between the rock and the cold, cold sea

2007 has arrived.

There are many things that must be done this week. I need to check my college fees to make sure the government has paid them as it is supposed to; I need to write my 1500-word essay on kingship in Sumer and Israel; I need to print out and deliver my CV to places which may be convinced to employ me; I need to work up a plan of study; and I need to arrange to lay aside time in my schedule for gym and karate.

Five things. That's enough for the next six days.

---

1200 words today. New story. First paragraph, for the mockery of all three people on the internets who read this journal:

( Untitled fairytale cliché story )

If I was to be an optimistic person, I might imagine I could finish that this week, too. But I'm not an optimist.

Happy 2007.

...I'm afraid I can

College IS services want me to upgrade to Windows XP Pro before I can access their network. For E120.00 per upgrade, it's not exactly a bargain. I'm pretty pissed, since it's not like this laptop was cheap. And I'm broke, of course.

Whining's not going to fix anything, though.

Now I do out my:

timetable of days
weekly budgets
poster for the Arch. Soc.'s first event

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Later.

Progress for Friday, 6 October

Vampires in Paris

Words so far: 15,747
Words today: 859
Total words: 16,606
Tyop du jour: N/A
Darling du jour:

I'd have puked, but the only thing I had in my gut was blood.

An immortal never vomits blood.

Unpleasantries: Nausea, being shot at, strange new betrayals.
Reasons for stopping: quota and above.


The post-apocalypse zombies-type weird short story that has no plot.


Words so far: 2,206
Words today: 179
Total words: 2,385
Tyop du jour: Nothing amusing, alas.
Darling du jour: Not many darlings in >200 words
Unpleasantries: Drums. Peril. Diseases.
Reasons for stopping: quota. Also, tired.

Stimulants: Stew, hot chocolate, water, some biscuit-y-cake-y-thing. Pizza. Muffins. More water.
Exercise: Does hiking up and down from the train station count?
Books in progress: The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece, Robert Morkot.
Books finished: An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East, W. von Soden. Decent, if out-dated, introduction to high points of literature, history, philology and material culture of the Sumerians, Hittites, Babylonians, Semites, Hurrians et al.

Music: Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans, The Heart's Filthy Lesson; Vitas - Opera #2, Opera #1, Guru; Chris Smither - Train Home.

Progress notes for 24 June 2006:

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 564
Total Words: 1948
Darling du jour: N/A
Reason for stopping: Ur. Must think about what comes next.

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Jo Walton, The King’s Peace; Thucydides, A History of the Peloponnesian War.
Exercise: Running

Thucydides likes speechifying. By which I mean, recounting various speeches made by Spartans, Athenians, Corinthians etc. at various points. Other than that, it’s quite fascinating. I know I was supposed to study this last year, but I never had quite so clear a grip on the causes of the Peloponnesian War until I read Thucydides’ account of the dispute over Potidaea and the Corinthians’ gripes against Athens arising from Athenian high-handedness.

Also, nothing really changes:

"To fit in with the change of events, words, too, had to change their usual meanings. What used to be described as a thoughtless act of aggression was now regarded as the courage one would expect to find in a party member; to think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was just an attempt to disguise one’s unmanly character; ability to understand a question from all sides meant that one was totally unfitted for action." (III, 82)

I survived my early shift. Tomorrow I have the 1300 to midnight one. Urgh, argh, ugh. If I'm not replying to e-mail or comments it's because my brain has turned to grey yoghurt and dribbled out my ears.

Progress notes for 23 June 2006:

"The Queen’s Mirror"

New Words: 526
Total Words: 1431
Darling du jour: N/A
Reason for stopping: draft

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 323
Total Words: 1364
Darling du jour: N/A

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Jo Walton, The King's Peace; Thucydides, A History of the Peloponnesian War.
Exercise: Reps, short run, 40 situps, 22 pressups.

The Blue Place, by Nicola Griffith, is an interesting noir-type book. It has lush language and a harsh and complex protagonist, but to my taste the love story angle drags once Aud (the main character) reaches Norway, and for fifty pages or so it became an exercise in endurance until I reached the end and things sped up again.

Last night, I forgot that one of the books I read on Monday was Jane Lindskold's Wolf Captured. Possibly this is because it is not a particularly memorable book: the fourth installment in the Firekeeper series lacks the freshness of the first two and the interesting character relationships of the third. Still a fun read, but the action drags in parts and the exposition is at times rather heavy-handed.

Tomorrow is the 5am shift. Gah.

Progress notes for 22 June 2006:

"The Queen’s Mirror"

New Words: 325
Total Words: 904
Darling du jour: Witches cast no more reflection on the future than they must.
Like cats, they are tricksy creatures.

