The Swashbuckler's Friends

Les Corriveaux by ~Curtana on deviantART

I'm pleased enough with this drawing that I'll inflict it on the rest of you, not just the players in my Diablotin game. I'm starting (barely) to get the hang of drawing with the tablet! (Though I couldn't be bothered to draw clothes this time, apparently...)

What design blogs do you all regularly read? I'm personally a fan of www.swiss-miss.com and www.designspongeonline.com, but I want suggestions!

1. Fun with lyrics! Name the song and the band:
6 am day after Christmas
I throw some clothes on in
The dark
The smell of cold
Car seat is freezing
The world is sleeping and
I am numb

2. Dolly Parton starred in, and wrote the theme song to, which 1980 comedy film?

3. What are Shahada, Salah, Zakah, Saum, and Hajj?

4. What structure was built on the site of the old Washington Hoover Airport?

5. Fun with quotations! From which of Shakespeare's plays do we get this quote:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother

6. What would be the best birthday present ever?

My sleep is really screwed up right now. I can't get to sleep until past 2 am most nights, although I'm going to bed by midnight. This means I'm consistently getting less than five hours of sleep a night, and so I usually wind up falling back asleep after the boys leave in the morning and not waking up again until 11am or so. Not good. Probably getting outside more and getting more exercise would help :/ I'm going to go to Canadian Tire today to try and find some decent lawn chairs, at least, so that I can sit out in the back yard and get a bit of sun. Working most days in the basement without windows isn't healthy for me.

In other news, I've emailed the only prof I've liked so far at Wayne to ask if she can become my advisor. My current advisor is in Europe until the fall, and I don't really think I can wait until then to talk to someone about wtf I should be doing in this program. And I suspect this prof might have some sympathy for my position that this program sucks.

A million years ago, back when I first got this LiveJournal account, I posted tons of pictures of Wolverine. What I didn't mention at the time was that I drew a bunch of other X-Men at the same time but never scanned them. So here they are.

Rogue:



Storm (I always liked her in the mohawk and fatigues):



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Back in 2006 I bought some Pan and James DVDs from amazon.jp as a gift for my brother. Ever since then I've been on amazon.jp's "cute" mailing list.

Yesterday, I got an ad for this DVD:



It is about capybara! They are giant rodents (who weigh as much as humans) whom you might remember as the Tick's Dog, Speak:



Naturally, I looked at the section, "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought..."



Capybara manga!! Giant rats shouldn't look this cute!

Then I remembered when I was in Japan, I saw a bunch of plushies in a UFO Catcher machine (called "claw-machines" in non-weeaboo language), and I assumed they were giant hamster pillows:



I tried to win one, so I could have a pillow on the plane. Jesus! What if I had won, and then years later found out I had been using the world's largest rodent as a pillow?! [Actually in high school I stayed the night at a friend's house, and when pillows came up short I was forced to sleep on a poorly knit stuffed animal that may have been a rat. "You get the rat, Finnegan!" my high school best friends said. This happened more than once. They were nicer to me than the other kids, and they forced me to sleep on a rat.]

Nevertheless, they are pretty cute:



That one is enjoying sakura!

This is evil marketing genius along the lines of Mameshiba (bean dogs). What is truly terrifying is that the fourth floor of the Animate store in Ikebukuro is dedicated completely to cute characters like this. Just cute shit girls would like. It's like a bear trap baited with Hello Kitty in there, and that is no joke.

Let me say first, I didn't have the world's best professor. We didn't learn printing history at all. To be honest, I didn't visit a printer until I had landed my first, out-of-college job. So do be gentle with me when I ask, can anyone tell me about this? ( Photo this way. )

I think this was a concept for a children's book. I like that I fit Jesse Hamm's HappyGoth in there.

I missed this awesome Skin Horse writeup on Fleen last week because I've been so busy putting the book together. Thanks, Gary!

I am currently taking a master's level typographic class and I've come to the conclusion that my peers are not doing nearly a thorough enough job of critiquing. In the world of design, typography is my worst piece and I absolutely must improve if I'm going to become any stronger in the field. Seeing as I love all the people in this community, I come with humility asking for some thorough (but gentle) advice on a project I'm doing.


