Monthly Archives: October 2009

Once More Into the Breech

30 October 2009
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This is probably my last regular post for the next month, as I expect that with NaNoWriMo, my blogging schedule will be rather disrupted. I’ll be furiously typing away at those 50K words, and while my ordinary blogging may be disrupted, you’ll still be able to follow my progress and even read my work as it grows here, though keep in mind that NaNo Novels are more first drafts than actual novels.  Novels come after months of editing.

For folks who want to see how I’m doing, I’ve got a nifty progress meter up there → somewhere near the top corner of my blog.

For folks who missed it, you can click >>here<< for my NaNo site information.  I’m still looking for willing charitable donors to sponsor me in my endeavors – just a dollar or two, nothing extraordinary, but it does add up when enough folks do it!

Folks that want to read along as I write can find the work-in-progress in this Mini-Blog – I welcome your comments as I go!

Plan of Action: (This is what has served me well in the past, to ensure I get my 50,000 words in time.)

  • 1700 words per day, 2000 if possible, and even more during the first few days to get a buffer in, in case I get behind later.
  • Do not stop and edit. Do not delete. Do not second-guess.  Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
    • November is for writing. December is for Editing. It might be crap. It probably is. But I don’t have time to fix it right now.  (I have *real* trouble keeping to this rule, but it is necessary for my sanity and to finish the competition!)
  • Enforce “Electronic Black-outs” until word count goal for each day is achieved. No twitter, no phone, no chat, no TV, no Warcraft.

Here I go, wish me luck, and I’ll see you all on the other side! (I hope! If the plotbunnies don’t eat me!)

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National Cat Day

28 October 2009
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Tomorrow is National Cat Day.  As a dedicated cat lover, I have been asked by my feline overlords to remind you that, while many cats have found loving and attentive human servants, there are many, many more orphaned and starving kittens who are sorely in need of a home.

If you can possibly find room in your home for a homeless cat, the folks over at the National Cat Day website have set up an adoption portal with links to the major adoption resources and sites, all of which are well-regarded.

If you already have a feline master or mistress (or a few), I would also remind you to ensure that you have them spayed or neutered, to prevent the growth of the already over-abundant population of homeless cats.  If you don’t already have a cat, and are in a position where adoption isn’t a feasible option, donations of food, old towels, and such are always welcome at shelters and cat fostering agencies.

If, however, you’re just not certain, well, there are so many things I could tell you about how living with my cats has added something to my life. They are such individual creatures, each one with a different personality.  Among my four are a vain, attention-seeking princess, a gentle giant, a roly-poly clown, and an ever-present helper. When I’m at rock-bottom and none of my human friends can cheer me up, they never fail to offer comfort or make me laugh in some way.

Some cats can be difficult, yes — one of mine can’t stand to be touched, and doesn’t like to cuddle — but sometimes the difficult cats can turn out to be the companions you miss the most.  My first cat, my constant companion for nearly 20 years, was notoriously mean to anyone who wasn’t me… but I still miss her, and stories of her antics still make family stories at gatherings.

Especially at this time of year – when cats, especially black cats, are most likely to fall victim to animal cruelty, and animal cruelty rates rise  – anything that you can do to help is welcome.

And so, I leave you with some pictures of my babies, who will be getting a fresh bag of catnip tomorrow in celebration of their special day.

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You say yes, I say no….

26 October 2009
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In further proof that republicans will vote for anything, as long as they’re making the opposite vote as the democrats, 30 Republican senators  voted in favor of gang-rape recently.

Their reasoning?  The democrats were for protecting rape victims, so therefore, they must be against it.  They’re calling it many, many other things, trying to word it in so many other ways, but that’s what it all translates to, in the end. They voted for rape; they voted against rape victims.

The issue is an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill which would stop any and all federal funding going to contractors and companies that force victims of violent attacks and rape to settle their claims against the companies through arbitration rather than seeking criminal convictions.

The inspiration for this amendment to the bill is Jamie Lee Jones who, while working in Iraq for KBR/Haliburton, was gang-raped by a group of her co-workers, and then, when she tried to go get help and report the crime, was locked in a cage.  Upon her return to the US, she tried to press charges, but wasn’t allowed to do so. She was forced to accept a settlement instead.

