June 2004

June 01
June 04
June 09
June 17
June 21
June 28

June 1

Indulgence
This past weekend was all about indulgence of the best kind. Heather and her new beau, Chris, came up for a whirlwind visit that lead to a very busy and very fun weekend.

Saturday, I went over to Glenn and Andrew's to get my hair done (it was needed desperately) while Heather and Chris did the tourist thing to the Experience Music Project and the Space Needle. Afterwards, we all ended up on the East Side for dinner at Rikki Rikki (yum) then Apples to Apples at my place. That was a blast. We were all up way too late.

Sunday, we hung out and lazed about in the morning before going to go see The Day After Tomorrow. I went to this movie specifically for the special effects. To see Los Angeles destroyed by tornados and New York engulfed by a tide wave. I was not disappointed. There wasn't much of a plot. Just a single-minded effort for a father to reach his son in the frozen New York city. Kind of sappy, really. But, the real star of the show was mother nature being a bitch while ignoring some of the more hokey pseudo-science. I had a blast.

After visiting Robert's apartment (very nice!), we had a weird but fun evening over at Hans' place. There were lots of comings and goings of people. Arriving at different times, needing food and such. But, in the end, we had me, Heather, Chris, Hans, Robert, Phoebe (who just moved up here) and Megan playing Apples to Apples which sparked some amusing game play based on what people knew of each judge.

Monday was a trip back to Glenn and Andrew's place for Heather to do the very brave thing of having 10 inches cut off her hair. It looks really cool. I like it. Then, meeting up with an LJ friend of Chris who turned out to be really neat, loves anime and books. Lucky for me, as I had just finished my last book on my reading pile, I was able to get another seven books for $21 at Twice Told Tales. From there, a rest at home before meeting up with more friends of Chris where I got to, albeit it briefly, meet an STE from the X-box group who will be a good contact for the future.

Heather and I ended the evening with a nice round of girl talk while Chris was still out. It was cool to sit down and have one of those meandering but meaningful conversations with her. We, of course, gossiped about Chris and her life now. But, there was some good discussion of the future, people, art and the like. I have missed having such conversations.

Oh! Yes, I now have all of my paintings from her. They all look spectacular! Especially the commission I had created to go up in the command center window. They look better than I thought they would. I am very pleased. Plus, the painting I call "The Seed" is up in its place. When I wake up in the morning and laze about in bed it is at the perfect spot for me to see it. Man, I enjoy good artwork.

I also have the furby from Kirsti. This is very amusing. It is a wee bit neurotic but amusing nonetheless. My cat can't decide what to make of it as it moves but does not have a smell. Occasionally, I catch her sniffing at it or simply staring at it. I don't think I will come home one day to find it disemboweled but one never knows with Esme.

It was a fine weekend. Up too late. Eating far too much bad food. Much laughter and fond memories. I will miss them. Especially Heather. I really hope certain possible future plans will come to pass.

Perhaps this is another, long term case of procrastination productivity, but I just announced my newest writing project: Grants Pass, a post apocalyptic anthology. The tie-in for all of the stories will be my Grants Pass post and an apocalypse I described to the Live Journal Write_Away community. Part of this project is to help them get used to the idea that submitting work for publication is not as scary as it seems. Part of this project is to let me see how the other half lives. To the point of maybe even pitching the anthology to one of the larger publishing houses.

I honestly don't know how hard this will be nor how many submissions I will get, if any. Some people have promised but I'm having a series of "what if'" thoughts of horrible disaster popping into my head. Everything from "what if everyone thinks this is an awful idea" to "what if I don't get enough submissions" to "what if I'm not up to the job of selecting, editing and placing the stories for the anthology." I know it is first time jitters and, in a way, they are cool to have. In a way, they just plain suck.

Tarot Card for the Day: Nine of Wands, Inverted

June 4

Bookkeeping
Last night, I took care of some writer bookkeeping. I looked back to my 2003 submission list to see 18 outstanding submissions. Since I have hit the 6 month mark with that, I decided to email them all to see what the status of my submissions were. So far, this is the result:

Six bounced emails. I consider these "Rejected" due to the fact that I don't have a "no longer exists" section.

One regular rejection with the comment that the story was excellent but did not suit the theme of the magazine and to please resubmit. I responded with a query of what themes they were looking for.

One response of not having received the submission and to please submit it again with a promise to review it as soon as possible.

That leaves nine submissions from November 2003 still unaccounted for. It certainly has dropped my "In circulation" number. I am not particularly upset about it. My NaSubFicMo project had been just an experiment in the submission process and my ability to churn out pages of work to submit. I also have four submissions from this year still floating about. But, like before, I will give it six months before I query on their status.

I got some very interesting and terrifying news at work today. It looks like the Powers That Be have decided to give me all of the Server Side Email testing of the product. This is such a big project that I get four weeks to do the test planning on it. It touches about seven or eight separate and distinct areas in the product.

