Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Just Another Tuesday

“Sarah Michelle Gellar will have to do a Madonna & wear T-shirts with my name on them.” Claudia Black, SFX #76

I just like that quote. *g* Some day maybe that quote'll come true.

Ella-bean visited Sunday (with her parents in tow - Happy Birthday, Tracy!) and demonstrated her unique crawl style. We also decided we need to buy her more cat toys. :P

November is approaching rather quickly. Have you decided yet who you're going to vote for in the presidential election?
Where do you stand? Bush vs. Kerry See a breakdown of where the candidates are on the issues. Click on the candidate who shares your views on each issue and find out in the end which candidate's views more closely resembles your own.

Got an idea? If these people like it, they just might give you $25,000 to make your idea a reality. Visit Ideas Happen for more information. I wonder if I should suggest this to S. for the web series or for SG? Hm ..

Saturday, September 25, 2004

taken from the Live Journal of Revolos55 ..


You Are Sam From "Benny & Joon."

You are very talented at physical comedy. People are in awe of your abilities. However, you have many quirks which can either win people over or completely annoy them. But you're a sweetheart through and through, and it's hard not to love you.

Take The Johnny Depp Quiz!


Yes, I have a gift for physical comedy ... tripping over myself, dropping things. Yep, that's me. lol

I liked this movie when it came out, too. I remember hearing the critics review it (maybe it was Siskel and Ebert?) and say that the character of Sam was too quirky. No one was like that in real life. When I heard that, I laughed out loud since the character reminded me of many people I knew. :)

Thursday, September 23, 2004

wench
You are a wench! Saucy and sharp tounged, you know
how to have a good time! Serving in alehouses
and taverns, wenches are notorious for their
healthy sexual appitite. Although very
flirtatious, you wont let any man take
advantage of you. With a fiery temper, you know
how to defend yourself and your ale!

What Renaissance Type Woman are you? (with pics)

brought to you by Quizilla


I snurched that little quiz from Rev's journal.

Also, I want to see "Shall We Dance." No, I'm not talking about the Astaire-Rogers classic (which I love!), but the newer Richard Gere/ Susan Sarandon film. Dancing and romance .. I know I'll like the film if only for the dancing. :D

Answer to the riddle from my previous post.

Sunday, September 19, 2004

Riddle Me This

All this "talk" of mazes and labyrinths and puzzles and riddles have set me on a single train of thought. So, while I waste my hours indulging (when I should be doing other things), here are some puzzle & maze-related sites for all to enjoy:

The Secret Garden of Mutabor
The Enchanted Maze Garden
Jo Edkin's Maze Page
Davis Farmland Mega Maze
Puzzle World
Riddle Nut
The Tree Riddle
The Riddle of the Sphinx

A riddle for you: How many letters are in the alphabet?
Dreams of Mazes and Other Projects

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
-- Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)


I was on Instant Messenger the other night with a friend & we had a conversation about medieval rebellions, mazes, and Tardis-like cottages, and yes, it all tied into Farscape Viewing Parties. I couldn't tell how much of what he said was real or just for fun, but I know that the home of my dreams was discussed at great length. If I had the funds to make this dream into a reality, I would. My dream home is full of rooms upon rooms, each one with a theme, each with a specific use in mind .. the video room, the computer room, the Alice room, the medieval room, the library, etc., with winding staircases throughout the house. The walls are thick with secret passages and hidden rooms, and the yard is full of gardens (flowers, fruits, and vegetables), and mazes and labyrinth-like structures, and I realized that even my dreams are obsessed with the idea. Nesting dolls, intricate, infinite structures .. they fascinate me, intrigue me, captivate my imagination. I have no idea why. They just do. The site I’m working on, that I’m constantly revising, rewriting, redesigning (over the past several years) both on paper and in my head, is a maze itself. Mazes within mazes and riddles and secrets and hidden paths .. interactive problem solving .. It’s complicated and simple and takes up more than three notebooks of paper. I must shrink it somehow, make it like the call box in appearance .. even though there’s a Tardis inside. Someday I’ll finish it. Someday soon I hope. (If you wish, you may visit my mini maze in the meantime.)

That and my next fan music video. I have to finish the video this month. The deadline is approaching for the contest, and I really want to send it in on time to see whether or not it holds muster. I just hope I’m able to make my idea translate in a way that others will enjoy and in a way that’ll be true to what I see in my head .. or at least close to it.

