http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012090.html

As further proof of Jim Henley’s boast that SF&F geek culture is the new mainstream, the NY Times has run an article about something bored role-playing gamers have been doing ever since the white box days: Packing dice together in odd configurations.

I look forward to the upcoming five-part series investigating the world of doodling on graph paper and quoting Monty Python.

3-piece boot made of Hardtke French calf, black bullhide. 3/4 welt with horse butt heel rand. Spanish style tops.

Since it was a combination of boot construction styles, I went with a modified mini-Cuban heel.

Single-row stitching of Chinese dragon, scales done with mules foot impressions.

School is closed the next two days due to inbound cold weather front of DOOM. These will be shipped as soon as I thaw.

Mirrored from I see neutronjockies....

I got another Pilates book today. Like nearly every book I’ve seen, the first exercises are just Too Goddamned Hard if you’re a Pilates novice, and there are no suggestions on how to work up to them. The only place I’ve found a beginner’s workout suitable to an actual beginner is on the Weight Watchers site, where I actually think it’s worth signing up for their two-week free trial thing to get access to the workout, if you’re interested in a ground-level start point. (I know I said a long time ago I’d post one, but that’s the one I’d post, and apparently I feel it’s vaguely immoral to cut and paste the whole thing into a blog posting but am too lazy to modify it.) Anyway, the book has stuff that’s perfectly useful for me right now, but honestly, if I were to pick it up and try the first set of workouts, I would then proceed to die in a pit and never go near Pilates again. This doesn’t seem like an especially good selling tactic, to me.

I also got a yoga DVD. The only question now is when to work Pilates and yoga in to my schedule. Which, at the moment, is pretty much:

7am-10am: get up. Go to gym. Swim. Walk home. Eat breakfast.
10am-12pm: Write.
12-1pm: Lunch
1pm-4:30pm: Write
4:30pm-7pm: Eat dinner. Attempt to re-grow brain.
7pm-9pm: Copy edits.
9pm-11pm: Wind down.

Really, probably during lunch is the best time to put in a 20 or 30 minute Pilates or yoga workout, since mostly I’ve been spending half an hour eating and half an hour doing something else during that time. And by evening, believe me, I am in No Mood For It. So it should probably be during lunch, and I should probably make some effort tonight to watch at least one of the DVDs in order to have a bit more feel for the workout before I try it. Because there is No Time Like The Present to get it going.

(No, I’m not trying to kill myself with exercise. I just really need the flexibility achieved with yoga or Pilates or dance. Swimming is awesome, but that’s one thing it doesn’t achieve. And the posture work won’t hurt one little bit at all, either.)

Speaking of swimming, the auld shoulder’s acting up today. The pool was also very warm. I don’t know if there’s a correlation.

The bike tent arrived today, which means stage two of rearranging the house will probably commence this weekend. Cooli-cooli-o, as my sister used to say. Heck. She might still. Who knows?

It is apparently Snowpocalypse in Dublin, which is a shame, as my parents are meant to fly out to Madrid tomorrow. I hope they’ll be able to!

There were Many Errands to run this afternoon, so I quit writing at 2500 words. With Monday’s excess, this only puts me 300 behind schedule for the week, so I should be okay to finish up on point by Friday.

Going to do copyedits now. KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

The Road Home: miles to Isengard: 26.6
ytd km swum: 3
ytd wordcount: 12,900

http://www.dorktower.com/2010/01/06/dork-tower-wednesday-january-6/

http://www.dorktower.com/?p=4269

DORK ADDENDA: Apologies for re-using the same drawing from Monday. A family emergency meant I had to fly to the East Coast suddenly, yesterday.

Having moved the futon downstairs, I’ve re-discovered how not-very-comfortable it is to actually sit in. The slant is just too great, making it difficult to get out of. So I was thinking that getting some foamcore wedges to stuff into it might help, and lo, Mom’s got foamcore she cannibalized from a couch. Ted, armed with a saw, is going to cut the chunks into diagonals and we’ll insert them into the downward-slanting seat. There was one that had been whacked apart a bit already, so it was used as a test piece, and I b’lieve it’s going to work. That’ll be *excellent*.

