From Cyriak, master of bizarre animations and creepy tunes...

National Geographic is my all-time favorite magazine, and it's one I read every month cover-to-cover, often multiple times. I have an unbroken collection dating back from my preteen days, when one of my grandmothers first gave me a subscription.

I recently found out that National Geographic is now available on DVD-ROM. Every issue from the very beginning back in 1888, including the map supplements. For someone like me, this is not a product, it is a gift from the National Geographic Society. Furthermore, it's not stupidly expensive either. $44.99, and shipping is free if you get it from Amazon. I don't know about you, but I find that price just amazing. I've already ordered one for myself. Merry Xmas, me!

I took the day off today to have my yearly checkups with my GYN and GP. I always schedule them together so I only have to take one day off work (Cobb County public transportation issue, DO NOT ASK.) and so I can say "Um, I just had a pelvic an hour ago, can I forego it here?"

Long story short, I got a clean bill of health for the most part, except the GYN scheduled me for an ultrasound next Thursday 'cause of some recent symptoms and the GP sent me to radiography, where my hands were X-rayed... to check for arthritis.

Arthritis.

Crap on a cracker. I am too young to have arthritis. I do not want arthritis. I do not want to buy arthritis meds. You kids get off my lawn!

Dear hands, you suck.

I've got another manuscript to beat into shape over the next few months. Writing this thing was a bear and I don't want to tackle anything else this big for a while. Time for a silly fanfic meme like this one, which I snagged from beckyh2112:

Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from any fanfic I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, bad jokes, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

I have close to two decades' worth of fic up in The Negapage. It'd be interesting to see if I can remember anything about stuff I wrote that long ago.

Last night was LPP's Halloween show, and it was a good one. Large, lively audience; pretty good cast. I enjoyed it. However, it was the cast's last show. Oh, we may do con shows or next Halloween, and we may put on non-RHPS stuff, but that's pretty much it. Though I haven't been in the center of things for a while, still, I'll miss it. It makes me sad to think that that was likely the last time I'll play Frank.

Work goes well. They're hiring a few new people where I'm doing contract work, which means musical offices, and I ended up in a converted meeting room with a roommate. However, I'm there three days a week, she's there two, and we only have one day in common. Looking at it objectively, it's the best solution I see, but, still... oh well, she seems nice, so I think it'll be fine.

I just finished the first draft of my second Oz manuscript, "Imposters in Oz." Well, more or less finished; I left a few holes where I need to stick in some poetry. Some of it is Scraps's's typical babbling, which isn't too hard to write, but one section requires that I write three spells in succession, and everyone knows magic spells are always cast in rhyming couplets. Rather than let that hold me up I just made notes about what the spells needed to say and moved on. I'm playing with ideas for a third one, which should be a lot lighter and sillier than these first two. Origami with magic paper, the land above the rainbow, hang-gliding on a kite...

I got DDR X-2, and, wow, I have to hand it to Konami. If they wanted to disappoint and tick off PS2 users, they did a top-notch job. The game feels cheap and unfinished for a number of reasons...

• Short song list. PS2 DDR mixes have had 70-75 songs; this one has 62.
• Six of those are Challenge-only songs. If you're a lower-level player they might as well not exist for you.
• Loads of songs that have already been on PS2 DDRs. Let the Beat Hit 'Em, Love is Orange, Baile la Samba, Hysteria,Tierra Buena, Un Deux Trois... Come on, Konami, you have plenty of other songs that we want, don't shovel these rehashes at us.
• The title screen and some other screen lack background music. That's kind of eerie, and makes it look unfinished.
• Dice Master Mode is the most tedious and frustrating unlock mode I've seen in any DDR mix. Skip it entirely and just play the regular game. You'll unlock everything that way eventually.
• The game is also known to frequently crash during Dice Master Mode. EPIC FAIL.
• The game was marketed as a bundle only, at bundle prices. You can't buy the game by itself. I have good RedOctane Ignitions; what do I need a cheap floppy pancake pad for?
• Some of the licenses are just ridiculous. Ice Ice Baby? Oh, come on. That song is crap, and boring to dance to.
• A lot of the songs have Challenge levels. Yay! Most of the Challenge levels are just easy charts with DDRX's "shock arrows" thrown in. Blah. I want the Challenge level to contain challenging steps, not lazy crud like this.

