Prairiecrow's InsaneJournal

Just submitted my first piece of artwork to DeviantArt:

http://prairiecrow.deviantart.com/art/The-Captain-s-Cat-Micawber-152882239

Prints available.

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Blizzard day today. A good time to stay home and make bannock and beef stew with bacon.

Dragons.

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That really doesn't require an explanation, does it, folks?

Your result for The Fan Fiction Personality Test...

The Mindgamer

Everything is possible, nothing is ever really over.

Take The Fan Fiction Personality Test at OkCupid

Total December word count on fanfic: 24,161.

Dragons.

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We made it to the 2010's, folks! If that's not something to celebrate, I don't know what is.

(Now where's my flying car and personal rocket pack, dammit... and while you're at it, pick me up one of those spiffy silver jumpsuits we're all supposed to be wearing in the 21st century...)

... who can't get behind what this web page is saying.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

(With many thanks to ms_daisy_cutter, from whom so many good things flow.)

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Merry Christmas to all!

( Mostly accurate... )

Off to the NaNo "Thank God It's Over" party. Taking foccacia bread.

The temperature's not too bad: -9 C, with a windchill of -15. I should be home before it starts to get really dire.

An art book of Chris Baker's work on "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence".

... well, what I really want for Christmas is my very own Gigolo Joe... but since we're not quite there in terms of tech, I'll take the book. Squeeeeeeee! *goes off to write it down on my Christmas wish list for George to go shopping with*

I've downloaded my winner's certificate and everything.

I AM MIGHTY! RAWR!

I'm going to sit down now and type out the last 1000 words I need to win NaNo this year.

But it wouldn't be accurate to say that I'm finishing the book. More precisely, I'm finishing 50,000 words, or about one third of the estimated final total. I haven't even gotten to the road trip portion of the adventure, which is where most of the cool stuff is supposed to happen.

Wish me luck...

I just cracked 49k. Barring a sudden catastrophic case of H1N1, I'll finish tonight or tomorrow morning.

Help hatch this very stubborn little egg?

Just passed the 41k mark in NaNo. I'm about 700 words behind target. Not too much to make up in the next four days.

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Just baked chocolate chip cookies for a friend who's coming over. They're so high in sugar, but they smell soooooo gooooood.

Wrote 5000 words yesterday for NaNo.

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I just found out that the last NaNoWriMo write-in in our city will be happening at our largest public library on the same evening as a Dead Poet's Society reading, to which people are free to bring their favorite poems from deceased authors. Here's the one I'll be bringing... one that always brings a tear to my eye.

************************************

When Earth's Last Picture is Painted
by Rudyard Kipling

When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it -- lie down for an aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew!

And those that were good shall be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets' hair;
They shall find real saints to draw from -- Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!

And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are!

With thanks to silverjackal... Tip Of The Day: Don't use a shovel to try to move a possum, kiddies.

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And please follow the link to click my MagiStream eggs (since they don't provide proper embed coding for LiveJournal)?

http://magistream.com/user/prairiecrow

(Yeah, another clickables game. Just what I need. YAY!)

"What's that screaming sound I hear?"
"The NaNo site is down, my dear!"

... and 157,425 authors suddenly have to go cold turkey. Including yours truly. WAH!

(On the plus side, I wrote almost 2500 words today. On the minus side, my laptop won't connect to the Internet to let me email myself the document so that I can have a copy on the more modern machines in the household. WAH redux!)

You Are a Unique Wedding

For you, love is rare and important. You consider love a gift, and you're know you're lucky for each person in your life who truly loves you. To be unloved would make you feel rejected. You love carefully and deliberately, and you take being loved in return very seriously. Romantic love makes you feel secure and taken care of. You take romantic relationships seriously, even in their early stages. When you're with someone, you tend to quickly build your own little world together. It's likely that outsiders don't truly get your relationships.

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Found via a post on (I believe) dot_pagan_snark...

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog.

Oh, Jesus, I haven't laughed this hard in weeks. I took Middle English in university, and whoever's writing this inspired parody has got it down pat as far as I can tell.

An excerpt from one of the list of Favourite Posts...

