technonerdgirl

I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning. Though I remember to change my clock to adjust to Daylight Savings Time, my body clock stayed the same. Ah well.

So I spent did a lot of writing on my novel yesterday. I'm working on the climactic end bit now, which is fun. I wrote 1800 words yesterday, prompted partly by the fact that it's only four days until NaNoWriMo. I also leave for OVFF on the Friday, which is the first of the month and when NaNoWriMo begins. I'll probably be doing some writing at the airport and at OVFF, I think. If I don't write on any weekends, then I end up having to write an average of 2500 words a day, which is a tad hefty, especially considering I'll have other writing projects on the go.

Then I spent part of the afternoon catering to my webgeek soul. I've been gradually converting my various online projects to Movable Type. I was about to do the same with The Dandelion Report (my filk e-zine at http://www.filking.net) but then started thinking about ways I could make it easier to administrate, to encourage user-generated content.

After consulting some technonerdboy friends (Jeff, Reid, Parki, Andrew, Bryan), I decided to check out PHP and RSS (combined with Movable Type) as potential methods for helping me achieve what I want.

My goals include:

- Allow columnists and other writers to upload their material via a Movable Type interface (i.e. no need to know HTML, no need to do archiving themselves since MT will do it for them).

- My set-up would take the XML/RDF files automatically generated by Movable Type and use them with the help of PHP to highlight multiple blogs on the main Dandelion Report page. From a user's point of view: You could go to the main index page and get an overview of the most recently added editorial content, which is automatically updated each time a columnist or writer uploads something new.

- I also want a main Filk News feed/blog, sort of like Slashdot, where filkers can upload news about upcoming conventions, community news, etc., and these could be commented upon by other members of the community.

- Have a central Filk Events calendar, which will allow concom members and other approved posters to add entries about upcoming events. In theory, a filker could go to the Filk Events calendar and view a list of upcoming conventions (either on the calendar or in a text list), click on any convention name, see a text file of update information provided by a concom member, or go directly to the con site.

- Having a place where filk dealers and musicians can promote current and upcoming projects and gigs.

I have other ideas, probably too many. I would have loved to have these tools available when I had Inkspot; it would have made administration so much easier.

By now some of my closer friends are probably scratching their heads, remembering how stressed I was during the peak Inkspot-overload days. "What's she thinking? Is she mad, taking on another project?" And of course, they might be right. But I think it would be very cool to be able to offer something like this to members of the filk community, who have already given me so much. It would also give me an excuse to learn tools that I could possibly use elsewhere, like reviving the 'zine I started back in university, for which Jeff's and my personal site is named: The Electric Penguin.

But I am going to be super-careful about not letting The Dandelion Report turn into another Inkspot in terms of time-stress headaches. I'm not committing to a deadline for the launch of the "new" Dandelion Report. I'm going to work on it over time, and it will remain a hobby (Jeff laughed at me when I said this, because it reminded him of what I said about Inkspot when I first started it).

Anyway, here are some useful resources I've found so far, on my own and also with the help of techie friends:

Webreference introduction to RSS

Webmonkey PHP tutorial

PHP manual

PHP FAQ

If any of you have other suggestions, please do let me know, thanks!

adventures in cooking

As November and NaNoWriMo approaches, I am becoming more and more frantically involved in finishing my current novel. I have written and deleted the last two chapters at least three or four times. Also finished my Press Kit column for Writing-World.com.

I opted to stay home and work on Friday night while Jeff went off to do gaming with the guys in Scarborough. Didn't feel like going out or doing any real cooking. In fact, I didn't really give serious thought to finding food until I was suddenly starving, around 8:30 pm.

What to do? I snooped through the pantry and fridge. Nothing appealed to me. Canned soup? Blech. Instant noodles? Blech. Then I checked the fridge and saw that I still had two Veggie Delight patties left. The product sounded so healthy, delightfully so, when I ordered it from Grocery Gateway. I tried cooking them in my George Foreman grill clone, but they ended up as sodden masses. I figured that I had just chosen the wrong cooking method, however, and decided to give them another go.

This time I opted for the method suggested on the package, which was to coat the bottom of a frying pan with cooking spray, then heat the patties on medium heat for eight minutes. Except the two patties in the package were frozen together. They had a square of paper between them, but I only managed to tear off the paper around the edges when I tried using it separate the patties. I tried a spoon. I tried a knife. Nothing worked.

In retrospect, I should have just popped the frozen patty sculpture into the microwave for a few seconds to soften them up enough to separate, but I was too hungry to wait.

