Friday, August 29, 2008

What do you want to do tonight, Brain?

What better way to celebrate post #50 than by reminiscing about those old cartoons we all used to watch?

Come on, you remember those. The oldies your parents used to watch, the cartoons from the '80s... maybe even some modern day cartoons that you schedule into your week even to this day. Point is, you've watched a cartoon at some point in your life (or I assume you have, since you obviously have internet access and most people who browse the intarwebz own a TV or did at one point in their life... and if you say you've never watched a cartoon, ever, I'm going to assume you're lying. Or you're a serial killer. Either way, you're weird.)

Now, for the sake of this post, I'm going to include kid/tween/teen oriented anime within the "cartoon" category. It's easier for me if I don't have to separate them. Adult anime has it's place, too, and maybe I'll do a post on that sometime, but for now we're talking about shows aimed at non adults.

First up...



Who doesn't remember this cartoon? This is the only cartoon I can ever remember where no one cared that animated characters ran around with guns and sharp pointy things and tried to kill each other on a regular basis. Especially in such an innocently fun fashion. It was all in good fun... no one worried that the kids watching this cartoon might someday grow up to be mentally unstable from being exposed to such "violence." There were all kinds of maliciously fun characters! Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Elmer Fudd ("kill the wabbit! kill the waaaabbit!"). It was ossim.

To be fair, though, I think the cartoon was originally made for adults. Which actually makes it better, because both adults and kids are entertained by it. I think I really liked Looney Toons simply because it wasn't childish. It didn't dumb itself down for the kids.

Another intelligent show was Animaniacs. We own the DVD of the first season, and even to this day it's still a riot. Soooooo many inuendos and things that were funny back in the day but especially grin-worthy as an adult. I mean, there were college kids who watched that show. It was that good.

And of course, who doesn't remember "Hellooooooo, Nurse!"? Or "Good Idea, Bad Idea"? Hell even the Wheel of Morality was good for a snort of laughter every now and then. God I miss that show. Now I'm gonna have to watch it when I get home.

More old school than Animaniacs were my days spent watching cartoons that were great back in the day, but I'm not so sure I'd like them now. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the OLD cartoon, not that new crap), Darkwing Duck, The Tick (okay, that one is still good), TailSpin, Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers, Gummy Bears (frak, I have that song stuck in my head now... "Gummy beaaaarrrs, bouncing here and there and everywhere"....). Yeah, the list goes on and on. And on.

Now, that's not to say I didn't escape the mindless drivel of some old school cartoons. Most notibly were things like My Little Ponies (shut it) and Rocky and Bullwinkle. What? Why diss the squirrel and moose?



Okay, expirament time. Go out and rent the Rocky and Bullwinkle DVD from the video store (if it isn't available there you could probably get it for like $5-10 somewhere else). Push the play button and set the timer for one hour. I bet you money you couldn't sit through an entire hour of it without feeling like you've lost half your brain cells (I'd actually wager you couldn't sit through an hour, period). We put the DVD on in the background for game night one night, and after three hours all of us were ready to shoot the TV and put the DVD in the microwave, and we weren't even watching it. It was just on as background noise.

I mean, as a kid I didn't care either way about Rocky and Bullwinkle. I'd watch it if it was on (and I still think Boris and what's her name are kind of funny). But God... I mean, there's a reason why I stated that some of the above cartoons might not be entertaining to me anymore. It is specifically because of the events of that game night that I vowed never to watch old school cartoons. I wanted to preserve the memories.

Moving right along then...

There was a magical time in my tweens when we got cable. I was exposed to a much broader range of cartoons. Ren and Stimpy, Rocco's Modern Life, Scooby Doo (no, I had not seen this show prior to cable. It wasn't run on our local channels).

The best of those beloved new cable channels? Cartoon Network. Oh yes. We had...

...Dexter's Laboratory

"Dee Deeeee!"



...Johnny Bravo

"Whoa, Momma!"



... The Powerpuff Girls



... And of course, anime.

I was a sucker for anime. I loved the animation style, I couldn't get enough of it. I'm intensely guilty of watching things like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Digimon, Pokemon (admittedly I was more into the game than the show), Tenchi Muyo, etc. I may have even owned some of the tapes. Yes, video tapes. Shush.

There is one I didn't get into until after it was cancelled. The picture should say it all.

