Nothing Day

I had a fairly useless day today, but that's okay. I work full-time on my book these days, so if I come across a Wasted Day I chalk it up to "I was due for a weekend." I couldn't even bring myself to do groceries, which were needed.

Part I of Useless Day: The Bard

The only thing I did story-related was watch Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles' movie based on the history plays I'm working with), and I finished upoading the audio books I bought. While I already know the Henry V play quite well (except the parts Branagh cut), I don't know Richard II, Hen IV.1 and Hen IV.2 as well.

Last week I bought and read the "No Fear" version of Henry IV (both parts.) But next I need to read RichII and the Hens all the way through, and make notes; and I decided it would be more interesting if I bought audio versions of them. I used to love sitting in my teen bedroom listening to Shakes on LPs from the library. So... I uploaded those to the compy. That's Work isn't it?

I highly recommend the No Fear Shakespeare series. They're Shakespeare in modern English, but not *like, what's up dude* modern language... it still Sounds Formal, but it reads easily. I'm pretty comfy with Elizabethan English, but I still have to read a lot of footnotes to get the full meaning of the texts; they're usually more enjoyable on a second read when you've already studied the notes. But with No Fear you can do both at once, as little or much as you wish. By reading the modern English you by-pass the footnoting, but the original is on the opposite page so you can skip over and enjoy the poetry. These versions are available free at the Sparknotes site, though I bought mine. (I can get a lot of reading done at bus stops.)

Just look at this bit. The old French king (so perfectly played by Paul Scofield--I have a mad crush on him RIP) is discussing Henry's threats against France. (No one's posted it to youtube, but this is the scene just after where Brian Blessed gives the Dauphin a massive shaming.)

Here's the modern version:

"I think King Harry is strong, so the rest of you princes make sure to arm yourselves to meet him with strength. His ancestors got their first taste of blood in battle with us, and he is born of that warlike strain that haunted us on our home ground. Reflect on the battle of Crécy, where, to our everlasting shame, all our princes were taken prisoner by the Prince of Wales, he whom they called Edward the Black Prince."

Alright, so you understand what's being said. But now read it in Shakey-language:

"

	Think we King Harry strong,
	And, princes, look you strongly arm to meet him.
105	The kindred of him hath been fleshed upon us,
	And he is bred out of that bloody strain
	That haunted us in our familiar paths.
	Witness our too-much-memorable shame
	When Cressy battle fatally was struck
110	And all our princes captived by the hand
	Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales..."

"...And all our princes captived by the hand of that black name..." I love that line. But maybe you need to see Scofield deliver it as though he can see a bloody battle field in front of him.

Part II of Useless Day: The Frivolous Part

Read a magazine, caught up on the news. Decided that any recipe called Pisto Manchengo deserves to be made (not that I made it.) Ate homemade cookies. Laundry. Cleaned up my room a bit. Played around on the compy cleaning up my blogs (mostly this one--scroll down to see my cute new avatar!) I changed some of the colours on my blogs because I'd always used the sucky blogger colours, and I took the time now to find better (in my op) html codes.

http://www.visibone.com/colorlab/
http://www.colorhunter.com/
http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/

And now I'm wasting more time here, when I should be sleeping.

San Franvegan

I don't usually tag things in this blog, but I'm going to start marking out San Francisco related posts.

Here is my first possible trip: To a vegan sundae shop! And my step-mother is lactose-intolerant, so she should be similarly approving. (The starting point is one hotel possibility.)
Now that I cook all the time I'm less excited by veg restaurants, but at least finding veg alternatives shouldn't be too much of a problem wherever I am. Ahh the flaky west coast.

What I did with London was I marked out every place I wanted to go and then, with my HUGE and EXTREMELY DETAILED Michelin map (gotta get one of those) I grouped things together and created my own tours. That's how I ended up walking so much... I would look at the next location to visit, and would always think: The weather's so nice, why bother going underground?

And I will admit there was one more disincentive--I have a mild fear of loooong escalator rides, upwards. And in London the stations are really underground. Holy crap. At one station there was a sign on the stairs that said something like: "No really, don't take the stairs. You'll die."

The Nose Knows

I'm returning Mae's perfs to her this weekend, after having them for tooo long. It was a classic case of human beings not liking too much choice--deciding between over 30 scents at once was too complex for me. And smelly. My hands would get all smelly. I tried just wearing one at time, but then it's hard to compare over time, and I'd lose track of what I'd tried and what I'd thought.

What I needed was to smell a bunch in a row without getting smellyhands. It occured to me today to pull out a pair of hospital gloves, and using Kleenex so that little droplets wouldn't fly everywhere, I ran through all the scents one last time.

The Black Pheonix Alchemy Lab are the ones Mae likes the best. From these (and from all) my fave was Squirting Cucumber. If I had to choose a second, I'd say Ephemera.

From Arcana, if I chose one, it would be Grasshopper; and from Posset it would be Observatory. I thought I liked a second one from Posset, but the longer it sits on my wrist the weirder it smells.