And speaking of excellent, Ted went forth to do grocery shopping today and returned with half a dozen bright red throw pillows which match the red doors on the new shelving unit very nicely, so now there are accent pieces and (more importantly) pillows to lean against the hard wood futon arms. (For the pedants in the audience, yes, he also returned with the groceries. Sheesh.) He has been an utter hero of the revolution. <3

Book: going well, in the sense of having reached 40K words on it. Not so well in the sense of being convinced it's a piece of utter crap, but that's pretty much par for the course, so everything's probably fine with it. (No need for reassurance here. This is just part of the process.)

Um, let's see. The LJ community Crowdfunding/crowdfunding is accepting nominations for their first annual crowdfunded art projects; Bryant has been kind enough to nominate “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”, the Old Races novella I did last summer as a crowdfunding/direct market/sustainable income model project. As it happens, “Hot Time” will be up for sale again for the month of February, and I’ve put up a more extended teaser for it in the meantime. More on that in February, obviously, when I shall encourage everybody who hasn’t to buy a copy and, er, to vote for “Hot Time” in the Crowdfunding awards. :)

The Road Home: miles to Isengard: 23.8
ytd km swum: 2
ytd wordcount: 10,400

http://www.dorktower.com/2010/01/04/dork-tower-monday-january-4-2010-food-nitwork/

http://www.dorktower.com/?p=4267

I reached the 33% point of WORLDBREAKER yesterday, which puts the 50% mark within reach this week, as long as I get at least 3300 words a day in. Today, thanks to a proper early start (10:20am, which in turn is thanks to going to the gym before 8, so I’m up and functional and ready to /go/ by 10am), I got in 3800 words. I am very, very pleased. Wiktory! (now I just have to do that four more times this week. :))

Meantime, rachelcaine, who really does, I swear, make my writing speed look like that of an absolute piker, is about 10K behind me on a book of the same length, and posting her wordcount, which will help keep the competitive spirit alive in me as much as the word wars do.

Speaking of word wars, since it’s a new year, let me plug them again! Most days, myself and several other writers can be found participating in a chat-room-based ‘war’ (located here). The purpose of the war room is the competitive spirit: we log in, write for half an hour, come back to report our wordcount, take a short break, and do it again. The ‘winner’ gets everyone’s admiration for a couple minutes, but the purpose isn’t so much winning as getting words on the page. Nor is the purpose of the room to chat. It’s much more an anti-chat room: we’re supposed to be working, and most of the time, we do. So people looking for writing incentive can join us. The war room website is at toonowrimo.livejournal.com, and usually somebody posts to say “I’m in” once we, y’know. Are in. :)

Let’s see. Oh! I just got confirmation that TRUTHSEEKER and WORLDBREAKER will be released in trade paperback, not mass market, and that TRUTHSEEKER’s release date is August 31, 2010.

And…*stares at a wall* There was something else. Something book-related. Uhm. Argh. Um. It wasn’t that “From Russia, With Love” is eligible for a Hugo this year, although it is, if anyone would like to nominate and vote for it. Um.

It…oh. It was that I have to do at least an hour’s worth of work on copyedits tonight. Gosh. No wonder I didn’t want to remember that. :)

We were in fact good humans and got up and went to the gym this morning. There were no Resolutions there, a fact which surprised me until Ted pointed out the weather is bitter (certainly by the Irish definition of bitter; mostly I’ve been finding it brisk, rather than bitter :)) and the roads very bad (which is absolutely true). Furthermore, the weather and roads are expected to be like this for at *least* another week, possibly two…which makes me think that there may be no Resolutions at the gym this year. Most people crap out within the first two or three weeks anyway, and having the country frozen over during those first two or three weeks may put the kibosh on all the good intentions. I guess we’ll see, and in the meantime I’ll be grateful for not having to share my lane. :)

The Road Home: miles to Isengard: 22
ytd km swum: 1
ytd wordcount: 7,100

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012077.html

It was also famously made for just $10,000.