Invader Zim is possibly the best cartoon Nickelodeon ever ran, even if it was only for three seasons. (Ren and Stimpy was good, but I like Zim better.) Everyone is so sarcastic and oblivious. Zim's self-absorbed, spastic self is hilarious, and GIR is possibly the best secondary character I've ever come across. Not to mention all the quippy dialogue, such as this little gem...

Tallest: Weren't you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be... frying something?
Zim: Oh, I quit when I found out about this.
Tallest: You quit being banished?

Yes. I lurves me some Zim.

And, last but not least, America's favorite animated family:

THE SIMPSONS



I don't even think I need to say anything about the Simpsons, other than it's creator also made Futurama (another priceless animated series... srsly, if you haven't seen it, you should).

Anyway, I've rambled on and thrown enough pictures at you for one day. But I want to know... what were your favorite cartoons while growing up? Are there any you still watch?

Quote of the day:

(Dexter's Laboratory)
Dee Dee: Oooh! What does THAT button do?


~Sass~

Thursday, August 28, 2008

*Poof!*


Short post today, sorry! Been really busy at work (omg, I know, I actually have to work?) and haven't had time to do a lot of my usual blog/forum trolling. Someone else did it for me though... check out the Sexy People blog. Blast from the horrible childhood past!

On the school front, turns out I have two papers to write before the first day of classes, and of course the weekend before -- when I would normally have time -- my mother is coming to visit. Is there a Murphey in the room?

Also because of the visit, we've had to try and clean our house, which hasn't been cleaned for 1.5 months. You can imagine how that's going so far with my general lack of motivation on all things not gaming or writing. (And now it's the day before, and holy shit, we gotta bust our asses if it's going to be decent enough to live in for the weekend.)

Soooooo... yeah. That's all I have time to post. Just thought I'd keep you all updated on my lack of presence for the upcoming weekend.

Come on, you know you'll miss me.

Quote of the day:

(Hot Fuzz)
Nicholas Angel: Well, I wouldn't argue that it wasn't a no-holds-barred, adrenaline-fuelled thrill ride. But there is no way you can perpetrate that amount of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Cycler

I was doing my usual morning Blog Check -- running through the four lists of blogs I have there on the right in search of new stuff to read -- and something on Scalzi's blog caught my attention.

Now, it wasn't the cover that did it. I skipped the picture and continued reading to see what he had to say about it.

" Every teenage girl has “that time of month,” as it is so euphemistically referred to, but in Cycler, the totally inventive and fun debut novel from Lauren McLaughlin, Jill McTeague discovers that during her time, her body goes through entirely different changes than most girls — specifically, four days a month, she becomes Jack, right down to all the appropriate plumbing. "

Say what?

I continued to read. He brought on the author, Lauren McLaughlin, to give a little blurb about her book and why she wrote it. Immediately after I hunted down her website so I could get more info on this author and her book.

I think I have a new book to read.

What an awesomely unique premise. And, based on her blog posts, I gleaned enough of her personality to think I'm really going to enjoy her work. Later this week I'll make a trip to the bookstore and fill you in on what I thought of the novel. For now, at least, I can just be satisfied that I've spread the word about Cycler. (You know, in case you've managed to check my blog before Scalzi's, which is probably about as likely as you bumping into me at the grocery store.)

Monday, August 25, 2008

TrueBlood... again

Okay, so, upon further investigation, TrueBlood *is* based off of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series.



It didn't take much to dig up that bit of information. What can I say? Sometimes I'm a little dense.

However, that little bit of digging turned into a friggin' expedition into the strange land of HBO marketing. You would not believe how much extra stuff I found.

It starts here, at their official TrueBlood page. You follow the links and you end up finding things like a news cast about the post "coming out of the coffin" for the vampires, an entire website dedicated to the Tru:Blood drink, an entire blog about the vampire discoveries and subsequent findings with entries dated back until May (complete with forum, holy shit), and a vampire dating site. There's also a site for AVL, or the American Vampire League, which is a vampire rights group, and also a site for their arch enemy Fellowship of the Sun. There are hours worth of videos to watch, and days worth of reading to do.

I think someone over at HBO had a little too much time on their hands. Not that I don't appreciate it, but just... wow. Wow. If they put as much effort into the show as they did all the marketing offshoots, this will be a great series.

Quote of the Day:

(Buffy the Vampire Slayer - tv)
Willow: Life is a neck. Drink deep.


~Sass~

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Tru:Blood

Oh. My. Gawd.

I need HBO. I need it so I can watch this series. This looks like one of those things were even if you don't like vampires, you will like this series. And I like vampires. Oh yes, I do.

