| GIP |
[Jan. 22nd, 2010|05:40 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
Witness my 1337 MS Paint skillz!
I've taken to watching episodes of TNG online lately. And data made that little chibi face. So... there you go. |
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| Live Journal: Monthly Edition |
[Jan. 7th, 2010|03:22 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
I am really not inspired to update this thing lately. I'm reading the friends page as much as ever, but LJ is getting quieter and quieter. I hope it's not in its death knells (maybe it's just some of my circles that are on the way out of the LJ loop). I'll try to post something now and then so that people don't think I've dropped off the face of the planet or something.
Stuff:
- Definitely not doing grad school until next year. I am okay with this, but I need to A) get started on applications WAY WAY earlier this year, and B) push on with lots of other projects to keep me interested in life. Also need to figure out what the hell people do for a living in the real world. The appeal of going back to school and getting a science degree or something is oddly growing on me.
- Christmas came and went like a whirlwind. Really enjoyed socializing and gift-giving and such, but eating like crap and having not much time to myself took its toll. Going on a sugar / processed food / money-spending detox until February.
- Stage managing for The Cripple of Inishmaan has shifted into high gear as I research fun things like 1930's Irish canned peas labels and how to make fake fish that can be beheadded on stage. Am going to need to learn how to delegate, which will probably be just as hard as doing the things myself. I'll figure it out.
- I have to shovel stairs and a driveway, and yet I STILL love snow. The only reason I hope against it is that my dad has to shovel a stupid amount of it at work. Obviously the elves that I have conjured from the Ether to help him are off getting drunk on rum and egg nog instead. Lazy bastards.
Lots of stuff on my mind; lots of things that I want and need to do this year. I only have one resolution: make better use of my time. I've got a feeling that a lot of things will fall into place if I can stop frittering away hours doing things that don't occupy me so much as distract me from doing more difficult - and more rewarding - things.
I hope 2010 is a revolutionary year in the best possible way. |
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| Weekend, yay! |
[Dec. 18th, 2009|11:47 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | amused | ] |
It's my weekend! It's awesome! I feel much better this time than I did last weekend, when I was bitten by the "I don't WANNA" bug pretty badly. Took most of the week to shake that feeling, but now I'm awake and alert and enjoying a sunny if ASS COLD day. Got some long overdue chores done, like dishes and putting a soup stock on. Now I'm going to tidy up around the house a bit, make a list of my holiday baking needs, sweep and mop the kitchen and then run out into the cold, cold world to do a few errands while the floor dries.
Then I'll probably collapse, or watch a movie, or play video games. Or play the guitar - I've been picking it up a lot lately, have learned a couple of new songs for the first time in AGES. My calluses are coming back with a vengeance (though I don't think they ever REALLY go away after you go through that first stage of super thick n' grody calluses.)
I think I've decided that I'm going to put off going to grad school for another year. More on that later, maybe. I basically feel like there are more pressing things that I want to do right now - travel being chief among them - and there's nothing specifically driving me to grad school at the moment (no particular career path, etc.) Anyway, we'll see. I have a feeling that next year will be a fun and exciting one. |
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| Things! Cass things! (Cassbits? Stolen from ) |
[Dec. 3rd, 2009|09:54 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  busy | ] |
- I won NaNo again! Though I accidentally missed a week in my long-ass short story writing challenge and threw off my streak, which is a slight bummer. But now December is looking to be a time to drastically switch gears and do some serious reading. Am considering a "Reading Month" style challenge, but we'll see.
- I'm stage managing another play, this one "The Cripple of Inishmaan" by Martin McDonagh. I just finished reading it last night. It's a black comedy, and I am even now trying to figure out the logistics of having actors break eggs on each other's faces on stage. It's going to be a lot of fun.
- It's full-blown knitting season again! Man, it's been a while since I knitted very much. My hands are all sore. I'm determined to make this a low-budget Christmas. Looking forward to doing my yearly baking. I love baking - I'd do it more if I didn't want to deal with the consequences (that is, EATING the baking.)
- Grad School loometh! Or something. I'm getting dangerously close to applying - Monday is my personal due date for having at least one application on the go, maybe two. I'm a bit hung up right now on whether I should apply to York or Ryerson for their joint program in Culture and Communications. The courses and resources will be exactly the same no matter which one I go through, so it's really the back-end stuff (and which university's degree I'll officially get in the end, I think.) I've been poring over the funding pages but this stuff tends to make me funny in the head after a while.
