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Welcome to Earth!

Yesterday was a fine day, just fine. Went up to a park at 10:30, selected numerous vegetables. Fed my aching body a Chinese food breakfast-- fresh off the wok. Went to the gym & lifted some weights: another hour & a half. Not unproud of that. Then! A text message telling me all previous intelligence was invalid, & that the Jenny Lewis show was...pronto! Hopped in the shower, scrub a dub dub, met up with Peter & zoom! Off to the races. "Hey, do you actually know how to get to Battery Park?" I asked on the train, "because I was just heading to where Carla used to live in Battery Park City; it ought to be near there, right?" Between Peter & I we found it without too much ado, & nice walk along the piers lining the Hudson river, to boot. The set-up in the park was kind of annoying-- there was only one entrance to the show & you had to weave through a labyrinth to get there; but you had to find start of the maze, which was the tricky point. At the mouth, there was a worker-- enter here for the show. Guy, I don't need you at the entrance, I need you elsewhere to tell me where the entrance is! In we went though, & found ourselves a decent enough spot; Jennny Lewis! James (showing up to meet us) elaborated on my old chestnut-- "Pretty sure Jenny Lewis has a soul; pretty sure you don't-- into the new team motto: Jenny Lewis Is Not A P-Zombie. I tried not to get too annoyed at human beings-- seriously, such rude apes; makes me so mad. This is why I don't go to shows! But free is the price that flips that math. She ended with "Born Secular" & for a crazy moment I thought it was going too segue into "Big Guns," which-- anthems for war on heaven are all I ever want from music. Instead they left the music resonating & left the stage. For no encore!? Sad. Conner Oberst next so...we absconded with quickness.

Took the boys to Aperitivo to sing for our supper. Or well to just eat our supper I guess. They were putty in my hands, ordering what I recommended. I like it when that happens. Take my advice, it is always good for you! James had the beet gnocchi & Peter had the pasta with the three different kinds of mushrooms. I had a bresoala salad, which was arugula, goat cheese, truffle oil, & some smoked meat. Yo, the salads at Aperitivo are always worth a damn. Then for my entree I had linguine with chicken liver, sage, & a white wine & cream sauce. I took half of it home, rather than over-eating; the boys said I should text Jenny to let her know how responsible I was being. We also drank some Italian beer. I forget what it was called.

We were going to swing by the sake house on the way back-- says me "You are profiting from all the dates I go on with my wife!"-- but they were closed. What! Well I'd gotten the boys hearts set on sake, so we went to the wine shop & bought a bunch. Or at least, Peter & I did; James got shochu, which no one noticed till we put it in our mouths & did a spit-take. I got "Summer Snow," which was recommended to me by the sommelier-- which was very nice. Peter & Alicia's first time with unfiltered sake; leaving Alicia unconvinced, which is a first for me, since everybody else likes it. James's bottle was, actually-- looking at it now, it isn't shochu, it is sake-- komekome-shu, which is maybe like-- some kind of sake? Anyhow, it is a weird thing. Not bad, but...not any taste I was expecting. Peter's bottle I heated up; heated water & then soaked the bottle in it thus. The label peeled off though, so I don't know what is was called. There was much MarioKart & LifeForce, lo. In the middle of all this, Alicia arrived, wearing Peter's clothing & bearing a gift: a painting she made me!

& then we started flexing & had a gunshow waterfall.

Alicia was feeling crappy, so she & Peter left (after Peter went to go get a burrito & chips, missing the chance to play veterinarian & check out our sick pythons); James & I grabbed sake & climbed the fire escape to the roof. Talked about being in the wizard's city. I say: most American day! Italian food, Japanese drinks, then Mexican snacks, then fireworks. America. We watch the fireworks, & the superintendent & his family come up to watch them too; meaning we can get down via the actual staircase, instead of the fire escape. Which, we do! Then James & I split a couple mouthfuls of wine, I have him roll me a cigarette, we go outside & then I bid him farewell. Goodbye, I'll see you tomorrow at play practice. & then I'm up another hour being a lovesick sap, then bed. Which puts me at today. I'll leave this entry with the most patriotic thing I know of.

Current Mood: Cobra-la-la-la-la!
Current Music: crown me king feat. jenny lewis & rober heinlein: --all you p-zombies--

Gangrene really feel me.

Bryan & Simon! Simon showing his treasured picture of two glass boots filled with cocktails. "Two Boots! At Two Boots!" So they rolled up on this sleepy head & that led to wine down the gullet-- as you can imagine. It never rains but it pours; so much for my lazy tucked in evening! So we were...drunk! Or well Simon & I were-- Bryan was driving, & sober! He spoke to me of-- fatherhood! I have an odd life suddenly. Or well, not so surprisingly, I guess. With time, that passed, & I woke up this morning with an errand in the bank: go pick up Tania's CSA produce. Done! There are beats, & squashes, & cabbage & lettuce, some parsley, some chard, some...some other thing I don't know what it is, some ears of popcorn, & I think something else, but I forget. Anyhow, no one was available for breakfast, sadly, so I grabbed some greasy Chinese food! They'd just opened, everything was piping fresh. & it was what my hangover wanted. Now I'm trying to get my act together, hit the gym, & then James & I will go see Jenny Lewis in the park.

Current Mood: Robots Rise!
Current Music: crown me king- pop fangs! at 20,000 fathoms!

So I threw my intentions into the wind. I mean-- I drank too much stimulant juice today to just give up. Heck, once I tried how sherry tasted I knew I was a mess. For the record: I've had that since

martak moved, & I'm pretty sure it is for cooking. I dumped it down the drain. From orbit. The only way to be safe, you know? & I started making Alice-- you remember Alice? A mix cd. Oh wait, I skipped the important details: I do that with stories. I think the myelin sheathes on my neurons are just super awesome, is how it goes down. Anyhow, I tossed the sherry (WTF, sherry?) & figured out that the liquor store was still open & grabbed a bottle of wine. Along the way running into David & Maggie on their suspicious date. Cracked the cork & started watching Firefly. Lovely show, that. Like-- that show! Anyhow, Simon called me in the middle to ask if I wanted to hang out; I said call me when he was done! He hasn't, to date. & Now I'm getting rightly anxious of the sleeping. You know, let me call him & see how his events are going. iTunes, pause on that Neutral Milk Hotel / Elliot Smith mix I made! Hold on...live blogging! Uh, no answer. Exciting. I got his voice mail. It told me to buy tickets to my play: why, what a cunning voice prompt!

Current Mood: Fiiiiiist!
Current Music: crown me king- is, "is stabbing everything" already a song? Yes? x2!

The Champ.
What is the score? Fuck, I don't know the score, I just know to keep punchin'. Did the bell ring? Are the cops here? Thursday was my summer hours half day. How we do. I rolled on back to the pulsating heart of Brooklyn & did my thing. My thing being knocking an hour & a half out at the gym. S'when I started feeling fuzzy. I mean, I felt good, no doubt. I felt like I might take the gentleman's way out of my obligation. Lilly's birthday, is what I mean. & by gentleman's way, I mean-- old folks way. Man, a party that gets started at midnight is too late for these bones! I'm circadian rhythms (hell, my cicada-ian rhythms I'm so cyclical, man) get me up at 6:30, & I spent too many nights prior drinking till late. So I dropped a dime on her let her know I was not going to be due. Stopped by David & Maggie's-- David was rolling on a DnD game, but I said naw. See, can't hang if I'm going to leave my other plans hanging. So I dropped some suds & took off. I should mention: all that took place in some real Hated Noah style. I mean, sky pouring down buckets; a walk to Gowanus is normally short & sweet, but by the time I got there I was soaked on in. Borrowed socks to get home, if you know what I mean. Then on to today; got up, met Tom for some breakfast (green eggs & ham at Perch) & then game prep-- then, you guessed it. Gaming. Ran my game; went well, surprise guest, surprise NPCs, & then out! I was going to meet up with Alicia but her plans were bumped forward, so now I'm back here. Not drinking; sort of want to, sort of not, so trying to err on the side of getting up early & going to pick up vegetables for Adam's uh, what do you call 'em. Hippie commune thing. Then gym, then who knows? Suck it, fourth of July, I don't need a plan for you.

Current Mood: charlie day.
Current Music: crown me king- the safe colour

Blue, Red, Green. (61)

Green by Jay Lake.