On the plus side, there are some good songs and wicked charts - but there's just so much dumb crap in the game. Konami should have known better.

I bought purple cauliflower today. I don't even like cauliflower that much, but, see, it's PURPLE. Those who know me don't have to ask. Drown it in butter and it's not too objectionable.

I also recently bought a Snuggie. You know, those blankets with sleeves. Kroger had 'em on a display for $12, and they looked so cozy, but they were PINK. Baby pink. I don't do pink. But they looked cozy... so the next time I looked at the display again, and on the other side I saw that they had leopard and zebra print ones as well. It was all over. And, y'know what, they really are cozy, and the fleece is light enough that you don't get hot and sweaty underneath 'em. It feels positively decadent to loaf around, playing video games, under one of those.

Snagged from beckyh2112:

Post one or more sentences from each of your WIP's because if you do you might be magically inspired to finish them.

One sentence? What fun is that? Here and some big meaty chunks from the two stories I'm actively working on now.

---

A Refugee in Oz
(Status: 98% finished, doing the final round of edits, started on the illustrations)


Scraps burst into the throne room. "Where is he? Where's the Scarecrow?"

Ozma answered gently, "Glinda and the Wizard are trying to save him as we speak."

"Trying to? What good is magic if they don't even know if they can or can't? Where are they?" she shouted wildly.

"They are working. We must-"

"Never mind. You all just keep sitting around in here. I'm going to find him!" She whirled on her heel and started to stalk out. The next moment she found herself on the floor, looking up into the mild face of the Cowardly Lion. "Get off me!" she exclaimed.

The Lion, crouching on the Patchwork Girl to hold her still, said "This will take all of their combined power. If you disturb them you'll break their concentration and disrupt their spells. Let them do their work in peace."

She glared up at the Lion. Grudgingly she said, "All right, I get it."

"If I let you up, you won't disturb Glinda and the Wizard."

"I'll only watch," she promised.

"You will stay here," said the Lion calmly but firmly. "Whether it's under me or not is up to you."

Scraps answered, "All right, all right! I'll stay in here."

The Lion got up onto his feet again. Scraps sat up and glanced down at her body and legs. Her cotton stuffing had been squashed as flat as an old pillow. "Look what you did to me," she accused.

In lieu of an answer the Lion gently took her by the waist in his jaws and, careful not to let his sharp teeth puncture her fabric, shook her like a terrier shakes a rat. When he released her she staggered dizzily, grabbing hold of the Lion's mane to keep herself from falling over. Then she looked down. Her cotton was fluffed out as much as it had ever been. "Thanks," she muttered.

---

Imosters in Oz
(Status: writing the first draft, maybe 25% done on that, the snippet below is very rough)


He glanced around again, and saw that, as people had noticed his presence they had stopped talking among themselves and were watching him expectantly. He felt he owed them, the citizens of Oz who were brave enough to come to the defense of their country, an explanation. The Scarecrow, sensing the moment, patted his back lightly and said encouragingly, "Go ahead, give 'em a word," then stepped back.

The Tin Woodman surveyed the crowd. When he spoke, his voice carried in the quiet, reaching even those camped in the distance. "Ozians, countrymen... friends. This is a time of sorrow, for our fair country, Oz, is once again vulnerable to invasion. Oz has been threatened by forces from outside before, and we have survived and continue to thrive. We even thought that we could make allies of our former enemies, the Nomes. Now I see to my sorrow that we may have been wrong.

"When they invaded Oz, we responded not with reprisals, but with mercy, removing the wickedness from their hearts and sending them back to their home in peace. If our kindness is mistaken for weakness, we must now correct their mistake. We are peaceful, but we are not weak. We know the meaning of duty, to ourselves and to Oz. We will band together and defend our home from the menace of invasion and war."

