Matthew’s been watching a lot of movies, even more so than usual, trying to get his Movie Review website in shape. As such, I have been subjected to such classics as Child’s Play 2, Species II, and Pet Cemetery. Just this weekend we watched Ghost in the Shell, Event Horizon, and Rosemary’s Baby. I need my brain scrubbed free of horrific imagery.
So, I took skunk pictures:
Gakked from jack_yoniga:
Hobkin had a Very Good Day today. The little fuzz beast adores corn muffins, but he doesn’t get them very often because they’re quite fattening. Well, today I was baking a batch and apparently didn’t use enough non-stick spray. As I was trying to shake them out, I lost control of the baking tin, and a muffin top tore off to go tumbling to the floor, where an opportunistic skunk–waiting for just such a serendipitous occurrence–gleefully pounced on it. I didn’t have the heart to take it away from him, plus he inhaled it so fast I would have been hard pressed to get it anyway. Wish I’d thought to grab the camera . . .
Words: 270
In a fit of escapist zeal, Matthew and I went to see Constantine, then came home and watched Alien vs Predator and Garden State to round things out.
Constantine was pretty. It actually had an engaging storyline, and Keanu Reeve’s *ahem* “acting” didn’t detract from the film. The CGI wings were swoofy too–best done wings I’ve seen. I do think the writerly/directing influences from both Exorcist and Prophecy were exceedingly blatant. There was also a rather pronounced sense of “short shrift” given to even a suggestion of character development, making it difficult to become emotionally vested in the life-and-death activities happening to both good guys and bad. That, paired with some slow moments in the middle, made for a flawed production. But overall, Constantine gets Eugie’s gold star of shiny fun. And, alerted by various and sundry, we knew to stay until the end of the credits. If you see Constantine, don’t leave the theater until after the credits are over!
Alien vs Predator was much better than I expected. Yes, the first half of it didn’t have space monsters duking it out, but once past that bit, it was full of acid blood splashes, tail spikes through chests, and dread-locked predators being all fierce and Klingon-esque. More shiny fun. As Matthew pointed out, the gestation and development cycle of aliens appears to have been significantly accelerated compared to how long it took in Alien, but I was willing to overlook silly details like that. I mean it’s supposed to be all about the monster carnage, right?
And Garden State was the meaningful film of the trio. I suspect Natalie Portman’s character was described in the screenplay as “spaz.” But she pulls off “spaz” enchantingly. There were quirky bits; I like quirk, and some very good writing. I thought it sagged in the middle, but generally was satisfying.
And I’m getting myself back on track on the writing front. Not launching back into the Novel™ just yet, as I haven’t produced new wordage in ages and I don’t want to embark on it until I’m sure I’ve got my writing legs (should that be fingers?) back. So I’ve started doing fairy tale research as I’ve actually exhausted my backlog of Cricket manuscripts. That last sale of “The Tanuki-Kettle” came a lot faster than I’ve become accustomed to them responding–not that I’m complaining. And I’ve started a new short story from some imagery that popped into existence out of the ether–courtesy muse-o-mine.
Words: 150
Sigh. Starting over.
So, for those of you who didn’t know (old news for some of you), I’m a telecommuter, and my place of employment decided to recall me to the home office. The home office is in Illinois; I’m happily situated in Georgia, ergo, I’m terminating from the company. My last day is Monday. I’ve been with this company for nearly eleven years, but I knew this possibility was looming as they’ve been re-evaluating their telecommuter program. Remote workers across the country have been dropping like those plastic ducks at shooting galleries. Yep. I have joined the ranks of plastic duckhood.
It’s been a stressful week. I’ve been packing up and carting off over a decade’s worth of desk detritus in measured increments. There was some catharsis and glee, dumping out thick binders full of documentation and specs that I will no longer have to look at or lug around with me ever again. But I felt far more distressed, punctuated by surreal, than I thought I was going to. It’s not like I loved my job or anything. It was a soul-sucking, occasionally-distracting foray into corporate America that paid me well. I got no joy, no true sense of accomplishment or satisfaction from it; which is a pretty sad statement to make about ten-plus years of servitude.
