a little.

Title: Theater of One
Fandom: Angel Sanctuary
Rating: R (Language, disturbing imagery)
Summary: (Set during vol. 5) Kato's dead for the second time. In the theater of his mind, imprisoned by cords and toxic memories, he is forced to watch his failures over and over again. One-sided Kato+Kira. Introspective.

( You soften when you’re around him and the cold, hard edges of your eyes smooth into something strangely gentle... )

So I got the new Snow Patrol album the day it came out, not because I was obsessed with getting it but because I happened to be at the store that day and it was priced at $15. I'm a little disappointed because their sound has changed quite a bit from Final Straw. When I first heard the new single 'Hands Open' on the radio, I remember telling J, "They sound so...American now."

No doubt the band has gone more mainstream, and maybe a little sappy. Who can compare songs with titles like "You're All That I Need" and "Open Your Eyes" to "How to be Dead" or "Spitting Games" from Final Straw. Much of the crazy, quirky energy and sponanteous beauty has been lost between the two albums, but the more I listen to Eyes Open, the more I think it's not so bad. Lightbody's lyrics are still pretty solid and the new sound is easy to listen to, if not terribly original. Finally, I must confess that the chorus of "Set the Fire to the Third Bar" gets me every time. All the same, I regret that I didn't get the new Placebo disc instead. Oh well, next month.

Lately, I've been working on updating my website, and though it's still rough and bare, a lot has been accomplished. It's been so long since I used html that I couldn't remember how to save a notepad file as a webpage! Then I had to dig out my old textbook in order to figure out how to make a link open a page in a new window...

My poor memory terrifies me sometimes. Looking through some old writing, I found stories and essays that I wrote a few years ago in highschool and it was like reading someone else's work. @_@ I don't remember that stories that I wrote or the books that I wrote about. Zikes! Hollywood could make a Memento-style movie out of my life, but it wouldn't be very interesting: 'Lost Lit Essays of the Mind' or something like that.

Oh yeah, here's the King Lear story I wrote way back in March... Why didn't I post it here? I forgot, of course. *cue spooky music*


Title: The Bastard’s Portion
Author: Sunfalling
Fandom: Shakespeare-King Lear
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Edmund is twelve and already aware of his position as the illegitimate child of the Gloucester family. However, that doesn’t mean he’s content to accept it. (Beta-ed by the wonderful Starbrigid)

( I cannot help but smile back, marveling at his inferiority... )

So, I'm back again after all the finals and the summer is stretched before me like a big, warm, yellow blanket. Mmmm. Yes, I've been sleeping in too much because I have a bad habit of staying up to watch new episodes of the Daily Show when I know I can just catch the re-run the next morning.

The weather has been awesome. Last night I walked around the middle school playground at 9:00 and the air still felt warm and fragrant under the cedar trees. The sky was a dark blue and the moon shone yellowish, more of an oval egg-shape than a perfect sphere. I saw the lighter blue edge, the fingernail that didn't reflect the sun's light. One bright star (satellite?) shown at the moon's right hand. There's another thing I miss about the country--the thick field of stars shining the sky, unobscured by streetlights and air pollution.

I finished Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire, which was lovely and fascinating. I found the chapters on the tulip and the potato especially enlightening because of the way they drew together and stregthened my ideas about beauty, global monoculture, and biodiversity. The chapter on the apple also emphasized the these values, showing how civilizations have discarded diversity in order to continue cloning a few varieties for sweetness and visual appeal. The chapter on marijuana also enlightened me on the subject of intoxication and the creative process. Pollan makes a much better argument for legalization than the editors of my school paper. Maybe they've been smoking too much pot. :D

Currently reading:
The Picture of Dorian Gray-- Listening to the first chapter in my car, I thought with a mixture of amusement and delight that this had to be the literally gay-est nineteenth century novel I had ever read. Two grown men, an artist and a lord, both fawning over a beautiful young man. Wilde's wacky wit is enjoyable, but I'm only on the third disc and I'm already bored. When is the descent into sin coming already?

Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change --A great manual for concerned people and groups. I can really only work with some of these solutions, since I don't have the cash in buy a hybrid car or any chance of convincing my landlord to install solar panels. I can certainly ride the bus more, ride my bike, and shop for local organic food (when I can afford it). I could probably stop buying so many books and CDs... ;_;

Spring break is here! I haven't started my taxes but I have done a lot of reading and I saw a few movies (nothing worth mentioning that would boost my reputation here).

