Busy weekend review

[annathepiper]

+0: First and foremost, everybody say hi to technoshaman, who has joined my Friends list over this past weekend. He's local to me, another person in the far-flung crowd surrounding Writer's Weekend, and a fellow geek. He likes Babylon 5, which as far as I'm concerned is a stellar recommendation for any geek. ;)

+1: Second up, HAPPY BIRTHDAY lyricae! Hope you got that thing I told you was coming from solarbird, spazzkat, and me! ;)

+2: Friday night, Dara, Paul, and I did sushi (courtesy of Paul; THANK YOU, PAUL! ^_^) and the subtitled version of Howl's Moving Castle. We were in unified agreement that the biggest appeal of that movie was the unmitigated hotness that is Howl, though the plot was sort of shaky in comparison with other Miyazaki films. It wasn't nearly as cool as Spirited Away, but then, few things are. Still, overall, an enjoyable way to spend an evening! The most interesting and unusual part of the movie experience, though, was not the film itself--it was this guy at the theater who was trying out some prototype vending machines for selling CDs and DVDs. He was letting people come up and play with his machines just to try them out, and every 30th person or so got to win a free DVD. Dara turned out to be one of the winners, so we got ourselves a free copy of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

+3: Saturday evening, jessicac, her sister Sadie, kathrynt, and llachglin all came over to MurkNorth for a huge marathon session of Monkey Ball 2. Kathryn and I did not partake of the video game goodness, but that was fine; she was knitting, and I was writing, and we wound up having a huge brainstormy sort of chat as I have previously mentioned under my Writing filter. It was incredibly helpful to me, and now Kathryn wants to read this chapter when I'm done with it. Go me! I admired her knitting in the meantime--a complicated-looking, Celticky, cable-y sort of pattern she was trying out to prepare for knitting a sweater for Erik.

+4: Sunday afternoon, spearheaded by the lovely and talented mamishka and Jessica, we had ourselves a nice little surprise birthday party for the aforementioned lyricae--just a nice little tea-and-conversation gathering at Jessica's place. Lots of fun all around, and we all admired Cheryl's lovely dress, of a beautiful cool, summery, yellow-and-sort-of-honeydew green shade. Dara, Paul, Kathryn, and Erik rounded out the rest of the gathering, and we yakked about roadtrips, the deserts of Arizona, the adventures Jessica, Mimi, and Kathryn all had with the Cult of Cthulu down at Orycon, and many other fun topics as well!

+/-5: Once we got home from the birthday party, I finally filled out my form for the class action lawsuit against Apple for iPod battery failures. Since I have a third-generation iPod purchased before May 2004 which experienced battery failure within a year to a year and a half of purchase (wherein 'battery failure' is defined for the lawsuit's purpose as continuous play time of four hours or less), I am absolutely part of the class mentioned in this suit. I got a claim form in the mail, and I've gone ahead and filled it out to send it in. I had to find my credit card statement that showed the purchase of the iPod on it from 2003, and I checked off the box requesting to be given a new battery (or, at Apple's discretion, a new iPod). I'd be happy with a new battery, at least. The iPod I have is perfectly functional as long as the stupid battery works.

+/-6: This morning, I dreamed that I got a rejection letter from Evan Fogelman in email. This is not actually implausible, given that in the letter I sent him along with my partial for Faerie Blood, I invited him to reply by email if he so preferred. The weird part of the dream-rejection, though, was him seeming to think that I was still on the first draft of my novel--at least in what little I saw of the Outlook preview of the email message. Which is also weird--what I remember of the dream is just seeing that little snippet of Outlook's message preview. I don't remember reading the actual message itself.

+7: Whoot! I've gone a whole week without a rejection from either of the agents yet! ;) And closing in on a month without a rejection from Luna!

Days without a rejection from Luna: 25
Days without a rejection from agents: 7

Comments

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

hee. Numfar! Do the dance of Not-Rejected-Yet Anticipation! (I'm doing it myself. It involves a lot of crossed fingers and impatient hopping.)