I'm planning to see it on DVD right after supper. Then we'll discuss it here with SPOILERS.

Did I mention there would be spoilers?

Much like the Cloverfield discussion, I intend this to be a What Do You Do In These Circumstances type of discussion.

Sorry, no SPOILERS yet. I said that I was going to see it after dinner.

Welcome to the Paranormal Activity round-table discussion. Joining us tonight are Sam and Dean Winchester, both experienced demon hunters...

Sam Winchester: Hey
Dean Winchester: Yo!

From the FBI, representing the more traditional law-enforcement point of view, we have Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

Dana Scully: I'm sure there's a rational explanation.
Fox Mulder: We have to keep an open mind about this.

And, for the Church, Peter Crossman, Knight Templar, and Sister Mary Magdalene of the Special Action Executive of the Poor Clares.

Peter Crossman: Just one demon? Just one Templar.
Sister Mary Magdalene: Credo in unum Deum, pal.

And I'm your host, Jim Macdonald, for Making Light. I'd like to welcome our guests tonight. I'll be live-blogging the discussion. Folks who want to ask questions of the panel are invited to do so in the comment thread.

JM: I've been hearing about this film for months. Supposedly, while watching it (as the song about the Battle of Prestonpans goes),

Some wet their cheeks, some filled their breeks, and some for fear did fa', man

SW: You're kidding, right? Our pilot episode was scarier. And I'm just talking about the part before the credits.
DW: If a total douche like Micah could have a girlfriend that hot ...
DS: What interests me far more is the provenance of this film. What was the chain of custody? I see a credit to the San Diego Police Department. Was this officially released? Where are the missing parts?
PC: The fellow, Micah, was a day trader in 2006? That gives him a motive right there.
FM: Motive for what? If he's running some kind of stock fraud that's a federal matter and we'd have jurisdiction.
DS: That would be a first.
FM: Remember the postman? He was a federal employee, so we had jurisdiction there.
PC: No, I mean motive for selling his soul to the devil. I think we can rule out ghosts here.
DS: It also leaves hoaxes.
DW: There's no need for him to sell his soul to the devil. I'm not saying that he didn't, but look, he sees the market is going to crash. What's big? Internet porn. He's setting up a camera in his bedroom, aimed at his hot-chick girlfriend right there in bed.
SW: You are a total perv.
DW: Want to bet I can't find those videos?
SW: You'd just love to do the research.

JM: Jennifer Evans (comment #5) brings up an interesting point. If you're going to hire an expert, and that expert gives you some advice, it would be a good idea to follow that advice. What does the panel have to say?

FM: Micah had the typical 'skeptic' mindset. He didn't believe that an expert on the paranormal could possibly know what he was talking about.
DW: That was a totally smooth move on ol' Micah's part. Dr. Exposition says "Whatever you do, don't use a Ouija board." His girlfriend says, "I want you to promise you're not going to buy a Ouija board." What does he do? He goes and gets a Ouija board.
SW: It's what we call "too stupid to live."

JM: Which he, in fact, doesn't. Father Crossman, I believe you've used Ouija boards yourself in some of your cases.

PC: Please call me Pete. Yes, I've used Ouija boards, but I'm a trained professional.
SMM: The big objection was that using a Ouija would provide an opening for the demonic presence. This is silly. First, we know that the young lady was oppressed by demons from her youth; it was already there. Second, if you're looking for openings, she and her young man were 'living in sin.' What's a Ouija board going to do?
DS: Listen to yourselves. You're talking about this event as if demonic presence was proven. So far, all we've seen is adequately explained by poltergeist activity at most.
SMM: There's a simple test. Run an exorcism. If it's still around afterwards, it's a poltergeist.
SW: Speaking of "too stupid to live," did Katie notice that her boyfriend was researching demons in a book of Dover clip-art?
DS: I find it hard to believe that there's only one demonologist in the state of California. So when their guy is out of town they can't get anyone.
FM: There are four thousand, nine hundred and twenty three, to be exact.
DS: In California?
FM: No, just in the greater San Diego area.