Blackblood sang a song:
"Hey, nonny-nonny, you there--
I'll call you Emerald."

It is funny what preconceived notions'll get you. I sure had some-- notably, I thought this was part of the same series as Escapement & Mainspring. I mean, I really did think it was, to the point of stretching my noggin with theories that we were south of the Equatorial Wall; that Kalimpura was Kuala Lumpur, that Copper Downs was Petra in Jordan (based on the language, Petraean). & also thought the Duke was going to turn out to be William of Ghent. Well first off, Mordicai, your geography sucks. The equator goes through Malaysia, but Kuala Lumpar is north of it, & Jordan & Petra are way north of it. So, that is the baggage I carried with me until finally I bought a clue. Second off, this has nothing to do with those other books.

I quite liked it! Let me respond to a couple other reviewers, so I can unclutter my tabs. Wolfeian? I don't think so. We've got a narrator but she ain't untrustworthy. If she lies or is wrong, that is part of the story. She isn't lying to the reader, & that meta is the alchemy Gene Wolfe has wrought, wroughts. Is wroughting. That is what Gene Wolfe does. There is worldbuilding here of a subtle sort; flavorful & excellent. Maybe if Kuala Lumpur had drifted into Kalipura over 10,000 years & everything was crazy? But I think no. & as to the concern about the cover art, I waffle. It certainly is gorgeous, & the blood in the airs, the cuts on the face, the pomegranate tree; all clearly indicate the artist was well coached or had read a significant portion of the book. A book in which she's clearly brown. Brown enough to think people of light complexions are "maggot coloured." So, yeah, troubling, but there you go. There are almondy, eyes-- a commenter suggests the artist was told to go for "Asian." I'm inclined to agree with that theory; though like the reviewer, I saw her being Southeast Asian (see also: Malaysia).

Enough talking around the book. You had me at "female protagonist of colour" & a non-Western influenced setting. The frame story carries a little girl into a house with harsh teachers trying to make her into a lady. Then on from there into a temple of female assassins. Then back into the town for a mythic confrontation with divinity. Lake dances the story from one place to the next plausibly & richly. Kalimpura is the place for me; I really found it engaging & plausible. Lake depicts the gods & goddesses with flare, though I'm usually opposed to the "gods need prayers for power!" aspect of some fantasy yarns, it wasn't pushed here. Green herself is precocious, but not enough to prick the bubble of suspension of disbelief. She is angry & makes mistakes, but not enough for you to write her off, & not melodramatic enough to suborn the story. She's caught up in the center of each unlikely event, but has fate, destiny, the fickle finger of spirits & psychopomps all pushing their agenda, so it hangs. She doesn't turn away from the plot of the story, but isn't as caught up with large events as she could be-- she plays her part & lets what happens off camera happen off camera. She holds on to her past, but in a way that doesn't telegraph the rest of the story. Plus, she ninja fights a lot, which is pretty great.

Current Mood: Skinless wants a hug!
Current Music: crown me king- shark-9

The Pattern.

I am mostly annoyed at myself. Too lazy to go to the gym, drinking too much. Missing Jenny. Man I don't respond well to being alone. I mean, no surprises there. I've never shut up about a Fall, about abandonment & loneliness; I just finally did something about it. Got love. Just sort of anger-making when I realize her being out of town for a few days can scatter so much of my discipline to the wind. I mean-- not in a super co-dependent way. Just that worrying about food when I get off the train from work to home. Being at home without being there with her. Basic assumptions are undermined, you know what I mean? & if I was-- you know, going to the gym, eating decently, sleeping enough? I'd not be so sloe gin eyes about it. But that is sort of the self-fulfilling prophecy, you know? Because having a wife to tell me to eat, not to get drunk, to go to bed next to-- like, makes the living part of life tolerable. Instead I'm left with Mordicai who, let me confide-- he's really awesome, but kind of impractical.

Monday, Monday, Monday. What did I do about the Moon's day? Oh I know. I called Sam & Tracey on a whim? & found that our desires perfectly matched! They wanted burgers in the Slope; I was in the Slope & wanted a burger all day. We went to Flipsters which used to be a different burger place, in the past, & was a sea food restaurant before that. Wait, they have a...terrible home page. "What are flipsters? They are Brooklyn hipsters who flip hamburgers..." Haha what, shut up. Anyhow; I drank some Six Points beer & had a lamb burger with goat cheese. I'm still not sure if it was any good, honestly. Like: it was complicated. It might have been good. I knew I was getting into a "thing," right? Lamb burger. Then Sam had to go to work, & Tracey came over to drink some sake. Talking back at my place & over dinner about my game was useful. Like-- duh, communication usually makes things better! That is sort of the premise of the Psychohistorical Age, right?

Last night I was going to drink a little wine, read my book (Green which so far is awesome & set in Jordan & Malaysia, which both satisfies my concerns, even though my guess went awry...I was sure it would be Incans...) & then go to bed early. I pulled a hamstring somehow, & it was raining, so I wasn't sweating blowing the gym off. I know I talk about going or not going to the gym a lot, but it seriously is my major chemical concern. Like, I'm not a dualist, I have no problem acknowledging that the brain is a part of the body. Whether or not any of it is real is the real concern. I'm falling off topic; if you want more discussion on solipsism versus nihilism, refer to my wedding vows. Man, I miss Jenny. Anyhow, so instead of my calm, restorative evening-- Lilly called me. I like Lilly! I like her enough to choose to ruin my medicine-night. We went to Bar Reis for sandwiches & cocktails, then back to my apartment for video games & wine & drunken talking. I am pretty sure I was drunk & sentimental! She was drunk & revelatory. We were drunk! I had a lot of fun-- I made the right call, but it was another night of too much drinking & not enough sleeping.

Oh, I got lunch with Victoria yesterday, too, & I got a new phone! Victoria & I went to that cheap Indian place I like, & we talked about shit. I was feeling sleepy & defeated. Then to the park, where we watched a chubby dude do crazy yoga while we sat on the grass under a tree, which made me feel better. "Feelings." See also: drink too much, don't sleep enough. My chemistry! My chemistry...oh & also I got a new phone. A Magnet which is to say, a non-smartphone. A dumb smartphone. A smart dumbphone. It looks like a Blackberry or whatever-- it has a keyboard. I was tempted by the iCult, but really? I don't need the internet for five minutes. Like-- I'm clearly deeply invested in information technology; I'm not trying to be a hater? Just that I'm on the Web all day at work-- I have access to it at home-- I don't need to browse the internet when I'm waiting at the bus stop or whatever. I already have books. Books, which I like, & don't run out of batteries. See also, Kindle-- I don't get it? For the same amount of money, I can have a book. Which doesn't run out of batteries & I can keep & put a notecard in for notes, &...like, a book is just good information technology already. I'm not trying to be difficult here, or one of those people who tries to idolize an obsolete thing (newspapers) to justify it. Books are just not defunct yet. I don't see it happening for a while yet. Anyhow, So I got this phone now. My wallpaper is The Seal of Astaroth & my ringtone is "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" by the Mountain Goats-- I tried the "Requiem" by György Ligeti, & The Krull Theme by James Horner, but I couldn't get the mic to make them sound passable, for all my efforts. You know, the AT&T site tried to tell me I could download Godspeed! You Black Emperor songs, but it was a lie, & then when I searched for it again, it was gone! Weird, right? Still, I kind of want that.

Current Mood: I am Park Slope.
Current Music: crown me king- væ, puto deus fio

Oubliette session twenty-seven: Rain of Stars.

After a long hiatus & an epic prologue, we finally got back to gaming on Saturday. Things have been rough with outside commitments like the play & new jobs & what have you, but hopefully we're back in the saddle. I had a really awesome time running the game, & I think the others did too. There was a bit of tension at the end, but I don't think it tainted the whole thing. A big part of it was my fault for failing to communicate the direction of the story. We've talked about it subsequently-- last night. Just hard to learn how to use meta-gaming for the story; like, it isn't wrong to say "that isn't going to happen this session, lets move on." Seems obvious, but as a Narrator you can get led astray trying to be mysterious or whatever.

