What you did today

[Jasede]

I told someone on the internet they were wrong.

[Malcador]

I told someone on the internet they were wrong.

 

Did they ignore you ?

[Fionavar]

Some serious Pathfinder geckling-action after completing two research texts!

[Sensuki]

I'm mostly stuck trying to figure out how to make the first chapter interesting. You have to get your hook out there, otherwise both publishers and readers won't bother with the rest. I feel I may have backloaded mine a bit. And I'm wary about using in media res.

 

Well George R. R. Martin wrote that prologue chapter pretty late on actually. Chapter 1 was the first chapter he wrote. Perhaps leave the opening chapter and come back to it later when you've got a better idea how to do it.

[LadyCrimson]

Ate Chinese food. I still laugh at hubby's inability to eat rice with a fork. Learned he'll have the week around Xmas off after all, which is always nice. Played games until we were almost falling asleep. Hubby's already asleep and snoring, think I'll go join him. To sleep, that is. I don't snore. Sometimes I snuffle a little, but I don't snore. Definitely not. Nope. Never.

[Calax]

Attempting to write a paper on a topic that I despise... but am supposed to like because my professor Grad Student says so.

 

It's about the terror that is "Industrial Tourism" but I always have this nagging question of "How the hell does Mr. "I own the park" Ranger expect for the National Park Service to pay for his job if he has at best 100 people in his 30k acres... much less the upkeep on the park!?" Now I have to come up with a 2 page paper that has a similar rhetorical style... with the exact same gigantic hole in the logic.

[LadyCrimson]

Snacks/drinks in hand, check. A few people to hang out with, check. Baseball cap ready. Check. Journey's Don't Stop Believin' ready to play at a moment's notice. Check.

 

I'm off for some World Series party-time.

[Cantousent]

Why even bother watching the game? The Giants are winning this series in a walk. Geez, you'd like them to make a series out of it.

 

Anyhow, I just got back home and I'm beat as hell. I'm taking a nap before I go to church tonight.

[Hurlshort]

That's why it's so fun Cant! The Giant's team is an odd bunch, and they are a ton of fun to root for.

 

I'm also heading out to a World Series/Octoberfest party in a few. Should be a lot of fun!

[Fionavar]

Well put Hurlshot! Looking forward to seeing if it's all wrapped up in 4!

[WDeranged]

I got a haircut in my parents' village, I dunno whether it's the lighting or if maybe the mirror is cursed but I always look freaking terrible in there

[Monte Carlo]

Trying to figure out how and where to start my novel. This attempt has been my most fulfilling one, except for the complete lack of a place to actually start the story.

 

There are a dozen ways to do it. You can have fun with it.

 

For example, write a sequence with lots of stuff happening in it. Don't explain WTF is happening, just write the scene. Then chop that scene in half. Start at the second half. It might be an argument, a sword fight, a car crash... anything.

 

Start your novel there and frame the narrative from that point onwards. Let the rest back-fill naturally. This will work better with some genres than others.

 

The other one I use all the time is to write three chapters then switch them around, a variation on a theme. My latest submission does this (I swapped chapter two for three and got rid of a whole lot of exposition).

 

If you send me a chapter I will happily read it as a completely impartial observer.

[LadyCrimson]

The Giant's only need to win one more game. Crossing my fingers!

Also...occasionally I ignore the allergies, because there's nothing like a warm kitty on a cool morning.

[Hurlshort]

LC, I'm heading to the Public House, the bar attached to the park, to watch the game today. It should be pretty crazy, hopefully they clinch tonight so I can buy my shirts right there at the park.

[Cantousent]

Good luck with the Giant's game, guys. Judging from the last three, I don't think it should be any problem, but it ain't over til it's over, as they say. So, while you wait in frenzied anticipation, have a beer and a dog for me.

 

I just got up. We did everything we needed to do yesterday and today I slept in to get over whatever mugunga virus has been kicking my backside lately.

[Fionavar]

LC, I'm heading to the Public House, the bar attached to the park, to watch the game today. It should be pretty crazy, hopefully they clinch tonight so I can buy my shirts right there at the park.

