For those of you who like your horror squamous, rugose and tentacley, full of blasphemous, unnameable terrors, I've just written a new article for io9.com on the intersection between manga, anime and H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), arguably the 20th century's most influential horror writer. (At least, I obviously like him, I have drawn pages and pages of comics based on his stories...) Behold The Long Tentacle of H.P. Lovecraft!

Mail Call
miyuki_mina, your card and letter arrived, thank you! ramble_corner, thank you for the book! ♥ *snuggles*

Remembering Kouhaku
I was watching Kouhaku Uta Gassen and I heard 河内おとこ節 by 中村-san (I can't pronounce her first name--Miriko?) It reminded me so much of Shohei doing this song so many times at karaoke--and boy, he could give Nakamura a run for her money there! I hope he's doing well in Kyoto. He said he would be coming to Tokyo some time this year--can't wait to do some karaoke with him!

Google Phone
Google just introduced its Nexus One. Dammit, touch screen keyboard. T_T Still, unlocked means you can choose your favorite provider... and change SIM cards on the go. I can see using it with a prepaid Softbank account... ^_^ Too bad those accounts don't allow you to use 3G services. Anyway, if it's a touch screen keyboard, it's really just the same as the iPhone to me. *frown* Looks like the Blackberry Bold 9700 is still my target phone for the foreseeable future.

Saints
Still on top of the league, but ever since they lost to Dallas they haven't won anything and they're now at 13-3. (WTF, Tampa Bay has a 0.188 win percentage and is at the bottom of NFC South--HOW did you lose to them, Saints?) T_T Come on, Saints, start marching! *beats a drum*

No More Writing?
Studying for the JLPT 2 (the new one, not the old one), so I guess there is to be no more writing for the foreseeable future, at least until I think I'm ready for the test. I don't have the confidence to go for JLPT 1, but JLPT 3 is pretty useless for anything practical in Japan, I've found. ^_^; [ETA: Ironically, JLPT 2 test papers are easier than JLPT3 test papers. Why does everything on the JLPT 3 test have to be in hiragana? *scowls* Kanji section took me less than 3 minutes to do, but everything else took longer than I think they should have.]

For those who don't follow my twitter feed or know otherwise, my grandmother is passing away. ( cut for details )

Having moved the futon downstairs, I’ve re-discovered how not-very-comfortable it is to actually sit in. The slant is just too great, making it difficult to get out of. So I was thinking that getting some foamcore wedges to stuff into it might help, and lo, Mom’s got foamcore she cannibalized from a couch. Ted, armed with a saw, is going to cut the chunks into diagonals and we’ll insert them into the downward-slanting seat. There was one that had been whacked apart a bit already, so it was used as a test piece, and I b’lieve it’s going to work. That’ll be *excellent*.

And speaking of excellent, Ted went forth to do grocery shopping today and returned with half a dozen bright red throw pillows which match the red doors on the new shelving unit very nicely, so now there are accent pieces and (more importantly) pillows to lean against the hard wood futon arms. (For the pedants in the audience, yes, he also returned with the groceries. Sheesh.) He has been an utter hero of the revolution. <3

Book: going well, in the sense of having reached 40K words on it. Not so well in the sense of being convinced it's a piece of utter crap, but that's pretty much par for the course, so everything's probably fine with it. (No need for reassurance here. This is just part of the process.)

Um, let's see. The LJ community Crowdfunding/crowdfunding is accepting nominations for their first annual crowdfunded art projects; Bryant has been kind enough to nominate “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”, the Old Races novella I did last summer as a crowdfunding/direct market/sustainable income model project. As it happens, “Hot Time” will be up for sale again for the month of February, and I’ve put up a more extended teaser for it in the meantime. More on that in February, obviously, when I shall encourage everybody who hasn’t to buy a copy and, er, to vote for “Hot Time” in the Crowdfunding awards. :)

The Road Home: miles to Isengard: 23.8
ytd km swum: 2
ytd wordcount: 10,400

(x-posted from the essential kit)

Oh F. On the plus side, at least I'm writing fiction again.

In an unrelated note, I was listening to the third episode commentary of Generation Kill, the one with Stark Sands (AKA Nate Fick). At one point he was talking about how great it was to have the real Nate Fick to call up and answer any questions he had. Stark mentioned this one time he called up Nate Fick and was questioning him on how he and the real Brad Colbert communicated, what their language was like around each other.

And Fick replied that he and Colbert talked a bit informally, but most of their communication was silent, that they talked through their eyes, when they looked at each other. And Stark goes on to say he was relieved to hear that, because that's exactly what he and Alex Skarsgard (the guy who plays Colbert) do.

