clo_again

I'm supposed to be writing but instead I'm coughing with the Hideous Cold of Doom and trawling tumblr, so have a stolen-from-tumblr meme to get me back in the mood.

Rules: go to page 7 of your WIP*, skip to the 7th line, share 7 sentences, and tag 7 more writers to continue the challenge.

There's going to have to be a few mods, because I have at least three (four? five?) what might be classed as wips at the moment, and I don't think there's 7 writers left around LJ to challenge. So instead, have the seven-sentences-from-the-seventh-line of what I'm currently writing:

( lines )


Things I have learned from this exercise; I run my sentences on way too long. Also, I have too many WiPs. These are only the ones I have typed and actually started, although the last one needs major rewrites so that won't be the seven sentences after the seventh forever. Still.

Life continues on. I've caught the Dreaded Lurgy this week but motored through it by going to work, which led to me sitting at my desk wrapped in my scarf like a blanket yesterday and croaking when anyone asked me a question. I'm feeling somewhat better tonight but I thought I was feeling better Wednesday night, and Thursday night, and then I felt like death from 4am Friday onwards, so I'm not getting my hopes up just yet.

Otherwise, everything is fine. New Job is still fine, although I have to organise an inspection for something I'm responsible for in March, and the previous job's incumbent left only scrappy notes on what she'd done towards the action plan for it, so that'll be fun. I keep thinking I should know everything because that's how everyone acts and then I realise I've only been doing the job for barely four months and I've got shit done in that time. It'll be fine. *touch wood*

In conclusion: still aten't ded, despite the best efforts of the common cold. I should be writing but I'm avoiding it. Nothing particularly exciting is going on right now. Except The Voice is back tonight so I get Ricky Wilson's face on the tellybox again for a bit, yay.

So, you know. As you were.


*I somehow completely missed that I was supposed to do this from page seven and not just the seventh line, and now I'm too lazy to redo it. So. Whatevs.

eta: Should've said, these memes stolen from kindoftrouble and others!


a. Type your answer to each of the questions into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image*.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.



1. What is your first name? Helen 2. What is your favorite food? Chinese 3. What high school did you go to? The Maelor School, Penley 4. What is your favorite colour? Purple 5. Who is your celebrity crush? Roger Federer 6. Favorite drink? Coffee 7. Your favorite place? Cardiff 8. Favorite dessert? Cupcakes 9. What you want to be when you grow up? Satisfied 10. Where do you want to be right now? Here. 11. Favorite word? serendipity 12. What do you love most in life? Books 13. Who do you love most in life? My friends (and my cat) 14. One word to describe you Hopeful 15. Your greatest dream To be a writer 16. Your favorite childhood story Peter Pan


~

Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

( Titles are usually the last thing I give fics so most of these are basically descriptive/random/inexplicable but not that interesting )


~


Life continues to be fine. I continue to spend too much money that I should be saving, fail at writing motivation (and indeed motivation for anything), watch too much TV and go to Pets At Home once a week to spend fifteen minutes talking to the rats and thinking wistfully what I'd name them if I knew I'd be in any place to look after them forhowevermanyyears. Sigh. I did almost adopt a dwarf hamster named Milo today but I have no idea where my hamster cage is.

(I may yet look for it and go back. He was adorable and his last owner didn't want him. Sadface for tiny unwanted hamsters.)

...That's pretty much it. I'm not so much with the interesting right now. Oh jesse_kips! I'm planning to head to Manchester in the evening of Tuesday March 1st to see Jasper Fforde talk in Waterstone's (assuming I can still get a ticket! I need to call them). Don't know if you could make it but Jasper's awesome (I can't remember if I recced you his books? You totally should read them; it's like crime and literature and humour and you will love them) and worth going to see if you can make it. I'll be getting in about 5:30pm anyway, so let me know if it's doable for a meet-up. :D

...Yeah, that's pretty much it. As you were, y'all.

a music meme


December 16th: 03 - a song that makes you happy


There was only ever really one contender for this. I considered Tim Minchin's Canvas Bags or Bright Eyes' First Day of My Life (that is possibly my favourite music video ever; you must watch it) but, really, no song makes me more inexplicably happy than Boston's 'More Than A Feeling'. You can listen to the whole song here.

BUT. You don't want to watch it on that boring vid. You want to watch it on the Barclays ad where the guy rides the rollercoaster to work, don't you? Yeah, me too:




While looking this song up on Youtube, I also came across this marvellous Nirvana clip that makes it obvious how similar 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is to 'More Than A Feeling' (which I didn't notice and now will never be able to notice anything else. And I like Nirvana; there will be more Nirvana songs in this meme).


And to conclude, have 'More Than A Feeling' done Scrubs style here.



( the meme )

~


I will actually go and work on the thing I'm meant to be writing now. ...After getting a cup of coffee, since I finished the strawberry tea I made to help myself write about an hour ago now. And I've written...77 words.

