going into raptures over Beethoven's Fifth

[aamcnamara]

Yesterday I acquired a very nice item from elisem. It was one of her watchfob commissions, and due to living in the same city I got to bike over and watch her make it. Which was awesome. It's pretty much the geekiest watchfob ever--it starts out with a meteorite bead by the watch, and then there are four dinosaur-bone beads on the chain, and it ends with a tektite. I asked her what she would call it, and she came up with "Strange Meetings", but so far I've just been calling it "Consequences". It is very, very pretty, and very, very geeky, and I like it lots.

It's the first piece of hers that I own--I've been to the haiku earring party, but only on behalf of other people; I've poked through her Current Shinies posts interestedly, but nothing ever leaped out at me as something I Had To Have or would wear all the time.

I am, by the way, getting better at this "buying things for myself" thing. When I was little I did that thing where you say "oh yes certainly I shall wear that, parents of mine!" and then it gathers dust in your closet, because it wasn't quite you or it didn't quite fit or you don't really have anywhere to wear it and don't quite care little enough yet to wear it anyway. But this is... well, not practical, but a mode of adornment I can very much get behind, and I've been wearing my pocket watch again mostly to have an excuse to wear the fob.

It gave me a nubbin of something that might turn into a story, too. We'll have to see--anyway, it makes me happy when I get possible-story notions and have to go off and research things like the ISS. The ISS is cool. (And watch NASA TV, aka my favorite television channel ever. I used to watch it at the dentist's.)

Other than that:
The Female Man: Very interesting. Not of my time. SF turns into past and the cycle continues.
Flashpoint (not a book, TV show): The SU boards told me I should watch this, and they were right. I finished the second disc of the first season today--and whatever will I do when I go back to school and have no Netflix again? Be sad and watch things streaming or download them from iTunes, I know. Anyway, this show is quite well-made and well-put-together.

Progress on first draft of The Urban Fantasy Novel:

332 / 350

One of the things I hate/adore about writing (...especially SF/F) is that by the time you reach the 332nd page of your novel, if someone asked you "So, what's happening in the book right now?" your summary of the current scene would necessarily sound completely ridiculous.

When I finish this draft I want to print it out and do a first-pass edit before I send it to too many people to read, but I kind of think I will want at least one person to skim through it as-is and tell me if it actually makes sense at all.

Comments

[jesstherobot.livejournal.com]

I would really like to read a story inspired by meteorites, dinosaur bones, and the ISS. It's like it couldn't help but be awesome. (In my life so far, the Accomplishment Of Which I Am Most Proud is that I have both hardware and code on the ISS, from when I worked at an aerospace company. Somewhere in the bowels of the space station, deep inside a box, my name is printed in tiny little letters on a circuitboard I designed.)

Also, you potentially already have a bevy of readers at your disposal, but if you ever want one more for either of your projects, I'd feel privileged to give them a reading.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

We'll see if it turns into a story! I rather hope it does, I like what I have figured out so far. (That very much is something Of Which To Be Proud. Also, awesome.)

I keep a list of People Who Have Volunteered To Read My Things, and though it's possible its length would qualify for bevy status, whether they have time to read a novel and give me thoughts or comments on it is often another matter entirely. At any rate, I would be quite pleased to have you read my stuff, and have added you to the list.

[aliseadae]

I now /do/ have time! Well, much more time than I had before. Should get on that.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

Let me know when you've gotten to the end of what you have. Possibly I will have an entire first draft by then--that would be exciting.

[jesstherobot.livejournal.com]

Well, for the next sixth months at least, I will be a self-employed, very part-time student, so if ever anybody had enough free time to critique a novel, I should be able to. Just lemme know (and good luck wrapping up the urban fantasy!).