Things were fast paced; Damocles returned from his sept in the Synod; Balthazar from the bowels of the Urth. Lorelai had stayed right where she was, on her throne in Dragonfly. Her figurative throne-- for the moment. They decided to take advantage of the winter stalemate with the Shining Horde to investigate north, in Englezarke. They knew, from the map they'd bartered from the Lobescrubber, that a comet was falling there. So off they went, leaving their apprentices behind. Damocles paused & sniffed the wind-- trouble in the north, as the worms of soil dug that way.

They travelled up the river, Lorelai tacking the sails, Damocles & Balthazar keeping their eyes peeled, slipping under enemy patrols. Along the way they marveled at the paradox of Englezarke-- fertile soil, good land, decent people, but poor as hell-- why couldn't the country get it together? It lines the riverline basin, like Egypt followed the Nile. Eventually they made landing at a fish-husbandry farm (aquaculture! Only the Hawaiians & the Chinese care about it-- well, & the modern West). They'd been told by some dockhands that it would be safe to land ashore here-- so they did, & got a decent welcome. It might be the quarter keg of ale they brought with them (just in case! My game is great-- "We better take this beer just in case.") Alexis, Piotr, & Dubbel were all there, living a simple life with their ox, Bessie (who dredges the ponds). Of course, there are odd things afoot-- faerie troubles, stuff coming up from the deep Urth & heading northward.

When the Beastie that was troubling the farm next door showed up, Lorelai was almost at the boat to get their things; Damocles was with the fellow who finds it; Baltazar was inside, looking at the stars out the window. "Bessie? Something the matter, girl?" had Damocles with his sword already drawn. Blarggg! Monster. I used the Xorn mini-- & had to explain a few times when I talked about the cow hooves left. Were they, you know, PART of the thing? It grabbed Damocles & shoved his face into its maw/slit. Grinding, mammoth-like teeth &...white tadpoles of various sizes-- some as big as cats. They cut it; Bathazar shot it; Lorelai ran at it with her science-trident. Warmongering! Strife! Instead of blood, or organs-- just more giant sperm. They killed it as it ran off (supernatural stink in the air-- brimstone, tracers, that sort of thing) & Lorelai speared all the struggling larvae-things before they could wriggle & writhe away. Then Lorelai, troubled by what she saw, stayed up all night making an elaborate scrimshaw hair-ornament as a gift to their hosts.

(Monsters. I wanted to make a horrific monster, see if I could sort of JUMP! surprise it out at them-- since normally I'm like "You hear rumors about this thing: they are wildly inaccurate. Creepy setting pieces happen. Oh the psychological horror..." about that kind of thing. I think I squicked them? But actually making monsters scary is tricky. I'm trying to add skills to my repertoire about it.)

The flotilla of boats coming down the river was the next sign that something was wrong. A whole glistening horde; kayaks & yachts & anything they could cram down the river. Lorelai, in a masterful display of watercraft, lashed herself to the sail & steered their boat between them, darting & weaving. As they passed, they heard the people cry out: "A star has fallen!" Which the campaign had been building up to for some time-- stars falsely aligned, comets in the sky, inauspicious births. A star fell down! But to the player's surprise as they rounded the bend in the river-- the star did not fall hard. There it was,nestled in the city, a gleaming, bristling, cluster of tines. Spines, pricks! Crystal shafts of blue & white. The players walked into the city of Breenhart, according to their character. The very carriage of Lorelai was enough to put folks at ease-- more even! It was like seeing the queen, or the pope, or Batman. She'll make it right! Damocles sulked into the city. He made an intimidate check! "Stay indoors. I'll handle this." Balthazar distractedly behind them-- why would he talk to regular people?

The crystal ship is odd; there are veins of bloody gold within-- or gold the colour of blood-- or something-- orichalcum! The orichalk. It loops & whorls, moving within the glass. Perhaps it spells words, though none can read it. They see in places crackling-- breaks in the crystal. Eventually Balthazar coaxed a needle to the surface-- then another-- then another, a whole keyboard of sharp points! His Alien Hand (recall: Balthazar has had his corpus callosum cut) danced across it. Which caused his glossolalia to act up, end of line. So he talked crazy for the rest of the session. Inside was mysterious & strange! But not that strange to them: they'd been to the Secret City in Lalala & have grown used to thinking of Malake as the ruined remnants of a Karnak settlement. For yes! The Karnak. The karnak. They zig-zaged through the twisting arteries of the ship, almost immediately losing track of "down"-- which is clearly purposeful. Many corridors were blocked; with more of the loopy writing, & another finger-prick stud; down one tunnel a SARLACC! Mesmerizing them, or projecting a holographic illusion; Balthazar stumbled into the ant-lion-like hole! Lorelai was held at the edge by Damocles, who thanks to his increasingly ~~diabolical~~ ~~demonic~~ ~~infernal~~ draconic mind-set was more or less immune. They pulled Balthazar to safety & said "oh. I guess the words on the door mean Caution."

Eventually they wound their way to a crystal chair, with a huddled figure before it. There it is pierced by the glass fragments that make up the ship, mutated, changed, ruined. They knew the ship was contaminated! Without any coaxing, Balthazar sits on the chair, which send filaments of orichalk into him, spooled out of the crystal points & into his blood stream! & he starts communicating; & opens the walls before him! Thousands of Sleepers! People in glass coffins, tubes filled with milky white liquid, all in a state of hibernation! The spines of the ship-- of which there are twelve-- each have as many stacked within them! 120,000 souls! Oh but Balthazar says six of them are "contaminated" & three are "unknown." But also within the room:

This mess! Which recognizes the Imperial Goblin Balthazar speaks to it. There are three individuals awake on the vessel at all times: the dead one & this one are part of the "crew" that was awake when the ship was infected. It sits in a tub of garbage water & demands Balthazar remove the quarantine protocols. Which he considers doing for a moment! Thinks better of it almost immediately (when Damocles & Lorelai ask "What did it say?" & he tells him & they freak out). Then, fine! STRIFE! It pulls out of the tub-- legless! Tentacled! The tentacles have mouths! Cyborg tentacles! Extra tentacles! Buzzing with flies, writhing with maggots! Remember those guys from last campaign!? Fuck those guys! So the players fight the hell out of it! Swords flashing! Guns blazing! Tridents popping organs! & this thing...EW! Barfs flies on them-- & then the flies barf acid onto them! WHY. & he's wrenching at them with his arms & legs & he's bigger than he has any right to be...& they just hew away at him, till the brink of death, when he finally collapses! Twenty three wounds dealt!

Then comes the tricky part. Between Balthazar's nonsense-Hybrid talk, Damocles decides to immerse himself in a tank. So, Balthazar finds one with a dead body in it, & opens it. I figure, sure; who knows how long this has been floating towards Urth (I do, but you know)? There has to be dead people out of the 10,000 in the room-- maybe there was a malfunction, or they had cancer, or whatever. So he gets in, hoping it will heal some of his injuries. Then he holds his breath! Until he's finally forced (after like, minutes) to gulp it down & breathe the liquid. Lorelai thinks about getting in; then Tracey reconsiders, but only after I make a joke about it "Okay, you guys get into the cryogenic tanks. Next session: 1000 years later..." & the I chuckle wickedly. A joke! But now Tracey is worried that her changing her mind is meta-gaming, & doesn't know if it is what she should or shouldn't...but we talked about it. She doesn't get in; she waits with Balthazar outside, since he's badly hurt as well.

Current Mood: king scr
Current Music: crown me king- Brineangel

If you aren't drunk on the internet: you're doing it wrong.
You ought to be able to. I certainly can. Fat, worms in the air. You can ignore them in the ground but when the maggots take to the sky? Drat. I can-- I can hardly hold it together. Like, somehow the idea that there might be anyone who gives a fuck is impossible. Less impossible then the idea that anyone would give a fuck about me, interesting enough. Or I should say, duh. Mordicai is greater than all reality, is duh. Oh! Speaking of awesome;

fordmadoxfraud translated Revelation from the Greek for me one year. Showed it to Tracey & she was appropriately dumbfuddled. Hold on. Better. So I had an okay tonight. Burgers & beers with Sam & Tracey. Then Tracey coming over for Sake & Geek Talk. Tracey needs Geek Talk, which can be hard. Like-- if you want to narrativly force something in, she's cool, as long as you tell her that is what is up. Or not! Like, last session she was distracted & I should've...anyhow. She came over & I showed her my big books! My Voynich's & my Harmonia Macrocosmica & such ilk. I book bragged! I am like that. Anyhow-- I tried to go to bed; it didn't work. Shit, I'm pretty gross about having a wife, but it is...uh, awesome?