I was going to wait to do this until next month, when kindoftrouble finished, to save flists from being all song memes but I need something to make me post again and I feel like posting more to enjoy my Christmas LJ layout while I can have it, so. Plus if I wait until January, I'll have forgotten it and never do it anyway. It doesn't really matter if it runs over half a month and half another. Maybe we can create a new month. Decanuary: like February 29th, it only exists once every four years or whenever it's convenient!

Yes. Anyway.


a music meme (snagged from kindoftrouble*.

December 14th: 01 - your favorite song

I thought this was going to be terribly hard to pick, then I went on iTunes to see which my most played song was and it was this. Which actually is pretty much as close to a favourite song I could have (years of listening to it later, it's still always on my iPod, I enjoy it every time and still think it's a beautiful song, both music and lyrics).





I originally heard this on a Stargate SG-1 Jack/Daniel fanvid by butterfly (it's a stunning vid, well worth the dl if you haven't seen it). There is a Sarah Fimm-only version which is a little bit more sparse, with a bit more of an edge to it and I like that one too, but not as much as I like the mix version.




( the meme list )


*I totally just typed that @kindoftrouble. Bloody Twitter.


~

In other news, as of today I am the proud owner of a mug with this Softer World strip on, courtesy of http://www.yourdesign.co.uk/ (I agonised for a while over which Softer World to chose and in the end went with this because it always makes me smile and this was only kind of a test-order anyway, to see how it came out). It looks wonderful and I rather want an entire set of Softer World mugs now, only at £8 a mug they are pushing my limit of "worth it", no matter how cool.

That said, they have a Facebook group on which they post discount offers and the P&P is free in the UK. The print quality is superb and the writing is perfectly readable. Suspect I will be ordering more in future, with custom Softer Worlds on especially since the strips are the exact right size to wrap-around.

I feel a proper Andy/Roger Softer World mug is essential in my life. Now just to get the right strip for it.


(They also do custom rhinestone t-shirt designs. I'm not even going to contemplate some sort of tennis slash logo in sparkly rhinestones to wear to Wimbledon next year.

Mostly because it's too tempting.

Also, I think my other idea of I'm rooting for Roger Federer, while hilarious to me personally, may cause some serious double-take damage to all the Australians in the queue.)


~

They are predicting lots of snow for us from Thursday. Am torn: want snow but desperately need Saturday to finish Xmas shopping, get my hair cut and hopefully see Voyage of the Dawn Treader which I've looked forward to for well over a year now. To do that, I need trains to be running. I also really can't afford to miss more work, although it's not such a big deal whichever train/bus/hot air balloon I catch to get me there as I get paid the same even if I'm just in work for an hour or a day. So...I'd like snow? But not so much that all the trains stop running.


Well, look at that. The meme did make me post after all. Hhhmmm.

...have a meme gacked from scoobydumblonde.

Post a sentence/paragraph/snippet from every wip of your own that you can find. No explanations allowed, just the excerpt.


( This is only stuff I've worked on in the last couple of months. And no, I'm not even kidding. )

Some of these might even get finished. One day.

Day one: a song
Day two: a picture
Day three: a book/ebook/fanfic
Day four: a site
Day five: a youtube clip
Day six: a quote
Day seven: whatever tickles your fancy


Day two: a picture


I couldn't decide what to do for this, and this is somewhat halfhearted because I really can't be bothered turning on the desktop to use the scanner, but...

( Here's a pretty picture to illuminate further the picture I'm actually posting, and *then* the picture I'm actually posting: )


Now I have to turn off my internet for a while, because I've done nothing today and I really want to do *something*. I meant to accomplish a lot today and I really haven't. It sucks. Even though it's my fault. -_-

Tagged by mayakitten

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blog and replace any question that they dislike with a new, original question.

B) Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.


( Memesis precious )

I tag... everyone! Have at it! :)

~

As you can perhaps tell from the icon, I enjoyed Inkheart yesterday. I found the book hard going for the first two-thirds and I probably would've put it down in frustration if I hadn't loved the character of Dustfinger enough to keep turning pages. Likewise Paul Bettany was definitely the best thing about the film, lickable hipbones and all (was it just me or did Brendan Fraser seem a little... lost in this film? He was a good casting choice, he just seemed to sit a little uncomfortably in the middle of everyone as if afraid of putting a foot wrong) but the rest of it made for much easier going than the book. I loved the way they did the writing over everyone. I need to find a god picture of Resa so I can icon her with hers. Or the unicorn, because there's something unspeakably cool about a white unicorn with black text all over it.

So I'll probably be buying it on DVD at some point, if just to icon every second of Paul Bettany. Mmmmmmm.

We also went back to the Yummy Cupcake cafe (:DDD) and I saw Lancaster library for the first time, despite spending three years of uni walking past it. It's actually kinda cool and I really should've looked in there before.

And now for something completely different... ( family rantage )

~

So this entry doesn't end with my self-pity, damageverse has been updated with the next part. If you haven't read it yet, you really should for it is awesome. I'll be checking. There may be a pop quiz. Hm.

Dammit, I meant to talk about Havemercy in this entry and got side-tracked with complaining. Later, when I've actually some of my to-do list; in the meantime, go and buy it. Seriously. Metal dragons. Amazing characters. It's my new crack.