They'll separate more easily if I heat them up a bit, I thought confidently, and threw them into the frying pan, paper and all.

At first things looked good. I heard sizzling, and a yummy fragrance arose. After a few minutes, I tried separating the patties. No dice; they were still frozen solid in the center. Hm.

I cooked them some more. They started crisping on the outside. Tried separating them again. Nope.

I started panicking with the outside surface of each patty started turning black, and I began scraping the softened patty mush off the frozen bit each side, hoping that eventually I'd get to the center. This method finally worked, except that I ended up with a misshapen mushy lumps consisting of overcooked bits and undercooked bits all mixed together.

I did take a photo, but it was so gross-looking that I couldn't bear to post it. I kid you not.

But by this time, I was so hungry that I ate everything anyway. It was okay-tasting, but the texture was truly revolting, probably similar to what it would be like to eat wet paper pulp, or day-old cold cheese pizza that had been put through a blender.

Then I got a craving for chocolate. I know, you're all shocked. Maybe it had something to do with my recent chocolate polls, but I suddenly had to have some chocolate, even just a little bit. But AUGH, there was none in the pantry, none in the shelves, none in the fridge.

On a whim, I decided to check the freezer. AND THERE WAS CHOCOLATE! (insert sound of angelic choir here) Okay, so it was only white baking chocolate (stop grimacing, Joey), but still...! It even came in little neatly wrapped squares. I have no idea how long it had been there. I know I must have been the one to buy it and put it in the freezer, but I had no recollection.

I took out a square and unwrapped it, tried gnawing on it. It was frozen solid.

This time I remembered the microwave, put the square on a plate, stuck it in the microwave. Jeff and I have a Junior Samsung microwave oven left over from the Inkspot office because our original microwave stopped working and we never got around to replacing it. Anyway, none of our plates fit into this tiny microwave except for the smallest saucer, which still has to be inserted on a tilt (making it impossible to microwave anything slightly liquid unless it fits in a mug).

Anyway, I stuck the unwrapped square on a plate and tilted it into our microwave, zapped it for ten seconds. Checked. Still frozen, but the plate was somewhat warm. Zapped it for 30 seconds. Checked. Still frozen, but the plate was much warmer. In fact, one side of the plate was almost too hot to touch.

Hm, not good. Maybe it wasn't frozen after all, but just petrified by old age.

I'll bet you're all thinking that at this point I decided the heck with it and zapped it until it melted and ran off the plate and burned and exploded in our junior microwave, aren't you?

HA! WRONG! I gave up on the microwave idea completely, took out the still rock-hard square, began gnawing at it. Didn't taste half-bad, really, once I managed to actually get a piece off the darned thing.

And that was my adventure in cooking yesterday. I'll bet you're all dying to come over for dinner, aren't you? Just give me some warning so I can order more Veggie Delights.

Links/News:

Andrea has asked me to record some flute and possibly vocals on one of the tracks ("Saxophone In Spring", a song we co-wrote) on her upcoming CD, which I'll be doing sometime during OVFF. Many thanks to Bill Sutton for arranging to bring recording gear!

My songwriting music theory column has been updated on Muses Muse, for those interested.

One year ago, my American friend Andrea had to translate my Canadian English for a waitress in a Cincinnati restaurant. I also visited my editor at Writer's Digest/F&W, which is also when I pitched my Market Watch column idea. 9-month-old Nicholas does his very first Guest Blathering.

Three years ago, Jeff and I moved furniture into the new Inkspot office with the help of Scott, Helen, Parki and Doug. Ruth "thanked" me for giving Sara and Anne a tape with Aqua's Barbie Girl song recorded on it multiple times.

Four years ago, I danced alone in my office and my friend Andrew did a Guest Blathering. Andrew (who works at Apple in California), by the way, has a Movable Type blog that will especially be of interest to technonerdboys/girls.

Five years ago, Jodi, Allison, John & I had brunch with Scott Snyder.

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Today's Blatherpics

Can't recall where I took this photo, sorry. I do remember Luisa was with me, whatever restaurant it was, and we both liked this bottle of olive oil that was on the table.

grade two

To the filkers out there: Don't forget that the deadline for e-mail Pegasus Award ballots is today. You can find voting ballots here.

The photo above is of my Grade 2 class in Earnscliffe Public School in 1969. You can click on it to see a larger version. There are two children circled: me and my friend Cathy Rutland. My mom made the dress I'm wearing.

