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greygirlbeastSomewhat hungover this ayem, and suffering the effects of insomnia (which don't mix well with the hangover, by the way). It's sort of like being twenty-five on the morning after a binge, except every time I move some portion of my skeleton creaks or pops.
I probably ought not even be making a blog entry. Surely, I have nothing good to say. Not really.
Um...yesterday. Well, yesterday was spent on email, and copyediting, and line edits, and lots of tedious stuff that writers have to do that isn't writing.
Well, there were at least two pieces of good news. The one I can't tell you until Friday, and then learning that my editor at Dark Horse very much likes the story I wrote for her (which I can't say more about until later). These are my bright spots.
---
Last night, we watched the restored director's cut of Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (1981), which is undoubtedly on my list of the 100 Best Movies Ever Made in Any Language. Rarely has anyone conveyed the ultimate futility of struggle more beautifully than Petersen does in this film.
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We had about an hour of rp in Rift last night, after which I decided that, for now, our guild's going to concern itself much less with rp, at least for the time being. After creating fiction all day, or suffering the consequences of having created fiction, the last thing I want to do at night is...create fiction. Also, rping in Rift, like rping in any MMORPG or any world created by someone besides the rpers, presents a unique set of problems. Most importantly, it's almost impossible for everyone to be on the same page, especially given that the lore (which weighs us down; though, unlike WoW, it isn't absurd) is often very vague on very important points. With Rift, the worst of this concerns the nature of the Defiant Ascendents' fundamental psychology and metaphysics. Anyway, yes. The guild is there. We'll do stuff that guilds do. But, for now, no rp. Later, probably. Maybe, eventually, we can come up with some sort of canonical interpretation, even if we can't confirm it's what Trion has in mind (which is probably irrelevant).
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So, a thing I have never before done. But in the interest of reducing clutter (and covering a bill for unexpected auto repairs), I'm auctioning the keyboard that came with the iMac I bought in April 2007 and used continuously until getting a new keyboard in October 2010. So, that's three and a half years I used that keyboard. And it's perfectly functional, if a little schmutzy. It's signed and dated (on the back). The Red Tree and issues #17 through #58 of Sirenia Digest were written on this keyboard.
Here's the link to the auction.
The platypus, he says this is a chance of a lifetime. Oh, and there's a photograph!
---
Cold and cloudy and rainy here in Providence. I have decided that in Rhode Island we have five seasons, not four. We have summer (late June-late August), Autumn (early September through late November), WINTER (late November-March), Cold Spring (late March though early May), and Spring (May and most of June). Someday, I'm going to acclimate. Understanding is the first step, and it's taken me three years to figure out the existence of Cold Spring.
---
I gave some of my dinosaurs a bath yesterday, trying to start to clear my office of a dreadful layer of dust. Maybe a third of my dinosaurs, if you don't count the ones in storage. And I took photos. Hey, it's whimsical, and lots more fun than email and waking up in the morning! Plus, no one likes a dirty dinosaur. Or plesiosaur. Or wooly mammoth.
Wash.
Dry.
All photographs Copyright © 2011 by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Lastly, for those who will never understand why I'm a socialist. "The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation's income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent."
I probably ought not even be making a blog entry. Surely, I have nothing good to say. Not really.
Um...yesterday. Well, yesterday was spent on email, and copyediting, and line edits, and lots of tedious stuff that writers have to do that isn't writing.
Well, there were at least two pieces of good news. The one I can't tell you until Friday, and then learning that my editor at Dark Horse very much likes the story I wrote for her (which I can't say more about until later). These are my bright spots.
---
Last night, we watched the restored director's cut of Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (1981), which is undoubtedly on my list of the 100 Best Movies Ever Made in Any Language. Rarely has anyone conveyed the ultimate futility of struggle more beautifully than Petersen does in this film.
---
We had about an hour of rp in Rift last night, after which I decided that, for now, our guild's going to concern itself much less with rp, at least for the time being. After creating fiction all day, or suffering the consequences of having created fiction, the last thing I want to do at night is...create fiction. Also, rping in Rift, like rping in any MMORPG or any world created by someone besides the rpers, presents a unique set of problems. Most importantly, it's almost impossible for everyone to be on the same page, especially given that the lore (which weighs us down; though, unlike WoW, it isn't absurd) is often very vague on very important points. With Rift, the worst of this concerns the nature of the Defiant Ascendents' fundamental psychology and metaphysics. Anyway, yes. The guild is there. We'll do stuff that guilds do. But, for now, no rp. Later, probably. Maybe, eventually, we can come up with some sort of canonical interpretation, even if we can't confirm it's what Trion has in mind (which is probably irrelevant).
