Once upon a time

Back in the year 2008, I signed up for a to-do service. Played with it. Forgot about it.

About a week or two ago, it started sending me emails about overdue to-do items. Due in 2008.

No idea why after all this time it started to do that either. Just freaking weird.

Oh my

Good thing I have a personal policy against ever exposing where the hits for this blog come from.
Cause the latest set of referrers look like browser hijack urls.

New IPad arrived

Hubby got it engraved.

I need to check that everything important the iPad 1 knows about, the new iPad 3 knows about! But I think we are good to go, and he can take the old one and wipe it.

Check out these covers.

Excited!

Hubby has pre-ordered an iPad 3 for me.

He'll be adopting my iPad 1.

Huzzah!

I hate temptation

Temptations can take many forms. Today it was, oh, look so-and-so has their chat on. I haven't seen them in ages, I'd love to chat.

Lead me not into temptation, I can find it on my own.

a) the chat might not deliberately be on,
b) it's been red since I noticed it
c) really, no chatting with random friends while at work.

Hurray, I didn't do it.

Nicarra's photostream

Nicarra's photostream on Flickr.

New - half decent pics of a Frill Necked Lizard in Townsville

Local Frilled Neck Lizard

Look carefully at that skinny tree. A young frilled necked lizard is clinging to the lower part of that tree.

If you are a blogger user and in a different country

If you live outside the US, when you go to look at your blog, it gets redirected to myblog.blogspot.com.(??)

Currently, this is annoying because you can't edit anything directly on your blog main page, you have to go back to the blogger interface to edit it.

There is a trick!

Go to myblog.blogspot.com/ncr - this will stop the country code redirect (ncr == no country redirect)

Now you are back to the normal blogger space and can edit the posts and widgets directly from the blog page again. Yippee.

We can hope that eventually, if they force a redirect, they fix it so you can edit as normal.

I didn't hear about this until they made the complete movie but it's an interesting idea. They chopped Star Wars IV into 15 second clips. Fans then claimed a clip and remade it in any fashion that they wanted. There's animations, live reenactments, computer graphics etc.

So now they've remade the movie patching the best of those 15 seconds of fan made clips back together.
Check out the project here.

How to tick someone off in one easy move

Misspell their name. It's annoying, rude and careless.

Especially if it's a simple name. I don't care if Lyn is the common spelling in Australia. Mine is Lynn
It's not that hard and I don't know why you can't bother to get it right.

You want who to do something urgently for you? Well, if I find that Lyn you're after, I'll let her know. THAT ISN'T ME.

Referrer Spam

From time to time, I have some very odd url/domains hitting my blogs. I used to wonder how one got from there to one of my blogs.

The answer is, they don't. It's an automatic process that hits web sites hoping that the referrer log will be posted, therefore giving them a much wanted hit in search engine stats. I found it doing a search on one of the more persistent referrers and found it mentioned in the Blogger help forums.

Don't ever click a link from an unknown url in your stats. It will only encourage them and they could have some nasties waiting for silly souls if you do.

Why do so few pedestrians know?

I've studied road rules in a couple of different places and can find this advice online. And yet either few pedestrians hear of it or pay attention.

If you are a pedestrian walking along a street - walk FACING the traffic.
http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Travel-and-transport/Pedestrians-and-walking/Pedestrian-guide/Walk-safe.aspx
 "Always walk on footpaths or nature strips where possible. If there is no footpath or nature strip, walk so that you are facing oncoming traffic."

We walk dogs daily and very very few other people walking/jogging on the streets ever do this.

FACE the cars and live!

Good deed for the day

"There is a lizard in the tea room."
There was too. It's a type I usually refer to as the nearly legless lizard.
Quite likely a Glaphyromorphus, though exactly which one is hard to be certain.
I caught the little guy, took it outside and released at the edge of a garden. It will be much happier there, tile is not a very good place to be for a lizard that moves like a snake.

The House of the Rising Sun - as performed by old computer parts

What does it say about me that the first time I started watching this, I nearly died laughing?

week off

We get the week from Christmas till new year off. I am so looking forward to this.

Skyrim, here I come!

Happy Holidays

Hoping you and yours have a lovely peaceful time over the holiday season.