Current Mood: fuck moods!
Current Music: crown me king- is stabbing everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gagazillion.

Jenny went on vacation! To go visit her parents, & shoot guns. This is what she is doing & so I am left to my own devices. My devices are pretty fierce! Friday I woke up to see her off (she would't reconsider, & on top of everything was sick!) & then I cleaned the apartment up & poof! Dynamite! I went over to Sam & Tracey's to run my game; it went pretty well I thought, though there was some 11th hour stress that I hope didn't taint it. Afterwards, James came over & we played some Lifeforce, coining such memorable rants as "Cover your zone, bro!" & "Bro, catch my option!" Also there was MarioKart & World of Goo & then Maggie came over & then next was David! More videogames & then the success of successes-- NeverEnding Story! Yesss, letsss! Then kit & caboodled into bed. Which! I've been making the bed up every morning, because I know Jenny would want me to. Also, by myself I don't make a mess; I barely rumple the covers! Sunday was busy as a bee! Okay, first off I went to the framers, only to find they were closed; then met with Adam to hit up some brunch at Sotto Voce. Acceptable! Then back to the Framers ("Prints Charming") where he got the prints Jenny got me & the print I got her in the mix to get framed. Very exciting! Then back home (with Adam) for some MarioKart & then to the gym. Back from the gym & then to play practice; rehearsal in full overdrive. I was less intimidating, more chipper. Weird; I didn't know I was! Then (I told you it was busy!) Maggie & James & I met David for late night sandwiches & drinks-- Reis 100 wasn't open (should've been!) but we got Brooklyn Bakery & drank at Bar Reis anyhow. I wanted a martini, & I got one! Now I'm at work but I shouldn't be. I should be...hiding under the bed!

Current Mood: Wanted: Ico font.
Current Music: crown me king- megabat + H. erectus + vampire = awesome

M: "Ugh."
A: "Ugh?"
M: "I'm done, I'm done. I'm past the part where Jenny being gone is sort of novel. Where I over-compensate for being bored & lonely with being social. Seeing people, hanging out. I'm done. I just want to go home. I don't even need an apartment. I just want a closet. Climb into the closet & snick'd, close the door. Like, maybe a horizontal closet, so I can lie down in the dark & huddle & close the door. I'm done."
A: "They call that a casket."
M: "Fuck."

Oubliette teaser- the Shining War contiues.

For the first part go here.

( A continuing stream of pictures & stories regarding Oubliette. )

Current Mood: black frog, fat monkey
Current Music: crown me king- the frog was found in an egg where a pomegranate's seed should be

Inhlanzi just means "fish"? (60)

Escapement by Jay Lake.

I stopped angel's hearts,
tore queens from their thrones, & kings,
with my pocket watch.

This comes next in

jaylake's series that started with Mainspring, & I really like it. Second books-- I'm turning out to like second books from Tor a lot lately, like Queen of Candesce. This novel is three yarns, three character threads, some of them minor characters in the first book; the librarian, Childress is my favorite of the bunch, then there is Al-Wazir, the chief, & Paolina, the new character, the youthful polymath. The new Newton, they keep calling her. Newton the Alchemist! Following the lead of the first book, there is plenty of word play here, & plenty more details on the worldbuilding. Instead of talking about that, lets talk about the stuff that does stand out in contrast. Like-- the Chinese! You get a pretty good window into the Chinese here, & I really like what I see. While the British see the clockwork of heaven & read the hand of God, the Chinese see perfect evidence of the Celestial Hierarchy. So right there, the dueling paradigms are set up to be equally viable. Lake does an excellent job making the Chinese the same but different-- that is, the oddity & weirdness of the Chinese are clearly a point of perspective, one that starts dissolving as the characters become better acquainted with the culture. & I really liked the way he rendered the languages, too. Besides that, you get bits of the Solomonic Kingdom Ophir, & their brass automatons, which you know. Soon. They have Seals made by King Solomon for "brains" or a "soul" or whatever.

Oh, & before I sign off, one thing that bothered me-- on page 126, Librarian Childress corrects Captain Leung's classification of angels as "European," saying they are "Biblical" & that she ...wasn't sure what a European angel would be. Well I call foul! Clearly the angels are European, because they are beautiful humanoids with wings. Not winged chimera or rings of fire; they are Pre-Raphaelite angels. Now, I at first thought angels were going to act as a sort of genius loci, or at least, manifest that way. The excuse of perspective, writ large. Then the winged savages show up, who as far as I can determine are made in the image of the angels. Childress, as a well-educated scholar, should have known better! That is all I'm saying. I wonder if Green will answer the riddle? If not, I'm guessing Pinion, the fourth book, has a darn good chance of it, with a title like that.

Current Mood: domino hashashin.
Current Music: crown me king- lunchko il duce

Role Models

Uh, this movie is hilarious? Seriously, there is a joke about three minutes in-- Paul Rudd says, in regards to KISS, that he also likes to "rock & roll all night, & part of every day." Only you know, delivered in the wry Paul Rudd fashion. We had to pause it on account of "Lolling." Or Jenny even insisted we were "Rofling." There are a bunch of other jokes-- low, mid & high. Plus, the movie ends up being super geek affirming. Like-- not only is the LARP kid told that being a LARPer is fine if that is what you feel like doing, but it grows to encompass the cast. To the point of them all dressing up like the KISS Army & fighting the LARP crew-- who are all pretty hilarious? Like, not caricatures, but instead guys who are playing fucking LARP. Which means having fun. I was pleased; I'm a sucker for that, no doubt.

Current Mood: Have at thee?
Current Music: crown me king- atlantic ring of fire

You read a book, son!

Another day of dates with my wife. Seriously, we're romantic as hell. We got lunch together at a Cuban place near work-- lots of food. Tamales, empanadas, Cuban sandwich & a baked chicken sandwich. The onions were really good? & then we went shopping for a phone-- I need a new one but realized I don't really want or need a smart phone or iPhone or anything like that. If I needed to kill five minutes, I would just read a book, I don't need to browse a tiny internet. I like you internet, but I see you all day at work & sometimes at home, you know? I don't like you an extra fifty bucks a month. So I think I'll get a Magnet. Keyboard, but no state of the art functions. Anyhow; after work Jenny & I met at No Idea to have giant tumblers of liquor. Nice to have a drink with her! Though there went my hopes of going to the gym. We hopped a train & dinner was at Aperitivo, which I've been going to a lot lately. Went to lunch with Danielle there the other day, even! This time Jenny & I got mussels (sandy) & pasta-- her the three-mushroom, which was cool looking & good, & me the beet gnocchi again-- also cool looking & good. Afterwords she got a chocolate pyramid, & I got a glass of digestif-- Cynar. Verdict: too sweet. Dinner conversation was how individuals who are important to us but estranged-- exes & their ilk-- can be total morons. & those who aren't-- like, I've been bonding with Theresa pretty fiercely lately. Getting home was a bit tricky; I realized I had forgotten my credit card & had to go back to the restaurant to pick it up. Then we watched Angel & got drunk-- the episode where they steal his soul! I like that episode a bunch.

Current Mood: Sly criminal.
Current Music: crown me king- hawaiki versus lemuria versus atlantis

I end the weak!

My stomach is still upset from this weekend. My next month is basically booked back-to-back & solid with plays & parties. To which I've been told to shut up, because apparently having to go to nice social gatherings-- having that as your problem-- is a nice trouble to have. Well anyhow, my guts are in knots from living off beer & champagne & vodka only. The only vitamins or nutrients I had all week! A liquor fast. & no gym; that is right, I didn't go to the gym once. Lazy. Lazzzzy!

