A draining section of Tayce...done

It's odd how parts of a story you were looking forward to writing suddenly become painful, something to be endured. I just finished a major turning point in the "Tayce" story. I view it as the beginning of the end. I've been planning this turning point forever, basically since I first outlined "Tayce" so many months ago (now nearly a year :o ) and I've been looking forward to getting to this point of the story. However, I just feel like I haven't done it justice. I suppose this is the problem with all artistic endeavors -- the vision you have in your head just isn't what you end up with. I'm feeling a bit of self-doubt regarding my abilities and as a result I'm plagued with the usual questions: Am I just kidding myself? Can I really write? Will I ever finish this thing?

I finished that section of "Tayce" on Saturday. Afterwards I felt completely drained artistically, I didn't even want to look at a word processor. I spent most of Sunday with John, catching up on DVR recordings and playing Mass Effect (so I can start playing Mass Effect 2 sometime).

But, to be fair, I'm also proud of myself. I'm nearly done with the first book in the series. This is pretty major. I'm ready to start the second book (such things never end, there's always the next project :D ). I'm ready for one of my goals to come to fruition. I'm going to savor checking off "Finish Tayce" from my Resolution list. :)

White-washed fiction

There's an interesting blog post on Genre Reviews about Bloomsbury white-washing their book covers (the link is actually the final outcome to the whole debacle, but includes all the links to the previous posts about it). To quote Publisher's Weekly:

Earlier this week, criticism grew online over the cover of Jaclyn Dolamore’s Magic Under Glass, a January fantasy novel from Bloomsbury Children’s Books—the second time in recent months one of the publisher’s covers has come under fire. [...] The controversy calls to mind the online furor last summer over Justine Larbalestier’s Liar, also published by Bloomsbury, in which the cover used an image of a white girl, when the protagonist is described in the book as being half-black. [...] In the case of Magic Under Glass, the circumstances—a discrepancy between the description of a character’s ethnicity in the book and her appearance on the cover—are much the same. The protagonist, Nimira, is described in the story as having brown skin and considered by others to have “exotic” features.

Lost lab work

I went to the doctor today for a consultation and while there, I said, "You know, I got this really odd call...something about lab work? I was wondering if it was from here?"

My doctor looks at her chart and says, "Oh yes...we never got your lab work results back. We did schedule an appointment to do the lab work, I see."

"We did the lab work," I said. I remember, I had to wait 2 hours despite having a 9:00 AM appointment just for the privilege of being poked, prodded, and generally made uncomfortable.

"Well, when this happens, we don't know if we've lost the lab work or if it's been lost at the lab's end of things. We can do it again now or schedule an appointment for a future date?"

I felt like asking if they lost lab work often (after all, that whole statement "when this happens..." doesn't fill a person with confidence). Instead, I sighed and said, "How long will I have to wait if I do it today?" I really didn't want to sit in the waiting room for 2 hours again.

After assuring me that it would only be a 10 minute wait, I was led into an examining room. 20 minutes later, I went through the uncomfortable process again and left. I've been feeling really tired all day...I actually fell asleep on the sofa and woke up an hour later, realizing I had to pick up John and that I was horribly late. :(

Think I'll go to bed early. I even have a library book I need to finish. :)

*facepalm* I can't believe I forgot

Sigh. Forgot to return 4 library books last week and now I have $5 in fines. :emotion:

The 10 Strangest Books? Or just misunderstood?

According to Comment Central, the strangest book is this gem called The English: Are They Human? I think I'd have to agree -- it's definitely an eye-catching cover due to the title. The book, itself, is showcased on AbeBooks.co.uk's "weird book room" along with other gems like Is My Dog Gay?[1. Because that's an important question to ask, if you're a dog owner.] and Help! A Bear is Eating Me![2. I know you're supposed to read it before going into the woods or whatever, but I can't help imagining a person taking this book out as a bear chomps down on his foot. "So...throw a salmon fillet? Damn! I didn't bring one!" :D ]

(When I IMed John the link to The English: Are They Human? his answer was, "No, we're better than just mere mortals." :p )

Anyway, I couldn't help making a list, too. So here's Himani's 10 Strangest Books, In No Particular Order, She Found on the Internet Just Now[3. And yes, I realize some of them are humor books...but some are not! I also realize I'm totally judging books by their covers. Meh.]:

1. How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion


2. The Mullet: Hairstyle of the Gods (Bwahaha!)


3. Pornogami: A Guide to the Ancient Art of Paper-Folding for Adults (Now you too can giggle like an elementary school kid as you fold paper into big penises!)


4. The Testicle Cookbook: Cooking with Balls (*gag* I think I saw an episode of Bizarre Foods that went like this)


5. How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art


6. The Haunted Vagina (I'm actually curious as to what this book is about. How is the vagina haunted? Does it talk? Do things pop out of it and say "Boo!"? According to the book synopsis, a guy finds out that, unfortunately, his girlfriend's vagina is the gateway to another world :o )


7. Children of the Matrix: How an Interdimensional Race Has Controlled the World for Thousands of Years and Still Does (except, despite the title, the book claims it's extraterrestrial lizard people controlling humans, not robots, so they mixed up the TV show V and the movie the Matrix)


8. People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It (Sounds like a Stephen King novel)


9. Gangsta Rap Coloring Book (you too can have Little Bobby color in a Glock)


10. Dick: A User's Guide (just in case you get lost)
    

I would just like to say there are some weird books out there. Some weird...scary books.

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Footnotes:

Starting 2010 with a Clean Slate

I sat down at good ol' Wynderlon.com and I thought to myself, This website design really needs to be updated. Half of the information on Wynderlon was old and out-of-date. Not only that, but it seemed that somewhere along the line of hosting upgrades, etc., etc., half of my PHP scripts stopped working and broke the site!

That, coupled with the new decade, seemed like a sign: it was time to update. So, update I did! I moved the location of the blog for easier retrieval and code manipulation, and then I got lazy...I didn't want to update Miss Bang Bang 2010 for the new Wordpress theme (I need to make it compatible with widgets and all that stuff). So, instead, I just found a free theme layout I liked, tweaked the CSS to my liking, and decided to call it a day. :D

• I don't know if I'll update the Miss Bang Bang 2010 theme anytime soon.

• I don't know if I'll move all the old posts over to this new layout.

I may just start 2010 with a fresh, new blog that has nary a post in site/sight. After all, it's rather fitting to start the new decade afresh, don't you think? :)

Let me know your thoughts about the new layout!