I’m looking forward to having the chance to focus more on my writing and publishing efforts. Hoping I can find a way to make a living from it before our savings and/or health coverage runs out. If not (I fully realize how stacked the odds are against me), I suspect I can go back into IT or find something else.
The thing is, I didn’t realize how stressed I was about this until I started experiencing a slew of minor aches and pains–persistent headache, soreness across my shoulders and back, fatigue. You’d think someone with a Master’s in Psychology would have figured it out sooner, wouldn’t you? So yeah, though I hadn’t expected to be dismayed by the situation since I’ve had so much time (over a year) to come to grips with it, I’m wide-eyed and trembly about this major life change.
Once I realized this, of course, I felt better immediately. Matthew and I went out to see Constantine and I’ve been downing the caffeine and OTC analgesics–therapy and meds for under $20. I feel better, optimistic again. I’ll see about applying for unemployment next week, and getting my COBRA ducks in a row (oh no, more ducks!).
And best of all, I think my muse may be ready to emerge from her extended absence.
So, I’m okay.
I asked, and Kirk Alberts (the_new_low) gave his permission for me to display the artwork he did for “Inspirations End/Still My Beating Heart.” Check it out!
jinzi has already 
paid me for “Only Springtime When She’s Gone.” Uber coolness.
Got my first glimpse of the cover art for “Inspirations End/Still My Beating Heart” from Kirk Alberts. It’s glorious! Full color art with main colors a rich, blood-red crimson, and a shadowy black. I’m delighted with what he’s come up with. Can’t wait to hold the finished product in my eager little hands.
Received a pile of review books for Tangent in the mail. I think I’m going to need to clear some space to store all my review material. The current “pile it on any open counter space” isn’t working out well. I’m running out of counter space.
Received:
21-day “does not suit our present needs” signed reject from Analog.
78-day “It’s not at all bad but . . .” with invite to send more from Ellen Datlow at Sci-Fiction. I’m quite pleased with this one as far as rejections go. She also thanked me for taking over Tangent.
Woot! Sale of “Only Springtime When She’s Gone” to jinzi‘s new Women’s Erotica webzine. I believe it’ll come out in April. And it looks like I’ll be sharing a TOC with wicked_wish and naamah_darling!
RAH!
Y’all have been helpful with your input regarding whether I should buy that service plan for my laptop, but I still haven’t decided. I’m leaning toward not getting it. I’ve had one laptop or another for the better part of a decade now, and while yes, I have had battery issues a couple times, for the most part, my experience with them has been fairly uneventful. Not to mention the times they weren’t–like when I spilled tea on my keyboard and the cursor turned into a flapping bird and the system wouldn’t boot properly–wouldn’t be covered by the service plan anyway.
I think I’ll just continue to make compulsive backups (ever since an Apple computer ate half the textbook my adviser and I were writing in graduate school, I’ve been anal about it) and hope for the best.
Started on a Critters critique for a regular.
E. Sedia reviewed Leading Edge #48 for Tangent and wrote glowing things about my story, “Of Two Minds in Lanais”:
“Magic! Poetry! Fisticuffs! All this and more make Eugie Foster’s “Of Two Minds in Lanais” the best story in the issue . . .”
Okay, I’ve got fourteen days to decide whether or not I want to buy a service plan from Best Buy for my new laptop. It’s three years of coverage for $149. Normally, we never buy the things, but I’m less certain because laptops tend to be more fragile, not to mention harder to debug on the fly, than other hardware. Plus the shop person said that I can expect my battery to die in 10-12 months, and the service plan pays for itself with replacement batteries. But then, they’re paid to say that, right?
So, to get y’all’s opinion, I’ve made my very first LJ poll:
