Older, probably not wiser.
Jan. 24th, 2014 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prunesquallormdNice quiet birthday, which is really the only kind that I like these days. My car breaking made sure I couldn't have done anything big anyway, even if I'd wanted to, but I like quiet, especially in January.
So, I took Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off and spent it reading, writing, watching TV and coming fourth of four at a game of Louis XIV (one of my favourites). I got to talk to a dear friend who's in Texas (so the timing can be awkward) on Tuesday night, so that was nice. She was Skyping on laptop rather than phone and it doesn't have a microphone so we did the me talking, her doing sign language and typing thing, which is surprisingly effective. For the first few months of our friendship we had to Skype that way all the time and while it felt strange going back to that now I've actually got used to hearing her voice, it was still lovely to talk to her.
When it works Skype nothing short of miraculous. When it's playing up, it's the most frustrating thing ever (I spent about an hour trying to talk to a friend in North Carolina on Sunday and after about the third time it dropped out and I had to reboot my router (so it was my internet rather than Skype that was wonky) she resorted to calling (she's English so she has an international calling plan which is userful. I still felt bad though, cos we talked for about 2 hours :/).
The thing I'm most proud of from the last three days though: I finished typing up and editing the final chapter of my *cough* magnum opus XD Now just need to get it betad (hey Jenny :D <3) and write the epilogue (which is already mapped out pretty closely) and I'll be done. Mind you, the epilogue is set in London in 1963 so I could probably do with doing a little research for, you know, verisimilitude. Like, just because it's an area I'm vaguely familiar with, I'm setting it in a flat overlooking Hampstead Heath. Is that even possible? Are there flats overlooking Hampstead Heath? I'm assuming that two people in their 30s would be able to afford the rent, or would a house be a possibility? I guess so. Presumably London in the 60s didn't suffer from the frankly ludicrous house prices it does now. It would be nice to find a map of the area with street names and whatnot. I guess google maps is my friend there, though how do you tell what streets are new?
None of these things matter in the slightest really. It'll be less than 2000 words probably, set in a single room. But I've been writing this bloody thing for, well, it's actually closer to 4 years than 3 now, and even if no one reads the finished article but me, I'd very much like it to be the best I can make it. On the other hand, I really want it finished now please. Even so close to the finishing line, it still seems endless.
(It makes me wonder how someone like George RR Martin must feel, stuck in the midst of this neverending story, with all that vast weight of expectation, and a not inconsiderable amount of people who'll slag him off if he has the temerity to do anything but write that one mill-stone story. I wonder if he ever just wants to chuck it all in and go retire to somewhere warm. Every day, I'd imagine).
Have some songs.
This is a rather fabulous cover of Florence and the Machine's Cosmic Love, folk style. It works surprisingly well.
This is the Goo Goo Dolls, Iris. It's been around a while, though I only heard it recently through my friend in Texas. It's rather lovely.
And Billy Joel, Piano Man, only because (and it might just be me) Iris makes me think of this. Is it just me?
And while we're going backwards in time, why not post this? I've always loved it and I have no idea when I first heard it. It's 3 years older than I am, so it could have been any time.
And while we're doing 60s nostalgia, how about The Windmills of Your Mind? So pretty :)
Done now :)
Love to you all <3 <3 <3
So, I took Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off and spent it reading, writing, watching TV and coming fourth of four at a game of Louis XIV (one of my favourites). I got to talk to a dear friend who's in Texas (so the timing can be awkward) on Tuesday night, so that was nice. She was Skyping on laptop rather than phone and it doesn't have a microphone so we did the me talking, her doing sign language and typing thing, which is surprisingly effective. For the first few months of our friendship we had to Skype that way all the time and while it felt strange going back to that now I've actually got used to hearing her voice, it was still lovely to talk to her.
When it works Skype nothing short of miraculous. When it's playing up, it's the most frustrating thing ever (I spent about an hour trying to talk to a friend in North Carolina on Sunday and after about the third time it dropped out and I had to reboot my router (so it was my internet rather than Skype that was wonky) she resorted to calling (she's English so she has an international calling plan which is userful. I still felt bad though, cos we talked for about 2 hours :/).
The thing I'm most proud of from the last three days though: I finished typing up and editing the final chapter of my *cough* magnum opus XD Now just need to get it betad (hey Jenny :D <3) and write the epilogue (which is already mapped out pretty closely) and I'll be done. Mind you, the epilogue is set in London in 1963 so I could probably do with doing a little research for, you know, verisimilitude. Like, just because it's an area I'm vaguely familiar with, I'm setting it in a flat overlooking Hampstead Heath. Is that even possible? Are there flats overlooking Hampstead Heath? I'm assuming that two people in their 30s would be able to afford the rent, or would a house be a possibility? I guess so. Presumably London in the 60s didn't suffer from the frankly ludicrous house prices it does now. It would be nice to find a map of the area with street names and whatnot. I guess google maps is my friend there, though how do you tell what streets are new?
None of these things matter in the slightest really. It'll be less than 2000 words probably, set in a single room. But I've been writing this bloody thing for, well, it's actually closer to 4 years than 3 now, and even if no one reads the finished article but me, I'd very much like it to be the best I can make it. On the other hand, I really want it finished now please. Even so close to the finishing line, it still seems endless.
(It makes me wonder how someone like George RR Martin must feel, stuck in the midst of this neverending story, with all that vast weight of expectation, and a not inconsiderable amount of people who'll slag him off if he has the temerity to do anything but write that one mill-stone story. I wonder if he ever just wants to chuck it all in and go retire to somewhere warm. Every day, I'd imagine).
Have some songs.
This is a rather fabulous cover of Florence and the Machine's Cosmic Love, folk style. It works surprisingly well.
This is the Goo Goo Dolls, Iris. It's been around a while, though I only heard it recently through my friend in Texas. It's rather lovely.
And Billy Joel, Piano Man, only because (and it might just be me) Iris makes me think of this. Is it just me?
And while we're going backwards in time, why not post this? I've always loved it and I have no idea when I first heard it. It's 3 years older than I am, so it could have been any time.
And while we're doing 60s nostalgia, how about The Windmills of Your Mind? So pretty :)
Done now :)
Love to you all <3 <3 <3