For the curious (and desperately, desperately bored):
http://www.ryerson.ca/graduate/funding/
http://futurestudents.yorku.ca/graduate/fees_and_funding
Ryerson is appealing to me because it's a smaller university and seems to be more specifically excited about research in my area, but York strikes me as being a better bet for funding. I dunno. Any suggestions / pointers from the peanut gallery?
Now to do a few dishes, make a lunch, and try to get some sleep before auditions tonight. |
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| !?!? |
[Nov. 20th, 2009|05:42 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  WTF?! | ] |
The ad on my friends list is for a site dedicated to, and it really says this:
"Dating with Shemales"
SERIOUSLY, LJ. WTF. The gay cruises I can handle. But this trumps even the ads for Scientology in rampant fucked-uppedness. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY LIVEJOURNAL TO NOT OFFEND ME, KTHX. |
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| One of those "I am alive" posts |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|01:37 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | busy | ] |
Lots of stuff going on - I'm entering one of my "updating livejournal feels awkward and weird" phases, which I think happen once a week? Anyway, things here are pretty good, if hectic. Am enjoying being busy and social. This is the best year, by far, for attendance and general enthusiasm locally for NaNoWriMo, and I feel pretty good about getting people excited (the library is falling over themselves to provide us with space and tea and coffee and general yay-ness).
I think my ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) wordwhacker journal is likely to be more active than this one this month, though I won't be posting the NaNovel as I write it (I'm basically feeling out ideas with it - the draft as a whole is going to get scrapped.)
Though I haven't been posty I am still reading, and I know a lot of you are stressed and going through weird times, so please know that I am thinking about you and sending you the good Cass thoughts. |
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| Insomnia! Hoo! Huh! Good god, y'all! What is it good for? |
[Oct. 22nd, 2009|07:46 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  crazy | ] |
Absolutely nothin'!
Every now and then I have one of those days where a combination of Stuff I Really Oughta Do and Really Nice Weather make it pretty much impossible to get to sleep first thing in the morning when I get home from work. So I decide to stay up and sleep through the evening instead. And then I can't get to sleep and wind up pacing around my house or reading for hours before I can settle down. These days always happen in the middle of my work week when I've already been sleep deprived and should have gotten MORE sleep, not less. Yesterday / today was one of those days.
Given the circumstances I feel pretty good, but I have the feeling that I my relative youth is a big factor in my getting away with this and not getting sick every time. I can make this schedule work most of the time for now, but I'm glad it's only going to be for one year before I disappear for parts unknown. (As long as I actually apply for grad schools. Really, really need to get on this.)
But hey, at least I got Episode 2 of the NaNo Canada Podcast finished! This one isn't particularly Canadian themed, so any of you out in LJ land who are doing NaNo this year should check it out. Go listen to me ramble nerdily about my first NaNo experience and (most excitingly) have a conversation with the awesome about hers! |
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| I am up, and it's still dark out. |
[Oct. 12th, 2009|07:13 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  awake | ] |
I normally try to switch my schedule around from overnights to late-days on my weekend, but I completely failed this time. In a spectacular way. In an "I have been up at 6:30AM for the past two days" kind of way. This is sort of useful because I have been really productive with my housework and writing and that sort of thing. The down side is that my brain has absolutely tanked at about 7:30 - 8pm the past couple of nights, which cut significantly into my "hanging out with friends and DMing nasty adventures" ability.
And because I've been moving into a new schedule, I have to go into work tonight at 11pm. Which is when I'm going to want to be in bed. I hope I get a nap or something in the evening.
My goal today is to finish a bunch of lingering projects, so for my own benefit I am ( enumerating them here: )
[EDIT: OMG I actually finished everything! Four days later. But still!]
And otherwise kind of chill and hopefully nap, and see off my aunt who's going back to Saudi Arabia today.
In other news, I injured myself on a mustard bottle today. I'm as amazed as you are. |
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| Busy busy busy... |
[Sep. 26th, 2009|09:15 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | thankful | ] |
Thanks for your book recommendations, everybody! If you have any more (or you missed the post) I would be eternally grateful for your advice. I've already purchased the first book in the Crack Dragon Temeraire series (they don't have them at the library! WTF?) and I'm going to dive into it this weekend.
Getting to the end of another work week, which went by (thankfully) fast. Next week will be a bit odd, since I'll be switching schedules and I'm still not 100% sure how that's going to work. I SHOULD have weekends off for a while, though, which will rock. Time to host some parties for the first time in my adult life! ... Wow, I'm lame.
I have a bunch of projects on the go - a SF horror audio play that I'm writing, and a NaNoWriMo podcast aimed at Canadians (but I'm sure it'll be fun listening for you otherwise affiliated folks). I'm also looking for grad schools - got to start applying soon. Yikes!
I'm also knitting my Christmas gifts this year since I'm trying to save on cash (note to self: this probably means that you could SERIOUSLY quit eating out all the time. You love to cook! What's your stinkin' problem?!) AND I'm still writing a short story every week (my goal is 30 weeks in a row - I'm on... 14 now?) I think once January rolls around it will be time to shift gears into a more "consume and refine" mode - read a lot of books, edit and rework my existing bank of stories, etc. Sounds kind of nice, actually. |
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| THIS JUST IN: Microsoft Ad Makes "Slap Chop" TV ad Seem Genuine and Personable By Comparison |
[Sep. 26th, 2009|01:35 am] |
I can't believe this. Do they really think that these people are relatable in ANY HUMAN WAY? What person sees this ad and goes "My god! A Windows 7 party sounds like a GREAT idea for me and my generic family!" I sat through this whole ad cringing in a way that even late-night paid advertisements for the "Magic Bullet" and crap don't make me wanna do. |
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| Reading Mojo |
[Sep. 21st, 2009|01:44 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
When I was a kid, I was addicted to reading. I read a pretty ridiculous amount. I've always been a slow-ish reader, but I could still put a 500 page novel back in a week without breaking a sweat. (Okay, maybe that's a lousy metaphor.)
I still love reading, but ever since I've been in my late teens I'm lucky if I finish a book or two in a year (apart from stuff I've had to read for school). I lost my reading mojo hardcore. I blame my ADD-ishness in combination with TEH INTARWEBS - it's like I used to eat Brain Whole-Wheat Bread and now all I'm used to is Brain Twinkies. I already spend 40 hours a week on a computer at work, so (among other things) I really need to start reading actual books again.
So PLEASE give me your book recommendations! I'm up for pretty much anything. I just want get drawn into a fun story that will have me chomping at the bit for more. |
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| Huh |
[Sep. 11th, 2009|09:06 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  okay | ] |
I am having a slightly odd day today. Not bad, per se, just... weird. I felt this way before bed yesterday - quite processey, and a bit exposed, probably because I'm working on - and getting / expecting feedback on - a bunch of writing. It's sort of making me want to curl up somewhere hidden with a cup of tea and a good book. I thought sleep would help me reset and get ready to hop back in the "ludicrously productive and risk-takey" saddle, and I think it's on the horizon, but apparently the cycle is a bit slower than I expected.
Going to give myself a bit of time to be insular. Maybe by later today I'll be able to get my write on. The deadline for this week isn't until late tomorrow, though, so even if I just pick at it and keep thinking through it today, I'll have lots of time then to get a draft out. |
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| Now I remember. |
[Sep. 11th, 2009|03:35 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
Sometimes I ask myself how I could possibly be tired at 3:30 AM. I switch my schedule around so that I'm sleeping through the day, so it should translate to something like 5 or 6pm for the average person, right? I should be able to get lots of stuff done. So I plan to do stuff. And then pretty often the clock rolls around to that time and I'm overcome with sleepiness and general bleh, and it's so overwhelming that I don't even want to read because it takes too much energy.
There may be some moral here about sleep cycles or melatonin levels or something, but I don't feel like sussing it out at the moment.
I can't complain too much - I woke up (early) thinking about a particularly challenging story I'm writing, and I spent an hour right off the bat getting it outlined pretty well. On top of that I received a really thorough crit on a short play I wrote, which is thrilling (and REALLY appreciated) but somewhat draining in the way that criticism always is. And on top of that I had about two hours of voice acting to do, which involved lots of yelling and grunting and probably being a nuisance to my poor parents downstairs*. Again: thrilling and draining.
And I had a breakfast and packed lunch to make, and dishes to do and/or put away. Come to think of it, I had a pretty busy five hours before work. I guess I'm allowed to be a bit tuckered out.