Today I took a CPR class taught by a complete spazz. He had us smacking the poor defenseless mannequins to make sure they weren't just sleeping soundly. The idea of "separating" someone's sternum with my bare hands is, quite frankly, terrifying. The fact that it only has a 20% chance of reviving the patient without a defibrillator is even more frightening. That means that the odds are already set against someone surviving even if I do pluck up the courage to attempt CPR and I have to live forever wondering whether if I made a mistake in the procedure that might have saved them.

The instructor dispelled some interesting myths. When your nose bleeds, don't tip your head back! That just sends blood down into your stomach and can cause vomiting. I had some bad nosebleeds as a kid, and I hated tipping my head back, because I knew that I would be spitting up blood for hours afterwards.

Also, holding up a cigarette lighter to a sprinkler system will only activate that one sprinkler head, not every one in the building. Damn you, Hollywood! I can never see my action/suspense heroes in the same light. Yes, Keanu, I'm looking at you and the awesome scene with the holy water and the demons. Your cleverness is ruined for me now.

Currently reading: The Way of Light by Storm Constantine. I can't believe how long it's taken me to finish this book. It's almost 500 pages, but fairly interesting and suspenseful. I like the pagan rituals and the intricate mythology and I'm interested in what happens to the characters, yet I feel that it's somehow slower than the first two books in the trilogy. Not enough sex, maybe?

I'm also starting Othello for class but I've only read the first act. So far, Iago's dialogues are love. "You'll have your daughter covered by a Barbary horse; you'll have your nephews neigh to you; you'll have coursers for cousins, and jenets for germains." Carlos Mencia couldn't have said it better.

Dear Comcast,

I hate you, but you have decided to supply me with a fluctuating internet connection, which is better than the barren wasteland I've wandered in for the past few weeks. For now, you are off the hook, until the next time my browser tells me coolly that the page cannot be found.

Sincerly,
-sf

Two more papers to finish this week. Dearest Spring Break, I long for you! Come quickly, my love.

( Good Together Chapter 13 (the end at last) )

Whew, one more chapter after this and the damn fic is finished. It took a lot more work than I expected and got a lot less response than I hoped. Oh well. Life goes on.

( Chapter Twelve: the bedroom scene )

I just finished listening to The Phantom of the Opera on sound recording and I have to admit I enjoyed it, even though everyone in the story acted like a complete idiot at one point or another... (spoiler alert!)

Raoul: I can't even count the times you f*cked up but I think the worst was when you heard Erik getting pissed at Christine and cried out, revealing your and the Persian's location in the Phantom's torture chamber. *rolls eyes* Why don't you just gift-wrap yourself and lie on his threshold?

Persian dude: Yeah, great idea to fling your lantern against the wall in shock when you realize you're in a room full of gunpowder.

Christine: Honey, Erik left you alone in his little house full of stuff in the middle of a lake. If you're determined to kill yourself, I'm sure you can find a more effective method than banging your forehead against the goddamn walls!

Anyway, I did love poor Erik, the Trapdoor Lover. It was clear by the end that we were meant to pity him, but the people who should have felt for him the most, Christine and the Persian, kept going on about what a "hideous monster" he was. Personally, I think the opera ghost was the best character in the story, as I'm sure most readers do. I can't wait to see the movie now.

Currently reading: King Lear for class. I'm up to the third act, and I have to admit that Edmund rocks. I know that he's a villain, and he may turn out to be an idiot or an asshole, but when I read his speech at the beginning of Act 1, scene 2 I felt like cheering. Gods, stand up for bastards!

Okay, so I have to finish an evaluation of a paper about why Ophelia was really pregnant by Hamlet and then get at least three pages of a rough draft on why conservation is a civic duty. No problem. Work 5-9 today, school tomorrow and Wednesday is free to work on the fic at last. Problem is, I've got plot bunnies for orignal ficcage popping out of my head like wet gremlins. Gah... must resist! Finish homework first!

Aha! It's chapter eleven already.

( And the angst goes on... )

Ah, another chapter done. I forgot to post this yesterday.

( More Hideaki Angst! )

Well, I worked overtime again and got sick again. Luckily, my bouts of illness never seem to last long.

