Category: Uncategorized

I tried posting something earlier about warnings on fiction like “The author does not condone the described behavior in real life in anyway shape or form. Anyone tempted to act out any of the scenarios in this story; should seriously consider seeking professional help.” My post disappeared. It must not have been long ago, because that quote was still in my clipboard. Huh.

Anyway, I also wanted to make a brief post about waking up late today. I know I went to bed pretty late. Something like 8:30AM or later. So when a passing train woke me up and I looked down to see what time it was and my phone said 17:02, I was a little upset but not too suprized. I rushed to get dressed and to get to Drawing class; I was only about 35 minutes late when I got there at 5:15. I then spent the next couple of hours rendering a man’s crotch in a charcoal value study. Another two or three hours of that and it’ll be pretty good looking. (Okay, okay, it was pretty good looking when it was part of a full-page B&W image of some young, muscular guy with no shirt holding a Bud Light, which was why I pulled it out of The Advocate. That, and I didn’t have a lot of other B&W 8×10 images to choose from.)

What else? Oh. I’m a little frustrated with my novel. I didn’t get to work on it Monday night because of my Mandala project, and I didn’t get to work on it Tuesday night because of those stupid Value Scales. Except that now that I do have the time to work on it, I feel stuck. I’ve written about 10% of the minimum length of the novel, and I’m still stuck in the pre-verbal stone age. It isn’t supposed to be a novel about the stone age. This is just supposed to set some historical precidents. There’s just so much that could be different about the stone age if Unrevealed premise of the novel, and it would have a huge impact on the course of history. So I don’t want to skip over it, but if I’m spending this much on a single family at the dawn of time, how much will I have to write about the bronze age, the roman empire, and everything else that leas to modern times? With Unrevealed premise of the novel, technology advances faster, but governments change slower. The roman empire probably would never have declined if it existed in the first place. The development of even primitive religions would be different, and might not have died. Later religions might not have a chance at all. Jesus almost becomes irrelevant in light of Unrevealed premise of the novel. Building and re-building is faster, but what effect does Unrevealed premise of the novel have on architecture and city planning? Wars and weapons would be fought in totally different ways; how much of that do I need to detail to have a properly developed history for modern characters? I suppose this novel could just stay entirely in the Stone Age, and sequels could move forward through time, but then the ten pages I’ve written should be expanded to 50. It’s a little frustrating. Plus, I have another good idea for a novel that has a much smaller Unrevealed premise which doesn’t require rebuilding history from scratch, but I’m worried about starting from scratch a week in. What to do, what to do.

Oh, and … did movies open today? I looked, and Comedian, Auto Focus, Femme Fatale, and … I think one other that wasn’t there before are all playing at Arizona Mills now. I want to see the first two, and I still haven’t seen The Truth About Charlie. I’m thinking I need to watch fewer movies though, so I may watch only Auto Focus. Then 8 Mile on Friday. Eminem sure is dreamy. 😉 😉

Plus, I have to come up with an idea for the next 2D Design project, and I keep coming up with 3D designs or ridiculously difficult and/or time consuming projects. So… I don’t know what I’m going to do about that. Hopefully wake up on time tomorrow.

Okay, so I’m too cheap to turn on the gas heater and my space heater keeps tripping my surge protection when I try to run it at the same time as the TV & DVD Player and computer. So, err.. It’s getting cold in here. The cute little flame-shaped thermometer I have says it’s about 58 degrees. Is that really cold, or am I just unaccustomed to cold? What temperature do normal people keep their houses in the winter? Not necessarily in this area. I’d be interested to know how warm people keep their homes where it stays below zero during the day, too. For reference. I may have to turn on the heat.

Because you know what? It feels pretty cold to me. Colder outside, sure, but pretty cold. I’m even layered. I have on my flannel-lined jeans, a T-Shirt, and a thick mock-turtle T-shirt (long-sleeved). Afraid to take off my shoes, too, since my feet have poor circulation to begin with.