Serpentes on a Shippe! (spoylerez)

Al of Londoun ys aflame wyth newes of the grete entertaynment of 'Serpentes on a Shippe,' the which ys perfourmed ech daye by the menne of the gild of beekeeperes (and thus ys ycleped a 'b-movie'). Ich haue just nowe retourned from a trippe to see yt wyth Litel Lowys and Tommy Vske. Whan ich was ther, Tommy founde for me a copye of the romaunce in fyve chapteres on whiche the performaunce ys based, and Ich shal pooste yt heere for yower redyge. (This writer hath a verye good style - ich am reallye jealous. Oon daye, peraventure, ich shalle write sum thyng of Arthur; and yet, the matir of Troye hath alwey ben easier for me.)

Spoyler alert: If ye haue nat yet sene the performaunce of 'Serpentes on a Shippe,' rede nat of the romaunce, for it doth telle of the manye suprises and straunge eventes that happen in the course of the storye, and thus it mayhap shall lessen yower enjoiement of the performaunce yt self.

...

*wipes eyes*

Maybe you have to be an English major to appreciate it.

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WOW.



( Two more behind the cut )

Yes indeed... back before "Photoshop" was even a gleam in the eyes of the future, it took real painterly talent to create a good movie poster. I stand in awe.

Ended up going to the Keycon Halloween social last night, at the last minute and on the spur of the moment. It started with me going to the Games Day associated with the social, and which took place in the afternoon. When I got to the Legion where it was being held, I found six people already engrossed in a game -- and a huge room otherwise empty except for L.A., who was laying out decorations to put on the walls. I ended up going out with her to pick up pushpins and raffle tickets, lunch at Subway, and the meat order for the social from Cantor's (best meats in Winnipeg!) So I didn't get any gaming done, but I did help set up the hall for the social that evening.

For those of you who aren't from Manitoba, a social is an event where you rent a large hall, get a DJ, and sell tickets, usually $10 each, for an evening's worth of talking and dancing. Long tables are set out with chairs and provided with munchies like potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn. There's a cash bar and another long table set with silent auction prizes (usually huge themed gift baskets, although last night's offerings also included a gorgeous sword). And at midnight there's a buffet with lunch meats, rye bread, cheese, condiments, and more chips.

Last night's music was picked to appeal to the older Keycon crowd: "The Time Warp", "Rasputin", "Doctor in the TARDIS", "Rock Lobster", etc. I only danced once (gotta watch that heart rate still), but I spent a wonderful evening chatting with old friends I've lost touch with and really only see at Keycon. What convinced me to attend, in spite of needing to get work done at home? My friend Tracy B, who wandered into the Games Day toward the end, saw me, and wheedled me into coming out that evening. She even drove me home so I could take my Metamucil, drove me back to the hall, then drove me home again at midnight. What a princess!

( Pictures under the cut )

From the real to the virtual... dragons.

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You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

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THIS is what you support.

(With thanks to ms_daisy_cutter, who brought it to my attention via her blog.)

George's surgery went fine. He's already almost fully recovered, with no need to take even a single T3. His pain threshold must be astronomically high...

Dragons, then off to work.

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All free libraries in Philadelphia to close October 2nd 2009.

All Free Library of Philadelphia Customers,

We deeply regret to inform you that without the necessary budgetary legislation by the State Legislature in Harrisburg, the City of Philadelphia will not have the funds to operate our neighborhood branch libraries, regional libraries, or the Parkway Central Library after October 2, 2009.

Specifically, the following will take effect after the close of business, October 2, 2009:

All branch and regional library programs, including programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults, will be cancelled
All Parkway Central Library programs, including children programs, programs to support small businesses and job seekers, computer classes and after school programs, will be cancelled. We are exploring the possibility of relocating the Philadelphia Author Series programs to other non-library facilities.
All library visits to schools, day care centers, senior centers and other community centers will cease.
All community meetings at our branch and regional libraries, and the Parkway Central Library, will be cancelled.
All GED, ABE and ESL programs held at Free Library branches will be discontinued, students should contact their teacher to see if other arrangements are being made.

Just... outrageous. And horrible. And a tragedy for the city's poor. If the State Legislature fails to pass funding legislation to keep the libraries open, that would pretty clearly demonstrate that the needs of the general public mean nothing to them.

(With thanks to ms_daisy_cutter for bringing this to my attention.)

( My Interests Collage! )

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