Ever notice how it's the little things in life that amuse us so much? More to the point, ever notice how it's the silly little idiocies in life that amuse us more than anything else? Well, this is not as much ''the little blog that could'' as it is ''the blog that enjoys going up the down escalator in your local mall.'' Will it have anything of real importance? No, probably not. But enjoy the ride never the less!

 

It's just a little past midnight, and I have just finished enjoying the quietest day I can recall in a very long time. The last three and a half days were spent entertaining Mel's family while they visited up here...well, Mel did most of the entertaining, as I had that pesky "work" thing going on for a greater part of the visit.

But in the aftermath of their departure around noon today...yesterday...Sunday (I hate it when it's too close to midnight to properly guage these things!), Mel spent most of the afternoon catching up on some much-needed sleep. And I in turn spent most of today reading a book.

It's been a while since I've just taken the time to curl up with a good book over the course of an afternoon or a day. These days, I typically read during whatever breaks I'm able to finagle amidst my work shifts (a bigger apartment does sadly mean a bigger rent), and those are becoming more rare. Evenings are usually devoted to spending time with Mel or writing.

Come to think of it, the last time I can recall sitting down for an entire day with a great book I haven't read before was at least 4-5 years ago. (Funny enough, that book was also written by the same authors of the book I spent today with.) There's something incredibly cool about reclining on the living room carpet and allowing yourself to get absorbed into a story. There's no time limit, no other pressing duties, and best of all: the comfortable quiet. No distractions, no outside noises...beyond the frenzied screams & honks of drivers who wished to share with the world that Portugal won its World Cup match today, at any rate.

My life seems to have reached a saturation point in terms of outside noise and static. Most of everything I do is immersed with annoying auditory clutter (ie: customers), and I'm finding myself almost ferociously guarding whatever opportunities for that quasi-conceptual "peace & quiet" I'm able to sieze.

This makes me wonder if I'm ever going to become an angry Zen. (Certainly a contradiction in terms, yes, but it would make for a fascinating psychological study.)




posted by Phillip at 9:06 PM

 

Most perplexing.

I find it rather peculiar how we only moved one floor down, and into a larger place, and somehow it's still a ridiculous chore in trying to get everything organized and set up. But so far all the evenings we've spent finding places for our oddities is paying off.

The apartment is starting to look like people actually live here. And if you were to glance in the spare bedroom, it's starting to look like an otaku has fortified himself in there. It's strange in a way: we both agreed from the start that the spare room would be a guest room/my writing area/Mel's work & sewing area. However, the decor looks like Gary's Anime collection exploded all over the room.

In some places, you can see only patches of wall between the armada of wall scrolls. In the other places, you can't even tell me what colour the paint on the wall is, since the army o' pencil boards has commandeered the entire view. (Though to counterpoint, this is actually an improvement. The wall colour is a disgustingly pale pink, similar to the syrup you find in medicine bottles that claim the artificial strawberry flavour is tasty, but all you ever actually taste is the artificial bit.)

And not even all the pencil boards are up at this point, too. Somehow I managed to run out of stickytak and must purchase more if I'm to get the remaining 30 shitajiki on the walls. (Which is also rather peculiar, since all of said stickytak was more than enough when the pencil boards were located upstairs.)

Even still, the overabundance of Anime thematics in this single room has me slightly unnerved. Whereas in our previous apartment, we were able to spread all of the eye candy across multiple rooms, it's all concentrated in here. So while I'm betting many an otaku might stroll in and never want to leave, I must admit to feeling like I've somehow taken over the entire room and turned it into the fansubbed equivalent of a "Sekrit Club: No Girls Alowd" treefort populated by a couple of silly-arsed, seven year-old boys.

Mel has reassured me that this works just fine for her, since we can put other photos, pictures and non-Anime artwork all around the rest of the apartment. But damn, it feels like I've walked into something right out of Genshiken whenever I step inside.

Speaking of all things Anime-related, I made the mistake of purchasing Deathnote vol. 1. Now I am compelled by forces beyond my control to purchase the other volumes thus far released and catch up on the happiness I didn't even know I was missing.

In other news, this morning I discovered a brand new pair of boxer shorts I'd purchased almost a year ago and subsequently lost somewhere in our old apartment. I will be celebrating this joyous reunion by girding my loins with them tomorrow. Though sadly, the one black sock that mysteriously vanished around the same time has yet to return to me, and its widow/mate is still alone and despondent by this loss.

Today's Lesson: it's very surreal to be researching strip clubs for a Potterfic. Why can't I just be lazy like so many other fic authors out there and just make crap up? (Meh. I really can't complain, since I get to start things off with a horoscope proclaiming: your doom is certain and imminent.)
posted by Phillip at 8:31 PM

 


It's been quite a lapse in this little bit of nowhere, hasn't it?

