By: Rebecca,
on 3/7/2008
Kirsty expertly handled link love last week so some of these links are a week old- but I think they are still relevant. So get busy procrastinating!
Web 2.0 isn’t exactly democratic but does it matter if it works?
Jeff Jarvis’s tribute to twitter.
A visual tour through 79 years of Best Picture awards. My favorite poster is GiGi. (more…)
By: Lili Wilkinson,
on 2/8/2008
Er, I mean Obama. Are they actually different people?
There's been much Debate amongst the troops about whether we like Santos Obama or Hillary better. And I know there must be many Americans who are also struggling with this decision. So, for all of the THOUSANDS of Americans that I know read this blog, here is my helpful guide:
Candidates as gaming consoles (Hillary is the well-funded and experienced Xbox 360, Santos Obama: "Yes Wii Can!")
Candidates as D&D characters.
Candidates as Muppets (thanks, Snazzy!)
BUT SERIOUSLY
This is a really useful website that has a QUIZ to match your priorities against the candidates'. Environment and Education make me squarely on the Santos Obama train.
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By: Terry Lee Wilde,
on 12/16/2007
Sometimes it's not enough to set goals. Sometimes it helps to let others know your goals. Then they can ask if you've accomplished them. Annoying when you haven't. But sometimes just knowing someone will help to keep you honest, makes all the difference in the world.
I was writing a new novel, but the holidays have put a crimp in my writing. Right. In truth I'm procrastinating because I'm not sure where I'm going with the story. So I find other things I must do, and take a lot longer doing them while avoiding what I set out to do--which is write the new novel.
The muse isn't going to jump out and hit me on the head and say here I am, here's the story, here, write it. Sometimes it does. But most often it doesn't. So I have to make it happen. The laundry won't clean itself, neither will the pots and pans. The mowing has to be done, the weedeating too. Christmas cards? Argh.
Organization is the key. Make a list of what you want to accomplish, and try to stick to it. It's amazing how easy it is to get sidetracked when we don't set goals. Even if you don't accomplish everything in the day, keep track of it and have weekly goals, monthly goals.
What is your biggest time waster? Playing video games? Watching tv? Surfing the net? Allow for only so much time to do these things. Better yet, make it a gift to yourself. Work first, then play.
That's how it was when I was growing up. Go to school, come home and do homework and then the rest of the time was free time to play. Somehow the Internet has made me lose sight of work first, and play later. :)
So make a list, and then do what's listed. Fight procrastination! Make it happen!
By: Justine Larbalestier,
on 12/9/2007
So that I can better get to know what you, the reader, thinks, I have added a poll thingie to the sidebar.1
The first poll is about winter because I need to know if the total darkness before 5PM and constant cold and the only decent fruit & veg being apples and pumpkin is bumming out anyone other than me.2 Tell me I am not alone!
That it’s December and I’m still stuck in the Northern hemisphere fills my soul with despair.
Here have some more quokkas:
More sunshine & quokkas. Look what the peoples wear! Lucky, lucky bastards.
Okay, that didn’t make it warmer or lighter or less depressing here . . .
Update: I have just learned that creating a new poll instantly replaces the old one. I’d planned to leave the winter poll up for awhile but I done killed it. Thus there is a new poll, which I will not tinker with until next Sunday. This is my punishment for futzing about with the blog3 when I should be nosegrinding towards my deadline. I am bad.
Update 2: I don’t even know how I broke the poll this time. I am turning the internets off and stapling myself to the grindstone.
Update 3: Stupid poll software. I kick it.
By: Jason,
on 8/7/2007
I have a big deadline in the morning but instead I did this little vector 'doodle'.
Clearly a case of chronic procrastination...
My blog
By: Rebecca,
on 7/20/2007
Happy Friday everyone. I hope it is an uneventful weekend for you, no steam pipe explosions, no torrential rain, no visits from he-who-must-not-be-named (sorry had to get the Harry Potter joke in). Below are some links to keep you busy while you while away this summer Friday.