(Funny thing... does this seem like Sookie from Dead Until Dark? Hmm...)

In case that video doesn't load for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JYwxafJY7c



Excuse me while I go look up prices for adding HBO to our subscription.

Quote of the day:

(Blade)
Dr. Karen Jenson: You used me as bait?
Blade: Get over it.


~Sass~

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Getting Your Funny On

I've joined this thing called a Blog Chain. It's where a bunch of people write articles relating to the last person that posted, with links to the previous and future posters, mostly done to have fun but also to generate site traffic. (Which means more people will eventually make it to this site and get sucked into the abyss! muahahahahaha! And stuff.) This month's Blog Chain was started by colbymarshall over at AbsoluteWrite.

Seems the topic so far is comedy, or more generally, what people find entertaining. After reading and responding to the posts so far, I've decided to go all analytical on your arses. (Stay with me here, I promise I'll try not to be boring.)

Obviously everyone has a different opinion of what they find entertaining. Some people don't like crude jokes, some people have a preference for witty dialog as opposed to cheesy one liners, yet others avoid college humor and some people swear by dark humor. The reasons are as varied as the people, but I've generally come to one of two conclusions as to why there are dislikes for certain subjects.

1 -- Cultural / Religious / Family acceptance. We're raised to think certain things are or are not entertaining / funny. This one is a subconscious thing, and a lot of people don't realize it's an influence. Example: I was raised by my dad. The man has an impressive set of intestines, and would frequently blame his after dinner noises on "barking spiders." He never took them seriously, he was never embarrassed by them, and he knew how to laugh at himself. Even though I would obviously protest ("eww! Daaaaaad!") I grew up learning to be comfortable with myself and my bodily functions. I'm like a guy in a girl's body. I will high five someone who lets out an impressive fart, same as someone else who might high five a good belch. Even my sister, a normally conservative person, loves to laugh at anyone cutting the cheese. Do I think it's tasteless? Depends on the situation. Obviously it's not cool to let one rip at a nice restaurant, but at home? Why not? Though for some reason we as a species have been taught to be embarrassed by our bodily functions for hundreds (possibly thousands?) of years.

2 -- Execution. This is a big one. There are prejudices towards certain types of jokes, movies, even books because of the multitude of bad executions floating around in the entertainment industry. Think about it. Let's use books as an example. Romance Novels. See? Some of you just shuddered, and not in a good way. A lot of people refuse to read Romance Novels because the general stigma of a bad novel and things like "heaving breasts" still stick to the genre despite the abundance of excellent authors / books that exist there. (Also, there is a cultural influence here that tells us anything sexual is the work of the devil... which is funny, considering how much violence and other questionable things are readily accepted. But that's a topic for another day.) An example of good execution... well, look at the cat in that picture. I *know* a lot of you think that's unbelievably cute, even though it's making reference to poo. But, had I stuck in a clip of the World of Warcraft episode of South Park where Cartman's mom comes down and catches his exploding diarrhea, the number of people smiling would have plummeted in comparison. Yet both are poo jokes. See what I'm saying?

I could go on and on, but for now I want to get back to the other posters' questions.

What do I find funny?

Truth is, I'll watch just about anything if I'm in the mood for it. I appreciate intelligent humor, prefer it sometimes, but I also have the ability to appreciate crude humor, especially if it's executed well. Life in Scribbletown mentioned that she didn't understand why shows like Family Guy and South Park were funny. Believe it or not a lot of episodes from both are extremely intelligent, they simply use the crude element as a way to state their opinion and gain viewership (or in South Park's case, they do it purposely to offend). Don't get me wrong, both shows can sometimes miss the mark and sink right to stupid, but there are definitely elements worth watching. That said, I also enjoy shows like House and Arrested Development. Arrested Development is one of those shows you either get, and love, or you just don't understand why it's so funny. Some people don't get it and that's fine. Not everyone has to like the same thing.

Also, reality shows are so popular because we love drama. We just do. I think it's hardwired into us. And it would certainly explain the popularity of things like daytime soaps and I Love Money. They're like a car crash... you don't want to look, but you can't look away. Curse the human race for being ever curious and drama loving!

So, sticking to humor as a general topic... how many of you find LOLcats funny, and how many of you just don't get it? (I bet you can figure out where I fall in that one!)

Anyway, time for me to pass the torch. Go go Peregrinas!