O.M.G. That's like, three levels of slash, right there. The real life Fick and Colbert, the miniseries version of Fick and Colbert and then the actors, Stark and Alex. See, this is why I love GK fandom. It has shit like this. Love.

ETA: And just because revolutionaryjo had a good idea: What I Got Fannish About in 2009 or, My 2009 Fannish Roundup!!!

Fast and Furious
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Crusoe
Kings
Robin Hood BBC
The Covenant
American Idol S7&8
Popband slash
Generation Kill

Heh, that's a nice end to the season.

Aromatherapy
The humidifier is a cool mist humidifier, which means it can also be used as an aroma diffuser, so I went hunting online. It is really difficult to find jasmine essential oil on Rakuten; most of the listings are for other oils entirely (which begs the question: why are they showing up in a search for "エッセンシャルオイル ジャスミン"?) $12 for 1ml! Good thing I'm buying 10ml instead; the price drops to $6 that way. I would like an expensive scent. *winces*

Still, with antidepressant properties etc, I'm not sure I can afford not to use this, especially considering the breakdown I had last night. Doug puts up with far more than anyone else I know, poor thing. I'll wait until he wakes up from his nap and then ask him if he's interested in this.

Whoops, work time.

ETA: Uh-oh--the paper on my closet doors are beginning to warp with the humidity. Have I mentioned how much I hate Japanese-style rooms? Stupid washitsu.

I reached the 33% point of WORLDBREAKER yesterday, which puts the 50% mark within reach this week, as long as I get at least 3300 words a day in. Today, thanks to a proper early start (10:20am, which in turn is thanks to going to the gym before 8, so I’m up and functional and ready to /go/ by 10am), I got in 3800 words. I am very, very pleased. Wiktory! (now I just have to do that four more times this week. :))

Meantime, rachelcaine, who really does, I swear, make my writing speed look like that of an absolute piker, is about 10K behind me on a book of the same length, and posting her wordcount, which will help keep the competitive spirit alive in me as much as the word wars do.

Speaking of word wars, since it’s a new year, let me plug them again! Most days, myself and several other writers can be found participating in a chat-room-based ‘war’ (located here). The purpose of the war room is the competitive spirit: we log in, write for half an hour, come back to report our wordcount, take a short break, and do it again. The ‘winner’ gets everyone’s admiration for a couple minutes, but the purpose isn’t so much winning as getting words on the page. Nor is the purpose of the room to chat. It’s much more an anti-chat room: we’re supposed to be working, and most of the time, we do. So people looking for writing incentive can join us. The war room website is at toonowrimo.livejournal.com, and usually somebody posts to say “I’m in” once we, y’know. Are in. :)

Let’s see. Oh! I just got confirmation that TRUTHSEEKER and WORLDBREAKER will be released in trade paperback, not mass market, and that TRUTHSEEKER’s release date is August 31, 2010.

And…*stares at a wall* There was something else. Something book-related. Uhm. Argh. Um. It wasn’t that “From Russia, With Love” is eligible for a Hugo this year, although it is, if anyone would like to nominate and vote for it. Um.

It…oh. It was that I have to do at least an hour’s worth of work on copyedits tonight. Gosh. No wonder I didn’t want to remember that. :)

We were in fact good humans and got up and went to the gym this morning. There were no Resolutions there, a fact which surprised me until Ted pointed out the weather is bitter (certainly by the Irish definition of bitter; mostly I’ve been finding it brisk, rather than bitter :)) and the roads very bad (which is absolutely true). Furthermore, the weather and roads are expected to be like this for at *least* another week, possibly two…which makes me think that there may be no Resolutions at the gym this year. Most people crap out within the first two or three weeks anyway, and having the country frozen over during those first two or three weeks may put the kibosh on all the good intentions. I guess we’ll see, and in the meantime I’ll be grateful for not having to share my lane. :)

The Road Home: miles to Isengard: 22
ytd km swum: 1
ytd wordcount: 7,100

(x-posted from the essential kit)

I recently finished the cover for Astronaut Down's upcoming album, Moths To The Flame. It will be available on iTunes by January -- details to be announced as I receive them.

Moths To The Flame
Acrylic and Digital | BUY PRINT

The concept was pretty straightforward, harking to the album's title. Simultaneously, the client also expressed a desire to see a girl amidst an oppressive, scary environment -- with only a flame keeping the darkness at bay.

The flame is subtly drawn to evoke the shape of a phoenix -- a personal symbol I incorporated, and felt it wove into the evocation of the Dark Night of the Soul and consequent rebirth.

