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So, randomly, I'm getting kind of pissed off at FictionPress. I'm getting plenty of readers, but almost none of them are actually REVIEWING. Curse of M has had 20 readers this month, and War has had 27 (I have no idea how the hell the sequel has been read more than the first one, but whatever), but only freaking ONE has left a review. (Weirdly, she read them backwards and apparently they actually made sense. I didn't think that was possible, but I guess it must be for one person, at least.) They're getting favorited, but they're not getting reviewed, and favorites don't help much because they don't actually tell me anything. >:( BOO. </rant>

cheers,

Spam(crankyface)Warrior

Wow, I really fail at updating.

It's disgusting out, so I've done nothing but write today--I'm up to nineteen chapters of War of M, just a little under 140,000 words, and I'm still nowhere near done. Doorstop, here we come.

I'm going to go visit my parents at the end of the month, but I have to get my car fixed first (surprise, surprise)--I've got a cracked CV joint and no way am I going over Stevens with anything even remotely wrong with the thing that actually allows me to turn corners. I also have to take Booger with me, because he's a dog in a cat suit and would go bonkers if I left him, which is going to be...interesting. I've been taking him with me on little errands, trying to acclimate him to being in the car, but I think I'm in for three hours of a lot of yowling. Awesomesauce :(.

Torin's been home sick today. I don't know how he wound up with it, but yesterday he got something really close to the tension headaches I sometimes get, the really crippling ones that you just can't get rid of. I think there must be some sort of virus going around--he can't have the same causes I do, but the symptoms are really similar. Last night I tried everything I normally try on myself (usually without success), and they didn't do him any more good than they usually do me. (I drew the line at my heavy-duty painkillers. I'm sorry, kid, but I am not going to feed you even a tiny bit of Vicoden. And besides, in my experience those sort of painkillers don't work, anyway.)

He still sort of had it this morning, which didn't surprise me in the slightest, so he spent a lot of the day laying down in my room with a bowl, in case he needed to puke, and Booger. He's finally doing better and actually able to move and, you know, eat, so I hope he's over the worst of it. (At one point last night he asked me how I dealt with that kind of tension headache, and I had to say "I mostly just curl up and cry until it goes away." Because...seriously, in my experience that's really all you can do. Nothing I've yet found can shorten their duration even a little, especially once they really get going--he didn't tell me he had a headache until it had gotten really bad, and with those you have to catch them early or you can kiss your day good-bye. I had him take a half-dose of Excedrin as soon as he ate breakfast, which I think helped keep him from having a repeat today. Last night he was so dizzy I had to help him up the stairs to go to the bathroom, which is another really sucky side-effect of that kind of headache--dizziness and nausea, om nom nom. I'm really really glad he's doing better now, and actually has a little freaking color back in his face--last night he had that sort of paleness that usually means your blood pressure is somewhere down in your feet. (Which I think accounts for a lot of the dizziness, too.) Which, again, pain does that, poor kid.

I think he'll be good to go to school tomorrow, though. He's kept his food down just fine and can walk in a straight line, so I think he's pretty okay now.

Anyway, I have a purring cat on my lap who is making it really difficult to type, so peace out.

Cheers,

Spam(kiiiittty)Warrior

My mom finally badgered me into going in to the ER. The good news is that I don't have the death flu; the bad news is I've got double pneumonia instead. WOOHOO? And they were like, "Uh, yeah, next time this happens don't leave it for so long, because if you'd gone a few more days we'd have had to hospitalize you." Because that's not a little freaky, rly.

Anyway, I'm worn out and think I'm going to go take a nap. Peace out.

cheers,

Spam(welldammit)Warrior

I can't seem to kick whatever bug I've got. Just when I get my fever down and feel halfway okay, it goes back up and I do nothing but sleep. Fucking Captain Tripps, man, I'm telling you.

I spent most of today curled up re-reading World War Z for the hundredth time, usually with a purring cat or two. At least I managed to do a load of dishes, so I don't feel like I've accomplished absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, bleh.

cheers,

Spam(boooo)Warrior

My mom sent me this (warning, it's huge):

( CHURCH SIGN WAAAAARS )

cheers,

Spam(LOLZ)Warrior

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30373191/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30386163/

Okay, I'm just a little freaked out here. I've done a shit ton of reading on the 1918 flu pandemic, because I'm a freak and really fascinated by that stuff, and this reads like it could seriously wind up like that one. (The estimates of the death toll in the 1918 blurb in the one article are actually too low, too; the most recent statistic was 100 million people, a.k.a five percent of the motherfucking world population at the time.)