Follow the chain with:

Spittin' (out words) Like a Llama started the chain on 08/14
Delirious continued it on 08/18
For the First Time followed up on 08/22
Life in Scribbletown tagged me on 08/23
A Blog, I Has One (this is the site you're on... if you need a link, I'm going to have to worry about you)
Peregrinas put her word in on 08/27
SouthAsiaFair quickly followed the same day
the mommy writer restarted the chain on 08/29
Return Engagement made an awesome funny a few short hours later
Neither Here nor There didn't post until 09/01
and...
Polenth's Quill,
Emily Veinglory, and
Blog in a Suitcase have yet to post. Go go go!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Forgot

There was something totally friggin awesome I was going to blog about yesterday...

And then I got distracted. I know, right? What a surprise. It was a good topic, too. At least, I think it was. I'm reasonably sure it would have been entertaining.



Anyway, I need to give a shout out to my gaming buddy who (whom?) I know as Raven, otherwise known as yesitstom in various places across teh intarwebz. He made his first blog post yesterday, I'm so proud! *sniff* Though, in a major FAIL moment I didn't post the comment I had intended to post... it should have said "FIRST!" Instead I got all helpful and shit. (You'll understand when you read it.)

Also, I did a little too much browsing yesterday and found more blogs by authors I like and authors-I-have-yet-to-read-but-really-want-to-go-find-in-the-bookstore-like-right-now. Some I added to my LiveJournal friends list, but most ended up on the side there. See? Aren't they pretty? *points to the blog lists*

Ooooohhh, and I got an idea the other day for revisions.

My idea, let me shares it.

Okay I'll give you a quick rundown here. Kate, mah werewuff chica, is about to have teh proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan. She has a pretty big confrontation with two rival werewolves, in which some people get hurt and die etc, etc, etc. Well, one of these wolves is killed "off screen," so to speak, by my Alpha Male, while the other is a joint kill by Kate and said Alpha Male.

I think I want to change that.

One, I think I want that second kill to be hers and hers alone. She needs it. (Okay, she doesn't need the mental trauma of having killed someone, even if it is a werewolf, but it's something she should probably do on her own to reinforce her independence and generally to leave a satisfying ending to that chapter of her life.) Two, I don't think I want to leave the first kill off screen. I think I'm going to switch it around... Alpha Male will not get that kill, Kate will, and in doing so she will spend a little more quality time with him and possibly add an entire juicy chapter to my WIP (because it *badly* needs it... I'm 3k down from original word count, and original word count was only 77k, which, for those of you in the know, is borderline on the low end of expectations for fantasy novels).

So, basically, I want to give Kate a little more chance to kick some ass and add a few thousand words while I'm at it. Sound good? Yes, I thought so too.

And I shared it with you guys so I wouldn't forget it. Heh.

Quote of the day:

(Arrested Development)
Tobias Fünke: Okay, Lindsay, are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

LOLympics



Kinnot... stop laughing...

Best Olympic summaries evar. And so not safe for work. (you has been warned!)

Encyclopedia Dramatica's LOLympic Games -- complete with Pedobear and much offensive material. Srsly, I could only find one quote safe enough to put up here.

...Hungary Takes The Gold In Forced Memes

Also of note is Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai, AKA Olympic fail guy. Haha, check out this big European moose, dude! Seriously, look at him gOH JESUS HIS ARM ISN'T MEANT TO BEND THAT WAY...



~Sass~

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Massaged Back of Doom

This would be the second week in a row I paid for a massage. Why, you ask. Why would you go get a massage two weeks in a row? Isn't that expensive? Well! Let me tell you.

I am my own Discovery Channel. I had no idea it was possible to have that many knots and be quite so tight along the back, neck, shoulders, and whatever those muscles are around the collar bone. It was insane. My massage therapist was like I don't know what you're doing but you need to stop doing it. And I quote, "This is bad."

I have three trigger points that I know of. What's a trigger point? It's a knot that is such a concentrated level of horribleness that pressing on it releases pain into all the surrounding areas. They're mega knots that take more than one session to relax into nothingness... and in my case, one trigger point was greatly reduced in the 2.5 total hours of massaging but has not totally gone away (that one was on the side of my neck), one trigger point didn't even "pop" (her term, not mine) until this second session (that one is under my right shoulder blade), and the third trigger point wasn't discovered until at least halfway through the second session. And man, let me tell you, that third one hurts like a bitch. It's on the back side of my armpit. I'm sore just thinking about it.