If you ever decide to write fantasy

First write the story/book.
Second buy and read Diana Wynne Jones' book "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland"
Third now see how many fantasy conventions you've followed

• Map
• Colour coding
• Food
• Animals
• Various types of races/species met

I'd read the book before writing a second fantasy novel so every time my poor characters ate stew - I laughed. 

#NaNoWriMo - Winner Circle!

Hurray! 50K of novel done in 29 days.

Mind you, the plot hasn't actually finished yet but that's a minor detail.

Shiny certificate.

Nearing the end of NaNoWriMo

So, in my part of the world, it's Sunday the 27th at 10:54 pm

I have complete 46K words for the novel, I have a mere 4,000 words to go.

This is the first time I ever tried to write a 50K novel in 30 days. It's been an interesting experience.
But to some extent, I never would have made it without taking 2 weeks off work. I can base that on two problems

1. it was pretty rare for me to just 'go for broke' typing. I kept going through ideas in my head working through things and that's not in the NaNo spirit.
2. if you are going to write a novel in a mere month, it really is a good idea to have a solid picture of the main events, the major characters. Give everything names, write up sheets about them and get to know them IN ADVANCE. Cause if you don't, problem 1 kicks in again. 

NaNo Snippet 10

Onyx jumped at the voice, letting go entirely of the knife. He looked around to see a boy only a year or two older. The boy was dressed strangely, more fur and feathers, not cloth.

“What do you mean, kill him? I’m trying to help him.” He looked at Master Dervin, now looking extremely pale.

“If you pull that knife out of him now, he’ll bleed to death. You’ve naught prepared to staunch the flow of blood that I can see.”

“Could you help me keep him alive? It sounds like you know something about this. I don’t know anything about healing,” he looked pleadingly at the stranger. “I’m Onyx, and that’s Master Dervin.”

“My name is Sam.” Sam knelt down by Master Dervin examining the wound and the knife. “Removing that knife will be tricky. We’ll have to work together, if you want any chance of Master Dervin surviving. Are you sure you don’t want to just finish him off instead? That will be easier.”

Onyx shook his head. “I need Master Dervin. He’s teaching me…stuff.” Onyx found himself reluctant to say the word magic after Frillion. “What should I do?”

Things I look forward to post NaNo

Briefly visiting the various TS3 saves of mine and checking that all seems well. Then back up and install Pets EP plus update Twallan's mods.

Shannon will have her baby here http://artflowsthrough.blogspot.com/
Nick will manage to have his way and there will be baby 2 here http://wowindianasam.blogspot.com/
Then finally Sammy will be sent in to find out what's new and cool about Pets http://sammysimmie.blogspot.com/ This Sammy is definitely due to have a boyfriend/husband and thanks to Kaleeko - he'll have a fluffy pink shirt - LOL

NaNoWriMo Snippet 9

It wasn’t long before Onyx realised that they were being followed through the streets. He glanced back to see a group of men and boys, ranging from his age to men in their twenties. Master Dervin was moving steadily through the crowds, so Onyx decided that his attention was better placed at moving then on the followers. Still, once having noticed the following crowd, Onyx couldn’t help but glance back again. He regretted that immediately, the group was bigger and a little bit closer.

Onyx tried to pull Pungo even with Lady Evelyn. That was when the crowd stopped merely following.

“Get the boy,” someone shouted.

Master Dervin whirled around. “Do not touch my apprentice. Leave us be, we are leaving.”

“We’ll show you what we think of your kind. Grab the boy.”

Lightning flashed from one of the storm clouds, now directly above the city. “I said leave him. I don’t want to cause harm, but I will. Don’t try it.”

Two of the crowd darted forward, closing the gap between them and Onyx.

There was a flash of light with a deep boom. Master Dervin had sent the lightning crashing to within a hairs breath of those trying to grab Onyx. Both Pungo and Lady Evelyn tried to bolt, Pungo lashing out with his back legs. Onyx blinked trying to see again after the blinding flash.

Master Dervin turned to grab Pungo’s lead when a knife flew out from the crowd. It buried itself deep in the master’s right shoulder. Dervin gasped with pain and released the full fury of the storm he’d been holding. Cold rain with large hailstones poured out of the sky. It wasn’t long before the streets cleared of all traffic, except Dervin, Onyx and the two donkeys. Master Dervin had invoked a barrier that kept the rain and hail from them.

