Psyching Myself Up

The key to success in NaNo, I think, is to say "fuck you" to every single doubt that runs through your head, to every instance of imperfection that crosses your eyes.

Of course it's going to be crap. But that's what editing is for, going through the details with a fine toothed comb, bouncing ideas off of people you trust, people who understand the material you're dealing with.

I'm going to do this, I swear. There's a goddamn market for it, after all. I will live the dream.

And So It Begins

OMFG THERE ARE FLURRIES OUTSIDE MY WINDOW.

NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

This is... really deterring me from taking out the trash and heading out for some grocery shopping.

It's Too Early For This!

-1 degree Celcius tonight? Really??

God, autumn in Canada sure is depressing sometimes.

(Oh god, apparently it's snowing downtown right now. Nooooooo.)

Misadventures In Cooking

Or would that technically be "Misadventures in Baking"? Ah well, it was a misadventure in any case. ;P

Here's the story. A few weeks ago I was watching the Food Network and I saw someone do the following:

- melt a saucepan full of sugar
- add red wine and let it boil off a little
- add some kind of herb
- add olive oil and butter
- cook leeks the resulting mixture

I thought it was an interesting concept and wanted to mold it to my own preferences today. I would melt the sugar, add the red wine, add in some ground cardamom, add the olive oil and butter margarine, and cook sliced pears in the resulting mixture. No problem, right?

BUZZT! WRONG. Hahahahaha.

I guess when I added the red wine to the sugar, the sugar hadn't completely melted yet, and the red wine was room temperature and caused the sugar to solidify. To my saucepan. Also, the sugar had been gradually melting at an even keel but when the red wine hit the pan it started bubbling in a rather violent way. So I had to take the whole thing off the heat to prevent the red wine from going crazy. But that meant I was stuck with big chunks of solid, slightly caramelized sugar sitting in the pan. In the end, some vigorous stirring at low heat kept the red wine happy and the sugar eventually melted. Eventually. After eons of stirring.

Adding the olive oil and margarine made the concoction easier to deal with, but I realized I had put a tad too much red wine into the concoction; I wanted to sear the pears, not poach them. But it was too late to change that, unfortunately. Also, by this point I was stressing a wee bit and did not have the patience to grind down some cardamom, so I went a different route: imitation vanilla. After adding the vanilla I just let the damn thing simmer for long time. In the end, it didn't taste too bad. The combination of red wine and vanilla was great. But the pears were indeed poached and not seared; I didn't get that touch of caramelization I was looking for. Next time, I will probably start with a smaller amount of the wine (a white one so that the pears don't look weirdly coloured) and add in less sugar as the wine heats up, cause damn that liquid was insanely sweet. And I'll use both cardamom and vanilla to flavour.

Here's to hoping my next attempt won't be so hilariously chaotic.

Sample Novel Structure

1. 5,000 words: Teaser and exposition. Introduce the protagonist and why they are as they are.

2. 2,000 words: Catalyst event. Introduce the second protagonist.

3. 9,000 words: Exploration of the story world; new characters and nuggets of information. Things are still going well, but introduce the villain(s).

4. 18,000 words: Things fall apart! The story becomes bigger than the characters. Things happen, they get saved, things get worse, repeat, repeat, repeat.

5. 6,000 words: Reveal bigger quest.

6. 6,000 words: Challenges are defeated. Things are learned. Characters change.

7. 6,000 words: Resolve any leftover issues. Epilogue.

How To Succeed At NaNo

Straight from the forum itself. I need to save this for posterity...

1. Buy yourself 6 treats, one for the start and one for each 10,000 word mark!

2. Join the Newbies forum. People go there and give them all kinds of encouragement and tips.

3. Plan to be in the word wars game with others who will competitively inspire you to do your best and keep striving for the win. Find the crew that is motivating and return there each day or every other day to talk with others who want to make it to the end as well.

4. Buy yourself a poster and let yourself be rewarded for every 500 mark you cross. Get some stars or stickers or a stamp and give it to yourself as you cross those mini-marks. Perhaps you work off an immediate reward system so approach it that way.