By: Lili Wilkinson,
on 7/13/2007
?
Did you know that the question mark is a stylised q on top of a very tiny o? It was monkish shorthand for questio, which they used to write at the end of a sentence to indicate it was a question.
!
Oh, and the exclamation mark is a stylised io, which means "exclamation of joy" in Latin.
&
This little critter didn't get a name until the 19th century, when it was taught as the 27th letter of the alphabet. The kiddies felt Awkward saying "w, x, y and and", so they said "w, x, y and, per se, and". Which turned into ampersand.
via Neatorama.
By: Alan Silberberg,
on 7/2/2007
That's our dog, Zeus staring out at the view I got to have for seven incredible days... but that was then and now...
I'm home!
I'll admit - its' nice to be back and if I get to post twice this month I will far exceed my expectations! It's Summer and it's Book Two's turn for my as much of my attention as I can give it. In Maine I was able to sit staring at the ocean and feel the cool morning breezes while turning out pages every day! Every day! I love when that happens, when the book takes more than a few tinny baby steps and begins to show off a little leg!
I am dodging bullets in the way of freelance jobs that threaten to bring my crawling book to a halt. But what can we do? Bills need payin' and I do enjoy to eat a meal now and again.
Hey - how many of you zip over to JacketFlap just to see who was "recently on"? Come on? Fess up. I've now added that click to my frequent Amazon, and Google procrastinating clicks. Try it - it's fun. Easy. And then you can go back to work, I promise! And if you haven't signed up - rush right over now and become part of the publishing network.
Speaking of which - I was just over there on JacketFlap and the blog being highlighted at the moment (how come it's never my blog when I click over?) was David Lubar's "Gadfly in the Ointment". He's so funny and his observations...well, very David Lubar.
Last week he linked to a post that all kid writers MUST read - it's from Kate Messner's blog and it's a real pick-me-up from a 7th grade teacher and writer. Go look!
In related news: I got me a new laptop!!! Yay! The black macbook is my companion for my upcoming LA trip. It's so sleek and fun. Apple you have my heart once again.....
Read the rest of this post
By: Lili Wilkinson,
on 6/30/2007
It is Sunday, so it is time for a Meme. This one is stealed from Penni.
The usual iTunes on Shuffle thing. No cheating. If my life were a movie, this would be the soundtrack:
Opening Credits
Thanks a Lot by Third Eye Blind
hmm, not really a cheery one, but at least there are zombies
Waking Up
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band by The Beatles
it was twenty years ago today…
First Day At School
Just B’Cos, Machine Gun Fellatio
I see your shape in the crowd
I turn to know where you are
But all around is a stage of high-density housing
Falling In Love
Hernando’s Hideaway by Doris Day (from The Pyjama Game)
I know a dark, secluded place
a place where no one knows your face
a glass of wine, a strong embrace.
I’m going to fall in love in a speakeasy!
Fight Song
Happy Feet by Kermit the Frog
can’t you imagine him kicking someone in the head to this?
Breaking Up
The More You Ignore Me by The Smiths
Beware! I bear more grudges
Than lonely high court judges
Prom
A Little Less Conversation by Elvis (via JXL)
A little more action, please!
Life
Great Southern Land by Icehouse
so you look into the land and it will tell you a story
story 'bout a journey ended long ago
if you listen to the motion of the wind in the mountains
maybe you can hear them talking like I do
Mental Breakdown
Dive by David Bridie
the ocean is rising, i feel the water storming in
the ocean is waiting, it's waiting for me to dive right in
Driving
Sparks by The Who
Flashback
A Menuetto from the Bach Cello Suites, performed by YoYo Ma
Getting back together
Wingspan, by Cymbals.
Spread your wings so wide / Free your mind
Wedding
There is a Light that Never Goes Out, Neil Finn
And if a double decker bus kills the both of us
Today by your side, is such a heavenly way to die
If i ever get married, this is totally going on the playlist.