---
So, a thing I have never before done. But in the interest of reducing clutter (and covering a bill for unexpected auto repairs), I'm auctioning the keyboard that came with the iMac I bought in April 2007 and used continuously until getting a new keyboard in October 2010. So, that's three and a half years I used that keyboard. And it's perfectly functional, if a little schmutzy. It's signed and dated (on the back). The Red Tree and issues #17 through #58 of Sirenia Digest were written on this keyboard.
Here's the link to the auction.
The platypus, he says this is a chance of a lifetime. Oh, and there's a photograph!
---
Cold and cloudy and rainy here in Providence. I have decided that in Rhode Island we have five seasons, not four. We have summer (late June-late August), Autumn (early September through late November), WINTER (late November-March), Cold Spring (late March though early May), and Spring (May and most of June). Someday, I'm going to acclimate. Understanding is the first step, and it's taken me three years to figure out the existence of Cold Spring.
---
I gave some of my dinosaurs a bath yesterday, trying to start to clear my office of a dreadful layer of dust. Maybe a third of my dinosaurs, if you don't count the ones in storage. And I took photos. Hey, it's whimsical, and lots more fun than email and waking up in the morning! Plus, no one likes a dirty dinosaur. Or plesiosaur. Or wooly mammoth.
Wash.
Dry.
All photographs Copyright © 2011 by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Lastly, for those who will never understand why I'm a socialist. "The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation's income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent."
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-12 07:36 pm (UTC)No problem. I was finding myself increasingly dissatisfied with how I was characterizing Celinn - originally to be based on a different iteration of her - because I was realizing that she just was going to be coming from a pretty different background than that older version I was more comfortable with. This left me sort of flailing for motivation, fumbling with a "real" understanding of her internal logic and ego. The problem now is that, perhaps as you mention here, my grasp of the canon and lore is still being assembled. It becomes difficult to synchronize a RP character with the lore and establish narrative authenicity without some reasonable mastery of that lore. I think we had four players, four perspectives, and four different levels of fluency in the lore without an unifying vision of what the hell we were supposed to be doing.
Or maybe that was just me. I was pushing my RP in the wrong direction, I think, but didn't know how to remain true to whatever my PC needs to be while remaining compatible with the other players/characters. Ugh.
In any regard, if I didn't blow it horrifically, I'll be glad to bounce around Telara and stabbify things with you two in the future. I would like to experiment more with Celinn's "voice", during downtime or whatever, if that won't be troublesome.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-12 07:50 pm (UTC)And Trion really hasn't done a good job of explaining the mind of the Defiant Ascendants.
I think we had four players, four perspectives, and four different levels of fluency in the lore without an unifying vision of what the hell we were supposed to be doing.
Well, maybe three with four. Spooky and I are only the same page, following much discussion (she was Missya).
In any regard, if I didn't blow it horrifically,
It was no one's fault. There's just too little consensus to mak the rp work.
I would like to experiment more with Celinn's "voice", during downtime or whatever, if that won't be troublesome.
I think that'll be good for all of us. That is, if we all do that.
And, of course, the Eyes of the Faceless Man, essentially a secret cabal serving a Master, won't be right for everyone.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-12 10:14 pm (UTC)And this, to me begs two essential questions: how much autonomy are the generals and lieutenants of the Defiant given, how much tolerance is there to factions within the Defiant?
And another, more essential lore-centered question: Who/What are "the Unseen" (which I think the Faceless Man heads); would the Eyes be considered a sub-group, a splinter, or some other secret faction?
What are you using for lore-related research? I've tried Telarapedia, but it's lacking a lot of development.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-12 11:22 pm (UTC)And this, to me begs two essential questions: how much autonomy are the generals and lieutenants of the Defiant given, how much tolerance is there to factions within the Defiant?
I think we do not know.
And another, more essential lore-centered question: Who/What are "the Unseen" (which I think the Faceless Man heads); would the Eyes be considered a sub-group, a splinter, or some other secret faction?
I see the guild as a very specialized secret sub-faction.
What are you using for lore-related research? I've tried Telarapedia, but it's lacking a lot of development.
We've used various sources, and yes, Telarapedia is lacking. But the game is new. I just wish Trion would release more info.