5. Make sure you have a story you like and characters you like. Plan them out to the fullest extent possible. Or if you were fully planned out all the other times, maybe now is the time to try flying by the seat of your pants and just writing off the top of your head.

6. Understand that there may be points at which you hate your story. But don't worry about that. Keep writing because chances are, you just might change your mind and like it in the end. Press for the mark. Keep your daily word goals despite the fact that you think it might not be working. Remember that the only way to reach 50 K is to write 50 K. And the only way to edit what you've written is to first write it! So, make a commitment to yourself to finish come hell or high water!!!

Running Out Of Steam

Haven't really been planning much for my novel in the past week or so. I've been distracted by other creative outlets.

There's a section in my planned novel that's kind of... elastic. In the sense that... if I finish the novel and I haven't met my quota of 50,000 words, this is the place where I can pad the story with additional events and dialogue and drama.

I've also promised my sister that I would include a talking laddoo in the story somewhere. Don't ask, it's a Simpsons thing. Anyway, the only way a talking laddoo would fit into the story is through some sort of dream or hallucination. I'm currently leaning towards hallucination. But I still have no idea where to fit such a ridiculous element into the story, especially in historical fiction. LOL, what have I gotten myself into?!

Quick Link

What's the Matter With Canada? - How the world's nicest country turned mean. A take on our country's politics by an outsider.

Third Time's A Charm

I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year. I tried back in 2005 and 2006, failed both times. In 2005 I tried a fantasy plot that basically went "a young couple falls in love... insert angry deity". Didn't get very far with it; I wrote very seat-of-my-pants and didn't even know how the story was supposed to end.

In 2006 I switched to urban sci-fi. It was about a woman living in the near-distant future where government sponsored super-soldiers had revolted against their handlers and planned on enslaving regular people. And the super-soldier that was leading the attack was the woman's younger sister. I got a lot further with that story than the previous year (almost 10,000 words) but again I had no idea how the story was going to end. Mostly though... I was bored of my story. Bored of writing it, bored of the characters, bored of the setting, bored of it all. My patience for writing one piece over an extended period of time is very limited, you see. It's my fatal flaw.

After my two miserable failures I decided that NaNo was not for me and abstained in 2007. I have no idea why I've changed my mind this year. Maybe because I'm not currently working and the thought of having so much extra time is increasing my confidence.

I figured that I ought to do something different this year so I'm outlining my entire story, chapter by chapter, scene by scene. Hopefully it will help. At least I'll have a plan and I'll know how the story ends. And thus far it looks like I'll be able to surpass the required 50,000 if things work out properly. My story this year will be historical fiction, taking place in 14th century India. I know I'll eventually get bored so I'm trying to figure out beforehand how I can alleviate that. I really want to win for once.

Identity Angst

I'm not sure where this idea came from, but I was thinking how interesting it would be to write a story about a girl who doesn't know if she's really who she is. Why? Okay, here's the scoop. She and her twin sister were caught in a house fire when they were young. Both of them were badly burned, trapped under collapsed debris. One of the girls died as a result of her injuries. The other survives. But because the burns destroyed her fingerprints, because a blow to the head gave her retrograde amnesia, because the trauma of the event has altered her personality, no one's quite sure which twin she is. There's no way to definitively/scientifically prove who she is, the girl herself has no idea about who she was in the past, and her friends and family can't tell which girl she is because she doesn't act like either of the girls pre-accident.

It's all very soap opera-ish, however. And aside from psychological angst, there's no real plot or conflict in the story. It's a good premise, but nothing more. :(

Time For A Change

I finally decided to switch up the layout of this journal. It was really great before, but I couldn't stand the way Youtube videos wouldn't fit the main column width. It drove me insane! Hence the change. I'm still trying to figure out a way to link a preview to my website on the sidebar, but I don't think that add-on exists. Anyway, I'm going to keep fooling around with the settings until I achieve perfection. ;)

Dance Until Your Feet Are On Fire

More new music of the dance variety!

First in line is the song 5ive star by a Japanese electro group called Capsule. There's something very catchy about this song, very happy too. The style of this song is quite similar to Perfume, which is probably why I like it so much. Also, the video is adorable and, I have to admit, far too short for my liking. I want more!