One curious thing she told me was that my entire right side was a swollen lump of knots, while the left side had a "rope" along my spine. That was where she told me to stop doing whatever it is I'm doing. She told me I was compensating for something, and I think I know what it is. I have horrible posture when I sit (I have a tendency to sit sideways) and I also carry my purse on only one shoulder. My posture also caused the massage agony that was the front part of my neck and upper pecks. Apparently my hunched foward / scrunched in shoulders sitting at the computer caused me some serious tension. It made me vow to do my stretches. Religiously. And I don't mean holiday religious. I mean like fanatic religious.

At that point in the massage I figured I had felt the worst of the worst of my tense muscles and knots. I was like sweet, she's moving on to something less painful.

I really should have known better.

She started on my arms... the corners of my armpits, the outside shoulder, and the forearms. Mother of God. I actually started protesting the pain at that point, and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I was making those stupid little girly "ow, ow, ow" noises. Especially on the forearms. I mean, all she did was run her fingers and the side of her arm up and down the top of my forearm, something that really shouldn't have hurt that bad, but that shit killed me. It killed me good.

And of course the massage therapist was fascinated beyond belief. She actually gave me a 1.5 hour massage when I was only supposed to get an hour, and she expressed some sorrow at having to stop. She was having fun discovering all my little knots. Though she did warn me to ice everything or I was going to hurt today and possibly bruise.

I iced. I'm still sore. But it feels ossim.

So... what was the point in telling you all of that?

Writers, I warn you now... do your stretches, make sure you have a good chair, work on your posture, and by God, go get yourself a massage every once in a while so you don't end up like me. Seriously. You do not want to be so tense that you become an educational experience for a veteran massage therapist.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go drink a gallon of water and stretch some soreness out of my muscles.

Quote of the day:

(House)
Foreman: Yeah, you're all about nurturing.
House: Do you need a hug?

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

lawls

Caught Vicki Pettersson's post from yesterday. Awesomely embarrassing and totally hilarious. It's okay Vicki, we've all had moments like that (though admittedly we all haven't run down the street after the guy yelling in Swenglish! hee!).

Also just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I'm back on track after a 2 week break. I hit my revisions yesterday like the fist of an angry God, and chapter 12 is now polished and pretty! Woo! /excited

In other news, Disney's marketing team produced a major FAIL moment in a truly horrifying-yet-funny underwear debacle. Tsk tsk. Either Disney is hiring clueless employees or they (gasp!) may have a few perverts on their payroll.

Quote of the day:

"It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives."


~Sass~

Friday, August 15, 2008

Tropic Thunder

I went to see this on opening night (a Wednesday, how weird is that?) and I gotta say, this is another one of those movies I was happy to pay theatre prices for. I wouldn't necessarily pay to see it as many times as, say, The Dark Knight or Iron Man, but it'll be another addition to my DVD collection for sure.

Ben Stiller needs to make more movies. He did a really good job with the script writing and directing (and the acting, but if you're at all familiar with Ben Stiller, it's his usual fare). Everyone in the cast did an excellent job riding that line between hilarious and offensive, especially Tom Cruise.

Wait, what? Yes, Tom Cruise is in this movie. Took me by surprise because most of the advertisements concentrate on the holy trinity of Black, Stiller, and Downy Jr. He played an excellent evil whatever he was (not a director of the movie within the movie, but the guy that funded the movie within the movie). Less than surprising was his role as a slightly psychotic character, but pleasantly surprising was how friggin' funny he was at playing the part. It was like he was making fun of himself.

Also, I think Robert Downy Jr. is now my favorite actor. Kudos to him for taking a potentially explosive role as "the dude playin' the dude disguised as another dude." His blackness was a little over-the-top at the start of the movie, but he really got into it and he was just so exaggerated yet comfortable in the role that he was highly convincing as the actor that got lost in his character. I mean he was so into it that when he reverted back to his blond-haired blue-eyed "real" self at the end, it seemed more fake than when he was black! (And I gotta tell you, it's a serious sensory shock to have him go from a deep-voiced black man to the blond Australian type. I think I like him better black, akshully... or as Tony Stark, but we're not talking about that movie right now. lol)

And yeah, I did hear about the protesting during the premier of the movie. Honestly... after having seen it, I really don't think they should be protesting it. Yes, there is gratuitous use of the word "retard" in one part of the movie, but it's when they're talking about a ficticious movie Stiller's character made, and it's done on purpose to exaggerate their personalities. It's satire. They're not condoning the use of the word, they're not trying to make it popular. Same with "Simple Jack", the role Stiller's character is supposed to have played. It's an over-the-top distasteful character, and it's supposed to be like that. That's the point. Lrn2humor?