So, shit, wherever you are, if you feel like you've got the flu, go to the doctor and report it. I'm kind of freaked out because yesterday my temperature went up to fucking 105.1 and I seriously wanted to just die. It was 101 when I got up and now it's down to 100, but I'm just a weeee bit scared by that. So far they've only found cases in the border states, but sheesh. Anything that's a combo of swine flu, human flu, and fucking bird flu is freaky as hell.

So anyway, wash your hands, don't breathe on other people, and...yeah. I think I'm going to go lay down again, so peace out.

cheers,

Spam(jesusfuckingchrist)Warrior

I'd thought this spring I'd escape getting the death flu, but no such luck. I think Darrin gave it to me, and of course I always get hit by that crap so much harder than him. I've been curled up in bed all day with Booger, trying to get my damn temperature down--it topped out at 103.3, but I've got it down to 102.6 now, which, yay? :D? :D? I don't know WTF is up with my stupid wonky immune system, but I hope this one doesn't last too long. The weather's nice and I hate being stuck inside feeling like a warmed-over zombie. >:(

cheers,

Spam(stupidfuckingflu)Warrior

Bleargh, I have that damn cold that everyone and their brother seems to have around here. Not fun.

It occurred to me today while I was cleaning the bathroom that I am never actually going to be able to dye my hair a natural color again. When I dyed Katie's I accidentally got some on my arm, and it gave me a wicked rash--I'd forgot how allergic to permanent hair color I am. This wasn't the cheap boxed dye, either--it was professional-grade color and developer. So even if I ever wanted to go normal again, I really can't without destroying my scalp. (This basically just gives me an excuse to forever have funky hair, I guess. XD)

Also! I discovered AMPM of all places has horchata in their pop dispenser thing, and now I'm on the hunt for some place that actually sells it bottled. So far I have come up completely empty-handed, so if any of you in Washington know of some place that sells it, please let me know. I don't have a blender so I can't make my own, and in any case making it yourself looks like it would be a royal pain in the ass.

Norwescon in two weeks! I still need to finish Susan's dress, because I hate sleeves and have been putting that portion of it off for far too long. I just can't get them pinned right, and I can't baste it until I do, so bleh. BLEH.

cheers,

Spam(blergh)Warrior

It's the HiDef version, so it's a bandwidth hog. I am so damn stoked for this movie it's ridiculous. I read an interview with Leonard Nimoy, who's seen the film, and he said his wife leaned over and said, "I don't want this movie to end." Given that Nimoy made some of the best of the TOS films, that bodes well in my mind. (I still pretend ST:V doesn't exist. William Shatner should not have been allowed anywhere near a director's chair. Eeeugh.) I also read that Simon Pegg's wife, who is Scottish, made him keep his accent all through filming and would smack him if he dropped it or tripped up. Now that is commitment. XD

cheers,

Spam(yesi'matotalnerd)Warrior

I got my first backpay check! A little over $2,000.00, which means we can actually go to NorwesCon (it was looking like we couldn't, thanks to lack of money). Apparently Washington law says they can't give it in one lump sum, which is a bit irritating, but whatever, at least I get it. I get another $2,000.00 in six months, and then six months after that I get the remaining $11,000.00. Thank freaking Christ, man--I really, really needed this. I'm slapping most of it straight into savings, but a bit of it will help pay for NorwesCon expenses, and I want a few new clothes, goddammit. I've had most of my shirts for close to ten years, and it's...pretty obvious.

I also found out DSHS, having previously booted me off medical coverage, is now backpedaling and saying they'll pay for all my Medicare co-pays and stuff, which I think (I have to ask about this, as it's a bit confusing in the letter) means I won't have any out-of-pocket medical at all. I need to find out about Medicare D, which will be my prescription coverage, and in theory I won't have much out-of-pocket for THAT, either. Also, they had previously hacked my food benefits to $130.00 a month, but now I'm in some other system and am getting $180.00, which is more than I've ever had. IDK, man, it's so nice to have a shitload of good news all at once. I'm a little scared, honestly, that something nasty might be looming to counter it.