 

I will have to deal with envy Going to my own local Public House from the Roost too fwiiw

[Meshugger]

Voted in the local municipial elections.

 

Kind of sad that the number of people voting has gone down so drastically through the years for these kinds of elections, since it is about matters that actually affect everyday life.

[Syraxis]

Just found out class is canceled for the next two days. Hurricane apocalypse, ho!

[Fish Of Doom]

went to the local zombie walk and took a bunch of cool pictures.

[Tigranes]

Mozart, Dvorak, Brahms at the city orchestra. Impending hurricane meant a nice half-empty theatre.

 

It probably is another sorry testament of the American tastebud that at the grocery store, the place was all out of bread, onions, and then all kinds of frozen and instant foods. Meanwhile, most fruits and vegetables were left unpilfered by the horde.

[Cantousent]

You know what's funny as regards fruits and veggies at the grocery. I do the vast majority of the shopping and I was picking through the fruit one day when the produce manager comes up and shakes my hand and tells me that he sometimes thinks that I single handedly keep the produce section in business. lol Pure hyperbole, but I do buy a ton of fresh fruit and vegetables. Of couse you know, Tig, that frozen fruit is often better than fresh stuff depending on from how far away the produce is shipped. I mean, the fresh stuff invariably tastes better, but frozen stuff tends to retain its dietary benefits quite well. That said, I use fresh everything as much as possible and, living in California, I can get a lot of the stuff from local markets and the like.

 

EDIT: Sorry, been lazing around the house watching tv with the wife and playing my current game of New Vegas. The Brotherhood of Steel story always depresses me.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Cantousent

[Tigranes]

I'm a reasonably health conscious person and I probably eat better than the statistical average in this country, but I'm far from chewing obscure fruits while jogging and am ignorant about a lot of those things. Meaning that fresh > frozen seems to be a General Rule that does me by OK. Good to know regarding fruit, though.

 

Given I'm also a terrible cook that nevertheless insists on the benefits of homemade meals, tomorrow I'll try and negotiate the easiest way to cook a combination of different coloured things in my fridge. Probably means raw capsicum, boiled beans, boiled eggs and some nuts, or some other ungodly collection. (I can cook some real dishes, but they're mostly Korean.)

[Kor Qel Droma]

You know what's funny as regards fruits and veggies at the grocery. I do the vast majority of the shopping and I was picking through the fruit one day when the produce manager comes up and shakes my hand and tells me that he sometimes thinks that I single handedly keep the produce section in business. lol Pure hyperbole, but I do buy a ton of fresh fruit and vegetables. Of couse you know, Tig, that frozen fruit is often better than fresh stuff depending on from how far away the produce is shipped. I mean, the fresh stuff invariably tastes better, but frozen stuff tends to retain its dietary benefits quite well. That said, I use fresh everything as much as possible and, living in California, I can get a lot of the stuff from local markets and the like.

 

EDIT: Sorry, been lazing around the house watching tv with the wife and playing my current game of New Vegas. The Brotherhood of Steel story always depresses me.

 

Do you ever pick up any of the organic produce, Cantoeldar? Can you tell a difference is taste?

[Cantousent]

I can tell the difference between some items, but I'm never sure if it's because it's organic or because it's local and fresher or just the brand is better. Typically, if I'm trying to impress someone with my home cooked meal, I'm willing to purchase better ingredience, even if there are times when I can't really see the difference. I think the brand of organic milk I get is better, and I tend to buy it most often. In terms of produce, fresh stuff from the local farmers market is better in my opinion. ...But most of the time I just grab what's handy and use that. I cook a lot. For you guys, if we ever had an Osbidian block party, I'd make a couple of my homemade bulgogi pizzas from scratch. lol How's that for fusion cuisine. hehe

[Tigranes]

Bulgogi pizzas, I'll have you know, are very well loved in Korea. You can put bulgogi on anything.

 

I generally go towards organic produce, which is rather unwise on a student budget, but for now I'm a hapless victim of the organic marketing discourse of the times. Sometimes I can tell the difference, but usually...