I got a rejection letter from Analog yesterday for "AIDA to Eridani." I plan to revise it and send it out to the Writers of the Future Contest before this quarter closes.
More later.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Stats
Chapters revised: 2
Original word count: 3,517
New word count: 3,678
Scenes with That Character removed: 1
Scenes inserted to make up for it: 1, providing some further back story about the Necromancer and some history of the planet, as well as Thalia's nature.
More later.
Original word count: 3,517
New word count: 3,678
Scenes with That Character removed: 1
Scenes inserted to make up for it: 1, providing some further back story about the Necromancer and some history of the planet, as well as Thalia's nature.
More later.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Stats
Chapters revised: 2
Word count: 4,540
Scenes with That Character removed: 1
Scenes inserted to make up for it: 1, hopefully explaining some of the Necromancer stuff that Certain Readers Who Can't Think Critically were confused about.
Next time, I think I'll keep a running word-count tally to see how many words are displaced.
More later.
Word count: 4,540
Scenes with That Character removed: 1
Scenes inserted to make up for it: 1, hopefully explaining some of the Necromancer stuff that Certain Readers Who Can't Think Critically were confused about.
Next time, I think I'll keep a running word-count tally to see how many words are displaced.
More later.
Resolution
Because it's (sort of) the weekend and this is the last Friday before the university starts and I lose the time to BREATHE, I have decided that I'm going to actually work on Healing the Elder today. I haven't TOUCHED it since I decided that a major character needed to go--busy, true, but also daunted by the sheer scope of the task--and if I ever want to be a professional writer I need to get my butt in gear and start, well, WRITING. Most of my lesson plans--even the new ones with the lots and lots of activities to make sure that nobody gets out early--are done for the next week or so (except for the Jeopardy game my remedial class will be playing on Tuesday, but that won't take too long), so I have almost no excuse besides sheer laziness.
So today, I resolve to AT LEAST get the outline re-written and possibly start the hacking.
More later.
So today, I resolve to AT LEAST get the outline re-written and possibly start the hacking.
More later.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
More Birthday Goodies!
My gift from my mom came today. She got me this:
Yes, I know I'm weird because I'm all excited about a dictionary, but it's very hard to find a decent Old English dictionary that isn't $300. Up 'til now I've had to suffer with mediocre online dictionaries and the glossary in the back of my "Beginning Old English" book. Now maybe I can get some actual learning done. If German doesn't fry my brain first. :)
More later.
Yes, I know I'm weird because I'm all excited about a dictionary, but it's very hard to find a decent Old English dictionary that isn't $300. Up 'til now I've had to suffer with mediocre online dictionaries and the glossary in the back of my "Beginning Old English" book. Now maybe I can get some actual learning done. If German doesn't fry my brain first. :)
More later.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Whoops
I started looking over the Tepper article and Brian Attebery's comments, only to realize that he had commented on a REALLY old version of the article--possibly the original. I sent him the new one, and hopefully he won't need quite as much revision. Hopefully I've already addressed the issues he brought up.
That would definitely be a load off.
More later.
That would definitely be a load off.
More later.
Teaching
I won't be doing a lot of blogging about my classes because this is a VERY public forum and I don't want to say anything that might offend any of my students or bosses. But I'll tell y'all that my first day went pretty well. I have a few students in my remedial class who do NOT want to be there, but when I got stuck in remedial math at the junior college I went to, I didn't enjoy that, either, so I can't blame them. I just get to try to engage them.
This week I get to work on my revision for JFA to try to get that done before university classes start and every bit of my time is taken up with teaching and grading. I'm also working on the "Superstar" paper--almost done with the first draft of that one--and at some point need to get working on the revisions of Healing the Elder that I've been putting of for FOREVER. I'm also still working on German lessons. Things are starting to fall into place and make more sense, but I still have to look up grammatical stuff nearly constantly. It almost feels like I'll NEVER have all of this memorized, especially irregular and auxiliary verbs.
More later.
This week I get to work on my revision for JFA to try to get that done before university classes start and every bit of my time is taken up with teaching and grading. I'm also working on the "Superstar" paper--almost done with the first draft of that one--and at some point need to get working on the revisions of Healing the Elder that I've been putting of for FOREVER. I'm also still working on German lessons. Things are starting to fall into place and make more sense, but I still have to look up grammatical stuff nearly constantly. It almost feels like I'll NEVER have all of this memorized, especially irregular and auxiliary verbs.
More later.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Accomplishment
This morning I noticed that I was having to hike my pants up a LOT. Every couple of steps, they'd slide down my hips in a most uncomfortable manner. So I braced myself for disappointment and pulled my next-size-smaller jeans out of the drawer.
Guess what.
They fit.
