| I had a dream last night... |
[03 Dec 2009|10:45am] |
...that I was at a concert. An awesome, wonderful, spectacular concert of a lifetime.
And it wasn't Rammstein.
It was New Kids On The Block!
LOL, talk about random. Also, I just realized they were in Milwaukee in October of '08 and I missed them. Now my dream will never come true.
Since I'm on such a roll with posting lately, I think I'm going to try to post at least once a day in the month of December. Please try to control your elation. Most of them will probably be short and pointless like this one. :-P
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| Hahahaha YES |
[02 Dec 2009|08:16pm] |
On the twelfth day of Christmas,  rustyangel sent to me... Twelve robots drumming Eleven costumes piping Ten computers a-leaping Nine aliens engineering Eight ufos a-programming Seven billiards a-sewing Six pyramids a-knitting Five be-e-e-earded dragons Four white russians Three crossword puzzles Two sherlock holmes ...and a vegeta in a milwaukee. |
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| This is how I watch TV |
[02 Dec 2009|02:06pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 contemplative |
] |
I saw a commercial this morning for Kay Jewelers in which a couple was watching a rainstorm through a large window and there was a sudden crash of thunder. The woman got a little freaked out and turned around, and the guy put his arms around her and chuckled "I'm right here." Then suddenly he got all suave and said "And I'll always be here," then whipped out a box with a diamond necklace. All I could think was "Man, I wonder how long he had to wait for a really good thunderclap so he could pull that line out."
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| What will Erin do next? |
[01 Dec 2009|12:33pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 cheerful |
] |
I know that's the question at the front of everyone's minds right now. Well, I do plan to edit my novel a bit (my final word count at the official end of NaNo was 50567, btw), but now that I have so much free time again I'll also be doing more knitting, playing video games, working on my DBZ+Rammstein anime music video, doing more Super Mario 3 cross-stitch, and working (in earnest this time) on Top Secret Web Project.
I should probably do some housework in there somewhere. And Christmas shopping.
It's a party all the time over here, folks.
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| Breaking the smut-barrier |
[30 Nov 2009|03:02pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 silly |
] |
I may have freaked out some people on Facebook the other day by revealing that my main character (First Officer Reva Sykes) had been in the captain's quarters for 1900 words and that yes, it was exactly what it sounded like. I should note that while she was indeed in his room for that many words, only about 2 paragraphs of that are any kind of smut. ;-) The author was kind enough to leave the room and give them their privacy for most of the dirty stuff.
It's kind of funny how shy I felt about writing "smut" (notwithstanding the fact that I mentioned it in front of God and all my Facebook-using relatives and friends). I mean, it wasn't even explicit. Everything is just (heavily) implied, but I've never written anything remotely like that so I feel like a regular...uh...I don't even know the names of any erotica authors to put here.
Don't you dare judge me! I can't be responsible for what my characters do when they're stuck on some strange dinosaur-filled planet for who knows how long!
Honestly though, it makes me feel that I just might be growing as a writer. Next goal: develop the intestinal fortitude to kill off a main character. Not in this book, though. The very thought makes me want to cry.
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| A winner is me (2009 edition) |
[30 Nov 2009|08:51am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 accomplished |
] |
I feel like I've just finished a marathon, and in a way I have.
The novel isn't done yet, and may not get done by midnight (the deadline), but I am so freaking excited to have made it to 50k words for the second year in a row that I'm going to get all mushy for a second.
Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) zhie, the Municipal Liaison for the Milwaukee area (a.k.a. the person who organizes write-in nights, encourages us, and helps make us a community instead of just a bunch of randoms who happen to live in the same city and are doing NaNoWriMo.) I don't know how you do it, but you manage to make NaNo a positive and fun experience for everyone. You're the best!
Thanks to yomiminamino for being so much fun to joke around with at write-ins. You are a riot! Thanks to stargurl9 too, for your compliments (both last year and this year) about the sections of my writing you manage to sneak a peek at, and as a result making me feel like I'm not half bad at this "writing" thing. :-)
Thanks to Kevin for putting up with a wife who spent a huge chunk of her free time in the past month writing instead of doing things around the house. And also for putting up with me the other 11 months of the year I'm playing WoW or doing other hobbies instead of doing stuff around the house. ;-)
Thanks to my brother Ross for taking an interest in my novel and helping me with brainstorming some dinosaur ideas. Now help me think of a better title than "Dino Planet." :-D
Finally, thanks to all my family and friends who can't comprehend why I do things like this but encourage me and listen to me prattle on about it anyway. :-)
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| I am remiss as an author |
[23 Nov 2009|04:02pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 sore |
] |
Not word-count wise; I'm sitting pretty at 36,747 words, which is right on track. No, I've been remiss because my characters have been stuck on this dinosaur planet for several (in-novel) days now, and yet I've made no mention of the mens' beards. Bad writer, bad.