One project for the weekend is complete. My answer to Photo Friday's challenge, Domestic, is now up over at my photoblog if anyone is interested.
The Magic of Red Leaves and Apples

Sometimes I like to wear shirts that have words and sayings written on them. Some have purpose, a certain message I want to share. Others are not supposed to mean anything to anyone else. They're supposed to be just for me, because I like them. I like the way they look, the way they feel; and sometimes the words are faded against the tank or the tee. And then it's almost as if they're secret words written on there just for me. It so happens that one shirt in particular seems to draw people to it whenever I wear it. They'll ask me what it says then read aloud I woke up wanting to go to Italy, and I find myself standing there, smiling awkwardly, while they squint at the faded words on my chest. Sometimes they'll pull away, look at me expectantly for an explanation of some sort. Sometimes they ask, "So you want to go to Italy?"

I've decided that I should memorize the words on that one particular shirt that seems to fascinate those I meet. When they ask me what it says, I can recite it to them so they won't have to strain their eyes and stretch their necks to read the words. Today was just one of those days. I woke up wanting to go to Italy by car. How appropriate.

Today was just one of those days.
I woke up wanting
to go to Italy by car.
Perhaps if I really drove fast enough I might
catch air to Florence.
Sometimes I forget about the magic.
like the moon and red leaves and how
the apples grow again and again
outside my windows.
And dream my funny possibilities
and brave endings.

Friday, September 17, 2004

Reading Minds

While clicking away at the "Next Blog" link in the banner on top of many Blogger sites, I came upon a great blog, Go Ahead: Read My Mind, an intelligent, thoughtful, often entertaining look into one woman’s life. Well written and sprinkled with humor, this blogger makes what, in less skilled hands, could be the most mundane of events (from her daughter peeing on daddy’s shoe to the pitfalls of being a preacher’s wife), both fascinating and insightful. Go Ahead. Read her mind.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Bumped Offline

It's extremely frustrating to be chatting on mIRC and then bumped off repeatedly because my trial period is up. lol

I read an interesting article on how opposites attract except in friends and how it might be genetically programmed in us.

Also, I ran into Silvie's brother M. She had a baby boy in July! (Andy) Today he was being baptised. :)

Saturday, September 11, 2004

The Village and Other Thoughts

I finally saw "The Village" tonight. I was really looking forward to this movie since I loved "Signs" and "The Sixth Sense," and I enjoyed it. "The Village" was entertaining and suspenseful and well acted, but I do understand now why some people were disappointed. Without giving anything away, it's not as deeply layered as his previous films had been. The other films left me pondering the ideas that were presented, long after the film was over. "The Village" did not, though I did manage to have an interesting discussion with my friend about it afterward.

Today's date, of course, had me at times thinking back three years as I'm sure it did with everyone else. So I guess I'll add my own little where I was for that weekend. On the 8th I'd traveled to NY alone to attend my first Farscape convention (my second con ever) at the Pennsylvania Hotel. I didn't really know the names of all the characters let alone the actors, and I hadn't seen that many episodes, but I'd read and heard so many good things about the one in Burbank that I just had to check this one out. When I'd arrived, I'd called home and immediately knew something was wrong despite the fact that no one at home wanted to tell me anything, (I found out when I returned home that my great aunt had died suddenly while I was on my way to NY). The con itself was on the 9th, and I had a wonderful time. Ben had come into the audience to shake people's hands before signing autographs, and I'd been quite impressed that he took the time to do that. I'd purchased the cheap seat tickets, so I wasn't getting an autograph, and some people I just met invited me to join a group of people for dinner. I said I'd meet them at the restaurant, dropped off some things in my hotel room and headed down to the lobby where I ran into the person who'd convinced me to come in the first place. While chatting with him, executive producer David Kemper passed by, kindly stopping to allow a photo (which didn't come out), and then Ben passed by, stopped to do a little six-million dollar man running thing for me (that pic *did* come out). All higher brain functioning ceased, and thoroughly discombobulated, I ended up traveling in cirlces looking for the restaurant I was to meet everyone at. After a time, I returned to my hotel room, quite content with my day. On the 10th, before my train home, I took a walk over to the OLTL studios, snapped a few pics. When I arrived home, I heard the news about my great aunt, unpacked and got some rest. The next morning, I went online to the Dom and posted a thanks to the people I met, along with an apology (and explanation) for missing dinner. I then hurried off to work. My older sister called me soon after, telling me a plane had flown into the World Trade Center in New York and that it might be terrorists. I didn't understand. I'd thought she'd meant one of those small little planes, maybe a student pilot, had nicked the WTC. Nothing had been announced on the radio station we were listening to at work. The rest of the morning was spent fielding phone calls from my family and greeting patients and answering the phone and walking around in basically a haze. By this time the radio station was reporting the news over and over, and we might've closed early at work, but I can't remember. I do remember, however, going online once I got home, and literally two posts after mine was someone mentioning a plane flying into the WTC. All the posts from that point on over the next few days, maybe even over the following week or more, involved the confusion, shock and sorrow surrounding the events of September 11, 2001. There were also posts of concern and encouragement and virtual hugs and tears expressed by people from all over the world, and somehow it seemed to solidify my connection to this online community I'd only just discovered, as odd as that may sound.