I've lost almost 20 pounds since graduation, and while I KNOW I'm smaller, sometimes it's hard for me to see. But backing into a smaller size definitely makes me more aware of how much I've lost. I'm very excited about it.
More later.
Edit: And when I took out the trash and got my mail a second ago, some guy whistled at me. :)
Guess what.
They fit.
I've lost almost 20 pounds since graduation, and while I KNOW I'm smaller, sometimes it's hard for me to see. But backing into a smaller size definitely makes me more aware of how much I've lost. I'm very excited about it.
More later.
Edit: And when I took out the trash and got my mail a second ago, some guy whistled at me. :)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Getting Better
Here's a shot of the actual poster in its new frame. Thought I'd share.
Also, it came with a Buffy-themed birthday card that plays the theme song when it's opened. Dlou is my newest favorite person. :)
More later.
Also, it came with a Buffy-themed birthday card that plays the theme song when it's opened. Dlou is my newest favorite person. :)
More later.
WHAT a Day
I should have known when I left my lights on at the post office that it was going to be one of those days.
I got up this morning to run a whole bunch of errands. First I went to the post office to pick up an early birthday present from my friend Dlou (I kind of expected one of her original paintings, plug plug). She sent me one of these:
Which is ALMOST as cool as one of her paintings. There's actually kind of a story behind this; due to the lack of office space at the university, some of the adjuncts have gotten stuck in a basement. When I told Dlou about it, she joked about calling me "Scully," which was funny because MY first thought had been, "Nobody down here but the F.B.I's most unwanted!" So she said I should get one of those to hang in my office. Since I didn't have one by the time she was thinking of birthday presents, she got it for me. Cause she's awesome.
So then I went up to campus and ran around for a few hours getting my parking pass and ID, filling out paperwork, making my cubicle a bit more homey, talking to other faculty about stuff, etc. I was going to print and copy some stuff, but the computer in the cubicle area wasn't communicating with the printer and I didn't have my laptop with me, so that will have to wait for later (very annoying).
Then I headed up to Wal-Mart to get a poster frame for my awesome new poster--only to lock the keys in the truck. I had to call a locksmith, who charged me $100 to jimmy the door open. That's not good for our budget, but I think we'll be able to squeak by. I had copies of the keys made so this wouldn't happen again, then came home.
Oh, well. We'll survive and someday we'll look back on this and . . . probably not laugh, but at least regard it as a learning experience.
Also, the editor of JFA got back to me with some revisions, and I'm going to have to work on that later because right now I honestly don't feel like I can mess with it much more at all.
More later.
I got up this morning to run a whole bunch of errands. First I went to the post office to pick up an early birthday present from my friend Dlou (I kind of expected one of her original paintings, plug plug). She sent me one of these:
Which is ALMOST as cool as one of her paintings. There's actually kind of a story behind this; due to the lack of office space at the university, some of the adjuncts have gotten stuck in a basement. When I told Dlou about it, she joked about calling me "Scully," which was funny because MY first thought had been, "Nobody down here but the F.B.I's most unwanted!" So she said I should get one of those to hang in my office. Since I didn't have one by the time she was thinking of birthday presents, she got it for me. Cause she's awesome.
So then I went up to campus and ran around for a few hours getting my parking pass and ID, filling out paperwork, making my cubicle a bit more homey, talking to other faculty about stuff, etc. I was going to print and copy some stuff, but the computer in the cubicle area wasn't communicating with the printer and I didn't have my laptop with me, so that will have to wait for later (very annoying).
Then I headed up to Wal-Mart to get a poster frame for my awesome new poster--only to lock the keys in the truck. I had to call a locksmith, who charged me $100 to jimmy the door open. That's not good for our budget, but I think we'll be able to squeak by. I had copies of the keys made so this wouldn't happen again, then came home.
Oh, well. We'll survive and someday we'll look back on this and . . . probably not laugh, but at least regard it as a learning experience.
Also, the editor of JFA got back to me with some revisions, and I'm going to have to work on that later because right now I honestly don't feel like I can mess with it much more at all.
More later.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Movie Reviews: Tropic Thunder and Mirrors
W.E. and I went out for a double-feature treat tonight. It was fun. We saw Tropic Thunder and Mirrors. Warning: possible spoilers ahead.
Tropic Thunder - I spent most of the movie not able to breathe from the laughing so hard. The overt satire of Vietnam movies--especially Platoon--alongside Robert Downey Jr.'s amazing acting, Jack Black's usual stupidity (and I mean that in the nicest possible way), and Ben Stiller's over-the-top straightman shtick combined to make a hilarious but not stupid movie. And we need more of those. 10/10
Mirrors - Easily the most terrifying movie I've seen since Silent Hill. Creepy, mysterious, occasionally SCARING THE PEE OUT OF YOU. . . . It was pretty much horrifying. I loved it. I spent a lot of the movie with a death grip on W.E.'s hand (or pantleg). It was good with the mix of supernatural scariness and moments of visceral terror. Also 10/10
More later.
Tropic Thunder - I spent most of the movie not able to breathe from the laughing so hard. The overt satire of Vietnam movies--especially Platoon--alongside Robert Downey Jr.'s amazing acting, Jack Black's usual stupidity (and I mean that in the nicest possible way), and Ben Stiller's over-the-top straightman shtick combined to make a hilarious but not stupid movie. And we need more of those. 10/10
Mirrors - Easily the most terrifying movie I've seen since Silent Hill. Creepy, mysterious, occasionally SCARING THE PEE OUT OF YOU. . . . It was pretty much horrifying. I loved it. I spent a lot of the movie with a death grip on W.E.'s hand (or pantleg). It was good with the mix of supernatural scariness and moments of visceral terror. Also 10/10
More later.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Randomness
Here's what I'm excited about today:
They've finally compiled all the music Christophe Beck did for Buffy. It's very exciting, because although I've managed to download a few tracks from his website, he didn't have stuff like "Sacrifice" from "The Gift"--you know, that heartbreaking music while Buffy's talking to Dawn, then diving off the tower, then DYING--or the music from "Hush." It comes out on September 9th. Speaking for all of us who are me in the room right now, we're very excited.
Unfortunately balanced by the not-so-excitement as I discover how much of a hassle teaching at the community college will be. Not only do they not have enough space for their adjuncts--meaning I have to sign up for a few hours of office space and then clear out when my time is up--but they don't have a copier I can use (I have to send all of my class materials through Printing Services), and they don't have wireless access to their network (so I can't just sit on campus and work from my laptop). Which means I'll be on campus to do classes and hold a few office hours, and then I have to head over to the local Barnes & Noble and use their Wi-Fi to get any other work done until W.E. is done with work and we can go home. I swear, if I didn't need the money so bad, I just wouldn't bother with them. Two classes is almost not worth this much hassle.
Oh, well. Live and learn. It's only for a year, anyway, and then (maybe; hopefully) I'll be on my way to a lovely doctoral program and earn the next degree so I'll be up the ladder and not stuck being an adjunct for the rest of my life.
Here's hoping.
More later.
They've finally compiled all the music Christophe Beck did for Buffy. It's very exciting, because although I've managed to download a few tracks from his website, he didn't have stuff like "Sacrifice" from "The Gift"--you know, that heartbreaking music while Buffy's talking to Dawn, then diving off the tower, then DYING--or the music from "Hush." It comes out on September 9th. Speaking for all of us who are me in the room right now, we're very excited.
Unfortunately balanced by the not-so-excitement as I discover how much of a hassle teaching at the community college will be. Not only do they not have enough space for their adjuncts--meaning I have to sign up for a few hours of office space and then clear out when my time is up--but they don't have a copier I can use (I have to send all of my class materials through Printing Services), and they don't have wireless access to their network (so I can't just sit on campus and work from my laptop). Which means I'll be on campus to do classes and hold a few office hours, and then I have to head over to the local Barnes & Noble and use their Wi-Fi to get any other work done until W.E. is done with work and we can go home. I swear, if I didn't need the money so bad, I just wouldn't bother with them. Two classes is almost not worth this much hassle.
Oh, well. Live and learn. It's only for a year, anyway, and then (maybe; hopefully) I'll be on my way to a lovely doctoral program and earn the next degree so I'll be up the ladder and not stuck being an adjunct for the rest of my life.
Here's hoping.
More later.
Friday, August 08, 2008
So It Begins
A few months ago, Dr. G and I were discussing some of the horrible dreams you can have as a teacher. She says every year before school starts she has dreams that she doesn't remember her material, she's late for class, and she doesn't even remember where her office is. Apparently she'd also started a new one in which she found out that her high school diploma was invalid, therefore invalidating every other degree she'd received since then.
Last night I dreamed that I was taking so long to get ready for class that I missed my first one, was 40 minutes late for my second one, and didn't know what I was talking about when I got there. On top of that, the slides that I was using--which were supposed to be the syllabus because I hadn't printed it out for the students--were mixed up and had random crazy stuff on them. When I walked into my second class, I had a bunch of snot-nosed kids with water guns daring me to be strict. I'm going to be teaching COLLEGE! What are these kids even doing here?! (Apparently it was a field trip.) It was TERRIBLE. Later, I was showing some of the kids around the campus (don't ask me why; that's not my class), and my sister, who was there for some odd reason, suddenly collapsed with a searing pain in her side. So I had to send some freshman who didn't even know the layout of the campus to the student health center to get help.