Freyja's day was a long day of Dungeons & Dragons. Summer hours at work seem to fit together with

fordmadoxfraud's schedule &

skycornerless &

toughlad's day off, which means afternoon blitz of adventure! David was running-- part one was my tiefling warlock, James' human bard & Emily's changeling ranger versus some jumping spiders ("Oh I forgot to mention; they are the size of horses") & a web golem. The web golem is awesome-- awesome-- & inside of it was a phylactery. Which my warlock insisted on hanging on to. Then there was some fast-talking a bunch of kobolds ("No! Don't give him...the Cosmic Silver Piece!") which led to us avoiding the fight & getting a bunch of gryphons or hyppogryphs or one of the two. Skyhorse & Dirtybird, we named them. Lovely. Then on to the town & meeting up with

elladorian's eladrin wizard & Erica's vampire shifter druid; then us talking to some stupid scribe & getting tricked by some half-elf trickster! Which should have resulted in us getting ambushed by something like thirty kobolds & goblins-- but we are sneakier than any sneak! Instead thanks to Erica & Emily's character's ability to shapeshift, the goblin leader got shived & then the goblins & kobolds tricked into fighting each other-- problem averted! There was like, evil water? Which we tried to guard, only to later find out there was a second site. Drat. Things finished up with a huge brawl against zombies, skeletons, a four-armed skeleton, & that treacherous half-elf. Once OPERA & Gren (the bard) closed the circle that was animating the dead, it was all clean-up. Loot? +2 dwarven chainmail-- I've been full of greed for new armor. & I'm totally taking mounted combat next left.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa

On Saturn's day, there was some mix-up with David maybe wanting to brunch & gym, but that didn't happen-- between that & the rain I ended up electing to blow off working out & watch cartoons. I watched the Fullmetal Alchemist movie, which was...weird. I'd say watch it if you car about the cartoon but be aware that it is...weird. Like-- the doppelganger of Fuhrer King Bradley is...Fritz Lang? & it ends with Hitler being arrested-- which I thought might be the prevention of WWII but I think is also maybe just him going to write Mein Kampf. Anyhow, other than all the Fritz Lang montages, the best parts were super-scary Gluttony & Ray Mustang blowing everything up. I kept calling James at work to give him the blow-by-blow, since nobody else cares about FMA, right? Basically, I think it worked on a lot of levels to explore the rise of the Nazis in the same sort of way that a lot of Japanese animation deals with the rise of Japanese nationalism. With alchemists blowing stuff up along the way.

Then I met up with Jenny-love at work to go to Queens! Brian (of Brian & Jocelyn) was having a birthday celebration that started out at the new beer garden in Astoria. During which, it poured rain. Everyone in Metropolis is talking non-stop about the rain with the fervor usually reserved for talking about real estate. Seriously though, this weather is effing ridiculous; it hasn't stopped raining in...it just hasn't stopped raining, okay? So we huddled under an umbrella drinking liters of beer, getting wet & drunk all at once. Here is the verdict on the beer garden: what the hell? I don't get it. It is basically...a big backyard? It wasn't all-you-can-drink; it was the opposite. It was thirteen bucks for a liter of beer & eight dollars for a hamburger. That isn't a deal! I could just go to a bar & sit on the patio. I'm not complaining-- I had fun! Rather, rendering judgment. Thumbs down! Gladiator kills beer garden! Katie & Toy were there, & now since I've met them like, enough times, I decided they have moved into acquaintance-ville. There were other folks to enjoy talking to-- J. Matthew was pretty funny, & the gentleman who writes headlines for the New York Post (who took the above picture of me & Jocelyn) had a Edgar Rice book in his bag. Also ended up going crazy about how he bought Budweiser & someone told him it was low class.

That was after we left the beer garden, which we did with no-small Keystone Coppering. We followed people to clown cars, lost people, rejoined them, stayed behind, got lost, got found, took a train, all kinds of such. Then to the liquor store where everyone bought a bottle of Prosecco. I mean, there was a lot of it! Then to Brian & Jocelyn's apartment, which is a Gene Wolfe locale; a hallway at the end of which are infinite bedrooms. Seriously, there were...lets say at least twelve, & every time you'd open or close the door, there would be a different bedroom behind it! Which is good, because there were hundreds of people in attendance. I ruined my sobriety with cunning & stick-to-it-ness, & a good time was had. Songs were sung! Jokes were laughed at! Then the hellish train ride home; from Queens! It wasn't too bad, not really. There was a chance of going to Victoria's birthday then, but I am an old fuddy duddy, man! I had to crawl into bed.

Sunday was Jenny & me trying to hang out with each other. Played some MarioKart (I'm now gold on everything except the last two levels of 150cc Mirror) & then watched a lot of Angel. Ate diner food (Eggs, spinach, potatos, sauce) & some of the Tony Awards, since Tony is in it & NPH was hosting. Lunch was burritos, & then off off off to play practice. Things are pulling tighter together; having Greg tell me what things are & aren't working for my character is assuaging some of my nervousness. Then afterward, Maggie & I went to Macri Park for more drinks. The downside? the terrifying bathrooms aren't terrifying anymore; they have just boring regular sinks now. The upside? There was free barbecue! Yeah, some burgers & hot dogs & corn! So Maggie & I hung out talking about work & about roleplaying, & then we came home; my timing meeting up with Jenny's, too, coming home from Carla's. Now here I am working, waiting for the replies to my emails.

Current Mood: gnash gnash!
Current Music: crown me king- the brass seal of solomon

Tick-tock & Nick Chopper. (59)

Mainspring by Jay Lake.

H. erectus &:
the equator dividing
the world a brass cog.

The first thing that one me over were the play on words. Okay-- this book sort of takes the tactic "what if the world was intelligently designed?" to the extreme. The Earth orbits the Sun on a giant track, visible in the night sky, & the equator is a wall, topped with 100 mile high brass teeth, which fit into the grooves of the track as it spins through the heavens. The moon is on a similar track, the inside of the Earth is a giant set of nestled spinning balls, so on. Now-- theologians in the Northern World argue over Divinity-- God made the cogs! or other options like-- "all we can say is something made the world." Well anyway, I mentioned the wordsmithing: the horofixion of Christ? See, because the Romans crushed Brass Christ in giant gears & clockwork. What, awesome. The only issue I might take with the book is a fairly big one-- making the Southern Earth a weird jungle savage land filled with ape men & such ilk. Uh, there are lots of human beings in the real world below the south of the equator, & sort of sweeping them aside & making the North full of people & the south full of proto-Edenic Homo erectus & odder things is troublesome, to say the least. I hope later books (there are two more, so far) rectify this-- I mean, there were not-white people who were real, not stereotyped characters, so I think Lake isn't unaware of the difficulties of having white, imperialist powers as the star of your book. A little un-abandoned Incan civilization or whatever would go a long way with me. Oh & warning: lots of Homo on Homo sex-- by which I mean interspecies, intra genus. Or at least I read the Correct People as Homo erectus more than ape-people, but then, that is how I roll.

Current Mood: the eye of Ungoliant
Current Music: crown me king- must obtain the Hostess Fruitpies at all costs!

Oubliette teaser-- the Shining War.

My Oubliette campaign has been on hiatus for some time, & it has been making me sad! Further more, I painted myself into a corner-- brewing a War-- which my players weren't interested in. They disengaged, I fear, despite their lip service. So, rather than actually have a war, I'm going to "fast forward" past many events of the war, leaving them in media res, which will ironically free them from narrative constraints. Usually you drop people in the middle of things to sweep them up with the plot, but by making the plot the status quo, it will free them up to go scurrying around on missions & get on with the business of being player characters. So this week I've been writing them emails to summarize the war between Malake & the Shining Horde, & they've been very responsive. In-character letters, written vignettes, stuff like that. I've collected here only the bits I sent to all of them.

( The interlude so far, with pictures )

Current Mood: Now get to work, kid!
Current Music: crown me king- equatorial cog

It ain't Iaijitsu it is Iaido. (58)

Afro Samurai Volume I by Takashi Okazaki.

Fire it up! Fire it...
Can you dig it?! Can you dig...
Well, something like that.

So apparently Sam Jackson is the voice of the cartoon. & he should be. & I bet I'll like this more after the second volume. I like mix & match settings-- katanas, matchlock guns, cyborg arms, rocketlaunchers, you know, whatever works. Plus, killer guys with teddy bear heads? This volume though-- well, PW actually sums it up pretty neatly as macho posturing. I like the art-- I like the way his 'fro can dissapear into negative space to draw his face & I like black & white & blood as a colour scheme. I like the Number 1 & Number 2 headbands. What I don't like is-- there are two instances with women in the book. One, the girls the bad guy has tied up & abused. Two, the innocent girl that Afro Samurai throws in front of bullets to give him cover. What? No thanks. Boo. What is up with the "bad bad dude" trope? I thought the trope was "good bad dude." You know, he saves the girl, at least? I mean, if you are going to be brutishly ignorant of genderpolitik? That is a pretty major concern.