* but not as much as if I was still living with them! |
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| A good sign... |
[Sep. 6th, 2009|10:03 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  curious | ] |
... is my writing journal being busier than this one. I'm living a double life: writing by night, editing my older stuff by day. Now I just need to figure out how to effectively work "reading" and "playwriting" into the mix and I'll have a well-balanced cycle (and less idle time.)
Last week I went on a wild goose chase to try and get my six-year-old camera to communicate with my brand new(ish) laptop. Firewire + USB = a surprisingly big pain in the ass. I've got a cable in the mail that might solve the problem, so please cross your fingers. I have done NOTHING with this camera since I bought it (a spur-of-the-moment decision turned out to be a bad investment? Who would have thought?!) and I'd like to get something out of it while my creativity is peaking (and before it bites the dust.)
Fun fact: if you'd been spying on me last Tuesday while I recorded some lines for the Age of the Zombies radio play, you would have found me hunkered underneath a Ninja Turtles comforter with my (unplugged) laptop and microphone*. The things I do for sound quality, ladies and gentlemen.
* For some reason, having the laptop plugged in creates a buzz on recordings. And my plaster walls make for a mean echo. I'm kind of surprised that the comforter makes so much difference, but there you have it. |
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| Sooo close |
[Aug. 29th, 2009|11:15 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | awake | ] |
I have groceries (after investing a whopping 250$ - yikes! At least that takes care of a lot of long-term stuff as well, including lots of meat.) I have put away my clothes. I have sorted through MOST of the random junk that has floated upstairs. All that's left is to bring up my video game stuff / stereo, which will be an interesting endeavour. And then I'm in good shape.
It's been chilly the past couple of days - I'd describe it as nippy. It feels like September weather. I'm of two minds about it. I'd like for nice hot August weather to continue for a while, thank you very much, but damn - that little nip in the air just makes me feel ALIVE. I almost wish I was going back to school in a few weeks like everyone else, but then again... nah, I don't really. It is, however, probably a good time to start seriously looking at grad schools for next year.
The colder weather is also getting me excited about NaNoWriMo again, even though I characteristically have nothing planned to write. To be honest, I'm not exactly much of a novelist - I have that one children's novel in the works, but as a general rule I don't have the attention span to sustain a plot / characters / etc. for the length of a novel. NaShoStoWriMo (Short Story Writing Month) would be better for me, and that's probably what I'm going to wind up writing (hopefully more successfully than three years ago, when I wrote five-ish shorter stories and only finished one of them, a late entry because I was bored with the other four.)
Maybe I'll challenge myself to write to a prompt every day. Thirty short stories, each one at least 1667 words long. (Oh man, I'm going to regret this, aren't I?) |
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| Moved?! Let him that moved you hither remove you hence! |
[Aug. 23rd, 2009|08:51 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | creative | ] |
Oh god, I am going to be driving people (including myself) CRAZY for the next while with Taming of the Shrew quotes.
I am moved! Sort of. My bed is in the apartment, so I'm calling it "moved". Most of my clothes are still downstairs, along with a billion little odds and ends and books. And my bedside table. And my desk. Okay, so "moved" is pretty generous, but still! Bed! Sleeping / showering there!
Another point of hilarity: my groceries. At the moment, this is what I have in the house:
- Half a bottle of faux vanilla extract.
- A bag of sugar.
- Almonds.
(I just totally over-used colons there. OH WELL.)
So clearly a grocery run is in the works for today. And then I can start COOKING. I frigging love my kitchen. Maybe I will take pictures and show them to you, because really, for an apartment as small as mine, my kitchen is GOD ALMIGHTY.
In other news: still writing. Need to actually do editing. Have vague plans to do some this weekend, but nothing concrete. Depends on how much I get moved, I guess.
I knew you at the first, you were a moveable. |
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| FINALLY |
[Aug. 16th, 2009|12:09 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | exhausted | ] |
Shakespeare wrapped up last night, and then I jumped straight into "Wingin' It", a 24 hour theatre... thing. It was a lot of fun, and also frustrating at times, but totally worth it. Our group went first, and screwed up a record number of lines, but we got some good laughs and then could just relax and watch the rest of the groups.
(I don't feel like summarizing, so I will leave you with some cryptic words and phrases: Gangs. Mimes. Punching kittens. Beauty and the Beast. Jizz Jazz Hands.)