Tomorrow I plan to go up to campus and start printing and copying stuff like crazy. If I hadn't already planned on doing that, my dream last night would have convinced me. I don't like being unprepared.
But if Dr. G is right, these dreams are only going to get worse.
Fun.
More later.
Last night I dreamed that I was taking so long to get ready for class that I missed my first one, was 40 minutes late for my second one, and didn't know what I was talking about when I got there. On top of that, the slides that I was using--which were supposed to be the syllabus because I hadn't printed it out for the students--were mixed up and had random crazy stuff on them. When I walked into my second class, I had a bunch of snot-nosed kids with water guns daring me to be strict. I'm going to be teaching COLLEGE! What are these kids even doing here?! (Apparently it was a field trip.) It was TERRIBLE. Later, I was showing some of the kids around the campus (don't ask me why; that's not my class), and my sister, who was there for some odd reason, suddenly collapsed with a searing pain in her side. So I had to send some freshman who didn't even know the layout of the campus to the student health center to get help.
Tomorrow I plan to go up to campus and start printing and copying stuff like crazy. If I hadn't already planned on doing that, my dream last night would have convinced me. I don't like being unprepared.
But if Dr. G is right, these dreams are only going to get worse.
Fun.
More later.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Feel the Scholarness
I was watching Buffy today while working on the new "Truthsayer" story, and got an idea for another paper. I was watching "Superstar," the one where Jonathan casts a spell to make everyone think he's uber-cool, and started wondering about the male fantasies in this show. Jonathan wasn't just uber-cool, everyone else was less than they were supposed to be. He wasn't just better than Buffy, Buffy wasn't as strong or fast or smart as she really was. And none of his accomplishments were unique; he just ripped off everyone else's. Mostly Buffy's.
Xander did something similar earlier, in his daydream in "Teacher's Pet." Instead of just being ultra-cool, he made Buffy into a simpering, insipid little girly-girl, removing everything he actually liked about her. It could be that he can't handle her being stronger than him, but I think he also thinks that only a simpering, insipid little girly-girl would ever be interested in him.
I got so excited about this that I couldn't concentrate on writing the "Truthsayer" story and had to run off to start researching. I think I want to do something on the psychology behind the guys and why they felt it necessary to weaken everyone else in order to make themselves cool. Yes, I am an absolute nerd, I'm going to write a paper on this and submit it to Slayage: The Online Journal of Buffy Studies.
More later.
Xander did something similar earlier, in his daydream in "Teacher's Pet." Instead of just being ultra-cool, he made Buffy into a simpering, insipid little girly-girl, removing everything he actually liked about her. It could be that he can't handle her being stronger than him, but I think he also thinks that only a simpering, insipid little girly-girl would ever be interested in him.
I got so excited about this that I couldn't concentrate on writing the "Truthsayer" story and had to run off to start researching. I think I want to do something on the psychology behind the guys and why they felt it necessary to weaken everyone else in order to make themselves cool. Yes, I am an absolute nerd, I'm going to write a paper on this and submit it to Slayage: The Online Journal of Buffy Studies.
More later.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Another Publication Imminent?
This weekend W.E. and I went to see his dad. It was a heckuva drive, but it was nice to see that side of the family and hang out. It is HOT out there.
When I got home, I found this in my e-mail inbox:
Between vacations and finishing up our current issue, we haven't had a chance until now to look at your revision. Brian Attebery will be reading it in the next week or so and may write to you if he has any concerns. Otherwise, you'll hear from me or from Amy Brumfield, who will be taking my place for the fall semester (while I work on my doctoral projects).
In the meantime, there are two things we'll be needing: (1) an abstract of 100-150 words, which will be appended to the article and in future appear on our website; and (2) a short biographical sketch of anywhere from a couple of lines to a paragraph, which we'll include in our contributors' section.
This means that JFA has passed me through the peer review process and handed my article up to the editor. And they're prepping for publication, assuming that the editor doesn't have any issues.
I am hyperventilating.
And I need to write an abstract.
More later.
When I got home, I found this in my e-mail inbox:
Between vacations and finishing up our current issue, we haven't had a chance until now to look at your revision. Brian Attebery will be reading it in the next week or so and may write to you if he has any concerns. Otherwise, you'll hear from me or from Amy Brumfield, who will be taking my place for the fall semester (while I work on my doctoral projects).
In the meantime, there are two things we'll be needing: (1) an abstract of 100-150 words, which will be appended to the article and in future appear on our website; and (2) a short biographical sketch of anywhere from a couple of lines to a paragraph, which we'll include in our contributors' section.
This means that JFA has passed me through the peer review process and handed my article up to the editor. And they're prepping for publication, assuming that the editor doesn't have any issues.
I am hyperventilating.
And I need to write an abstract.
More later.
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