[annathepiper]

Ah yes, I am familiar with this Dance! It is not entirely unlike the Dance of This Book Is Kicking My Ass, though that one involves more impatient hopping and the whacking of one's head against nearby surfaces, interspersed with occasional curses against one's cast of characters!

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

*waves to technoshaman*

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

*waves back*

One would presume that "Trekker" is the correct nomenclature here?

As for being a Babyloniac, Anna, you could say that... we used to have machine names of "minbar" and "epsilon3", and the laptop was called "flyer"....

Although I do know a bigger B5 fan than me... unixronin... he owns the domain name "babcom.com", which he got in 1995...

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

One would wonder if the term really applies any more since watching Babylon 5 and Firefly, and missing almost all of V'Ger and Enterprise...

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

*Gallic shrug* I wouldn't blame you for missing V'ger and Enterprise; there are some Trekkers that even go so far as to limit their experience to TOS... but that's a bit too fan-atic, IMHO.

OTOH, I don't see how watching B5 is a betrayal, not after Majel went across... and, well, Joss is just his own brand of weird. Although the "Serenity" trailers looked really, really good, from both a writing and a CGI standpoint. Maybe Joss can pick up in the big screen where jms got shafted by the bigwigs....

[annathepiper]

I definitely prefer TOS out of any Trek that there is to be had, though I did watch all of Next Gen and a good chunk of DS9. But I started waffling out of Trekdom partway through that, and only watched the first season of Voyager. Enterprise looked pretty good for a while there, but it didn't hold my interest either. And the movies? Meh.

I suppose this makes me a TOS-snob by Trekkie standards, but hey, I just haven't found as much goodness in the other shows. :)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I actually preferred TNG to any of them, and really liked what they were doing with DS9 once Michael Dorn switched shows... alas, the station they were syndicating it on buried it at 1:30am on Sunday morning, so I didn't see most of the final seasons. Part of me wishes I had.... but I've pretty much gotten out of the TV habit altogether... which is a good thing, since my social life has picked up. I don't have time to watch TV; I spend a lot of it keeping up with wonderful people. Like present company. :)

The movies were hit-and-miss. 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, and 10 were good, and 7 was decent.... although none of them won a Hugo... OTOH, TNG won two Hugos, as did TOS, but then TOS got a lot more noms....

[annathepiper]

I don't have time to watch TV; I spend a lot of it keeping up with wonderful people. Like present company. :)

Aww gosh. *^_^* Why thank you.

I know what you mean about the lack of time for TV, though. I've quite fallen out of the habit myself, and have to actively make myself remember that that lovely device, the Tivo, goes out and grabs TV shows FOR ME. They're sitting right there waiting for me, but I keep forgetting to actually watch them! I wind up having to specifically schedule time--such as the days mamishka and I get together to watch stuff. Right now it's season 4 of The Dead Zone, and the made-for-TV movie adaptations of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books.

I'll cheerfully acknowledge that TNG had some goodness in it, though it was hit-and-miss for me. DS9 didn't click as well with me, though when it went for humor, I loved it--the "More Tribbles, More Troubles" episode was hysterical. ;) Not long after Michael Dorn did that show-hop, though, was when we stopped watching DS9. So I'm not much versed on what happened on the show after that point.

Last Trek flick I saw was #7--never saw 8, 9, or 10.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Too bad. Michael Dorn really gave the show a shot in the arm. The Klingon Wedding episode (he married Jadzia) was *priceless*... Worf leads his friends on these knight-errant quests, Jadzia's future mother-in-law is insufferable, and the wedding itself.... well, you gotta see. It's on DVD now...

First Contact was a hoot. I'll never listen to "Magic Carpet Ride" the same way again. Insurrection was much with the pastoral eye candy. Decent story. Kinda predictable. Nemesis.... was sad. But a fitting end.

[annathepiper]

I vaguely remember Worf and Jadzia getting involved, yeah, but I only remember it from the very beginnings of that plotline, I think. I never saw any of the wedding-era stuff. I'll rent and watch it if I get the chance. :)

And duly noted re: 8, 9, and 10!