And now I'm actually DONE. Well, mostly - I still have to find new / existing homes for the props and such, and make sure there are no other loose ends. But I can do this at my leisure (within reason).
So it's time to start socializing again, and working on writing projects, and doing all of that stuff that I've been putting off vallaintly for the whole summer. |
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| Cats are brats. Who knew?! |
[Aug. 7th, 2009|02:49 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | creative | ] |
I got home from work at a little after 9AM today. I fed the cats, brushed my teeth, and was in bed by around 9:30. I was hoping to sleep until about 5:30, but the cats are usually fed around 4pm and BY GOD they were GOING TO BE FED AT FOUR, come hell or incessant yowling/door-scratching.
I stumbled out of bed and fed them, fully intent on going to sleep again for a bit but... it was so beautiful out! Such a rarity around here. And I was awake already, and had a bunch of stuff that I could be doing. So I threw in the towel and stayed up. I don't regret it yet (but I might at 9AM when I get off work and then have to go paint signs at the theatre company. I might just wind up putting it off until the evening after all.)
I've been doing some amateur voice acting lately, which is a weird thing for me because it boils my gender expression down until there is basically nothing left for people to perceive me as but "SEX-AY DEEP LADY VOICE". (I've talked before about how my voice is, like, the #1 thing that gives me the gender-wiggins, right?) Whereas here and even on facebook I can live in something like Gender Limbo, I don't have that option so much in the voice acting world. So I am rolling with it, but not without a heaping dose of irony (I'm back to using Nuriko in my icons like I did yeeears ago on LJ, because he's a dude who played the part of a lady but who ultimately becomes somewhat comfortable with his dude-ness again. OMG LAYERS OF IRONY LOL. Anyway, the icon is useful because it gives folks the 'right' idea about the kind of voices I can currently provide, while a closer look will reveal the gender-bending hilarity.)
Having said that, it's pretty fun - I do like playing roles. I've also decided that somebody (maybe me) needs to write something that gives lady voice actors more options, because I see the same... maybe three character types ad nauseum (whereas the guys get at LEAST five different character types. ;-) |
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| I can has apartment! |
[Aug. 1st, 2009|11:41 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | creative | ] |
I decided to go for it. Thanks to everybody who weighed in either here or on Facebook. After mulling it over and seriously weighing my various needs and opportunities, it seemed pretty obvious. I can still make serious headway on my student debt AND focus on projects that I've been neglecting because I need space in order to do them.
I am really looking forward to being able to just pick up the guitar and play it whenever I want, or practice singing, or voice act. I'm also looking forward to having sweet, sweet silence and a lack of physical distractions for when I write. (No TV will help, too.)
Speaking of voice acting, I spent the rest of my birthday money (the first half of which was spent on a new computer chair) on a new microphone and 'podcasting' kit. Yay, new toy! I have wanted to do some amateur voice work for a while, but the quality of my PC microphones just doesn't cut it. I've heard some comparison recordings and the difference in quality is amazing.
Okay, less updating and more short-story writing. |
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| Pondering! |
[Jul. 30th, 2009|11:31 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  excited | ] |
I literally awoke today to the news that my parents' apartment is being vacated in the next couple of weeks. I've lived in this apartment before and I LOVE it - it's such a cute place.
Currently I'm living WITH my parents (in the same unit) and paying a pitiably small amount for rent. I would move back into the apartment in a heartbeat, but the pragmatist in me notes that I can save a lot more money / pay off my debts MUCH more quickly if I suck it up and stay here for another year.
Here are the basic pros / cons that I've been pondering:
CONS
- It would cost me between 600$ - 700$ more than I'm currently paying to move upstairs. That's a BIG chunk of potential debt repayment gone just for the pros listed below.
- I would have to factor a LOT more cleaning / cooking into my weekly schedule.
- I actually like living with my parents, they are cool people.
PROS
- I am 26. Living in the same space as the folks is starting to get a bit embarassing.
- I love cooking / having total control over the food in my house.
- PERSONAL SPACE IS MY FRIEND. This is a big one.
- A place to entertain at my leisure!
- I would still be living NEAR my parents, and so have the benefits of hanging out with them, borrowing the car occasionally, etc.
I've been wondering lately whether staying here for a whole year before I venture out into the world was really the best idea. Maybe the hands of fate are graciously extending a third option toward me. Either way, I'll know by tomorrow what I'm doing so that my parents can get another tenant lined up if necessary. |
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