JM: I see another question from the audience. Xopher, #10. Where did they get the weird ideas about exorcism.

SMM: The weird thing is that they don't try an exorcism at all. That would absolutely be my first step, but they don't take it. At a minimum, I'd light a candle to the Virgin, but do these people? No.
PC: I'd have to concur with that. The very simplest exorcism, one that anyone can do, is say "In the name of Jesus Christ, be gone." It's that easy.
DS: That only works if the person is a believer. There's nothing in this film to show that either of the main characters believed anything.
PC: Regardless of whether the civilians believe, I can tell you, every demon I've ever met has been downright devout.

JM: A question for Special Agent Mulder, or the Winchesters, from Ursula L, #12: Would you care to comment on non-Catholic methods of demon control?

SW: We've found a number of methods that work. The shotgun loaded with rock salt is crude but effective, as is the continuous line of salt across thresholds. There are other weapons: Sam Colt's revolver, Ruby's knife--
PC: The Spear of Antioch, Arthur's sword--
FM: There's a demonic entity in Malaysia, the Berbalang, that's almost exactly identical in its actions and effects as we saw in the San Diego Fetherston/Sloat event. The usual weapon against that entity is the lime-juice coated kris. The kris, itself, is a sacred object, inhabited by a spirit, which can be either good or bad--
SMM: I'm noticing an awful lot of phallic imagery in the demon-fighting weapons.
FM: Shinto priests have, as two of their main functions, purification and exorcism. The Karen Davis case in Tokyo might have ended very differently if she'd asked for help.
DS: You mean the Grudge?
FM: Yes. The Grudge case. Every human culture that has a belief in evil spirits, and that's nearly universal, has a way of dealing with them. Buddhists believe that both the spirit and the person are negatively affected by their interactions, and Buddhist exorcism aims at reaching an agreement between the two parties in which they leave each other alone. That's a win-win situation.
SW: The psychic, Dr. Exposition, specifically rejected that method. Micah suggested giving the spirit what it wanted, but he said, 'No, what it wants is Katie.'
DW: Hell, I want Katie and I'm not even a demon.
FM: From which we can tell that Dr. Fredrichs isn't a Buddhist. The Taoists, now, believe that evil spirits will run away when faced by the good, so what would be required in Fetherston/Sloat would be for them to be good.
SMM: Doing the things that are illegal in twenty states, outside of marriage, isn't very good.
DW: Neither is the Internet Porn. Micah's Sexy English Majors Livecam.
FM: If you don't mind. Among Muslims, opinion is divided. Some believe that jinn, unseen creations of Allah, don't bother humans at all. Others believe that they may, and in that case one needs to strengthen one's spiritual life to stop the interference. And others believe that possession is possible, in which case an Imam needs to read passages from the Quran to the person until the jinn is persuaded to leave.
SMM: The thing in common in all the methods that work--
DW: Shotguns work, Sister.
SMM: --is becoming a better person and reading or hearing sacred texts.

JM: Special Agent Scully, you mentioned poltergeists in connection with this event. Could you expand on that?