( Click here for sketches, process, and details! )

The first day back from a vacation and already I’m looking at the pile of work in front of me and feeling like…oh, weeping would be an alternative, wouldn’t it? No, of course not. And besides, I worked all the way through vacation, so it’s not so bad. True, I did put some things on the docket for the first week back because, well, it was supposed to be the holidays. So, today and tomorrow are for short stories and wordcount.

Since it is the first day back, I should take this opportunity to answer a few questions. Yes, I do read all the mail my Readers send me. I can only respond via email rarely. If enough people ask a question, I answer it here or put it on the FAQ.

Let’s see:

* A few of you asked when the next Jill Kismet is out. I don’t know precisely yet. I do know that it’s in the revision process, and as soon as I have more concrete information I’ll update the site and announce it. Fear not, there are two more Jill books forthcoming.

* Many of you are intrigued by the words “Latin self-study”. It’s like juggling more chainsaws; I’ve had some luck with it but not much. More than finding a Latin class in my area that doesn’t require an hour of driving either way, that’s for sure. For those of you interested, I recommend Wheelock’s, and also Artes Latinae. Rosetta Stone also has a good program, if a bit spendy.

* Loyal reader TP recently asked this very interesting question:

Why read at readings? Yes, the name of the event answers the question but really, why is it that you, or any other author, must read passages from the book (doesn’t it get boring?)? I have always thought that reading a book is immersing oneself into a new universe but seen and heard through the filter of one’s own mind. Hearing the author reading does neither good nor ill to that universe, I just haven’t found that it adds much to it (then again, I have gone to perhaps only 4 in my life, one in which the author didn’t read but just talked to and with us). From your end, as the author, does reading passages do something for both you and your interaction with the audience that I’m missing?

The short answer: I don’t know, I do what the bookstores (who are kind enough to invite me) ask me to do.

The longer answer: I think it does add something, and I’ve been asked by fans to read a certain chapter and do a podcast. (When I get a microphone, editing software, and some time, yeah. I love you guys, but the actual writing comes first.) Yes, reading the book invites you into the universe the writer has created, you can experience it through the filter of your own mind. On the other hand, your experience of that universe can be deepened and enriched by hearing where the author places emphasis. I’ve had people tell me they came away with a new understanding after listening to me read, especially from the Valentine books. (Hearing me “channel” Japh’s sardonic, flat tone is apparently hilarious.)

Then again, I enjoy reading aloud. I’ve done it a lot and sometimes I’ll read a sentence aloud a few times to get a handle on emphasis and pace. Being taught to stop at punctuation marks and to look for the natural “breathing points” in poetry or lines delivered onstage is far from the worst experience one can have when looking for hitches in the smooth reel of the written word.

Oddly enough, the things I’m most asked at events are either spoileriffic, or about aspects of the world I’ve thought about but couldn’t cram in the books because of space considerations, or about the act of writing itself. I think a lot of people view writing as a sort of Black Arte and are looking for the turn. The actual process is fascinating. It just becomes normal when one does it every day.

Hm. Long answer is long. But I found it a very, very interesting question. I’ve fallen into doing readings because bookstores ask me to, and I’ve found I enjoy them a bit. Except for the parts where I want to pause and correct/revise something on the page. ARGH.

And that’s all that I’m fit to blog today. I have a hot date with breakfast and some coffee, since I’m up anyway. Good luck out there.

Posted from A Fire of Reason. You can also comment there.

It's about that time!

( Cut for length )

eurohybrid62 posted the facts about his own perspective on anime, as someone who's been in the fandom a few years and is beginning to be in the position of offering suggestions to his friends and more concrete opinions on why he likes or dislikes a particular series. The post made me think more closely about some of my own opinions, and I thought I might just type them out and share them, as much for my own benefit as for others (so they can know what the hell I'm thinking when I seem to come out of left field when praising or dissing a particular series).

( This got really wordy really quickly. )

I'm not positive that there's a lot more I can say about myself. I really just enjoy anime as a fandom because I like animation in general, and because of Japan's tendancy to make so much of it it's one of the only avenues I have where I can get a constant stream of animated stories, many of which are actually aimed at my demographic to some extent. Now, to go watch some :)

Ted’s been doing a lot of big gwurk around the house the past few days. Our Ikea stuff arrived on the 31st, so he put together a new block shelf set, which has replaced one standard bookcase and one small in the living room, and a tall partially glass-doored cabinet/shelf, which has replaced another standard and small bookcase in the kitchen. The smallest bookcase ended up in the hall, replacing a third standard sized one, which has reduced the visual impact in the hall by about 300%.