You have no idea how excited this makes me. I have a single large project to work on instead of a thousand tiny ones. It is one of those pervasive projects that will get me working with a lot of different people and new (to me) software. That's why it is also terrifying. It's a huge project using a technology I have never tested before. Now, I have to become an expert on it as the developer who has the dev end of the monster project is not really familiar with that technology either. This makes me a wee bit more nervous.

Still, I am doing the happy dance of joy over this. It is a cool project.

I have discovered something. I am practical in my fantasy life. Probably more practical than I need to be. I think it is because I am a planner. I outlined my story for the Grants Pass anthology which, I think, is going to have a really cool ending. However, it got me to thinking about what would happen "before" and "after" the timeline of the story. There are several things I would want to work on.

This is just off the top of my head.
1. If the power is still going, getting into homes and businesses to turn off machines and lights in order to conserve as much electricity as possible.
2. If the power is still going, eating as much fresh food as possible and freezing the rest before it goes bad.
3. Stocking up on vitamins and fiber.
4. Figuring out how to clear an area of dead bodies in order help with the smell and diseases. I'm bouncing between loading them in a dump truck for the dump or burning them in a great funeral pyre.
5. Getting doors open to let out locked in pets. Yes. I know this one could come back to bite me in the butt so to speak with packs of wild dogs.
6. Weapons. Getting enough weapons for "just in case" and always wearing one, even if there doesn't appear to be a danger.
7. Raiding hospitals for medicine.
8. If I was still in Redmond, moving from my condo to a house or apartment that is near the library and QFC so I wouldn't have so far to walk, especially uphill.
9. Once the plumbing stopped, were to go to the bathroom and how to keep relatively clean. Also, where to toss my trash.
10. Once the power is gone, figuring out how generators work.

However, some of it is also fun and frivolous. Life cannot be all about just survival and feeding myself. I mean, there will be cans and cans of food. Plus, I know of four grocery stores within walking distance.
1. Jewelry stores. Going out and getting the super expensive jewelry I could never afford.
2. Clothing. Like in "Night of the Comet" the mall would be open for business.
3. Bookstores. Same deal. Bringing back some of my favorites.
4. Battery powered walkman players and DVD players.

Tarot Card for the Day: The Ten of Wands

June 9

Shaved Kitty
This is what I get for reading Exit Mundi (various world ending scenarios) and watching The Dead Zone before going to bed.

I had some pretty violent dreams last night. One of them involved me and another girl escaping from someone who caught us again (I think). It was a stand off of sorts. The woman wanted something from me and I refused to give it to her. She threatened to hurt my nieces and I bluffed, saying that I didn't care what happened to them and she expected this and the torment had already started. I ran from that, calling my father for help. When he arrived, I cried on his shoulder, blubbering about Shannon's children. He told me it was alright. I did the right thing.

Switch to another dream. I was sitting inside a house, looking out the window at the balcony across the street and up a bit. There was a children's party going on and I suddenly got the impression that something bad was going to happen. I started to pick up the phone and call 911. But, since nothing had happened yet, I stopped myself. Then, the balcony collapsed and the children were screaming and falling. This time, I did call 911. However, my house phone kept hanging up on me. I got my cellphone and ran outside.

Switch to another dream. I'm walking along with my father. The world is ending. There is destruction everywhere. I have psychometry and if I touch someone, even in passing, I see how they die. Most of them have horrible, painful deaths. I walk to a church. People are talking about all sorts of strange supernatural stuff happening. I know it is because we have reached the end times. I walk through the church, to one of the inner rooms. There are several priests there. One starts to keep me out, but the priest in charge waves me in. As I walk in, I realize that it is snowing only in this room.

He is a young man who would be handsome if not for the air of a great weight on his shoulders. He turns to the other priest, "At this point, I cannot see what to do." I know this means he needs me. He needs my skills. But, I am so tired and so heart sore. I look him in the face and realize that his eyes are not of this world. They are pale green and white. He is not blind but he does not see as we do. I reach out my hand, knowing all I will see is his death. But, as he takes my hand, my Gift only shows me what is currently happening. It is such a relief. He takes my other hand as I rest my head on his chest. "I can only see this."

"I know." He says. "I exist only in the present. Rest now."

I close my eyes and do so.

FADE.

The image of me holding the priest's hand and resting my head on his chest was powerful and moving one for me. I felt at peace for the first time in a long time (in the dream) and very safe for the moment. Even if I had a hard destiny to face, at that moment, I had no care in the world. It was pretty cool.

I feel awful. I just left Esme at the vet for her check up and shots. The poor thing was really unhappy. They muzzled her, which, in my opinion, saved all of us a few scars. She was non-stop growling from the moment that thing went on. I tried to calm her down but, it didn't work. She isn't going to speak to me for weeks except to barf in my shoes.