Birth of Child
Caroline by Old Crow Medicine Show
They say you were born in St. Claire’s hospital
I say you were born up in the sky
You come floatin’ down over New Orleans
To the sweet green levee on the river side
And your voice chirped like old squeaky shoes
Final Battle
Sad Professor, by REM.
Dear Readers, I’m not sure where I’m heading
I’ve gotten lost before.
I’ve woke up stone drunk face-down on the floor.
Death Scene
Every Day Is Like Sunday by Morrissey
This is the coastal town
That they forgot to close down
Armageddon - come armageddon!
Come, armageddon! come!
Funeral Song
Sing by the Sesame Street Kids.
Sing, Sing a Song. Sing out loud. Sing out Strong.
Sing of good things, not bad.
Sing of happy, not sad.
wow. i totally want that at my funeral!
End Credits
Calling all Angels, KD Lang and Jane Siberry
but if you could...do you think you would
trade in all the pain and suffering?
ah, but then you'd miss
the beauty of the light upon this earth
and the sweetness of the leaving
Hmm. Doesn't sound like it's going to be a feel-good romcom type of film/life. Oh well.
they might be one of the most adorable species i’ve ever seen.
i love their name. ah, native floridians. who have no cool native animals. okay, that’s not true. but none as cute and unscale-y as those little poofballs.
i want one…. do they hop?
i just have to say that it’s really cool to see your comments on scott’s blog. You are just so much more fiesty than he is. I like it… haha!
also, what’s it like being married to a fellow writer? (you must be asked this a lot). I’m a writer, and usually date musicians… it must be said, that they are moody and way too sensitive (as a writer, i think i MUST be very sarcastic) and even though they’re really cute, they always bug the hell out of me, and then never think that writers are artists… NOT COOL. I think I want to try out a painter next… drummers just always have the best hair! ahh
to the point… I like winter clothes, especially scarfs! (I was just knitting one, but i ran out of yarn -_-) but yes, the cold is not very fun.
-Liset (who is sorry for this VERY long comment)
Okay, the poll didn’t have an answer for me. I’m in Brisbane, and it’s summer now, but the worst thing about winter was that it was way too hot. The worst thing about summer is that it’s way too hot. Also, it is way too humid but at some point there will be a thunderstorm, so I guess it’s alright.
Also, quokkas kinda creep me out. Possums do too, actually.
Also, liset - I make it a rule never to date writers or songwriters anymore, because they are always cute, always say the perfect thing and i always end up kicking them in the shins.
oh, i can say “you’re insane” because i’m in california.
it was sunny an’ gorgeous today - a little cold, like 55 degrees f. - so i bundled up in scarf and coat - but still brilliantly blue, and perfect.
you sound like me! the cold is so miserable. Is there somewhere on this earth that isn’t scourged by it at some time of the year, or do we just have to keep hopping continents to run from it?
Yeah, I put that you’re insane, too, because it’s 80 in FL and my orange tree is giving me fresh homegrown oranges, which is comforting, because if it was giving me watermellons, I’d be a little concerned.
Better to envy this summer from a distance: it’s a stinker. More humid than any summer since 1984. I would hang my t-shirt out to dry with me still in it if I thought it would help. And I’m up in Canberra - I believe Sydney is worse. The storms are worse, too, in Sydney.
Did that cheer you up? Knowing that you could be here and complaining about the weather instead of there and complaining about the weather?
Gillian: You don’t understand! I love humidity! I love summer storms! Once the temperature gets above 20C I’m happy. Unbearably hot for me is over 45C.
I think I’m going to have to ban everyone who lives somewhere without actual winter: ie Brisbane, Sydney, California, Florida etc. Those places do not have winter. If it doesn’t hurt to breathe, if you don’t have to wear hat, gloves, scarf, and michelin man coat from head to toe to go outside for more than a few seconds you are not living in real winter.