But yes, awesomesauce, man. Awesomesauce. :DDDDDDDD

cheers,

Spam(ZOMGSQUEEEE)Warrior

Okay, this is what comes of me randomly trawling the internet while waiting for my laundry to dry: I swear to God, if I read about one more person calling Stephenie Meyer "the next J.K. Rowling", I will shoot someone (possibly myself. You never know). Meyer's crap shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Harry Potter--yeah, Harry Potter also turned into a cultural phenomenon, but that's because it's good. Twilight's popularity just mystifies the hell out of me--I'd had a better opinion of the intelligence of the average American, but apparently I'm sadly wrong. (You just know that somewhere, J.K. Rowling is laughing her ass off every time she finds one of those idiot comparisons.)

What irritates me is that there are so many good young adult books out there, and they're all being pushed to the side by this utter shit. I loved Robin McKinley's stuff growing up, and Madeline L'Engle, but thanks to freaking Twatlight a whole generation of teenage girls aren't even aware of them. I mean, Spindle's End is awesome--a variation of Sleeping Beauty where the princess was given all sorts of impractical gifts by fairy godmothers, all of whom neglected to actually make sure she was pretty. She hates her fairy-tale hair so she keeps it hacked short, prefers trousers, and winds up working with the local blacksmith. (I still have a copy of that, somewhere. I wish I knew where it was.) Beauty was a good one, too, though I will definitely not be passing Deerskin on to Lia until she's much, much older. God, that one was disturbing, but it also wasn't written for teenagers.

But anyway, the dryer is done, so I will go do something productive. /rant

I hate zippers. Hate them. I put the one I needed in my costume by hand, because I know if I'd just tried to run it through a machine I would have messed it up horribly. At least the stupid thing is in there, though.

I also realized I can't put the sleeves on until I've tried it on and made some adjustments, since no pattern on Earth is designed for flat-chested people. I'm not entirely sure how to do that, either, since I've never tried it, but that's what pins and basting are for (and possibly patience, though I don't have a lot of that XD).

Still, I'm stoked. I've found a lot of people on the Internet who have made her 'governess' costume, but I haven't yet seen anyone who's made the Death!dress. (Probably because it's such a pain in the ass, and corsets are not cheap--even the one I found was $80 after shipping. Still, it's awesome.) Katie doesn't work tomorrow, so I want to have everything ready for when she gets home from school and can show me how to use her sewing machine. Then I can just get all the machine work done at one go and not have to worry about it anymore.

But anyway, it's almost 11:30 and I have a crapload of stuff to do today (none of which I've even started), so I will sign off.

Cheers,

Spam(pinsandneedles)Warrior

I just changed the Band-Aid on my nose. Frigging Jesus, I don't think I want to eat again for days--gross doesn't even begin to cover it. I just hope it doesn't scar. DDDDD:

Okay, so I tried reading a bit of Twilight the other day, because I hate that book and everything it stands for, and I didn't want to be one of those assholes who despises a book without having read it. (All those Harry Potter-hating psychos come to mind.) I've always thought that was a lame thing to do, since even if it's terrible you should know what you're talking about.

Oh my God, you guys. It's even worse than I'd heard about. I got about a hundred pages in and seriously nothing happened, beyond her describing ~*~Edward~*~ in the sort of purple prose you'd expect in a teenage fanfic author. (It was also glaringly obvious SMeyer had never been to Washington, but whatever.) I knew from reading about it that Bella has no personality of her own, and it's totally true--she...really doesn't. I don't see how this could possibly hold the attention of anyone, let alone a teenage girl, since there's a reason teenagers have a reputation for being horribly fickle. All the really lolzy bad stuff must come in later, because the first quarter of it is unbearably dull. Also, while I'd read all this stuff about how Edward was a creepy stalker, nobody seems to mention that Bella is, too, completely obsessing about this random boy to the point where her every waking thought seems to be about him. NO ME GUSTA, SRSLY. Not only is everyone boring, both she and Edward have some serious, serious psychological problems, and...yeah. I could go on, but others have done so much better before me.

Anyway, enough of that--I got the corset for my Susan costume today! My goal tonight is to finish basting the dress together so I can sit down and sew it properly next time Katie's home. Really I just have to put the sleeves on and attach the zipper, but I've never done either before and just know I'm going to have to do it four times before I get it right. (Which is why I've put it off until now, really.) This corset is awesome, and works so well--the only thing I'm going to have to be careful of is that some of the panels are satin, and my callused little fingers seemed designed to destroy something like that. I either need lots of hand lotion, or to wear gloves when I put it on. Once I have the whole thing together I will post pictures. :)

cheers,

Spam(wtftwilight)Warrior

FUCKING SON OF A BITCH I JUST RIPPED OUT MY GODDAMN NOSE RING >.< IT'S ALL BLOODY AND PAINFUL AND OWOWOWOWOWOWOW OW!