Current Mood: Patent leather.
Current Music: crown me king- BR ACT

Hanging tough!

I've been forever doing nothing so far this week, & I like it. I mean, nada. Sure, I have lunch dates; or sort of anyway. I'm always falling in & out of lunch with Marie or Danielle or Tom or today I hung out with Nick Courage or somebody is always popping up. Then I'm home, for not much more! Jenny has been suffering under the lash of a headache, so I've been unhooked from my evening. Every-other-day gym attendence is still rocking; good. I'm starting to handle that. Otherwise, I've been occupying the holes in my work-day with writing an interlude for my Oubliette game-- they helped create the Aurelia Carta & the first of its amendments, the Aurelia Bulla. Otherwise, my days have become ridiculous Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon-- from everything from "seduction community slang" to...well, I had actual Baader-Meinhof about the actual Baader-Meinhof: one of my co-workers worked on a book about them at OUP before she came here & they just sent her a finished copy. How nuts is that? So yeah, nothing doing. Oh yeah though-- I should review that comic I read. Oh & as soon as the put out rules in the back of a Monster Manual for playing a PC derro, I'm there. & one other thing-- I am officially a fan to the max of HomeStuck, now.

Current Mood: Hang in there!
Current Music: crown me king- the hangman's beautiful daughter

By this sword I rule! (57)

Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett.

The canals of Mars
connected the seas that were
once upon a time.

I've been meaning to pick up one of Paizo's "Planet Stories" for a while. I like Paizo-- they put out consistently good product. I like pulp, especially the "swords & science" version. Put the two together & well! Of course, with pulp it is tough to know what is wheat & what if chaff; with your Howard's & your Lovecrafts & your Burroughs, you can sort of roll the dice & hope history was right to give them props (it was). It took a little more coaxing, but Nicola Griffith wrote the introduction to this one. Oh, & I picked it up for a smile at BEA. So there is that, too. Oh, then also, "author of Empire Strikes Back," too. Stars, they are a'right. So what do I have to say? This is a book on the cusp. There is Moorcock magical swords & protagonists shouting out Demon God's names. Burroughsian man out of place-- in this case not from Earth to Mars so much as from the deserts of the dead, red planet to it's living vibrant past 1,000,000 years ago. The protagonist is of the scoundral stripe, & the girls are of the "proud hellcat" variety. I enjoyed it. I don't know that it was brilliant-- it ain't going to change your life, but then, so what? Sword fights. Slave galleys. & there was a bit where Ywain, the haughty princess of the Evil Empire (tm) is "slender as a boy in her black mail" which I thought was really nice. It worked.

Current Mood: What next?
Current Music: crown me king- the fossil of the crown that sank

Back at work! Dear old Metropolis fetish, dear dear flat, iron icon. After Freya's Day's date the romance continued. Jenny & I went to Ghenet, the new Ethiopian place in Park Slope-- "where angels eat"-- which is I guess owned by the same people as the now defunct Mekerem, which is no longer around, or so the gossip goes? Anyhow, there is an Ethiopian restaurant in my neighborhood, which cheers me to no end; I like it. We went there & smashed a bottle of wine with dinner-- oh, & had some steak tartar appetizer that was pretty good & had green peppers. That is the closest I've come to tolerating green peppers ever. Afterward back home for some more Angel-- we're making steady progress; we've moved into Season Four I think? Then she fell asleep on my lap, then she fell asleep on top of the covers! Which JUST WON'T DO so I worked my wiles on her & woke her up. It might have something to do with the second bottle of wine we hammered out. Or the cocktails. Or the beer.

Sunday was some video games & some chilling out. I grabbed breakfast from a diner (that I used to hate but now like?) & beat Life Force, that old Konami game where you are a space ship inside like a demon-alien-planet? & you have to fight white blood cells & robots & such. I like the Wii's ability to download old console games. Plus some MarioKart, & then off to the gym. This last week has been better at getting me on track-- a reliable every-other-day. Then ran into Adam & Tania picking up lunch supplies-- salad, & then over to Royal Oak for play rehearsal. Things are coming along; I didn't choke on anything, which is fine by me. I can really only be responsible for knowing my own shit, right? Which I do, or I'm getting there. Cocktails at the Centre of the Earth is creeping up, man.

Current Mood: apprentice xbells
Current Music: crown me king- curious inkblot

The fire this time. (56)

Fire by Kristin Cashore.

Sparklegirl powers!
Horse of a different colour--
leopards & bugs, too.

I liked this one better than Graceling, which puts me just about opposite Jenny & Marie, who both liked Graceling more-- though Jenny sums it up as thinking Fire is probably the better book, but she prefers Graceling. First off, Cashore gets into the worldbuilding, in a high concept but fluid fashion that I liked better then the "graced." The graced are basically Marvel mutants, each with a unique superpower, right? This book takes place both before the last, & geographically to the far east. Across ridiculous mountains, there is a place where you'll occasionally find...impossibly coloured animals. Green horses. Neon pink hawks. Blue leopards with gold spots. These are called "monsters" & they have an internal ecology-- monster cats prefer monster mice, you know? The main character is Fire, who is a monster human, bright red hair the colour of flame, hence the sobriquet. The only monster human. She, & all the monsters, are painfully beautiful. "Take your breath away & control your mind" pretty. Plus she's got a supernatural empathy about it; desire especially.

The book shares some of the faults Graceling had: some of the girls skirt a little close to martyrdom & self pity at points, though at least Fire doesn't have super fighting powers, making her concerns a little more valid. She's a good stand in for the male gaze-- the first part of the book certainly emphasizes that, & you know? I think she is a good telling of the pitfalls of beauty-- Marie poo-pooed it, "oh, poor girl is too preeeeetty" but you know, there are downsides, especially if you want to be judged for something other than being pretty. The romance is telegraphed & makes you kind of want to pound on everyone's head for not figuring it out, but I guess that is the genre. At least none of the characters have weird emotional non-issues to self-sabotage with. I half expected politics & romance to end up in conflict, but nope. Which is a minor complaint of mine-- there are nobles without there being nobility? Where are the people vying for the king's attention? Seemed weirdly absent. There are two too many unbelievable coincidences-- especially when it comes to parentage. Oh-- Fire's father, the sociopathic monster? His relationship with his daughter, & hers with him, I really liked that. & her relationship with her horses. Anyhow, any minor concerns aside-- those are fodder for conversations. I liked this book.

Current Mood: whose gonna train me?
Current Music: crown me king- i've got a fight coming up

In which Oubliette doesn't happen for X weeks running.

I'm a little bit bummed that my game ended up canceled at the last minute today. I'll still probably go over to Sam & Tracey's, since I haven't seen them in a coon's age, but no roleplaying. Which is a bummer-- the horse, we are falling off it! I am putting forward the notion that next time we start, we jump a few months or a year-- sort of act like a season has passed, or like we're in the sequel. I have the ultimate future of the storylines already pretty much figured out, & I'd hate to see the game lapse & be forgotten. Anyhow, I've been thinking about Oubliette 3.0 plenty, so even if this campaign does go belly up for whatever reason, I'll be all set with the next iteration...though I hope it doesn't come to that. Oh, & I think I've made my peace with making the Autodidacts (the self-teaching automata, natch) an option that isn't immediately available to PCs...putting it in the "supernatural" category with things like vampires or magic kings or living gods. Which leaves humans, karnaks, alphas, demis, cacogen, & goblins. Huh.

Last night Jenny took me out for a date. It was a half-day, so I came home, played some video games, ate some food, relaxed, went to the gym. She got home in a pretty black poofy dress & we went out to the Kappa Sake House for a date. We go on dates now! Perks of being grown up. We had a few we knew we liked, & I had a really strong one-- the sake equivilent of like, a quad or something. 25% alcohol. To eat we had their mackerel (me: "I don't like mackerel. Oh wait, that is only raw mackerel. I dunno about cooked.") which was good & very salty, as they claimed. We forgot that we'd had their "potato salad" which is basically kind of colcannon-y mashed potatoes. We also had a couple of their sushi rolls, which are no-joke fusion-- there was a shrimp & basil one that was really basil-y, & there was a salmon & siso that was reallly...siso-y. I don't know that I've ever had siso before. We chuckled our way across the block home, watched some television & some Angel & then tumbled into bed to play footsie.