DS: Well, to begin, poltergeist activity may be perfectly natural, if still poorly understood. In this particular case, the initial manifestations took place around a young girl, and poltergeists usually start in the close proximity with a peri-menstrual female. They manifest through sounds, hence the name: Polter-geist, noisy ghost. They move small objects. And they're often associated with fire-starting, as in this case. My theory is that they are merely vibrations. Slow vibrations produce sounds. Faster vibrations, fires. Motion of objects, for example furniture, or keys, or what-may-have you, Knocks may seem to have intelligence behind them; they can answer questions. But often those turn out to the be spurious. Hoaxes.
DW: Girls just wanna have fun.
DS: Take the Fox sisters--
FM: My parents did not name me after the Fox sisters.
DS: --in the middle of the 19th century in western New York. Notoriously, they were able to crack their toe joints at will, creating the appearance of 'spirits' who answered questions with the classic one-for-yes-two-for-no code.
PC: However much the early stages of the Fetherston/Sloat event may have looked like poltergeist activity, which is mainly harmless, in this case it led to at least one death.

JM: Another question from the audience. Teresa, #29, brings up the Blair Witch event. Would anyone on the panel care to address that, in light of the Fetherston/Sloat case?

SW: Too stupid to live.
DW: Into the woods with no plan and no backup plan? We have to wing it sometimes, but usually we have at least an idea before we start. Even without supernatural causes I wouldn't sell those guys life insurance.
PC: The Blair Witch solution is pretty obvious. Up to the point of the first disappearance any of us could have pulled all of them out with no casualties. The watercourse solution is good if you don't have a map and compass. With a map and compass, starting at your assumed location, head toward the nearest road so that you'll hit it at about ninety degrees, then start hiking.
DS: The other solution is to shelter in place. They had at least one smoker with them, so they had the means to make fire. Start three widely-spaced smoky fires and wait for rescue.
SMM: Hike or stay, regardless, sing hymns until you're out of the woods.
PC: Battle Hymn of rhe Republic would be good, and everyone knows the words. Also, overnight, set watches. You don't need the tents. It isn't raining. All they do is limit your vision and mobility when things get exciting. Two awake, always in sight of each other, one asleep in a blanketroll on the ground between them, and every two hours one bunks down while the one who was sleeping goes on watch.
FM: Tobacco was sacred to the Native Americans in that region. Use it for that purpose.
SMM: Tobacco is bad for you. I didn't see anything that an Act of Contrition, a quick exorcism and a prayer to the Virgin wouldn't fix.
PC: And if it was human agency rather than supernatural agency, a .45 revolver. Bottom line on Blair Witch: Easy problem; obvious solution. Let's move on.
SW: Too stupid to live.

JM: Question from the audience: Teresa #32: Why so many demonologists in San Diego?
I see another hand back there ... Dawn Summers. Dawn, do you have an answer to that question?

Dawn: (from the audience) The demonologists live in San Diego to be close to the former Sunnydale Hellmouth.

JM: Thank you, Ms. Summers. That sounds entirely reasonable. Do you think there's a connection between the Fetherston/Sloat demon and Sunnydale's demons?
Dawn: (from the audience) No, ours were corporeal demons. The San Diego demon, not so much.

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012070.html

Sisuile @163: I gave up on Wikipedia when someone kept changing the articles on fertility/sex gods and goddesses to reflect Victorian social mores. The best bit was from the talk:freyja page: "Uhm, you're talking to someone who reads mythology books intended for high-schoolers and over..." After that? Even though response was required and given, I lost hope in the editing process. God forbid someone come along and cite the Eddas.

Oldsma @216: Oy, I can imagine if some Wikiwanker got hold of the Holldander Poetic Edda, which changes the sex of Sun and Moon. Or Guerber's Myths of the Norsemen, which uses (e.g.) Tennyson as a source and has bits that no one has ever found any source for. But it's in print! It is citeable! It must be true!

gah.

Sisuile @273: There is a reason the Holldander in the university library gets "vandalized" every so often with a tag on the front cover--"Do not use for scholarly research. Do not cite. You will be laughed at." We aren't particularly certain who does it, but the librarians seem to object.

The prof who does the Norse Myth class has a list of "Books to Avoid" for each of his classes and commentary about why one should avoid them. Since he's generally quite witty, this list has been the source for much amusement.