Post NaNo plans

I plan to spend most of December doing other stuff, unless I have yet to finish the first draft of the NaNo novel. I'll finish the first draft, if that's not done yet.

By January, my brain should be clear enough to start the editing. I'm more likely to read what's really there and not what I think should be there. How long the edits will take? No clue at all.

So when can you read it? Well, a brave soul might have access to the 1st draft but that's a true warts and all. Second draft should be much better whenever that happens.

NaNoWriMo - best character introduction

Onyx removed his master from Lady Evelyn as gently as he could. Master Dervin was no longer awake and the amount of blood on his clothes looked massive. Onyx reached for the knife, preparing to remove it from the wound.

“Ah, trying to finish him off?” came an unexpected voice from behind. “Do you need help?”

NaNoWriMo Snippet 8

The sun was low in the sky when Master Dervin noticed a small manor house off one side of the road. “Never hurts to ask, though I doubt this crop needs our assistance.” Onyx nodded his agreement, there were very healthy looking plants in the fields.

Master Dervin noticed a man working in the fields, “Good evening to you, sir. We were wondering…”

The man straightening up, his eyes widening in surprise. “Margo! We have visitors, dear.” The door to the house opened and a plump middle aged lady beckoned the pair over.

“Come in, come in. Are you hungry?” She looked at Onyx, “Of course you’re hungry, I can see that you’re a growing boy.”

“Well, first we’d like to take care of the donkeys, if that’s possible?” said Master Dervin.

“Ben, Larry, come here boys.” A pair of young men strode into view. “You take those donkeys and put them up in the barn. Be careful of Molly, you know she’s been a bit tetchy lately. Molly is our plow mule,” she said to Master Dervin.

“We were going to ask for shelter for the night.”

“Of course you can stay. We haven’t had visitors in ages. Now, you two get inside.”

“Yes m’m,” replied Onyx.

“If you’re sure,” said Master Dervin.

“There’s plenty of food, between our field hands and the boys, I have to be sure of that. We have guest quarters too, no problems.” Ben and Larry returned with the packs. “You boys put those in the green guest room. Then wash up, supper is nearly ready.” She turned to her guests. “Well, go on then, follow the boys to your room. Food should be ready in half an hour, I’ll send someone up to tell you when.” Master Dervin raised his hands in surrender, he’d realised that he was never going to get a word in edgewise.

NaNoWriMo Snippet 7

And if the weather was fine at the midday break, Onyx had more lessons on summoning the wind. Master Dervin was very patient about that first lesson. “Now, let’s try this again.” It was the end of the week and Onyx felt no closer to being able to move the leaf as he was on the first day.

“But master, I can’t do it. I can’t work out how to call the wind deliberately. And if I call it accidentally, I’m likely to hurt someone seriously.”

“You can do it, Onyx. It’s not an easy thing, but you will be able to do it. Just relax, be patient, let your mind wander.” Master Dervin was using a small dust devil to cause the leaf to dance on the grass.

“That dust devil, it doesn’t feel the same as the breeze,” remarked Onyx.

“Very good, apprentice. A dust devil is born of wind, and can be summoned much the same way. However, the dust devil is a small entity of itself, and once it exists, it’s completely independent of other weather.”

Onyx idly watched the leaf dancing back and forth. After a couple of minutes, he decided to snatch the leaf away. The dust devil danced on without the leaf for a few more moments.

“Congratulations Onyx, you’ve done it.”

“What?”

“You called a puff of wind to steal the leaf from my dust devil. It was a bit stronger than I would have liked,” Master Dervin pointed ruefully at the leaf which was a good 5 meters away, “but you’ve done it. Now fetch the leaf back and try to be more gentle this time.” Onyx started to get up to move the leaf closer again. “No, lad, you don’t need to touch it yourself. Ask the wind.”

Onyx sat stunned for a minute while he tried to remember exactly how he’d stolen the leaf from the dust devil. His plan had been to reach over and grab it but then he had asked the wind to do it for him. He closed his eyes and visualised a little puff of wind pushing the leaf his direction. When he opened his eyes, the leaf was a good meter closer than it had been.