Icon meme from scoobydumblonde and kindoftrouble:


1.Reply to this post, and I will pick three of your icons.
2.Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3.Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4.This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee!

(Note: if you want to ask about any of my icons, use my insane journal icons over here, because that's where they all are now.)


scoobydumblonde asked about:



This one has a quote from Red vs Blue, a hilarious Halo-based series that Wikipedia explains far better than I could. I originally came across it through the quote "Time...line? Time isn't made of lines! It's made of circles. That's why clocks are round." which appeared on an icon I found and have since lost from this computer. Such a genius quote demanded Googling, which brought up Red vs Blue, which made hill2k burn some of to DVDs for me and happiness was had all round.

I think for this particular icon, I wanted something with a quote on it because I'd been seeing all these just-text icons around and though they were nifty. Knowing the awesome of RvB, I checked out IMDb's quote list for it, picked this one because I liked the sarcasm and... that's about it. It's been on and off my icon list for a couple of years until I got the extra icon space on IJ and reuploaded it. I don't have much occasion to use it but I like it and one day I'll need to be really really sarcastic about something. And when I do, I have the exact icon for it.



I originally typed 'this icon doesn't need as much explaining as the first', only to realise that it did. A few years back, Guinness made a stunning advert as part of their 'Good things come to those who wait' marketing angle, involving surfers waiting for the perfect wave. It was then, and still is now, my favourite advert ever but it took me a couple of years to think to Google it, which is when I found it on this website (click on 'Quicktime and credits: Guinness: "Surfer" under the pictures to play the ad). It was duly screencapped and I made quite a few icons but this is the one that stuck and has stayed for a few years now. I love the image of the surfer with the surf-horses poised over him. It's beautiful and like fantasy and at the same time, a really neat trick. Plus the advert has quotes from Moby Dick. It's so random and yet so apt, I never get tired of watching it.

I'm not too keen on the slightly fuzzy effect I had a liking for back when I made it though. I think it's time to be hunting out those old screencaps.

You can also watch the ad (and all the slightly varied versions they showed of it, just search 'Guinness surfer') on youtube.




Compared to the last two, this icon is a totally newbie; I only made it a couple of months ago. I realised I didn't have any just-Roger icons anymore which made me sad, because he is still my favourite tennis player even if I'm not so good at keeping up the tennis right now. I knew I wanted a more introspective Roger icon because he'd been having a tough month or so and everyone was shouting about the Great Federer falling from grace, while I wanted to say well you know, you've built him up and up and really, he's just a person underneath, he's not the shining image he can be made out to be. The picture was easy; I've been collecting Roger pictures for years. The quote is from an Evanescence song 'Breathe No More' (lyrics) which I haven't actually heard. I don't even like Evanescence all that much anymore, because I find them a little whiny, but when looking for icon quotes I go through various bands that I know have lyrics to suit the kind of icon-mood I'm aiming for until I find something to fit. This time Evanescence said it exactly right.

I am so very happy with this icon, unlike the other two which are old and were made back when I was still only half-competent in Photoshop. I like the colours and the sharpness and the font. The only thing that annoys me if that I had to make 'the difference between' so small to fit that it's just edged into unreadable but in those cases I tend to go with it and use it as keywords, so those who want to know can look it up. Weirdly, it's also one of the six icons LJ kept for me after my paid account expired even though I didn't use it all that often.


I also really really love this icon because doing this post, it reminded me Andy was playing Roger and I hadn't checked when. Went to the TV, flicked to the sports channels - and their match was literally just starting. So. Much. Love.

~~

So there you go, ask about my icons and you will get essays. You get a cookie if you made it this far. ;) Now ask me to pick your icons! Pick more of mine for me to essay about! The world needs more icon squee.

And now I am off to watch Andy vs Roger. :D If this is too long, let me know and I'll cut it.

( Because everyone seems to be doing it )

Rizzo seems okay this morning. No idea what last night's dance of upside-down insanity was all about, unless he was trying to freak me out. Gr.

Really have to focus today. Yes.

edit: David Tennant has far too much fun being a woman. It's disturbingly hilarious. Also, he should say bollocks like that more often, like he's curling his tongue around the letters.

Spoke too soon on Rizzo. He's doing the lying-on-the-floor-not-moving thing now. :( Clinging to David Tennant pretending to be a woman to be happy over.

Post a comment and I will:

1) Tell you why I friended you
2) Associate you with a song/movie
3) Tell a random fact about you
4) Tell a first memory about you
5) Associate you with an animal/fruit
6) Ask something I've always wanted to know about you
7) You MUST spread this disease in your LJ


I'm too full of cheeseburger. Ngh.

edit: Dudes, I wasn't expecting to take so long answering this. ^_^ I have to go finish Creative Writing work but I'll get back to everyone tomorrow morning while I'm yelling at the Andy/Marat match.

edit: Oops, I just read the other meme I did over on scoobydumblonde's journal and I was supposed to post the answers here. *facepalm* So ( My answers )

And, ze meme:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your journal with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.