Now that is a Making Light thread I'd love to see: Scholarly works to avoid citing at all costs.</b>

Ted’s been doing a lot of big gwurk around the house the past few days. Our Ikea stuff arrived on the 31st, so he put together a new block shelf set, which has replaced one standard bookcase and one small in the living room, and a tall partially glass-doored cabinet/shelf, which has replaced another standard and small bookcase in the kitchen. The smallest bookcase ended up in the hall, replacing a third standard sized one, which has reduced the visual impact in the hall by about 300%.

He moved the futon from the room we call the Back Forty because of its preposterous size into the living room, moved the double bed from one end of the Back Forty to the other, and put one of the chairs from the living room, all three standard bookcases, and the last smaller bookcase, into the half of the Forty left empty by the bed. Next week, after the bike tent has arrived so the bikes can go live outdoors instead of in the computer room, he plans to also move the computer into the Back Forty, and at some point we’ll get a small sewing table for me to put in there. The Back Forty will then become the guest/computer room, finally utilizing the space which we’ve had for 18 months and almost never used.

He’s moved the larger chunk of his cookbooks to the Back Forty shelves, where they’ll be available to peruse while sitting at the computer. He tightened all the kitchen table bolts so it’s no longer wobbly, and swung it around so it’s lengthways when you come into the kitchen/dining room, making the room seem much bigger. He put the wellwall-hung spice rack, which I bought him four years ago for Christmas, up, and filled it with spices, which emptied out an entire cupboard shelf and created room to move things from the counter into shelving. He moved all the crystal wine glasses and beautiful Venetian colored glass water glasses into the glass-doored cabinet, so they’re both displayed and easily available for actual use. He cleaned the kitchen within an inch of its life, and has done the same to the adjoining laundry room.

He also tightened up the coffee table bolts, so it’s no longer in danger of rocking apart. He took things from the coffee table and secreted them behind the Red Doors in the new block shelves. He moved the remaining bookshelf to the other end of the room and put the CD racks where the shelves had been. He boxed up the books to bring to Chapters. He went through at least one box of Junk and threw most of it away. He sorted unused shoes and no-longer-wanted clothes and boxed them to take to a charity shop. He has plans to sort through the enormous number of dead electronics, useless cables, and random boxes to score what’s necessary to keep and to throw the rest away. The extraneous computer desk is to be disassembled and binned. TV on DVD which we’ve watched will go upstairs to live on the Back Forty Shelves, as will many of the books.

And he noticed that the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice was on TV all afternoon today, and told me so that I could record it, ’cause I’ve never seen it.

During all of this, I wrote about 5000 words and looked very admiring at him.

Know what my resolution last year was? To floss. It was probably the most achievable resolution I’ve ever set, and indeed, I achieved it. I established a habit which had escaped me through ten or more years of vaguely feeling it should be a habit.

Sadly, I can’t think of anything as absolutely simple and achievable for the upcoming year. I can think of plenty of things I’d like to do. Exercise, for example, that perennial resolution. Well, the taxi in the morning plan works brilliantly, so I don’t see that as being so much of a difficulty. Not quite sure utilizing somebody else’s arrival on the doorstep to make myself get up and exercise exactly counts as resolutionary type behavior, though. Smart, yes, resolutionary, eh, not so much.

Other things I’d like to do, without any particular expectation of *doing* them:

- study Spanish
- finish redesigning kitsnaps and turn it into a commercial site
- figure out how to advertise photography, for that matter
- draw a bit
- eat better (regular exercise tends to make me want to eat better, so the taxi scheme will probably actually help achieve that one)
- start practicing the tin whistle again, now that I’ve thoroughly forgotten anything I’d managed to learn :)
- oh yeah, also learn to knit a little more
- and make at least one of the long coats I have a pattern for

Thing is, though, none of that is stuff I feel like making a resolution about. It just all falls under “it’d be nice,” which is fine. It’s not like resolutions are a critical part of modern life, though if I could think of one as anti-climactic but useful as flossing, I’d probably make it. :)

Anybody out there in readerland made any good resolutions?