I hereby bequeath you every future humid day for the next 20 years. (I’m a kind person
)
I hate snowpants. I hate them I hate them I hate them. Actually, they are better than snowoveralls.
I think winter should only be cold on snow-days.
I’m in the loves winter category, real winter too, Minnesota/Wisconsin we’ve got two feet of snow and it was 0 degrees Fahrenheit here last night winter. Skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, hooray. BTW, we’ve met at WisCon. I mostly lurk but felt the need to defend true winter just this once.
I’m in Arizona and we are having a typical arizona winter here. It has been 60F and a little rainy. But this week is supposed to clear up and be in the mid 60’s (f). You’d like it here!
You should move to Georgia…our high today is supposed to be 76 and its been hot all weekend and the likelyhood of snow is slim and none for this winter…
I hate the getting dark so early, but I kind of like my winter clothes. I live in Dallas, TX, so it doesn’t get particularly cold here. I think last year it got down to 19 once, and that was about it. Right now I just wish it would pick one. It has been going:
Monday - 79
Tuesday - 80
Wednesday - 43
Thursday - 45
Friday - 81
Agg. 43 isn’t *that* cold, but it sure feels cold when it was 80 the day before!
the dark is getting me down a bit at the moment. I’ve started buying insane amounts of candles and even (gasp) a little wooden plate to put my candles on, to huge laughs from my boyfriend who accuses me of ‘decorating’.
Justine: “Sydney winters are lovely.”
But also: “I think I’m going to have to ban everyone who lives somewhere without actual winter: ie Brisbane, Sydney, California, Florida etc. Those places do not have winter.”
Hmmm…..
Growing up in Northern California has spoiled me for any other climate, I’m afraid. I don’t like cold weather, which means anything that makes my ears cold. I don’t like hot weather, especially when it’s humid, which means anything other than bone dry. If it rains for more than about two days in a row, I start to feel sulky.
winters are the times that let us know that living is not easy or a given. That’s the beauty of snow and ice, the beauty of life in all its hard won glory glistening right outside your window, your shelter, the original cave redecorated. real seasons remind us of the world turning and those times where the veil between worlds is it thinest.
Steve: real seasons remind us of the world turning and those times where the veil between worlds is it thinest.
So does sickness and death and I ain’t loving them either.
you are bad.
Wow, I am 100% of the votes!
nno your not!
I feel for you Justine! I’ve lived the last 6 years in SoCal, so when it hits 70 degrees I’m DYING of cold. And the rational part of my brain tells me my cousins in Illinois would think 70 is just heavenly. BUT IT IS NOT WHEN YOU ARE USED 100 DEGREES!
steve: philosofical answers are not happy. i don’t like having to justify my answers for why i hate winter.
also, justine, i am totally with you on the banning people who don’t have real winter on blogs about coldness. if i read one more comment on how it is gorgeous with sunny blue skies and 60s/70s/80s in places that i don’t live in i will scream. seriously. people who are experiencing good weather cannot comment on this post.
Hilary!: That’s right. It’s all relative. And relative to what I’m used the current temperatures in NYC are killing me!
Calliope: You tell them! Smug bastards. We don’t care that they’re warm, do we? I hope surf boards fall on every single one of them. Even if they live inland.
justine: “I think I’m going to have to ban everyone who lives somewhere without actual winter: ie Brisbane, Sydney, California, Florida etc. Those places do not have winter. If it doesn’t hurt to breathe, if you don’t have to wear hat, gloves, scarf, and michelin man coat from head to toe to go outside for more than a few seconds you are not living in real winter.”
even the ones who try to send you sunshine?
My sweetheart lives in England and he is all NOT enjoying winter either. I frequently tease him by telling him “oh yes, I played cricket on the beach today (true) in a purple bikini (not true, everyone knows the proper cricket bikini colour is white….)” but I would not do that to you justine! I just do it to him because he is a guy and it is fun to watch his eyes roll up in his head when his brain short circuits via webcam.