Suffice to say, the Macguyver method of fixing the "about as effective as a dead mouse performing Shakespeare" phone line has worked successfully, so once more there is an Intarweb at our place. Huzzah!

But how to go about reintroducing this little bit of nowhere to the pandering masses? What fascinating facets of my life could be laid out before the general public, to much critical acclaim and lurv? Well, nothing actually. It's been that dead a week. So instead, here's a bunch of link-pandering I like to call...




Let's start with something perfectly benign and guaranteed not to generate even the slightest amount of controversy. The driving (and marketing) forces behind the Christian-based books The Purpose Driven Life and the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, Book-of-Revelations-based Left Behind series have created a brand new videogame. Obviously, if a Christian organization is behind such a project, at long last families can enjoy playing a game that for once does not endorse violence, gunplay, bloodshed & gore, and sending out dangerous messages to children.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/29/195855/959

So tell your kids to put down that terrible Grand Theft Auto, make them toss aside that Silent Hill pick-axe, and to hell with the latest batch of Umbrella-created zombies! At long last, we have a game made by Christians for Christians, where the true message of Jesus is laid out for all the world to see!

(On a side note, after reading this article, all I can think of is that Necromonger line from Riddick: "Convert now, or fall forever.")

And in a natural progression from violence to sex, sometimes people love themselves a series too much. While the extent of the lurv is debatable, and varies even within the fandom itself...sometimes you just have to wonder what other sorts of book-based sex cults are out there:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4996410.stm

Though if there's a cult devoted to being Dalek sex slaves, I'm declaring it the end of days, and should anyone need me I'll be sitting in a lawnchair atop a nearby rooftop with a bottle of tequila and a great view of the obviously impending apocalypse. Moving right along from having it laid to having it made, here's definitive proof that you've made it as an author of a popular series:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060522/hogwartsdino_din.html?source=rss

This has me wondering of we may one day see a new species of dinosaur that gets the most honourable name Bakasaurus Maximus. Ah, to one day have my own little scientific niche of infamy...

However, this dream may yet be short-lived, according to some worried experts. Yes indeed, like the dinosaurs the blockbuster novel may have reached its height with the DaVinci Code as its last apex predator.

http://www.lulu.com/static/pr/05_19_06.php

This can only mean my newest fanfic, The DaVizzini Code, will have to be fastracked if I have any hope of reaching an audience. "There's a secret code on the Mona Lisa? Inconceivable!"

And just for fun, here's The Link O' The Day: http://www.capnwacky.com/lists/list43.html which features a lot of cool ideas about silly-arsed HP titles that I wish I'd thought of myself, and really think should be made into Chaosfics one day.

posted by Phillip at 9:16 AM

 

For those wondering just why the hell I haven't even been a blip on the online radar, here's a quick summary of the last week or so of events:

Anime North 2006: fantastic

AN06 Confic: brilliant, though next year we're definitely taking a 2-hour slot

Getting to chat with other SM fic authors: really good

Sitting in/on panels with Steve Savage: exceptionally enjoyable

Playing "Spin the inflatable dinosaur we found in the Jacuzzi": strange, but enjoyable (though it seemed to really like Chris for some reason)

Bride of Gimpy the Wonder Elevator: funny, unless you were in said elevator and wanting to get to the 4th floor...or 5th floor...or the 6th floor.... (I swear, the spirit of Gimpy follows AN every year since that last one in the Regal)

Saying good-bye to everyone but Roupen, who managed to outdo Houdini and disappeared without a trace (though understandably due to Con stuff): sad, especially with regards to the Great Roupenini, master vanisher.

Getting the spend 8 hours the Monday after the Con moving out of one apartment and into another: satisfying, but dammit, why do all these things happen all at the same time?!

Searching for a cat who's managed to hide himself in a place we can't find: not so good

Discovering the former tenants left 2 chilled bottles of Hienekan beer in the fridge: good

Discovering the former tenants left a broken window in the master bedroom and didn't even tell the Supers: so not fusking good

Discovering the phone line in the master bedroom was brilliantly snipped somewhere inside the bloody walls of the apartment itself (probably done during the actual construction of the place): annoying as all hell, and ultimately the reason Mel & I have been nowhere near a working Internet for the last week and a bit.

Though hopefully this will be rectified within the next few days, as we don't especially like having to unplug our phone and then plug in the computer line every time we want to check our Email. And visiting the library every few nights is starting to get rather tedious, especially since the timeslots are limited (read: only enough time to check Email, but reply to it, and maybe a webpage or two) and I have to try & recall all my web links off the top of my head.

That said, it's time for me to quickly leap off, which brings us to Today's Lesson: the floortiles you want for the main hall & front entry will naturally be the floortiles that you can only find in one particular store. And that particular store will no longer be selling that particular style of floortiles, which means you have to visit 4 separate branches just to acquire all the right matching tiles needed to redo the floor.
posted by Phillip at 6:45 AM