I'm actually getting to the end of the Kare Kano fic. It's kind of weird, after having worked on it for so long. I look back at the earlier chapters and think how much my style and characterization has changed over the year...like Hideaki, right? Chapter Ten is done, but my beta reader has had it for over a week. Poor girl is busy with holiday stuff, like everyone else. I just want to get this thing finished before Christmas.
...and now I'm daydreaming about a sequel. *facepalm*

All kinds of people come into the library, and each of them have an opinion that they want to express to me. I've learned it's easier to simply nod and agree with them or pretend to be completely oblivious to their not-so-subtle hints. Take, for instance the cheerful young man who came in wearing a nice suit and tie.

Guy: I'm not too familiar with a lot of the classic novels
Me: Hmm.
Guy: But I have read the best-selling book of all time.
Me: *tries not to roll eyes* Oh.
Guy: Of course, it's been around for thousands of years as well.
Me: *nod* (Move along, missionary boy. You're not filling your weekly soul quota here)
Me: *hands him the books with a smile* These are due back December 29th. Would you like a bag?

See? That's one long sermon easily sidestepped by simply politely ignoring innuendo. I remember in grade school, a neighbor girl told me that her parents never gave their business to a local video rental outlet because it carried NC-17 videos. I knew exactly what she was implying, but purposely avoided a debate by saying, "Oh, but they have kids' videos too!"
She wisely didn't bother to reply.

Since the beginning of November, the mall has been decked with lights and sparkly trees and they're playing Christmas carols nonstop. I have nothing against Christmas trappings, in fact, I usually enjoy shopping during the holidays with all the decorations and music. But working in the library branch at the mall has given me an uncharacteristic disgust for Christmas. I and the thousand other employees at the mall have to maneuver through crowded parking lots, serve the endless river of stressed shoppers, and listen to the same loop track of carols for two months straight.

"But no one comes to the library around Christmas time," you say. Actually, the library is the perfect dumping ground for harried parents to leave their distraught children while they go start riots at Radio Shack or brawls at Nordstroms.

Meanwhile, I'm telling kids that yes, they have to wait in the five-mile line for a free internet station and no, they can't get a new library card with a parent or photo ID, afraid that if I hear "Silver Bells" one more time I'm going stomp downstairs to where Santa is listening to kids' ramblings for $13 a pop and shove the frosted plastic tree down his throat.

Merry Freaking Christmas, everyone. Maybe I'll feel more charitable AFTER THANKSGIVING. >_<

/rant

Now I'm going to sit down and fold my laundry while watching some pretty episodes of X.


( Chapter Nine )

I am rejoicing in my first day off in a long time. My head no longer feels like a lead weight. I've had adequate sleep and food and I've caught up pretty much on scanlation reading. Yay!
*goes off to clean the apartment*

( Good Together Chap 8 )

Why am I working all these extra hours?
*adds up tuition, book prices, and gas for next semester*
Oh, yeah.

Serious thought of the day
This just in: The President of Iran May be Anti-Semetic (And Maybe Some of His People Too). Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." He also called Israelis "cheeky people" who think the world revolves around them. Heh. I like the word "cheeky." It's cute. I truth, I think he made a good point about the suffering of Palestinian families, but what about Israeli families? I'm sure their lives are just peachy, wondering when the next suicide bomber is going to blow up the local K-Mart. The problem with these conflicts is that neither side can see the perspective of the other. Okay, I'm in no position to judge, really. I certainly haven't studied the conflict much and as a middle class white American, I probably don't have any perspective at all. *goes back to watching Comedy Central*


Fic news: Sent off chapter eight to the beta. Let's hope for the best.
Fic rec: If you haven't been reading the YnM fic Mercy of the Fallen, by gaudior at yamifics, you are a complete moron and I hate you. Go read it to get back in my good graces.

Well, if anyone has wondered about me being silent for two weeks... I've simply been working too much, as always and the combination of exhaustion and stress has compromised my immune system enough to let a stomach bug in. I've been sick for a while but I'm getting better now...maybe. I'm off to another 12-9 shift but I should have time to type stuff up tomorrow. Don't expect any fic postings til the end of the week.
^_^ ... -_- ... x_x

*dies*

I won't promise when the next chapter will come out, but I shall truly try to write as much as I am able this week. I have a rough outline for the rest of the story, so I shalln't be spending a lot of time wondering what should happen next.

( Chapter 7 )