Fantastically funny. It's a must-see!


~Sass~

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

One of Those Days

Or weeks, I should say. I was having an awesome last few months -- I couldn't seem to stop writing, I was on a roll. Revised chapters and new material flyin' outta my butt faster than a monkey flings poo. I rode it for as long as possible because I know my cycles, and I knew it wouldn't last. I tend to have a very consistant up / down pattern in regards to creativity, with the only variable being the time spent in up or down mode (in relation to writing, not moods. they are somewhat related but creativity seems to set its own schedule regardless of the happiness or the crankiness I may swing towards from time to time, and sometimes seems to carry on in spite of it).

The longest up-cycle I can remember ended about 10 days ago. Admittedly, it lasted longer than I thought it would, and I was grateful for the extra oomph it gave to my writing.

But now I'm in a down cycle, and I'm bored as hell. I want to write. I want to show some love to existing and yet to be created characters. It's been incredibly frustrating sitting in front of the computer, both with a blank screen and an existing work, and not being able to draw on that creative energy.

I understand part of it is psychological. I was frustrated with my revisions, still am, and it's probably the reason I can't seem to gather the energy to work on that particular project. I thought it was burnout creeping up on me and so took a week long break, but it didn't seem to help. Stress at work hasn't helped any either, though I've become an expert at leaving work at work.

(For those of you keeping track, Staples -- the company that recently bought us out --- has decided to keep my department, citing that we are needed to service this part of the country. Business talk for we don't yet know what the crap you do but you're efficient so we're keeping you on. But while they may be keeping the department, that doesn't rule out the possibility of "trimming" and so all my coworkers twitch and jump and go off on little things, which is becoming highly irritating as one of the vendors I handle seems to be on their shit list, so I'm really feeling the love these past few weeks.)

Adding to the pity party here a little bit, I think I may be going through another mental adjustment and it's shaking my confidence. It's kind of a tough phenomenon to explain, but lemme try. Hell, you all are writers too. Let me go all psychology on my own arse here for a minute.

You know when you're younger and you suddenly realize you're not as smart or mature as you think you are? It's not necessarily an all-at-once change... maybe it's just that you look at yourself 5-10 years ago and think "wow, was I really like that?" You know what I'm talking about? You clearly see the difference between now and then, even if you don't remember exactly when the change happened or what triggered it. It's one of those things. Except I know it's happening. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just eye-opening. And not good for my confidence. Whenever this happens I usually start questioning everything and, like I said, it shakes my confidence.

Maybe that's why I'm in a funk? I don't know. Whatever the cause, I want to track it down and kill it like a bad character so I can get on with my writing. Sunday night I was sitting around being fidgity and anxious, and I realized it was because I'd broken my reading / writing habit.

Grr, I says. Grr.

LKH blogged about something similar. Maybe it's contagious.

Anyway, I'm off to fight my personal demons and the forces of evil and angry coworkers and all of that. I'll try to post something more positive tomorrow, I promise!

Quote of the day:

(Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Marvin: [as they are gazing at the wonder of Magrathea] Incredible... it's even worse than I thought it would be.


~Sass~

Monday, August 11, 2008

Applying, I Does It

Yeah, so, after two weeks of piddling around with the essay and generally forgetting I had a college application to complete in the first place, I finally said screw it and turned the whole thing in this morning. Then I went on over and filled out a FAFSA so I could have more money to buy a laptop pay for school, and now I just need to request transcripts from my old schools and fill out the preferred tuition thing so I get my discount. (ten percent! yay!)

It has begun. Teh Sass has started her journey on the way to a Bachelors Degree. It will be fraught with dangers the likes of which many have faced before - term papers, finals, marathon study sessions, lack of sleep, cheap food... oh yes, the path will be difficult, but I shall emerge victorious on the other side. I hope.

In other news, the Russians have invaded Georgia.

NO, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE AREA OF LAND IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES.

Dear God, people. You have no idea how many retards at my work think that Russia invaded the US. Get a world map, you friggin' noobs. Or better yet, go back to school and re-take geography.

Oy.