Gha. I’m really just wasting time. Gotta get back to work. I absolutely must finish these Value Scales before I go to bed. Probably won’t get a chance to work on my novel at all tonight. Le Sigh.

Okay, okay, I’ve got the homework in my lap this time, right under the laptop. I’m sure I’ll get started on it any minute now… Well, maybe after I write a review for I Spy, which I went to see earlier tonight… you know … to put off the busy work…

Any way, don’t miss the two new ME2 comics: Iguanas on the loose and Not about a bear

Actually based on real conversations with Marie I had while putting off homework a little while ago.

Now back to … damnit. I think I’ve run out of things other than home— WAIT! I need to do the dishes! Yes. The dishes! Woo! and Ironing!

Okay, okay… I’ll put in my new Evita DVD and start working on Value Scales. You’ve got me.

From the avoiding my homework department:

“Recent research revealed that mountain biking may have a leg up on road biking when it comes to building or maintaining bone mineral density. In the study, men who regularly rode cross-country on mountain bikes had higher bone mineral density scores compared to men who were regular road cyclists.”

We now return you to your regularly scheduled procrastination.

So, I was looking up what time I can go vote, since I’ve been up till around 7:30 or 8:00AM the last several days, and I found this great quote in an article about why Arizona results may not be known right away:

“We have one polling place at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, so it always takes a few hours for somebody to hike those results out,” state Elections Director Jessica Funkhouser said.

I love that there’s a polling place at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. How great is that, people? I knew people lived down there, but now I wonder how many. Do they get their own representative in the House? Can they swing the vote for governor? If only 8% of them show up, how many people is that? 8?

Any way, get out and vote today. I’d like to see the voters legalize medical marijuana for the third time at the very least. I’ve been getting lists of names I should be voting for from the Arizona Human Rights Fund for the last four months, based on the single issue of human rights. A very important issue, but if I were to believe every negative ad I’ve seen in the last few weeks, I’d probably think that voting for anyone but Hess would plunge Arizona into the dark ages. Of course, that’s just because the other candidates don’t think Hess is enough of a threat to bother with a negative ad. I’ve pretty much been voting straight libertarian since age 17, but in recent years the local libertarian party has moved pretty far from the ideal that libertarianism is supposed to represent. So, I’ll probably vote along AHRF recommendations.

Oh, and since I can’t make heads or tails of the various gambling-related propositions, I’ll probably just read the briefs on them at the polling place and vote pro-gambling-expansion regardless of how much one group paid for advertisements or how many tribes are behind the other, or whose books are open or closed or … I can’t figure that one out. And did I say pro-medial-marijuana? I’d be pro-medical-crack if it was on the ballot; someone’s got to regulate drugs, and the FDA is doing a better job than the DEA in my book.

Oh, in case you can’t tell, I’m killing time. Procrastinating on my novel, waiting for paint to dry on a homework assignment, waiting for the sun to come up so I can go vote… How long until the polls open? How much novel left to write? An hour and 45,000+ words, you say? Huh. I bet I can fill an hour working on homework!

Update at 5:45AM: I forgot to mention that I’ll be among the ballots to be verified that slow down the process of determining who has won. My ballot has to be counted by hand after they verify that I haven’t voted wherever I’m supposed to vote for the last address change I remembered to appraise them of. Or whatever else the “verify” about my ballot. I’ve actually had to do this for every election I’ve voted in since I turned 18, since I never remember to submit change of address in time. Actually, come to think of it, I had to do it for the election I voted in before I turned 18, too. You know, because I wasn’t 18. They verified it though, and counted my vote. You know, because I turned 18 before the next general election. It was just a primary. Anyway, I finished the mandala (photo 1, photo 2, comment on photos) for 2D Design tonight. I’ve just finished a lovely braunschwager sandwich, and will be strolling down to my local polling place with proof of address in hand in a few minutes.