And you know what seems to be the entire and only reason that these Republicans voted against this clause? It was proposed by Democrats. Actually thinking about what the clause meant didn’t seem to even enter into it.  Common sense and forethought, like the fact that they were voting in favor of letting people get away with rape, didn’t seem to occur to them.

Their votes  meant that they think it’s quite alright if women employees at companies accepting government contacts get raped by their co-workers under the banner of that company, as long as the companies pay them off later.

There is no possible way to justify this, no matter how much spin they might want to try to put on the matter. All of the female Republican senators, though? They voted in favor of the amendment, and the victims’ rights.

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It is Cold! Therefore, I Must Knit!

21 October 2009
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Mario, as shown in the Paper Mario series

Image via Wikipedia

Specifically, Retro Game Knitting!

Or, actually, crochet would probably be the better option in my circumstance.  A  knitted blanket of this sort would end up way too heavy for life down here in the heart of the deep south where 40°F is “OMGITSFREEZING TURN ON THE HEATER GET THE SWEATERS OMG!” (Yes, my Canadian friends, I’m quite aware that we’re wimps.) However, for you folks who live where it does get cold enough for thick knitted blankets, the same charts should work for both.

I’ve had a plan for quite a while to turn the original set of Super Mario Bros. maps into a set of panels that I could stitch together into a blanket.  Since all of the maps would be too much for one blanket, I’m dividing them up into “blue maps” and “dark maps”.  I’m going to work on the blue maps for my blanket ’cause I like blue.  For my source images, I’m using the awesome Super Mario Bros. maps at Ian-Albert.com

An average blanket to fit a Queen sized bed is 86 x 94 inches.  There are 16 panels.  So each panel needs to be about five inches high, 94 inches long. I made my charts accordingly, each square on the chart representing a square inch of knitted or crocheted stitches.  To make sure you get the right size, you should check your gauge to see how many stitches it’ll take with your chosen yarn.

As for the charts? They’re after the break.  Click on the thumbnails to get the full size.

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"Reality" TV

19 October 2009
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Between the Balloon Boy Hoax and John & Kate, it’s hard to get any actual news on the news these days.  It’s left me wondering (and honestly, despairing) about the apparent popularity of these shows.

My opinion on John & Kate is pretty concrete: The show should never have been made. It’s exploitation of children, plain and simple. To those who claim not: They are using their children to become wealthy. Is this not nearly a perfect definition of exploitation?

For the producers of these shows, the equation is pretty simple.  They want to make money. Reality TV is cheap to produce. There’s no script, so they don’t have to hire writers.  There’s no set or set designers to pay for.  Presumably, the “stars” pick out and provide their own clothing, too, so no wardrobe or costume designers either.  All you really need is a camera crew.

And people will watch. The ratings prove that. Experts call it a combination of empathy and Schadenfreude that keeps them watching: People both empathize with the people on the show, and at the same time, take pleasure in their failings and pain.

I’ve never found anything pleasurable or entertaining about Reality TV.  At its basest level, it’s an oddly interdependent case of voyeurism on the part of the watchers, and narcissism on the part of the people exposing themselves.  Where it’s sad is when some of the people being exposed (particularly children) are not in a position to choose whether that’s what they want.  In both cases, the Gosselins and the balloon boy, the parents are using their children to get attention, and it really does seem that it’s attention, rather than money, that they want.

I can avoid the TV shows, but even then, these people invade the so-called “news” programs to an extent that, even having never watched the shows (and not having watched the coverage of that balloon), I, nevertheless, have been subjected to every detail of what’s going on.

How is this newsworthy?  On celebrity TV shows it might make sense, but as sound-bytes in the middle of an otherwise supposedly serious journalism show?

If these people want to expose themselves, well, go ahead, I suppose, but children who cannot possibly understand what they’re doing should not be involved, and I really wish it would stay the hell out of my news shows.  It’s not news.

I’d also ask that producers bring back good TV with a story, acting, and art.  It might cost a bit more to produce, but at least it doesn’t ruin lives in the process.

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