Current Mood: hexslinger.
Current Music: crown me king- every fight is yours

Old Mister Radio-head. Has a radio for a head.

Decided rather spur of the moment to go out with some folks after work. I waffled for a bit but I like my co-workers & Joceyln was coming & well...I felt like it! We were going to walk down to Kat's, but the rain kicked up, & so we took the train two stops. I hate traveling meager distances like that, but yeesh, it has been Thor & Odining out there, Zeus & Tiamat bleeding everywere. The evening was tame; got decidedly unsober & cracked each other up with anecdotes & turns of phrase. As you might. We split up early; going out with co-workers is funny like that. Normally, I have to leave parties early-- sort of duck in, duck out, since I have to go to work early the next day or have a wife waiting at home or whatever. Which is where the funny comes in-- my collegues have the same work to get to early the next day, so the evening tends to end in unison; I don't duck out early so much as the event wraps up without further ado. When I got home Jenny had no interest in television or in me, sadly. I didn't feel like video games, so I just ate too too much (a burrito & granola & yogurt!) & went to bed early, at nine-thirty. Oh, lets not forget lunch yesterday-- I met Jenny & Danielle outside the Flatiron & we went to get all you can eat Indian food. Seriously though, the little dessert guy-- I like that stuff. Today is an early day at work-- I'm going to go home, relax, work on my game for tomorrow, & go to the gym. Maybe Jenny will join me, but frankly I think it would be smarter if she went to Anti-prom.

Current Mood: What a creep!
Current Music: crown me king- a doppleganger named Engine.

holistic manipulative multi-modal musical memetic. (55)

Savage Girls & Wild Boys by Michael Newton.

Fey, without language,
raised in basements, & forests
Feral, pre-modern.

Rather than a discussion about feral children, which is what I thought I was getting into (& wanted) this is more a history of a few cases. In fact, more a series of essays on the various investigators of the wild children. I wasn't a big fan-- dry without being academic, the book is studiously footnoted, but the annotations are largely sources for quotes. Quotations & citations pepper the book, but they lead back to antique notes & musing rather than to scholarly or scientific discussion. Besides that, Newton has a tendency to make wildly unsupportable statements without blinking, things like:

"Burnett suffered from the abiding fault of many overthoughtful men: his life too readily turned into abstractions to shelter him from the blunt sufferings of experience." (68)
"This latter text is really a grant application-- the greatest ever written..." (124)
"However, radicalism traditionally flourishes in more liberal regimes." (174)

Along with him ascribing qualities to the paintings & pictures in the insert, & taking them as assumed. The guy in that painting has "cold, untroubled eyes"? If you say so. The pictures in the middle are the most haunting thing in the book-- while there are turns talking about Tarzan & Mowgli, the philosophical ramifications of the wild children that don't really go anywhere, the marrying of picture to case is well chosen, especially the picture of Genie (a girl kept prisoner in her room). I would perhaps be more charitable if I was reading this book for a particular case, or at least with the knowledge that it was more an exploration of the cases themselves than the subject of those cases-- viz, the kids. Still, a very pretty book.

Current Mood: By Crom!
Current Music: crown me king- nymphet lancet

"If they attacked anywhere it would be here, Point Pleasent, or Area 51."

Oh man it makes my heart murmur so hard whenever I see Yorda. I mean, susuruss all the secrets of "cherish, protect, destroy all puzzles, catch her when she jumps, maul the very shadows themselves, the queen must me slaughtered..." Oh Yorda Yorda Yorda. Jenny, can we name our second daughter Yorda? Say we can! How wonderful would it be? OKAY deep breath. Take a moment to pause. Yorda Yorda Yorda, shhhh. Okay, princess made of light speaking in wonderful glossolalia-- you can handle this. High & tight, five by five. Do not think about Last Guardian...too late...

Okay, what, Penny Arcade? I don't really think it is all that funny, but sometimes it is true, & this is one of those times. Did you know the name of the creature is Trico? Which is (to quote Wikipedia) "prisoner" (toriko), "baby bird" (tori no kodomo), or a mashup of "bird" (tori) and "cat" (neko). Why am I freaking out about Team Ico games today? Oh, no reason. Lets slip back on subject, if we can. Last night after work I was really exhausted. Events over the weekend kept me from getting any sort of reasonable amount of sleep-- game, poison, all that jazz. Still, Jenny helped kick me into shape & I did go to the gym, & I did feel a million gp better. We also watched a couple episodes of Angel, & Wesley's arc from "biggest joke" to "toughest guy" is right on track. Seriously, how good is the depth of change Wesley goes through? He's the scariest white hat of them all, sorry Giles. Oh, & I had a nightmare last night about getting beat up again, but this time in Mentor.

Current Mood: x-bells
Current Music: crown me king- defend themselves against the slings & arrows

Gnashing Lamprey Guts.

The weekend was what you might call mixed bag. On one hand, I had a lot of fun; on the other, I gave myself food poisoning. So like I said, it was a little left hand, right hand. Friday was another half-day, & I set it aside to go to the gym. I really require gym attendance; psychologically, I mean. Alienation & self loathing aren't quite in full effect, but the liminal edges of those oceans are kept at bay by being awesome, you know? The discipline, endorphins, muscles, whatever. It is a perk that helps me from feeling divorced from the vessel, not to sound too dualist (I'm a nadaist!) about it. So Friday-- the gym. I've been kept from it by a stupid cough, that sort of thing; no more. I'm back on schedule, baby. Then after the gym I came home & made a casserole, at Jenny's urging. Okay, about the casserole. I made enough for it to fit in two crockery dishes; Corningwear! & then we tested one of the dishes, & ate it. I forgot to put the other dish in the fridge before I went to my DnD game, & Jenny fell asleep. See that right there? The fucking culprit; the Other Dish.

I said "my DnD game" but I only meant I was in it; really it was

fordmadoxfraud's DnD game, & then after that

toughlad's game, since they share a stable of characters. When I say stable, I mean Trials of Hercules style stable, since we are an overflowing pot of players. I was there of course, & equally of course was

elladorian, as she does live there. Her friend Erica was there, who I've never met before but have now subsequently seen twice. Both

kromelizard &

wolvus were there, & James. A big group, though here have been bigger. The session was fun; orcs! I killed an orc riding on a rhino! Also, I smoked a cigarette in a haunted room & got blitzed. I'm an old fuddy duddy, guys. Staying up till 1:30 screws with me; I am not hip at all, or as nocturnal as I'd like to be. I'm a nine to fiver! I get up as early as people's parents! Etc. So wine wine wine. Drunk! Then we got magic items: so this is my character OPERA's new mask:

Saturday I was mighty tired from the previous night. Jenny was at work, so I had the morning to myself. I had a nice big slice of left-over casserole (! infection!) & did some of my nerdery. Sorted through pictures, watched Batman: the Brave & the Bold, maybe half an episode of Big O (I've wrapped around into reruns already, sadly) & played a fair clip of MarioKart. I unlocked the mirror levels! Then eventually Jenny came home & we decided to get lunch at Rachel's, & enjoy their backyard. Which we did, except a squirrel got stuck & was harried back & forth. Skittering across our ankles! Then I caught a slight error in our bill-- I am a numbers genius!

After that was a picnic with Kira & Nino & their folks/in-laws, Robert & Judy. My little tribe! Jenny & I picked up some supplies & met at Kira & Nino's apartment. There was some waiting, some washing of lawn chairs, some preparation, & then voom! Off to Prospect Park. We set up in our usual spot & got to grilling! When I say we, I mean not me at all; between Kira, Robert, & Judy there are enough cooks to feast for 100 years. We whetted our appetites on some snap peas & asparagus dipped in that minty green sauce stuff. The main course was "Vietnamese Sandwich Inspired"...smoked pork with what we affectionately called "garbage salad." Seriously, daikon & whatever makes the slaw that goes on bahn mi smells like garbage to the max, what is up with that? By this point the "iced tea" we were drinking in the park was kicking in; Judy in particular was quite feisty. After the sandwich was shrimp-- well, it was meant to be a shrimp sandwich, but I'd loaded up on greens first.