Quote of the Day:

You might be a redneck if you consider the fifth grade you senior year. -- Jeff Foxworthy

Friday, August 8, 2008

Recruit-A-Friend


Blizzard has found a way to turn us into Amway people. They're renewing their Recruit-A-Friend special, where you bug one of your friends mercilessly until they give in and start the game with you, thus addicting them forever (or at least for a couple of months) to the World of Warcraft and earning Blizzard more money while promoting the whole "game with your friends" thing. In the past this wasn't too special, as all the recruiter earned was one free month of play per friend recruited (ooo, $15, so exciting).

They've upped the ante this time. And now I'm desperately searching for someone that doesn't play who I haven't already bothered. The list is pretty short. I can count them on one hand. Maybe a couple of fingers.

What's so special about this time, then? Why has Sass gone rabid?

Well, according to this site, the recruiter (me!) earns:

1. A zevra mount (a badass lookin zebra/unicorn thing that I get to ride around like a horsie in game)
2. The standard month of free play

But, this time around, there is also a bonus for the person that gets recruited. What is this special bonus, you ask? Check the same link above. It's 90 days (three months) worth of:

1. Characters on both accounts can summon each other once per hour. (omigod)
2. While adventuring with your linked friend/family member, you will each gain triple experience. (holy shit)
3. For every two levels the new player earns, the new player can grant one free level-up to a lower-level character played by the veteran player. (I think I'm drooling. Is that drool?)

Not only have they given the recruiter a reward, but this time around they've actually encouraged players to group with their friends. No more recruit someone and then forget all about them. (Sadly, that's what usually happens, and it's part of the reason why I've spent precious little time playing with the friends I did manage to recruit. The other reason is because you guys don't freakin' log in when I do! Grr.)

I should, at this point, mention that I haven't been playing all summer, and have recently gotten excited about some of the leaks from the expansion beta. I recently left my guild of 7 years (yes, you heard right, years... starting back in EverQuest) and have suddenly found myself with a lot of free time. My plan is to schedule certain days, maybe like every Tues/Thurs or something, and either simply play the game with my husband or play with the person I've miraculously managed to recruit into the online gaming world.

So...

Anyone out there wanna give WoW a try? Come on, you know you want to... ;)

Disclaimer: Don't feel bad if you don't give in to the will of Sass. Failing any recruitment strategies, I will simply invite myself and get a second account to take advantage of the leveling bonus. Don't look at me like that. I have a life outside of the computer, I promise.

Quote of the Day:

(Galaxy Quest)
Guy: I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm just "Crewman Number Six." I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is. I've gotta get outta here.


~Sass~

Thursday, August 7, 2008

PETA did what?

There is a difference between respecting animals and becoming rabidly fanatic lunatics about our furry friends. PETA long ago fell into the latter category, but this is low even for them.

PETA's beheading ad spurned
An animal rights group has tried – and failed – to run a newspaper ad comparing the beheading of a passenger on a Greyhound bus last week to the treatment of animals by the meat industry.


Yes, you did just read that right. No, it's not a joke. In case you missed the story, there was a murder on a Greyhound bus in Canada, a homicide where the killer stabbed a man to death, cut off his head, and proudly displayed it before the terrified passengers. How insensitive do they have to be to want to run that ad mere days after that horrible incident? Or at all? I'm so pissed I can hardly see straight.

Their response to a reaction such as mine?

“If this ad leaves a bad taste in your mouth, please give a thought to what sensitive animals think and feel when they come to the end of their frightening journey and see, hear and smell the slaughterhouse.”

Uh... no. I'm sorry, but animals are not on the same level as people. They're just not. And I'm sure those very same animals experience the same levels of fright out in the wild when things like wolves, lions, etc attack and eat them... and it's a slower death out there by teeth and claws. You going to start killing natural predators, too, PETA? Just so no animal has to die, ever? I don't endorse or approve of the conditions some of these animals are kept in while being raised for slaughter, but for shit's sake people, the slaughter of animals for food can not be compared to one human killing another over an emotional reaction. That ad is tasteless and offensive.

And, just because I'm feeling so vindictive, here's a nice article about how PETA itself kills helpless little animals. Say it with me PETA... hypocrite.

PETA's dirty secret

Nucking futs, all of them.

Quote of the day:

"Are you a vegitarian because you love animals or hate plants?"


~Sass~

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

*headdesk*

The nation of fear digs it's cold fingers into the publishing world.

The Jewel of Medina

He said that after sending out advance copies of the novel, the company received "from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment."


What can I say? The decision made me shake my head, but the saddest part was the fact that I honestly wasn't surprised. Though at least the publicity will ensure record sales for whatever publishing house picks her up... and once it does, I'll have a new book on my shelf out of pure spite.