He lifted his axe above his head; the polished metal glinted bright in the sun. "I have never desired to raise my axe in battle. Yet I will do so, because my duty to you and to all of Oz is more important than my sensibilities. Together we shall oppose them in the fields, in the forests, on the mountains, and we shall never surrender. Oz will never be conquered!"

The cheer was unanimous and deafening. Those who had weapons drew them. Those who had brought whatever tools they had to use in lie of weapons - hoes, shovels, kitchen implements - raised them into the air. The animals roared and brayed.

The cacophony startled the Tin Woodman, who laid down his axe and raised his hands for silence. It took a few minutes for the noise to die down to the point that he could be heard again. When he spoke again he said in a less strident tone, "Do not cheer for battle. It is a terrible, not a glorious thing. For every brave deed done on the battlefield, there is another who suffers for it. To be willing to protect Oz, to defend your country and your countrymen, you must be willing to harden your hearts, to lose your innocence so they may keep theirs." He paused, then continued solemnly. "It is a terrible thing I am leading you into. I ask you to think on it tonight. Go home to your families and those you hold dear.

"Tomorrow at dawn I will be proud and honored to march with all who return."

He turned and, without another word, went back through the gate to the Tin Castle. After a few minutes of respectful silence, his message had sunk in. People began to disperse quietly.

Yesterday was Columbus Day. I was gonna use the holiday to run some errands via bus, as the bus that goes by the farmer's market does not run on the weekends, so I have to walk 3 extra miles to get there on weekends, and half of that is lugging heavy groceries. Anyway, yay for Columbus Day!

I woke up yesterday to the sound of torrential rain. So much for running errands. So much for setting foot outside at all. Snarl.

However, I want my persimmons and purple sweet potatoes and sukiyaki meat! I decided to go after work. OK, it adds an hour to my commute home - the space between buses - but better that then walking miles. I pack my grocery-sized tote bag in my purse. So what happens? The train comes 10 minutes late, spoiling my connections. I couldn't get home on time in any case.

BUT! The farmer's market is half a mile away from the MARTA station, and I'll happily walk that. So I ambled to the market, did my shopping, crossed the street, and caught the next bus back. If I hadn't gone to the market, I would just have been sitting there waiting for the bus with nothing but a Sherrilyn Kenyon book *gag* to keep me company. Instead, I now have purple and Korean sweet taters and umeboshi and dried persimmons and Mexican zucchini and mirin and a dragon fruit and mochi and other goodies.

After spending a few weeks revising the manuscript for that Oz story I've blogged about a few times before based on comments by a beta-reader, I'm about to send it to the publisher. I've changed the title from "The Benevolent Dictatorship of Oz" to "A Refugee in Oz." I like the first one better for it's snappy smartassery, but I have an idea it wouldn't sell well. Sometimes ya gotta play it safe.

It couldn't hurt my case to send in a few illustrations as well. Not that I think I'm the best illustrator out there, but, well, I've seen the work of some of the others, and, well... never mind.

Anyway, here's a colored version of the one I'm sending in:


Be-Bodied Scarecrow - Color by ~Negaduck9 on deviantART

Of course, I'm sending in the original B&W; the color was just for funsies.

( B&W version and clip from the scene behind this here cut. )

In other news, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, dyeing my hair red, and homemade blue cornbread all rock.

Digital-only preview of Weird Al's next album, expected to be released next year. The songs:

• Whatever You Like (Main Version)
  
• Craigslist
  
• Skipper Dan
  
• CNR
  
• Ringtone

Download download download...

Back in the day, I used to love playing Populous on my Sega Genesis. In that game you are a god, and you command your worshipers and shape their world so they can be fruitful and multiply. Another god is doing the same thing elsewhere, and you have to get your followers powerful enough to defeat his misguided minions. Oh, and you can do miracles, like throwing earthquakes, meteors, volcanoes, and swamps around, and even call armageddon. It was glorious.

I just got Populous for my new DS. My first DS game, so I have to relearn the game while trying to get the hang of the touch screen. But after I went through the tutorial I was using building up huge populations, making leaders, smearing the enemy god's followers with meteors, and giggling evilly. It's as much fun as I remember.