...Next time I need a choice of, like, 3 at a time. But I guess I like the *grassy* smelling ones, or citrus-ee-ish. I don't care for the ones that smell like a box of chocolates, or the ones that smell like a health food store, or the ones that smell like Barbara Cartland.

(What I really need is a perf called
Cucumber Sandwich
from the Oscar Wilde Collection.
"This scent combines the thinnest slices of cucumber
with a heavier note of white bread,
brought together by fresh English butter.")

*

SQUIRTING CUCUMBER
Yikes! A spurt of wet, grassy greenness.

EPHEMERA
The scent of loss, love and the echo of time without end: sorrowful violet and chamomile with muguet, white geranium, calla lily and tea rose with a hint of autumn leaves.

Grasshopper: A sparkling pan-Asian blend of Indonesian ginger, Japanese yuzu fruit and Thai lemongrass, spiked with a hint of Indian black pepper.

Observatory: Specifically made to bring to mind the classical lines and purpose of The Cincinnati Observatory, this fragrance is pure Old World Charm improved to withstand the rigors of 21st century living. Perfect for business or pleasure, The Observatory will always feel like the right choice. Cool, dry, focusing and unisex, The Observatory just reeks of class.

galump

I need to clean off my desk. For the past month I've been using my bed as an office, while my desk goes unused. When I reorganized my room I dumped a bunch of papers there... I guess I could just dump them somewhere else. And my lamp needs to be moved, because the desk moved. And I need to find a spot for the old compy. And set up my stereo. And find a spot for my current research books.

I thought I was going to do this today, but nothing has happened so far.

The courage to fail on my own!

I always thought my lack of cheating (on exams, papers etc.) meant I was a prude or something. But apparently it means I am brave! and empathetic! and in the minority.

"Two studies of more than 400 students at Ohio State University found those who did not cheat scored highest in tests of courage and empathy. ... 'These people probably have stronger personalities and are less likely to give into temptation.'"

BBC article

Saaan Fraaan Cisskoh

Well the Step-mommy is in. Yippy! Now I must put together a budget. And see if my travel-hope comes crashing down about my ears.

I'm sleepy.

London and My Sentimental Old Age

I've decided that... I might like to take a trip to San Francisco next year. I'm setting my next book in LA or San Fran, so I'm thinking... maybe I should visit one of them once the book is underway.

This may all come to absolutely nothing--I wouldn't go until next year. I need time to save up the moneys. And maybe I won't be able to save up the moneys! But I'll start looking into it, see how much it would cost me, so I can figure out if it's an achievable goal. Then I'll look around for a travel buddy (the Fernando doesn't mind staying home to catsit--he's not about the globetrotting.) Maybe one of the parental units, or my bro, since they're all out west, and it doesn't cost any of us very much to fly.

My heroine is from LA, and the hero from SF, so I've got to decide which one to use for most of the story. In other words... I'm deciding to set my story in SF rather than LA simply because I'm more interested in visiting the former. I bet all the writers do it and then lie about it later. "Oh I simply had to place the story in Maui..."

On the Subject of Travel Partners:

I actually learned in London that I love traveling alone. I got up when I wanted, took as long as I wanted to plan my day, went exactly where I wanted to go, spent as little or as much time as I wanted at each place, spent as little or as much money as I wanted, took breaks when I was ready, pressed on through sore feet when I chose to... it was perfect. The one day I spent with Gilby going to Oxford was fun, but I missed a couple things I really wanted to see because I needed more time to figure out where they were, or I needed to double back when I realized my mistakes. But with someone waiting for me (I only bought the guide books once we got there) I felt too guilty to take all the time I needed etc. Gilby never ever complained, but... I couldn't help it. I worry too much about the other person having fun.

BUT... I doubt I would have stopped in at the Tolkien-CS Lewis pub and had a drink if I'd been alone. So I do have to thank him for that. :-) And we agreed that when you bring your friendship into a whole new country, it has reached a wholly new & exciting level. And I should add that while touring alone was fun, it was nice to have someone to watch Office episodes with at night. And it was like a high school sleepover when I would sit on the edge of the tub (clothed except for my poor sore feet, which I was soaking), and he would sit on the hallway floor, and we would have Heavy-Deep Conversation.

So if I travel with someone, I just need to carefully weigh out the Together Time versus the Alone Time.

...
...
...Now I'm feeling all sentimental, looking through my London scrapbook. Missing Gilby, and missing London. And missing travel. I hadn't traveled in a long time, and it painfully reminded me how much I love it. Unfortunately these things cost money-money-money, and I have chosen a low income life.

Clippings from the Powerpoint Scrapbook
(Clik on them if you want full powerpoint size!)

My trip to the East End to see where the Elephant Man lived.
This is Bedstead Square where he would walk around at night.

This is the exact building where he was put on display, when
Dr Treves first saw him. (It wasn't a saree shop at the time...)

The Oxford Route.

The Eagle and Child (or Bird and Baby) pub where
The Inklings met. It's no Chenoys but... it'll do.

Gilles is Gilby's other pseudonym.

"I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air -- or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained. "
(Dr Watson in A Study in Scarlet)