Untitled novel #? aka the pilots story

New Words: 689
Total Words: I dunno. This has been in progress a very long time, accumulating words in drips here and there, so maybe 8,000? Really, I dunno.
Darling du jour: N/A

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 466
Total Words: 1040
Darling du jour: The Liffey is running high, languid and dark beneath the metal arch of the new footbridge. The Sean O’Casey Bridge: streetlights reflect from its nameplate. There’s an itch in my spine and an oppressive feeling in the dark: something’s out there tonight. or maybe: The angel was still in my apartment when I left, glowering at the walls and leaking blood on the furniture.

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Nicola Griffith, The Blue Place.
Exercise: Running, reps, kata.


Before starting work, I spent Monday in a panicked, last-gasping fit of reading. It’s my reaction to the intrusion of unpleasant realities: retreat to book.

Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint is a marvellous, deft book. Alec and Richard are wonderful, imperfect characters, and the tenor of their relationship -- well, it hits the right note to be real, anyway. Also, Alec Campion? So believably self-destructive, and so right.

My only gripe with it is that it feels unfinished. Not just a dangling ending, but unfinished. Still, this could just be because I wanted more.

The Firebird Deception, by Cate Dermody (mizkit) lacks the quality of deftness which made Swordspoint so enjoyable. This wouldn’t matter, except that it also lacks the freshness and slightly snarky humour enjoyed by its predecessor, The Cardinal Rule. The Cardinal Rule was a breathless, helter-skelter ride of a -- well, spy romance, for lack of a better term. The Firebird Deception is also breathless and helter-skelter, but where its predecessor made those qualities into virtues, here the book merely feels rushed. Meh. It’s not bad, just a bit skimpy on character, and relying a little too heavily on the popular perception of spies to cover its shortcomings. It didn’t push the right buttons for me.

David Drake’s The Master of the Cauldron is another solid instalment in his Lord of the Isles series. Nothing particularly new to speak of -- it follows pretty much the same pattern as preceding volumes -- but fun nonetheless. Drake writes good character, good battle, and good magic. His worldbuilding is the next best thing to note-perfect. Yep, definitely fun.

I am holding out on reading naominovik’s Black Powder War because I know there are no more yet published, and it’s nice to have some Temeraire to look forward to. Sometime, when I’m feeling really down, I’ll treat myself to a good read of this book. But not yet, precioussss. Not yet.

Incidentally, there are paperback copies of Temeraire in the bookshop in Dublin Airport. So I guess Naomi Novik isn’t doing too badly, at all, at all.

Progress notes for 18 June 2006:

"The Queen’s Mirror"

New Words: 579
Total Words: 579
Darling du jour: She sees the king her husband die, and in the mirror parched earth drinks blood like rain.

"Untitled #2" aka the WWI trenches story with wizards

New Words: 433
Total Words: 1091
Darling du jour: N/A

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 216
Total Words: 574
Darling du jour: Dublin in summer darkness smells of petrol and asphalt, alcohol and water: the sluggish snake of the Liffey an oily chasm dividing its heart. and It’s a city that grows on you, like fungus, or chewing gum stuck to the heel of your shoe, and like every city it has an underbelly, dark and rotten and stinking.

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint
Exercise: Running, reps. I am out of training so, so badly, with everything. It frustrates me in karate, but with running it’s just downright painful.

X-men: The Last Stand is a tolerably bad film, but it’s by far and away the worst of the three. The first thirty minutes are worth watching: the rest has a better budget than a plot. truepenny has more interesting things to say about it than I ever could: http://truepenny.livejournal.com/445788.html

I am tired now, and wishing I had time to catch some of the football, sometime. Alas, the days are too short, and filled with other things. Like today’s trip for some divine fish and chips, for example.

Progress notes for 17 June 2006:


"Untitled #1" aka the werewolves and demons and WWII France story:

New Words: 126
Total Words: 522
Darling du jour: N/A



"Untitled #2" aka the WWI trenches story with wizards:

New Words: 309
Total Words: 657
Darling du jour: N/A



"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story:

New Words: 358
Total Words: 358
Darling du jour: [H]e and I are more alike than either of us would prefer to admit. He is bereft of his heaven, and I –

Well. Lilith’s kin are welcome neither in the Garden nor the Pit.

She was good at making enemies.


Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint/
Exercise: Kata class on Ni-Jyu-Shi-Ho, 22 pushups, 40 situps.

I’m nicking the progress notes idea from matociquala and jmeadows, among others. Hopefully it’ll let me keep better track.