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Hello my wonderful designers. Just few questions to ask...

1. What editorial/magazine fonts are in right now? For title and body especially.
2. What font would you use for a brochure? Would you stick to sans-serif or serif fonts?

Thanks!

I'm asking everyone for books or movies about movie making. Can be any period. Mostly I want that sort of behind-the-scenes of a production stuff, preferably Hollywood. Here's my own shortlist, but I'm sure you guys can add to it!

• What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg
  
• The Player dir. Robert Altman
  
• Singin' in the Rain dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
  
• Living in Oblivion dir. Tom DiCillo
  
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang dir. Shane Black (sort of, and should I read the book?)

As for the question I asked yesterday in place of this one, a few days ago on fandomsecrets one secret stated "If you're a fan of The Joker and you don't know The Killing Joke I judge you" and I thought, "what does a post-punk band have to do with Batman?" Yes, I looked it up, but still, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who would have had that thought, even on my comics-mad flist.

And if you haven't heard of The Killing Joke, here's their big single, which was played at almost every dance I went to in college. Thanks to imaginarycircus for reminding me!



I'm trying to do this thing where I actually lead off my posts with what the post will be about instead of some discursive yadda yadda; instead I'm going to end with it! I'm not even going to tell you the weirdo network problems I had this morning, but suffice to say that the airport is unplugged and sitting on a counter, I'm running off the ethernet cable, and it's a good thing the roommate is away so that I can be all selfish like that.

Back at Atlantic for another day or so of work. Had a pretty blasse weekend with a couple of rehearsals for "Shrew" and one of the MJ Tribute projects I'm doing. Had a lovely tete-a-tete with my old friend and scene partner from TT's classes, which improved my state of mind quite a bit, but I'm still not in any decent spiritual place by any stretch of the imagination. I know where it all stems from, I know the pattern and I know that if I hold on long enough, circumstances will change and my state of mind will improve. It just sucks to be in this particular place and I'm looking forward to being somewhere better.

Hi guys. Thanks to all the commenters on The Deep That We Shall Never See; I'm sorry I haven't responded yet, but I will. It's a problem of... not knowing what to say, and being... on a weird page, I guess. Anyway, I do sincerely appreciate it. And luckily rm has been holding down the fort.

I've been taking a computer break. Saturday, I had to watch CoE again, with my darling faris_nallaneen who had not yet seen it. And the lovely magnetgirl came over too. ( spoilers )

Today I left the house. It was exciting, maybe the most gorgeous day of summer we've had yet, with not a cloud in the clear, blue sky. D. and I drove down Riverside Drive, and had dinfast at the Boat Basin Cafe -- a big juicy charred burger, with juicy red beefsteak tomato, and red onion and sharp green lettuce. It tasted unbelievably good. Then we walked through Riverside Park, stopping at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial to watch two guys practice the fencing scene from Hamlet. (Which I discovered just now through a little google-fu is for an actual, free production, to be performed on the North Patio there from the folks at Hudson Warehouse.)

And then we wandered over to Broadway, and D. bought me a copy of The Demon's Lexicon by sarahtales.(I've just finished it, and I loved it, actually. If you like YA, and/or watch Supernatural, I strongly recommend you give it a go. Two brothers, demons, snark, magicians, betrayal, love in odd places and of odd kinds... it's quite lovely. I knew what the deal was before I was a quarter of the way in, but it's not really an "oh what a twist" book -- the fun is in watching it unfold to the characters, and that part is done really beautifully. It's the first entry in a trilogy, but absolutely satisfying as a standalone.)

After that, we sat in the sun for a while, reading, and snuggling, and laughing, with the breeze in our face. Ten minutes at a time went by that I didn't say something about Torchwood. (I think it was at least half an hour, but D. disagrees.)

Then we drove home.

Life, it goes on.

Also, sex is nice. Note to self: Do not get so wrapped up in bloody Torchwood that you forget this simple fact. *grin* I don't know how D. puts up with me. But I thank all the small gods for it. ( spoilers )

I have stuff to say about writing and stories and art. But that will wait for tomorrow later today. I really need to get to sleep.