After the picnic (running around back & forth trying to figure out how to put out the coals) Kira & Nino & Jenny & me were walking to go get a drink when disaster struck. Poisoned disaster! In my belly. I bailed on the three of them & went home to commence with the being food poisoned. Disgusting! Jenny came home & was apparently drunk enough not to realize how miserable I was. She didn't even tuck me in! & I of course couldn't sleep; breaking out in sweats, whines & moans, & getting up every few minutes for the bathroom. Lovely! So in the end I crawled over to the living room floor & slept on the rug out there. So cool.

Sunday I was mostly recovered, but still a bit of a tired, worn out dishrag. I went & got some cereal for us to eat for breakfast, then we watched some Angel-- I didn't realize that was Summer Glau in "Waiting in the Wings!" The day proceeded to Sloppy Joe lunch, & then I had to bounce for play practice. It was a full cast, & a full production rehearsal! We hit Act V a few times then ran through the whole play from start to finish. I think this airplane might just make if off the ground, Wilbur! There were a lot of laughs, & I think I finally crossed my internal threshold to where I can start playing with the character. Came home, drank a beer & thought about my game. Now here I am at work, & Therefore A Cruel Messenger just came, & it looks good! Hooray.

Current Mood: This thing is hilarious.
Current Music: crown me king- two front teeth

This could only be better if the Mothman was in it.

Current Mood: Favorites.
Current Music: crown me king- the slow dwindling of the demi

Kraken! (54)

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield.

Her pet thylacine
should be drawn yawning much more
fearsomely. I've seen.

SMASHING. G-R-A-T-E. I haven't gotten on the Westerfield bandwagon before now (a lesson by which you can learn I guess Giant Fighting Robots > Vampires) but I might have to reconsider. So this is an alternate history of World War I; only you know, muddled up with steampunk & such. Europe is divided: German & Austria-Hungary are Clankers, with kerosene powered walker-mechs on everything from two-legs to eight, zeppelins, all that; Britain & France are Darwinists, with fabricated chimera, giant elephantines & felinesques, immense airwhales that are less a living creature & more a whole ecosystem. What makes this sparkle is that Westerfield isn't kidding about imagining-- why be stingy? One character is the son of Franz Ferdinand. Why not! & the Darwinists muddle bats with moths, feed the bats flechettes, & then use spotlights to direct them as a weapon. Sure you would! The Clankers have mecha after all! Besides the big stuff though, he ain't stingy with the nooks & niches; even the curses the character's utter get a solid treatment. Oh, & the characters aren't contemptible-- a problem sometimes with YA. So yeah, I'm excited for the next one-- figure it has to be Kraken, right? Then the third I guess Behemoth, isn't it? Would make sense. Oh & the art? Spectacular.

Current Mood: Hooray for galleys.
Current Music: crown me king- "pop fangs!" at 20,000 feet

Caroline, the musical. "CORALINE!"

So for the final triumph of the big show-boat weekend, we went to Coraline, the musical last night. Music by Stephin Merritt, aka Yes That Stephin Merritt. Before hand we braved the sudden torrential rain to get food at the nostalgia-peddling Cow Girl Hall of Fame. Did I say sudden? Must have been, to catch Jenny! Then they wouldn't seat her while she waited for Nine & I, despite it being mostly empty. Classy. So I ate too too much (really, I've been a slob lately, ugh) from goat cheese & spinach enchiladas, & we headed over to the theater. I let them borrow my name for a minute & got my tickets. Voila. Then the show! I have to tell you, I was well pleased! The cast clamored, everyone played multiple roles, the stage sort of dissolved & post-modern tricks were full in effect. Wait, I don't mean post-modern; part of the fun of theater is that meta-text was woven in from the get go, right? So the rats sang! & the balloons were twisted, & the door slammed. The music is great; sometimes very Merritt, sometimes very stagey, sometimes haunting. The talented & attractive girl playing the toy piano has a funny job-- good job with life! I think the rat's songs & the final swan song of the Other Mother were the most memorable bits, but really, I have only good things to say. All the cast was cool as hell, & the play was tiny enough to be boutiquey & quaint, but big enough to have tricks up its sleeves. Plus, Coraline is the work of Gaiman's outside of comics I most think worthy of note.

Current Mood: blink blink.
Current Music: crown me king- praise memo heck

Jonathan Lewis Carrol (53)

White Apples by Jonathan Carrol.

The rat wears lipstick
& you didn't think "That's weird"?
Well, death changes you.

Arg, I'm a little burned out, but I want to joust at this. I finished it last night, & went through phases reading it, from exasperation to enjoyment. This was recommended to me by one of my bosses, & it did reference my favorite bit of Faustus. I think my misgivings are overcome by fundamentally liking what the book had going for it; I'd give a different book of his a shot, to see how I feel over-all, you know? The downsides, first up. One, it was really loosely plotted. I mean, it seemed almost NaNoWriMo in its "well, & then I foreshadowed this thing which never came up again, then Chandler's man with a gun walked into the room." The other downside was a few flat, wishful thinking, goofy kind of add-ons. Animals want to be in the zoo...to protect mankind! Uh, wot? That sort of business didn't do the book any favors. On the other hand, in the plus column, the characters were pretty great. I sometimes think Brits fall inbetween European & American literary trends; in this case, the protagonist had the European tendency towards being a contemptible piece of crap, mixed with the American style of throwing psychological quirks in & hoping that makes you like the character. Somehow, the two muddled up & worked! Beside that, there were a few moments of wonder-- the book is "magical realism" also known as fantasy, also known as fiction-- & some of them were really great: the pills with words on them, for example. I think this book had a Phillip K. Dick thing going on at points; not enough to obscure the momentum though. PKD stuff gets plot problems excused because, well, heck, perception/reality is crumbling! You do sort of have to be PKD to pull that off, though, & even he doesn't always. Anyhow; I'd give him another shot. I would also recommend it. It just wasn't my favorite.

Current Mood: drone.
Current Music: crown me king- we are arching inside your skull

Two trolls enter! Two trolls leave! Since trolls can't breathe fire or spit acid.

I'm hectically, tragically torn apart by actually having work to do. Oh woe, calloo callay! What am I sobbing about? It ain't so bad, mister. Yesterday as soon as work drew to a close-- nay, before, for I snuck out early-- Jenny, Ryan & I met up outside the Flatiron & headed to Dos Caminos for dinner. I also tried drinking nice tequila. Here is what I learned: I still don't care even a little about tequila. So, a martini! Then I made the waitress I was flirting with figure out what dub of this Massive Attack song that was playing-- Underdog's Angeldust Mix of "Protection." Hey, I remember being in college & listening to trip hop all the time. Like a How I Met Your Mother skit. I got "steak salad" which sounds gross, but the ingredients were what I wanted, & the thing I really wanted I got last time (& suggested Jenny get this time) so there it was. It was good! & Jenny told me how to order my steak, joking about anniversary dinner one. Yes! This was part two; & this time I had a (paper) gift for her: a picture by Creepy-chan!

Afterward we went to go see Guys & Dolls. "Front row" is funny when it puts you, well, almost back stage. Looking up all the girl's skirts. Ryan got us the tickets (paper) for our anniversary! We both heart Lorelai Gilmore, so seeing Lauren Graham was an easy sell. I had never see the movie or anything, so I was fresh meat. I enjoyed it; in particular, Kate Jennings Grant made really funny faces, Craig Bierko looks like Bruce Campbell, & "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" was cool. Lauren Graham is a ham playing a hambone character, so it is tough to say she did well-- she made me laugh & was cute, though, & had a good way of singing humor, which seems tough to me. Plus, it made me think of Lucifer in the Sandman singing it, which in turn segues neatly into tonight's play, Coraline.

Current Mood: Thinking thoughts.
Current Music: crown me king- plus minus

The Old Republic.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

I am on this team. The team that says: we own Star Wars, not Lucas. That says: Jedi are sweet. Sith Lords are awesome. Robots are cool. Starship combat is radical. That is Star Wars. Deciding not to be shackled by continuity, by the prequels. To cherry pick what you want out of it. This is why I'm not immediately turned off by the rumors that the Kuzui's want to remake Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the film, without Whedon. You know, I've said this before about Buffy. I want her to enter the pantheon of the Hammer films. I want, in 50 years, "Buffy" to be included with "Frankenstein" & "Dracula." I want people to just know it, in their gut.

Current Mood: sith v. jedi
Current Music: crown me king- darth malleus