Quote of the Day:

(Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
God: What are you doing now?
King Arthur: Averting our eyes, oh Lord.
God: Well, don't. It's just like those miserable psalms, always so depressing. Now knock it off!


~Sass~

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Watchmen


Like everyone else and their brother, I too went looking for the Watchmen novel after I saw the preview during The Dark Knight. Unfortunately for me I had to wait a week for any of our bookstores to have it in stock. (Damn you other shoppers!)

I'm not gonna lie, this one took me a bit to get into. It's a graphic novel, not a regular novel, and as such requires a slower read and a little more patience.

But it is SO worth it.

I actually didn't realize this until I visited the Watchmen movie blog, but the artist used a different color palette than is normal for a graphic novel. Usually it's primary colors like red, blue, yellow. This artist used a lot of purples, greens, and browns. It was very pleasing to the eye. The art was excellent. Detailed, richly drawn, and just real.

The random text excerpts from confidential files, character-published books, interviews, and private letters were a pleasant surprise. I don't read a lot of comics but it's something I've personally never seen in a graphic novel, and it worked really well. It complimented the already awesome character and plot development.

And the plot is ossim, BTW. Expertly woven, really makes you think. This novel reminded me of why I became a writer in the first place. Not only was I entertained but I came away from it feeling like I'd somehow improved myself just by reading the thing.

On the characters themselves:

The depth of the entire cast blew me away. These were not your traditional super heroes, not even your traditional characters, period. They were complicated beings with histories so interesting and conflicted they were like honest to God real people. And the fact that this guy did it in only one novel is impressive beyond words. It seriously challenged my views of typical characters in any medium, and it's something I now plan to play with in my own writing.

I'm not going to go character by character, mostly because I'm lazy and also you should just go read it for yourself, but I will say that Rorschach is a head trip. I'm loosely dubbing him an anti-hero, but he really needs his own archtype. I will also say that Sally Jupiter rocks my socks off.

Anyway, I can't stress to you enough the urgency with which you need to get yourself to a bookstore. BUY. IT. I've started pestering my friends to read it. Hell, if it was a few bucks cheaper I'd just buy it for them myself so they won't have any excuses.

Also, keep checking back to this site for movie updates. They post new things on the 6th of each month. The videos are especially good (though I had to view them in QuickTime, because for some reason they kept blipping on me in Windows Media Player). And, once you've read the novel, you can *squee!* with me at how they took scenes directly from the novel and put them in the movie! To quote a random YouTube reviewer, "I'm so excited I could just pee."

Quote of the day:

(Cursed)
Joanie: I'm not going to kill her. I'm just gonna rip her to shreds and let her choke on her own blood... and then maybe I'll eat her.


~Sass~

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Dr Horrible is back!

GO! Watch it again before it disappears!

It was originally aired a couple of weeks ago, for the space of about 5 days, and then was reduced to a commercial and a link to download it on ITunes for a nominal fee. For reasons unknown (because I didn't bother to check the rest of the site to find out why) it's been put up to watch for free again.

So come on! Why are you still here??? Go click the little "watch it now" button right under the ITunes link.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog


Quote of the day:

(Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog)
Dr. Horrible: "The world is a mess and... I just need to rule it."


~Sass~

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Here we go again!

Teh Sass has given in and finally decided to go back to school. I'm applying to the adult's school in Regis, mostly because they're giving me 10% off of tuition, and also because they do the whole one class every 5-8 weeks and meet at night after work thing. Which I need, because I'd rather not give up my decent paycheck to go back to school.

Anyway, they now require that you submit a short essay with your application even if you're transferring English credits from somewhere else. They want to be able to judge your writing skills so they know where to place you. Probably a good idea since the last time I had to write an essay was early 2003. So I start on it the other day and...

Why is this so much harder than I remember?

I used to be that kid that could whip out an A+ paper the night before. Spoiled myself, I did, because now that I'm rusty at paper writing, I can't do that anymore. Add to that several years of online gaming, a short stint at this whole blog thing, and a couple of years writing first person narrative fiction, and BAM! teh skill has been lost.

Sigh. Oh well. More practice at revising then, eh?

But yeah. I'm going back to school to complete my Bachelors. I have no idea what I'm going to major in, but I hope I figure it out by the time I'm done with all my core classes.

Quote of the day:

(Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Buffy: Does the word "duh" mean anything to you?



~Sass~