NaNoWriMo Snippet 6

Back at the tavern, the farmer quickly settled the account while Dervin and Onyx finally had breakfast.
“Does anyone threaten to not pay what they’ve promised?”

“Well, Onyx. I’ve never had that happen, but it’s not a surprise. An angry weather mage can do a lot of damage. A sudden freeze, a sudden flood, temperatures soaring, a large hailstorm. I don’t think there are many people willing to risk such damage, since they have some idea what a weather mage can do.” He looked at Onyx.  “That’s why it’s important that you make your status clear. Most people know not to do anything to mages, but they do have to know it’s a mage they deal with. There are always some stupid enough to take that risk, your bullies probably wouldn’t have left you be even knowing there was a risk that you could call weather. But those who know enough to pay, also know enough that they must pay if services were rendered.”

Onyx nodded as he scrapped the last few oats from the bottom of his bowl of porridge. “I hadn’t done anything to provoke them.”

“I believe that. Sometimes there are people who seem to need to prove they’re superior by putting down others. That particular lot decided to prove it by brute strength, I suspect they knew you’re brighter than they are.”

“But Mark, in my class, he knew way more about reading and maths than I do.”

“Mistress Anna told me that you were unusually talented and were catching up to all of her current students quickly. Mark might have suspected that you are quite smart, you’ve just never had the chance to develop it. His type always tries to get even with anyone who seems to be better than they are.”

 Breakfast finished, the pair returned to their room and picked up the bags. They walked to the stable and prepared their donkeys for the day’s journey.

NaNoWriMo general update

So it's the 16th of Nov. I am nearly at 23,000 words for NaNo, which isn't good enough to finish on time - I should be above 25,000 at this point. Not far off the mark but I would like to be even with par by the end of the week.

And the interesting thing is that the only way I'm going to find out how this novels ends is by writing the rest. My vague outline at the start was based on fairy tales - the main character was going to end up visiting entities in the north, south, east and west to pull together their magic. And at 23,000 words? We still haven't finished going north yet. Obviously, there isn't going to be a south, east and west at this rate.

So where is it going? Honestly, I don't know. I expect that north and home again will be all. Nor do I know what they'll be facing once they get deeper into the cold wastelands. There will be stuff, but what? Hmm

:) So, onward I go, braving the unknown depths of my mind to find out what is lurking there.

NaNoWriMo snippet 5

The rest of the day went quietly enough. The donkeys were quiet patient beasts willing to follow the humans. The day was warm but there was a light breeze that was keeping the travellers fresh. It was some time before Onyx realised that his master was calling the breeze, just a small request.

At the end of the day, they reached a small settlement. “You wait here with the donkeys. I’ll go see if I can come to some sort of agreement about beds and food for the night.”

“Surely we should have a room for the night. What if it rains? We wouldn’t want to be sleeping in the open then.”


Master Dervin smiled. “Come on lad, use that brain of yours. Do you think I ever get wet unless I happen to want to?” Onyx suddenly remembered the day the bullies cornered him. There wasn’t a drop of water on his master, though the rest of the population was getting wetter by the minute. “The donkeys don’t mind rain though a big thunderstorm might spook them. So it’s only a small effort to keep the area for the two of us dry. I suspect though, this little place could use a bit of weather. We’ll see.”

He handed the lead rope of Lady Evelyn to Onyx and walked over to what was obviously the busiest building in town. And from the sounds drifting out, it had to be a tavern. Onyx waited standing patiently for some minutes when he noticed how sore his feet were. He envied the donkeys and their hard hooves. Since he had no idea how long his master would take, he decided to have a seat on a nearby barrel. The donkeys followed and soon Onyx was as comfortable as he could expect to be given he was still outside waiting.

Onyx was beginning to think he was going to fall asleep where he sat. Walking wasn’t that tiring but moving most of the day wasn’t something he was used to now. Finally he spotted Master Dervin returning from the tavern.

“Right, so we have a place for the donkeys to rest for the night, and we have a room and a bed for the night. Tomorrow I’ll earn our keep with a little magic.”

Onyx slid off the barrel and discovered how sore his feet were. He handed the lead for one donkey back to his master. “Donkeys first?”