I also spent time contacting friends in NY to make sure they were okay. My older sister was having trouble reaching one friend by phone but finally heard from her by email. The interent made it easier for people to check in as the phone lines and satellite/cell phone connections were over loaded. It was a strange time, but it was comforting the way people came together to support each other and those who were injured or had died as a result of the terrorists hijacking the three planes.

Everyone I've ever spoken to remembers exactly where he or she was when the news first broke. We all have our stories, no matter how insignificant they might seem in comparison to the family and friends of those who were in the planes and in the buildings. Anyway ...

On a much lighter note, DragonConTV has posted a "commercial" they made for DragonCon: The Aurora Chair. Please check it out and leave some comments for the filmmakers! :D

Neil Gaiman, Worldcon, Boston, 5 September 2004
Lastly, K. has just informed me that my innocent little email has appeared on Neil Gaiman's journal. (hee!) And I will say it again .. Neil Gaiman made an excellent MC for the Hugo Awards. I really, really enjoyed my first Worldcon. This convention was spectacular and had so much going on at every moment to appeal to all the varying interests of attendees .. too bad at was at the table most of the time. lol To see the list of Hugo winners, please go here. He also posted links to an article (that he suspects might've been an attempt at humor - I think Mr. Gaiman was being generous) expressing stereotypical ignorance in regards to fans of science fiction! Articles like these annoy me, as I'm sure they annoy all fans of science fiction or fantasy, though maybe not as much in years past .. before I started going to the occasional con. I don't see journalists writing such pieces when the Super Bowl comes to town. By the way, to my non-science fiction loving friends, if you enjoyed any of the following, you *are* a fan of science fiction or fantasy, whether or not you want to admit it: Jurassic Park, E.T., Sliding Doors, Vanilla Sky, Frankenstein, The Wizard Of Oz, The Princess Bride, Star Wars, StarGate (movie and/or series), Lord of the Rings trilogy (movies and/or books), ... see a pattern here? ;-) Oh! and the Worldcon 2005 organizers have a wonderful explanation of what Worldcon is here.

My Baker's Dozen for that weekend are up, too.

.. The annual Boston Film Festival is back in town. I hope to leave work early enough at least one day this week to see at least one film playing at the festival.

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

World Con 2004

I'll be away at World Con starting Friday, but since the Hynes Convention Center claims to have wireless internet, I should be able to check email, etc., if anyone needs to reach me. I'll try to post a con report as it progresses.

The World Con/ Noreascon site has a programming page up now that gives you a little overview of what's going on. And check out the actual schedule! From showings of LOTR to marathon Firefly viewings, there's a little something for everyone: karate, medieval weaponry, costumes, gaming, filking, astronomy, panels on writing, opportunities to have coffee (or beer) with your favorite writer, and the presentation of the Hugo Awards on Saturday! (There's even a panel on deconstructing Mary Sue, which, of course, immediately makes me think of LJ).

Besides guests of honor Terry Pratchett and William Tenn, there are many, many more participants coming to this convention! Authors, editors, artists, publishers, .. some of the best in the genre form will be in attendance! Glen Cook, Neil Gaiman, Lois McMaster Bujold, Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Brian Aldiss to name a few!

Big thanks to those who are helping out at the Farscape table this weekend! and For anyone else who might be attending or who is thinking of attending, please feel free to stop by the table, say hello, rest your weary legs, and take some fabulous freebies (generously provided by Farops and many others)! :D