Second on the list is a MSTRKRFT remix of the song Green Light by John Legend & Andre 3000. This tune is the epitome of electro (or as some like to call it... Robo Music, hahaha!) and very great to dance to. There's no real video but I am linking to the song in all its greatness.



Third and last on the docket is Move For Me by Kaskade & Deadmau5, two DJs who came together to create this awesome track. It's house music at its best; again, no video but the song is here in all it's glory.



I just realized that there's a fair amount of Canadian content in this post: both MSTRKRFT and Deadmau5 are from Toronto. We've got some amazing DJs down here.

Unfinished And Untitled

Brehan found her by the water.

It was early in the day, the perfect time to hunt, and the sun was beginning to rise in the sky, bursting through the sparse clouds that dotted the blue sky. Not even April and the temperatures were already soaring, the sticky humidity wrapping around him like an unwanted blanket. It was near impossible to stay on the trail of the deer without taking a break, and so he did, veering off course towards the mighty river that ran through the valley. He could catch up with the deer later in the day.

Tucking his bow back into its sling, Brehan bounded down the sloping hills towards the dark river. Zaphura, they called it, an amalgamated name of the two tribes that claimed each side. His peoples' side, the Zamin, were of a water tribe speciality, while the Phuranya were the fire tribe brothers that had settled on the other side of the banks. Zaphura's waters were always on the warmer side, owing to the bond of brotherhood that tied both his water tribe and the fire tribe on the other side. Despite this fact, he knew that dipping in the waters was just the sort of solution to the steaming temperatures of the day. But as he cleared the treeline and made his way to the shore, a figure caught his eye.

She was sitting on top of a small outcropping of rocks next to the waters side. He had never seen someone like her before. The women of the surrounding regions were all similar in particular ways: tanned olive skin, straight black hair. But this woman had creamy pale skin, dotted with light freckles on her cheeks. Her hair was bunched in loose curls at her neck, somewhere between brown and red, shining like a subtle fire in the light of the climbing sun. Added with the largest, bluest eyes he had ever seen, and soft cherry lips, Brehan felt as if he were laying eyes upon a goddess fallen to the earth. Except a goddess would have selected better clothing, not the coarse grey robe that hung from her slender form like a dead man's skin.

What was this woman doing here, looking etherially out of place?

Walking quietly, Brehan came towards her at an angle, as if she were a lion cub that he didn't want to startle or scare. She heard his footsteps almost immediately, those blue eyes fixing upon him with a strange look of confusion. He continued to approach her slowly, finally kneeling down before her as he came to her side.

"Fair lady," he spoke reverently, as if there were no other alternative, "You do not look as if you come from these parts. Have you been separated from your people?"

The confused look on her face heightened even further, a frown furrowing across her brow. Then she began to speak in a sharp, crisp language that he had never heard of before. It was a jarring surprise, hearing her frustrated tones in an alien tongue. But her voice was rich and powerful, without a hint of fear, and Brehan found himself suddenly smitten by the mysterious woman. She stopped talking when she realized that he didn't understand what she was saying, sighing and crossing her arms with disappointment. Her gaze went back to the river, as if her answers were lying amidst the glistening waters.

"If you come with me, back to my village, perhaps I can help you." Brehan asked, even though he knew she didn't understand him. He spoke kindly and gently, hoping that the tone of his voice would help her comprehend what he was trying to say. He shifted on his haunches so that he was kneeling in front of her, directly in her line of sight. "I want to help you. Do you understand?" Tentatively, Brehan reached for her hand, relieved when she didn't flinch or pull it out of his grasp. Holding it between both of his own, he eyed her hopefully.

She considered him for a moment, then gracefully rose from her seat on the rocks. She was much taller than he had realized, almost as tall as himself, her fair legs peeking out from the bottom of the robe as she looked at him expectantly. Still holding her by the hand, Brehan retraced his steps back to the village. The deer would be safe for another day.

As per usual, it's based on a dream I had. I'm 100% sure I wrote a couple more chapters but for the life of me I have no idea where they are. I guess I'll just have to keep looking for it. I have a feeling I may have deleted it in a fit of embarrassment.

Anyway, this particular passage reminds me how unrefined my writing skills are. I mean... ugh. I sound like Stephanie Meyer or something.