Last Thursday, Kevin and I (*cough*FINALLY*cough) purchased a dresser and matching nightstands for our bedroom. Yesterday he circumvented the $90 delivery fee by renting a truck from the Home Depot instead and bringing them home himself. He was able to carry the one nightstand in himself (the other wasn't in stock but should be here in a few weeks.) The dresser...well that was interesting.
( To keep a long story long... )
My legs are looking pretty busted up right now; in addition to getting my right ankle caught behind the dresser, my left calf has a nice bruise on it from when I hit it with the corner of the car door last week (because apparently I forgot how to exit a car completely before shutting the door. I blame it on Kevin, who at the time of the incident was asking me a stupid question about why I need a knitting bag separate from my purse.) Then today, I was out by a machine at work and I was squeezing behind a guy to get past him and at that very moment he stepped back and bruised my left ankle with his shoe. Also I have a bruise on my left shin that I can't remember the origin of. *sigh*
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| Oh yes |
[18 Nov 2009|12:10pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
contemplative |
] |
I'm about 100% positive I'm going to buy this shirt right here:
NaNoWriMo is going really well. I don't know if I had a breakthrough or something yesterday, or if it was just that I left the TV off, but I managed to cruise through my daily quota by like 9:15. I kept writing till about 9:30 to get ahead a little ways, leaving off at about 29,000. The goal for tonight is 30,000 and I don't think that'll be a problem.
Last night while I was writing I listened to the Final Fantasy X soundtrack and so help me, I started to grieve for my old beloved video games that have fallen to the wayside since I started playing WoW. I think after NaNo is done, I'm going to keep my WoW playing down so I can start playing other games again. Yeah I know, the only thing that can possibly motivate me to cut back on my WoW time is the desire to play other video games, pathetic! (There's a good chance my WoW playing would have dipped once Final Fantasy XIII comes out anyway, so yeah.)
I think I'm also finally yearning to start listening to music other than Rammstein again (or at least add some other stuff in to the daily Rammstein rotation. :-P) I might get some Radiohead (I've never actually owned any of their albums, only downloaded The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A) and some old-school Alice In Chains (another band I've always liked but for some reason never bought their stuff.)
Still keeping up with running, sort of. Ever since DST ended I can't seem to find the motivation to go out in the dark after work, but for the past two weekends Kevin and I went out both Saturay and Sunday, so at least it's something. This past weekend we drove over to Greenfield Park to run, which was a nice change of scenery and gave me some novel inspiration (if I pretended the noise of the squirrels running around in the dry leaves was actually dinosaurs. ;-)
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|
| Some of the highlights |
[11 Nov 2009|08:40am] |
- It is apparently impossible (granted, my sample size is only two) for me to write a novel in which the two main characters do not end up together. Also my novel is quickly becoming a total rip-off of Jurassic Park and Aliens.
- I had a terrible day at work Friday, but then I received a voicemail from my brother asking if "any of your dinosaurs [in the novel] are going to have supernatural powers. I was just doing a little brainstorming," and I couldn't help but laugh. Thanks for (unwittingly) cheering me up, Ross. BTW, I'd be open to some supernatural-appearing powers if some kind of at least pseudo-scientific explanation can be given for them.
- Also Friday, Kevin and I went out to dinner with our friend Cynthia and her new husband Andrew, and had a very nice time. It turns out Andrew was on the track team with my brother and my sister-in-law at Whitewater. Small world!
- We finally returned Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to Netflix, and Sunshine is on its way. My DBZ music video is on hiatus while NaNoWriMo is going on. Also I have an idea for a Xenosaga Music video (about Albedo of course) also set to Rammstein music. What a geek.
- Also on hold till the end of NaNo: Top Secret Web Project II, trying to get the Insane title in WoW, keeping the house clean, writing LJ entries that don't use the word "novel."
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| "You've gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket." |
[02 Nov 2009|01:20pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
happy |
] |
Friday night was the NaNoWriMo kick-off party at the MATC south campus library. It was cool, a lot more people there than I thought there would be. We ate treats, played some games, and had an overall good time. Good job zhie and whoever else helped organize it!
Saturday I played some WoW, trick-or-treating every hour in a last ditch effort to get the Hallowed Helm and Sinister Squashling for the Hallowed title, which I ended up failing at. :-( Oh well. I handed out candy to (real life) trick-or-treaters from 1-3, but we only had a handful of them so I had too much candy left over.
Saturday night I put my Waldo costume back on and went to zhie's Halloween party, which was a very fun time. Since so many of us from the writing group were there, at midnight the laptops came out and we started typing away on our novels! I got about 300 words down and then decided to go home.