He moved the futon from the room we call the Back Forty because of its preposterous size into the living room, moved the double bed from one end of the Back Forty to the other, and put one of the chairs from the living room, all three standard bookcases, and the last smaller bookcase, into the half of the Forty left empty by the bed. Next week, after the bike tent has arrived so the bikes can go live outdoors instead of in the computer room, he plans to also move the computer into the Back Forty, and at some point we’ll get a small sewing table for me to put in there. The Back Forty will then become the guest/computer room, finally utilizing the space which we’ve had for 18 months and almost never used.

He’s moved the larger chunk of his cookbooks to the Back Forty shelves, where they’ll be available to peruse while sitting at the computer. He tightened all the kitchen table bolts so it’s no longer wobbly, and swung it around so it’s lengthways when you come into the kitchen/dining room, making the room seem much bigger. He put the wellwall-hung spice rack, which I bought him four years ago for Christmas, up, and filled it with spices, which emptied out an entire cupboard shelf and created room to move things from the counter into shelving. He moved all the crystal wine glasses and beautiful Venetian colored glass water glasses into the glass-doored cabinet, so they’re both displayed and easily available for actual use. He cleaned the kitchen within an inch of its life, and has done the same to the adjoining laundry room.

He also tightened up the coffee table bolts, so it’s no longer in danger of rocking apart. He took things from the coffee table and secreted them behind the Red Doors in the new block shelves. He moved the remaining bookshelf to the other end of the room and put the CD racks where the shelves had been. He boxed up the books to bring to Chapters. He went through at least one box of Junk and threw most of it away. He sorted unused shoes and no-longer-wanted clothes and boxed them to take to a charity shop. He has plans to sort through the enormous number of dead electronics, useless cables, and random boxes to score what’s necessary to keep and to throw the rest away. The extraneous computer desk is to be disassembled and binned. TV on DVD which we’ve watched will go upstairs to live on the Back Forty Shelves, as will many of the books.

And he noticed that the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice was on TV all afternoon today, and told me so that I could record it, ’cause I’ve never seen it.

During all of this, I wrote about 5000 words and looked very admiring at him.

(x-posted from the essential kit)

Braaaaaiins
My job chews me up and spits me out in a lifeless lump every day. Then I drag myself home somehow, plop myself in front of a screen, and stare mindlessly. I don't read everything and I miss things in people's blog posts or articles because my brain just doesn't have enough power for me to focus on anything after work; let's not even talk about writing. Something has to change.

Purikura
We managed to grab all six purikura via infrared (I like that machine! ♥). Taken with doubt72 and ka0richan, all are on Facebook but here are two highlights:

Absolutely hilarious--I died when I saw what ka0richan had done with this one.


This is now my cellphone wallpaper!

Found on the Internet
Book porn. Don't let the article fool you--this is entirely safe for work. ♥ In other news, I'm not sure ontogenesis would approve of this fish tank. Finally, Akinator guessed Jack Sparrow, Lara Croft, and Doug right on the first try, but failed to find Teddy Ruxpin on the first try. Doug thought of Muad'dib (Paul Atreides, from Dune), and Akinator failed completely (three wrong answers).

I have many pictures I need to post. A track meet, a marathon, random things from the phone.

Perhaps Monday. Probably not today.

Also, friending a few people that I met recently through februaryfour. Although I'm not so active on LJ these days. A bit more active on Facebook.

Know what my resolution last year was? To floss. It was probably the most achievable resolution I’ve ever set, and indeed, I achieved it. I established a habit which had escaped me through ten or more years of vaguely feeling it should be a habit.

Sadly, I can’t think of anything as absolutely simple and achievable for the upcoming year. I can think of plenty of things I’d like to do. Exercise, for example, that perennial resolution. Well, the taxi in the morning plan works brilliantly, so I don’t see that as being so much of a difficulty. Not quite sure utilizing somebody else’s arrival on the doorstep to make myself get up and exercise exactly counts as resolutionary type behavior, though. Smart, yes, resolutionary, eh, not so much.

Other things I’d like to do, without any particular expectation of *doing* them:

- study Spanish
- finish redesigning kitsnaps and turn it into a commercial site
- figure out how to advertise photography, for that matter
- draw a bit
- eat better (regular exercise tends to make me want to eat better, so the taxi scheme will probably actually help achieve that one)
- start practicing the tin whistle again, now that I’ve thoroughly forgotten anything I’d managed to learn :)
- oh yeah, also learn to knit a little more
- and make at least one of the long coats I have a pattern for

Thing is, though, none of that is stuff I feel like making a resolution about. It just all falls under “it’d be nice,” which is fine. It’s not like resolutions are a critical part of modern life, though if I could think of one as anti-climactic but useful as flossing, I’d probably make it. :)

Anybody out there in readerland made any good resolutions?