[annathepiper]

I agree with technoshaman--I don't believe one fandom label precludes you enjoying another fandom. While I am only a sporadic Trekkie at best--I only sporadically watched Enterprise and only the first season of Voyager, and most of my Trek loyalty remains with TOS--I certainly don't feel as though enjoying B5 and Firefly detracts from my Trek fandom. :)

[annathepiper]

Eh, "Trekker" has always been too high-falutin' for the likes of me. :)

I am deeply charmed by your machine names. But yeah, actually going and getting a domain name? Much bigger geek cred there. ;)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

(note to self: Anna can be bribed with sushi.)

[annathepiper]

She can indeed! Also fine chocolate, Great Big Sea tickets, and pretty Russell Crowe pictures. ;)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

If I didn't know better, I'd say you were asking to be bribed... ;)

Milk or dark?

[annathepiper]

Naaaaah, I'm just sayin'! :)

And I am a friend to all forms of chocolate. Sometimes too much of one! (She said, having just gotten off the treadmill this evening because she is in fact sometimes too much of a friend to chocolate. ;) )

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Aha. good chocolate, small quantities.

[annathepiper]

Yes. Lindor balls are ideal for that!

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

Miyazaki has done a movie of Howl's Moving Castle?? Why haven't I ever heard of it? Aie! My life is now incomplete!

Ahem.

Anyway. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is good, if you haven't seen it yet. Definitely if you have not seen Snatch yet, also, you should watch Two Smoking Barrels first, and preferably wait a bit (a few days, a week) before watching Snatch. Otherwise it gets a little confusing, heh. ;) The crowd here thinks Snatch is a much, much better movie, but ymmv.

[annathepiper]

He has indeed, and lo, it was definitely pretty. Though not as cool as Spirited Away (as previously mentioned), it was, well, MIYAZAKI. Go see it, it's fun!

I've been in the same room while Snatch was on, though I wasn't paying active attention. I'll have to give it a proper watch after I watch Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Thanks for the recommendation!

[knock-knock.livejournal.com]

I love Babylon 5, even being in fun club
Glad to meet you, Shai Alyt Neroon

and what for a Howl's Moving Castle i`m going to watch it tomorrow

[annathepiper]

Hello, and welcome to my journal. :) Hope you enjoy Howl's Moving Castle!

[kathrynelaraine.livejournal.com]

*Drops head in hands* After reading your post it made me realize how much of a sci-fi fan I really am, I just didn't know it until now, lol. Specifically, it was that you even mentioned Babylon 5. It's an illness: I own the entire 5 season set that was put out on DVD, lol. I just find this all amusing, me, a prada wearing, one-of-a-kind design wearing typical fashion design/costume design major, (Begin creepy sci-fi narrator voice)who hides under her giddy demeanor a passion for the outlandish, the fantastic, and the faerie tale worlds that can only be found in...

lol.

Phew, no rejection letters. I hate to be the repeator of old sayings, but no news is good news. There is no doubt in my mind that what you have is a true work of passion and brilliance, and they would have to be nuts not to realize it would have a tremendous following :)
I hate dreams like that. If it makes you feel any better, right before I won first place in an art contest, I had dreams of a letter coming back to me saying my work was that of a true novice, and wouldn't even be considered for a placement in the competition.

Here's a neck rub on me! ((((Rub rub rub))))) :)

[annathepiper]

After reading your post it made me realize how much of a sci-fi fan I really am, I just didn't know it until now, lol.

You say that like it's a bad thing! Welcome to the fold, sister! :) And hey, not only do we have the entire series of Babylon 5 on DVD, solarbird had even taped every single episode as it aired--on the special, extra-fancy SVHS tapes! We were quite pleased that the DVDs came out, because our tapes had started to be unplayable!

There is no doubt in my mind that what you have is a true work of passion and brilliance, and they would have to be nuts not to realize it would have a tremendous following :)

Awww gosh. *^_^* Thank you.

And yay, neck rubs! Mmmmm.