I used the class photo in a birthday card I made for Cathy, who turned forty yesterday, and we both spent part of lunch trying to figure out how many kids we could remember. The answer: not many. I remember having a crush on Bobby Faltynek (top row, third from the right, manic grin). I remember, years later, hearing that Chuck Huber (second row, third from the right) had died in the line of duty as a firefighter.

Very strange, looking back at this class photo and seeing it from two perspectives: (1) as a little kid again, clearly remembering these children as my peers, along with the insecurities and crushes and heartache and joys, and (2) as an adult seeing a bunch of little kids who are younger than my niece Sara is now.





Cathy and I took yesterday afternoon off to celebrate her 40th birthday. We had lunch in the Elmwood Spa restaurant, and each had a spa treatment; she had a Moor Mud Wrap while I opted for a Swedish Massage. After our treatments, we spent a few hours in the water therapy section, alternating between the steam room, sauna, whirlpool and pool.

During one of our stints in the steam room, one of the cleaning staff took away our robes, which were hanging just outside. Have to wonder what they were thinking, since they must have heard us talking inside! My glasses were inside the pocket of my robe, and both of us had the combination tags to our lockers in our pockets as well. While Cathy searched the laundry bins in case someone had tossed the robes there, I wandered (blindly) out to the water therapy front desk, to tell them what happened. They got my glasses back, and wrote down our locker combinations on slips of paper. No one apologized, which I found odd.

Of all my friends, I've known Cathy the longest: thirty-three years. Kind of cool, knowing a non-family person that long, because each of us has a longterm context on which to base our friendship, and have seen each other go through many changes in our lives. I also have found that I feel an extra special bond with friends who knew my mother and my brother Jim.

Anyway, it was a wonderful sort of afternoon, lazing about in steam rooms and whirlpools with an old friend.

I'll be working through most of the weekend to make up for my indulgent Monday (spent in Ottawa) and for yesterday, but it was worth it. :-)





Links/News:

Four years ago, Andrea did a Guest Blather.

Five years ago, Jeff met Scott Snyder and Adam English for the first time.

poll: more chocolate

Had a crabby day yesterday. It was the kind of day where almost everything irritated me, from the obnoxious spam e-mails once again insisting that I wanted a large penis to the hassles I've had with Grocery Gateway trying to get a refund to problems I've been having with outgoing mail recently.

Have any of you ever had this kind of day? Inevitably it progresses to the point where every little thing that happens only serves to confirm my overall sense that the world was Out To Get Me.

"Did you SEE the way the traffic light turned red JUST AS I GOT TO THE CORNER?"

"Eep, just dropped my toast. Now, just watch it land on the buttered side down. SEE? SEE THAT?! WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!!"

etc.

By late afternoon, even -I- felt like slapping myself around. Good thing Jeff wasn't around.

Then it was time to drop everything and take the subway up to Finch to meet Allison and Jodi for dinner. By the time I got to Bloor and Yonge, however, I was starting to de-froth. I also started to feel like the world's biggest whiner. I mean, it was only last week I was telling everyone how happy I was.

And so I did what I usually do in this kind of circumstance. Reminded myself of some of the bad times in my life, what that was like. Mentally compared that to what things are like now. I'm healthier and happier than I have been in a long time, and have a wonderful husband, family and friends.

And then I remind myself that I never ever want to become the kind of person that gets so obsessed with what are ultimately trivial irritations in life that she forgets the overall picture. I'm sure you've all met this kind of bitter cynic, the kind who is so afraid of life disappointments that she protects herself (or himself) with sarcasm and put-downs, both of herself and other people.

I think I'd rather suffer through a lifetime of penis enlargement spam mailings than become like that.

Anyway, by the time I got to Finch, I was fine. And hanging out with Allison and Jodi at the Pickle Barrel was way fun as usual, ending the day on a high note.

But back to chocolate...

I feel compelled to continue my chocolate poll from yesterday a step further, please forgive me. I actually added this poll question to yesterday's topic, but decided to delete it because I realized it deserved an entire Blathering to itself.

The poll:

Boxed chocolate: Choice and Strategies?

By boxed chocolate, I mean the boxes of chocolate typically used as gifts, often with two trays of a variety of chocolates, filled or otherwise. Some come with "maps" giving information about what types of chocolates there are in the collection, and how to identify them.

First of all, do you like boxed chocolates? Or do you prefer chocolate bars, where you get more of one specific type of chocolate? What is your favourite type of box chocolate? Do you use the chocolate map, or prefer to sample randomly? What are your favourite types? Least favourite?

My favourites: chocolate-covered cherries, and anything with dollops of caramel.