(x-posted from the essential kit)

I hope you guys are up for a bit of cuteness today! trapezzoid shot and edited this little look into the life of our new hamster, Baozi (包子, AKA Baobao!).

My plans to return for Detour and CONvergence are on hold until I can figure out if it's worth it to come back to Minnesota. I can't take any more of the two-faced-ness, the backstabbing, the lying, and the drama that happens every time I come home. And clearly there is only one commonality every time I come home, and that's me, so I might have to stay in California for a while.

Please don't give away my spots in your respective rooms until I can figure out what I want to do.

Birthdays
Happy Birthday, axtar!

New Year's Day
Met flonnebonne as she was passing through Tokyo. We caught up over dinner, and she met Doug. ♥ Then Doug and I went to Akihabara and visited Don Quixote. Among other things, we bought two humidifiers (which are still in their boxes) and an electric blanket (which got unpacked immediately).

January 2
Doug and I met ka0richan for lunch (Coco Ichibanya) and then went to hatsumode at Meiji Jingu. Boy was it crowded, even for Jan 2nd. I can't imagine what it was like on New Year's Eve. For perspective, there were police herding us through, and we were encouraged to throw our five-yen coins over people's heads into a huge catchment area (covered with white cloths) instead of the usual slat-top box. Still, we threw our five-yen coins, bought omamori, and then left tthe temple. If it had been a normal day, we might have stuck around to soak up the atmosphere, but today was just a zoo.

After that, we had crepes on Takeshita street, went to Shibuya and did karaoke (after a quick visit to the ATM), and then had dinner at Raj Mahal. We also have some really awesome purikura pictures, but as ka0richan is in them, I probably won't post them unless she says it's cool. ^_^ Missed hanging out with tammaiya, too bad, but oh well--we've already hung out once, so at least we got to meet once during her trip. ^_^ Then Doug, Kaori-chan and I went back to our apartment, where she surfed on our Wifi using her iPhone, and Doug and I played computer games.

iPhone
We may have discovered a way to let Doug get an iPhone 3GS in Japan without paying full fare for it, after all. It has to do with using his health insurance card and student ID as documentation, rather than the gaijin card. Or with my credit card, his health insurance card, and some other ID (eg. gas bills, internet bills, what-have-you). If Doug does get an iPhone 3GS, guess who's inheriting his old phone and switching to Softbank?

A Year of Not Writing
I officially "published" 1100 words in 2009. Considering 2007 was a year that broke 144k words, and 2008 had a somewhat-respectable 36k words, 1k is so horrible I'm really not sure what to say. I suppose life really did get in the way in 2009, huh? ^_^; Let's hope that doesn't happen in 2010 and that I can recover from this. Slowly does it, I guess.

doubt72: I published 300 words in the last decade.
februaryfour: You're not the one who actually wants to write professionally! >_<

ETA: Career
ontogenesis, aishuu, and readerofasaph (there might have been more but I can't remember off the top of my head) have all mentioned I should consider editing as a vocation. It's something to think about and try to work up to, I guess, but it seems as if editors are being laid off left and right in the publishing industry. Bad timing. T_T

ETA: Sleep
Good god, how is it already 3:42am? *beds*

I want to post about 2009 and about my goals for 2010, but instead, I'd like to say this:

Thanks to killercherrypie for being awesome lately.

Also thanks to everyone who's been such fun to see while I've been back. Generally speaking, I've had a really fun time. There have been some bumps here and there, but what road doesn't have bumps on it? Hopefully everything will work out, but for right now, I'm not letting any clouds rain on my parade.

Thanks to belindabird and takuansoho for throwing a really spectacular party last night. We just had a really great group of people and I personally had a really, really fantastic time. It made me really hopeful that 2010 will be an amazing year and I think we rang in the new decade and year splendidly.

Thanks to revolutionaryjo for hosting me a few times for Doctor Who viewings! Star Trek rifftrax was fun tonight, but would have been even moreso had I not stupidly distracted myself with bullshit. Such is my curse!

Anyway, I fly back on Monday. If anyone wants to get together/see me/talk to me/etc, your time is growing short! I plan on being in town for Detour, so I'll be around for that, and the only reason I won't be at CON is if I'm dead. So we all have that to look forward to!