Sunday I loafed around in the morning playing a little more WoW. Since I was still bummed about Hallow's End, I decided to level my rogue Adrial instead of playing my main. I also created a new character: a Tauren druid named Buttercup. LOL. I'm having fun playing other classes for now.
I went to my parents' house for the Packer game and my mom's birthday. I brought flowers and a card; my brother and sister-in-law brought flowers, a balloon, and a giant cookie just to outdo me. (Just kidding, that wasn't their intent.) We watched the game while I worked on my novel.
Afterwards, we were flipping through channels and TMNT was on Cartoon Network. We started reminiscing about the old movies and my brother couldn't remember who Casey Jones was. o_o *facial twitch* Obviously I could not let this stand, so I marched into the family room, dug through piles of VHS tapes in the cabinets, found the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and made them watch it with me. Hahaha. That was a great way to finish out the evening. I freaking love that movie. It's my standard answer to "What movie would you take with you to a desert island" scenarios.
I worked on my novel a little more when I got home. I ended up at about 2000 words, so a little ahead of schedule on the first day! I doubt I'll keep that pace up during the week, though. Also, my dad decided to do NaNoWriMo too! Hehe. He was actually outpacing me last night! So that's cool.
Today I brought the leftover Halloween candy to work and now it is gone. Erin's waistline rejoices.
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|
| Where's Erin? |
[30 Oct 2009|02:28pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
happy |
] |
(I'll try to post a better picture later.)
P.S. If you're wondering, that's a slice of pizza to my right.
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| I've been watching more movies than usual lately |
[28 Oct 2009|08:57am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
good |
] |
Let's see, we watched Blade Runner Friday Night, then Saturday night while Kevin was at his parents' house, I watched pretty much all of Alien 3 on AMC (even though we own it on DVD. Kevin's right, it is pretty underrated; sure it's no Alien or Aliens, but it has a gritty interestingness all its own. Also, I would make an awesome film critic with my words of dubious validity like "interestingness".) Then last night we watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. I thought it was pretty good, especially in a nostalgic sense, but ( *****SPOILERS***** )
Overall though I really liked it. Harrison Ford still has some pretty good moves for a guy in his 60s, and so help me but I think Shia LaBeouf is just adorable.
Last night I made a creamy seafood lasagna that would have come together much more quickly if I'd chopped some of the ingredients beforehand. I started a little before 6 and didn't get the lasagna in the oven until 7:15 (so it was ready by about 8:15. Yeah, I'm slow as heck when I cook), but Kevin and I agree it was worth the wait. It was sooooo yummy if I do say so myself (and I do.) I'm excited to eat the leftovers for lunch!
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| I suppose I should put some actual effort in :-P |
[27 Oct 2009|01:28pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 drunk on my love for pumpkins |
] |
Kevin and I discovered that in addition to the one DVD at a time we can get from Netflix, we can also watch certain movies and shows streaming from the Netflix site. SWEET. So Friday night we watched Blade Runner, which I'd never seen before (which is actually pretty pathetic for a self-proclaimed fan of cyberpunk.) Anyway the movie was decent, although it seemed to move a bit slowly for my tastes in some places.
I also noticed they have seasons of Murder, She Wrote available streaming. YES PLEASE.
I cut down quite a bit on my WoW playing over the weekend. I actually managed to get other stuff done, like laundry, grocery shopping, and some general cleaning up around the house. I made a delicious three-bean casserole for dinner Sunday night.
Speaking of dinner, Friday night Kevin and I went out to Louise's after work because we hadn't eaten there in awhile and we were low on food in the house. I got a PUMPKIN MARTINI. For those of you who are just joining us, I have a major obsession with things that taste like pumpkin pie. I squeal aloud when pumpkin latte season starts at the coffee shops and will eat just about anything if the word pumpkin is in it. Anyway, WOW was that a good drink. Spiced rum, pumpkin puree, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. and cinnamon around the rim of the glass. ahgaigkah4ialgijg
I ended up buying a couple cans of pumpkin at the grocery store so they'll be at the ready should the mood strike me to make pumpkin pie or bread or muffins or ice cream or what have you.
YAY PUMPKINS
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|
| Some numbers |
[21 Oct 2009|10:27am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 jubilant |
] |
Price of Rammstein's new album (Deluxe version): $13.99
Number of songs: 16
Times listened to the album: 3 (4th currently in progress)
Socks rocked: 100%
If they set foot anywhere on North American soil for their upcoming tour, I will be there to see them.
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| Well I did it! |
[14 Oct 2009|12:59pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
accomplished |
] |
I went for my first jog last night with my new running shoes. Overall I really only did 2.5 minutes of jogging: a 10 minute warm-up walk, then 30 seconds of jogging alternated with 3 minutes of walking for 15 minutes, then a 10 minute cool-down walk. I'm following a plan in this book my aunt lent me. Over the next 30 days I'll be gradually reducing my walking time to 30 seconds between the 30 second jogging spurts.
