29 October 2010

My brain scares me.

You know you're bored when you're doing random websearches that eventually lead your brain to the following:

Someone should make a steampunk Borg!

At which point you (you guessed it) websearch it and find this picture.

And you proceed to think:

Well, it's pretty good. The arm looks smashing! But it could be better if he did more with the clothing part of the costume and added the right Borg-ish make-up.

. . .

I have a very scary brain sometimes.

28 October 2010

Friday Halloween Quizzage

Here's a particularaly silly quiz with a particularly silly result for Halloween. (Although it occurs to me that this isn't too far off what I look like in my Witch costume for Macbeth.)

Quiz! Which Hollywood Starlet Are You Best Suited To Dress-Up As This Halloween?
Lady Gaga Your style is daring, to say the least. It shocks those around you. This Halloween, try to let loose, leave your lonely studio for just one night, and have fun with friends.
Fun quizzes, surveys & blog quizzes by Quibblo

26 October 2010

Autumn Traditions

Autumn has struck here with a vengeance. Lots of wind and rain--and the small power outages that tend to come with the wind and the rain. I love autumn, though. I love the wacky weather. I love the colours that the leaves turn. There are a couple of streets near me where the trees all look like flavours of jam. There's apricot and plum and golden raspberry peach. Makes me hungry for a PB&J just looking at them. Halloween decorations are appearing in people's yards, too. I put mine out Saturday--just before the weather hit. I haven't done that the past two years because I haven't been home on Halloween, and I've missed the ritual digging out of the big plastic bin and the unpacking of the decorations.

Another autumn tradition I enjoy is roasting pumpkins. I'll do that next week. It makes the whole house smell pumpkiny good! I'm a freak for autumn foods, you see. Last night it was butternut squash enchiladas. Last week it was pasta with mushroom sauce. The week before was sweet potato and chick pea stew. Mmmm! The flavours of fall!

Let's not forget the tradition of watching Kenneth Branagh's Henry V on St. Crispin's Day. (That was yesterday, in case you didn't know. This year is the 595th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.)

And last but far from least, there's the autumn--or more specifically November--tradition of NaNoWriMo. I'm participating again this year. This is year five for me. I've "won" every year, but this time I'm not so sure I'll make it. I'm even less prepared than usual, I'm afraid. We'll see. I am a competitive person, even when I'm just competing with myself, so perhaps I'll bring in another one. ::fingers crossed::

So, what about you? What autumnal traditions do you most enjoy?

23 October 2010

Novella Submission

Submitted a novella to Torquere Press yesterday. It's a great book, if I say so myself, and it deserves some love (by someone besides me and my beta readers). It's in the same universe as all my other stories except False Dawn. Cross your fingers for me, please.

18 October 2010

Monday Quizzage

Clearly, it is a productive Monday in my world.

The Zombie Bite Calculator

Created by Oatmeal

Really, though, I have three manuscripts...wait... ::thinking hard:: ...four manuscripts out with beta readers right now. And I'm making mental notes for NaNoWriMo, which fast approacheth.

And laundry. There is always laundry on Monday.