I remember when I was living in the US, in a southern place where snow was unusual. I had just gotten my driver’s licence and drove to work one night. It was bitterly cold, which was weird for that area. I came out of the hospital where I worked at 4 am to 6 inches of SNOW! I watched one of the residents come slip-sliding into the parking lot, went inside and called a cab! I picked up my car that afternoon when the snow had melted.
Sorry for the long-winded postage!
you’re right of course. it’s hard to stay unhappy when there’s a pool and sunshine outside the back door… even if sweat does drip off you just after you’ve got out of the shower.
i officially ban myself. i’ll be floating in the pool, sipping a mai tai while i wait for you all to finish.
oh, is that a quokka running by? No, just that damn possum that keeps me awake all night. grrr.
I probably can’t be one to complain compared to northern hemisphere weather, but Sydney’s summer weather has hardly been a treat so far.
There’s been six heavy storms in the space of a week — and I don’t mean nice summer storms either. Torrential downpours … inches of rain in 10 minutes, with multiple hail storms that have seriously damaged property and even lead to one death …
It still hasn’t been cold here in Sydney, but damn it’s miserable weather for summer — grey and dark for most of December.
Again, I know it’s still paradise compared to a northern winter, but it’s meant to be summer here!
Ah, well, does it feel better when you get well or skate by death (I’m one of those weird people that death doesn’t scare, not to be confused with idiots that casually tempt it)? calliope, sorry for the philosophical sounding answer.
Okay, so which is better, sweating on the bed for no good reason or snuggling in the warmth of blankets?
I did a stint of work in Dallas, one morning the temps were actually a comfortable 70, I was driving to work with the windows rolled down and my arm out the side. Everybody else had their heaters on.
we had a cold front recently and the low was 54. felt kinda chilly!!
I don’t think we have read winter here in WA (by, you know, snow standards), but my school is all outside. They lock all the rooms at lunch! We are forced to eat out in the cold and rain and slush! Or, you know, in the bathrooms. >.> OUR TOES FREEZE!
Actually, I just eat outside anyway because the rooms smell funny, but if they didn’t smell funny it would be even worse. But the smelly rooms are not the point here. The point is the frozen toes that then have to kick balls around for PE. And everyone who has ever kicked a ball with numb toes knows that it hurts. It’s all rather horrible, really.
quokkas can just wander freely?!? Cool.
You know justine, there are some sites that you can make polls like that and put it on your blog.
Wow, this is the first I have heard of this species, though in the back of my mind I knew that there are plenty of animals, and particularly marsupials, I am still unaware of.
As for winter: As you know, I live within a mile of you, and I think this weather sucks. I walk around wrapped in layer after layer of garments, and at home I huddle wrapped in blankets. Not wild about all the dark either. Spring can come anytime.
your quokkas are not nearly as cute as these little buggers, just discovered in Mongolia. They are called long-eared jerboas and they hop around like teeny tiny kangaroos.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7130484.stm
You can keep your quokkas; I’m a jerboa man all the way!
Eric: You can keep ‘em. Jerboas ain’t marsupials. I don’t hold with anything but marsupials as pets.
justine i am with you all the way. dark, depressing ice storm freezing my cute bootie off is NOT my ideal way of life.
AND THEN DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT NASTY WEATHER DOES?
it makes you sick.
like a dog.
*sniffle*
*cough*
*gag*
*cries*
and i wanted all caps for that one line, why you eat my caps justine? it was just for emphasis! heehee
[…] Eric Luper had the temerity to suggest that quokkas are not the cutest animals on the planet I have devised a new poll. It goes up exactly a day after the last one which I successfully managed […]
Here is my tribute to the long-eared jerboa on my blog:
http://eluper.livejournal.com/53301.html
Of particular interest to children’s writers…