Reaching Around The World For New Music

Conservative blogger: *in an ominous tone* "Children [these days] do not feel that they depend on the will of God but on the will of their mother." (regarding their existence)
Me: "Hell, I hope so."

But let's put that aside. I have something much more pleasant to share with y'all. I have discovered, quite randomly, the existence of a three member techno-pop girl group called Perfume. Their music sounds like Kylie Minogue's music with intense influence from Daft Punk, all with that good ole Japanese flavour. Their songs are so ridiculously catchy and I must say their videos are tres fun to watch. Perfume's USP (Unique Selling Point, for those who don't know) has got to be their dancing, which the girls have down to a tee. The video below demonstrates this point, as well as showing that, no, you don't have to dress a girl group up in skimpy clothes for people to take them seriously.



I kinda wish Bollywood videos would copy something like this; they're into shamelessly stealing from other cultures, after all. ;P

The Conservatives Are Freaking Me Out

A certain article was brought to my attention and it scared and angered me.

These are real quotes from real people, expressing eliminationism against liberals, which is "a desire or a demand for extermination, removal, or infliction of harm; identification of opponents with national enemies; identification of opponents as a target for retaliation or incarceration; expressing a desire for or approval of genocide or murder; identification with vermin or disease." It’s all America-related quotes, but we all know Canada, for all its socialist predilections, harbors people who feel exactly the same way.

Excerpts:

Lee Rogers: “[T]he day will come when unpleasant things are going to happen to a bunch of stupid liberals and it’s going to be very amusing to watch.”

Rush Limbaugh: “I tell people don’t kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus—living fossils—so we will never forget what these people stood for.”

RedState contributor “Thomas Crown”: I repeat: Should the entire American Left fall over dead tomorrow, I would rejoice, and order pizza to celebrate. They are not my countrymen; they are animals who happen to walk upright and make noises that approximate speech. They are below human. I look forward to seeing each and every one in Hell.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin: There were, and are, “two incompatible moral visions for this country. We had to settle it then. We’re going to have to settle it now. I hope not with blood, not with guns, but we’re going to have to settle it nonetheless. The good news is that I think our side is finally ready to settle it. Roll up its sleeves, take off its jacket, and get a little bloody. Spill a little blood. We’ll settle it. And we’ll win. And then there’s no holding us back.

Ann Coulter: ”We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed too.”

Joe M. Richardson, letter to Editor and Publisher: I say start executing the leftists in our country, soon.

Rep. Peter King: And Joe Wilson has no right to complain. And I think people like Tim Russert and the others, who gave this guy such a free ride and all the media, they’re the ones to be shot, not Karl Rove.

“Sock" Sokolowski, to Stephanie Miller: As with Cindy Sheehan the best thing that could happen to you would be seeing some WONDERFUL activist sticking an AK-47 up your Glory Holes and sending you into eternity… I would gather my 1st amendment rights permit me to HOPE (!) and PRAY (!) that someone decides you’re better off as statistics. Honestly, should I hear of either you leaving this earth prematurely I would initiate a personal celebration that would make Animal House appear to be just another quiet Sunday in church.

Melanie Morgan: “We’ve got a bull’s-eye painted on [Nancy Pelosi’s] big, wide laughing eyes.”

Kathleen Parker: Here’s a note I got recently from a friend and former Delta Force member, who has been observing American politics from the trenches: “These bastards like Clark and Kerry and that incipient ass, Dean, and Gephardt and Kucinich and that absolute mental midget Sharpton, race baiter, should all be lined up and shot.”

John Shelley: All verminous, hate-America, liberal-socialist-commie filth should be contained and selectively eliminated.

Paul Cameron: “Unless we get medically lucky, in three or four years, one of the options discussed will be the extermination of homosexuals.”

All this makes me scared because these people are spewing hate against me, not just my beliefs. And then I saw the quote that says Kucinich should be shot and I got really pissed off. Anyone who badmouths Kucinich is not in his/her right mind. :P

*sigh* It’s times like this I wish I had a friend who was a leftist feminist to discuss issues with.