I've been thinking a lot about food lately.

Okay, I think a lot about food ALL the time -- but in this case I've been thinking a lot about excess. In particular, the excess amount of waste in my daily food, the excess of cheap, bad food on the market and the excess of industrialized food.

Today I saw an advertisement for Jack in the Box. For $3.99 you can get a double-stacked cheeseburger (a la Big Mac Style), fries and a drink. When I went to the farmers' market, I bought a 3.5 pound local chicken for $20.

I'm not going to do the work of so many great books out there and lecture on the evils of corn-fed, genetically modified, factory farming. Read Omnivore's Dilemma or watch Food Inc. (in theatres now!). I've made my decision. As a consumer, every time I purchase something I am voting for that item to continue. I no longer want my money supporting this type of farming and I am in an economic position that I can make this decision.

Okay, Miss Smartypants, why not become a vegetarian? 

Good question. As a former vegetarian, I understand the energy difference between feeding people with food from the ground and feeding cows to feed people. However, I don't think me becoming a vegetarian solves the problem. As I said, I want to vote with my money and I want to support people who are raising animals in a way that isn't damaging to the environment, is respectful to the farm workers and (to some degree) the animals. Since I like meat, I want local, free range, organic ranches to continue. Instead of giving up on meat entirely, I am looking to my local farmers and asking questions and purchasing from those people who I think meet my standards.

Not to mention, this includes vegetables too! By shopping at the farmers' market and choosing local produce, I am selecting things that are not shipped to me from across the country. This reduces the carbon footprint of my food. Also it means I am trying to look to sustainable agriculture and people who are not under the thumb of super-corporations. Also, it makes me in tune with my environment. A farmers' market is a fantastic place to understand the meaning of "in season." I think we've lost that sense along the way and I don't really like that.

But this isn't about buying my way to the land of feeling good about my food.

Waste. I can't tell you the amount of food I have wasted over the years. Produce that rotted in my crisper drawer. Yogurt that has turned into science projects. Or just leftovers from restaurants that petrified in their styrofoam containers. For the last month I have made a conscious effort to move away from the "let's just buy something to cook tonight so I don't have to dig through the fridge" model. And what do you know? My fridge emptied out. My pantry is less crowded. And there has been a significant guilt reduction (guilt is a poweful tool).

To just continue on the waste thing for a moment... I have thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of figuring out how to use things as not to throw them away. I know, I know -- it's very Bourgeoisie of me to find the joy in this task. My mother had to do this when I was a kid so that we had food to eat and now I'm doing it because it's interesting to me. But I think economic class is no excuse to be wasteful. Just because I can afford to throw it away, doesn't mean I should.

On that note, here's my dish for tonight. I made it for breakfasts this week. I needed a use for the beet greens that came with my (duh) beets from the farmers market. I didn't want the lovely bitter things to go to waste so I made up this dish. It's made with local eggs ($3/dozen), local goat cheese feta (used sparingly because it's expensive), bacon from a local rancher (again expensive, used sparingly to flavor),  and tomatoes from my garden. I really should be growing the beets since I love them so much. I made the pie crust from ingredients from the pantry.

The only items purchased at a supermarket were the butter and milk (Trader Joe's because I haven't found a local source).

So rawles and sainfoin_fields both did this meme, and it sounded like a pretty good time!

• Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.
• NO CAPTIONS!!! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.
• They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.
• You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.

But due to the COMPLETELY INSANE volume of images on my harddrive, I had to impose a few extra rules upon myself: no photos of me, no artwork drawn by myself or my friends, nothing on the external harddrive, no livejournal icons, and only ONE screenshot from Avatar. Oh -- and I also couldn't spend THE ENTIRE EVENING digging through folders.

( EVEN SO, MAN THIS WAS REALLY HARD. )

The internets are DED. If it weren't for Ryan Seacrest constantly updating Twitter about his two-hour run I wouldn't have had any entertainment at all. Well, okay, that and some random person on fandomsecrets declaring that if you eat bread and like Billy Joel they judge you, but that's a daily occurrence.