I was so proud of myself for going out despite the chilliness that I came home and (after stretching of course) played WoW for 3 hours. Baby steps, ok?
I am dying (DYING, I tell you) to make Pioneer Woman's tres leches cake, but there is no way Kevin and I should be eating that whole thing by ourselves. (Darn you Jimmy for introducing me to that blog!) I think maybe that'll be my contribution to the department Christmas party this year.
Last night I made a delicious linguine with red clam sauce. I should start taking pictures of all these meals I've been making, but unfortunately my presentation AND photography skills suck. Rest assured, it was yummy.
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| WHY must I be so impulsive? |
[13 Oct 2009|08:57am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
crazy |
] |
Yesterday on the way home from work, I was listening to the WoW: Burning Crusade soundtrack (I swear lately it's like an IV drip between my WoW jags), which was a rare departure from my daily driving-home-from-work Rammstein marathon. Suddenly an absurd idea popped into my head.
Rammstein's new CD comes out in nine days, I thought. Wouldn't it be a hoot if I abstained from listening to any Rammstein until then? I have no idea what put such a stupid notion in my head, but I made the critical error of casually mentioning it to Kevin after I picked him up. Weary as he is of listening to angry German metal on the ride home, as well as my blatant sexual attraction to the lead singer, Kevin thought this was a FANTASTIC idea, so I made it official (which pretty much just entailed me saying "Ok I guess it's official.")
Less than 8 hours into my Rammstein fast, I was asleep and dreaming that I went to my parents' house for a family gathering and (for some inexplicable reason) they had Rammstein music playing. "Oh no, I'm not supposed to be listening to them till the new CD comes out!" I thought. "Oh well, I guess technically this isn't cheating since THEY put it on, not me."
Kevin thinks I am insane. I tend to agree.
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| Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed |
[12 Oct 2009|08:55am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
excited |
] |
Forgive me for my silence, I've been feeling pretty blah about blogging lately. (To those of you who are [rightly] thinking that a week-long absence is nothing new for me--shut up! :-) Not just writing in my own journal; I've been pretty silent in my favorite communities too. I still read them, I just never have anything to say.
Anyway, today I have plenty to say. Where to start? Last Thursday was my monthly anime meetup which (true to form) I hadn't been to in about three months. I'm really glad I went; afterwards a bunch of us went out to Buffalo Wild Wings (henceforth referred to as "BW3"; don't ask me where the 3 comes from. That's just how it is) because it was the group organizer Doc's birthday. What a great time we had.
[EDIT: Upon re-reading this, I realized I never again referred to BW3 in this entry, making the above parenthetical totally useless. Well, BW3 BW3 BW3 BW3. There we go.]
Back when I first started going to the group in 2005, it was about 4 of us or so that would get together at Barnes and Noble and just sit around chatting, because we didn't have anywhere to watch anime. Four years later, we now meet in a media room at the West Allis library, the usual turnout is around 15-ish, and we (gasp) actually watch anime. Unfortunately that means we don't chat as much as we used to, so it was really nice to go out and just shoot the breeze for awhile. We were talking about having more "after-anime" gatherings in the future; I hope we follow through on it.
I played so much WoW this weekend it was shameful. I think I should make my shame public to help prevent it from happening again, don't you?
Friday: 7:30 PM to 1:00 AM
Saturday: 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM, 9:30 PM to 1:30 AM (yes that is 10 hours, thanks for counting)
Sunday: 1:30 PM to 2:00 PM (yes I actually logged off after only half an hour!), 8-ish PM to 10-ish PM.
I really, really need to not spend 18 hours of my weekend playing WoW. I swear that doesn't happen every weekend (or at least, it's usually spread out a little more evenly. :-P)
Anyway the reason I signed off at 2 PM yesterday was that Kevin and I went out to buy me some running shoes. Yes, I plan to start running. Being in San Diego and seeing about 5,390,847,121 runners and joggers made me want to get in better shape through the ancient art of moving forward through space moderately faster than normal. So, one expensive pair of shoes later (a small price to pay to not wreck my feet, knees, back, and ambition) I'm ready to go!
Oh I should mention (for the sake of trying to deny I may have a problem) that Saturday between my WoW binges I made sausage lentil soup from scratch and also brownies from scratch. (No box mix here; I'm talking flour, sugar, baking chocolate, baking soda, eggs, the whole shebang!) The soup was delicious and the BROWNIES WERE AWESOME. Seriously, I may never make baked goods from a box again. (Actually I've been wanting to start making more things from scratch anyway, so yay.)
Yesterday I also finally did some work on Top Secret Web Project #2. I think I need to buy a book on HTML and CSS.
OK THE END.
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