If you picked a chocolate, took a bit of out of it, disliked it, would you force yourself to eat the rest, or would you throw it out?

There are so many ways of comparing box chocolate and the strategy for approaching box chocolate to Real Life that I won't even try. Besides, you've probably already heard the most cliched examples already.

Links/News:

For those going to OVFF: The OVFF concom sent me guest bios and programming info this morning; I've posted it. FYI, someone else will be taking over hosting and maintaining the site after next weekend's conference.

One year ago, I was leaving for OVFF.

Two years ago, I was a speaker at the Surrey Writer's Workshop in B.C.

Four years ago, Tom and Andrea did Guest Blatherings.

Five years ago, Scott Snyder and Adam English did Guest Blatherings.

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Today's Blatherpics:

Helen (who posts as "antonlerchner" in Blatherchat) and Alec, who got married in London on Oct. 12th.

poll: chocolate bars

I don't usually create detailed outlines for my books, which is one reason I'm purposely doing so this time around, as an experiment for NaNoWriMo. I've never liked writing detailed outlines because I find them too restrictive, but with one month to write 50,000 words, I can't afford to go off on tangents and plot dead ends ("Holy cow, what was I thinking, killing off the main character?").

I'm also being more diligent about writing out character descriptions and motivations. Don't want one of the lead character's hair to change from brown to orange 2/3 way through the book, after all. Characterization is always a priority for me when I'm writing fiction. If a character doesn't seem to take on his or her own personality while I'm writing, the story isn't worth writing.

My experience co-writing the short story with Michelle was educational that way. We sketched out a rough (very rough) plot outline before we started writing, so I tried to stick with it, but started having tremendous difficulty with one spot because one of the lead characters kept wanting to veer off from our established plotline during one of my contribution turns.

"Let her," Michelle told me.

"But...but...I thought we agreed that she'd do XXXX at that point in the story!" I said, horrified.

"I know, but why don't we let her do what she wants, and we'll see what happens?"

So I did, and we adjusted the rest of the story accordingly, and it worked.

Sometimes, however, my characters need reigning in with a firm hand. They go power-mad otherwise, wreaking havoc with my carefully constructed character dynamics, or turning into people I know. I always have to be careful about the latter, because that's a whole other kind of restriction I want to avoid for lots of reasons.

Suppose character X starts turning into Jeff, for example. There's no way Jeff is going to read through my story and NOT recognize himself. And then how will he feel when he finds out I have him doing and saying all kinds of horrible things? Also, I don't want to be restricted when I'm writing the story ("The real Jeff wouldn't do that, so I can't have character X/pseudo-Jeff do that either").

But I do admit that nearly all my story characters almost always have a bit of someone I know inside them, even if it's a really nasty sort of character you wouldn't want to run across in real life. I don't do it on purpose; it just happens.




Many thanks to Jeff and Parki for getting rid of the bugs in my Blatherings RSS feed. You should be able to subscribe to:

http://www.electricpenguin.com/blatherings/index.rdf

or click on the nifty RSS badge/link in the footer of this page. I just have to remember to include full paths instead of relative paths for my images so that they show up in the feed, and I'm also going to start including brief entry descriptions for those who do the RSS thing.

Jeff and I went to look at two more houses yesterday. Both were nice, but the locations weren't ideal. The second house offered chocolate bars and sandwiches which was nice, but not enough to make us put in an offer.

Which brings us to today's poll: chocolate bars.

What are your favourite and least favourite chocolate bars? Dark or light? Do you consider yourself a chocolate snob?

My favourites include: any pure chocolate (NOT CAROB) bar, Black & White (I think that's the company, it's from the UK?) chocolate bars, Caramilk, Mars, Milky Way, Skor, Hershey's Cookies'n'Creme, Fusion, chocolate bars with crispy rice bits mixed in. I tend to prefer chocolate bars without nuts. As for dark or milk or white, I like them all. Having to choose one type as my favourite would be like asking a parent to choose which of her children is her favourite.

Least favourite: Crispy Crunch.

Answer in Blatherchat





Links/News:

One year ago, I posted a photo of airport security soon after 9/11.

Four years ago, I talked about the pros and cons of working at home.

Five years ago, Scott Snyder did a Guest Blathering.

Today's Blatherpic:

	Pumpkins in the Byward Market, Ottawa.
	Display in the gift shop at the Canadian Mint, promotion for the Lord of the Rings collector coin set. Frodo is wearing a Canadian Mint cap.
	An indoor mall in Byward Market.