So here's a poll, because I have a completely unrelated question I was going to ask today, but I'm going to wait until Monday since no one's around.

Poll #1428862
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

When I hear "killing joke" I think of …

(bonus points if you get the music reference)

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/07/day-2-of-ala-and-reading-things-aloud.html

Yesterday I had a breakfast with many librarians, then signed was interviewed in front of a crowd by Roger Sutton from Hornbook, signed for happy librarian-folk for three hours, then napped and went off to dinner with the Newbery Award Committee, the sort of dinner where you have each different course at a different table, and talk to everyone. Then I signed books for them (and for a few stray Printz Committee judges, who crept in).

This morning was Dim Sum with Jill Thompson for breakfast (Here is Jill. People always want to know where she got that bag, and she made it herself. I told her she should take orders for them for a ridiculous amount of money.) Then with Elyse Marshall, ace HarperChildren's publicist, to a local studio where I was interviewed for Barnes and Noble, then recorded some paragraphs from Kipling's The Jungle Book, Ray Bradbury's story "Homecoming" and James Thurber's The 13 Clocks. I loved doing them -- B&N will pick one sequence and have it animated and put up online.

Was fascinated by how different the voice of the narrator was in each case -- the voice of the book, and that reminded me that I had not yet answered this, and had meant to:

Neil ~ Thank you for many hours of entertainment, whether I'm reading your works, or you are! My daughter is finding that chapter books are a good thing, and wants me to read them to her. I'm glad to do so, but I'm looking for some suggestions from a masterful book reader (you) to a very coarse book reader (me). How do you keep the character voices straight in your head? I suppose it helps that you know the words particularly well since you wrote them, but any tips or suggestions? Any other pointers for engaging the listener? I know my daughter doesn't mind (she still wants me to read, after all!), but I'd like to be better for her and for me. Thanks and keep up the superb work, both here on the blog and in the offline printed universe! BRIAN

Let's see. Character voices are more or less easy: I sort of cast them in my head as I go. What's the person like? Who do they remind me of?

I'm appalling at doing accents, but not bad at doing people. And mostly you're not even doing impressions, just general brush strokes. How does a person sound? Well, you hold them in your head and generally sound like that.

When dealing with a larger than life story I'll sometimes go for a larger than life cast in my head: In (for example) The 13 Clocks, in my head, when I read it aloud, I tend to cast Marty Feldman as the Golux, and Peter Sellers (doing his Laurence Olivier in Richard the Third impression) as the evil Duke.

It's hard though, in a big book with a lot of characters, some of whom may nip off-stage for seven or eight chapters at a time. Do your best, and have a picture in your head. Borrow from your life. Steal voices shamelessly.

Most important, just do the voices (including the voice of the Book, which may not be your voice exactly, but should be close enough to it that it won't be a strain), and do not be shy. Even at your worst, you're doing better than you would if you didn't do the voices, and kids are a mostly uncritical audience, especially if you do it with confidence.

Read it as if you're telling a story. Read it as if you're interested and you care. And, the biggest and most important one, vary the tune.

I heard a young writer reading some of his own work in public a few weeks ago, and every sentence had exactly the same tune, the sime rising and falling cadences. They all ended on the same note. The beat that ran through the whole passage did not change from first to last. It was hypnotically dull.

Listen to people read who are good at it. BBC Radio 7 and BBC Radio 4 (here's the Radio 4 Readings website)are a great source of an ever-changing series of books and stories, fiction and non-fiction, all read aloud and read aloud well. Listen to the tune, where voices go up or down. Listen to what makes a reader speed up or slow down -- listen to what keeps you interested and where you lose interest. And do it as they do -- change the tune, change the pace, keep interested and it will keep interesting.

But mostly my advice is this: just do it. Enthusiasm and willingness to do it counts for most of it, and you learn by doing it and get better from doing it.

I've been reading in front of audiences now for almost 20 years. I've got significantly better in that time, mostly because I've done it so much. You learn as you go. You get better as you go. Practice makes if not perfect then at least pretty decent.

And that's all.


Except to wish Roz Kaveney happy birthday.