lost day

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Well, not technically. I actually got quite a bit done, but ran out of time for this.

Instead, I got a tandem haircut, my wife and niece tag teaming to clean up the frump that’s grown up over the past few months.

Would that I could let it grow, but I’m an old man now, and it would just be weird.

Long hair is a young man’s game, unless you’re Willie Nelson.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 533 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Adam Bede, George Eliot
Comics: Fusion 2-3, Cyber Force/Hunter KIller 1-2
Music: INXS Essentials, INXS

when tech goes wrong

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I had a brilliant little first draft of a scene written out, absolutely perfect (I mean, it would need editing, but for a first pass, I was in the zone), and then, I went to save it.

All OpenOffice locks up, leaving me unable to even copy the text into Notepad, let alone save the file. I tried to let it sit, let it run out whatever putting a period on a sentence made it do, but to no avail.

I prayed the autosave function that automatically restores files after they’d crashed would bring it all back, but nope. You had to apparently save at least once in order to get that back.

Eight hundred words down the drain, to be replaced by a second version coloured by my frustration and nowhere near as good, though it followed the same lines.

That’s annoying. Technical issues should never be the difference between something good and something mediocre. OpenOffice has served me well over the years, and I fucking hate Microsoft Word, for more reasons than their nonsense policies and anti-user standpoint (it’s the fucking UI and functionality I hate; it’s like they’ve never watched anyone try to create a document before).

But it may be time to think about finding something else. Something more basic. Functional.

Intelligent and user friendly.

But mostly, stable. Reliable. So flawless as to be almost unnoticeable.

Is that too much to ask?

Target: 1100 words
Written: 1186 words, novel: Bad Neighbours (officially, who knows what I was at before the crash)

Read: Adam Bede, George Eliot
Comics: Cyblade 2-4, Fusion 1
Music: The INXS Collection 1980-1993, INXS

hidden action

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I started writing a sex scene, then realized, it actually makes for a better story to hide the sex act that is causing our main character such grief.

It’ll be revealed later on in the book, but for now, mystery is the way to go.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 1569 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Adam Bede, George Eliot
Comics: Ripclaw v3 1, Cyblade: Pilot Season 1, Velocity v2 1, Cyblade 1
Music: Invisible Lantern, Screaming Trees (so underrated)

thinking a lot about sex today

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Not because I need to get some (I do) or that I’m particularly feeling my oats (I am), but that’s mostly because for the first time, I’m writing a sex scene.

(Well, not the first time, but the first time in canon. I alluded to the father’s use of a late night laptop session in The Mungk, and a couple of the short stories referenced sex – Get Back Again’s misogynist ghost threatening/chastising his murderer with abuse/promiscuity, Forest Edge’s main victim being a prostitute, its villain getting what comes to him at the hands of the prostitute’s best friend after being seduced, oh, and Western Cradle, which deals almost exclusively with a woman’s revenge for the murder of her family and her own gang rape).

Okay, well, then, this is the first time in canon, and also, the first time where the character is engaged in a consensual act that they really have no love for.

It’s something I would do without hesitation, and would hope my partner is open enough to find fun and sexy, but Walter, the main… he’s a little repressed. Well, a lot repressed.

And so, this is hard for me to write, because I don’t have a lot of boundaries, and it’s difficult for me to get into the mindset of someone who does. For me, it’s no big deal; it’s play.

For others, it’s world shattering.

For me, it’s fun; for Walter, it’s disgusting (hygienically and morally).

And believe me, we aren’t talking anything that weird here.

You’ll see when it’s all done.

When it finally comes out.

When any of this comes out.

Most of it has gone nowhere.

I might be getting a little stale.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 685 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Adam Bede, George Eliot
Comics: Cyber Force v3 4-6, Cyber Force & X-Men 1
Music: Invisible, Everclear

writing

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I finally feel like I’m moving in uncharted waters.

Like this first draft is starting to take real shape.

It needs massive overhaul and a total and complete rewrite, but hey, that’s what first drafts are for. They’re really just insanely overdone outlines, technically.

Brainstorming in real time.

Making shit up based on the loose guidelines given in the prep.

The raw paints and easel, with a word on a sticky note: bowl of fruit.

This is the blue pencil sketch, before the ink, the colour and the word bubbles.

(Of course, everyone uses Photoshop now, so you know, that’s outdated).

Fuck it. Let’s go.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 1473 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Joy, Osho
Comics: Cyber Force v3 0-3
Music: An Introduction To... Elliott Smith (fuck yes, also, by, you guessed it, Elliott Smith, comma, comma, comma)

the end of a fucking week

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It’s over. Put me out of my misery.

Put us all out of our misery.

On the plus side, I found a good book, that’s really lighting up the old brain sockets.

That’s right.

Brain sockets.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 1115 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Joy, Osho
Comics: Strykeforce 2-5
Music: Introduce Yourself, Gord Downie (The North is just fucking... ethereal)

sometimes it throws a bone

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I was busy as fuck today, or rather, given a lot of work to do, but as luck would have it, most of it went way quicker than expected.

The good news is that probably helped me boost my stats (not that my stats need to be particularly boosted), but it also meant that I could exceed my average and claw back some downtime, which allowed me to knock out some stuff I wanted to do that was non-work related (at least, not other people’s work) and catch up, ever so slightly.

Sometimes, life can be alright, am I right?

Until other people come along, and then it’s a fuck.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 165 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Digital Fortress, Dan Brown
Comics: Cyber Force v2 34-35, Strykeforce 1, Cyber Force & JLA 1
Music: Into The Wild, Eddie Vedder (I could listen to this version of Big Hard Sun all day)

derailed

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Same again, same again.

How does this happen? Who’s fucking my day up?

Why is going to the office a thing?

Christ, I get so much more done, for them and for me, when I’m not there.

Enough already.

Give me a fucking break.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 1797 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Digital Fortress, Dan Brown
Comics: Devi's Reign 7-8, Cyber Force v2 32-33
Music: Into The Unknown, Bad Religion

off the rails

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It’s amazing how quickly one can go from totally caught up to completely off the rails.

I expected it when we go away next week for twelve days, but fuck.

The last three days have been a nightmare of busy with “not-my-own-shit” and everything went straight off the rails.

Why can’t people just leave me fucking be for once?

Target: 1100 words
Written: 1032 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Digital Fortress, Dan Brown
Comics: Cyber Force 31, Devil's Reign 0.5, 5-6
Music: Interview Thing, Lisbon, Beastie Boys

st. wife’s birthday

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At first, I thought it would be cool, like it was a sign my wife was born on St. Patty’s, but over the years, it’s just allowed me to be less of a drunk idiot on this day, and more of an attentive husband.

I resented it at first, because I love a good party, but the older I get, the more a drink is just a nice thing to relax with, or to pair with dinner. A celebration of milestones.

And it pretty much maxes out at two, on special occasions.

Gently toasted, not lit, is the maximum for me these days, so today, happy birthday, beautiful lady.

I’m very glad we found each other, and I’m sorry you’re doing all this one-handed.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 172 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Digital Fortress, Dan Brown
Comics: Devil's Reign 2-4, Cyber Force v2 30
Music: Interpol EP, Interpol