Can't Wait For Strawberry Swing

Coldplay tonight yaaaaa! I can’t believe I’ll be seeing those four awesome dudes again. Maybe this time I’ll actually understand what the hell Chris Martin is saying. ;) It’s funny… last time I had weird seats, couldn’t really see the stage but I was practically staring down on him from above. This time I will be straight across from the stage but much further than I was the first time. It’s bittersweet in a way.

A Cultural Message

From Heartless Bitches International: Socialized Stupidity - There IS a cure!

Excerpt:

• How can a woman with outrageously long fingernails do ANYTHING sensible (or compete on an equal level with a man) when she is constantly worried about breaking a nail?
• How can a woman run or defend herself if she is wearing 4-inch heels?
• How can a woman focus on improving her brain when she has to spend 3 hours a day on her appearance?
• How can a woman THINK when she is eating so few calories and carbohydrates each day that her brain can't function normally?

They don't need to make laws that keep women down and prevent equality. They just have to keep us preoccupied with ludicrous activities that distract us and keep us from learning, improving our brains, developing our physical strength, and asserting our right to equality by simply being there in equal numbers.

I don't agree with all of it, and the extreme examples they use don't really apply to most women, but it's still a damn fine editorial. Rock on, ladies.

Happy Summertime Music

Today's post is all about cheerful dance videos for a change. Hurrah!

First off we have Ian Oliver's Bucovina. The song itself is light and Spanish flavoured and very danceable. The video is the cutest thing ever; a bunch of dudes are, like, throwing down b-boy moves while they skip and double dutch to the song, and a chick who watches them trains her ass off so that she can join in on the fun. Adorable, check it out.



And just for good measure, let's throw in Heater by Samim. The song is distinctively French sounding with the major use of an accordion. The video is a simple concept; people around the world dancing to the same song. :D

A Little Scared, A Little Sad

What the fuck is wrong with America?!

Bush wants to make any form of birth control equal to abortion. A man who raped an 11 year old girl gets a couple years in jail because girl “knew what she was doing” when she was gang-raped by 20 men. There are over 1 million individuals on their terrorist watch list.

Goddammit guys, I remember when America used to be awesome. Don’t you? Back when we were kids, and America was the Promised Land, land of opportunity, where you were free from persecution, where you could find your greatest potential. America was a breath of fresh air, revolutionary, creative, cutting-edge, as bountiful as it was complex. A place where people around the world came together to fulfill their dreams.

Now look at it. It’s shameful what the country is slowly sliding towards. Stifled, backwards, stale, shallow, oppressive, close-minded. And I’m very, very afraid of what effect this will have on Canada. Canada depends on America so much; I fear that we will try to emulate them in order to stay in their good books. I have terrible visions of Canada following the America Junior mindset. Or I have terrible visions of us sticking to our socialism, at which point America declares war and bombs us to hell. The Handmaid’s Tale was right; they’re headed towards a Christian fundamentalist theocracy. :(

*sigh* Okay, I’m going to stop being so down and concentrate on the fact that I will be seeing the Rogers Cup finals soon. And Coldplay. Woohoo!

I Was Supposed To Post This A Month Ago. Whoops.

Today's headline - My God, Stop Everything: Huckabee Shows Signs of Being Reasonable.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee warned members of his party that any attempt to undermine presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama by "demonizing" him would backfire.

"The Republicans will make a fundamental, if not fatal mistake, if they seek to win the election by demonizing Barrack Obama," Huckabee told reporters in Tokyo. "Don't underestimate the extraordinary, substantive moment that Barack Obama's nomination represents in our country."

You know when the Huckster is the one making sense, things aren't looking so good for the Repubs.

Since I'm blogging about American politics, check out this doozie: Muslim wearing head scarf denied seat at Obama rally. The reason given for not having her sitting in the audience behind him? "A sensitive political climate" in the words of a volunteer. This all boils down to the fact that Dems talk the talk but don't walk the walk because they are, let's face it, scared. Scared of alienating the unwashed masses, scared of losing those votes and the support of people sitting on the fence, who paranoidly think Muslims are terrorists. Dems talk about unity across cultures and tolerance but in the end, running a campaign is like running a business and they can't ruin their carefully constructed image.