I had the weirdest fucking dream the other night, which had to have come from watching Heroes and Quarantine in fairly quick succession. I was locked in a closet in the apartment building from Quarantine, with Claire and Sylar of all people, and was really really pissed off that neither of them would go deal with the rabid zombies. It went something like "Dude, you two can't die, get the fuck out there" with lots of arguing, and finally I grabbed this harpoon (yeah, I don't even know) and stabbed Sylar in the chest with it. I must be hanging around Darrin's gamers too much, because my first thought was "Oh, he totally failed his dodge check." Then at some point I ran out to try to evade the zombies and ran into a bunch of aliens who were just walking around, chilling out and completely ignoring all the people getting eaten all around them. I asked if they'd beam me up and get me the hell out of there, but they didn't--instead they gave me some sort of bus with bike pedals and I drove off through the wall. Somewhere in there the Kool-Aid man was chasing me, too. I...yeah. I don't get it, either.

In much more aggravating news, Katie's kitten pissed on my bed last night. TWICE. I had to scrub the shit out of the mattress and wash all my bedding, so I locked the cat in her bathroom with food, water, and a litterbox, and will not let it out again until it's completely potty-trained. I love animals, but I have never in my life been so close to hurtling a cat into oncoming traffic. What's really fucking weird is that for a while the thing was potty-trained--then it got diarrhea and started shitting all over the place, and now the diarrhea's gone but she's apparently decided she just has to pee everywhere. So she does not get to roam the house anymore, possibly ever. I don't care how cute she is, if she does that again I'm breaking her little furry neck. I mean, come on.

Anyway, I have to go check the dryer. Grrr.

Cheers,

Spam(fuckingkittypee)Warrior

BECAUSE I HAD TO. ------>

Hey, someone had to do it.

Cheers,

Spam(captainobvious)Warrior

P.S. Do not, repeat DO NOT watch Quarantine. Ever. I just finished it and now I'm hiding in my room with Booger. DDDDDD:

Southern England had their own Snowpocalypse, and what this little girl did is seriously made of WIN:

( Cut for huge-ass images )

cheers,

Spam(damnvulcans)Warrior

JESUS CHRIST I WISH I COULD FUCKING ERASE THIS FROM MY RETINAS FOREVER SHIT SHIT SHIT GROSS

I'm going to be having nightmares about that for months. DDDDDD:

cheers,

Spam(asdjfsdkfnoooo)Warrior

Fourteen chapters, 151 pages, and 90,533 words into War of M, and I pretty much just fucked over all of North America. Yet I am happy with that, whereas when I killed my first fatality I felt like shit. (Didn't feel so bad about the second; he deserved it XD.) This book seriously is going to be a goddamn door-stopper, assuming I ever finish it. Christ, by the time the publishing industry recovers I'll probably have all three done. At least however the hell long that takes will give me plenty of time to get them in the best shape I possibly can...I've been doing some pretty hardcore revisions on Curse, too, since it definitely needed it. A lot of the time I have to stay away from a story for a while before I can go back to it and edit it properly, which has turned out to be the case this time--I've caught all sorts of stuff I either want to expand, alter, or hack out entirely, and fortunately most of that jives with what I've already got written in War.

Booger has diarrhea again, damn cat--I think he was sneaking out of Darrin's Chinese food last night, the little bastard. I discovered this when he ran across my bed and left shit smears over my sheets. *twitch* So I've been doing laundry all day, and going over the house all paranoid, trying to find any little poopy footprints. I really am the fucking crazy cat lady.

I have almost all my extra paperwork filled out for SSI--all I have to do is get out to see my uncle and have him fill out his bit, but that's going to take some difficult timing, since he works all the time. I'd try to get out there tonight if I didn't have to wait for the PSE guy to come and take our check so he doesn't shut our power off. BOO. I love being poor, I really do. /sarcasm

But anyway, I do not have much else to say. Still need to finish off my Susan dress, but I have plenty of time for that left. Otherwise my house is just full of cats and people and a broom that Darrin apparently bought but cannot find, which really doesn't help me much, dammit. >:( I'm not sure how you lose a broom; only in this house, man. Anyway, not much more to say.

Cheers,

Spam(wherethefuckismybroom)Warrior